News 

The deal will see over 60,000 Delta workflows transferred to T-Mobile  

This week, Delta Airlines has announced that it has chosen T-Mobile as its preferred mobility partner.  

The two companies have signed a long-term strategic partnership to bring 5G to Delta’s operations. 

The deal will see Delta move more than 60,000 workflows to T-Mobile, including devices used by flight attendants, customer agents, and ground crews on 5G-enabled smartphones, tablets, and other devices. According to Delta, this will allow for airport operations to be streamlined, from check-in to take-off. 

Delta will also deploy a T-Mobile 5G hybrid network at their headquarters in Atlanta, which will bring both indoor and outdoor 5G coverage to support the operations across the campus. 

Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. 

“Connecting the world also means harnessing world-class connectivity,” said Ranjan Goswami, SVP of Customer Experience Design, Delta Air Lines in a press release. 

“Our collaboration with T-Mobile is unlocking how we serve customers at each step of their journey and ensuring our people have all the information they need at their fingertips to deliver the elevated and welcoming experiences Delta is known for,” he continued. 

Also this week, T-Mobile announced the completion of a 5G network investment in Louisiana, which totalled $290 million. The network’s development included the deployment of 300 new cell sites and over 1,870 upgrades to existing sites.  

The move comes after the company announced that it would add new capacity to the country’s leading 5G network by activating the 2.5 GHz spectrum purchased in a 2022 auction. 

Keep up to date with the latest international telecoms news by subscribing to the Total Telecom daily newsletter 

Also in the news:
South Korea to invest $7 billion in AI semiconductors
Swisscom expands 5G partnership with Ericsson
Daisy Group set to acquire 4Com for £215m

Infinera GX Series Powers Paratus Superhighway Network Between Johannesburg and Europe

San Jose, Calif. – April 18, 2024 – Infinera (Nasdaq: INFN) announced today that Paratus Group, a leading network provider in Africa, deployed Infinera’s GX Series and FlexILS solutions to offer the lowest-latency express route between Johannesburg and Lisbon, delivering services with a latency of 123 milliseconds and supporting wavelengths up to 800G. Infinera’s solutions were deployed on the recently completed 1,890-km Paratus express fiber link between Johannesburg and Europe, via Botswana to Swakopmund, where it connects with the Equiano subsea cable from Namibia to Lisbon and on to London and the rest of Europe.

Paratus’ new superhighway offers network operators an unparalleled opportunity for capacity and redundancy where resilience and high-speed performance are required. This guarantees seamless data flow, efficient communications, and uninterrupted services. Paratus is the landing partner for the Equiano subsea cable, which offers diverse routing and geographically separated paths. Deploying Infinera’s solutions mitigates possible cable station faults and ensures the network remains intact and fully functional around the clock.

“As a steadfast partner on the ground in Africa, Paratus offers unrivalled wholesale capacity solutions for network operators, as exemplified by our advanced technology from Infinera, our infrastructure, and our commitment to offering redundancy,” said Martin Cox, Paratus Group Chief Commercial Officer.

“Our continual investment in creating Africa’s quality network is now extended with the live launch of this superhighway powered by Infinera’s industry-leading technology. This is an exciting time for network operators in South Africa because they can now enjoy the fastest and most robust connectivity from Africa to Europe,” said CEO of Paratus Group, Schalk Erasmus.

“Deploying Infinera’s GX networking solution enables Paratus to leverage the industry’s highest-capacity solution to offer its customers high-performance services while minimizing latency and maximizing reliability,” said Nick Walden, Senior Vice President, Worldwide Sales, Infinera. “We are pleased to work with Paratus to launch these new services to the region.”

Contacts:

About Infinera

Infinera is a global supplier of innovative open optical networking solutions and advanced optical semiconductors that enable carriers, cloud operators, governments, and enterprises to scale network bandwidth, accelerate service innovation, and automate network operations. Infinera solutions deliver industry-leading economics and performance in long-haul, submarine, data center interconnect, and metro transport applications. To learn more about Infinera, visit www.infinera.com, follow us on X and LinkedIn, and subscribe for updates.

