Might we have a pan-Arctic submarine cable system in just a few years? Far North Fiber has taken the next step toward making its proposed project reality by kicking off the cable route study, which would be followed by a marine survey. … [visit site to read more]
Commercial 5G launches rebounded in the second half of 2022 as operators in developing markets – and notably Africa – turned on their networks. That’s one of the key findings of 5G Tracker, a report from Kagan, a part of S&P Global Market Intelligence.
5G Tracker lists at least 238 mobile operators serving 94 markets worldwide that had launched commercial 5G services as of year-end 2022.
Developing markets, especially in Africa, were in the spotlight for recent commercial 5G launches, the report found, as operators in many developed regions had already launched 5G in previous years. The switch from non-standalone to standalone 5G is slowly picking up, it added, but the lack of demand for 5G itself has caused some operators to be tentative about making the switch.
5G Tracker also said that Ericsson and Nokia remained the leading 5G infrastructure vendors in terms of total customers and associated network deployments, while China’s Huawei Technologies was still the leading vendor in terms of total 5G small cell unit shipments and related deployments, thanks to its massive home market, where more than 2.31 million 5G small cells were active at the end of December 2022.
Twenty-four new operators were added to the list of 5G launches in the second half of 2022. Africa had nine new launches in this period, the most since Kagan began tracking 5G launches in 2018. These included Orange SA in Botswana, Safaricom PLC in Kenya, Société Française de Radiotéléphone (SFR) SA in Réunion, MTN Group in Nigeria and Zambia, Telkom SA SOC Ltd. in South Africa, Vodacom Group in Tanzania and Unitel SA in Angola.
As most operators in developed markets have already deployed commercial 5G services, Kagan expects launches in the succeeding months to come from developing markets in Africa, Asia-Pacific, Eastern Europe and Latin America.
More details on these findings are available on the 5G Tracker page.
The FTTH space is one of the most dynamic in the infrastructure world right now, with providers of all types investing resources in residential connectivity around the country. Last year we talked to Consolidated Communications here for an Industry Spotlight about their Fidium buildout plans. Now, one year later where are they? With us today to talk about the company’s buildout status and where they are putting their efforts going forward is Gabe Waggoner, Executive Vice President of Operations at Consolidated Communications. … [visit site to read more]
Chilean regulator Subtel has granted the local unit of Claro provisional authorisation to offer commercial 5G services via its 3.5GHz spectrum.
As reported by Mexico-based DPL Group, the regulator’s decision followed recommendations from Chile’s Free Competition Tribunal and Supreme Court, both of which argued that having four competitors in the 5G space would improve competition and provide a better experience for mobile users – despite claims to the contrary from Claro’s rivals Entel, Movistar and Wom.
Thus far, Claro has been unable to launch a 5G offering in Chile as the 3.5GHz band was restricted to fixed wireless use. However, this limitation was overturned by a court ruling earlier this year, making 5G a possibility for Claro. Since the operator did not obtain its spectrum at auction, it will be required to present a technical plan similar to those presented during the 2020 auctions, as well as an investment roadmap for connecting remote locations.
“As a regulatory entity, we are mandated to make decisions where the national interest prevails. This authorization, which is provisional, is taken with the objective of optimizing the use of the spectrum so that it can be operated for the benefit of citizens. When there is greater competition, the plans are more attractive, prices drop and people have more options to decide”, said Subtel chief Claudio Araya San Martín.
According to Subtel’s data, at end-2022 there were 2,040,071 5G connections in Chile. Entel leads the market with 904,000 connections, giving it a market share of 44.3%. Movistar has 609,000 connections, while Wom takes third place with 256,000.
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While a national consumer promotion would not normally be big news on these pages, the recently announced promotion by new market entrant Safaricom Ethiopia is possibly more significant than most.
Safaricom Ethiopia has this week launched its first national consumer promotion, one that will see over one million customers rewarded for joining and using products and services on the new network.
The 13-week promotion will award customers unique codes for buying a Safaricom SIM card or recharging their lines with airtime, buying packages or using WhatsApp bundles.
Each customer will receive a maximum of ten unique codes per day that will enter them into a draw to win either daily, bi-weekly or monthly prizes that include: cars, bajajs (three-wheel vehicles), motorbikes, smartphones and tablets, and bonus airtime.
While Anwar Soussa, CEO, Safaricom Ethiopia, refers to the event as being about “saying thank you to our customers in our own small way”, it involves a strong incentive to spend money or sign up. For every 10 Birr (about 19 US cents) spent either on airtime top up or buying voice, SMS or data packages, existing Safaricom customers across the country will receive one code.
New customers who join the network by buying a SIM card and topping up within 24 hours will receive three codes. Seven codes will be awarded for those using the free 1GB WhatsApp package.
The promotion, which is also open to Safaricom’s enterprise customers, runs until the fourth of July and will reward over one million customers throughout a 13-week period across regions in Ethiopia where the Safaricom network has been switched on.
This is further evidence that Safaricom Ethiopia means business in a market in which rival, and incumbent, Ethio Telecom has a strong head start with somewhere in the region of 70 million subscribers.
Still, the new arrival isn’t doing badly. Since starting its operations with customer pilots in August 2022, and following its national launch ceremony in October 2022, Safaricom Ethiopia has grown its subscriber base to 2.8 million customers across Ethiopia.
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Today, Indonesian wireless operator Telkomsel has announced plans to merge with fixed broadband operator, IndiHome.
