News

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said the defunct satellite “could pose orbital debris concerns”

This week, the FCC has issued DISH with a fine of $150,000 after the US television provider failed to de-orbit one of its retiring satellites correctly.

DISH launched its EchoStar-7 satellite back in 2002, leaving it sitting in geostationary orbit and using it to broadcast television services for over 20 years.

By 2012, DISH was already making plans for EchoStar-7’s retirement, agreeing with the FCC that it would propel the satellite an additional 300km away from the Earth, pushing it into what is known as a ‘graveyard orbit’. This is done to reduce space debris in the more congested operational orbits, thereby reducing the chance that the inoperable satellite would collide with operational spacecraft.

This process was expected to take place in 2022. However, when it came to performing the crucial manoeuvre, DISH reportedly discovered that EchoStar-7 did not have enough fuel to increase its orbit by the planned 300km, making it only 122km above its previous position.

This failure to dispose of their satellite as planned has led the FCC to issue its first ever fine for the creation of space debris.

“This marks a first in space debris enforcement by the Commission, which has stepped up its satellite policy efforts, including establishing the Space Bureau and implementing its Space Innovation Agenda.  The settlement includes an admission of liability from the company and an agreement to adhere to a compliance plan and pay a penalty of $150,000,” said the FCC’s statement.

“As satellite operations become more prevalent and the space economy accelerates, we must be certain that operators comply with their commitments,” added Enforcement Bureau Chief Loyaan A. Egal.  “This is a breakthrough settlement, making very clear the FCC has strong enforcement authority and capability to enforce its vitally important space debris rules.”

DISH accepted responsibility for the error.

As communication satellite constellations become increasingly common around the world, so too does the threat of orbital space debris. At its theoretical worst, the density of space pollution could lead to the Kessler syndrome, a scenario whereby collisions between orbital objects cause a cascade of further collisions, essentially making satellite activities impossible for many years.

As a result, the FCC has gradually been increasing regulation what happens to satellites after their decommissioning, such as proposing that satellites are deorbited no later than five years after their retirement, down from the 25 years previously required by NASA.

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News 

Talks between the two firms are set continue despite passing a recent deadline, with TPG noting the transaction involves “considerable complexity” 

Australia’s TPG Telecom has announced that the due diligence period given to Vocus Group to present a formal bid for a portion of it fibre assets has expired. 

In August, Vocus Group made a non-binding offer of AU$6.3 billion ($4.2 billion) to buy rival TPG Telecom’s enterprise, government, and wholesale assets, which included their wholesale broadband business, Vision Network. 

This unit made up 18% of TPG Telecoms’ total fiscal revenue last year, at AU$5.52 billion ($3.65 billion). 

The period of exclusivity had already been extended once to the 6th September by TPG, which has now expired for a second time.  

But despite not reaching a formal agreement, it seems that both firms are still keen to negotiate. 

“The consideration of AU$6.3 billion and the highly provisional indicative EBITDA perimeter of approximatelyAU $550 million are subject to change. TPG securityholders should be aware that the nature of the transaction involves considerable complexity which needs time to work through and there remains no certainty an agreed transaction will eventuate,” said TPG in a statement. 

If successful, the deal would create a combined entity with an enterprise valuation of between AU$8 billion and AU$9 billion ($5.06 billion and $5.69 billion) 

Last year, TPG Telecom was the last of Australia’s three largest telcos to sell off their mobile tower infrastructure. The firm sold its mobile towers and rooftop infrastructure to OMERS in a AU$950 million ($627 million) deal, with TPG using the funds to reduce a debt pile currently standing at $3.9 billion. 

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Press Release

Altnet Hyperoptic has hit a new customer milestone, now connecting more than 300,000 customers across the UK to gigabit-capable full fibre

The milestone follows Hyperoptic relaunching its brand with a renewed focus on customer experience. Hyperoptic’s ‘In your corner’ campaign presents a welcome alternative to providers that offer poor customer service, lack of transparent pricing and unreliable network connectivity.

Hyperoptic’s network now passes more than 1.4 million homes across 64 towns and cities in the UK. Early deployments, starting with the UK’s first residential gigabit connection in Wandsworth in 2011, were in multi-dwelling units. Since then, continued growth has come from connecting new build developments and residential streets in densely populated areas.