Infinera and the Infinera logo are registered trademarks of Infinera Corporation.

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including but not limited to the operational and performance benefits of Infinera’s GX Series and FlexILS solutions. These statements are not guarantees of results and should not be considered as an indication of future activity or future performance. Actual results may vary materially from these expectations as a result of various risks and uncertainties. Information about these risks and uncertainties, and other risks and uncertainties that affect Infinera’s business, is contained in the risk factors section and other sections of Infinera’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the Fiscal Quarter ended September 30, 2023 as filed with the SEC on February 29, 2024, as well as any subsequent reports filed with or furnished to the SEC. These reports are available on Infinera’s website at http://www.infinera.com and the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding our expectations, beliefs, intentions, or strategies and can be identified by words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “should,” “will,” and “would” or similar words. Infinera assumes no obligation to, and does not currently intend to, update any such forward-looking statements.

News 

This week, Ericsson has released its first quarter financial results for 2024, which showed profits had risen despite a decline in sales 

In spite of a 14% decline in sales, largely driven by a decrease in Networks sales (-19%), Ericsson achieved a gross margin improvement to 42.7%. 

The company attributed this lift to its product portfolio strength and ongoing cost-efficiency measures (which includes significant job cuts). 

“We maintained our leading market position, but as expected our customers continued to exercise caution with their investments,” said Börje Ekholm, President and CEO, noting this is mainly due to uncertain economic conditions and current high interest rates.  

It is the same reason the company expects the RAN market to decline further, at least until the end of the year. 

“Against this tough market backdrop, we delivered solid expansion in gross margins. This underscores the competitiveness of our solutions, our commercial discipline, and our actions on costs,” Ekholm continued.  

Share price rose by 6% in early trading on Tuesday morning. 

“For the rest of the year, we expect the mobile networks market to remain weak,” said Ekholm in the earnings call.  

“If current trends persist, we expect our sales to stabilize during the second half of the year,” citing “recent contract wins and the normalisation of customer inventory levels in North America”.  

In December, Ericsson beat its close rival Nokia into securing a $14 billion Open Ran deal with AT&T. The partnership will mean that Ericsson will carry 70% AT&T’s wireless traffic by the end of 2026.    

Nokia noted its “disappointment” in the deal’s outcome, but both companies are still grappling with cost-cutting. Nokia recently announced that it would cut 14,000 jobs to shrink costs by up to €1 billion by 2026, and Ericsson are set to cut 8,500 jobs this year. 

Want to keep up to date with all of the latest international telecoms news? Sign up for Total Telecom’s daily newsletter  

Also in the news:
South Korea to invest $7 billion in AI semiconductors
Swisscom expands 5G partnership with Ericsson
Daisy Group set to acquire 4Com for £215m

News

Internet providers are preparing their post-ACP game plans

The end of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) is fast approaching and providers and consumers alike are preparing for their next steps.

In early 2022, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) launched ACP to replace the Emergency Broadband Benefit. The program provided eligible households $30 per month towards internet service ($75/month for those on qualifying Tribal land). Some households could also receive a one-time discount on purchasing a laptop, desktop, or tablet.

Now, the end of the ACP is imminent, unless Congress allocates additional funds. The program has less than $1.8 billion remaining, meaning that April is the last month in which operators will be able to provide the full $30 per month benefit with the program’s funding. In May, operators can choose to discontinue the benefit, or to put in place their own subsidized plans.

In a statement released on April 9^th, 2024 the FCC indicated that the maximum benefit providers should expect to receive in May is $14 per ACP customer, or $35 per qualifying Tribal customer. The FCC stopped accepting new ACP enrollments in February.

Several providers have already outlined the strategies they will take to “keep consumers connected at this crucial time”, as urged by the FCC.

Verizon will offer home internet for as low as $20/month through “Verizon Forward”. New Verizon Forward customers will pay $0/month for the first 6 months they are enrolled.

