STACK Infrastructure’s expansion down under is officially complete. Today the data center infrastructure provider said they finished work on their first APAC facility in Melbourne, Australia. The company has been building global infrastructure at a prodigious rate of late. … [visit site to read more]
Telenor reshuffled its executive suite, appointing Petter-Borre Furberg (pictured, left) as the new head of Telenor Asia, replacing Jorgen Rostrup (pictured, right) who will head up Telenor Nordics.
Rostrup began as head of Telenor’s Asian unit in 2020 and oversaw two mega-mergers on the continent. Axiata and Telenor agreed to merge their units Celcom and Digi forming CelcomDigi in November last year. The merger dragged since its announcement in 2021 due to regulatory concerns.
Telenor also merged its Thai unit Dtac with rival True in March, which was heavily opposed by the market leader at the time AIS citing competition concerns.
Rostrup was group CFO between 2016 and 2020 and was credited for simplifying portfolios and ensuring modernisation across the group.
“Jorgen was sent to Asia three years ago with a mandate to deliver growth and modernisation and capturing opportunities in the region. After completing the two biggest telco mergers in Southeast Asia and setting up and implementing a strong and future-proof organisation in the region, he will now return to the Nordics,” said Telenor Group CEO Sigve Brekke.
Telenor’s new head of Asia Furberg has a wealth of experience on the continent having held multiple leadership roles. He held the role of ‘head of emerging Asia’ between 2017 to 2019, and interim CEO of Bangladeshi unit Grameenphone between 2016 to 2017.
Prior to these roles, he was also CEO of Telenor Myanmar, CMO and then CFO at Dtac.
“When Petter-Børre is returning to Asia, we can utilise the competence of one of our most experienced leaders with 15 years in previous and different roles in the region. He will play an instrumental role in ensuring the implementation and success of the two mergers as well as continue to develop Telenor’s business in the region,” added Brekke.
Since the onset of the 5G era roughly three years ago, success stories for the new technology have been few and far between.
In fact, one of the biggest successes of 5G is not using the technology in conjunction with a smartphone at all, but rather using the more powerful mobile network to provide home broadband services in the form of FWA.
Reports earlier this year suggested that interest in FWA is booming in US, with the technology accounting for roughly 90% of the 3.5 million new broadband subscriptions added in 2022.
Now, an updated report from GobalData exploring the US broadband market suggests that this growth will continue, with FWA set to amount for 15.8% of all US broadband connections in 2028, up from for 7.2% in 2023.
The report noted the technology’s easy installation and flexibility as key advantages, noting that the technology is an increasingly viable option for homes and businesses that do not yet have access to fibre networks.
“Easy self-installation and affordability, combined with high reliability and performance, thanks to underlying 5G technology, are among FWA’s selling points, but so is the fact that FWA offers a new service choice versus existing solutions from incumbent service providers. Additionally, FWA is suitable for both primary and backup internet service and can be deployed in locations where internet service may only be needed temporarily,” explained GlobalData’s Principal Analyst Tammy Parker.
The report also noted, however, that FWA will ultimately have a hard time competing with the speed and reliability of fibre broadband – a technology that is set to become increasingly available throughout the US in the next five years due to the enormous amount of public funding being delivered as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
“Fiber presents a significant challenge as it is highly reliable and can deliver the symmetrical multigigabit speeds that are increasingly demanded by consumers and businesses. Additionally, fibre deployment is gaining momentum as government subsidies lead to an unprecedented expansion of the nation’s fibre broadband infrastructure, leading this technology’s share of the market to grow from 19.5% in 2023 to 24.7% in 2028,” added Parker.
But despite the rise of fibre, FWA is sure to remain a complementary technology for many years to come, particularly in hard-to-reach areas where deploying fibre is unfeasible.
This increase in FWA’s popularity is not a purely US phenomenon. In India, for example, Bharti Airtel recently launched the country’s first 5G FWA offering, noting that just 34 million of the 303 million households in the country currently had access to fibre and so presented a major opportunity for FWA.
