Infracapital-backed network builder and UK ISP Ogi, which is deploying a new Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network across South Wales, has today announced that they’ve “worked closely” with Amazon to launch a bespoke Welsh language service that now comes built-in to the latest eero WiFi router software..

Customers of Ogi’s network, which is currently available to 100,000 ‘Ready for Service’ premises in Wales (20,000 customers have already joined), are currently able to get Amazon’s eero 6 Wi-Fi mesh routers on both their 400Mbps and top 1000Mbps broadband packages (the provider’s 200Mbps plan comes with a Zyxel EX3301 instead).

However, engineers at eero have now customised the mobile app, incorporating familiar Welsh-language terms to help enhance the experience. But this isn’t limited to Ogi’s customers and Welsh language support is now available to all eero users by downloading the latest software update (release v6.47.0).

Ogi’s Brand Marketing Director, Sarah Vining, said:

“Ogi’s mission has always been to provide world-class services that are inherently Welsh. Working with the team at eero, we’re not only bringing cutting-edge technology to Welsh homes but also making it more accessible for our customers, and for users all over Wales too. This partnership reflects our shared vision to make the internet more accessible to everyone.”

Mark Sieglock, eero EVP of Software and Services, said:

“We’re thrilled to partner with Ogi to add Welsh language support, making the eero app more accessible to Welsh speakers in Wales.”

Network operator CityFibre has given ISPreview an update on the effort to upgrade their GPON based Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network for ISPs to XGS-PON, which can handle broadband speeds of up to 10Gbps (Gigabits per second). However, not much progress seems to have been made since the end of 2023, but it is still moving forward.

In case anybody has forgotten, CityFibre started their upgrade in the spring of 2023 (here). The operator’s network previously used Calix’s GPON (Gigabit Passive Optical Network) technology and this invariably places constraints on how much capacity can be delivered to each end user (i.e. GPON shares capacity of 2.48Gbps downstream and 1.24Gbps upstream between 8 to 32 users).

By comparison the switch to XGS-PON, using kit and services from both Nokia and Calix, has enabled them to support symmetric speeds of 10Gbps (9.953Gbps to be exact). But like most providers using this type of platform, they initially started (here) by offering a more modest top tier of 2.5Gbps to supporting ISPs and consumers (e.g. Vodafone, TalkTalk, Zen Internet and many more).

However, the challenge for ISPs has been in the limited coverage of CityFibre’s XGS-PON platform, which hasn’t been expanding as quickly as some might have liked. The operator had previously set a target for 90% of its fibre exchanges and 20% of its ‘Ready for Service‘ (RFS) footprint (premises) to be upgraded by the end of 2023, so we were a little surprised to find that not much had changed.

A spokesperson for CityFibre told ISPreview:

“The rollout of XGS-PON across our network continues at pace, with equipment deployed into over 90% of our fibre exchanges and new XGS-PON products already available to around 20% of our ready for service footprint as planned.

We are pleased by the progress to date but are committed to further accelerating the upgrade of our entire network to XGS-PON, supporting the introduction of an expanded symmetrical multi-gigabit product portfolio for our ISP partners and delivering world-class full fibre broadband to millions of homes.”

The catch in all this is that CityFibre has often been coy about saying precisely when they’d achieve 100% coverage of their network or close to that, which makes it difficult to judge their progress. But after a bit of nudging, we were eventually told that the operator was “on track to double our XGS-PON footprint to 40% by the end of the year” (RFS premises).

Put another way, if the operator continues to do c.20% each year then it could take another three years to complete the upgrade (by the end of 2027). But ISPreview understands that CityFibre will be looking to further accelerate the upgrade of their network throughout 2025, which could yet change that calculation in a more positive direction.

In relation to all this, we recently noted that one ISP, Yayzi Broadband, appeared to be conducting trials (here) of “upgrades on demand … so if we get X interest in an area for 2.3Gb then when it reaches this point they will upgrade the local node“, which could make it quicker for some areas to benefit from the top speeds. But we understand that CityFibre isn’t currently looking to shift to a demand led approach for XGS-PON upgrades.

However, it is very important to remember that even the top GPON package (2Gbps down and 1Gbps upload) is still exceptionally fast, and more than the vast majority of UK consumers would either need or even be able to fully harness today.

The alternative network operator currently still aspires to cover up to 8 million UK premises with their new full fibre network (funded by c.£2.4bn in equity, c.£4.9bn debt and c.£800m of BDUK / public subsidy) – representing c.30% of the UK. So far, they’ve covered around 3.8m premises and have connected 400,000 customers (8th May 2024), but are also known to be hunting for fresh investment (here).

A small but growing number of O2 UK’s (Virgin Media) mobile customers have reported that the operator has assigned an Internet Protocol v6 (IPv6) address to their connections, although in most cases the IP address itself is not fully functional (certainly doesn’t work on data / mobile broadband connections).

At this point we’ve long since given up chasing the industry’s remaining IPv6 laggards, such as Virgin Media and O2, to find out when they’ll get around to actually deploying it – this is largely due to the many false starts and missed promises we’ve seen over the years. But we do still keep an eye out for any practical developments on this front.

Suffice to say that, over the past couple of months, we’ve seen a noticeable up-tick in O2 customers, both directly and via some of their MVNO partners on the same platform (e.g. giffgaff), reporting that their mobile connections and Smartphones have been assigned an IPv6 address – even if the v6 address itself doesn’t appear to function (e.g. you can’t ping them) and hasn’t yet been fully assigned to an ASN (Autonomous System Number).

So far all of the IPv6 addresses we’ve had reported appear to form part of the same 2a03:dd00::/32 (CIDR) range, which is owned by Telefonica UK Limited. But O2 itself remains vague on their plans, with a spokesperson telling ISPreview: “We are continually reviewing our IPv6 strategy and will announce any plans in due course.” Back to waiting, then.

