News

The operator says the agent can take proactive action to help customers with planning, execution, reminders and advice in their daily lives

SK Telecom (SKT) will bring its AI agent ‘Aster’ to the US market as early as March, the company has announced at CES.

Aster is SKT’s newly developed AI agent, which the operator says can go beyond merely answering questions for customers and instead can perform “essential tasks in daily life”. The agent operates much like a personal assistant, not only answering customer questions but making relevant suggestions related to planning, execution, reminders and advice.

“If a person on a business trip in Las Vegas asks about what to do on the final day of the trip, Aster figures out the user’s needs by suggesting shopping spots, restaurants or theaters, and draws up a feasible schedule,” explained the head of SKT’s GPAA Business Division, Chung Suk-guen.

“Aster’s ability to find solutions through user-agent interactions sets it apart from other AI services,” he explained. “The service simplifies decision-making and enhances productivity by guiding users step-by-step.”

Aster’s development was first announced in November last year at SKT’s AI Summit in Seoul. According to Chung, however, SKT has been targeting a global audience for Aster from the outset, with the expensive process of building an AI service meaning launching only in Korea would have been too unambitious.

“Scale is vital for an AI service because it requires significant investment. We concluded that creating an AI service tailored only to several tens of millions of people in Korea holds little meaning,” explained Chung.

SKT’s ultimate goal for Aster is to use the agent as a unified platform through which customers can more easily leverage a broad range of tech solutions; for example, the company is pursuing a partnership with tech firm Perplexity, which offers a generative AI-powered answer engine service.

“Our goal is to establish market influence so that Big Tech views us as a valuable partner,” Chung said.

Aster will begin beta testing in the US in March, with a commercial launch targeted for the second half of the year. Launches in additional countries are expected to follow in 2026.

Keep up to date with all the latest telecoms news from around the world with the Total Telecom newsletter

Also in the news:
VEON and Starlink to launch Direct-to-Cell Satellite connectivity in Ukraine
Swisscom completes acquisition of Vodafone Italia
Equinix to buy BT’s Irish data centre business for €59m

Podcasts

The marketplace is changing fast. But is there still a role for the rural ISP in tomorrow’s digital infrastructure? We’re joined by Steve Smith, the CRO of LiveOak Fiber, to discuss.

By: Brad Randall, Broadband Communities

Catch the full episode here:

LiveOak Fiber has been expanding their footprint across rural North Florida and Southern Georgia. Yet, according to Steve Smith, the internet service provider’s chief revenue officer, the company maintains distinct advantages by keeping a local focus.

“Our strategy is being mission focused,” Smith said, speaking about how ISPs can also set themselves apart in an increasingly competitive marketplace. “We’re committed to improving the quality of life in the communities we serve.”

Additionally, Smith said those values are then discussed at every one of LiveOak’s employee meetings.

“These values are real,” he said.

 

 

For the first time since 2021, the final quarter of 2024 was not the most prolific period of the year for cyberattacks. The attack rate peaked at 2,192 per day in the third quarter of 2024 before declining to 2,063 per day in Q4. Despite this reduction, the final three months of 2024 were only the third quarter on record when the average number of cyberattacks encountered by UK businesses exceeded 2,000 a day.

Previously, 2023 was the worst year on record for cyberattacks on UK businesses, when companies encountered an average of 720,252 malicious attempts to breach their systems each. Before 2024, the average number of attacks in a single quarter had only exceeded 2,000 in Q4 2023.

Remote IoT devices attract most cyberattacks 

Hackers attacked remotely controlled devices connected to the Internet of Things most frequently in 2024. Business firewalls encountered more than 161 daily attacks targeting applications such as building control systems, security cameras, networked printers, remote monitoring, and industrial automation systems. 

Web applications, remote desktop software, and company databases were also frequently targeted, with businesses typically attracting more than 20 individual attacks daily for each of these systems in 2024.

Beaming tracks a quarter of hackers to locations in China

Beaming’s analysts identified over a million IP addresses being used to launch cyberattacks on UK businesses in 2024 and traced almost a quarter (241,019) of them to locations in China. Beaming also identified significant and increasing volumes of cyberattacks that appeared to come from areas inside India (87,144 attacking IP addresses) and the USA (81,112) in 2024.

Sonia Blizzard, Managing Director of Beaming, said: “The rise of automated cyberattacks means the internet has never been more dangerous, and we expect it will become even more so as hackers use AI. The good news is that we are not seeing record numbers of companies crippled by hackers because businesses have got better at protecting themselves and ISPs such as Beaming are working hard to prevent malicious activity at a network level.”