Hyperoptic’s Founder and CEO Dana Tobak said: “The most important job we have is to connect customers – that’s how we show people across the UK that there’s a better way for broadband to be done. We know that broadband users deserve better, and we’re committed to a five-star customer experience.”

Key to Hyperoptic’s success is a focus on delivering a five-star customer experience, as research reveals the poor service that UK broadband users are putting up with. Almost a quarter (23%) of broadband users have never switched, and 30% say they want to but it’s too time consuming or too much hassle. 22% said they would switch, but they know their current provider would make it hard for them to leave.

In 2019, leading global investment firm KKR acquired a majority stake in Hyperoptic.

Hyperoptic is on a mission to reach 500,000 customers and two million homes passed, maintaining market-leading penetration and excellent customer experience as the company scales.

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News 

Virgin Media O2 (VMO2) has deployed six new 4G masts on the remote Scottish Island as part of its role in the government’s Shared Rural Network (SRN) project 

This week, VMO2 has revealed it has used helicopters to deliver 4G masts to the island of Islay in Scotland due to its highly rural nature and lack of supportive infrastructure. A total of six masts will be deployed on the island, a move that the operator says will make a dramatic improvement in connectivity for local people and businesses.  

The move is a part of the VMO2’s commitments to the £1 billion SRN programme, a public–private partnership that will see the UK’s operators deliver connectivity to some of the UK’s most hard-to-reach areas. VMO2, EE, Three, and Vodafone are jointly aiming to expand the geographic coverage of 4G to 95% of UK by the end of 2025 as part of the project. This involves upgrading existing infrastructure as well as the deployment of new equipment, all of which will be shared between all four operators. 

The SRN is backed by £500 million of public funding, with an additional £500 million provided by the mobile operators. 

When it comes to Islay, only 60% of the island has 4G coverage from all four mobile network operators. However, after the SRN upgrades have been delivered, this will increase by 20%. 

“Argyll and Bute has languished behind other areas due to our geography and logistical challenges, including 22 inhabited islands,” said Councillor Liz McCabe, Policy Lead for Islands and Business Development. “However, over the last number of years significant investment has been made and we have seen major coverage improvements. The SRN programme will enhance this further with multiple operator coverage improvements to many parts of our remote rural areas.” 

“Many rural parts of Scotland are already benefiting from our rollout of new and upgraded masts, and nowhere will benefit more from our investment than the Argyll and Bute area, where we are working to upgrade more than 60 sites as part of our commitment to the Shared Rural Network programme,” added Paul Kells, Director of Network, Strategy and Engineering at Virgin Media O2. 

The SRN programme was launched in 2020 and has made relatively slow progress due to the vast amount of planning and research into new sites for deployment. However, this has improved in recent months, with VMO2 announcing in May that their SRN rollout had reached 50 sites, covering an additional 2,200km2 of land with 4G connectivity. In March, Vodafone also announced that they had reached 57 sites. Other Operators have also made significant progress in their rollout. As of August this year, Three UK had completed the construction of its 100th site, and EE became the first mobile operator to reach the milestone of building or upgrading 1,500 remote sites across the UK. 

Want to keep up to date with the latest developments in the world of telecoms? Subscriber to receive Total Telecom’s daily newsletter here   

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News

According to reports, Danish telco TDC has hired investment firm LionTree to help them consider their strategic options as a business, which could seemingly include a partial or complete sale

Anonymous sources speaking to Reuters have revealed that TDC is currently undergoing an internal review, noting that high leverage and weak cash flow were affecting the company’s credit rating.

The report notes that discussions are still in an early stage, with no certainty that any transactions will take place.

TDC was taken private back in 2018 by a consortium led by Australian investor Macquarie. Today, Macquarie remains TDC’s largest shareholder, owning 50% of the business, with the rest of the company’s shares held by a number of Danish pension and investment funds.

In 2021, the company was carved up into two separate businesses in an attempt to unlock value for shareholders and encourage investment: TDC NET, which operates the company’s mobile and fixed broadband infrastructure, and Nuuday, the company’s consumer branch.

Since then, both TDC NET and Nuuday have reported mixed financial results, with the companies’ sluggish growth largely attributed to the highly competitive Danish market. Indeed, this environment is seemingly driving the country’s telecoms market towards consolidation, with rival telco Telia announcing earlier this year that it would sell its Danish unit to local utility giant Norlys for roughly $920 million. This deal is expected to be completed in the first quarter of next year.

