Odine, a global technology partner specializing in sustainable network transformation, is pleased to announce its participation in a new TÜBİTAK-approved R&D project, supported by the European Commission’s Eureka – CELTIC-Next cluster. 

This project focuses on developing innovative automation technologies for 6G networks, in collaboration with leading European technology companies, international universities, research institutes, and Türkiye’s foremost mobile operator. The initiative aims to transform network automation through the application of Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) architecture and advanced Machine Learning (ML) techniques.  

Alper Tunga Burak, CEO of Odine, emphasized the importance of this project, stating: “This initiative aligns with Odine’s global growth strategy. Our focus on artificial intelligence and machine learning as essential components of future network infrastructure will not only increase efficiency and flexibility but will accelerate the development of self-managing systems. These technologies are critical to shaping the future of 6G networks. We are proud to contribute to this project, which is set to redefine the technology landscape and further strengthen Odine’s global presence. Advancements like these are vital for understanding where the industry is headed and guiding it in the right direction.” 

The project is expected to play a significant role in transforming the industry by enabling self-regulating networks through the use of O-RAN architecture and machine learning techniques. Odine will develop next-generation ML algorithms designed to enhance network performance, maximize efficiency, and enable networks to dynamically configure and optimize themselves. This initiative will also allow for the simultaneous operation of multiple ML models, ensuring the effective management of conflicting decisions. The goal is to establish Self-Organizing Networks (SoN) powered by AI and ML, capable of autonomously detecting and resolving network issues, greatly enhancing performance and operational efficiency. 

Angola Cables has announced the establishment of TelCables Europe to operate as its European subsidiary and to support its growing international global network. Beyond acting as a digital bridge to connect to other Portuguese speaking countries across the world, TelCables Europe will offer a wide range of digital solutions, including peering, Cloud services and interconnectivity solutions to customers across Europe and the Mediterranean.

As part of this initiative, and through an agreement with Start Campus, the company will also be establishing a new point of presence at the carrier neutral, SINES DC facility, Europe’s largest and most sustainable data center development.

Samuel Carvalho, Chief Marketing Officer for Angola Cables, said that Portugal is fast evolving into an important digital hub for connectivity and data traffic inbound to Europe and outbound from Europe to the world. Given its modern data center infrastructure, established terrestrial networks and proximity in Southwest Europe to existing subsea cables, the SINES DC facility is already becoming one of the most important continental exchange points in Portugal and Europe.

“Strategically, it makes sense for us to have a presence and PoP in Europe as we have easy access to EllaLink and our Monet and SACS cables, taking data traffic to and from Europe to the US, South America and Africa. The unique location and advanced facilities at SINES DC provide an ideal environment for TelCables Europe to operate and innovate,” notes Carvalho.

“From Sines we are able to connect customers to more than 66 other data centers across the world, over 40 PoPs in Europe and over 400 connected Clouds through our 100G scalable, ultra-low latency global network. We can also give more customers and businesses alternative and diversified redundancy routing options to Africa, the Middle East and the Americas through our owned subsea cable and partner networks.” Angola Cables already delivers, low latency connections and IP Transit services from Europe to the USA and South America through its partnership on the EllaLink cable.

“With our Atlantic ring of cables – including Monet, SACS and WACS – we offer multiple redundancy options and capacity for businesses reliant on efficient, low latency international connectivity.”

Robert Dunn, Chief Executive Officer of Start Campus, said that the inclusion of Angola Cables and TelCables Europe to their expanding portfolio of  network service providers available on site further strengthens SINES DC’s connectivity options for customers and clients seeking to connect to markets in Brazil, Africa and beyond.

Angelo Gama, CEO of Angola Cables says that TelCables Europe is a logical step in the expansion of its international network and services as Portugal is the gateway to Europe.  By 2026, it is anticipated that the 22 submarine cables presently landing in Portugal will extend to 124 cable landing stations worldwide, establishing direct cable connections to 75 countries across five continents, consolidating Portugal’s leading position as the only country that directly connects via deep sea cables to all inhabited continents.

“As the most interconnected network operator in Africa*, we believe that we can play a dynamic role in strengthening connectivity and partnerships between Africa, Europe and the rest of the world, connecting not just the Portuguese speaking world, but bringing continents and countries together through more efficient, more flexible and more secure digital connectivity options,” said Gama.

News 

The partnership is aimed at boost 5G development, innovation, and digital transformation across the Africa nation 

The Nigerian government has signed an agreement with Ericsson to collaborate on developing and deploying 5G technology. The memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed during a government visit to Ericsson’s headquarters in Stockholm late last week, led by Nigeria’s Vice President Kashim Shettima. 

Ericsson has been operating in Nigeria since 1978, helping to deploy networks, including the country’s first mobile network in 2001. Now, this new partnership aims to support Nigeria’s telecoms sector entry into the 5G era, improving public services and driving economic progress.  

