News

A new study suggests that forgotten drawers containing old phones, cables, and electrical goods could cumulatively contain nearly 40,000 tonnes of valuable copper

A new study from Recycle Your Electricals is this week encouraging Brit’s to begin ‘urban mining’ – digging through drawers of unused electrical equipment – as part of efforts to recycle valuable copper.

According to the study, these “drawers of doom” across the UK could contain up to 38,449 tonnes of copper in the form of unused devices and related cables. This reclaimed metal, the researchers say, could provide 30% of the copper the UK needs to transition to a decarbonised energy grid by 2030.

Global demand for copper is increasingly outstripping supply in recent years, partly because of an increasing global focus on deploying renewable energy infrastructure and building electric vehicles, both of which rely heavily on copper wiring for their internal systems.

As such, experts predict that the world will face severe copper shortages over the next decade.

“We all have our own stashes of unused or broken electricals. But it’s time that we realised the value and power of the silent majority; the hidden treasures inside our homes,” said Scott Butler, executive director of Material Focus, the non-profit behind the Recycle Your Electricals campaign. “People may not realise that cables and electricals contain valuable materials, not just copper, and that if binned or stashed, we lose everything inside of them when we don’t recycle them into something new.”

“We need to start ‘urban mining’ and help protect the planet and nature from the harmful impacts of mining for raw materials and instead value and use what we have already,” he added. “Anything with a plug, battery or cable can be reused and recycled and there’s somewhere near you to do it.”

The concept of recycling unused copper is one global telecoms operators are increasingly well acquainted with. As the world’s broadband networks transition to fibre optic technology, the now obsolete copper networks largely remain buried underground, waiting to be reclaimed. And, with copper prices rising, recycling these networks can be extremely lucrative.

According to a report from TXO earlier this year, around $7 billion of unused copper could be reclaimed by the global telecoms community over the next decade.

In fact, largescale copper recycling efforts by some of the world’s largest telcos are already underway, providing a significant novel revenue stream at a time when traditional revenues remain flat. At the start of this month, for example, BT announced that it had raised £105 million from the sale of surplus copper cables.

The operator says it aims to recover 200,000 tonnes of copper over the next decade.

Is the telecoms industry doing enough to recycle its legacy networks? Join the operators in discussion at this year’s Connected North conference

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Submarine cable damage in the Red Sea ‘severely underestimated’
Vodafone and Google deepen relationship with 10-year AI partnership 

Spotlight Article

By William Webb, Independent Consultant and author of “The 6G Manifesto” 

Mobile generations tend to come along every 10 years, and we are now midway between the advent of 5G in 2020 and the introduction of 6G scheduled around 2030. This is a good time to review what we have learned from 5G and where we should focus our efforts on 6G. 

5G promised much – to be a generation like no other that delivered a new world of immersive communications – but has disappointed, with no new applications, no increased revenue for operators, and customers that perceive no material difference from 4G. Importantly, the “build it and they will come” approach to 5G, hoping problems would emerge to the solution being delivered, did not work and the applications envisaged such as the metaverse and network-controlled autonomous cars have proven illusory. On the plus side, 5G did deliver more capacity, and this has been important as data usage grew from the time of its introduction to the present day. 

The cellular community, led by the manufacturers and academics, is now discussing 6G. But it is far from clear that we need 6G. As I showed in “The End of Telecoms History”, data growth is slowing and will plateau long before 6G is introduced, so there is no need for more capacity. As seen with 5G, there are no new applications on the horizon, and even if there were 5G is capable of handling all of them. Operators do not want 6G because they perceive it will result in expense for no benefit. A sensible approach might be to put 6G on hold until such time that it is needed, if ever. 

However, the 6G “super tanker” has already left the port. Manufacturers, governments, and standards bodies have activities in place that will result in 6G arriving around 2030 and stopping these is near impossible. The arrival of 6G is inevitable. Better then to ask what 6G can best deliver rather than whether it should happen.  

