PRESS RELEASE

UK broadband providers may be inaccurately valuing their businesses by up to 20 percent because they don’t have the right oversight of their networks, leaders of the UK’s alt net sector have been told today.

The industry’s typical approach to the designing, building and operating of a fibre network can result in poorer quality of data being gathered, this is because of the multiple systems that are used across the network lifecycle. The lack of an integrated network information system can also cause delays to build and, ultimately, lost revenue.

“The traditional approach to the lifecycle management of a network is silo based. This means different people, sometimes from different companies, are using different systems throughout the lifecycle. This process is error prone, lacks efficiency, and lowers the quality of the data for every step”, said Digpro’s Joel Pirard at the annual INCA Conference in Liverpool.

Inefficient data collection can cause inaccurate network potential valuations and estimates of how much capital needs to be invested into the network. According to Mr Pirard, this can lead to value under or over estimations of up to 20 percent. Inaccurate valuations can also cause problems like under or overvalued bids for networks.

“To avoid this, companies should embrace a Digital Twin for their network”, said Mr Pirard. “A Digital Twin creates a simulated replica of the network and can provide much of the information that investors, for example, would want to know.”

The Digital Twin clearly provides the data for a network owner to explain what they have invested in. Additionally, an investor might want to know where the network is, how it is connected, who the end-customer is, and the committed uptime. A Digital Twin will provide that information in a structured way.

The network model is continuously refined by all parts of the business as it is being built and updated. It is also used to expand and improve the network. All of this matters when looking at the value of the network. This is also of great importance when analysing how much it will cost to expand the network versus the revenue it will bring in.

“The network model, and the Digital Twin created from it, is the heart of the fibre network business. It is incredibly useful for all sizes of suppliers, from the largest national companies to the smaller more local businesses, as well as regional alt nets. With the Digital Twin, UK broadband providers will not only be able to estimate what the network is worth today, but also how much it will be worth in the future”, said Mr Pirard.

PRESS RELEASE

Nearly 90% of federal agencies are planning to adopt 5G, according to a new study released by General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT), a business unit of General Dynamics. But agencies also face several challenges, including budget and cybersecurity concerns.

The research study, Enterprise to the Edge: Agency Guide to 5G, surveyed 500 officials from civilian, defense and intelligence agencies to analyze the progress the federal government is making to deploy 5G capabilities, the benefits and challenges agencies are expecting, and what mission impacts it will have. Of the 500 officials surveyed, 40% work at federal civilian agencies, 40% at defense agencies, and 20% at intelligence and homeland security agencies.

According to the research study, most federal agencies have begun their 5G journeys and understand its impact.

• 89% are planning to adopt 5G, with 44% already piloting or deploying 5G.
• As agencies establish 5G mission objectives, 23% expect that 5G will be highly impactful to their strategies in 2023, with that impact tripling within five years to 69%.
• More than half are making 5G an investment priority in 2023.

Digging deeper, the research found that federal agencies plan to use 5G in two general categories: networking and connectivity, and mission-enabling applications.

• In the near term, 77% of respondents said they planned to adopt 5G technology for improved network capability. Platform connectivity – connecting internet of things (IoT) devices to the enterprise – is second at 61%. Smart infrastructure – enabling intelligent decisions at the edge – ranks third at 50%.
• Over the long term, agencies are planning mission-enablement use cases. Command and control – taking an action quickly with low-latency data processing – ranks at the top (41%). Logistics and manufacturing – managing supply chain processes – is second at 28%.

“Many agencies are still developing use cases and identifying the enabling technology that will make 5G transformative for them,” said Ben Gianni, GDIT’s senior vice president and chief technology officer. “But they know their 5G future is coming. Agencies that identify their primary mission outcomes and relevant 5G uses cases will be better positioned to deploy the optimal 5G solution cost-efficiently and with minimal risk.”

The data also showed that agencies are anticipating myriad challenges with implementing and managing 5G technology.

• 91% cite costs and budget as a top concern.
• 87% are concerned about increased cybersecurity risks due to an expanded attack surface from more remote devices.
• 83% identify integrating 5G capabilities into the rest of the organization as a challenge.

While budget remains a concern, agencies are starting to make 5G a priority. Overall, 58% say 5G will be an investment priority in the next 12 months, with that number growing to 79% in the next 3 years.