The MoU includes plans for knowledge-sharing, establishing innovation hubs, and boosting digital skills in Nigeria, although specific commitments and financial details of the partnership were not disclosed. 

At the signing, Vice President Shettima was joined by key government figures, including Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy Minister Dr. Bosun Tijani and Foreign Minister Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, alongside other senior officials. The delegation was hosted by Patrick Johansson, Ericsson’s Head of Middle East and Africa, who highlighted Ericsson’s leadership in 5G and its potential to enhance Nigeria’s digital competitiveness. 

“It was an honor to show the Vice President, and his delegation colleagues, Ericsson’s leadership in 5G and technology capabilities at first-hand. We look forward to working in close partnership with the Nigerian government to develop the innovation potential of 5G for Nigerian businesses, citizens and for national digital competitiveness,” said Johnson in a statement.  

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

Also in the news:

Singtel becomes latest telco to launch AI cloud services
South Korean telcos accused of collusion, may face fines of $4bn
Hexatronic: Innovation will be needed to reach rural customers

The UK media and telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has today published a new letter that they recently sent to broadband and phone providers. The letter confirms their intention to decommission the old consumer ISP switching system (NoT+) on 24th October this week in favour of their new One Touch Switching (OTS) system, which is said to be “working well“.

In case anybody has forgotten, OTS, which aims to make it both quicker and easier for consumers to switch between broadband and phone providers (even on physically separate UK networks), was finally introduced on 12th September 2024 after significant implementation delays (it was originally supposed to launch on 3rd April 2023).

However, the launch also recognised that the centralised messaging platform for OTS, which was being implemented by the industry-led One Touch Switching Company (TOTSCo), still needed to improve the success rate of its “matching process” (i.e. ensuring that customer switches are correctly verified and migrated between providers). In response, Ofcom opted to temporarily retain the old NoT+ migration process (Notification of Transfer) – until 24th October 2024 – to act as a fallback for OTS failures.

The ISPs we speak with tell us that TOTSCo’s messaging platform and support is still far from perfect (stronger words are often used), although recent updates have shown a marked improvement since it went live (here). The new letter, which was published today but formally issued on 11th October 2024, acknowledges that “there remain some issues with matching of customer details across providers“, but it also says the “system overall is working well for the vast majority of customers“. As a result, Ofcom is not planning to retain NoT+ past this week’s deadline.

Ofcom’s Letter to Comms Providers – 11th Oct 2024

Full implementation of One Touch Switch

I am writing to update you on Ofcom’s position regarding the use of the enhanced Notification of Transfer (NoT+) functionality in light of One Touch Switch (OTS) going live on 12 September 2024.
In my letter of 4 September 2024 I explained that we considered it would be appropriate to retain the existing NoT+ functionality for a limited period of six-weeks beyond 12 September 2024. I have now written to Openreach, KCOM and wholesalers who operate NoT+ to confirm that NoT+ should be decommissioned on 24 October as planned.

During this exceptional six week transition period, OTS is the switching process to use for all switches and providers are only allowed to consider using the back-up NoT+ process when it is not technically possible to proceed with the switch through OTS. While there remain some issues with matching of customer details across providers, the OTS system overall is working well for the vast majority of customers looking to switch their broadband and landline services. Removing NoT+ also enables faster, easier switching for customers and treats customers switching across networks equally.

Since 3 April 2023, OTS is the only switching process for residential customers switching fixed services which is compliant with Ofcom’s General Conditions. NoT+ was in place on an exceptional basis as an interim measure until OTS was fully implemented. We expect all communications providers in scope of OTS to ensure full compliance with our switching rules going forwards. As previously announced, our ongoing enforcement programme will review the conduct of all industry participants since our statement in 2021. It will now also closely monitor compliance with our General Conditions in order to determine whether it is appropriate to open investigations into individual providers.

As you may be aware I have asked the Office of the Telecommunications Adjudicator to work closely with industry to improve the OTS matching success rate and we expect that work to continue, as well as your full cooperation with the OTA2.

Yours sincerely,

Cristina Luna-Esteban – Director, Telecoms Policy
Ian Strawhorne – Director, Enforcement

In short, the regulator isn’t giving ISPs any additional chances to get things right.

News

The transaction is part of UScellular’s ongoing efforts to monetise its remaining spectrum assets, having sold the majority of its wireless operations to T-Mobile earlier this year 

UScellular has reached a $1 billion agreement with Verizon to sell part of its spectrum holdings, the company has announced. 

The deal includes spectrum licences in the 850 MHz band, as well as AWS (Advanced Wireless Services; i.e., 695–2200 MHz) and PCS (Personal Communications Services; i.e.,1850–1995 MHz) licenses.  

