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

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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

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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”.

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

News

The company aims to upgrade the companies’ existing hybrid fibre-coaxial (HFC) networks to fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP)

In summer last year, Belgian operator Telenet formed a partnership with utility company Fluvius to set up a fibre joint venture, aimed at deploying full fibre throughout the Flanders region.

The JV, then known simple as NetCo, would focus on upgrading the duo’s existing HFC networks in the region to full fibre, or to DOCSIS technology where FTTP would be unfeasible.

Telenet said that it would own 66.8% of the business, with Fluvius owning the remaining 33.2%.

Combined, the partners said they would invest up to €2 billion in the business over the following eight years to achieve the goal of providing everyone in Flanders with access to gigabit-capable broadband.

The JV received approval from the European Commission two weeks ago, paving the way for the company’s initial fibre deployments, which are scheduled to begin next month.

With this in mind, the company has now announced its new brand name: Wyre.

Aside from the obvious fibre-related pun, Wyre says that the ‘y’ in its name stands for ‘you’ – a reminder of the company’s pledge “to take everyone into the digital future”. A tenuous explanation, yes, but no doubt the title will be functional for SEO purposes.

Micha Berger (pictured), previously Telenet’s special projects lead, will serve as Wyre’s CEO.

In somewhat related news, Liberty Global formally began the process of buying out Telenet’s shares earlier this month, seemingly seeking to take advantage of the company’s depressed share price.

Join the telecoms community in discussion at this year’s Total Telecom Congress live in Amsterdam, the Netherlands

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News

The cyberattack against the UK telecoms regulator reportedly jeopardised the personal information of 412 employees, as well as confidential data from various companies that Ofcom regulates

Today, Ofcom has confirmed that it is among an increasing number of companies to fall victim to a ransomware attack by cybercriminal organisation Clop, thought to be based in Russia.

Over the past couple of weeks, numerous companies including the BBC, British Airways, and Boots have announced that they have had sensitive data stolen by the ransomware group, affecting over 100,000 staff in total. In some cases, the data accessed included sensitive payroll.

Now, Ofcom says that it too has fallen victim to this cyberattack, resulting in the personal information of 412 employees being accessed, as well as confidential data belonging to companies being regulated by Ofcom.

Payroll data was not accessed in Ofcom’s case, according to reports.

In the attack on Ofcom, as was the case for the previously announced attacks, the breach relates to vulnerabilities in MOVEit, software being used by organisations to transfer sensitive information.

Researchers reportedly discovered a critical vulnerability on this software back in May, with attempts to exploit this vulnerability reportedly being revealed just a month later. However, it seems these revelations came too late to stop Clop from targeting major companies around the world.

Nonetheless, Ofcom says it has reacted quickly to minimise the impact of the attack, as well as notifying the Information Commissioners Office.

“A limited amount of information about certain companies we regulate – some of it confidential – along with personal data of 412 Ofcom employees, was downloaded during the attack,” said Ofcom in a statement. “The security of commercially confidential and sensitive personal information provided to Ofcom is taken extremely seriously. We took immediate action to prevent further use of the MOVEit service and to implement the recommended security measures. We also swiftly alerted all affected Ofcom-regulated companies, and we continue to offer support and assistance to our colleagues.”

According to reports, Clop is threatening to begin publishing the sensitive data of affected companies later this week if they are not paid a ransom fee. The scale of the ransom has not been made public.

Ransomware attacks such as this have been increasing at a meteoric rate in recent years, fuelled by an influx of new cybercriminal organisations and the expansion of existing operations since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

“Cyber extortion activity has reached a new high in the first quarter of 2023 and the recent MOVEit data breach is a stark reminder that threat actors are always on the lookout to wreak havoc. In this case, companies using the MOVEit software became potential targets as it appears that hackers affiliated with the Cl0p group orchestrated a mass attack to find and compromise their servers,” explained Charl Van Der Walt, Head of Security Research at Orange Cyberdefense.

