Northern Telecom acquires business and assets of Toople Plc & DMSL


PRESS RELEASE

Leeds based telco Northern Telecom has stepped in to rescue the business and assets of Toople Plc (and subsidiaries) in a deal with administrators FRP Recovery that closed on Friday..

Toople’s customer and reseller relationships (including customers of Toople and Direct Market Services Limited (DMSL)) will transition into the wider Northern Telecom group.

The transaction is the eighth for Northern Telecom in the last five years and secures provision of service for a range of small to medium sized business customers across the UK.

Toople PLC was listed on the London Stock Exchange in May 2016 and acquired DMSL in January 2020. Trading in shares was suspended on the 19th October. The deal sees the bulk of the assets and business of Toople return to private ownership.

Northern Telecom Group Operations Director Simon Rogers commented “The Toople business has underperformed over the last five years. A fundamentally flawed business model and questionable strategic decisions have masked what we believe to be a business with strong underlying financials. We’re delighted to welcome Toople customers into the wider group and we’re excited to enable the business to unleash its full potential”.

Northern Telecom Group Managing Director Jon Graves commented “We’re delighted to finalise another two acquisitions to supplement our growth this year. We look forward to supporting each customer with their IT & Telecoms requirements.”

Discover the north’s connected future. Join Total Telecom at Manchester Central on the 17 – 18 April 2023. totaltele.com/connectednorth

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15
Nov, 2022

BDx Indonesia expands data centre footprint

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Orange launches 5G in Botswana


News

On Friday, Orange launched 5G in Botswana – the Group’s first commercial 5G launch in Africa.

In a briefing last week, Orange Botswana’s CEO, Nene Maiga, outlined details of the launch announcing that 30% of the population would be covered with 5G available in 2 major cities including Gaborone and Francistown. Further cities will be covered by the network in due course.

Orange is planning launches in approximately 6 additional countries in the MEA region in 2023. Regulatory agreements are currently be negotiated in Jordan, which is likely to be the next launch, followed by the Ivory Coast. Then, subject to agreeing the regulatory conditions, Senegal should follow.

According to Jerôme Henique, CEO of Orange Middle East and Africa, the Group sees 5G as an opportunity to complete their broadband portfolio in Africa. The limited availability and cost of 5G handsets is still a barrier to uptake of 5G in the continent, however Orange’s regional strategy will see the Group focus on connectivity for households through their 5G fixed broadband offering.

Offers will be available for residential customers, small and medium enterprises. The fixed offers are available from15Mbps for Prepaid and from 20Mbps for Postpaid with a monthly rental from BWP 699 (€53 per month).

Orange is also exploring the development of 5G use cases for enterprise customers in Africa with a particular focus on the mining industry and ports. Orange believes that the network of 5G labs, which the Group is opening in key locations in the MEA region, is a strong differentiator for Orange 5G. Henique said that the labs would be open to startups to develop new use cases which would prove beneficial for the local the local entrepreneur ecosystem.

14
Nov, 2022

Industry Spotlight: Lumen’s Darren Wolner on the Customer Journey to SASE

The biggest transformation going on in the enterprise data market today is the shift to Secure Access Service Edge.  The idea behind SASE is to integrate SD-WAN, security, and access together in ways that can support today’s hybrid work environments.  With its global network assets, Lumen is in a position to support that shift and recently launched its own SASE offering.  With us today to talk about Lumen’s approach to SASE and where he sees the market going is Darren Wolner.  Darren has been with Lumen almost 7 years and has served as Senior Director, Product Management – SASE at Lumen since November 2021. … [visit site to read more]

The solution for smart cities goes beyond the internet itself


VIEWPOINT

Maria Lema is the Co-Founder of Weaver Labs, an open and shared marketplace of connectivity assets.

Many things have been said about smart cities in the last few years. In fact, we can find various definitions of it just by looking into different perspectives such as applications and infrastructure. The reality is that this concept keeps changing and evolving as well as the problems to tackle and the technology to do so.