The sale is subject to regulatory approvals and other standard conditions. 

In addition to this agreement with Verizon, UScellular has struck deals with two additional unnamed mobile carriers to sell more spectrum, including licenses in the CBRS (Citizens Broadband Radio Service; i.e., 3550–3700 MHz), C-Band, and 700 MHz bands.  

“We are pleased that significant value for a portion of the remaining licenses will be realized,” said Laurent C. Therivel, President and CEO of UScellular in a press release.  

“And, importantly, that these agreements with multiple mobile network operators ensure that this spectrum will be put to work for consumers throughout the country. We are continuing the process to opportunistically monetize the remaining spectrum assets not included in today’s announcement.” 

The sale has already been approved by UScellular’s majority shareholder, Telephone and Data Systems (TDS), which owns 82% of the company. Financial advice for the deal was provided by Citigroup and Centerview Partners LLC, amongst others. 

All of these transactions hinge on the closing of UScellular’s sale of wireless operations and select assets to T-Mobile, which was announced earlier this year. T-Mobile is set to acquire the majority of UScellular’s wireless operations, including its customers, retail stores, and around 30% of the company’s spectrum holdings, for $4.4 billion. 

“In the face of rising competition and increasing capital intensity required to keep pace with the latest technologies, and following our careful and deliberate strategic review, we are confident that continuing to deliver on our mission requires a level of scale and investment that is best achieved by integrating our wireless operations with those of T-Mobile.” said said LeRoy T. Carlson, Jr., Chair of the Board of Directors of UScellular at the time. 

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

Also in the news:
Singtel becomes latest telco to launch AI cloud services
South Korean telcos accused of collusion, may face fines of $4bn
Hexatronic: Innovation will be needed to reach rural customers

News

The new regulations introduced by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) also include new Bluetooth coupling requirements

The FCC has adopted new rules that require all mobile phones available in the US to be compatible with hearing aids.

The new rules include new stipulations for devices’ Bluetooth connections, requiring manufacturers to move away from proprietary coupling standards and instead ensure “universal connectivity” between handsets and hearing aids.

This measure will mean that the 48 million US citizens with hearing loss will no longer be limited in their choice of handset, allowing them to access any device on the market.

“Under the new rules, after a transition period, Americans with hearing loss will no longer be limited in their choice of technologies, features, and prices available in the mobile handset marketplace,” said the FCC in a statement.

Alongside improved connectivity, the new rules also include stricter audio quality controls, mandating all handsets meet volume control benchmarks. This ensures that customers can increase the audio volume on their device to a mandated level before beginning to lose audio quality.

This measure is intended to not only ensure quality of service for customs with hearing loss that do not use hearing aids.

These rule changes come as the result of years of study and campaigning by the Hearing Aid Compatibility (HAC) Task Force, a group featuring mobile operators, handset manufacturers, researchers, and other hearing loss stakeholders. Work from the HAC Task Force culminated in a final report submitted with recommendations to the FCC in March last year, which has been in discussion ever since.

With the new rules in place, handset manufactures will be required to clearly label their devices, showing whether they meet these new requirements.

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

Also in the news:
Singtel becomes latest telco to launch AI cloud services
South Korean telcos accused of collusion, may face fines of $4bn
Hexatronic: Innovation will be needed to reach rural customers

Interview

At Connected Britain 2024, we sat down with Vimal Pindoria, IP Business Development Director EMEA at Ciena, to discuss the importance of open access, what that means for competition in the UK market, and his advice for those looking to adopt the strategy. Watch the full interview here!

Customers of Virgin Media and O2’s various broadband, mobile, phone and TV packages may like to know that the provider’s ‘Priority’ app, which is a way of rewarding existing subscribers with various special offers and discounts, has begun offering a cheaper Railcard for £10 instead of the usual £30.

A Railcard can normally provide users with a discount worth a third off most train ticket prices and sometimes more, depending upon which category of commuter you fall into. People who make regular use of train services will probably have one of these already, but if you don’t then now might be a good opportunity to reconsider, given the extra £20 saving.

Lisa Johnstone, Director of VMO2 Priority, said: “Priority is focused on helping our Virgin Media O2 customers get the most out of life while saving money where it matters the most. That’s why we’re thrilled to offer our Priority members a Railcard for just £10, saving up to 1/3 on train travel for the next 12 months. This exclusive reward will ease the cost of travel, giving our members access to meaningful experiences and the chance to share more special moments with loves ones.”

However, VMO2’s customers will only be able to benefit from this offer until 9th November, after that it won’t be available any more.

Internet provider UltraNetworks has used vouchers from the Scottish Government to help it upgrade and deploy a new 5G Standalone (SA) based fixed wireless (FWA) network from Mormond Hill. The site will be able to serve homes and businesses in rural parts of North East Aberdeenshire (Scotland) with 1Gbps+ broadband speeds.

