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Interview

At this year’s Connected Britain, we had the pleasure of speaking to Clive Selley, CEO of Openreach, to discuss the enormous acceleration of the UK broadband market in recent years and the current chatter around market consolidation 

“Some level of consolidation is inevitable,” explained Selley. “I see well over 100 altnets out there and that possibly is not what we are going to see in five years’ time. Some of the bigger altnets sound like they are interested in being consolidators. Some level of consolidation is likely and healthy, so I look forward to the developments in that space – but it’s highly unlikely to involve Openreach!” 

In the interview, Selley went on to describe the current state of the UK broadband market as “super healthy”, touching on the importance of Equinox 2 pricing offer and the growing focus on public education to promote the take-up of fibre services.    

“Let’s celebrate achievements of the industry over the last few years,” concluded Selley. “How far we have come in the last few years is incredible.”  

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

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Openreach were a Gold Sponsor at this year’s Connected Connected Britain. To hear more about the UK’s broadband market, join us at Connected North in April next year – book your tickets now!

Also in the news:
FCC continues to wrestle with net neutrality
TalkTalk CEO steps down as de-merger continues
Broadway Partners, Cadence Networks, and SWS Broadband folded into Voneus

A new campus, some 400G, a purchasing vehicle win, and a subsea rollout: … [visit site to read more]

Smartphone shipments in Africa saw growth of 7.6% to a total of 19.6 million units in Q2, snapping seven quarters of continuous year-on-year decline.

Leading the growth was South Africa and Egypt with strong performances in the quarter.

IDC research analyst Taher Abdel-Hameed noted recovery in Egypt was due to the government easing on mobile phone imports.

« The Egyptian government is encouraging local production through various incentives, and this has led to the launch of five mobile phone factories in the country,” said Abdel-Hameed.

More brands are planning to start local manufacturing in the short term, and the initiatives aided in spurring recovery and accelerating momentum in Egypt.

Meanwhile, growth in South Africa was due to an increase in shipments of entry-level devices from Samsung and other local brands to meet the demand for affordable devices from budget-constrained consumers.

Nigeria is also among one of the largest markets in Africa but saw a decline despite seeing growth in Q1, which IDC attributed to a sluggish economy, high inflation rates, and poor exchange rates.

Transsion which owns the Tecno, Itel and Infinix brands, accounted for the largest share of smartphone shipments in Africa in Q2. Africa is the Chinese manufacturer’s highest contribution region pushing its entry into the top five largest shipping vendors for the first time. Samsung was the second-highest shipping vendor in Africa, followed by Xiaomi.

« Looking ahead, the African smartphone market is expected to recover further in 2024; however, it is worth noting that shipments will still not surpass the level of strong performance seen in 2021, » said IDC senior research manager Ramazan Yavuz.  

« The hardships and challenges posed by the global economic outlook continue to affect the region, preventing a faster recovery. In the long term, an influx of affordable models across all brands and faster turnover from feature phones to smartphones will drive growth in the market. »

Yesterday Google unveiled yet another subsea cable project. The new cable will be named Nuvem, which is apparently Portuguese for ‘cloud’, and will connect Portugal with South Carolina. Along the way it will stop in Bermuda, which has not gotten a whole lot of subsea fiber love over the years. … [visit site to read more]

News

The ship is set to replace a vessel that has been in service since 1983 

Orange Marine, the subsidiary of French telco group Orange that specialises in submarine cable operations, is launching a new ship dedicated to the maintenance and repair of critical subsea cables.  

The ship, named the ‘Sophie Germain’, is 100 metres in length and includes a 450 kW ROV (remotely operated vehicle) that is used to cut, inspect, and bury the fibre optic cable that is stored on board. 

Orange claim that their new “state-of-the-art” ship will bring a “new era of sustainability in the subsea cable and broader network industry”, using less fuel than previous models I and emitting 20% less carbon dioxide and82% less nitrogen oxide. 

“It is with great pride that we inaugurate today the Sophie Germain, a new generation cable ship,” said Christel Heydemann, CEO of Orange, in a press release. 

