Press Release

Nokia and TPG Telecom today announced they have hit a 5G uplink speed of 2 Gigabits per second (Gbps). Using TPG Telecom’s 5G mmWave spectrum, this milestone was achieved during a live demonstration at the Nokia 5G Futures Lab in Sydney, Australia

The new Australian 5G uplink record, which follows on from a number of Australian 5G speed records announced by Nokia earlier in the year, will enable Nokia and its customers such as TPG Telecom to offer ultra-high-performing, low-latency services for Industrial and IoT applications which are heavily reliant on high-speed uplink connectivity. The solution is expected to be fully deployed next year as devices that support this capability become available.

The live demonstration involved a commercially available Nokia AirScale 5G mmWave base station utilising TPG Telecom’s 26 GHz spectrum to connect, over the air, to a 5G device powered by a Snapdragon® X65 5G Modem-RF System featuring fourth-generation Qualcomm® QTM545 mmWave antenna modules. Additionally, Nokia deployed its industry-leading Carrier Aggregation (CA) technology to fully leverage the available spectrum assets. The CA setup included four component carriers of 100 MHz each in the 26 GHz band.

The demonstration also leveraged Nokia’s 5G Core to provide the speed, intelligence, and security for testing the delivery of new advanced 5G services.

Once deployed, 5G mmWave technology will create new service opportunities for both consumers and industries. For consumers it will allow real-time multi-user 8K ultra-high-definition bi-directional video streaming, and augmented reality content for smartphones or wearable devices for immersive experiences.

For industries it will enable streaming of massive amounts of data directly from embedded IoT sensors and industrial robots over 5G, allowing the real-time control of industrial processes using powerful 5G connected Edge Compute Nodes. This concept of processor offload across 5G was also demonstrated at the event using “Spot” – the 5G connected Robot Dog – developed in conjunction with academics at the University of Technology Sydney.

Dr Robert Joyce, Chief Technology Officer at Nokia Oceania, said: “Super-fast uplink speeds are critical to fully realise the huge benefits of 5G networks, particularly as we look to emerging technologies like augmented intelligence, machine learning, advanced sensors and robotics that are set to transform industries and economies with huge safety, productivity and efficiency outcomes as we move towards the metaverse era. For consumers and industries alike, the future is exciting. Pushing the boundaries of 5G with innovative customers like TPG Telecom in Australia is a big part of this journey forward.”

Giovanni Chiarelli, Chief Technology Officer at TPG Telecom, said: “We are very proud of this achievement and other mobile technology innovations we continue to develop with Nokia. This demonstration is important as it shows the huge potential of 5G mobile technology and gives a glimpse of the high-speed services that will one day be available to customers and businesses right across Australia.”

A migration, a couple of technology partnerships, and a new network launch: … [visit site to read more]

News

Portugal’s National Communications Authority (Anacom) has issued punitive fines to the country’s four national mobile network operators due to their poor communication regarding price increases

This week, Anacom has issued over €15 million in fines to Meo (Altice Portugal), Nos, Vodafone, and Nowo, saying that they did not clearly communicate to customers that they could terminate their contracts before price increases were applied back in 2016.

The regulator said that the changes in prices had impacted “a high number of subscribers”, many of whom had not been suitably informed of the price increases until they were no longer able to cancel their contracts free of charge.

“In particular, the behaviour adopted by these operators is related to the lack of information, within the contractually foreseen period, on the right of subscribers to be able to terminate their contracts free of charge, in case they do not agree with the proposed price increase. by operators,” said Anacom in a translated statement.

Anacom also complained that in many cases customers were only informed that their contracts would increase in price but were not clearly told by how much.

As a result of this ruling, Anacom has fined Meo €6.7 million, Nos €5.2 million fine, Vodafone €3.1 million, and Nowo €664,000.

Nos, Vodafone and Meo have each said that they disagree with Anacom’s ruling and will legally contest the fines.

Also in the news:
Vestager: Restricting “high-risk” vendors a “matter of urgency” for EU
UKRI selects BT consortium for intelligent drone project
IRIS cable set to link Iceland and Ireland

Some subsea, some backhaul, a few new PoPs, and a bit of UC: … [visit site to read more]

PRESS RELEASE

Leeds based telco Northern Telecom has stepped in to rescue the business and assets of Toople Plc (and subsidiaries) in a deal with administrators FRP Recovery that closed on Friday..

Toople’s customer and reseller relationships (including customers of Toople and Direct Market Services Limited (DMSL)) will transition into the wider Northern Telecom group.

The transaction is the eighth for Northern Telecom in the last five years and secures provision of service for a range of small to medium sized business customers across the UK.

Toople PLC was listed on the London Stock Exchange in May 2016 and acquired DMSL in January 2020. Trading in shares was suspended on the 19th October. The deal sees the bulk of the assets and business of Toople return to private ownership.

Northern Telecom Group Operations Director Simon Rogers commented “The Toople business has underperformed over the last five years. A fundamentally flawed business model and questionable strategic decisions have masked what we believe to be a business with strong underlying financials. We’re delighted to welcome Toople customers into the wider group and we’re excited to enable the business to unleash its full potential”.

Northern Telecom Group Managing Director Jon Graves commented “We’re delighted to finalise another two acquisitions to supplement our growth this year. We look forward to supporting each customer with their IT & Telecoms requirements.”

Discover the north’s connected future. Join Total Telecom at Manchester Central on the 17 – 18 April 2023. totaltele.com/connectednorth

Related:
Connected North 2022 highlights video
Northern mayors talk levelling up frustration at Connected North

News

On Friday, Orange launched 5G in Botswana – the Group’s first commercial 5G launch in Africa.

In a briefing last week, Orange Botswana’s CEO, Nene Maiga, outlined details of the launch announcing that 30% of the population would be covered with 5G available in 2 major cities including Gaborone and Francistown. Further cities will be covered by the network in due course.

Orange is planning launches in approximately 6 additional countries in the MEA region in 2023. Regulatory agreements are currently be negotiated in Jordan, which is likely to be the next launch, followed by the Ivory Coast. Then, subject to agreeing the regulatory conditions, Senegal should follow.

According to Jerôme Henique, CEO of Orange Middle East and Africa, the Group sees 5G as an opportunity to complete their broadband portfolio in Africa. The limited availability and cost of 5G handsets is still a barrier to uptake of 5G in the continent, however Orange’s regional strategy will see the Group focus on connectivity for households through their 5G fixed broadband offering.

Offers will be available for residential customers, small and medium enterprises. The fixed offers are available from15Mbps for Prepaid and from 20Mbps for Postpaid with a monthly rental from BWP 699 (€53 per month).

Orange is also exploring the development of 5G use cases for enterprise customers in Africa with a particular focus on the mining industry and ports. Orange believes that the network of 5G labs, which the Group is opening in key locations in the MEA region, is a strong differentiator for Orange 5G. Henique said that the labs would be open to startups to develop new use cases which would prove beneficial for the local the local entrepreneur ecosystem.