AT&T will continue offering its “Access from AT&T” plan which provides 100 Megabit speeds for $30/month. With the ACP’s $30 discount, this plans was previously free for some customers.

With home internet from $9.95/month, Comcast’s “Internet Essentials” plan will continue to provide a low-cost connectivity option. Additionally, customers can transfer their ACP benefit to some plans.

Charter, who was “far and away” the largest provider in the ACP program, has not made specific announcements about ACP replacements or alternatives. However, some customers who were using the ACP benefit may be eligible for Spectrum’s Internet Assist Plan. This offers 50 megabit internet for $24.99/month.

Through August 2024, Fastwyre Broadband will continue to provide the $30 ACP benefit (and $75 benefit for those on Tribal lands) at its own expense. This applies to their existing ACP customers.

A number of other providers offer discounted plans for qualifying families, some from $10 per month. The Lifeline program will continue to provide a benefit, though it is smaller than that provided by the ACP. There are also a number of charitable organizations that can offer assistance with monthly internet costs or provide internet-enabled devices like laptops or tablets.

While there is bipartisan support for extending the ACP and there have been calls from ISPs, government bodies, and advocacy groups to provide additional funding, it seems increasingly unlikely that the program will continue.

Currently, more than 23 million households rely on the ACP to access the internet. The COVID-19 pandemic made it more clear than ever that a reliable, fast internet connection is crucial for participating fully in modern life. Without the extension of ACP or a comprehensive alternative, millions of Americans face being excluded from a host of opportunities.

Are network operators doing enough to shift the tackle the digital divide in America? Join the discussion live in Houston at this year’s Broadband Communities Summit

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South Korea to invest $7 billion in AI semiconductors
Swisscom expands 5G partnership with Ericsson
Daisy Group set to acquire 4Com for £215m

News 

The investment cements Abu Dhabi and the wider United Arab Emirates (UAE)’s position as a global AI hub 

Microsoft and UAE-based AI company G42 have announced a strategic partnership to accelerate AI innovation in the UAE and neighbouring regions.  

The partnership involves a $1.5 billion investment in G42 from Microsoft, giving them an unspecified minority stake in the company.  

Brad Smith, Microsoft’s Vice Chair and President, will also join G42’s board of directors.  

The focus of the partnership is to innovate and deliver advanced AI solutions supported by Microsoft Azure across various industries, including finance, healthcare, energy, government, and education. 

Specifically, Microsoft will give G42 permission to sell Microsoft services that use AI chips and in return, G42 will use Microsoft’s cloud platform to run its AI applications. 

“The commercial partnership is backed by assurances to the US and UAE governments through a first-of-its-kind binding agreement to apply world-class best practices to ensure the secure, trusted, and responsible development and deployment of AI,” read the press release. 

The partnership also includes initiatives to train AI talent through a $1 billion fund for developers, promoting skills development and fostering innovation in emerging markets. 

“Through Microsoft’s strategic investment, we are advancing our mission to deliver cutting-edge AI technologies at scale. This partnership significantly enhances our international market presence, combining G42’s unique AI capabilities with Microsoft’s robust global infrastructure,” said G42 CEO Peng Xiao in a press release. 

The ongoing US-China power struggle for the UAE 

‘This investment takes place against the backdrop of both the US and China attempting to grow their influence in the UAE’s flourishing technology industry’. The deal has been finalised in close collaboration with both the US and UAE governments to ensure that G42 is fully compliant with US regulations.  

President Biden’s government has been notably concerned over increasing closeness between The Gulf Cooperation Council and China, a relationship which would potentially limit companies in the Middle East from being trusted partners in the US.  

Back in January, Representative Mike Gallagher (R-WI), Chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, expressed concerns that G42 had links to Chinese firms blacklisted by the US government, including Huawei, which G42 denied.  

Then, in February, G42 announced its intention to divest in its Chinese businesses interests, a move G42 explained as an effort to reassure US partners, who include US private equity firm Silver Lake, of data sovereignty.  

The size of the divestments was not disclosed, but stakes included an estimated $100m in ByteDance, owner of TikTok.  