LionTree, meanwhile, is perhaps best known in the telecoms world as having advised Verizon on the acquisition of AOL for $4.4 billion in 2015 and later Yahoo for $4.5 billion in 2017. Verizon would go on to combine these two companies into a single business group dubbed Oath.

The ill-fated Oath would write down $4.6 billion in 2018 following the merger and, following a rebrand to Verizon Media Group, would itself be sold to private equity firm Apollo Global Management for $5 billion in 2021. LionTree advised on this acquisition as well.

How are telco business models evolving in 2023? Join the operators in discussion at this year’s Total Telecom Congress live in Amsterdam

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Interview

On Day One of this year’s Connected Britain conference, we had the pleasure of speaking with Catherine Colloms, Director of Corporate Affairs and Brand at Openreach, to discuss creating a competitive UK fibre market and the UK’s rollout journey so far.

One of the hottest topics at this year’s Connected Britian conference was altnet consolidation, with rumours of M&A activity beginning to circulate in the broadband market.

For Colloms, the UK’s fibre market is highly competitive and will continue to be so, provided the regulatory environment remains stable and supportive.

“If you think about the way that the economy and the way that we live and work is developing, it all is fundamentally based on connectivity, and as a result, I think the market can grow and grow,” said Colloms.

Collom’s explains that the UK’s  fibre coverage currently stands at around 50%, noting that the rollouts are now progressing to harder-to-reach areas that are supported by projects such as the R100 and Project Gigabit.

“We need certainty and consistency in the regulatory and policy regime to ensure that we can continue to invest,” concluded Catherine.

You can watch the full Connected Britain interview from the link below:

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Want to keep up to date with the latest developments in the world of telecoms? Subscriber to receive Total Telecom’s daily newsletter here     

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Interview

On Day One of this year’s Connected Britain conference, we had the pleasure of speaking with Jamie Hayes, Managing Director of Fiber and Streetscape at Boldyn Networks, one of the world’s largest neutral host providers

We discussed the state of the connectivity landscape in the UK from a neutral host perspective, and the most important things that Boldyn Networks look for in the areas they work in: political leadership, advance supply, and demand. 

“Its great to see all the suppliers here, it’s a thriving ecosystem of startups through to large companies,” said Jamie,  

“An event like this [Connected Britain], a concentration of demand is vital for the places that we want to go to.” 

We also discussed the company’s work with the London boroughs, helping the city to access gigabit fibre and making the London underground safer through connectivity. 

Ending on the topic of local authorities and connectivity, Jamie noted: “we’d like to see more emphasis on connectivity, because it seems to have a real close correlation to many deprivation indexes like health, wealth, income, and inward investment.” 

You can watch the full interview below:

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News 

The newly formed entity is ‘strategically positioned to be a global leader in space communications’, according to the two companies 

Satellite operators Eutelsat communications and OneWeb have this week announced the completion of their $3.4 billion merger, following a Eutelsat shareholder meeting. 

The two companies have combined to form Eutelsat Group, which will be headquartered in Paris. OneWeb will become a subsidiary of the Group, operating as Eutelsat OneWeb, with its operations remaining in London. 

The merger will see OneWeb’s constellation of low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites added to Eutelsat’s geostationary orbit (GEO) satellites, creating the “only GEO–LEO operator in satellite communications that can offer a ubiquitous connectivity service,” according to Eutelsat CEO Eva Berneke 

“This is an historic moment for the satellite industry. We are bringing together two businesses that are at the forefront of delivering integrated, seamless and reliable connectivity to customers worldwide,” said Dominique D’Hinnin, Chairman of the Board of Directors in a statement. 

“This exciting combination will be transformative for communities and businesses worldwide, utilising the unique blend of GEO and LEO technologies,” said Bharti Airtel’s Sunil Bharti Mittal, Vice-President of the Board of Directors. 

“Closing the digital divide is a critical mission for Eutelsat Group and the combination of these two businesses, which have each pursued this goal separately, accelerates our progress,”said Sunil Bharti Mittal Co-Chair of the Board of Directors. 

The UK government owns a minority stake in OneWeb, following a rescue deal in 2020 that prevented the firm’s collapse. According to a statement released last year after the Memorandum of Understanding between the two firms, the UK government will retain this special share in OneWeb and a number of exclusive rights. 

Upon the news, Eutelsat shares rose 3.5%. 

