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Several interesting items from around the world, two in the data center space, one subsea, and one backbone: … [visit site to read more]

News 

STC, Saudi Arabia’s largest telecoms operator, contacted the Spanish government last week to inform it of the deal, which if approved, will make STC the Spanish telecom’s largest shareholder

The Spanish government is reportedly carefully examining STC’s proposed acquisition of a 9.9% stake in Telefónica worth €2.1 billion, which was announced last week.  

‘My opinion is that we cannot allow this operation to continue’ said Yolanda Diaz, Spain’s labour minister and second deputy prime minister 

“We cannot allow the operation to continue,” she continued. “Telefonica manages the most important thing in our lives – data.” 

Speaking outside the G20 in New Dheli this week, Spain’s First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Economy and Digitalization Nadia Calviño confirmed that the Spanish government will “analyse the operation with the upmost rigor and activate the appropriate mechanisms to protect our general interest”. 

Calviño further added that “Telefónica is a strategic company for our country and as government we will apply all the mechanisms that are necessary to prioritise the defence of our strategic interests”, whilst highlighting the importance of preserving Spain’s ability to attract foreign investment. 

She noted that she had not had the opportunity to speak with Mohamed bin Salmán, the Saudi crown prince at the New Dheli summit, but stressed she is in “constant contact” with José María Álvarez Pallete, Telefónica’s president. 

The Spanish government prohibits the foreign acquisition of over 10% in firms active in sectors related to public order, public security, or public health without prior governmental authorisation, which is why STC’s intends to take a 9.9% stake. Acquisitions of less than 10% are also prohibited if this would result in management of the company.  

The Spanish government has the right to question the acquisition, as the threshold at which the government can intervene was recently lowered to 5% for defence related industries, and Telefónica provides services to Spain’s defence industry. 

To hear more about the global telecoms market, join us at this year’s Total Telecom Congress, 21-22 November 

Also in the news:
The changing landscape of the subsea cable industry with Gulf Bridge International
German fibre coverage hits 36%
Potential ‘remedies’ for Spain’s Orange–MásMóvil merger draw in Digi

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.

Contributed Article

Serkan Akcan, Chief Executive Officer, SecHard

SecHard is a cybersecurity software company founded by a constellation of stars and tech gurus. Its story highlights the power of collaboration.

It all began with our CTO, Kadir, a seasoned IT and cybersecurity manager, returning to the academic world for his master’s degree. During his education, he compared his experience with literature reviews and saw the potential for a product that could centralize cybersecurity hardening for different IT products. In 2019, Kadir and his childhood friend, who is now our Chief Software Development Officer, Cihat, developed a prototype. Cihat’s exceptional coding skills are at the core of SecHard’s quality. In 2020, they brought the prototype software to my cybersecurity services company, where I serve as CEO. I’ve been working in the cybersecurity field since 2000 and co-founded a cybersecurity services company in 2005. With this uncommon wealth of experience in cybersecurity, we have a vision for the future.

After seeing SecHard’s prototype, we envisioned that by analysing its shortcomings, we could create a roadmap to address cybersecurity issues worldwide and directly impact cyber resilience. We invested in the prototype software and transformed it into a Cybersecurity Robotic Process Automation product. Our primary goal was to eliminate human-based delays or errors while making cybersecurity improvements through automation and reducing skill and talent shortage gaps. However, we didn’t want to rely solely on our own insights and experiences.

The success of a tech company is directly proportional to the productivity of its employees. In other words, a software company’s most valuable asset is its human resources. Therefore, we endeavoured to bring the best developers and directors to our team. We brought in Ömer, who had held top-level cybersecurity management positions in major companies, as our VP of Product. We appointed Caner, another cybersecurity guru, as Chief Business Officer. Thus, SecHard became a team of stars, and the quality of its products reflects that. 

What is your USP? 