Alarmingly, those with the greatest ability to influence standards – the global equipment suppliers – do not appear to have learned the lessons of 5G. Instead, they are arguing for “5G-on-steroids”; a solution that is even faster than 5G, with lower latency, using higher frequency bands. They argue that 5G did not deliver on the vision of a “cyber-physical continuum” because it was not good enough. But 6G, being even better, will finally enable us all to exist in virtual digital-twin worlds.  

But if 6G should not be about the cyber-physical, what should it address? Consumers are asking for better coverage, so that they are always connected at a sufficient data rate. Operators are asking for lower operating costs, lower energy consumption, and greater network reliability. These are not new requests – better coverage and lower costs have been a desire since 2G. That these needs have not been met suggests that a new approach is needed.  

In many cases where consumers are not connected, there are networks available – Wi-Fi indoors, other cellular networks in urban areas, and increasingly satellite solutions in deeply rural areas. There is the possibility of neutral host networks that can be roamed onto and new solutions using high-altitude platforms (HAPs) to deliver rural coverage less expensively. 

Using these other networks would deliver better coverage at little extra cost. Relying more heavily on Wi-Fi indoors would lower energy consumption. Roaming across cellular networks would improve reliability. 

But today’s network structure and protocols do not make multi-network operation easy. Cellular networks seek to provide complete connectivity solutions including voice and messaging. As a result, Wi-Fi is required to interwork with cellular, for example as with voice-over-Wi-Fi, which is cumbersome and needs to be implemented with each separate mobile operator. Protocols such as IP are tunnelled through mobile networks in an inefficient manner which reduces flexibility. Broadly, we have networks structured for a world where voice was native to the network and was the key application.  

A better approach would be where each network was just a bit-pipe to the internet and applications run over the top. This would be facilitated by a new “multi-network coordinator” that sits outside of individual networks and coordinates and provides common services across all of them. It would enable routing of incoming calls and messages to whatever network the user is currently attached, handle authentication, legal duties such as intercept, provide APIs to the applications that were network-agnostic and help ensure devices were connected to the optimal network. 

This, then, could be what 6G is about – delivering a true “hetnet” world where all networks are equal, and devices connect freely across multiple technologies and operators. This does not require advanced technology, but it does require a restructuring, particularly of cellular, to remove some of the features, such as voice provision, to simplify and to ensure that all networks can work with the multi-network coordinator. It requires some thought as to how to handle multiple messaging platforms such as WhatsApp.  

Such a vision is challenging because it requires organisational change. It might require a new standards body, or partnership of existing standards bodies, to sit above 3GPP, IEEE, and similar. It requires Wi-Fi and cellular proponents to work together, and it changes the customer relationship. While some stakeholders, such as the handset manufacturers, might embrace this vision, others such as the cellular equipment manufacturers might not. It represents a radical change of direction from the current “5G on steroids” work that is taking place. 

But given that the current approach to 6G is clearly going to disappoint, just as 5G did, then even the most self-interested ought to realise that it is time for a change. 6G could be the generation that ensures we are always connected. That would be worth fighting for. 

Also in the news:
“We’re the best kept secret in data centre and cloud,” says Nokia at Connected Britain 
Submarine cable damage in the Red Sea ‘severely underestimated’
Vodafone and Google deepen relationship with 10-year AI partnership 

Press Release

Wednesday 9th October, 2024 – Rural broadband specialist Quickline Communications has teamed up with Tech She Can, a leading tech education and careers charity, to tackle the issue of gender disparity in technology roles across the UK.  

The collaboration aims to inspire young girls and women to pursue careers in technology, with a particular focus on schoolchildren in West and South Yorkshire. 

Through this new partnership, Quickline will support Tech She Can’s efforts to increase the representation of women in technology by focusing on two key programme elements.  

