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.
Beginning May 2, AT&T will launch AT&T Turbo, a new service that will enhance wireless connectivity, for $7 per month.
In a press release, the operator stated that the service “allows users the choice to optimize their network when they want by adding additional network resources to their mobile data connection”.
The service is touted as ideal for mobile applications such as gaming, video broadcasting and video conferencing. When every millisecond counts, the new Turbo service can offer less freezing and lower latency.
The Turbo add-on will increase a customer’s level of “priority” on the network. Networks offer various “Quality of Service Class Identifiers” (QCIs) which determine which users get priority access and faster speeds. A lower number is a better QCI.
With AT&T Turbo, the operator will exercise their ability to adjust a user’s QCI and bump Turbo customers’ service up a notch. Turbo customers will get QCI 7, while other plans sit at QCI 8. An AT&T official noted that “setting QCI levels is not like changing a radio channel. It includes advanced and complex technologies”.
AT&T customers can easily enable or remove the add-on. By using the company’s app or online, customers can add Turbo to eligible plans and remove it when they don’t want it. Once Turbo is enabled, the higher priority service will be available immediately. The service will not use standalone (SA) 5G technology, but will require users to have a 5G-capable phone.
The press release announcing the Turbo launch made explicit reference to the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) newly re-instated net neutrality rules. The statement specifies that “consistent with open Internet principles, once turned on the boost applies to a customer’s data regardless of the Internet content, applications and services being used”.
AT&T has gone further to clarify that Turbo will not run afoul of net neutrality rules. A spokesperson stated that network slicing is not involved. Ahead of the FCC’s net neutrality vote, AT&T and other wireless providers had requested the agency to avoid rules that might prevent services like network slicing.
Network slicing allows operators to offer varied service tiers over dedicated portions of their networks. This requires SA 5G technology and is in the early stages of being rolled out by some operators. In the FCC’s final net neutrality rules, there was no specific mention of network slicing.
Despite the lack of clarity about the future of network slicing, AT&T has already hinted that it has big plans for enhancing customer experience. While this may not necessarily involve network slicing, the operator stated that it plans to “continue to advance and evolve AT&T Turbo”.
Cox Communications had launched a similar “Elite Gamer” service in 2020. This add-on also cost $7 per month and offered customers the opportunity to improve the connection between their home internet service and video game servers by up to 32%. Cox discontinued the service in late 2023, citing lower than expected demand.
Given the potential for changes to internet regulation after the 2024 presidential election, and the failure of Cox’s service booster add-on, there is some uncertainty about AT&T Turbo’s future.
Keep up to date with all the latest telecoms news from around the world with Total Telecom’s daily newsletter.
Also in the news:
T-Mobile and EQT form JV to buy Lumos
Korean Air shows off comprehensive urban air mobility system backed by 5G
Virgin Media O2 reaches plastic waste milestone
In interesting news at midweek, a new campus, an SMB offer, a capacity upgrade, and a new PoP: … [visit site to read more]
BT Group’s startup incubation arm, Etc., has upcycled a now obsolete BT street cabinet in East Lothian, Scotland, into an electric vehicle (EV) charging point.
This is the first installation as part of a wider initiative aiming to explore the feasibility of using BT Group’s existing street cabinets for EV charging, helping to address the country’s shortage of vehicle charging infrastructure.
The charger in East Lothian has been deployed as part of an initial pilot scheme allowing residents to use the charger for free until the end of the month.
The pilot program is set to expand West Yorkshire in the near future, with plans to ultimately test 600 sites across the UK.
EV drivers can access the charging point via an app, which allows drivers to find available charging points, monitor charging sessions, and view charging history.
In Scotland specifically, there are only 5,052 EV chargers, an amount which, according to BT, is unable to meet the current demand. The repurposing of street cabinets could provide up to 4,800 additional chargers in Scotland, nearly doubling the available infrastructure.
Consumer adoption of EVs is that being greatly hindered by this lack of charging infrastructure, with BT noting that 78% of petrol and diesel car drivers see not being able to easily charge an EV as a barrier to purchase.
The UK government aims to increase EV charging points in the UK from 53,000 to 300,000 by 2030, a plan they say will cost the country £1.6 billion. In 2022, when this aim was announced, this tied in with the government’s decision to ban the sale of internal combustion engine vehicles by 2030, although this has now been pushed back five years.
“It’s critical that we start looking at existing infrastructure to drive innovation at speed,” said Tom Guy, Managing Director at Etc. in a press release.
“These trials present a unique opportunity to tap into existing assets to drive the important transition to electrification in the UK, and we’re proud to be working with local councils in East Lothian and more widely across the UK at this critical stage to play our part,” he continued.
Join us at this year’s Connected Germany event, 5-6 November in Munich. Get tickets here!
Also in the news:
Transpacific Honomoana cable to be extended to New Zealand
SES to buy Intelsat for $3.1bn
Generation Hack: Breaking the telecom innovation age code
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.
