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Read will serve as EXA’s new chairman, aiming to deliver significant growth for the business and expand its global infrastructure portfolio

Today, global fibre infrastructure firm EXA Infrastructure has announced that ex-Vodafone CEO Nick Read will be taking on the role of company chairman.

EXA currently owns 125,000km of fibre network across 34 countries, as well as a number of major submarine cable systems, including a trio of transatlantic cables. Since its formation from the backbone assets of GTT bac in 2021 by I Squared Capital, the company has been expanding rapidly, making numerous acquisitions and strategic partnerships around the world to bolster its global portfolio.

This rapid growth environment will be something of a stark contrast for Read, who resigned from his position as CEO of Vodafone at the end of last year after facing increasing pressure from investors to improve the Group’s sluggish performance. He had served in the role for four years, during which time he championed consolidation in the company’s most competitive markets, the majority of which did not ultimately materialise.

At the time of his resignation, Vodafone’s share prices had almost halved.

In this new position, however, Read should find growth comes much easier – at least for now.

“It is a privilege to be appointed Chair of EXA Infrastructure, particularly at a pivotal time for the telecoms industry where we are seeing significant investment in digital infrastructure and market growth,” said Read. “I look forward to working with the EXA leadership team who have a clear focus and commitment to customers, network excellence and continual investment to provide the most compelling experiences to clients and end users.”

EXA’s management was jubilant at the appointment, saying that Read would help lead the company’s “strategic network expansion plans, commercial growth and ongoing operational excellence efforts”

“Nick is a titan in our industry and I am convinced that his extensive leadership and technology experience will be invaluable to execute our ambitious growth strategy,” said EXA Infrastructure, Chief Executive Officer, Martijn Blanken. “His track record in business performance and transformation will be a welcome addition to guide EXA’s executive team. I am delighted to see Nick join us and I look forward to working closely with him.”

In related news, last week EXA Infrastructure announced they had acquired Croatian telco Unitel, expanding their existing infrastructure footprint in the Balkans. Unitel owns a 515km fibre backbone network that spans the country, including border crossings to Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

How is Europe’s data centre ecosystem evolving in 2023? Join the operators in discussion at this year’s Total Telecom Congress live from Amsterdam

Also in the news:
Hyperoptic announces plans to cut 110 jobs
U.S. Huawei ban: A Pyrrhic victory spurring digital decolonisation
New advertising guidelines push for clarity over contract price hikes

Winity, which became a new Brazilian national mobile operator in 2021, and satellite operator Hughes have announced a pilot project involving prepaid mobile internet in remote areas.

The project is called RuralChip and uses 700MHz spectrum won by Winity at auction in 2021. Ericsson, Nokia and Algar Telecom are among the partners for the project.

The duo’s proof of concept is taking place in two cities: Presidente Juscelino and Cururupu. Both are in Maranhão state in northern Brazil. In the first city the access network provider is Ericsson. The other uses technology provided by Nokia. Algar Telecom provides the network core along with charging, provisioning, NOC and data centre services.

Both sites will make use of Hughes’ high-capacity satellite backhaul solution, an LTE site and a Winity network core, effectively creating a 4G network to serve RuralChip customers in the areas covered.

The official launch of the project took place last week. The plan is to refine the solution for a future deployment at scale throughout the country, making possible the digital inclusion of thousands of people and the economic development of these regions, in line with Winity’s business plan, which is to get to where no other operator has reached to date.

According to TeleGeography’s CommsUpdate, Winity Telecom – which is backed by alternative asset management firm Patria Investimentos – successfully bid on a national 2×10MHz 700MHz licence in Brazil’s November 2021 5G spectrum auction, paying BRL1.428 billion (USD276.8 million) – the highest bid for a single spectrum lot in the auction.

Winity plans to build 5,000 cell towers by 2029 and to establish itself as Brazil’s first wholesale operator.

Spacecraft manufacturer, launcher, and satellite communications company SpaceX has launched a new Indonesian communications satellite as part of an ambitious project called SATRIA.

The $550 million project aims to provide high-speed internet access to schools, medical centres and thousands of public and government facilities across the island nation.

The powerful satellite, which is intended to boost broadband access across thousands of islands in the country’s vast archipelago, launched on Sunday. As Reuters explains, roughly two-thirds of Indonesia’s 280 million population already use the internet, but connectivity is limited in the country’s far-flung, underdeveloped eastern islands.

The satellite was built by Thales Alenia Space, which provides space-based systems, including satellites and ground segments, for multiple telecommunications and exploration-related purposes. It will use onboard ion thrusters to circularize its orbit at an altitude of about 35,888 kilometres above the equator at 126 degrees east longitude. 