Speaking to the Financial Times, Xiao said “For better or for worse, as a commercial company, we are in a position where we have to make a choice. We cannot work with both sides.” 

The New York Times’ report adds that the deal today puts protections on the AI materials Microsoft may share with G42. These include an agreement for G42 to remove Chinese equipment from their operations, including Huawei equipment, which the US government fears “could provide a backdoor for Chinese intelligence agencies.” 

“In order for us to preserve our relationship – which we cherish – with our US partners, we simply cannot do much more with Chinese partners,”said Xiao. 

The US position on the matter remains painfully clear, as laid out by numerous government representatives.  

“When it comes to emerging technology, you cannot be both in China’s camp and our camp,” said Gina Raimondo, the Commerce Secretary, according to a report from the New York Times. 

Keep up to date with the latest international telecoms news by subscribing to the Total Telecom daily newsletter

Also in the news:
South Korea to invest $7 billion in AI semiconductors
Swisscom expands 5G partnership with Ericsson
Daisy Group set to acquire 4Com for £215m 

News

The beleaguered Indian telecoms operator says a return to growth will be possible following its $2.2 billion follow-on public offering (FPO)

Last week, Vodafone Idea announced that it would launch India’s largest ever FPO, seeking to raise almost $2.2 billion in an effort to reduce the company’s debt and provide funds for infrastructure investment.

Now, Vodafone Idea’s CEO Akshaya Moondra has revealed further details about the potential impact of this funding, saying that it should allow the operator to launch 5G services in selective areas over the next 6–9 months.

“With this round of funding, we believe we will be able to (come) back to participate in the industry growth which has not been possible,” he said.

More specifically, Moondra indicated that roughly $700 million of the total funds raised by the FPO would be used for the deployment of 5G infrastructure. This will allow for limited initial deployments, the exact locations of which have not been revealed.

Ultimately, Vodafone Idea is aiming to deploy 5G coverage to cover 40% of the company’s customer base in the next 24–30 months, with nationwide coverage to follow at an unspecified point in future.

Moondra notes that additional funds will be required for the wider rollout, with Vodafone Idea already in discussions with several banks. Exactly how much will need to be borrowed was not revealed.

Discussions with 5G equipment vendors and relevant testing has already begun.

Vodafone Idea’s difficult financial situation, centred around the billions of dollars owed to the government in licence fees and adjusted gross revenue dues, has seen the company’s ability to compete against rivals greatly diminished in recent years. Vodafone Idea lost 4.6 million subscribers in Q3 of FY2024 alone, marking nine straight months of customer reduction that financial year.

This challenging financial situation has left the operator with no choice but to delay its 5G launch behind that of its rivals, Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, both of whom launched commercial 5G services at the end of last year.

Keep up to date with all the latest telecoms news from around the world with Total Telecom’s daily newsletter

Also in the news:
South Korea to invest $7 billion in AI semiconductors
Swisscom expands 5G partnership with Ericsson
Daisy Group set to acquire 4Com for £215m

News 

The move comes in response to countries like the US, China, and Japan, each of which is investing heavily in their domestic semiconductor industry  

The South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol announced this week that the country will invest 9.4 trillion won ($6.94 billion) in artificial intelligence (AI) by 2027 in an effort to maintain a leading global position in the semiconductor chips industry. 

The announcement also included a separate 1.4 trillion won ($1.01 billion) to support domestic AI semiconductor firms. 

“Current competition in semiconductors is an industrial war and an all-out war between nations,” said Yoon in a speech. 

“To set up an all-out response system that rises to the level of that for a wartime situation, we will review all proposals to attract semiconductor industries starting with investment incentives,” he continued. 

“We will rise to the level of a G3 (world’s top three) country in AI technology and get over 10% of the global market for system semiconductors by 2030.” 

Semiconductors are a key element of South Korea’s economy. In March, chip exports reached their highest revenue in 21 months at $11.7 billion, which is almost a fifth of all total exports.  

