Might we have a pan-Arctic submarine cable system in just a few years? Far North Fiber has taken the next step toward making its proposed project reality by kicking off the cable route study, which would be followed by a marine survey. … [visit site to read more]

Commercial 5G launches rebounded in the second half of 2022 as operators in developing markets – and notably Africa – turned on their networks. That’s one of the key findings of 5G Tracker, a report from Kagan, a part of S&P Global Market Intelligence.

5G Tracker lists at least 238 mobile operators serving 94 markets worldwide that had launched commercial 5G services as of year-end 2022.

Developing markets, especially in Africa, were in the spotlight for recent commercial 5G launches, the report found, as operators in many developed regions had already launched 5G in previous years. The switch from non-standalone to standalone 5G is slowly picking up, it added, but the lack of demand for 5G itself has caused some operators to be tentative about making the switch.

5G Tracker also said that Ericsson and Nokia remained the leading 5G infrastructure vendors in terms of total customers and associated network deployments, while China’s Huawei Technologies was still the leading vendor in terms of total 5G small cell unit shipments and related deployments, thanks to its massive home market, where more than 2.31 million 5G small cells were active at the end of December 2022.

Twenty-four new operators were added to the list of 5G launches in the second half of 2022. Africa had nine new launches in this period, the most since Kagan began tracking 5G launches in 2018. These included Orange SA in Botswana, Safaricom PLC in Kenya, Société Française de Radiotéléphone (SFR) SA in Réunion, MTN Group in Nigeria and Zambia, Telkom SA SOC Ltd. in South Africa, Vodacom Group in Tanzania and Unitel SA in Angola.

As most operators in developed markets have already deployed commercial 5G services, Kagan expects launches in the succeeding months to come from developing markets in Africa, Asia-Pacific, Eastern Europe and Latin America.

More details on these findings are available on the 5G Tracker page.

The FTTH space is one of the most dynamic in the infrastructure world right now, with providers of all types investing resources in residential connectivity around the country.   Last year we talked to Consolidated Communications here for an Industry Spotlight about their Fidium buildout plans.  Now, one year later where are they?  With us today to talk about the company’s buildout status and where they are putting their efforts going forward is Gabe Waggoner, Executive Vice President of Operations at Consolidated Communications. … [visit site to read more]

Chilean regulator Subtel has granted the local unit of Claro provisional authorisation to offer commercial 5G services via its 3.5GHz spectrum.

As reported by Mexico-based DPL Group, the regulator’s decision followed recommendations from Chile’s Free Competition Tribunal and Supreme Court, both of which argued that having four competitors in the 5G space would improve competition and provide a better experience for mobile users – despite claims to the contrary from Claro’s rivals Entel, Movistar and Wom.

Thus far, Claro has been unable to launch a 5G offering in Chile as the 3.5GHz band was restricted to fixed wireless use. However, this limitation was overturned by a court ruling earlier this year, making 5G a possibility for Claro. Since the operator did not obtain its spectrum at auction, it will be required to present a technical plan similar to those presented during the 2020 auctions, as well as an investment roadmap for connecting remote locations.

“As a regulatory entity, we are mandated to make decisions where the national interest prevails. This authorization, which is provisional, is taken with the objective of optimizing the use of the spectrum so that it can be operated for the benefit of citizens. When there is greater competition, the plans are more attractive, prices drop and people have more options to decide”, said Subtel chief Claudio Araya San Martín.

According to Subtel’s data, at end-2022 there were 2,040,071 5G connections in Chile. Entel leads the market with 904,000 connections, giving it a market share of 44.3%. Movistar has 609,000 connections, while Wom takes third place with 256,000.

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While a national consumer promotion would not normally be big news on these pages, the recently announced promotion by new market entrant Safaricom Ethiopia is possibly more significant than most.

Safaricom Ethiopia has this week launched its first national consumer promotion, one that will see over one million customers rewarded for joining and using products and services on the new network.

The 13-week promotion will award customers unique codes for buying a Safaricom SIM card or recharging their lines with airtime, buying packages or using WhatsApp bundles.

Each customer will receive a maximum of ten unique codes per day that will enter them into a draw to win either daily, bi-weekly or monthly prizes that include: cars, bajajs (three-wheel vehicles), motorbikes, smartphones and tablets, and bonus airtime.

While Anwar Soussa, CEO, Safaricom Ethiopia, refers to the event as being about “saying thank you to our customers in our own small way”, it involves a strong incentive to spend money or sign up. For every 10 Birr (about 19 US cents) spent either on airtime top up or buying voice, SMS or data packages, existing Safaricom customers across the country will receive one code.

New customers who join the network by buying a SIM card and topping up within 24 hours will receive three codes. Seven codes will be awarded for those using the free 1GB WhatsApp package.

The promotion, which is also open to Safaricom’s enterprise customers, runs until the fourth of July and will reward over one million customers throughout a 13-week period across regions in Ethiopia where the Safaricom network has been switched on.

This is further evidence that Safaricom Ethiopia means business in a market in which rival, and incumbent, Ethio Telecom has a strong head start with somewhere in the region of 70 million subscribers.

Still, the new arrival isn’t doing badly. Since starting its operations with customer pilots in August 2022, and following its national launch ceremony in October 2022, Safaricom Ethiopia has grown its subscriber base to 2.8 million customers across Ethiopia.

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Authored by John Bonczek, Chief Revenue Officer, fifteenfortyseven Critical Systems Realty

We are in the midst of a massive shift in how people work, communicate, and interact in society. With just a tip of the AI-generated capabilities being introduced, the world as we know it is about to change in ways we are unable to even imagine. In order for this new future to become a reality, digital infrastructure must be fortified to support the insatiable data it will eventually deliver. As a result, networks responsible for … [visit site to read more]

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Unite Private Networks has a new metro market in mind, and it’s not within their usual midwestern and southwestern territory. Yesterday they announced an expansion of their footprint into Augusta GA. … [visit site to read more]