News

At this year’s Submarine Networks EMEA event, the European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA) showcased many of the projects funded by the first round of its Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Digital programme, as well as sharing guidance on how potential applicants can apply for funding

First announced back in 2021, the European Commission’s Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Digital Programme aims to leverage both private and public funding to support the digital infrastructure projects across the bloc.

CEF Digital will improve, secure, and nurture innovation via numerous connectivity infrastructure projects, spanning from gigabit-capable fixed networks to 5G mobile networks, and even submarine cable systems across Europe. These actions will receive more than €1 billion in funding between 2021 and 2023, with HaDEA managing more than €710 million.

The first set of calls for proposals was launched in January 2022 with a total budget of €258 million earmarked for five calls. Under the call on Backbone connectivity for Digital Global Gateways, HaDEA manages the following projects:

Works (Total EU contribution: €64.4 million)

Studies (Total EU contribution: €17.6 million)

The conference saw the European Commission’s Head of Unit, Investment in High-Capacity Networks, DG Connect, Franco Accordino explore some of these projects in a News in Brief session. He also later spoke on a panel session focussed on funding subsea infrastructure through public-private partnerships.

If you want to learn more about these projects and how to apply for EU funding, click here

Also in the news:
Tusass: Connecting Greenland’s remote communities
Watchdog hits Eir with €2.45m fine for overcharging customers
SENSE: Nokia and Citymesh launch national drone network in Belgium

News

The guidelines aim to provide more transparency for customers when they sign up to mobile or broadband contracts, making it clearer that prices could increase and by how much

At the start of this year, following the publication of Office of National Statistics inflation data, most of the UK’s mobile and broadband operators confirmed that they would be increasing their contract prices in line with inflation – at average of 14.4%.

This announcement sparked Ofcom to launch a review of inflation-linked mid-contract telecoms price rises, with the regulator’s initial studies showing that around a third of mobile and broadband customers were unaware that their provider could change the price of their contract.

In addition, the study showed that, even amongst those that knew prices could be increased, only around half understood how this would be calculated. Indeed, among all customers, less than half understood what metrics like CPI (Consumer Price Index) and RPI (Retail Price Index) actually measure.

Now, following its own consultation, the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP), part of the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA), has published new guidance on the matter of pricing transparency, hoping to stop consumers being stung by these unanticipated and misunderstood price increases.

The primary focus of these guidelines is on the ways in which telcos communicate with their customers, calling on them to display the price increase information more clearly rather than burying it in the fine print.

More specifically, the guidelines call for ads to use plain language and to display the possibility of a price rise with equal prominence as the price claim. For example, using an asterisk to include this information more than one ‘step’ below the pricing claim, or linking to a separate web page to explain this possibility, is unlikely to comply with these new guidelines.

The full guidelines can be found here.

If service providers fall afoul of these guidelines, they could face legal ramifications from the ASA.

The new guidance will take affect from December 15 2023, allowing the service providers a six-month grace period to comply.

Most of the telecoms industry moved forward with the planned price hikes in April, with some notable exceptions such as Hyperoptic.

Are operators being transparent enough when it comes to consumer contract pricing? Join the telecoms ecosystem in discussion at this year’s Connected Britain event

Also in the news:
Final bids for TIM’s fibre network expected tomorrow
Let’s talk about the symbiotic relationship between data centers and submarine cables
Mexico’s high 5G spectrum price could see Telcel the only bidder in latest auction

This Industry Viewpoint was authored by Josh Tsui CEO of Floship

Manufacturers, businesses, and all organizations in the telecom supply chain have had to constantly develop groundbreaking solutions to maintain the production of high-quality goods due to rising costs and limited access to raw materials, especially since the onset of the pandemic. As a result, traditional linear supply chain strategies have given way to new ones that offer optimized operation flow, green options, and a smooth delivery experience with reduced cost. A new kind of supply chain known as circular supply chain has begun to benefit … [visit site to read more]

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News

EE has unveiled a new look for its flagship store, located in Westfield London, White City.

‘The EE Studio’ is a 4,230-square-foot retail space and is the first of EE’s new “Experience” stores. Three more ‘Experience’ stores will also be opening in the coming months in Cardiff, Manchester Trafford Centre, and Bluewater.

The launch of ‘The EE Studio’ is a key part of the company’s new retail strategy. Bridget Lea, Managing Director of Commercial, EE described the new store as the “antithesis of the traditional mobile store”.