The definition that may be more suitable for this matter is the one that points out cities using ICTs and telecommunications infrastructure to improve the efficiency and quality of their citizens. In the end, these last two terms are the ones that rule the success of a Smart city.

But there is another core concept that is key when we talk about Smart cities: connectivity. According to the European Commission, connectivity refers to all those technologies and services that allow end-users to connect to a communication network. It encompasses an increasing volume of data, wireless and wired protocols and standards, and combinations within a single use case or location.

In other words, connectivity is the one that allows people, governments, and businesses to use the benefits of digital technology in various ways.

However, even though connectivity is the piece that allows a city to be smart, it is currently suffering from many challenges that put at risk the capability to cope with the future and its adversities. Among these challenges, two main groups stand out: the growing demand for connectivity and the technical & financial challenges.

The demand

According to the World Economic Forum, the share of the world’s population living in cities is expected to rise to 80% by 2050, from 55%. In fact, Ericsson estimated that 37 billion sensors and smartphones are expected to be connected to the mobile network by 2027.

These projections are alarming in telecommunications since there are currently no case studies that can solve this problem. One viable, scalable, and profitable solution is to open and diversify the supply chain.

That’s why at Weaver Labs, we are building Cell-Stack, a software stack created to integrate telecoms infrastructure to make it discoverable and easy to be consumed. We help integrate telecoms assets, whoever they belong to (public sector or private sector), make them accessible “as a service” through a single portal, and empower supply chain diversification.
Opening and sharing the current infrastructure model would expand the possibilities for industries to share infrastructure, innovation, and data, elements that make possible connectivity easy to be consumed.

The technical and financial challenge

The traditional model of telecommunications operations is built in silos. Making innovation, infrastructure, and data difficult to be shared across sectors. For example, it is common that a transport authority may invest in an advanced wireless infrastructure to support intelligent transport systems, but this infrastructure is then not reused for healthcare. This represents a waste of valuable resources, time, and money.

For the last few years we have learned that without public sector investment in telecoms, the deployment of infrastructure is slower and deficient. One example of this is that many rural areas and low-income urban areas do not provide a sufficient business rationale for FTTH deployments as the short-term commercial incentives for building this type of infrastructure.

To resolve these issues, it is essential to open the supply chain of telecoms. By doing so, we will be welcoming new investors and players that will help with the evolution of the industry and furthermore, bring connectivity to everyone as it should be.

Key takeaways:

Being a smart city means that cities put the well-being of citizens and business growth at the center of their strategy. A Smart city is the promise of a place that offers the best digital solutions and provides connectivity for everyone.

The most viable solution to cope with the connectivity demand is to open up and diversify the telecoms supply chain. This will prevent both infrastructure and data resources from being wasted. Likewise, it will encourage the arrival of new players and investors.

Connectivity is everything! There are no smart cities without connectivity just as there is no progress without it either. Connectivity is the glue of everything: from the possibility of applying for a job to sending a medical report from an ambulance to a hospital so that doctors and nurses are ready and vital time is saved.

Weaver Labs have participated in Startup Villages at Total Telecom events. We have opportunities for exciting young companies to join us for Connected America (Dallas, March 2023) and Connected North (Manchester, April 2023). Spaces are limited. 

Tele2 sues Ericsson over Russian exit


News

The Russian operator says the Swedish vendor has refused to honour their commitments to provide equipment related to deals struck before the invasion of Ukraine

This week, Tele2 has launched a legal challenge against Ericsson, accusing the latter of failing to fulfil its contractual obligations.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022 saw immediate condemnation from the international community, who quickly drew up enormous economic sanctions against Russian businesses.

Over the following months, international businesses fled Russia in droves, with both of the major Western mobile equipment vendors, Nokia and Ericsson, announcing they would suspend their existing operations and take no further orders. Since then, both companies have announced their intention to exit the country by the end of the year, gradually winding down their remaining operations.