“The move to 5G is significant with enormous potential, and it is crucial to keep the bigger picture in mind,” said Shuaib Porjosh, director for advanced wireless at GDIT. “Investing in 5G is not only an imperative for today, as previous networks like 3G are decommissioned, but it is also an investment in the technology of the future. 6G is not far behind 5G, and the sooner agencies can position themselves to take advantage of those opportunities, the more effective they will be at driving value from the technology.”

General Dynamics is a global aerospace and defence company that offers a broad portfolio of products and services in business aviation; ship construction and repair; land combat vehicles, weapons systems, and munitions; and technology products and services. General Dynamics employs more than 100,000 people worldwide and generated $38.5 billion in revenue in 2021. More information about General Dynamics Information Technology is available at www.gdit.com. More information about General Dynamics is available at www.gd.com.

5G progress and potential will form a keynote discussion at Connected America next March in Dallas. To join in the discussion, visit the website www.totaltele.com/connectedamerica

News

Optus had suggested to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) that they would make a better sharing partner for TPG

Back in February, TPG and Telstra struck a major network sharing agreement, set to provide both parties with key mobile assets they are currently missing; Telstra will allow TPG access to roughly 3,700 of its mobile towers in various parts of the country, with TPG in turn allowing Telstra to share 4G and 5G spectrum.

The operators heralded the deal as a boon for customers, with Telstra able to provide its customers with greater speeds and capacity, while expanding TPG’s 4G coverage from 96% to 98.8% of the country.

Not all of the market agreed, however, with the duo’s local rival Optus arguing that the move disincentivise them to invest in the more rural parts of Australia.

“This arrangement is not a sharing arrangement,” said Optus CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin earlier this summer. “It is an arrangement where TPG withdraws from rural Australia and gets access to a network owned and operated by Telstra, paying Telstra for every customer it onboards to Telstra’s network.”

Optus countered by proposing to the ACCC that they should be the preferred partner a potential network sharing agreement with TPG, suggesting that this would provide better value for customer and maintain market competition.

Last month, Optus said that a network sharing deal with TPG was a “real commercial likelihood” if the ACCC were to reject the TPG–Telstra deal.

The ACCC regulator has proved relatively receptive to these arguments, leading TPG and Telstra to propose some concessions in earlier this month – most notably reducing the length of the sharing deal from ten years to eight.

This week, however, TPG has kyboshed the suggests of teaming up with Optus instead, saying in a letter to the ACCC that Optus was simply outcompeted by Telstra in this regard and was now seeking to force a less favourable deal upon TPG.

“Now, having had the benefit of seeing the proposed transaction and its terms, Optus wishes to use the authorisation process to remove Telstra as a competitor in relation to network sharing and leave it free to impose a less attractive, alternative transaction on TPG,” read the letter, which noted that Optus had been in the process of formulating its own network sharing proposal with TPG when the Telstra deal was announced.

“In light of the above evidence, it would be a perverse outcome and dangerous precedent for a competitor in the position of Optus to ultimately be successful in having the ACCC reject an otherwise pro-competitive transaction by threatening to withdraw their investment in the face of increased competition.”

A decision by the ACCC is expected to be made by the end of the year.

Also in the news:
Vestager: Restricting “high-risk” vendors a “matter of urgency” for EU
UKRI selects BT consortium for intelligent drone project
IRIS cable set to link Iceland and Ireland

Press Release

Nokia and TPG Telecom today announced they have hit a 5G uplink speed of 2 Gigabits per second (Gbps). Using TPG Telecom’s 5G mmWave spectrum, this milestone was achieved during a live demonstration at the Nokia 5G Futures Lab in Sydney, Australia

The new Australian 5G uplink record, which follows on from a number of Australian 5G speed records announced by Nokia earlier in the year, will enable Nokia and its customers such as TPG Telecom to offer ultra-high-performing, low-latency services for Industrial and IoT applications which are heavily reliant on high-speed uplink connectivity. The solution is expected to be fully deployed next year as devices that support this capability become available.

The live demonstration involved a commercially available Nokia AirScale 5G mmWave base station utilising TPG Telecom’s 26 GHz spectrum to connect, over the air, to a 5G device powered by a Snapdragon® X65 5G Modem-RF System featuring fourth-generation Qualcomm® QTM545 mmWave antenna modules. Additionally, Nokia deployed its industry-leading Carrier Aggregation (CA) technology to fully leverage the available spectrum assets. The CA setup included four component carriers of 100 MHz each in the 26 GHz band.