SecHard is the industry’s first cybersecurity robotic process automation tool. According to sources like Gartner and IBM, 95% of cybersecurity incidents are preventable with known and recommended security controls. Many hacking stories trace back to inadequately performed cybersecurity tasks. These tasks are routine and repetitive, making them ideal candidates for robotic process automation. Basically, we can automate the following tasks sequentially: 

– Automatic discovery of cyber assets 

– Automated provisioning of access to discovered assets 

– Automatic cybersecurity gap analysis and risk scoring for accessed assets 

– Automatic configuration enforcement to bring non-compliant assets in line with cybersecurity policies 

– Alerting relevant teams about high-risk assets that cannot be enforced for any reason 

This is just a brief overview. Today, SecHard supports more than 110 IT products, including servers, clients, network devices, databases, web servers, and cloud systems. We fully automate audits and improvements required by CIS Benchmark, DISA STIG, NIST, and some local security standards. We can reduce the need for cybersecurity experts to one in five. 

How have you got to your current stage of development? 

Today, we have more than 40 customers from diverse sectors such as telecom, finance and banking, manufacturing, energy, logistics, retail, and government, as cybersecurity is a universal challenge. We want to take this game-changing product and our expertise to global markets. We participated in the InnogateUK program, an accelerator program at Istanbul Technical University, where we received in-depth training. Over the past year, we sponsored various conferences in London, Dubai, and Azerbaijan. In the next 6 months, we will attend conferences in London, Munich, Dubai, Riyadh, and Texas. In the next two years, we aim to become a cybersecurity provider with a presence on five continents. 

Managed by a technically competent and experienced team, SecHard is also a well-managed company from a commercial perspective. In a very short time, we have made SecHard a profitable company that can finance all its investments, including marketing and go-to-market, from its own budget. This does not mean that we are closed to investors. We are in discussions with investors who will bring more than just money to SecHard, accelerate our entry into global markets, and continue to seek the right investors in return.  

What does the future hold for your SecHard? 

SecHard is set to become a prominent cybersecurity manufacturer alongside the world’s leading cybersecurity companies, operating on five continents and automating cybersecurity problem-solving for organisations. 

Want to learn more about SecHard? Find them at Stand S6 at this year’s Connected Britain, in London on 20-21 September.

Also in the news:
Unleashing a connected future: Navigating the UK’s broadband landscape
German fibre coverage hits 36%
Potential ‘remedies’ for Spain’s Orange–MásMóvil merger draw in Digi 

The data center space is constantly shifting, with new players backed by savvy investors creating novel strategies to provide the next generation of infrastructure to the rest of the economy.  One company that has been rising quickly over the past two years is Colohouse, which has blended organic and M&A activity to assemble a presence across 10 markets with more to come.  With us today to talk about Colohouse’s strategy and its viewpoint on the data center marketplace is CEO Jeremy Pease, who took the helm a little less than a year ago. … [visit site to read more]

News 

UK Regulator Ofcom has released its Summer 2023 Study, based on mobile coverage and fixed broadband availability in the UK, as of April and May this year 

According to the ‘Connected Nations’ report, “Full fibre” (FTTP) now reaches 52% of the UK, equalling 15.4 million households. This is up from 48% in January this year. The report notes that this growth has been predominately driven by deployments from larger fibre operators, but has been supported by a number of smaller altnets, serving individual regions and communities. 

However, the UK’s coverage of fixed “superfast broadband”, remains unchanged at 97%, but Northern Ireland saw an increase of 1%, up to 97%. The 3% unable to access this are likely to be in hard-to-reach areas. The study found that the ‘vast majority’ of the UK can access what is described as ‘decent broadband’, meaning download speeds of at least 10 Megabits per second (Mbit/s) and upload speeds of 1 Mbit/s. 

Gigabit-capable broadband availability has reached 75% of homes, or 22.4 million, up from 21.9 million (73%) in January this year, when their last report was published. 

Regarding mobile coverage, there were no notable increases since the January report, however coverage remains stable, with 93% of the UK predicted to have good outdoor 4G coverage from one operator at least.  

5G coverage continues to expand, with 85% of premises able to access outdoor 5G coverage. 

The usage of 3G continues to decline, with its switch off already underway. Virgin Media O2 confirmed this week that its 3G switch off will begin in 2025, becoming the final major UK operator to do so. 

