News

Various pilots will be conducted by BT Group’s start-up incubator Etc., exploring whether the transition is feasible from a technical and operational standpoint

This week, BT’s start-up and Digital incubation team Etc. has announced that it will oversee a number of pilot programmes to transform decommissioned broadband cabinets into charging points for electric vehicles (EVs).

These cabinets, dotted all over streets of the UK, currently provide copper-based broadband and phone services to local consumers. However, as the UK’s networks rapidly shift to full fibre architecture, these cabinets are becoming obsolete, prompting BT Group to consider repurposing the.

According to BT, the scope of the pilot projects will include a range of technical, operational, and commercial analysis, from upgrade viability based on location to potential joint venture business models to commercialise the would-be EV network.

The first of these pilot projects will reportedly take place in Northern Ireland later this autumn, with more locations added across the UK before the end of the year. The various tests are expected to continue for two years before commercialisation can be considered.

If successful, these conversions could end up as a significant proportion of the UK’s national EV infrastructure. The entire country currently has around 45,000 charging points operational, but the government has plans to invest £1.6 billion to increase this figure to 300,000 by 2030.

“With the ban on sales of internal combustion engine vehicles coming in 2030, and with only around 45,000 public charge points today, the UK needs a massive upgrade to meet the needs of the EV revolution,” says Tom Guy, Managing Director of Etc. “We have a once in a lifetime opportunity to connect for good in a whole new way by innovating around our cabinet infrastructure. The pilots are critical for the team to work through the assessment and establish effective technical, commercial and operational routes to market over the next two years.”

Ultimately, not every cabinet BT owns is likely to be converted, since not all of them will prove cost-effective or be in practical locations. Nonetheless, initial estimates suggest around two-thirds of BT Group’s 90,000 cabinets could be suitable for the upgrade.

BT Group is not alone in considering repurposing this soon-to-be legacy infrastructure for EV purposes. Virgin Media O2, for example, has been working alongside Liberty Global’s joint venture Liberty Charge since 2021 to deploy a small number of charging points leveraging their own cabinet and duct infrastructure.

How far is the future of electric vehicles entwined with the world of telecoms?  Join the ecosystem in discussion at this year’s live Connected Britain conference 

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Why the industry must accelerate the adoption of 5.5G 

Interview

We caught up with Elad Nafshi, EVP and chief network officer at Comcast, to discuss the company’s new 10G network upgrade and the added reliability this brings to customers

Over the past two years, Comcast has made significant advances in 10G network capabilities, building on the latest DOCSIS 4.0 technology. By the end of 2022, in a world-first, the operator was trialling 10G and Full Duplex DOCSIS 4.0 network technology in a live network, paving the way a commercial rollout of multi-gigabit connectivity over its cable network.

Just a few short months later, in early 2023, the company’s enormous network upgrade had already begun, with around ten million homes targeted to receive the upgrade and become part of Comcast’s Xfinity 10G Network.

At this year’s Connected America conference in Dallas, Texas, we caught up with Comcast’s chief network officer Elad Nafshi to learn more about the impact the company’s Xfinity 10G Network could have for customers.

“Xfinity 10G network is about multi-gigabit symmetrical services with unrivalled reliability, both powered and empowered by real-time telemetry, that offers the lowest latency to all of our subscribers,” explained Nafshi. “Not just the customers on the right side or the left side of the street, but across our entire network. It’s truly transformational and its very, very exciting.”

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You can view our full interview with Elad Nafshi from the link above.

Higher speeds are to be expected from a next-generation network upgrade, but perhaps more interesting here is the network’s improved reliability thanks to the incorporation of emergent technologies.

“For the first time, we’re able to see a down-to-the-second view of what customer experience is,” explained Nafshi. “Taking that data, we can start to self-heal. We can start to run AI and machine learning algorithms on top of the network to pinpoint network failures and event to predict them before they ever happen, allowing us to self-heal a lot of these failures before they impact customers.”

The Xfinity 10G Network has already passed ten million homes, with vast majority of Comcast’s network set to be upgraded by 2025.