The CBS news service explains that satellites at that geosynchronous altitude take 24 hours to complete one orbit, rotating in lockstep with the Earth to appear stationary in the sky. That allows the use of fixed antennas on the ground, greatly simplifying the infrastructure needed to send and receive data. The satellite is designed to operate for at least 15 years.

SATRIA is a public-private project between the government of Indonesia and a consortium led by satellite operator PT Pasifik Satelit Nusantara, or PSN.

The launch has received enormous press coverage already – and it’s not too surprising given the statistics involved. With a throughput of 150 gigabytes per second, SATRIA will connect some 94,000 schools, nearly 50,000 village offices, other government facilities and thousands of hospitals and medical facilities across the fourth most populous country in the world.

Before SATRIA, Indonesia relied on five domestic communications satellites and four ‘foreign’ relay stations with a combined 50 gigabytes of telecommunications bandwith. SATRIA can provide more than three times the combined national capacities that are currently in use,

Adi Rahman Adiwoso, chief executive officer of PSN, was quoted by SpaceTechAsia as saying « We are confident that SATRIA can be the solution to the digital gap that still exists in Indonesia. »

VIEWPOINT

The declaration of Chinese telecommunications giants Huawei and ZTE as high-risk vendors (HRV) is revealing a split between EU member states. Thierry Breton, European Commissioner for Internal Markets made the announcement at a recent news conference on 15 June. Several telecom executives and government ministers in Germany and Austria are questioning the EU’s conclusions regarding cybersecurity risks and have publicly voiced their opposition to the restrictions. This could have far reaching implications for the future of 5G development and international relations.

Huawei, in its official statement, “strongly opposes and disagrees” with the European Commission’s decision, asserting the move lacks a “verified, transparent, objective and technical assessment of 5G networks.” The tech giant warns that such restrictions could “pose serious economic and social risks,” possibly stifling innovation and distorting the EU market. Huawei also argued that the ‘High-Risk Vendor’ designation goes against free trade principles. They cite an Oxford Economics report that suggests excluding Huawei could inflate 5G investment costs by billions of euros, an expense that they say will end up being borne by European consumers.

Huawei says cybersecurity is a top priority and to assuage concerns about its products, once again invited customers and independent third-party testing organizations to its Cyber Security Transparency Centre in Brussels. Here customers and government standards bodies can perform security tests on all its equipment and code for verification against industry-recognized cyber security standards and best practices.

While the European Commission’s decision resonates with some, others have publicly rejected the security concerns raised about Huawei. Stephan Broszio, a spokesperson for Deutsche Telekom, asserts that China can’t shut down the 5G network, refuting the claim that manufacturers have remote access. Broszio states that “no update will be installed in live systems that have not previously been extensively tested for functionality and security.” He clarified that “The systems for network management are completely separated from the Internet and Deutsche Telekom’s office communication networks in their own high-security network. Access to this network is only available to a few specially checked employees, remote access for manufacturers is not possible.”

Research by Denmark’s Strand Consult showed that as much as 50% of 4G and 5G equipment in Germany is supplied by Huawei. This could run to as many as 46,000 sites across the country. According to a research note prepared by Barclays and seen by Lightreading, Deutsche Telekom could face a bill of around $1.2 billion, with Telefonica and Vodafone having to spend at least $750,000 each to remove their network equipment supplied by Huawei.

Similar support came from Austria, where Klaus M. Steinmaurer, the Managing Director of the Austrian Regulatory Authority for Broadcasting and Telecommunications (RTR), expressed no security concerns regarding Chinese telecom firms. He sees “no reason for this (naming them as high-risk vendors).”

Austrian Digitization State Secretary Florian Tursky also confirmed that EU network security guidelines had already been implemented in the country, but since there is still no formal ban network operators are still free to use components from Huawei or ZTE for 5G network expansion.

It’s not just industry insiders; Chinese officials too have thrown their weight behind Huawei. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs refuted the European Commission’s claims of security risks, urging the EU to abide by “international economic and trade rules.” Ambassador Fu Cong, Head of the Chinese Mission to the EU, echoed these sentiments, stating that the ban violates WTO rules and could seriously impact the business communities in both regions.

While the European Commission is trying to shut Chinese vendors out of European markets, China appears to be moving in the opposite direction. European network operators Nokia and Ericsson were recently awarded around 16 percent of a large China Mobile contract. This is double the previous market share held by European telecoms operators in China.

The future of 5G development in Europe hangs in the balance, as does the EU’s trade and political relations with China. It’s a scenario that stakeholders around the world will be monitoring closely.