The Comms Council UK, which represents the United Kingdom’s national Unified Communications and Voice-over-Internet-Protocol (VoIP) phone industry, has today announced that they’ve appointed new Chair, Tracey Wright, to replace Eli Katz, who, after 20 long years of service, stepped down as Chair on the 6th of January 2025.

Tracey has been selected by CCUK’s Council in light of her past contributions to the association and industry. These include leading CCUK’s Industry Developments Working Group, and co-founding the Women in Telecoms group, which now supports 188 members. She will act as Chair in a voluntary capacity, leading the Council in acting as the voice of advanced communications in the UK, alongside her role as MD of Magrathea, a CCUK member.

Meanwhile, Eli Katz has been conferred with the title of Lifetime President by the CCUK Council. Eli’s tenure began with the establishment of CCUK (then known as ITSPA) in 2005, with him overseeing the association’s significant growth from a founding group of 12 members to its current thriving community of 100 companies. These include network operators, service providers, consultants and more.

Tracey Wright, Chair of CCUK, said:

“I am thrilled to be stepping into the role of Chair in an exciting year for CCUK as we celebrate our 20th anniversary. I’ve been involved in the association from the beginning, and we’ve gone from strength to strength; with a whole lot more to come in 2025. Alongside some celebrations and reminiscing, I will ensure that CCUK remains a leading voice in the sector as the UK moves to all-IP communications and remain laser-focused on key issues for our sector, including fraud, the upcoming Fixed Voice Telecoms Market Review and continuing to champion women in telecoms.”

Little-known fixed wireless ISP Kijoma Broadband (Kijoma Solutions), which generally covers rural parts of West Sussex, Surrey and Hampshire in England, appears to have vanished (including email and website) after appearing to suffer a service outage that started just before 9am yesterday morning.

Firstly, there’s a good chance that many of our current readers might never have heard of Kijoma, which wouldn’t be surprising as the last time we had anything to report on them was a decade ago. But despite the market’s many changes, the little provider has continued to operate, and their most recent micro company accounts show that they’re home to just two employees with £154.4k in capital and reserves (down from £174.6k in 2022)

However, Thinkbroadband reported last night that the ISP was being impacted by a service outage that started yesterday morning and is still ongoing, which they claim could possibly be due to an outage on one of the operator’s backhaul (capacity) links. The situation also appears to have taken Kijoma’s website and email offline.

At the time of writing, the provider has not issued any public service updates about the situation via their social media channels (these haven’t seen any posts for years – see on X and LinkedIn). We have attempted to contact the provider via LinkedIn for a comment and will report back if they respond.

Customers of budget internet provider TalkTalk, specifically those who take their Pay TV service, have had it confirmed that the ISP will be phasing out their single billing integration of Sky’s NOW TV streaming service (i.e. customers will no longer be able to add NOW TV Plans to a single bill from the ISP). Netflix integration was also removed last month.

The change was first spotted earlier last month after several of the ISP’s customers noticed (community forum) that they could no longer add NOW TV’s streaming plans (e.g. NOW TV Entertainment or Cinema) to their existing TalkTalk service (credits to one of our readers, Mehran, for the news tip).

As one customer, Nick_89, asked: “Why has TalkTalk taken the decision to end the association with Now TV because if I make any changes to the Now boosts I won’t be able to get them back. Does TalkTalk really think people will sign up for what is essentially a Freeview plus box for £5 per month? It’s Freeview! Most TV’s have the apps that are on the TalkTalk TV box anyway.”

According to a member of TalkTalk’s support team, the ability to add both Netflix and NOW TV to an existing TalkTalk bill/account has now “been withdrawn” and is “no longer available” (i.e. customers would need to go directly to NOW TV in order to add a subscription): “For now, existing subscribers will still continue, however this will be phased out at some point in the new year. Customers will be contacted beforehand when this happens. As yet I have no dates for this“.

A spokesperson for TalkTalk told ISPreview:

“We regularly change the offers available to our customers. We do not currently have any NOW or Netflix deals available with TalkTalk TV, but customers can continue to access these streaming services through their TalkTalk TV device. TalkTalk TV customers with an existing NOW or Netflix subscription via TalkTalk can continue to use their package.”

The mention of Netflix above relates to the fact that the ability of existing customers to be billed for this through TalkTalk was separately stopped on 9th December 2024. In a brief web update, Netflix said (here): “Netflix billing through TalkTalk is not available for new or rejoining customers and will be unavailable for existing customers as of December 9, 2024. If you are currently billed by TalkTalk, you need to update your payment method to continue enjoying Netflix.”

