London, 18th February 2025 – EXA Infrastructure, the critical digital infrastructure platform provider, has been chosen by IOEMA as the landing partner for its new submarine cable in Leiston, UK. From the cable landing station EXA will also provide critical backhaul connectivity to major data centers, including London Telehouse and Equinix.

Launched in May 2024, IOEMA is a 1,600 km repeated high-capacity submarine fiber optic network linking five key Northern European markets: the UK, Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, and Norway. This project is a game-changer, connecting strategic locations favored by Hyperscalers and Content Providers – due to power availability – with the primary landing points linking Europe’s core FLAP (Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris) data hubs.

Leiston, one of EXA Infrastructure’s 20 cable landing stations, serves as a critical gateway between the UK and the Netherlands via the Concerto cable. It offers low-latency direct links to London, alternative routes to Dublin and northern UK regions bypassing London, and access to multiple transatlantic pathways, further strengthening connectivity to the Nordics.

Steve Roberts, SVP of Strategic Investments and Product Management at EXA Infrastructure, stated: “Being selected as the landing partner for this advanced fiber optic project highlights our expertise in delivering complex subsea landing solutions. Our commitment to providing diversity and resiliency through our extensive owned fiber network in Europe, coupled with vital transatlantic routes, positions us as a market leader in enabling advanced connectivity”

Eckhard Bruckschen, CTO at IOEMA Fibre Ltd., stated: ‘We are thrilled to announce our Landing Partnership for our second UK Landing point in Leiston.  Working with EXA Infrastructure enables IOEMA to link to one of Europe’s largest infrastructure footprints and beyond, increasing the connectivity solutions, diversity and reach of our system.’

About EXA Infrastructure
EXA Infrastructure is an award-winning portfolio company of I Squared Capital and the largest dedicated digital infrastructure platform throughout Europe, connecting North America and Asia via the Middle East. 

With over 20 years of experience in building resilient networks, EXA Infrastructure provides the critical modern infrastructure and unrivalled engineering expertise that serves as the backbone for digital and economic growth. This includes mission-critical networks for governments and enterprises, hyperscale infrastructure for the world’s most innovative and influential businesses, and ultra-low latency, high bandwidth networks for financial, gaming and broadcast services.

Headquartered in London, the company owns 155,000 kilometres of fibre network across 37 countries, including six transatlantic cables and the lowest latency link between Europe and North America. For more information, see exainfra.net

About IOEMA Fibre Ltd.

IOEMA is a state-of-the-art, high-capacity, 1600 km repeatered submarine fibre optic project that will arc across five key northern European markets – the UK, Netherlands, Germany, Denmark and Norway. The 24-fibre pair system will support a minimum overall capacity of 1.0 Pb/s. www.ioemafibre.eu

BubbleRAN, a leader in intelligent network solutions, and Khalifa University’s 6G Research Center, renowned for cutting-edge telecommunications research, today announced a pioneering collaboration to demonstrate SLM-driven RAN Intelligence at Mobile World Congress 2025 (Barcelona, March 03-06). This first-of-its-kind showcase will highlight how Small Language Models (SLMs) are redefining the role of GenAI in telecom network automation accelerating telecom network operations. This initiative is further strengthened by Aalto University’s research expertise, contributing to advancements in AI-driven Telecommunications.

The shift to SLMs: Smarter, Leaner AI for Telecom. 

While Large Language Models (LLMs) excel in general-purpose tasks, their computational demands and latency challenges limit their usage in telecom applications. BubbleRAN and Khalifa University’s solution leverages specialized SLMs (1–7 billion parameters) tailored for the telecom domain, delivering resource efficiency, domain expertise, real-time decision-making.

Traditional AI tools struggle to contextualize the flood of data in modern networks. BubbleRAN Intelligent Telco Agent, powered by Khalifa University’s SLM technology, addresses this by automating troubleshooting, enabling proactive optimization, and simplifying operations. 

Use Case in Action:

Operator asks: “Why did throughput drop in Sector X?”

Agent responds: Cross-references live data, pinpoints a misconfigured transmit power, and guides remediation – all in under 5 seconds.

This effectively replaces the command-line interface (CLI) tools with intuitive, context-aware dialogue!