The deal, worth roughly $3.9 billion, will see Indonesia’s largest mobile operator combined with the country’s largest fixed broadband provider.
Both Telkomsel and IndiHome are owned by the same parent company, multinational telecoms conglomerate PT Telkom Indonesia; Telkom wholly owns IniHome and owns a 65% stake in Telkomsel, with Singapore’s Singtel holding the remaining 35%.
Following the merger, Telkom will hold 70.4% of the combined entity, with Singtel holding the remaining 29.6%.
“We believe this is a rare opportunity for Telkomsel to tap into the high-growth fixed broadband market in Indonesia by partnering with the country’s largest broadband operator which is profitable and cash-generating,” said Yuen Kuan Moon, CEO of Singtel. “Given the post-pandemic demand for high-quality broadband and the global shift to fixed mobile convergence, this move will help Telkomsel entrench its position as Indonesia’s leading integrated telco and greatly enhance its growth prospects.”
The scale of the fixed broadband opportunity itself also cannot be underestimated. Indonesia has a broadband penetration rate of just 14%, leaving over 200 million people without access. In additional, fixed broadband ARPU is six-times that of mobile customers, offering a huge opportunity for revenue growth.
Telkomsel hopes that by offering converged fixed–mobile services, their dominant position within the Indonesian market will be secured for years to come.
The deal will be subject to all the typical regulatory oversight and will require the approval of Telkom’s shareholders.
The Indonesian telecoms sector has been undergoing significant consolidation recently, most notably with the combination of CK Hutchison’s H3I and Ooredoo’s Indosat, which was finalised at the start of 2022.
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Also in the news:
NTT and Microsoft collaborate to enhance corporate cyber resilience
Vodafone to cut around 1,300 jobs in Germany
Ofcom raise automatic compensation payments for UK ISP connectivity failures
At the height of debates surrounding 5G and national security in 2019–2020, France, like many European countries, refused to issue an outright ban on Huawei equipment, as was done by the UK and Sweden.
Instead, the country took a more indirect route, with 2019 Constitutional Council ruling ordering its operators to remove the Chinese vendor’s equipment in densely populated and strategically important areas.
Perhaps more importantly, this new law also stipulated than any new or renewed mobile equipment licences would need to be given the green light by ANSSI, France’s cybersecurity agency. Not long after this announcement, ANSSI indicated that it was unlikely to give such permission for Huawei equipment, in effect issuing a de facto ban on the vendor’s technology by 2028.
With Huawei equipment comprising a significant chunk of French mobile networks – around half for SFR and Bouygues Telecom – this new law presented operators with the unenviable and expensive task of removing and replacing the Chinese vendor’s equipment.
After around two years of unsuccessful legal challenges attempting to amend the law, SFR and Bouygues began removing Huawei equipment in March 2021.
Now, according to French news media L’Informe, the two operators are preparing to take the French government to court in attempt to recoup these rip and replace costs.
In a filing presented to the Administrative Court of Paris, Bouygues Telecom said that its costs amounted to roughly €82 million, though notes that this does not cover the entirety of the 3,000 towers it said will need to be re-equipped by 2028.
SFR did not reveal the specifics of its own expenses but, given it has over 8,000 affected towers, its own claim is likely to be significantly higher than those of Bouygues.
The media report notes that, while legal challenges against the so-called ‘anti-Huawei’ law were rejected by the French justice system in 2021, the rejection did accept that the new law impacted the operators’ property rights, thereby opening the door for potential compensation discussions.
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Also in the news:
NTT and Microsoft collaborate to enhance corporate cyber resilience
Vodafone to cut around 1,300 jobs in Germany
Ofcom raise automatic compensation payments for UK ISP connectivity failures
At the start of 2021, AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon spent nearly $80 billion on C-band spectrum at the FCC’s 5G auction. This spectrum was pegged to be the focal point of the trio’s respective 5G networks, offering the ideal balance of high speed, low latency, and broad coverage.
By the start of 2022, however, a storm was brewing within the US aviation industry, with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) fearing that the new 5G spectrum could interfere with sensitive flight instrumentation, such as altimeters.
While most of the telecoms industry – and, indeed, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency – believes these fears to be largely unfounded, it did not stop the US mobile operators from initially delaying their initial 5G rollouts and limiting their deployments near airports.
The FAA, meanwhile, said that it would begin requiring updated altimeters that are unaffected by the C-band spectrum to be fitted in its commercial aircraft.
Since then, discussions between the aviation and telecoms industries have been ongoing. In February 2023, the FAA said that it was now formally engaged in discussions with the nation’s leading wireless providers, saying they hoped to reach an amiable solution by July.
Now, it appears that just such a conclusion has been reached, with the mobile operators sending a joint letter to the FCC, having agreed voluntary concessions with the FAA to allay aviation safety worries.
“These voluntary commitments will support full-power deployments across C-Band, and are crafted to minimize the operational impact on our C-Band operations,” said the letter, signed by Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and UScellular.
Exactly what these commitments are is unclear, but sources suggest that they may last until 2028, with the FAA having initially sought concessions up to 2033.
In a statement, Verizon explained that the decision would ensure they were able to “fully use our C-band spectrum for 5G by the previously agreed to deadline of July 1.”
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Also in the news:
NTT and Microsoft collaborate to enhance corporate cyber resilience
Vodafone to cut around 1,300 jobs in Germany
Ofcom raise automatic compensation payments for UK ISP connectivity failures