The country is under increasing pressure to keep up with key global players such as the US, China, and Japan. Each of these nation’s is providing large incentives to semiconductor companies, seeking to increase their domestic production and reduce reliance on the geopolitically fraught global market. On Monday, for example, the US government announced that it has signed a preliminary agreement to award Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) a subsidy of $6.6 billion to build new chip production fabs in Arizona.  

The South Korean government is not the only part of the country focussed heavily on the rapid development of AI. The country’s largest telco, South Korea Telecom (SKT) also shares the country’s vision on becoming a global leader in the field. The operator has confirmed its intention to become an AI powerhouse, investing in multiple AI firms including Anthropic and Persona AI.  

SKT is also working with other global telcos to further its AI ambitions. Last July, the company joined forces with a trio of international telco giants – e&, Deutsche Telecom, and Singtel – to form the Global Telco AI Alliance, seeking to combine their collective AI expertise to help co-develop new, innovative products for telco customers. 

Keep up to date with the latest international telecoms news by subscribing to the Total Telecom daily newsletter 

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Digi Spain sells 6m FTTH accesses to Onivia
Vodafone’s 5G standalone network now connects around half the German population
Broadband poles no problem for Brits says new study

News

Daisy Group is one of the UK’s largest privately-held IT services companies  

Matthew Riley, Chairman of business-to-business telecommunications and IT provider Daisy Communications Group has set a £215 million deal to acquire 4Com, a Bournemouth– based communications, IT, and broadband provider. 

According to Sky News, who have broken the story, the deal is expected to be signed in the coming days. 

Riley was attracted to 4Com because of its cloud communications product HiHi, a business phone with in-built video calling technology. 

The deal will increase Daisy’s small and medium enterprise (SME) customer base to more than 200,000, with revenues from the division reaching over £400 million.  

Daisy has itself made 12 acquisitions in the last 18 months, the most recent being the acquisition of 128 customers from Meraki Communications last November. The deal’s financial details were not disclosed. 

Daisy has declined to comment on the news. 

In 2022, Daisy acquired one of its main rivals XLN, leaving it with an additional 120,000 customers and making the company second only to BT in the UK SME telecoms market.  

Get involved in the North’s telecoms industry by attending Connected North, 22-23 April in Manchester. Get your tickets now! 

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Press Release

Ericsson and Swisscom today announce the expansion of their longstanding partnership with a new multi-year agreement to boost its innovation ecosystem, and drive the next period of growth and energy efficient performance of the service provider’s 5G network in Switzerland.

Swisscom’s mobile network has been top ranked in Switzerland for the past seven years in the connect magazine (and umlaut measuring institute) mobile network test. The results indicate the reliability and performance of its mobile network which has evolved in recent years under Swisscom’s cloud-native transformation plans. In addition to providing outstanding 5G experience to its users, with these new additions to its network, Swisscom is also reinforcing its focus on sustainability by implementing products and solutions that improve energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions.

The new agreement will see the introduction of Ericsson Intelligent Automation Platform (EIAP) to provide comprehensive multi-technology network management and automation for the Swisscom network. The adoption of the platform means Swisscom can take advantage of the growing Ericsson portfolio of rApps, including AI powered Cognitive Software rApps, as well as rApps available from other contributors to the open EIAP rApp Ecosystem. The EIAP ecosystem and Software Development Toolkit (SDK) will be an essential tool for Swisscom to enhance its subscribers’ service experience while delivering operational savings through industrial scale automation in the radio access network. That focus on subscriber experience will be further boosted by Swisscom’s renewal of its Ericsson Expert Analytics deployment. Powered by machine-learning and artificial intelligence technology, it analyzes and resolves potential subscriber issues in real-time to ensure unrivalled quality of service for users.

The new contract will also see the introduction of Ericsson’s award-winning and highly energy-efficient lightweight dual-band Radio 4490, as well as a next-generation RAN processor from Ericsson’s RAN Compute portfolio. With the capacity to serve all new and existing radio technologies from a single box, Ericsson RAN Compute processor is characterized by a small footprint and low energy consumption, and the ability to support real-time AI processing without capacity loss. Swisscom further aims to equip a large number of sites with Ericsson’s Massive MIMO portfolio in the next three years as a part of the continued effort to expand mid-band TDD coverage further.