“We are delighted to collaborate with BubbleRAN for this first-of-its-kind showcase at Mobile World Congress 2025 in Barcelona, the perfect platform for innovative technologies. Our initial pioneering work with Telecom domain specific LLM laid the foundations. Now, this joint demo on SLM-driven RAN intelligence represents the next big step—leveraging specialized, efficient models with reasoning capability to reshape the future of wireless communications with real-time adaptability and automation,” says Professor Merouane Debbah, Founder-Director, 6G Research Center, Khalifa University. 

Navid Nikaein, CEO of BubbleRAN, added, “Our Intelligent Telco Agent acts as a controlled autopilot – empowering operators with actionable insights while retaining human oversight. This is how we make 6G sustainable.”

Unlike generic chatbots, BubbleRAN’s solution is tailored for telecom: it not only replies to generic questions about the Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) stack or 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standard but it also integrates live network data for real-time to answer specific questions related to the current network deployment, anomalies and how to troubleshoot or how to optimize the network, all in a form of actionable insights. The full demonstration will be displayed from 3 – 6 March 2025 at BubbleRAN stand (6E9) at MWC Barcelona 2025. 

The latest Q4 2024 results from Virgin Media and O2 have been published, which saw their fixed broadband base grow by +12,000 in the quarter (vs 16.2k in Q3) to total 5,738,900. The provider’s full fibre (FTTP) network also built to another 485,500 premises, primarily via nexfibre (up from 281k in Q3), while mobile connections grew to total 45.7 million.

The combined Virgin Media and nexfibre fixed broadband network now reaches a total of 18,255,600 Homes Serviceable (up from 17,770,100 in Q3) across the UK and the vast majority of that new build is from nexfibre. The nexfibre network alone now accounts for over 2 million UK premises passed of this total.

The results reveal that a total of around 6.4 million Virgin Media and nexfibre premises (footprint) are now covered by full fibre FTTP lines (XGS-PON and RFOG), which is up from 5.3m in Q3 2024. But this also factors in Virgin’s ongoing upgrade of existing Hybrid Fibre Coax (HFC) areas to FTTP under Project Mustang (i.e. aiming to convert all of Virgin’s existing HFC and RFOG lines to XGS-PON by 2028).

In addition, the c.175,000 premises passed by Upp, which was previously acquired by nexfibre, also appear to have been largely included into the latest quarterly build total as VMO2’s results highlight the “successful integration of the altnet“. Finally, a tiny portion of the nexfibre figures below will include a bit of infill build for Virgin Media itself (e.g. usually taking place on existing new build homes sites).

Nexfibre Rollout Progress
Q4 2024 = 485,500 Premises
Q3 2024 = 281,100 Premises
Q2 2024 = 295,300 Premises
Q1 2024 = 194,000 Premises
Q4 2023 = c.299,000 Premises
Q3 2023 = 250,800 Premises
Q2 2023 = 175,500 Premises
Q1 2023 = 107,800 Premises
Q4 2022 = 24,000 Premises

Just for context. Telefónica, Liberty Global and InfraVia Capital Partners established a new £4.5bn joint venture called nexfibre in 2022 (here), which aims to deploy an open access full fibre (FTTP) network to reach “up to” 7 million UK homes (starting with 5m by 2026) in areas NOT served by Virgin Media’s own network of 16m+ premises. But Virgin Media, which shares some of the same parentage, is currently the only major ISP on this network (here).

Elsewhere, Virgin Media has long stopped giving any solid figures for their Pay TV (video) base, which often happens when a base is in decline.

VMO2 Q4 2024 UK Customer (Connection) Figures
5,738,900 Fixed Broadband – (up from 5,726,900 in Q3)
45,700,700 Mobile inc. Wholesale – (up from 45,412,100)

The latest results also state that outdoor 5G mobile coverage is now available to 75% of the UK population (up shrongly from 68% in Q3 and 65% in Q2) and we note that their mobile base has returned to growth in Q4 too (it declined a bit in Q3). On the financial front, VMO2 reported total revenue of £2,716.2m in Q4 2024, which is up from £2,701.8m last quarter.