Quickline’s support has enabled Tech She Can to expand its educational team with the recruitment of two new regionally based teachers dedicated to schools in West and South Yorkshire. Funded by Quickline, these educators will deliver inspiring tech resources and visit partnered schools each half term, helping to reach children early on in their education. 

In addition, a new classroom resource called ‘Tech for Connectivity’ will launch later this term, aimed at teaching thousands of primary and secondary students how technology facilitates online communication. The lesson will feature a new animation that explores the technology behind Wi-Fi and aims to spark interest in tech careers.  

Julie Holmes, Social Value Manager at Quickline, said: “We’re thrilled to partner with Tech She Can to support them in their mission to inspire and empower girls and young women, particularly those in rural communities across Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, to explore the exciting possibilities of STEM careers.  

“It’s especially rewarding to support projects that target primary school children, helping to spark interest in tech careers from a young age. At Quickline, we’re committed to breaking down barriers and opening doors for the next generation of innovators.” 

Becky Patel, Head of Education at Tech She Can, added: “We are very excited about our new partnership with Quickline and the undoubtable impact it will have on spreading our mission to inspire the next generation of technology professionals.  

Earlier this year, Quickline secured four Project Gigabit contracts covering all of Yorkshire and the majority of Lincolnshire. These contracts will provide gigabit-capable broadband to 170,000 hard-to-reach premises.  

Project Gigabit is a government-funded programme enabling communities that would otherwise miss out on access to fast, reliable gigabit-capable broadband. 

As part of its commitment to Project Gigabit, Quickline has partnered with Tech She Can as part of an extensive social values programme. The programme supports initiatives across three core areas – educating people, enhancing environments and improving employability. Through these efforts, Quickline strives to foster thriving communities and reduce inequality across rural Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. 

 

News 

Six separate Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) rulings have been published this week regarding British telcos 

The ASA has cracked down once again on some of the UK’s biggest telcos for ads containing misleading broadband price information.  

The ASA issued rulings on ads from BT, its subsidiaries EE and Plusnet, as well as TalkTalk, Virgin Media, and O2, after finding they did not adequately inform customers about mid-contract price rises. 

The crackdown follows new guidance introduced by the ASA in December last year. This new, stricter guidance on mid-contract price rises for telcos followed a six-month grace period that began last June and is aimed at tackling what has been dubbed “greedflation” within the sector. These rules require that telecom companies clearly highlight any potential price hikes in their advertising when customers sign up for broadband or mobile services. They also require that these price increases be communicated clearly, in terms of “pounds and pence”, at the point of purchase. 

In the watchdog’s rulings, it claimed that the highlighted ads failed to meet this guidance, often by presenting the price rise information in smaller text beneath the offered price or by failing to provide enough information for customers. 

As such, the named companies must stop running the misleading ads and ensure that future promotions make the possibility of mid-contract price increases both clear and prominent.  

“All of the companies have fallen foul of guidance that sets stricter standards on the prominence advertisers must give to important information about future price rises,” said an ASA spokesperson speaking to the Guardian.  

“Marketers are required to ensure that advertising for services that include mid-contract price increases … is presented clearly and prominently. The guidance also states that asterisks or links, which linked to information more than one ‘step’ below the price claim, were unlikely to give adequate weight to the significance of material information. We concluded that the ads are likely to mislead.” 

The rulings follow pressure from Ofcom, which banned the practice of raising prices during contracts without fully informing consumers in advance. From January next year, all percentage-based price hikes in new contracts will be banned altogether. 

Mid-contract price increases have been widespread in the telecom industry since for a number of years, but the sharp rise in inflation, which reached a 41-year high in 2022, intensified the impact on customers’ bills. While sectors like electricity and gas have stricter protections in place, the telecom industry has been slower to act.   

The ASA have repeatedly urged companies to stop using small print or links that obscure vital pricing details. This intervention is part of a wider effort to ensure companies are upfront about the full cost of their services amid growing scrutiny over consumer protection during the ongoing cost-of-living crisis. 