“Accounting for a staggering 36% of all victims in 2022, it is not surprising that large organisations are becoming a preferred target for cyber extortion due to handling thousands of pieces of personal data. Whilst this remains true in the case of the MOVEit breach, medium and small sized organisations are not safe either, as cyber criminals are opportunistic by nature.”

Is the global telecoms industry doing enough to protect their customers’ personal data from ransomware attacks? Join the telecoms community as they discuss the hottest issues in cybersecurity at this year’s Total Telecom Congress live in Amsterdam, the Netherlands

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Press Release

Cisco and AT&T announced new solutions to enhance connectivity and advance the calling landscape for hybrid workforces. Whether on the shop floor, the top floor, at the branch office, the home office, or the commute in between, the modern workforce is not tethered to a single space, device, or geography. With the new offerings, including Cisco’s Webex Calling and SD-WAN solutions alongside AT&T mobile network, businesses of any size can offer employees a simple, secure, consistent experience to thrive in any setting. 

Seamless, Flexible and Native Integration with Webex Calling

The companies today announced plans that will help ensure a seamless and reliable mobile-first collaboration experience, allowing users the flexibility to take calls across multiple devices while traveling for work, running errands, and more.

With the dramatic increase in the use of mobile phones as the primary business device, enterprises need connectivity solutions that are easy to manage, secure, and provide the flexibility and reliability desired for work from anywhere. This integration addresses this need with key features including:

• Single number mobile identity: Combining the capabilities of an AT&T wireless smartphone with the native integration of Webex Calling will provide greater functionality and flexibility for on-the-go communication.
• Reduce costs: This integration helps enterprise customers lower costs by reducing or eliminating the need for traditional fixed business lines.
• Crystal clear voice: AT&T Cloud Voice with Webex Go allows users to securely make and receive business calls using AT&T’s fast, reliable nationwide mobile network and seamlessly elevate calls to a fully immersive Webex collaboration experience across the Webex App and devices[1], with capabilities like closed captioning, noise removal, and white boarding.
• Fast, efficient, and secure collaboration: AT&T and Cisco’s joint solution will increase the ability to effectively and securely collaborate no matter the location, resulting in improved knowledge sharing and faster decision making.

AT&T Cloud Voice with Webex Go[2] will be available for all Webex Calling users from Cisco partners in the United States later this year.

SD-WAN Connectivity without Compromise

Demand for unified experiences over secure connectivity to the cloud and site-to-site continues to surge. Cisco and AT&T are working together to bring secure on-demand connectivity with SD-WAN over mobile 5G and fiber broadband to businesses of every size.

For small and medium businesses, AT&T is launching a new self-service option to simplify and accelerate SD-WAN deployment. Businesses can now easily connect, protect, manage, and scale their networks using AT&T Business Wi-Fi with Cisco Meraki.

For larger enterprises, AT&T SD-WAN with Cisco is a fully managed connectivity solution with embedded security and analytics. Enterprises can now confidently connect a user or device to any application in their multicloud using a secure access service edge (SASE)-enabled architecture. This delivers integrated security and application optimization for end-to-end visibility.

Cisco will also provide the ability to embed AT&T wireless connectivity into Cisco devices enabling zero touch provisioning for Cisco and AT&T customers, through AT&T Control Center powered by Cisco.

“The network is at the core of the modern workforce. The ability to get things done is no longer reliant on where you are, but how you are connected,” said Jonathan Davidson, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Cisco Networking. “Hybrid work only works when experiences are unified—simple, secure, and consistent. Together with AT&T, we are giving businesses what they need to securely connect everything and everyone—wherever they are. Because when everything is connected, then anything is possible.”

“Mobility is key to enabling hybrid work. Businesses want a seamless and reliable communication experience,” said Mike Troiano, Senior Vice President, Product & Pricing, AT&T. “At the heart of our collaboration with Cisco is a shared vision to empower organizations with secure connectivity, unmatched reliability, and deep network expertise. By deeply integrating our technology, businesses can be assured their communications are built on a solid foundation. Together we are unlocking new levels of productivity, agility, and connectivity— enabling teams to thrive in the modern work landscape.”