News

Conservative MP John Hayes has asked Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds to refer the enquiry to the newly appointed Covid corruption commissioner

Back in December, a group of franchisee’s running Vodafone’s high street shops in the UK filed a court case against the operator, claiming the company had “unjustly enriched” itself at their expense.

The case itself primarily revolves around cuts to commission Vodafone introduced in 2020, during the height of the coronavirus crisis. At this time, with the high streets largely deserted, many of the franchisees applied for support in the form of governmental financial assistance to keep their businesses afloat. The claimants allege that Vodafone used its knowledge of this financial support to subsequently slash commission rates paid to franchisees – in effect, absorbing the benefits of the government relief funding.

The claimants also say they were also forced by Vodafone to pay large fines for minor administrative errors.

Many franchisees say these actions pushed their businesses into the red, often forcing them to take out further loans to stay afloat.

In total, 61 of Vodafone’s roughly 150 franchise operators are part of the lawsuit, which is seeking over £120 million in compensation.

In a letter this week, Conservative MP John Hayes has asked Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds to refer Vodafone and the case to Tom Hayhoe, the newly appointed Covid corruption commissioner.

In this novel position, Hayhoe has the power to investigate misuses of public funds during the pandemic. This will primarily focus on the fraudulent procurement of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment), but also includes scope for investigating cases related to business grants and other government support schemes.

Vodafone says that it “strongly refutes” claims that the company “unjustly enriched” by exploiting government funding.

In a statement to The Guardian, the operator said that its internal investigations into the matter had “concluded that some actions between Vodafone and franchise partners had not always adhered to the standards we expect, however no evidence of misconduct was found”.

The Business Secretary has yet to deliver an official response.

Keep up to date with all the latest telecoms news from around the world with the Total Telecom newsletter

Also in the news:
VEON and Starlink to launch Direct-to-Cell Satellite connectivity in Ukraine
Swisscom completes acquisition of Vodafone Italia
Equinix to buy BT’s Irish data centre business for €59m

News 

The funding aims to close the digital divide, giving rural residents the same opportunities as urban areas 

The UK government has announced the latest tranche of Project Gigabit funding, with £289 million in contracts being won by Openreach to bring high-speed broadband to some of Britain’s most isolated areas under the ongoing Project Gigabit. 

The four contracts targets areas including the Dee Valley, the Isle of Anglesey, Shropshire Hills, and regions in North and Southwest Wales, Herefordshire, Devon, Somerset, Essex, Northeast England, and Worcestershire. 

The contract will see Openreach deploy fibre-to-the-home networks across included areas, offering faster speeds and greater reliability for residents.  

In total, around 131,000 hard-to-reach homes and businesses are expected to benefit from improved connectivity.  

“We are determined to deliver the infrastructure this country needs to thrive, and I am thrilled to see so many homes and businesses in all areas of the country getting access to the fastest broadband speeds on the market through Project Gigabit,” said Technology Secretary Peter Kyle in a press release. 

“With today’s £289 million investment, we are not only boosting connectivity, but making it easier to access remote healthcare, online education, shopping online. As part of this government’s Plan for Change, we will plug digital divides, helping to make the UK a more equal society where everyone is given a fair shot in life.” 

For Openreach, these latest contracts add to the £800 million won by the company back in August, which pledged to pass 96,600 rural homes and businesses. “Our Full Fibre network already reaches over half the UK, and we aim for 30 million premises by 2030. This investment ensures rural areas won’t be left behind,” said Openreach CEO Clive Selley. 

Currently, over 85% of the UK can access gigabit-capable broadband, a figure the government aims to raise to full national coverage by 2030. Since Project Gigabit’s establishment in 2018, over £2.2 billion has been committed through dozens of contracts involving a mix of large and independent broadband providers. 

Join us at this year’s Connected North, 23-24 April in Manchester. Get discounted tickets here! 

Also in the news:
Microsoft earmarks $80bn for AI data centres in 2025
Digital Edge bags $1.6bn in data centre expansion funding
Amazon readies entry to UK satellite broadband market with Project Kuiper  

News  

Italy is in advanced negotiations with SpaceX for a €1.5 billion ($1.55 billion) contract to enhance the country’s telecoms security, according to media reports 

The proposed five-year deal will focus on implementing encrypted government communications, enhancing military operations in the Mediterranean, and providing satellite services for emergency responses to natural disasters or security threats. 