Lutz Schüler, CEO of VMO2, said:

“We said 2024 was a year of investing to support our long-term growth and these results reflect that. We close the first chapter of Virgin Media O2 having delivered our full year guidance and hitting our JV synergy targets 18 months ahead of schedule, meaning we are well set for the future.

We ended the year with another quarter of fixed customer and ARPU growth, positive mobile contract additions and improved customer satisfaction through a relentless focus on customer experience.

Our investments of more than £2 billion across the year helped us to significantly boost our 5G coverage, improve mobile network quality and enhance rural connectivity. We also expanded our fibre footprint faster than ever as we build on our existing gigabit leadership and push ahead with creating the biggest fibre challenger in the UK along with nexfibre.

In 2024 we laid the foundations for future success, and in 2025 we will get back to growth in core revenues and profitability while continuing investment in our networks and services. Throughout the year we’ll also deliver on key strategic moves, including the creation of a fixed NetCo and the expected acquisition of spectrum from Vodafone-Three which will further improve mobile performance. This is the start of a new chapter for Virgin Media O2.”

Sadly, the latest results didn’t include much in the way of any useful updates on Virgin Media’s plans for opening their existing fixed broadband network up to wholesale via their new NetCo in the first half of 2025, but they did state that this was “on track” to “support the long-term underpinning of fibre upgrade activity and take up“.

However, recent media reports have suggested that VMO2 may have made progress on their efforts to raise an additional £1bn to support the NetCo project (here), which is understood to have recently received several non-binding offers from investors (potentially including BlackRock and CPP Investments etc.). The effort would hand investors up to a 40% stake in the planned NetCo business.

The big challenge for such a NetCo will be to attract any significant ISP support, at least beyond those already owned by the likes of Liberty Global or Telefónica (i.e. O2, Virgin Media, Giffgaff). Potential ISP partners will be looking to be treated fairly (wholesale agreements), which is always a tricky thing to balance vs the desire by some for exclusivity agreements.

The NetCo must at the same time be competitive with the dedicated wholesale platforms from larger providers like CityFibre and the regulated Openreach, while also making what they build as easy to harness as possible. One potential issue here is that Virgin Media’s own retail broadband pricing, particularly its post contract pricing, is still relatively high compared to a lot of other FTTP providers. The NetCo will need to be more competitive than that, which could be a hard thing to balance.

Network operator and UK ISP LightSpeed Broadband, which has already built their gigabit-capable full fibre (FTTP) network to cover 250,000 premises across the East of England and West Midlands, has today revealed that their new network has started to launch “in the Staffordshire region” with the town of Kidsgrove and village of Scholar Green (the latter is more in Cheshire).

The announcement states that approximately 5,400 premises (homes and businesses) have already been covered in both locations, although this should increase to a total of 10,000 by the end of this Spring. The development follows shortly after LightSpeed confirmed that they’d begun to go live across the neighbouring coastal Norfolk towns of Cromer and Sheringham (here).

The provider, which in 2023 was acquired by Kompass Kapital (here) after suffering some job cuts and a build slowdown in the East of England (here), is currently busy deploying across parts of over 30 market towns in South Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Staffordshire, Cheshire, Cambridgeshire, and Rutland.

In terms of Kidsgrove and Scholar Green, both Openreach and Virgin Media (inc. nexfibre) already have strong levels of gigabit-capable broadband coverage, but there is no other significant presence from any alternative networks.

Brett Shepherd, CEO of LightSpeed, said:

“We’re bringing our offering to Kidsgrove and Scholar Green to support the changing ways society stays connected.

From keen gamers to businesses and everyone in between, LightSpeed delivers a broadband connection experience that is seamless and ultrafast.

We’re excited for Kidsgrove and Scholar Green residents to see the benefits of joining our network for themselves and welcome our first customers to their new digital experience.”

Residential customers of the service typically pay from £18.99 per month on a 24-month term for symmetric speeds of 75Mbps, which rises to £54.99 for their top 2,000Mbps tier. The package includes a wireless router and free activation, except on their 75Mbps plan, where there’s a £30 one-off activation charge. A number of packages are also throwing in Amazon shopping vouchers worth between £30 and £130.

Customers can optionally add a Home Phone plan for £4.80 a month, as well as a Static IP for £6 or a signal-extending Wi-Fi mesh from £8.99.