The retail space includes experience zones including the Welcome Zone, a dynamic shopfront with a changeable digital window canvas; a Digital Spa, aimed to show customers how to better balance their technology use; a Gaming Zone; a Stage which will host events, pop-ups, and skills workshops; and a Tech area for showcasing new devices and products. There are also various room sets displaying technology applications in kitchen, children’s bedroom, and home office settings.

The store has been designed to be inclusive and “welcoming for all”, explained Lea. She also added that EE are working with partners to make the space accessible to the local community.

Speaking at the new store this morning, BT Group’s CEO Consumer, Marc Allera described the store as “a glimpse into the new world of EE” and the company’s renewed brand identity. EE’s new strategy will see the company focus on more than just delivering the best connectivity for customers and will see the brand focus on supporting customers to better understand how to navigate an increasingly complex digital world.

When asked about yesterday’s announcement of a planned merger between Vodafone and Three in the UK, Allera was confident about the strength of EE’s brand commenting: “We’re treading our own path and our own plan. The great thing is that we’re many years into an integration and they’re very hard things to execute. When you have big brands, big customer bases, IT, cultures, everything is different. What you’re starting to see now is the fruits of many years of hard work to pull those capabilities together to create something that’s stronger than when we were apart…Our belief is that we’re in a really strong position if you think of our assets; we’ve got the best fixed network, the best mobile network and when you think about the experiences you can create with bringing mobile and fixed networks together, we get really excited about that”.

Startup Hello Space, described as Turkey’s first commercial ‘pocketqube’ satellite venture, has launched what it describes as the world’s tiniest satellite – with the help of SpaceX.

Hello Space aims to send a pocketqube constellation into space and offer uninterrupted end-to-end IoT data services from space to businesses in agriculture, logistics, energy industries, and many more.

Istanbul, the first Hello Space, test pocketqube, with dimensions of 5cm x 5cm x 5cm, was launched into space this week from California, with the SpaceX Falcon-9 Transporter-8 mission.

Established in May 2022, Hello Space completed software and hardware production followed by a space launch in under 13 months. Concurrent with the pocketqube satellite production process, the Hello Space Ground Station was built to serve as the management and control center for the pocketqube satellite constellation.

Through its advanced narrowband data communication technology, Hello Space will provide continuous and reliable data services globally by providing coverage from space. Hello Space will be able to offer IoT services, even in remote areas with low population density and uncovered regions such as oceans and remote but significant agricultural lands.

If everything goes to plan, the services offered will include the provision of location data from containers shipped in the ocean, humidity data from remote agricultural lands, and end-to-end temperature data in long-distance cold-chain food logistics. Consistent, accurate data from space will improve the efficiency of businesses, says Hello Space.

Hello Space says is now getting ready for the deployment of four new test pocketqube satellites, planned to be launched in October 2023.

News

Dutch-based United Group is working with US-based Parallel Wireless to trial Open Radio Access Network (ORAN) technology in Bulgaria on the Vivacom network.

Vivacom is a major MNO in Bulgaria and is one of eight countries in which United Group operates. Collectively the group services more than 15 million users and has nearly 15,000 employees.

The trial in Bulgaria is a combination of lab testing and field testing on Vivacom’s existing network and seeks to demonstrate successful implantation of ORAN networks in both urban and rural environments. The aim is to showcase that ORAN across 2G, 4G, and 5G can deliver equivalent or improved performance compared to traditional radio access networks (SRAN).

Vivacom CEO, Nikolay Andreev, flagged that “ORAN brings opportunities for greater vendor diversity and much-needed innovation in the mobile radio network sector,” and further commented “This technology will provide flexibility and competitiveness for operators, and improved services for customers. We hope this trial will be the first step in delivering ORAN technology to Bulgaria.”

Steve Papa, Founder & CEO of Parallel Wireless commented that “Bulgaria is a great place to showcase the benefits of ORAN demonstrating its flexibility and agility, allowing United Group & Vivacom the freedom to choose its vendors without being locked in with one specific vendor”

The Netherlands is not only HQ for United Group but is also the location of this years Total Telecom Congress. Join us for the Technology Congress on the 22 November for the panel discussion “Open RAN for network efficiency and better services”. Find out more at totaltele.com/congress