As part of the deal, SpaceX’s Starlink system will be deployed to boost connectivity across the country, with a particular focus on underserved regions where high-speed internet access is limited. 

The agreement includes plans to test Starlink’s satellite services as early as this month.  

The initiative is part of a broader strategy by the Italian government to address the digital divide and improve nationwide access to reliable and fast internet services. 

The partnership with SpaceX is the latest step in the deepening relationship between Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and tech billionaire Elon Musk, something that may prove invaluable as the latter is set to play a key role in the incoming Trump administration.  

Meloni has also recently returned from a trip to visit Donald Trump in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, over the weekend. 

The Italian government has confirmed that discussions with SpaceX are ongoing but stressed that a deal has not been reached yet

“The talks with SpaceX are part of normal government business,” the government said. 

Last month, Ukrainian telecoms group VEON has announced a new partnership with Starlink, a division of SpaceX, to bring direct-to-cell satellite connectivity to Ukraine.   

The deal will see Kyivstar, VEON’s Ukrainian subsidiary, offer these satellite-based connectivity services to its customers across the country.  

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

Also in the news:
Microsoft earmarks $80bn for AI data centres in 2025
Digital Edge bags $1.6bn in data centre expansion funding
Amazon readies entry to UK satellite broadband market with Project Kuiper  

Press Release

Brightspeed, one of the nation’s largest fiber broadband builders focused on empowering more homes with ultrafast, reliable internet, today announced its multi-gig-speed network has passed approximately 1.82 million locations — surpassing its year-end goal of 1.75 million fiber-enabled premises across its 20-state footprint. The company rolled out more than 17,600 miles of fiber cable in 2024 bringing the total fiber deployed since the build launch to more than 103,000 miles. Brightspeed’s high-speed internet service is available immediately for installations to hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses in more than 160 communities, empowering more customers who lack quality connectivity options with ultrafast, reliable internet.

“When we launched in 2022, we made a multi-billion-dollar investment and a pledge to bring transformative fiber broadband connections to the communities we serve. 2024 proved to be a milestone year for us,” said Brightspeed CEO Tom Maguire. “Our well-planned execution and the landmark reinvestment and support from our financial stakeholders has paid off, generating the momentum to move closer to achieving our upsized goal of passing more than four million locations with our fiber network build across our territories. With our proven operational expertise, we are well-positioned to exceed our goal.”

“I am incredibly proud of our team members in the field who have stepped up to the challenge to reach millions of locations with our fiber network by working with local municipalities and constructing efficiently, all while continuing to serve our current customers,” said Brightspeed Chief Operating Officer Manny Sampedro. “Various storms and hurricanes in 2024 severely impacted many of our customers across our southern communities and our teams worked around the clock to restore their services. Thanks to our industry-leading cloud platforms these challenges didn’t interrupt our end-to-end fiber network construction workflows helping us deliver fully connected homes and businesses to our customers — many more than we expected.”

The company is actively building its Brightspeed Fiber Internet network in 17 states, leveraging the latest XGS-PON (10-Gigabit Symmetric Passive Optical Network) technology to deliver multi-gig-speed symmetrical upload and download capabilities. The technology provides consistent responsiveness that enables multi-device households to connect, work, study, stream, communicate and game efficiently and reliably. Brightspeed Fiber Internet service plans also include a Wi-Fi router, ensuring optimal speed and performance in every room of today’s device-dense homes and offices.

High-speed internet equals opportunity for households and businesses alike, and access to fast, reliable and affordable internet and Wi-Fi will help close the rural-urban digital divide. In addition to Brightspeed’s multi-billion-dollar investment in deploying next-generation fiber-optic technology, the company has been awarded more than $238 million in local, state and federal broadband grants and funding, which includes the company’s first BEAD program award from the state of Louisiana. These local, state and federal investments will expand the company’s planned network build by nearly 121,000 in 14 states. Brightspeed continues to pursue state and federal grants and funds to further augment its planned build in the states that it serves, including BEAD program funding.

Families and businesses across our footprint are seeing more Brightspeed trucks in their local neighborhoods as crews work to bring families and businesses online. Customers can check for fiber availability in their area by visiting www.brightspeed.com/brightspeed-fiber-internet/ and sign up to receive alerts when service is available at their location.

Meet Brightspeed
Brightspeed are Gold sponsors of the Broadband Communities Summit taking place on June 23rd – 25th, 2025 at the George R. Brown Convention Center, Texas. Find out more about how to get involved on the website bbcmag.com/summit