How is the US broadband market changing in 2023? Join the operators in discussion at the Connected America conference live in Dallas, Texas

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News

Connected devices include smart metres, smart bikes, asset tracking sensors, and vehicle telematics

This week, Indian mobile operator Bharti Airtel has announced that it has connected over 20 million devices to its IoT platform.

Launched by the company’s B2B division Airtel Business back in 2021, Airtel IoT has quickly accrued more than 8000 enterprise customers in the past two years, according to the company website. This includes companies in numerous major industries, including automobile, energy, utilities, logistics, financial services, and manufacturing.

The IoT platform supports a range of connectivity technologies, such as 5G, 4G, NB-IoT, 2G and satellite, and allows enterprises a centralised portal to manage their IoT device portfolios. This Airtel IoT Hub can provide real time analytics, including data usage and sensor activity.

According to Airtel, the company has been helped to reach the new device milestone by a number of major deals, including a contract with Secure Meters to help power 1.3 million smart metres in the state of Bihar, another with government-backed joint venture TP Western Odisha Distribution for 200,000 smart metres in Odisha, and a deal with Matter Motor Works for 300,000 smart bikes.

“IoT is a key pillar in India’s digital growth journey and, as a brand powering this journey with our future-ready technology solutions for connected devices, we are delighted to achieve this significant milestone of 20 million connected devices on our platform,” said Ganesh Lakshminarayanan, CEO, Airtel Business (India) said. “With efficient and cost-effective automated IoT solutions, we are at the forefront of empowering enterprises to extend their reach to the remotest parts of the country on our secure platform as they scale their businesses.”

The global IoT market is growing rapidly worldwide, with some sources suggesting the total number of connected devices will reach 16.7 billion this year.

Want to keep up with all of the latest telecoms news from around the world? Sign up to receive Total Telecom’s daily newsletter

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News

The network will provide 4G services to individuals, homes, and businesses throughout the country 

Last week, Airtel Rwanda launched its highly anticipated 4G LTE Network. The firm is Rwanda’s first mobile network operator to secure its own 4G license and launch its own 4G network.  

The launch has been made possible by a government change in licensing strategy.  

Previously, Airtel could only provide their LTE services through Korea Telecom Rwanda Networks, who had a wholesale monopoly in the country.  

In February this year, however, the Rwandan government announced a change in licensing rules, which would allow other telcos to launch their own 4G networks, in the interest of increasing competition to accelerate the country’s access to high-speed mobile services. 

Airtel’s 4G tariff plans have launched at the same price point as its existing 3G plans, which Airtel Rwanda hopes will drive up adoption of 4G devices to boost digital inclusion across the country. 

“The company remains committed to leading innovation in the Rwandan market by providing choice to Rwandans because of significant investment in network coverage, consistent network quality, an improved quality of service in addition to delivery on market leading value for money,” said Airtel Rwanda’s Managing Director, Emmanuel Hamez.  

The move comes after the Rwandan government introduced The National and Broadband Policy and Strategy in October last year, aiming to transform Rwanda into a competitive digital economy.  

Airtel says it plans to expand its network infrastructure coverage and increase its support for the country’s new digital strategies. 

How is the African telecommunications market evolving in 2023? Join the operators in discussion at this year’s Total Telecom Congress live from Amsterdam. 

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Press Release

Ericsson and O₂ Telefónica in Germany have achieved a significant milestone in the development of 5G Cloud RAN technology in Europe

In their inaugural joint Proof of Concept (PoC) deployment at O₂ Telefónica’s Wayra innovation hub in Munich, they showcased the capabilities of Ericsson’s first 5G Cloud RAN installation in Europe. The PoC utilized a centralized control unit (CU) and harnessed the power of mmWave frequency to achieve an impressive end-to-end speed of more than 4 gigabits per second.

This successful collaboration not only demonstrates the efficiency and performance of Ericsson’s 5G Cloud RAN solution but also validates the feasibility of Cloud RAN for enterprise and industry-specific use cases as well as fixed wireless access (FWA) use cases. One such use case is “Data Shower”, a new concept in the automotive industry that enables the efficient deployment of software updates to vehicles in production lines by using mmWave technology for high-bandwidth transfer.