“Through this launch, the Orange group reaffirms its central role in the laying and maintenance of submarine cables, a little-known industry and yet an essential base for the development of connectivity around the world. At the cutting-edge of technology and thanks to a reduced environmental footprint, the Sophie Germain contributes to the Group’s sustainable innovation approach to respond to the major challenges of our time.” 

Orange is a major player in the subsea cable industry, with its ships having installed 257,000 km of submarine fibre optic cables and made over 800 repairs, as of the end of 2023. 

The launch of new cable ships in the subsea industry is a rarity. There are only around 60 cable ships in the world designed for the deployment and maintenance of subsea cables. 

There were only five new vessels launched since 2004, and 19 of the ships currently in use are over 30 years old. New ships can often cost over $100 million to develop, with many operators choosing to repurpose older vessels to save costs. 

Before the deployment of the ‘Sophie Germain’, Orange Marine’s last new ship was the Pierre de Fermat in 2014.

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

Also in the news:
Vodafone’s Andrea Dona: The UK has fallen behind on 5G, but not lost the race
Zegona in talks to buy Vodafone Spain
Connected Britain 2023: the award winners  

Keep up-to-date with all the latest news, articles, event and product updates posted on Developing Telecoms.
Subscribe to our FREE weekly email newsletters for the latest telecom info in developing and emerging markets globally.

News

The auction saw all available spectrum in the 900 MHz, 2.1 GHz, and 2.6 GHz bands purchased by the nation’s operators

The Swedish Post and Telecom Authority (PTS) has announced the results of its latest spectrum auction, with all three of the country’s major operators not only participating, but purchasing all available spectrum.

The auction has been in the works for a long time, with PTS explaining that the allocations should help bolster the nation’s wireless services for years to come, particularly 5G.

“The assignment aims at an efficient and secure use of frequencies that contributes to the continued digitalisation of Sweden,” said PTS in a statement.

“PTS shall assign national block licenses in the 900 MHz, 2.1 GHz, and 2.6 GHz bands. The licenses shall be assigned well in advance before the current licenses expire. The purpose of the assignment is to enable continued digitalization and technology development, to contribute to the mobility objective of the Government´s broadband strategy by deploying new masts along roads and railways and in other areas.”

The auction itself was concluded in a single day last week, raising a total of SEK 4.23 billion ($380 million) for the Swedish government.

More specifically, Telia purchased 2×15 MHz in the 900 MHz band, 2×20 MHz in the 2.1 GHz band, and 2×30 MHz in the 2.6 GHz band, paying SEK 1.55 billion ($140 million).

Hi3G (owned by CK Hutchison) 2×10 MHz in the 900 MHz band, 2×20 MHz in the 2.1 GHz band, and 2×10 MHz (FDD) plus 1×10 MHz (TDD) in the 2.6 GHz band. In total, the company paid SEK 1.21 billion ($110 million).

Finally, Net4Mobility (the joint venture between Tele2 and Telenor Sweden) took home 2×10 MHz in the 900 MHz band, 2×20 MHz in the 2.1 GHz band, and 2×30 MHz in the 2.6 GHz band, spending SEK 1.47 billion ($130 million).

The 900 MHz licences will be valid from the start of 2026 until the end of December 2048, while the 2.1 GHz and 2.6 GHz licences will begin at the same time and run a little longer, to the end of December 2050.

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

Also in the news:
Vodafone’s Andrea Dona: The UK has fallen behind on 5G, but not lost the race
Zegona in talks to buy Vodafone Spain
Connected Britain 2023: the award winners 

The European data center market has had an interesting few years, buffeted by geopolitical changes in the energy markets and driven by ever-expanding demand from new technologies.  With us today to talk about it all isn the CEO of maincubes, Oliver Menzel.  From his perch in Frankfurt, Germany, home to one of the largest data center concentrations in the world, he has a unique viewpoint on the market, the drivers of demand, and the future direction of European data centers.  … [visit site to read more]