Another important development stream is marked by continuous spectrum refarming to New Radio (NR), with which the service provider prepares its network for 5G Standalone deployment with the possibility of launching new services.

Ericsson has long provided Swisscom with its Network Functions Virtualization Infrastructure (NFVI) solution to support its telecom applications. With this new deal the service provider will now take on Ericsson’s Cloud Native Infrastructure solution (CNIS). For Swisscom, this means further enhancing the network’s well-established reliability and expanding the ability to host cloud-native telecom applications from Ericsson as well as from third-party providers. It will also help reduce overheads needed to manage the cloud platform and infrastructure, introduce further energy efficiencies, and optimize the total cost of ownership (TCO) overall. The deployment will bring together a close collection of telecom partner companies such as Extreme Networks and Dell Technologies, which contribute components, infrastructure and capabilities to the solution, all collaboratively engaged to ensure Swisscom and its subscribers enjoy the best possible network performance.

Finally, the latest agreement will underpin the continuation of Swisscom and Ericsson’s deeply collaborative relationship, with further links drawn between product development teams ensuring smooth access to the latest Ericsson software innovations and updates.

Gerd Niehage, CTIO Swisscom says: “We’ve been working closely with Ericsson for over 10 years with a great amount of trust and success. We are now taking the next step in this long-standing strategic partnership as we endeavour to turn Switzerland’s best network into its smartest one. This will enable us to not only offer our customers the best customer experience, but also to place an even greater focus on sustainability and innovation.”

Daniel Leimbach, Head of Customer Unit Western Europe at Ericsson, adds, “In this innovative partnership, Swisscom’s characteristically Swiss pursuit of perfection meets the global technology leadership from Sweden’s Ericsson. Our common goal is to raise the bar even higher and continue to develop Switzerland’s best network into its smartest one. We have already managed in recent years to set important benchmarks for the global development of the telecommunications market from within Switzerland.”

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Vodafone’s 5G standalone network now connects around half the German population
Broadband poles no problem for Brits says new study

News

The deal is the first major investment by a new and outside entrant since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022

French billionaire and owner of European telco group iliad, Xavier Niel, has announced today that he will acquire Datagroup-Volia, Ukraine’s leading fixed telecom and pay TV provider, through his investment firm NJJ.  

According to NJJ’s press release, the acquisition, which is for an undisclosed sum, has already received regulatory approval. 

Datagroup-Volia is 96.13% owned by a fund managed by US private equity firm Horizon Capita and 3.87% by Datagroup-Volia CEO Mykhaylo Shelemba. 

Once acquired, NJJ will merge Datagroup-Volia with Lifecell, the country’s third-largest and fastest-growing mobile operator, pending the regulatory green-light on the latter’s acquisition. 

The newly combined company will then be led by Shelemba and will provide mobile connectivity to 10 million Ukrainians.  

Its fixed network will cover four million premises across the country. 

Back in January, NJJ confirmed the acquisition of Turkcell’s various Ukrainian units (including Lifecell), for $500 million. This deal is still subject to regulatory checks, including the go-ahead from the Ukrainian competition authority. 

In a statement this week, Xavier Niel described the move as “a significant step towards the creation of a national Ukrainian telecom champion.” 

“Ukraine is home to an impressive tech sector with innovation in artificial intelligence, a high degree of digitalisation and technological affinity. We are confident that our landmark transaction will serve as a signal to others that the time to invest in Ukraine is now, to support the rebuilding of the country and realize its potential,” he continued.

Keep up to date with all of the latest telecoms news from around the world with Total Telecom’s daily newsletter

Also in the news:
Digi Spain sells 6m FTTH accesses to Onivia
Vodafone’s 5G standalone network now connects around half the German population
Broadband poles no problem for Brits says new study