Network operator nexfibre and retail ISP partner Virgin Media (O2) have today confirmed that they’ve made their symmetric 2Gbps speed capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network available to more than 14,000 homes in the North Yorkshire (England) towns of Filey and Pickering for the first time.

Until now, the most widely available gigabit broadband networks in Filey had come from Swish Fibre (aka – AllPoints Fibre) and Quickline, although Openreach had a few sporadic patches of FTTP coverage in the town too. As for Pickering, the biggest full fibre network had come from Openreach, albeit with a small deployment from FibreNest present in one part of the town. But now locals will clearly have a bit more competition to consider.

Nexfibre itself has already covered 2 million premises across the UK with their new full fibre network (here) and many more will follow. Just for some context. Telefónica, Liberty Global and InfraVia Capital Partners originally set up their new £4.5bn nexfibre joint venture in 2022 (here), which aims to deploy an open access fibre network to reach “up to” 7 million UK homes (starting with 5m by 2026) in areas NOT currently served by Virgin Media’s network of 16m+ premises. The funding reflects £3.3bn of fully underwritten financing and up to £1.4bn in equity commitments.

News

The Hola 5G Oulu project is thrilled to announce the successful launch of its private 5G standalone (SA) network at Oulu University Hospital. Marking Europe’s first private 5G network in a functioning hospital, this achievement has the potential to revolutionise healthcare with advanced technology.

Through meticulous design, rigorous lab testing and comprehensive deployment, experts at Boldyn Networks have demonstrated the robust and reliable performance of their solutions in the demanding environment of a hospital. Connecting all devices and personnel, the network has enabled uninterrupted data flow and connectivity even in the critical event of a power outage.

The Hola 5G Oulu project, an initiative launched by Oulu University Hospital to bring advanced Private 5G technology to the healthcare sector, ensures a high-performance network infrastructure by utilising Nokia Modular Private Wireless (MPW), deployed by Boldyn. The design of Boldyn’s radio access network, based on extensive experience and expertise, ensures connectivity without issues in the event of any failure. These setups provide seamless connectivity, enhanced reliability, and optimal performance for state-of-the-art wearable devices, maximising efficiency among hospital workers and improving patient care.

Private 5G has empowered Oulu University Hospital to introduce a new generation of healthcare devices:

• Wireless wearable technologies for patient wards: With WICOAR HealthVision (smart glasses with augmented technologies), doctors and nurses will have instant visual access to critical patient data, enabling faster diagnoses and informed treatment decisions.
• Mobile-app software for quick and reliable communication: WICOAR HealthAudio provides doctors and nurses with a reliable platform for swift communication.
• Wireless wearable technologies for surgical theatres: During surgeries, surgeons can wear WICOAR HealthVision glasses to maintain constant visual access to patients’ vital signs.

Jani Katisko, Associate Professor and Medical Physicist at Oulu University Hospital said: “The network going live is a major milestone for us, and it’s incredibly rewarding to see our vision taking shape. It opens a world of possibilities for improving patient care. This advancement means that doctors and nurses can have instant access to critical information on their devices, maintaining connectivity as they move throughout the hospital. This not only maximises efficiency but also significantly improves the quality of care provided to patients. Wireless smart glasses can revolutionise data visualisation, providing us with real-time insights into patient needs. This is just the beginning. We are excited to see the research and development of even more innovative use cases in the future, such as robotic medicine delivery, AI-assisted medical imaging analysis, and virtual remote training and assistance.”

“Now, with the private 5G SA network, we can utilise many of its strengths as a seamless handover, low latency, high capacity, cybersecurity and availability in any circumstances. It allows the hospitals to constantly keep track of the healthcare processes while enabling seamless communication and collaboration of the hospital’s staff. This aligns with the main objective of the project, to elevate the quality of patient care. We are extremely proud to work with Oulu University Hospital to launch the Private 5G SA network. This success reflects the hard work and collaboration of everyone involved and our commitment to transforming healthcare with cutting-edge technology.” said Petri Parviainen, Head of Sales Public Sector, Private Networks Europe at Boldyn Networks.Rauno Jokelainen, Co-founder and COO of WICOAR Technologies, said: “Our technology is designed to significantly improve communication between healthcare staff and provide them with readily accessible, visualised patient data for enhanced assessment and care. Previously, physicians were spending up to 50% of their time performing computer-related tasks. With instant data access, we are reducing the time spent searching for information. We are empowering healthcare professionals to dedicate more time to their patients, creating a more personalised and effective healthcare experience. We’re thrilled to witness our vision of healthcare wireless wearable technologies becoming a reality at Oulu, with the launch of this advanced 5G network.”