The exit of these vendors has caused a major headache for Russia’s mobile network operators, forcing them to become more dependent on alternative suppliers, such as Chinese vendors ZTE and Huawei or domestic equipment maker Rostec. MTS, Tele2, Veon, and MegaFon have all been reported as being heavily reliant on Nokia and Ericsson.

Now, Tele2 has revealed that it had been trying to negotiate with Ericsson for the past eight months over the company’s refusal to provide additional equipment, which Tele2 says violates the terms contracts signed before the invasion of Ukraine.

As such, the Russian operator has now filed a legal challenge against Ericsson with the Moscow Arbitration Court.

“We have initiated proceedings against Ericsson Corporation and Satel TVK due to the refusal of the companies to fulfil their obligations to provide equipment. Most of the undelivered equipment refers to orders made long before sanctions were imposed,” Tele2 told Reuters via a statement.

Satel TVK is a Russian company that supplies Tele2 with Ericsson equipment.

Ericsson has yet to comment on the matter.

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BT warns of further job losses as soaring bills force bigger cost-cutting drive

11
Nov, 2022

Botswana becomes Orange’s first commercial 5G launch in Africa

Orange Botswana has become the first Orange affiliate to launch 5G, covering 30% of the population including greater Gaborone and Francistown. Other cities will follow in early 2023.

It follows the launch of Botswana’s first Orange Digital Centre this morning, which will help bridge the digital divide and prepare Botswana youth for employment in a blossoming digital ecosystem. This 5G launch will support innovation and digital inclusion in the country, putting Botswana at the forefront of 5G in Africa, and is closely aligned with the government’s ambition to leverage Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) innovation towards transforming Botswana into a knowledge-based economy.

Offering ultra-high speed and low latency, 5G will support new disruptive services such as e-health, connected vehicles, connected cities, real-time gaming, smart homes and learning through VR and augmented reality. In the field of medicine, Orange Botswana has partnered with MRI Botswana to create a Connected Ambulance project that will allow Doctors to guide Paramedics through life saving procedures on their way to hospitals. The operator also plans to collaborate with government and enterprises on 5G-based use cases.

After the commercial launch of 5G services in Botswana, Orange Middle East and Africa intends to maintain its efforts in delivering advanced technologies to its MEA markets, adding value to local economies and bridging the digital gap within African populations.

In other countries, regulators still have not officially initiated the 5G licence attribution process, although many of them – such as Cote d’Ivoire – showed a clear will to make 5G spectrum available in 2023. Meanwhile, Orange is collaborating with several regulatory bodies to help build a 5G deployment roadmap while testing the technology and developing use cases that fit with the local populations’ need.

Jerôme Henique, CEO of Orange Middle East and Africa, says: “The launch of 5G technology in Botswana will allow us to scale-up this technology and gain experience for other Orange countries across Africa. The benefits and potential impact of this are promising. It will help promote Africa’s digital inclusion, resulting in socio-economic growth and job creation. It is also ensuring Africa’s skills development on digital management tools and is in line with the ambitions of the African Union “Digital Transformation for Africa (2022 – 2030)”. It begins here and now, in Botswana.”

Nene Maiga, CEO of Orange Botswana says: “At Orange Botswana, we are excited to be bringing in a new technology that will allow economic players to discover new possibilities enabled by 5G, and the way it could positively transform their daily activities. 5G connectivity is an incredible opportunity for businesses and the government, who are eager to take their operations to the next level. It is going to change how customers experience connectivity.”

Henique noted that Orange’s next MEA market to receive 5G connectivity will likely be Jordan, as the required agreements are already in place with the government, with Ivory Coast and Senegal likely to follow.

Maiga added that the cost of 5G devices in Botswana was something of a deterrent, but as prices edge below US$150, adoption is likely to increase. Henique added that Orange initially focuses on 5G FWA across its MEA footprint, as this is more affordable and ably demonstrates the benefits of 5G – plus the demand for home broadband in these markets is booming.