Just to recap. 5G SA represents a pure end-to-end 5G wireless network technology that can deliver ultra-low latency times, greater energy efficiency, better upload speeds, network slicing, improved support for Internet of Things (IoT) devices, increased reliability and security when compared with older 4G or mixed 4G + 5G based networks. The technology is more familiar to mobile users, but it can also be used in fixed wireless networks.

In this case, UltraNetworks were able to harness the Scottish Government’s R100 SBVS voucher scheme (here) to deploy their new 5G SA broadband solution at the Mormond Hill site, which is a former NATO telecoms base that was used during the Cold War. The kit was deployed on top of an existing 40m high mast and should provide coverage across 600 square kilometres, which includes more than 1,000 SBVS eligible premises.

The project will initially provide 5G SA broadband to 31 premises on the outskirts of Fraserburgh (9 of these have already been reached), but others will follow. The official announcement claims that customers “could experience speeds of up to 1.2 Gigabits per second (Gbps)“, although the provider’s website is only promoting packages going up to 300Mbps.

Jerry Briant, Managing Director at UltraNetworks, said:

“One of the challenges of 5G is that it’s still very new, a lot of research is required and it’s a steep learning curve to really get to grips with the full architecture of a 5G network.

It requires multiple systems to be working together to deliver the network and troubleshooting can be complex, but we’re delighted to see this service go live, thanks to SBVS.”

So far as we can tell, there are currently only two 5G SA broadband packages available via their Ultra 5G service, one costs £44.99 per month for an unlimited 50Mbps connection, while the other costs £54.99 and will give you speeds of up to 300Mbps. The standard home equipment usually costs £469, but this and the installation is usually free with the voucher scheme.

The main community of Fraserburgh is already quite well covered by Openreach’s FTTP network, so this new service is focused more on the surrounding rural premises that have yet to be reached by such a network.

A new survey of 5,083 UK adult consumers, which was conducted by Which?, has claimed that the average broadband-only ISP customer could save £105 per year by switching to a new provider and those switching from BT, Sky Broadband or Virgin Media saved even more – up to £165 on average for a Virgin customer. It’s a similar story for mobile and TV users.

The estimated average saving increases to £160 for out-of-contract consumers who bundled both a pay TV and broadband service (Sky customers saved the most, some £235, by switching away). On the other hand, consumers who tried to save money by haggling and staying with their existing TV and broadband provider saved an average of just £117, dropping to £55 for broadband-only customers (Virgin’s customers saw the biggest saving of £81).

The difference in savings between mobile customers that switched and those that haggled was less stark. Mobile customers at the end of their contract saved £67 on average by switching, while those that haggled saved a slightly lower £61. Vodafone’s mobile customers saved £146 by switching, more than twice the average, while EE and O2 customers also saved on average £122 and £132 respectively.

Summary of Survey Findings

➤ Some 75% of broadband-only consumers found the switching process easy, falling to 73% for mobile customers and just 55% for broadband and TV customers.

➤ Price was found to be the “most common reason for switching“, although oddly Which? didn’t include a % figure for this.

➤ 31% of broadband switchers said customer service got better after switching, while 6% said it got worse. As for mobile customers, some 35% said it got better after switching and 3% said it got worse.

➤ 37% of broadband customers said their download speeds got faster after switching (most likely a line or package upgrade), while 12% said it got slower. As for mobile customers, some 24% found improved mobile broadband speeds after switching, while 9% said it got slower.

➤ 44% said their broadband connection was more reliable after switching (again, this is likely due to an upgrade, such as going from ADSL or FTTC to FTTP), but 12% said it got worse. Similarly, mobile network reception improved for half (48%) of switchers, but got worse for one in seven (14%).

Take note that haggling is more likely to work with providers, particularly the biggest players (they often have dedicated retentions departments), where discounting is a routine practice for attracting new and retaining existing customers. But a lot of smaller providers don’t traditionally offer big discounts to new customers and their prices may be more stable, thus haggling is less likely to return a positive result. Nevertheless, it’s always worth a try, and the worst thing they can do is say “no”.

All of this is particularly relevant as we approach the annual price hikes season, where all of the largest players tend to hike their prices and often above the already surging level of national inflation. But this year will be a bit different after Ofcom begins enforcing a ban on providers doing mid-contract price hikes that are linked to confusing inflation and percentage-based changes (here), which is due to be enforced from 17th January 2025.

The catch is that this doesn’t ban mid-contract hikes themselves, and will merely require ISPs to adopt a clearer policy that expressed such hikes in “pounds and pence” (the new approach cause even bigger hikes for some customers this year). At the same time, Ofcom have also introduced their One Touch Switching (OTS) system, which aims to make it even easier for consumers to change broadband and phone providers that are on physically separate networks.