The demonstration also leveraged Nokia’s 5G Core to provide the speed, intelligence, and security for testing the delivery of new advanced 5G services.

Once deployed, 5G mmWave technology will create new service opportunities for both consumers and industries. For consumers it will allow real-time multi-user 8K ultra-high-definition bi-directional video streaming, and augmented reality content for smartphones or wearable devices for immersive experiences.

For industries it will enable streaming of massive amounts of data directly from embedded IoT sensors and industrial robots over 5G, allowing the real-time control of industrial processes using powerful 5G connected Edge Compute Nodes. This concept of processor offload across 5G was also demonstrated at the event using “Spot” – the 5G connected Robot Dog – developed in conjunction with academics at the University of Technology Sydney.

Dr Robert Joyce, Chief Technology Officer at Nokia Oceania, said: “Super-fast uplink speeds are critical to fully realise the huge benefits of 5G networks, particularly as we look to emerging technologies like augmented intelligence, machine learning, advanced sensors and robotics that are set to transform industries and economies with huge safety, productivity and efficiency outcomes as we move towards the metaverse era. For consumers and industries alike, the future is exciting. Pushing the boundaries of 5G with innovative customers like TPG Telecom in Australia is a big part of this journey forward.”

Giovanni Chiarelli, Chief Technology Officer at TPG Telecom, said: “We are very proud of this achievement and other mobile technology innovations we continue to develop with Nokia. This demonstration is important as it shows the huge potential of 5G mobile technology and gives a glimpse of the high-speed services that will one day be available to customers and businesses right across Australia.”

News

Portugal’s National Communications Authority (Anacom) has issued punitive fines to the country’s four national mobile network operators due to their poor communication regarding price increases

This week, Anacom has issued over €15 million in fines to Meo (Altice Portugal), Nos, Vodafone, and Nowo, saying that they did not clearly communicate to customers that they could terminate their contracts before price increases were applied back in 2016.

The regulator said that the changes in prices had impacted “a high number of subscribers”, many of whom had not been suitably informed of the price increases until they were no longer able to cancel their contracts free of charge.

“In particular, the behaviour adopted by these operators is related to the lack of information, within the contractually foreseen period, on the right of subscribers to be able to terminate their contracts free of charge, in case they do not agree with the proposed price increase. by operators,” said Anacom in a translated statement.

Anacom also complained that in many cases customers were only informed that their contracts would increase in price but were not clearly told by how much.

As a result of this ruling, Anacom has fined Meo €6.7 million, Nos €5.2 million fine, Vodafone €3.1 million, and Nowo €664,000.

Nos, Vodafone and Meo have each said that they disagree with Anacom’s ruling and will legally contest the fines.

Also in the news:
Vestager: Restricting “high-risk” vendors a “matter of urgency” for EU
UKRI selects BT consortium for intelligent drone project
IRIS cable set to link Iceland and Ireland

PRESS RELEASE

Leeds based telco Northern Telecom has stepped in to rescue the business and assets of Toople Plc (and subsidiaries) in a deal with administrators FRP Recovery that closed on Friday..

Toople’s customer and reseller relationships (including customers of Toople and Direct Market Services Limited (DMSL)) will transition into the wider Northern Telecom group.

The transaction is the eighth for Northern Telecom in the last five years and secures provision of service for a range of small to medium sized business customers across the UK.

Toople PLC was listed on the London Stock Exchange in May 2016 and acquired DMSL in January 2020. Trading in shares was suspended on the 19th October. The deal sees the bulk of the assets and business of Toople return to private ownership.

Northern Telecom Group Operations Director Simon Rogers commented “The Toople business has underperformed over the last five years. A fundamentally flawed business model and questionable strategic decisions have masked what we believe to be a business with strong underlying financials. We’re delighted to welcome Toople customers into the wider group and we’re excited to enable the business to unleash its full potential”.

Northern Telecom Group Managing Director Jon Graves commented “We’re delighted to finalise another two acquisitions to supplement our growth this year. We look forward to supporting each customer with their IT & Telecoms requirements.”

Discover the north’s connected future. Join Total Telecom at Manchester Central on the 17 – 18 April 2023. totaltele.com/connectednorth

Related:
Connected North 2022 highlights video
Northern mayors talk levelling up frustration at Connected North

News

On Friday, Orange launched 5G in Botswana – the Group’s first commercial 5G launch in Africa.