“We have a long-standing collaboration with Boldyn in deploying private networks across Europe. The successful deployment of this advanced 5G private network in the Hola 5G Oulu project marks the beginning of a digital journey that extends far beyond connectivity. It clearly demonstrates the transformative power of technology in revolutionising healthcare. Nokia is proud to provide private wireless network technology for this important initiative, paving the way for a brighter future in patient care.” says Rolf Albrecht, Head of Enterprise Campus Edge Europe Sales at Nokia.

While Boldyn Networks ensures the Private 5G SA network operates harmoniously with existing hospital equipment, Oulu University will focus on testing the usability of the wireless wearables in clinical settings to confirm they enhance workflows and improve patient care:

• Verify network compatibility: Confirm that the Private 5G SA network operates safely and effectively alongside existing hospital equipment, ensuring no interference or disruption.
• Validate wearable usability: Evaluate the usability of wireless wearables in a real-world hospital setting, focusing on how they integrate into clinical workflows and improve patient care

Keep up to date with the latest international telecoms news by subscribing to the Total Telecom newsletter

Also in the news:
Navigating the depths: Strategies for delivering successful subsea cable projects
Vodafone–Three reveals leadership team
French energy giant EDF offers up land for data centre projects

Zayo Achieves Record-breaking 1 Tb/s Transmission on Live North American Network with Infinera’s ICE7 Coherent Optical Solution

Denver, Colo. and San Jose, Calif. – February 18, 2025 – Zayo and Infinera (NASDAQ: INFN) announced today the successful completion of a live network trial using Infinera’s ICE7, a seventh-generation embedded optical engine, to deliver 1 Tb/s single 150GHz wavelength transmission over 1,391 kilometers (km) on a major North American route between Sacramento, CA and Salt Lake City. This achievement will enable Zayo to deliver a record-setting 32 terabits of C-Band capacity across this link, with the ability to double bandwidth to 64 terabits with L-Band. Powered by Infinera’s innovative ICE7 optical engine, this trial signals a major industry milestone, demonstrating the power and ability of Infinera’s ICE7 and Zayo’s state-of-the-art network to rapidly and cost-effectively address the increasing capacity demands of AI, cybersecurity, and enterprise needs.

Zayo operates the largest independent network, spanning 132,000 route miles in North America alone, and one of the largest and most modern 400G networks in North America. The success of the trial demonstrates Zayo’s ability to seamlessly integrate innovative new solutions like Infinera’s ICE7 optical engine into its industry-leading network to deliver the highest capacity, speed, and efficiency to meet the growing demands of its customers.     

Infinera’s ICE7 optical engine features a 5-nm CMOS DSP and leverages the latest generation of advanced high-speed optics to deliver high-baud-rate (140+ Gbaud) and single-wavelength transmission of up to 1.2 Tb/s, highlighting the improved capacity-reach and significantly reduced cost per bit, power consumption, and footprint of coherent optical transport.

“With the rapid growth in capacity needs due to high-bandwidth applications like AI, Zayo actively seeks innovative solutions to deliver superior performance of our network by increasing capacity, capability, and reach. This successful test highlights how Zayo’s network is, and will continue to be, well positioned to easily meet increasing customer demands,” said Aaron Werley, SVP of Engineering at Zayo. “We are pleased with the performance of Infinera’s ICE7 optical engine. Technology like this that can easily integrate into our existing infrastructure is critical to Zayo’s mission to expand and create capacity across North America in support of our customers’ critical connectivity needs.”

“The success of this trial marks a major accomplishment for Infinera as it underscores the power of ICE7’s ability to transmit 1 Tb/s high-baud-rate signals across a significant distance, which will be instrumental in driving down network operator costs while meeting the rapidly growing bandwidth demands of their customers,” said Paul Crann, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Optical Systems, at Infinera.