How is the rise of FWA impacting the US broadband market? Join the operators in discussion at Connected America 2024
Also in the news:
Dish seeks extension for purchase of T-Mobile’s low-band spectrum
Battle for Ethiopia’s mobile money market begins as Safaricom’s M-Pesa takes on TeleBirr
What’s in a name? 6G Internet falls foul of advertising regulator over consumer confusion
Two FTTH expansion projects and one new SMB customer win: … [visit site to read more]
Keep up-to-date with all the latest news, articles, event and product updates posted on Developing Telecoms.
Subscribe to our FREE weekly email newsletters for the latest telecom info in developing and emerging markets globally.
This week, Dish has confirmed to the FCC that it intends to purchase spectrum in the 800MHz band from T-Mobile, saying that it will play a key role in accelerating their 5G network coverage.
“As Dish continues to deploy and increase coverage with this first-of-its-kind network, it will expand the availability of competitive services offered to both consumer and business customers,” said Dish in the filing. “The 800MHz spectrum licenses contemplated by this transaction will substantially enhance Dish’s ability to do so.”
The purchase relates to the Sprint–T-Mobile merger back in 2020, with Dish having agreed to build out its own 5G network and become a national mobile operator as part of the deal to appease regulatory authorities. As part of this process, the mobile newcomer was given the option to pay T-Mobile $3.59 billion for a 13.5MHz block of nationwide spectrum in the 800MHz band.
If Dish instead decided not purchase these spectrum licences from T-Mobile, it will owe the latter $72 million.
While unable to offer the same level of 5G performance as mid-band (C-band) spectrum, this low-band spectrum was nonetheless seen as invaluable for rolling out services due to its long-range.
The prearranged deadline for Dish to make its decision on the spectrum passed earlier this year, with the two companies locked in negotiations for many months.
Now, the filing from both Dish and T-Mobile to the FCC indicates that the spectrum purchase will indeed go ahead, though the exact financial details of the deal have not been revealed.
However, there is a catch: Dish is asking the US government that it be given ten more months to make the requisite payments to T-Mobile.
The company argues that the global economic downturn has made paying for the spectrum more difficult than anticipated.
“The dramatic increase in interest rates has made it significantly more expensive for Dish to finance a purchase of the 800MHz Spectrum Licenses, rendering its ability to responsibly do so within the timeline provided by the Final Judgment substantially more difficult than Dish – or other parties to the Final Judgment – ever could have anticipated,” Dish told the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Indeed, Dish’s finances have been strained for some time, with the company currently carrying around $21 billion in debt.
The company recently announced that it would merge with its previous parent company EchoStar, in a move largely seen as an effort to bolster the company’s balance sheet.
T-Mobile has not said whether it will oppose the requested extension.
How will the growth of Dish’s 5G network impact the US wireless market? Join the operators in discussion at Connected America 2024 live in Dallas, Texas
Also in the news:
Sky Business considers buying up TalkTalk B2B unit
Australian govt launches Telecommunications Disaster Resilience Innovation programme
SK Telecom to invest $100m in AI firm Anthropic
Keep up-to-date with all the latest news, articles, event and product updates posted on Developing Telecoms.
Subscribe to our FREE weekly email newsletters for the latest telecom info in developing and emerging markets globally.
Keep up-to-date with all the latest news, articles, event and product updates posted on Developing Telecoms.
Subscribe to our FREE weekly email newsletters for the latest telecom info in developing and emerging markets globally.
The data call was achieved using three FDD (frequency division duplex) bands combined with three TDD (time division duplex) bands in sub-6GHz, enabled by Ericsson RAN Compute hardware, state-of the-art carrier aggregation software, and innovative Advanced RAN Coordination functionality.
The 3FDD + 3TDD carrier aggregation testing was carried out in an Ericsson lab with a user equipment (UE) simulator. By combining FDD spectrum with TDD spectrum, more users can benefit from carrier aggregation gains.
In total, 400MHz of bandwidth was aggregated with FDD bandwidths ranging 20MHz to 50MHz to achieve the 5.7Gbps throughput. With six-component carrier capability, communications service providers can optimize use of network and spectrum assets to deliver higher data speeds and capacity that improve the experience of downlink-heavy applications. This can mean better audio and video quality for streaming users, faster file downloads, and a better working environment for digital nomads.