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

Also in the news:
“We’re the best kept secret in data centre and cloud,” says Nokia at Connected Britain Submarine cable damage in the Red Sea ‘severely underestimated’
Vodafone and Google deepen relationship with 10-year AI partnership 

  

  

 

 

 

Interview

Interest in private networks is growing around the world, particularly for the manufacturing sector. But with each industry having such diverse requirements, CSPs must carefully tailor their service offerings – without jeopardising network security.

At Connected Britain 2024, we caught up with Quest Global’s Sanjay Krishnaa to discuss the latest trends in the UK’ fixed and mobile markets, and why private networks remain a key growth area for CSPs.

Check out our full interview below!

 

Also in the news:
“We’re the best kept secret in data centre and cloud,” says Nokia at Connected Britain 
Submarine cable damage in the Red Sea ‘severely underestimated’
Vodafone and Google deepen relationship with 10-year AI partnership 

The Cooperative Network Infrastructure scheme in Tameside, Blackpool, Manchester and Sussex (England), which helps to enable the commercial re-use of existing local authority owned cable ducts and fibre to aid the roll-out of gigabit-capable broadband, has made it easier to share related assets (fibre, street furniture etc.) via a new partnership with AssetHUB.

Asset reuse specialist AssetHUB states that this means its platform, which acts a bit like an open access “‘shop window’ of digital assets“, can now be used by all of CNI’s 50 members (e.g. Virgin Media, Zayo, CityFibre, ITS Technology, F&W Networks and others) to manage incoming enquiries regarding their fibre and other infrastructure assets.

Both organisations have also been jointly working with the Independent Network Cooperative Association (INCA) to encourage alternative networks to share physical infrastructure, such as in locations where Openreach’s own cable ducts and poles might not be available. A related trial is directly available for all INCA members in the Infrastructure Sharing Group (ISG) for pole, duct and cabinet space sharing.

CNI Chair, Tony Doyle, said:

“Sharing infrastructure is critical, otherwise Altnets will have to lay more fibre or add new poles, resulting in more customer disruption, wasted investment, unnecessary carbon emissions and expenditure. AssetHUB is providing a marketplace platform for CNI to share assets between members more easily, while also serving as a mechanism to attract more members and encourage the sharing of more assets.”

The partnership underscores our continued dedication in bridging the gap between operators and public sector organisations and helping provide communities across the UK with full-fibre connectivity,” Doyle continued.

The Communications and Utilities Regulatory Authority (CURA) for the Isle of Man, which is a British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea between England and Ireland, has fined dominant broadband and telecoms operator Manx Telecom £100,000 for failing to correctly handle Sure’s request for an interconnection with BT’s subsea fibre cable.

The first thing to understand in all this is that the responsibility for ensuring that the related request and interconnection agreement was appropriately negotiated and concluded (in compliance with licence conditions and other regulatory obligations) rests with Manx Telecom. No other operator could have provided the access that is required to interconnect with BT.

However, following an initial request in 2023 by Sure for interconnection with BT’s sub-sea cable via the 21CN Optical Core Node and related discussions for just such an agreement, Manx Telecom then withdrew options previously presented to BT and Sure “without any objective justification” (these were said to be the most efficient and cost-effective options from Sure’s perspective).

The investigation by CURA ultimately found that this meant Manx Telecom had breached its regulatory obligations and hence the £100k fine to discourage a repeat of the same behaviour.

CURE Statement

The Authority held that the withdrawal of the options for solutions at the two sites where BT has its Points of Presence on the Island was not reasonable. In order to take the actions that Manx Telecom did there needs to be solid, tangible plans in place that predate the request. As nothing was forthcoming in this regard the Authority sees no grounds to change its view that Manx Telecom breached Condition 1 of its Licence as set out in the Notice of Contravention.