About Zayo

For more than 17 years, Zayo has empowered some of the world’s largest and most innovative companies to connect what’s next for their business. The Zayo group of companies connects 400 global markets with future-ready networks that span over 18.7 million fiber miles and 146,000 route miles. Zayo’s tailored connectivity solutions and managed services enable carriers, cloud providers, data centers, schools, and enterprises to deliver exceptional experiences, from core to cloud to edge. Discover how Zayo connects what’s next at www.zayo.com and follow us on LinkedIn.

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 Twitter 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, performance and financial benefits of Infinera’s ICE7 optical engine. 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 28, 2024 as filed with the SEC on November 5, 2024, as well as any subsequent reports filed with or furnished to the SEC. These reports are available on Infinera’s website at https://www.infinera.com and the SEC’s website at https://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.

Trondheim, Norway, 18 February  2025. Gintel AS, a leading provider of B2B solutions for operators, is excited to announce the launch of TrueTalk, an innovative communications solution for all sizes of business, by Telenor Denmark.

TrueTalk – powered by Gintel’s Cloud PBX solution – is an innovative new service that offers enriched call management capabilities to businesses in Denmark. The service — available as a subscription-based upgrade to existing Telenor Business airtime and connectivity packages — is designed to create a seamless experience and journey – both for end-users and for their customers.

TrueTalk is supported by interfaces designed to optimise user experience. Companies benefit from a comprehensive administration portal, while individual users have access to their own switchboard application. Meanwhile, they can also use an intuitive mobile application, giving a complete overview of their colleague’s status and availability, backed by a Personal Assistant to manage calls in real-time.

The service — which runs natively over Telenor Denmark’s mobile network — is pitched towards Danish businesses of all sizes. It promises to make businesses more accessible to their customers and to ensure that communication is handled more efficiently – maximising opportunities for businesses, while enhancing reachability and service for customers.

“TrueTalk gives the Danish business community a market-leading solution that will enable them to optimise business communications. It’s the result of a long process of product evaluation and evolution, based on close collaboration with the Gintel team”, said Nikolaj Nielsen Senior Product Manager & Strategic Lead, UCaaS/CloudPBX, Connectivity for Telenor Denmark. “For business customers, Telenor Denmark offers an innovative service that’s a natural fit for companies of any size.”

“Our partnership with Telenor Denmark extends for more than a decade. To deliver TrueTalk, we worked closely with the team to ensure that adaptations to local market requirements were incorporated into our Cloud PBX solution”, commented Frode Thulien, CEO of Gintel. “We’re thrilled that the service has been launched — on time — and that existing business customers will be migrated to the TrueTalk service so they can benefit from the advanced functionality it provides.”

TrueTalk is the latest generation of solutions offered by Gintel to Telenor Denmark and provides a competitive edge in a tightly contested marketplace. It represents another successful evolution for Gintel’s standard Cloud PBX solution – and represents the flagship service offer for business customers in Denmark.

For more information, please contact Gintel at: sales@gintel.com

About Gintel

High-performance solutions that allow our customers to deliver compelling B2B services

Gintel provides powerful, carrier-grade Cloud PBX and B2B services for your corporate, enterprise and SME customers. Proven to grow revenue and designed to scale efficiently, our solutions are deployed at scale in Tier 1 networks around the world.

Gintel has been at the forefront of IN and B2B service innovation for over 20 years with a continuously evolving portfolio that supports millions of B2B subscribers every day. You benefit from over two decades of mobile service innovation when you partner with Gintel.

For more information, please visit www.gintel.com

Media contact: Guy Redmill, Marketing Director, guy.redmill@gintel.com

Bharti Airtel Limited (“Airtel”), one of India’s leading telecommunications service providers, landed the new SEA-ME-WE 6 (Southeast Asia-Middle East-West Europe-6, or SMW6) in Chennai. The company had already landed the cable in Mumbai on December 30, 2024.