The achievement of this PoC highlights the potential of Cloud RAN technology to deliver 5G connectivity and drive future innovations in the European telecommunications landscape. It serves as a crucial foundation for O₂ Telefónica’s efforts to bring Cloud RAN technology to macro networks and demonstrates Ericsson’s commitment to Open RAN – paving the way for further advancements in cloud-native architecture and operation.

By implementing Ericsson’s cloud-native software solution for 5G Cloud RAN, O₂ Telefónica in Germany will experience significant gains in flexibility, service delivery and improved network operations. This initiative also sets the stage for other communication service providers (CSPs) to leverage network automation and RAN programmability, thereby enhancing their overall network flexibility, scalability, and simplification.

Daniel Leimbach, Head of Customer Unit Western Europe at Ericsson, says: “The partnership between Ericsson and O₂ Telefónica demonstrates our commitment to achieving significant breakthroughs on our path to build the networks of the future. It is a first for both companies in Europe and shows the potential of Cloud RAN for high performance use cases. It builds upon our work with the cloud-native 5G core we have deployed in O₂ Telefónica Germany, enabling a full end-to-end cloud native network. We are very proud to be doing this together with O₂  Telefónica.”

Mallik Rao, Chief Technology & Information Officer of O₂ Telefónica, says: ” O₂  Telefónica is a pioneer in deploying new network technologies such as Cloud RAN. With the introduction of a cloud-based, standardized architecture, we are able to respond quickly to customer needs, introduce new products and services even more flexibly and scale our O₂ network better. With Cloud RAN, we combine the benefits of open interfaces with the expertise and product quality of European network equipment supplier Ericsson, whose technology we already use for our high-performance 5G core network.”

Cloud-native deployment plays a pivotal role in the transformation of the telecommunications industry, and the integration of cloud-native architecture into the radio access network (RAN) presents an exceptional opportunity to foster innovation and enhance network efficiency. By virtualizing the RAN and adopting a cloud-native, standardized architecture, O₂ Telefónica will gain the ability to respond rapidly to customer needs, introduce new products and services with greater flexibility and agility, and realize benefits such as faster service delivery, improved scalability and enhanced cost efficiency.

Ericsson’s commitment to advancing telecommunications networks is underscored by this collaboration and builds upon the company’s successful Cloud RAN deployments with other leading CSPs in North America and Australia.

The incorporation of Cloud RAN extends the foundation of the ongoing network cloudification efforts by Ericsson and O₂ Telefónica in Germany.

Want to keep up with all of the latest telecoms news from around the world? Sign up to receive Total Telecom’s daily newsletter

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News

BT hailed the deployment as a ‘significant milestone’, potentially opening the door for further deployments in the near future

Lundy Island is a small island off the north coast of Devon. Spanning less than 5km², the island is home to 28 permanent residents, but is perhaps best known for its status as a Marine Conservation Zone and a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

Now, the island is set to benefit from low latency connectivity delivered courtesy of a partnership between BT and low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite operator OneWeb.

Connectivity across the island will reportedly be delivered by an Intellian dual parabolic terminal deployed on the island, which connects to OneWeb’s LEO satellite constellation orbiting above. The connection then travels from a User Terminal (UT) to Satellite Network Portal (SNP) via the satellites, where it is backhauled across OneWeb’s Wide Area Network to BT’s core network.

“It’s brilliant to be bringing high-speed, low-latency connectivity to Lundy Island in partnership with OneWeb and DSIT. The installation will not only have a transformative impact on the island and its residents but is also a significant milestone in demonstrating the value of satellite communications and the crucial role such solutions will play in enabling digital connectivity across the entirety of the UK and beyond,” said BT’s chief networks officer Greg McCall.

BT first partnered with OneWeb back in 2021, with BT CEO Philip Jansen promising the company would “put OneWeb’s technology through its paces” at BT’s labs before beginning live trials in 2022.

However, these field trials seemingly became delayed, with no further announcements made until April this year, when BT and OneWeb revealed they were planning this trial on Lundy Island as part of the government’s Very Hard to Reach Premises connectivity programme.