In a briefing last week, Orange Botswana’s CEO, Nene Maiga, outlined details of the launch announcing that 30% of the population would be covered with 5G available in 2 major cities including Gaborone and Francistown. Further cities will be covered by the network in due course.

Orange is planning launches in approximately 6 additional countries in the MEA region in 2023. Regulatory agreements are currently be negotiated in Jordan, which is likely to be the next launch, followed by the Ivory Coast. Then, subject to agreeing the regulatory conditions, Senegal should follow.

According to Jerôme Henique, CEO of Orange Middle East and Africa, the Group sees 5G as an opportunity to complete their broadband portfolio in Africa. The limited availability and cost of 5G handsets is still a barrier to uptake of 5G in the continent, however Orange’s regional strategy will see the Group focus on connectivity for households through their 5G fixed broadband offering.

Offers will be available for residential customers, small and medium enterprises. The fixed offers are available from15Mbps for Prepaid and from 20Mbps for Postpaid with a monthly rental from BWP 699 (€53 per month).

Orange is also exploring the development of 5G use cases for enterprise customers in Africa with a particular focus on the mining industry and ports. Orange believes that the network of 5G labs, which the Group is opening in key locations in the MEA region, is a strong differentiator for Orange 5G. Henique said that the labs would be open to startups to develop new use cases which would prove beneficial for the local the local entrepreneur ecosystem.

VIEWPOINT

Maria Lema is the Co-Founder of Weaver Labs, an open and shared marketplace of connectivity assets.

Many things have been said about smart cities in the last few years. In fact, we can find various definitions of it just by looking into different perspectives such as applications and infrastructure. The reality is that this concept keeps changing and evolving as well as the problems to tackle and the technology to do so.

The definition that may be more suitable for this matter is the one that points out cities using ICTs and telecommunications infrastructure to improve the efficiency and quality of their citizens. In the end, these last two terms are the ones that rule the success of a Smart city.

But there is another core concept that is key when we talk about Smart cities: connectivity. According to the European Commission, connectivity refers to all those technologies and services that allow end-users to connect to a communication network. It encompasses an increasing volume of data, wireless and wired protocols and standards, and combinations within a single use case or location.

In other words, connectivity is the one that allows people, governments, and businesses to use the benefits of digital technology in various ways.

However, even though connectivity is the piece that allows a city to be smart, it is currently suffering from many challenges that put at risk the capability to cope with the future and its adversities. Among these challenges, two main groups stand out: the growing demand for connectivity and the technical & financial challenges.

The demand

According to the World Economic Forum, the share of the world’s population living in cities is expected to rise to 80% by 2050, from 55%. In fact, Ericsson estimated that 37 billion sensors and smartphones are expected to be connected to the mobile network by 2027.

These projections are alarming in telecommunications since there are currently no case studies that can solve this problem. One viable, scalable, and profitable solution is to open and diversify the supply chain.

That’s why at Weaver Labs, we are building Cell-Stack, a software stack created to integrate telecoms infrastructure to make it discoverable and easy to be consumed. We help integrate telecoms assets, whoever they belong to (public sector or private sector), make them accessible “as a service” through a single portal, and empower supply chain diversification.
Opening and sharing the current infrastructure model would expand the possibilities for industries to share infrastructure, innovation, and data, elements that make possible connectivity easy to be consumed.

The technical and financial challenge

The traditional model of telecommunications operations is built in silos. Making innovation, infrastructure, and data difficult to be shared across sectors. For example, it is common that a transport authority may invest in an advanced wireless infrastructure to support intelligent transport systems, but this infrastructure is then not reused for healthcare. This represents a waste of valuable resources, time, and money.

For the last few years we have learned that without public sector investment in telecoms, the deployment of infrastructure is slower and deficient. One example of this is that many rural areas and low-income urban areas do not provide a sufficient business rationale for FTTH deployments as the short-term commercial incentives for building this type of infrastructure.

To resolve these issues, it is essential to open the supply chain of telecoms. By doing so, we will be welcoming new investors and players that will help with the evolution of the industry and furthermore, bring connectivity to everyone as it should be.

Key takeaways:

Being a smart city means that cities put the well-being of citizens and business growth at the center of their strategy. A Smart city is the promise of a place that offers the best digital solutions and provides connectivity for everyone.