Henique noted that Ericsson is uing RAN equipment from Huawei in Botswana while tapping Ericsson for the core network, and added that Orange engineers were experienced with both companies, meaning the launch would be seamless. He said that Orange was exploring open RAN, but noted that the operational models were very different and would take time to implement, so traditional vendor models were preferable to achieve a quick launch in Botswana. However, he said that Orange saw promise in decoupling of networks and using a broader range of equipment providers.

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11
Nov, 2022

As Zambia zero-rates equipment imports, could other African markets follow suit?

In October 2022, Zambia announced that it would zero-rate imports of telecoms equipment in a bid to encourage investment into the country’s ICT sector, which the government views as essential to job creation and economic development in the market.

The decision could prove to be prudent, as Zambia seeks to follow the example of African countries that are a few steps further along the journey to widespread ICT implementation. If Zambia’s endeavour proves fruitful, how likely are we to see the move replicated by similar African markets keen to replicate this success?

To find out, we spoke to IDC analyst Mark Walker, who highlighted Kenya and Rwanda as two of the standout nations in Sub-Saharan Africa in terms of ICT implementation. Walker noted that Kenya’s connection to subsea cables linking Mombasa to Nairobi has been hugely significant to the nation’s economy in terms of exposure to investment, but at a local level – for example provision of basic social services and access to communications, as well as services such as education and telehealth. Fintech in particular is a vibrant sector, and the proliferation of Safaricom’s M-Pesa service has significantly grown the Kenyan economy.

The key challenge has always been skills, but skill development is a lot easier as smartphones proliferate, as they provide access to tools, materials, technology and collaboration. Walker noted that Africa in general has a young population that is technologically literate, particularly with mobile – and added that the device profile of the continent is fast skewing towards smartphones, with access that has traditionally been concentrated in cities now spreading to rural areas. “If you speak to some of the major telcos across the region – MTN, the telcos in Zambia, Orange, Airtel – the way they see it is the cities are done”, explains Walker. “The mobile phone penetration has still got a way to go consumer-wise, but it’s pretty much mature, and rapidly maturing.”

The next step is to bring it into the business environment, with a focus on B2B, enterprise, and providing access in more semi rural and rural areas. This is resulting in more data centre investment, with financial institutions and governments beginning to build and develop data centres – and this actually addresses pre-existing issues around data sovereignty in which data must be stored locally.

Meanwhile, operators are realising that they can no longer be pure communications technology providers, and are focusing more becoming digital service providers while also concentrating on the small/medium enterprise space. The future growth of African enterprises will depend on access to global markets as well as regional markets, and this will be enabled by technology – from basic manufacturing through to fintech.

“[Zambia is a] fast grower – it’s a landlocked country, obviously, so what is the communication picture there? It’s going to be fibre, they’re going to have to work with their surrounding countries, most likely Angola and Namibia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique, to get access to the undersea cables” says Walker. “But there’s a lot of development happening around the pan-continental fibre network as well, so they can tap into that.”

Walker highlights the country’s young population who are eager to acquire ICT skills – as evidenced in other markets such as DRC and Kenya, where development and coding camps are typically oversubscribed. He notes that there is a lot of investment into skills building in Africa by international organisations – and while infrastructure has to be there first, many countries are now getting this right, including Zambia.

Having previously cited Kenya and Rwanda as successful examples of African ICT implementation, Walker notes that Zambia shares similarities with the latter in particular, such as a concentration of good skill sets and a manageable, well-educated workforce, as well as forward-thinking politicians.

He describes Zambia’s zero-rating policy as a good start: “Once the infrastructure is in, then you can start building quickly out. It seems to me that they want to encourage very quick investment into infrastructure, get the comms equipment on the ground and connected, and the rest will follow, so getting the infrastructure layer sorted. That’s a good way to do it, especially if there’s no tax on it to encourage local investment as well as international investment.”

While the impact of Zambia’s decision to zero-rate imports of telecoms equipment remains to be seen, it’s hard to imagine it will discourage investment in the sector. This begs the question of whether other countries could adopt similar measures. According to Walker, “if they’re wise they will. If they are serious about getting onto the growth bandwagon, then by all means it could be a template.”

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