To that end, the Authority is satisfied that, having taken into account all information before it, the proposed penalty remains appropriate.

The BBC News also covered this story and included a statement from Manx Telecom, which said they’re now working to “enhance” their processes and will be “implementing new policies to improve future interconnection procedures“, which they claim is “demonstrating a strong commitment to collaboration and innovation“.

A spokesperson for Sure welcomed the decision and the “subsequent fulfilment of our access request, which directly supports the delivery of our services to customers“.

The UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has today banned a series of website-based adverts for major broadband ISPs and mobile network operators, including BT, EE, Plusnet, TalkTalk, O2 and Virgin Media, after the way they all presented their annual mid-contract price hikes was found to be “misleading“.

The rulings relate to the ASA’s enforcement of their new guidance for how UK telecoms operators should communicate mid-contract prices hikes to consumers (here), which came into force during December 2023 and was designed to make such pricing policies clearer and more transparent to consumers.

In addition, it also touches on Ofcom’s recent (here), albeit not yet enforced, decision to effectively ban mid-contract price hikes that are linked to inflation and percentage changes (this won’t start until 17th January 2025). The regulator said that it would now expect telecoms and pay TV providers that apply in-contract price rises to “set these out clearly and up-front, in pounds and pence, when a customer signs up“.

However, regardless of whether or not a particular provider is still using the inflation-linked (CPI/RPI + X%) method for mid-contract price hikes, or has already begun expressing future hikes using “pounds and pence“, they must all still keep within the ASA’s recently revised guidance for related promotions.

Key Principles of the ASA’s Guidance

The new guidance makes clear that ads are less likely to mislead consumers when:

➤ They do not state or imply that a price will apply for the full minimum term of the contract, if that is not the case – for example, claims such as “£X for X months” or “fixed for X months” are unlikely to be acceptable if the price is due to rise and any subsequent qualifying information is likely to contradict rather than clarify the claim.

➤ Price claims are qualified with equally prominent information alerting consumers to the presence or possibility of a mid-contract price increase.

➤ The details of what the increase will be based on are featured prominently relative to the price.

➤ Inflation terminology is presented in a way that is clear and simple to understand.

➤ They include the full amount the consumer will pay after the increase, once the relevant rate is known.

➤ They make clear where terminating a variable contract due to a price increase will impact other linked services.

In short, the ASA found that BT, EE, Plusnet, TalkTalk, O2 and Virgin Media had not been adhering to the above guidance, although it is a little bit difficult to summarise so many rulings without this article becoming too laborious to read. Instead, we’re going to highlight some of the general points that were made against most of the providers in the ASA’s rulings, although you can still read each ruling via the links at the bottom of this article for the full context.

What did the ASA find?

➤ Most of the providers presented their package prices in big text and then, in small text underneath, often stated things like this: “Prices rise each year on 31 March by £3” or “The monthly price for your broadband plan will increase each year from April 2025 by the rate of inflation (the Consumer Price Index rate, published in January each year) plus 3.7%.”

The ASA noted that the price rise information was often in considerably smaller text and not always directly beneath the headline claims. It also found that the placement and size of the price rise information was likely to be overlooked by consumers, who would want to scroll down the page to engage with the details of the individual broadband packages on offer.

➤ The ASA found that the listings of the broadband and / or mobile packages often didn’t provide information explaining the nature of the increase, which they considered to be material information.

➤ Situations where the qualification for the price hike was explained at the bottom of the page, and not included within the listings for each broadband package, made the details of the increase unclear, as well as being too easy for consumers to overlook.

Broadly speaking, it’s not so much a problem with the method being adopted for the price hikes, but rather the lack of a clear presentation and description of those methods alongside the main package prices. Simply saying the prices will rise on X date is not enough, providers also need to clearly put the details of that increase alongside and not hide them further down the page or under a drop-down selection etc.