Want to keep up to date with all of the latest telecoms news? Sign up for Total Telecom’s daily newsletter  

Also in the news:
Smart devices are harvesting excessive consumer data, study finds
Unleashing a connected future: Navigating the UK’s broadband landscape
Consolidation begins in UK fibre market as VMO2’s nexfibre acquires altnet Upp

News 

In its study, Which? analysed the data collection operations of the brands who produce popular smart devices including doorbell cameras, smart speakers and smart washing machines 

New Research from Which? has shown that the makers of smart home devices are collecting more data than is required from their users. This data is then in danger of being shared with third party firms such as social media platforms, without consumers being explicitly aware. 

After analysis of the data collection practises of popular brands, findings of the study included smart doorbell brand Ezvis having the most tracking firms active (including TikTok’s marketing unit, Pangle) Bose smart speakers sharing their user’s data with Meta despite only being supposed to listen when you want them to, LG washing machine necessitating that users provide a date of birth, and smart TVs knowing the viewing habits of users. 

Data collection can be useful to help companies develop better products by optimising them to the need of the consumer. However, it is likely that customers are unaware of the extent to which their data is being used and shared, as a third of people surveyed by Which? do not fully read a device’s privacy policy. 

“Firms should not collect more data than they need to provide the service that’s on offer,” said Rocio Concha, Which? Policy and Advocacy Director, “particularly if they are going to bury this important information in lengthy terms and conditions.” 

Under the General Data Protection Regulations, the data collected by companies must be relevant, and they must be transparent about what data they collect and how it is processed. 

Despite this, companies are often intentionally broad with their reasonings behind using consumer data, giving objectives such as it being in the companies ‘legitimate interests’. 

‘The Information Commissioner’s Office should crack down on data collection by manufacturers and marketing firms that appears to go beyond “legitimate interests”. A proper standard or code of practice should also be put in place to make the rules clearer,’ said Concha. 

Following the release of the report, the Information Commissioner’s Office – a UK government body which upholds information rights in the public interest – have released a statement, emphasising that: 

“Companies must be transparent about the data they collect and how they use it, and ensure that the data is not used or shared in ways that people would not expect. The ICO is developing guidance on data protection and Internet of Things devices and we will act where we don’t see the rules being followed,” said Stephen Almond, Executive Director of Regulatory Risk and the ICO. 

Want to keep up to date with all of the latest telecoms news? Sign up for Total Telecom’s daily newsletter 

Also in the news:
Virgin Media O2 to begin 3G switch off in 2025
Unleashing a connected future: Navigating the UK’s broadband landscape
Consolidation begins in UK fibre market as VMO2’s nexfibre acquires altnet Upp

News

All major UK operators have agreed with the government to phase out 2G and 3G by 2033  

Virgin Media O2 (VMO2) has become the final major UK mobile operator to announce its 3G shut down schedule, aiming to begin the process in 2025. 

The company says that the switch off is part of its ongoing network transformation, with the move freeing up valuable spectrum therefore allowing for the expansion of its 4G and 5G networks. 

3G services were launched in the UK in 2003, but now carry only a small fraction of the country’s total mobile data traffic. In VMO2’s case, only 4% of all data consumed last year was carried over their 3G network. 

VMO2 added that its 4G services now cover 99% of the population, and they expect their 5G coverage to reach 50% of the population by the end of the year. 

This 3G shutdown schedule puts VMO2 slightly behind its rivals, with EE and Three set to begin shutting down their 3G networks next year, while Vodafone UK aims to have completed the process by June next year. 

“3G was once an exciting new development for telecoms providers that brought new opportunities for customers,” said Jeanie York, Chief Technology Officer at Virgin Media O2 in a press release. “But as we continue to evolve our network to provide the best mobile connectivity, it is clear that switching off 3G and focusing our attention and investment on the faster, more reliable and more efficient 4G and 5G services is the right thing to do for our customers, our business and the environment.” 

3G services are likely to be axed before 2G, as 2G remains the only connectivity option in some the most rural parts of the country, as well as used by many Internet of Things services and providing a low power fallback option for more modern networks. 

Hear from Virgin Media O2 at this year’s Connected Britain, the UK’s largest digital economy event – book your tickets now! 

Also in the news:
Unleashing a connected future: Navigating the UK’s broadband landscape
German fibre coverage hits 36%
Potential ‘remedies’ for Spain’s Orange–MásMóvil merger draw in Digi