BT currently aims to provide high-speed connectivity to the entirety of the UK by 2028, saying that OneWeb will play a critical role in achieving this goal. Beyond connecting remote locations, BT says they are also exploring using OneWeb’s services to support eco-tourism, search and rescue, and temporary deployments like festivals.

OneWeb’s LEO constellation has grown significantly in scale in recent years, with its most recent launch in May bringing its total to 634 satellites. The company says just a handful more satellites are a required to reach global coverage, a feat that is expected to be achieved later this year.

Want to keep up with all of the latest telecoms news from around the world? Sign up to receive Total Telecom’s daily newsletter

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Press Release

Amitié increases the reliability and diversity of subsea cable routes between North America and Europe

Aqua Comms, Meta, Microsoft, and Vodafone announced today the completion of the Amitié subsea cable system, the first to directly connect Boston to Europe and Bordeaux to North America. The 6,783 km (4,215 miles) trans-Atlantic system, which was built by Alcatel Submarine Networks, has landings in Lynn, Massachusetts; Widemouth Bay, England; and Le Porge, France. With 16 fiber pairs and 400 Tbps, Amitié is the highest capacity transoceanic communications cable ever deployed.

The design of the system brings all users additional connectivity options in the United States, the UK, and in France. Boston will have direct connection all the way to London and a new Carrier Neutral Data Center constructed in Bordeaux. This delivers improved reliability in terms of protected capacity on multiple diverse routes.

The system includes an innovative branching unit 860 km from France and 650 km from the UK. This device allows the owners to switch either individual optical wavelengths between different landings or the full fiber capacity via two different types of switching technologies.

Andy Hudson, Chief Network Officer, Aqua Comms, said: “Amitié, branded as AEC-3 on Aqua Comms’ network, adds a third high-capacity system to our transatlantic footprint offering enhanced diversity in both the US and Europe and delivering the latest technology to our customers.”

Gary Waterworth, Investment Manager, Meta said: “Amitié will increase telecommunications reliability, speed, and diversity of subsea cable routes between the continents helping to improve transmission capacity in North America and Europe. It’s a great example of tech and telecom companies collaborating to build digital infrastructure to benefit the countless people, businesses, and organizations who rely on global connectivity.”

Frank Rey, General Manager, Azure Networking at Microsoft said: “As public and private sectors deepen their reliance on cloud technologies for economic growth and service improvement, Amitié will advance both resiliency and capacity for customers using our cloud services.”

Fanan Henriques, Director, Vodafone Business International & EU-Cluster, said: “As a significant investor in submarine cables, Vodafone was able to bring its strong heritage and extensive expertise to the partnership. With transatlantic total bandwidth growth forecasted to increase six-fold over the next five years, it is essential that we keep our customers, partners and communities connected to vital services enabling the digital economy. The completion of the Amitié subsea cable will strengthen connectivity and add resilience between the U.S., France and the UK.”

Previous studies have shown that subsea cables can have a positive impact on national and regional economies. Subsea cables such as the Amitié cable can spur the development of terrestrial fiber and local economic growth. For example, according to RTI International, Meta’s and Microsoft’s investment in Marea, another high capacity transoceanic cable, has been contributing about $18 billion annually to Europe’s economy since 2019.

Amitié is now fully commissioned and tested and was handed over to Aqua Comms, Meta, Microsoft, and Vodafone on July 16, 2023. The system was constructed under a Joint Build Agreement between the four partners, who worked together in close cooperation with the supplier and the landing providers.

Keep up to date with all of the latest developments in the submarine cable industry at the world’s largest subsea cable event, Submarine Networks EMEA

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News

A new report from think the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) suggests that lesser federal broadband subsidies should be cancelled, with funding used to support the Affordable Connectivity Programme (ACP)

This week, the ITIF is calling on the US government to consider cancelling several ‘redundant’ broadband programmes to instead use their funding to support the ACP.

The report suggests that the ACP should “become the premier federal broadband program” due to its flexibility and direct support of low-income households but warns that the current funding will soon fall short of the total demand.