In all cases the ASA banned the adverts in their current form and told the providers to “ensure that they made sufficiently clear that their broadband contracts would be subject to mid-contract price increases“, and that “information about the nature of such price increases was presented prominently.” The complaints related to website adverts seen between April and May 2024, thus some of the providers will have already corrected for this.

Summary of the Rulings

➤ A24-1244734 British Telecommunications plc

➤ A24-1244738 EE Ltd

➤ A24-1244740 Plusnet plc

➤ A24-1244730 TalkTalk Telecom Ltd

➤ A24-1244736 Telefonica UK Ltd

➤ A24-1244733 Virgin Media Ltd

News

Ninety-nine percent of German railway passengers on ‘main routes’ can now access speeds of at least 200 Mbps

Deutsche Telekom and Deutsche Bahn, Germany’s state-owned railway company, have made significant improvements to mobile reception on trains in Germany over the past three years, according to a press release published by the companies last week.

Back in 2021, the two companies first began cooperating on this deal, with the goal of significantly improving mobile reception along Germany’s railway network, and specifically, to provide the entire line’s network with high-performance mobile coverage by the end 2026. The partnership aimed to tackle the challenges of providing high quality mobile connectivity under the difficult environmental conditions along the railway routes, such as within tunnels and nature reserves.

Since the collaboration started, the companies have jointly invested ‘a three-digit million amount’ to build and modernise the network’s infrastructure. This included installing over 470 new mobile towers and upgrading approximately 1,900 sites along rail routes.

A key focus was ensuring that 99% of the country’s 7,800km of main routes now offer at least 200 Mbps data speeds, with 95% sections reaching 300 Mbps or more. The companies also made progress on 13,800km of secondary routes (>2,000 passengers per day), increasing availability of 200 Mbps from 73% in 2021 to 94% in 2024.

Further improvements are being planned by 2026.

“The cooperation between Deutsche Telekom and Deutsche Bahn shows that Germany is making progress in digitisation!” said Dr. Richard Lutz, CEO of Deutsche Bahn in a translated press release.

“Together we have managed to ensure that rail passengers can surf and make calls almost anywhere without interruption in the Telekom network. Telekom has strengthened its network for this purpose, and we at DB have equipped our vehicles. Now more and more trains are being added to our fleet with mobile phone-transparent windows. Uninterrupted mobile phone reception is a basic need for our customers,” he continued.

“We built a new mast every two and a half days. We significantly increased data rates. And we saw that network expansion only works when we work together,” said Timotheus Höttges, CEO of DT.

“We need usable space for our locations and faster approval processes. Providing coverage on challenging routes through national parks, mountains, wooded valleys or tunnels requires a lot of patience. We will not let up here either. We have achieved a lot and people are noticing that. But we have not yet reached our goal and must take further steps together.”

In an additional investment, DB is spending €50 million to install over 70,000 train windows that are more easily penetrated by mobile signals. This technology uses a laser to etch a fine pattern into the ultra-thin metal layer that shields the train windows from sunlight, thereby allowing better signal penetration.

These mobile signal-permeable windows are gradually replacing the older repeater systems currently installed on the trains, which used external antennas to transmit signals inside the carriages.

Join us at next month’s Connected Germany 5-6 November in Munich. Get discounted tickets here!

Also in the news:
“We’re the best kept secret in data centre and cloud,” says Nokia at Connected Britain Submarine cable damage in the Red Sea ‘severely underestimated’
Vodafone and Google deepen relationship with 10-year AI partnership 

Interview

At this year’s Connected Britain, we caught up with Nokia’s Head of Cloud Infrastructure Business, Europe, Paul Alexander to discuss how AI is driving investment in the cloud and data centre sectors, how security requirements are evolving, and how regulators are doing their best to keep up!

You can watch our full interview from the link below.

 

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Vodafone and Three defend merger amid CMA warnings
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Korea Telecom and Microsoft sign multibillion-dollar AI partnership