Sibel Tombaz, Head of Product Line 5G RAN at Ericsson Networks, says: “We are keeping the momentum on carrier aggregation by continuously stretching its potential to boost capacity and speed. Our successful 6CC data call shows how versatile our solution is and that we are poised to work with ecosystem partners to make this new band combination a reality. Our goal, as always, is to help customers meet end users’ growing appetite for high-capacity, ultrahigh-speed 5G.”
“Carrier Aggregation is crucial to getting the best possible 5G performance out of scattered spectrum assets,” Tombaz adds. “And with 6CC, service providers will be able to maximize use of allocated spectrum and optimize the combined bandwidth for superior mobile experience.”
Also in the news:
Sky Business considers buying up TalkTalk B2B unit
Australian govt launches Telecommunications Disaster Resilience Innovation programme
SK Telecom to invest $100m in AI firm Anthropic
The Asia Pacific stop of Huawei Network Summit (HNS) 2023 was held successfully in Jakarta, Indonesia. With the theme of “Innovations Never Stop”, HNS attracted more than 800 customers and partners from Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, and many other Asia Pacific countries.
At HNS, Leon Wang, President of Huawei’s Data Communication Product Line, delivered a keynote speech titled “Innovations Never Stop”, shedding light on how Huawei’s Intelligent Cloud-Network Solution takes network quality to new levels. Specifically, Huawei further enhances its CloudCampus, CloudFabric, and CloudWAN solutions from the perspectives of experience, intelligence, and convergence, respectively. On top of that, Huawei unveiled many groundbreaking products, including a first-of-its-kind experience assurance card (used on flagship campus switches), CloudEngine 16800-X (a 400GE data center network switch), NetEngine F8/M14 (converged transport routers), and iMaster NCE Network Digital Map. All of these offerings empower networks with innovations and unleash digital productivity at an accelerated pace.
Launching Huawei’s groundbreaking network innovations
Leon Wang pointed out that Asia Pacific countries attach great importance to digital transformation and therefore greatly accelerate digital transformation across diverse industries. Against this backdrop, data communication networks — a cornerstone for digitalization — need to constantly innovate to meet diversified needs of industries. For example, as governments accelerate digital transformation, there is a huge demand for HD video conferencing to ensure seamless communication experience. Likewise, the finance industry is digitally evolving to Bank 4.0. As such, multi-cloud and multi-vendor become the new norm, requiring data center network operations and maintenance (O&M) capabilities to be constantly upgraded. Another example is the Internet service provider (ISP) sector. ISPs need to provide high-quality network support capabilities to assist enterprises as they enter a period of rapid growth and increasingly demand stable services and bandwidth growth.
Leon Wang, President of Huawei’s Data Communication Product Line, delivering a keynote speech
In response, Huawei constantly innovates its Intelligent Cloud-Network Solution by enhancing CloudCampus, CloudFabric, and CloudWAN from the perspectives of experience, intelligence, and convergence, respectively.
Looking ahead, Huawei will continue to innovate and overcome technical bottlenecks through more R&D investments. Furthermore, Huawei will keep aligning best-in-class products and solutions with customers’ future business development. Doing so will help a wide range of industry customers to bridge technical divides and stay ahead of the competition. Huawei’s extensive training and communication platforms help customers gain fresh insight into leading products and solutions, and explore unique ways to unleash digital productivity.
Vincent Liu, President of Huawei’s Enterprise Network Marketing & Solution Sales Dept, announcing the IP Club member program
At HNS, Vincent Liu, President of Huawei’s Enterprise Network Marketing & Solution Sales Dept, announced the kick-off of the first IP Club member recruitment program in the Asia Pacific region, recruiting more than 350 members during the event.
IP Club is an IP industry peer communication platform initiated by Huawei. IP Club members can enjoy diversified member-only activities, such as in-person technical workshops, face-to-face meetings with industry experts, IP Club Carnival, and peer interaction in the online community. The IP Club program helps build an IP industry community in the Asia Pacific region that unites more IP industry experts and opinion leaders. To date, Huawei has brought together over 2800 IP Club members worldwide.