These cable landings were completed by SubCom, a leading supplier of subsea fiber optic cable data systems responsible for the engineering, manufacture and installation of SEA-ME-WE-6. The 21,700 Rkm submarine cable system connects India to Singapore and France (Marseille) crossing Egypt through terrestrial cables. With this, Airtel has further enhanced its network presence with diversified capacity in the submarine cable system globally.

Sharat Sinha, Director & CEO – Airtel Business, said, “At Airtel we strive to provide the best in class services to our customers and this new investment and milestone would further improve our secure, diverse and scalable global network. We are delighted to further strengthen our global connectivity by landing one of the largest cable systems into our facilities. This complements our existing network strength of 400,000 Rkms across 50 countries. This also underlines our commitment to address Digital India’s growing demand for global connectivity & data with additional routes, diversity and capacity.”

The cable landing, both in Mumbai and Chennai, will be fully integrated with Airtel’s data centre arm, Nxtra by Airtel, at its large facilities in the respective cities with an aim to enable global hyperscalers and businesses in the country to seamlessly access international connectivity and data centre services.

As a key member of the consortium of the SEA-ME-WE-6 cable system, Airtel has investment in the core cable and has additionally co-built a private network of four Fiber Pairs between Singapore, Chennai and Mumbai. This cable system will bring a whopping 220 TBPs of global capacity to India.

Airtel’s global network spans five continents. The company has investments in 34 cables globally with some of the recent ones including 2Africa, Southeast Asia-Japan Cable 2 (SJC2) and Equiano. Apart from these cables that connect India to key regions like APAC, Europe, the Middle East and US, Airtel’s global subsea network investments also include large cable systems like i2i Cable Network (i2icn), Europe India Gateway (EIG), IMEWE, SEA-ME-WE-4, AAG, Unity, EASSy, Gulf Bridge International (GBI) and Middle East North Africa Submarine Cable (MENA Cable) amongst many others.

More than two-thirds of UK businesses face an unnecessarily high risk of having their data, including commercially sensitive and personal information, intercepted by hackers because they are not following best practices for securing data on their networks, according to a report from Beaming, an internet service provider for businesses.

Beaming’s report, Network Transformation – A Guide for IT Directors, draws on a survey of UK businesses conducted by research consultancy Censuswide. It shows that 69 per cent of UK businesses, the equivalent of 3.6 million companies nationwide, have made their IT infrastructure and networks more vulnerable to attack by failing to encrypt data flowing over their networks, failing to isolate this traffic from the public internet infrastructure, and failing to monitor those networks for malicious activity.

These businesses are, for the most part, micro businesses employing fewer than ten people. However, Beaming’s research also suggests they include more than 7,000 medium-sized businesses and almost 1,000 large organisations, which are more likely to have multiple business locations and will be moving much larger volumes of commercially sensitive and personal information around.

More than half a million companies have insufficient bandwidth

Beaming’s report also reveals that another one in ten UK businesses face an unnecessarily high risk of lost productivity, customer service interruptions and vulnerability to cyber threats due to their reliance on internet connectivity that is unlikely to provide sufficient bandwidth for their needs.

Ten per cent of businesses surveyed admitted to Beaming’s researchers that they were using connectivity that is unlikely to deliver the speed and bandwidth they will need to keep pace with increasing data and communications traffic. This is the equivalent of 560,000 businesses across the UK and includes over 370,000 SMEs still using standard broadband services on the analogue telephone network.

Beaming’s research shows that demand for network capacity from UK businesses would be 30 per cent higher at the end of 2024 than at the start of last year due to the extra data and communications traffic from digital transformation efforts. The challenge of handling this traffic is greatest for businesses with over ten employees: leaders of large companies (250+ people) anticipated generating 95% more network traffic this year, on average, while SMEs with 10 – 250 people expected around 75% more traffic.

Sonia Blizzard, Managing Director of Beaming, said: “With more and more business activity taking place outside of the traditional boundaries of the company HQ, the network that connects stakeholder groups wherever they may be is the key cornerstone of most organisations.

“Today’s corporate networks are far more than data pipelines; they’re essential assets that drive every aspect of business, enabling operations to function smoothly, securely, and efficiently. Our research suggests, however, that too many businesses still don’t recognise the importance of their networks and just how vulnerable they are to cyberattacks and traffic bottlenecks as their data flows between locations.”