The most viable solution to cope with the connectivity demand is to open up and diversify the telecoms supply chain. This will prevent both infrastructure and data resources from being wasted. Likewise, it will encourage the arrival of new players and investors.

Connectivity is everything! There are no smart cities without connectivity just as there is no progress without it either. Connectivity is the glue of everything: from the possibility of applying for a job to sending a medical report from an ambulance to a hospital so that doctors and nurses are ready and vital time is saved.

Weaver Labs have participated in Startup Villages at Total Telecom events. We have opportunities for exciting young companies to join us for Connected America (Dallas, March 2023) and Connected North (Manchester, April 2023). Spaces are limited. 

News

The Russian operator says the Swedish vendor has refused to honour their commitments to provide equipment related to deals struck before the invasion of Ukraine

This week, Tele2 has launched a legal challenge against Ericsson, accusing the latter of failing to fulfil its contractual obligations.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022 saw immediate condemnation from the international community, who quickly drew up enormous economic sanctions against Russian businesses.

Over the following months, international businesses fled Russia in droves, with both of the major Western mobile equipment vendors, Nokia and Ericsson, announcing they would suspend their existing operations and take no further orders. Since then, both companies have announced their intention to exit the country by the end of the year, gradually winding down their remaining operations.

The exit of these vendors has caused a major headache for Russia’s mobile network operators, forcing them to become more dependent on alternative suppliers, such as Chinese vendors ZTE and Huawei or domestic equipment maker Rostec. MTS, Tele2, Veon, and MegaFon have all been reported as being heavily reliant on Nokia and Ericsson.

Now, Tele2 has revealed that it had been trying to negotiate with Ericsson for the past eight months over the company’s refusal to provide additional equipment, which Tele2 says violates the terms contracts signed before the invasion of Ukraine.

As such, the Russian operator has now filed a legal challenge against Ericsson with the Moscow Arbitration Court.

“We have initiated proceedings against Ericsson Corporation and Satel TVK due to the refusal of the companies to fulfil their obligations to provide equipment. Most of the undelivered equipment refers to orders made long before sanctions were imposed,” Tele2 told Reuters via a statement.

Satel TVK is a Russian company that supplies Tele2 with Ericsson equipment.

Ericsson has yet to comment on the matter.

Also in the news:
Remaining competitive in an evolving telco landscape
Wi-Fly: Could AFC improve rural connectivity?
BT warns of further job losses as soaring bills force bigger cost-cutting drive

Press Release

Nokia today introduced its pioneering Core SaaS for 5G to provide communication service providers (CSPs) and enterprises the option of running the heart of their network through a highly flexible, fully automated, scalable software model that enables greater business agility and faster time to value for delivering and monetizing network services.

Nokia Core SaaS allows operators and enterprises to move away from the legacy practice of deploying customized software that runs on private infrastructure; and to consume Nokia’s Core software, including 5G Packet Core, on demand through a more cost-effective subscription service that eliminates large up front capital expenditure and avoids the need to perform on-site software maintenance and updates.

Nokia Core SaaS begins with 5G Core services; trials are expected to commence shortly, and commercial availability is expected in the first half of 2023.

Nokia Core SaaS is the first complete 5G core solution to market with all core cloud-native network functions available through a SaaS delivery model.

Nokia is leading the 5G Standalone Core market, with over 70 CSP customers around the world. In addition, 25 of the top 40 CSPs by revenue rely on Nokia Core network products.

Roberto Kompany, Principal Analyst, Service Provider Networks at Omdia, said: “As telecom SaaS goes more mainstream, we are seeing more solutions offered in the marketplace that provide operators with much needed options for getting the most out of the network. Nokia’s launch of its Core SaaS offering through a subscription model today is a new dimension to telecom SaaS and I would expect to see more of this into 2023, as the marketplace more closely examines the potential benefits of going down this path.”

Fran Heeran, SVP & General Manager of Core Networks, Cloud and Network Services, at Nokia, said: “Nokia Core SaaS changes the way core networks are built, deployed and run, with important customer benefits that include Network on demand, speed to market, and easy and fast scaling, in an affordable way. Nokia Core SaaS is not the core network we’ve known for decades, but something entirely different. And this reflects the technology leadership Nokia continues to deliver to the market.”