The European fiber operator euNetworks announced the addition of a new metro fiber network market this morning, bringing their total across the continent to 18. The move follows last spring’s acquisition of 1,660km of fiber and duct across Belgium from a utility company, transforming those assets to better fit alongside euNetworks’ existing presence throughout the Benelux region. … [visit site to read more]
22 April 2024: This Earth Day, BT is announcing a new partnership with the UK Business Climate Hub (UKBCH) that aims to help UK small & medium businesses (SMBs) halve CO2e emissions by 2030 and empower them to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. It comes as research suggests UK SMBs would stop 280 million tonnes of CO2e emissions from reaching the atmosphere if they hit this near-term goal*.
There are 5.5 million SMBs in the UK, making up more than 99% of all businesses nationwide. Collectively they account for almost half (44%**) of non-household emissions, making their role in tackling the climate crisis critical to the UK’s chances of hitting net zero by 2050.
Nine in ten (90%) of SMEs would like to address climate change at their business, but find it challenging to get started and identify the right tools to mitigate their environmental impact.*** To help them map out a path to net zero, the UKBCH, a shared endeavour between industry and government, has welcomed BT as a key industry partner and member of its Advisory Board, and has developed ‘Seven Steps to Sustainability’ to empower SMBs to get started today.
The new partnership aims to bring together BT’s expertise in supporting more than one million small business customers with the UK Business Climate Hub’s free resources to help businesses reduce their carbon footprint and their energy bills. Businesses can take the first step today by checking out the available, free resources from the UKBCH on its website. They can also work towards the SME Climate Commitment, by making a pledge to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, achieve net zero emissions before 2050, and report progress on these goals annually.
Chris Sims, Managing Director, Small and Medium Business at BT, says: “BT set its first carbon reduction target more than 30 years ago, and we’ve had a strong track record of hitting our sustainability goals ever since. But we have size on our side – and from speaking to our small business customers we know that with limited resources, many of them struggle to find the time, the funding, or the guidance to help them prioritise sustainability. With the UK Business Climate Hub we are beginning our journey to reach more businesses with free tools and practical support to help them set the foundations for a greener future, and ultimately, reach Net Zero.”
Chris Taylor, Net Zero Programme Director at the Broadway Initiative – which manages the UK Business Climate Hub – adds: “We’re delighted to partner with BT and are energised about the impact we will make together. The UK Business Climate Hub works closely with the government and our industry partners to produce essential guides for SMBs across multiple sectors, with practical advice on how to reduce carbon emissions and save on energy bills. Whether it’s a tailored net zero plan for individual SMBs, free carbon footprint calculators or an online training course on cutting emissions, with our tools and support, SMBs can reduce both costs and emissions and transition to a greener economy – the ultimate win-win.”
Seven steps to Sustainability: Practical tips for all sectors
The UKBCH has charted a course for SMBs to build and achieve a greener future. The ‘Seven Steps to Sustainability’ break down key actions so that businesses can create an achievable plan. These include:
1. Understand the basics: An overview of net zero and how to reduce your business’s carbon footprint and any legal requirements on reducing carbon emissions.
2. Involve your team: Engage staff across the business to develop carbon reduction and energy saving initiatives. This could include an internal working group or hiring an external consultant.
3. Make the SME Climate Commitment: Commit to halving business emissions by 2030, reach net zero by 2050, and report yearly on progress towards these goals.
4. Make a plan: Measure current emissions from fuel consumption and electricity use. Taking stock of current business activities that contribute to overall carbon emissions will enable businesses to identify key focus areas.
5. Take action: Deploy technologies and new approaches to save energy and reduce carbon. Businesses can get sector-specific information here, and learn about specific actions that can be taken here.
6. Find finance and support: Businesses across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales can identify specific programmes or initiatives to help them to finance their sustainability journey.
7. Look beyond your business: Identify opportunities across the business’s entire value chain to reduce its impact, including creating a greener supply chain, using electric vehicles and transport, and get low carbon product labels and certifications.
SMBs can visit the UKBCH website to access an entire library of free resources, tools and advice to cut carbon, reduce energy use, and chart a course to net zero: https://businessclimatehub.uk/
One of the more intriguing projects people are talking about these days is Toptana Technologies’ plans for a cable landing station on the West Coast of the United States. Toptana is a first-of-its-kind indigenous-owned internet infrastructure and technology company, owned by the Quinault Indian Nation (QIN) of the Pacific Northwest, a community of more than 3,000 tribal members located along the coast in northern Washington State. Its mission is to connect the digitally unconnected and provide internet access to rural communities, starting by bringing the first subsea cable landing station to Washington State in over 25 years. The team is currently building necessary backhaul network connectivity to Seattle and major data center clusters in Hillsboro, Oregon. Today we talked about the company’s plans and its underlying motivation and outlook with Tyson Johnston, who serves as Toptana’s chairman of the board. … [visit site to read more]
The Philippine government launched the first phase of its National Fibre Backbone (NFB) project on Friday, which it says will boost the country’s economy as well as its digital ambitions.