Competition in the space communications industry is increasing steadily, with analysts at Morgan Stanley estimating that the industry could be worth more than $1 trillion by 2040, up from a $550 billion today, as the industry becomes increasingly lucrative.  

Indeed, this is not the only major satellite merger we have seen this year, with global communications firm Viasat buying the UK’s Inmarsat for $6.2 billion back in May. 

“Satellite communications is a hugely significant and strategic global market for the U.K. space sector, now poised for an exciting next phase,” said George Freeman MP, the UK’s Minister of State at the Department of Science, Innovation & Technology. 

Mergers such as these could be set to provide significant competition for Elon Musk’s LEO constellation Starlink, which has quickly established itself as one of the world leading satellite internet providers. 

Want to keep up to date with the latest developments in the world of telecoms? Subscriber to receive Total Telecom’s daily newsletter here    

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News 

Reports emerged in July this year that Cellnex were considering selling a minority stake in its Nordic operations 

Investment company Stonepeak has acquired a 49% stake in Cellnex Nordics, which is comprised of Cellnex Sweden and Cellnex Denmark, in a €730 million deal. 

Cellnex will retain a 51% stake, continuing to run the day-to-day  operations of the Nordic division. Across both Denmark and Sweden, Cellnex has a network of 4,557 sites, and has commitments to build an additional 2,500. 

Cellnex will reportedly use the capital raised to reduce its debt, which stood at €17.1 billion at the end of last quarter. This strategy of cutting debt comes after years of rapid growth via various mergers and acquisitions, most notably the takeover of CK Hutchinson’s European towers in 2020, a deal worth around €10 billion. 

“The sale of a stake in our Nordic business at an appropriate valuation marks another significant step forward in our goal to attain investment grade ratings,” said Marco Patuano, Cellnex CEO, in a press release. 

“We believe Cellnex Nordics, as the region’s leading independent tower company, is strategically well positioned to capture outsized organic and inorganic growth over the coming years,” said Cyrus Gentry, Stonepeak’s Managing Director. 

“We view partnering with Cellnex, with its consistent track record of financial performance, execution on built-to-suit delivery, and mergers and acquisitions, as a natural fit for Stonepeak’s Core infrastructure strategy”. 

The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to be completed by the first quarter of next year. 

Stonepeak have made a number of recent investments in the telecoms industry. Mosty recently, in August last year, the firm acquired 2,180 towers in the Philippines from Globe Telecom for $472 million. The company also acquired the Latin American business of Lumen Technologies for $2.7 billion last summer. 

Want to keep up to date with the latest developments in the world of telecoms? Subscriber to receive Total Telecom’s daily newsletter here     

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Ofcom unveils plan for mmWave spectrum auction 

News 

The auction is expected to begin in the final quarter of next year 

UK regulator Ofcom has confirmed plans to make mmWave spectrum in the 26GHz and 40GHz bands available for the nation’s mobile operators.  

In a statement released yesterday, Ofcom outlined its plans to auction 15-year fixed term licenses for 26GHz and 40GHz spectrum covering 68 UK towns and cities. There will also be an assignment of more localised licenses within these areas under the shared access licensing framework. 

But while Ofcom has now confirmed than an auction will be held for the spectrum, a timeline to do so is less clear, with regulator saying it will delay the process until after the UK Competition and Markets Authority makes a decision on the potential Vodafone–Three merger. 

Announced back in June, the merger would reduce the number of mobile players in the market from four to three, potentially giving the combined entity a significant advantage when it comes to spectrum holdings. As a result, Ofcom is looking to avoid giving away the mmWave spectrum early and exacerbating this disbalance.  

The design of the auction will be released later this year, with Ofcom expected to issue a statement and initiate a further consultation on the process. 

Mobile operators’ appetite for mmWave spectrum is likely to be mixed. These higher frequencies are  attractive due to their higher speeds and capacity, compared to low- and mid-band 5G spectrum, as well as being able to deliver lower latency.  However, these benefits come at the cost of high propagation losses and a relatively short effective range, making the spectrum broadly unsuitable for covering large areas in all but the most densely populated of locations.  

Instead, mmWave has proven much more suited to a number of more specific deployments, such as for private 5G mobile networks for industries and enterprises, and providing consumers with fixed wireless access broadband. 

Want to keep up to date with the latest developments in the world of telecoms? Subscriber to receive Total Telecom’s daily newsletter here    

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