The Affordable Connectivity Programme (ACP) is the US government’s “largest-ever broadband affordability effort”, according to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), a long-term $17 billion plan to support eligible low- income households afford access to the internet.

The ACP offers these households discounts of up to $30 per month on their internet service bills, or up to $75 per month for households on qualifying Tribal lands. The project also provides one-time discounts of up to $100 to help disconnected families purchase a laptop, desktop, or tablet.

The funding comes as part of the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, signed into law by the Biden administration in November 2021.

At this year’s Connected America conference in March, the FCC’s Press Secretary, Paloma Perez, gave an update on the recently-awarded ACP funding, saying 17 million homes had been enrolled nationwide.

Since then, this number has increased to almost 20 million, but many millions of eligible households still have not signed up, with the FCC estimating that in total 50 million homes could qualify for discounts across the country.

To make matters worse, according to estimates based on data from apcdashboard.com, the roughly $17 billion appropriated for the programme in 2021 will likely run out during 2024.

The ITIF estimates that the ACP will require between $5 billion and $6 billion a year to remain effective.

But where can the government find this funding?

According to the ITIF, the solution lies in streamlining the highly convoluted broadband subsidy landscape, particularly scrapping programmes that are becoming obsolete as a result of more modern programmes, such as the ACP itself and the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) funding programme.

The report argues that the FCC’s Lifeline programme, which also provides discounts for low-income families, is outdated and should be scrapped in favour of the ACP. The report further suggests that the FCC’s Universal Service Fund High Cost programme and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s ReConnect programme can also be cannibalised to fund the ACP, having been made redundant by the more effective (BEAD) programme.

Combined, reallocating the funding from these three programmes should provide roughly $6.43 billion, enough to sustain the ACP.

“Federal broadband programs are dangerously out of balance,” said Joe Kane, director of broadband and spectrum policy at ITIF and author of the report. “Congress has created effective subsidy programs that render older programs duplicative and wasteful. Yet the old programs persist, siphoning funding away from more effective ones and increasing phone bills.”

But while reallocating funding from these older projects could be a fine way to extend the lifetime and impact of the ACP, it is important to remember that funding is not everything. As the report points out, the digital divide in the US not only relates to lack of access to affordable connectivity, but also to digital literacy.

“If its funding is secured and made sustainable, the ACP is the best policy tool available to defray the cost of Internet subscriptions and connected devices,” said the ITIF report. “Once this relatively low-hanging policy fruit has been picked, broadband policy is not finished. Remaining offline groups will require different kinds of help to achieve full digital inclusion.”

Want to learn more about how government funding is transforming the connectivity landscape in the US? Join the digital ecosystem in discussion at this year’s Connected America

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News

Bell Canada and Telenor will be the global platforms first partners, focussing on expanding the companies’ eSIM-based network access and service footprints

Today, Verizon Business has announced the launch of its new eSIM-based IoT platform, dubbed Verizon Global IoT Orchestration.

The platform will enable devices to switch connection seamlessly between Verizon’s carrier partners’ networks using an eSIM profile, allowing them to operate as a native network subscribers within that partner’s footprint.

In this way, IoT devices will be less reliant on roaming agreements to function effectively, with eSIM allowing for more streamlined connectivity and management.

The new platform will incorporate Verizon’s existing IoT management platform, Verizon ThingSpace IoT, which reportedly already manages millions of IoT devices.

Global IoT Orchestration is today launching with two strategic partners in Bell Canada and Norwegian multinational carrier Telenor, allow customers to receive eSIM connectivity in the US, Canada, and various countries in Europe and the Asia-Pacific regions.

Additional partners are expected to be announced by the end of the year, with Verizon suggesting it would ultimately like 30 carriers to sign up to use the platform, covering a targeted 200 countries and regions.

“The move toward global IoT reflects the reality of doing business in the massive IoT era. The number of IoT devices is expanding rapidly and fleets are fanning outward, so our customers need flexible, reliable connectivity that moves across borders,” said Debika Bhattacharya, Chief Product Officer at Verizon Business. “With our partners Bell Canada, Telenor, and more to come, Verizon Global IoT Orchestration will be able to provide that — a globe-spanning footprint with seamless eSIM IoT connectivity.”