According to a statement from the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), NFB Phase 1 comprises a 1,245-km cable network from Laoag, Ilocos Norte to Roces, Quezon City. It connects 14 provinces across Northern and Central Luzon, Metro Manila, four Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) eco-zones, and two national government data centres.
Phase 1 of the government-owned backbone – which was soft-launched in December 2023 – sports 28 nodes and delivers an initial capacity of 600 Gbps.
At the official launch ceremony on Friday, Philippine president Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr said the NFB “serves as the economic spine that props up our growth, and supports our development. More importantly, we understand that in order for Filipinos to reach their full potential, we must invest in a fast and reliable internet.”
President Marcos Jr said that the completed NFB “will open employment opportunities, improve market efficiency, attract foreign investments, and stimulate livelihood across the different sectors of our economy and our society.”
In the meantime, he said, NFB Phase 1 would help over 340 national and local government offices connected to GovNet boost their overall operational efficiency and generate more than PHP145 million (US$2.2 million) in potential annual savings.
“Additionally, it will extend a digital lifeline to more than 3,000 Filipinos and different Free Wi-Fi Sites, enabling direct internet access for approximately 750,000 beneficiaries in Regions I, III, and here in [Metro Manila],” he added.
Also at the launch event, DICT secretary Ivan John Uy said Phase 1 of the NFB represented a “monumental leap forward in our journey towards a digitally empowered society. With the activation of these nodes, we are bringing high-speed internet across to underserved communities, unlocking opportunities for education, healthcare, and economic development.”
Uy also said DICT will leverage the high-speed connectivity provided by the NFB to power last-mile initiatives like the National Government Portal (NGP) and the Broadband ng Masa Program.
The remaining five phases of the NFB are scheduled to be completed in 2026, at which point it will span 28,000 km. According to the Manila Times, Uy said that Phases 2 and 3 could be completed by the end of this year.
DICT said the completed NFB will help increase the Philippines’ internet penetration rate from 33% to 65% and reach 70 million Filipinos. It also said the initiative would also lower the price of internet connectivity to as much as US$5.00 per Mbps.
“The next phases of the National Fibre Backbone project will focus on broadening our network coverage, extending connectivity across regions, and providing broadband internet access to government institutions and public spaces,” Uy said.
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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.
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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:
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Infinera Media: Anna Vue Tel. +1 (916) 595-8157 avue@infinera.com |
Infinera Investors: Amitabh Passi, Head of Investor Relations Tel. +1 (669) 295-1489 apassi@infinera.com |
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.
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.
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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
This Industry Viewpoint was authored by Nick Millward, Mobile Ecosystem Forum
As we journey into the future of mobile telecoms over the next five years, I’m excited about the transformative role that artificial intelligence will play. From enhanced network optimisation and intelligent customer service to hyper-personalised services and edge computing, AI promises to revolutionise every aspect of our mobile telecommunications experience. Let’s take a look at some of the anticipated innovations and transformations that AI … [visit site to read more]
Africa Mobile Networks Group (AMN) announced on Thursday that its first of its base stations in Nigeria to connect to SpaceX’s Starlink constellation is now live and using the LEO satellite network for backhaul connectivity.
It’s the first AMN base station to connect to Starlink since AMN and SpaceX signed a commercial deal in July 2023 to use Starlink for remote base station backhaul connectivity across Africa.
AMN said in a statement that Starlink’s low-latency connectivity enables its multi-carrier RANs to sustainably provide 2G, 3G and 4G services in remote, rural areas of Nigeria. AMN also said it also paves the way for the launch of 5G services, which AMN plans to do before the end of this year.
AMN, which builds, owns, operates and maintains mobile network infrastructure for African mobile network operators, currently operates 1,600 base stations across Nigeria. The company said it will continue to install new sites throughout 2024 in Nigeria, as well as Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cameroon, Madagascar, Cote d’Ivoire, Benin and Rwanda. AMN also has operations in Bissau, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Sudan, and Zambia.
Starlink has been commercially available to consumers and enterprise customers since January 2023. Last week, according to a report from Nairametrics, Starlink slashed the price of its internet router by 45%, although its monthly subscription rate remains unchanged. No reason was given, but the report suggests the move may be related to the naira’s recent appreciation against the US dollar and other foreign currencies.
According to figures from the Nigerian Communications Commission, Starlink had over 11,200 subscribers in the country as of the third quarter of 2023 – which also makes it one of the top ISPs in Nigeria, the report said.