[1] Requires compatible device; not available in all areas.

[2] Customers will need to procure and pay for the required AT&T Wireless CRU Plan from AT&T or authorized AT&T partner and Webex Calling License and required Webex GO-M SKU from Webex Reseller/VAR.

News

On Thursday Mark Zuckerberg revealed his plans regarding AI to Meta employees during an all-hands meeting. An aggressive push forwards is based, he says, on “really incredible breakthroughs – qualitative breakthroughs – on generative AI” and in a statement to news platform Axios revealed that this gave the opportunity to “take that technology, push it forward, and build it into every single one of our products,”

In reality, this means that generative AI text, image and video generators will be integrated into existing products including Facebook and Instagram, as well as being included in new products such as the inhouse Metamate – a productivity assistant that takes information from internal company systems to answer queries and perform tasks.

For the consumer this could mean AI tools such as ChatGPT-style chatbots for Messenger and WhatsApp and an Instagram feature that could use text prompts to modify user photos.

As recently as last month, head of infrastructure Santosh Janardhan had admitted that despite high-profile investments in AI research Meta had “significant gap in our tooling, workflows and processes when it comes to developing for AI.” And went on to say that supporting AI needed Meta to “fundamentally shift our physical infrastructure design, our software systems, and our approach to providing a stable platform”.

According to The Verge, during the meeting, Zuckerberg also commented on his vision for headsets. He explained that he didn’t envisage a person sitting on a couch by themself, as per Apple demos, but instead saw a more social vision for the metaverse and presence that was “about people interacting in new ways and feeling closer”.

How can telco companies use the metaverse? Join David Palmer – Vodafone Business, Elmar Arunov – Deutsche Telekom, Cristina Bueti – International Telecommunication Union and Masarra Mohamed – IDC at this years Total Telecom Congress. FIND OUT MORE

VIEWPOINT

Digital Realty has been a proud sponsor of Submarine Networks EMEA for several years, showcasing its strong alignment to the subsea community. As a provider of carrier neutral data center facilities and Cable Landing Stations, Digital Realty plays a vital role in establishing the connectivity ecosystem.

In this interview, Wilfried Dudink, Senior Director – Strategy & Development at Digital Realty, emphasises the company’s relationship with the subsea community and the importance of the conference.

 [embedded content]

For more insights from the event: https://events.digitalrealty.com/submarinenetworksemeablog/totaltele

News

Reports suggest that private equity firm KKR could slightly increase its bid for TIM’s broadband network, while the CDP is unlikely to budge from its original offer

This week marks a major turning point Italy’s incumbent operator TIM, which will soon need to decide whether to move forward with the sale of its fibre network or else rethink its strategy.

At the start of 2022, TIM’s CEO Pietro Labriola outlined a new strategic plan to help the operator cut its roughly €30 billion in debt. Alongside various job cuts and other streamlining efforts, the plan included spinning off the company’s infrastructure into a separate NetCo to entice investment.

Interest in the would-be unit was immediate. US investment firm KKR – already a major stakeholder in the company’s ‘last mile’ network unit FiberCop – quickly presented TIM with a bid for the unit for an undisclosed sum. Shortly after, the state lender the Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP), one of TIM’s major investors, presented a counterbid in partnership with Macquarie Asset Management, prompting TIM to launch a formal auction for the NetCo.

KKR quickly increased its bid to €21 billion, eclipsing the CDP’s bid of €19.3 billion. Subsequent reports last month suggesting that the CDP would be unwilling to increase its own bid any further and could withdraw from the process altogether.

Now, the final deadline for bids for the unit is tomorrow, with insiders suggesting that the CDP’s bid remains broadly unchanged, while KKR may slightly increase.

But despite this bidding improvement, TIM is unlikely to be overjoyed at the prospect of a sale at this price. The operator’s key stakeholder Vivendi has strongly opposed the sale of the network unit under the current conditions, repeatedly suggesting that the company’s assets are being undervalued by up to €10 billion.

According to reports, TIM’s board is divided over whether to move forward with an offer or reject the bids in favour of re-evaluating their options.

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