Discussing the benefits of this eSIM approach over traditional IoT roaming, Shamik Basu, executive director of IoT and edge product for Verizon Business noted that it allowed devices entering a market to be considered “a local rather than a visitor”. This allows devices to operate without certain limitations that can be imposed on roaming devices, such as latency levels, as well as providing as regulatory compliance.

How is the rise of the IoT creating opportunities for businesses across the US? Join the digital ecosystem in discussion at this year’s Connected America

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News

The group will meet today with PM Rishi Sunak to discuss the state of the UK economy and explore options for boosting the economy

Today, the UK government has unveiled fourteen chief executives that will form a new business council set to advise the Prime Minister on economic policy.

The group comprises the CEOs of AstraZeneca, NatWest Group, BAE, SSE, Google DeepMind, Sainsbury’s, Vodafone, GSK, Aviva, Shell, Sage, Taylor Wimpey, Diageo, and Barclays.

Together, they represent many of the UK’s largest industries, including banking, pharmaceuticals, retail, construction, energy, tech, insurance, telecoms, and defence.

Unsurprisingly, these companies are also some of the UK’s most valuable; nine of the companies represented are in the UK’s top 30 listed businesses, with only the relative newcomer, AI specialist Google DeepMind, not being featured on the FTSE 100.

Combined, the fourteen companies reportedly employ around 330,000 people in the UK.

“I look forward to hearing first-hand from business leaders about how we can break down the barriers they face and unlock new opportunities for them to thrive,” said PM Rishi Sunak. “The more businesses innovate and invest, the more we grow and create good jobs across the country.”

The business council will reportedly convene twice a year and will be refreshed at the end of 2023.

Today’s meeting will reportedly focus on the economic climate, inflation, skill shortages, and the ongoing impacts of Brexit.

As far as all this relates to the telecoms sector, the inclusion of new CEO of Vodafone Group, Margherita Della Valle, is noteworthy.

Della Valle was made permanent CEO of Vodafone back in April, having held the position on an interim basis since the end of 2022. Since the resignation of previous CEO Nick Read at the end of last year, she has been outlining plans to turn around the company’s dwindling fortunes, declaring its most recent financial results “not good enough”.

The company currently has plans to cut around 11,000 jobs across Europe over the next three years, including a significant number at the company’s UK headquarters, as well as streamlining operations across its portfolio.

Perhaps most notably, the company is in the process of merging its UK operations with those of CK Hutchison’s Three UK. The £15 billion deal would create a telecoms powerhouse with the scale to threaten the hegemony of BT, potentially making Vodafone the most powerful player in the UK market.

The deal is still awaiting the results of regulatory scrutiny.

“I am pleased to be joining the Business Council, an important forum to promote and support the global competitiveness of the UK. We have a vital part to play in the UK’s future, as our national communications infrastructure can help drive innovation and economic growth,” said Della Valle.

Aside from Vodafone, the other natural fit for a telecoms representative on this council would be Philip Jansen, the CEO of BT. As head of the largest UK telco, as well as one of the country’s largest employers in the country, Jansen would seem ideally placed to help steer the PM on the UK economy’s digitalisation.

However, just last week it was announced that Jansen is seeking to step down from the role of CEO over the next year, with analysts suggesting he had been on “shaky ground” for time due to the company’s disappointing results.

Shares in BT have fallen around 45% during Jansen’s four-year tenure.

Finally, it is also worth quickly noting here the lack of representation of SMEs on this business council. There are reportedly, 5.5 million SMEs in the UK, representing 99.9% of UK private sector businesses, yet none of these

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), one of the largest lobbying groups in the country, which represents around 160,000 SMEs, has been quick to criticise the composition of the business council, calling it full of “corporate bigwigs” and “suits”.

How much of a key role does the telcoms play in growing the UK’s economy? Join the ecosystem in discussion at this year’s Connected Britain conference, the UK’s largest digital economy event

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