News

The service claims to make AI adoption easier and more affordable for businesses 

Singaporean telco Singtel has launched RE:AI, a new cloud-based service designed to make artificial intelligence (AI) easier for businesses and public sector organisations to access and use.  

Launched yesterday, the service provides affordable AI solutions without the need for companies to invest in expensive infrastructure or specialist skills. 

The AI cloud solution offers customers access to high-performance computing, data storage, and AI tools, all managed through Singtel’s Paragon platform. This, combined with Singtel’s network infrastructure, including 5G and quantum safe networks, allows enterprises to manage and scale AI applications across their organisation.  

“With the launch of RE:AI, we’re significantly reducing entry barriers, making AI easily accessible to enterprises, government agencies, research communities and academia – the more people have access to AI, the more innovation is bound to emerge, which in turn fuels growth,” said Singtel’s CEO Bill Chang in a press release. 

“RE:AI will foster a dynamic ecosystem of partners with distinctive capabilities and platforms to accelerate AI adoption to drive innovation and growth in Singapore and the region, sustainably,” he continued. 

The launch fits with Singtel’s broader plans for digital transformation. Back in August, the company announced a strategic partnership to bring its GPU-as-a-Service (GPUaaS) offerings to business across Southeast Asia. Regional telcos AIS, Maxid and Telkomsel are the first to take up the offering.   

Singtel is also expanding its AI infrastructure through global partnerships, and is developing new AI-ready data centres via its Nxera arm. In June this year, Singtel became a founding member of the Global Telco AI Alliance, along with Deutsche Telekom, SK Telecom, e&, and SoftBank. The joint venture will develop multi lingual Large Language Models (LLMs), specifically designed to meet telco needs, in areas such as improving customer interactions via digital assistants and chatbots. The LLMs will be tailored to the needs of the five companies in their respective markets, allowing them to reach a combined customer base of around 1.3 billion people in 50 countries. 

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

News

SK Telecom (SKT), KT, and LG Uplus allegedly coordinated to keep their sales incentives at the same level

This week, South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission (FTC) has announced a preliminary decision to impose fines of up to $4.1 billion on the nation’s three telco giants.

SK Telecom, KT, and LG Uplus are accused of sharing internal information with each other between 2015 and 2022, allegedly to align their sales incentives paid to mobile phone retailers.

According to local media, if the FTC’s decision is finalised, the regulator intends to charge SKT between $1.05 billion and $1.63 billion, KT between $750.7 million and $1.3 billion, and LG Uplus between $732.2 million and $1.2 billion.

If imposed, these fines could be catastrophic for the operators, with even the lower bounds of these fines being far greater than their respective net incomes.

It is worth noting, however, that what the FTC here may consider to be collusion could, in fact, be efforts to follow government guidance.

In 2014, the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) introduced guidance as part of the Mobile Device Distribution Improvement Act that told operators to provide sales incentives of around 300,000 won ($222).

This Act was intended to promote competition in the mobile market by preventing major handset discounts and thereby maintaining a level of pricing stability. A decade on, however, and the Mobile Device Distribution Improvement Act is largely seen as a failure, having inadvertently served to maintain high prices for customers.

As a result, the South Korean government announced plans to abolish the Act at the start of this year.

But regardless of the Act’s ultimately failure, the KCC points out that the telcos were nonetheless following government guidance in their incentive strategies during the period in question.

“The KCC has delivered its opinions to the FTC multiple times, highlighting that it is difficult to view the case as collusion,” said KCC Secretary General Cho Sung-eun at a National Assembly audit on Monday.

He added that the KCC’s own investigation had not found evidence of collusion.

“The FTC and KCC have been collaborating since the investigation of the allegation began and will continue to closely communicate with each other through the upcoming processes,” said the FTC in a statement.

The FTC’s final decision on the matter is expected to be delivered early next year.

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 

Viewpoint

[Paris, France, October 9, 2024] During Network X 2024 — Broadband World Forum (BBWF), Huawei teamed up with carriers and Informa to hold the All-Optical Access Innovation Summit, bringing together heavyweight analysts, carrier customers, and Huawei experts. They discussed a range of frontier topics such as the launch of 50G PON for 10Gbps, 10G PON true gigabit experience, FTTR scale-up, Wi-Fi 7 2+2 industry generation guidance, network construction with optimal TCO, and premium broadband experience management. Through discussions, they outlined the development trend of the global 10Gbps industry.

Feng Zhishan, President of Huawei Optical Access Network Product Line, delivered a keynote speech titled ” F5.5G Booming, Moving Towards an Intelligent World”. He pointed out that the rapid emergence of AI applications drives the optical broadband industry to evolve to gigabit/10Giga intelligent access networks, and that now is the time to develop F5.5G all-optical intelligent access networks. Huawei launched three innovations: the industry’s first 16-port 50G PON service board, 50G PON FTTR and distributed AI computing engine, and the industry’s first intelligent home broadband model — Agent. By doing so, Huawei expects to build an all-optical intelligent access network that features deterministic experience, gigabit/10Gbps access, and computing-network integration. This can help accelerate the popularization of gigabit and the commercial use of 50G PON for  10Gbps, promote the innovation of intelligent applications, and help carriers seize new opportunities in the 10Gbps all-optical network era. All of this further propels us towards an intelligent world.

Stephen Wilson, Chief Analyst at Omdia, said the emergence of new AI applications, fierce market competition, and opportunities for ARPU growth are compelling carriers to upgrade to 10G PON, which is now a mainstream technology that has been launched by many carriers across the world. Wi-Fi 7 is gaining popularity among consumers, and shipments of Wi-Fi 7 CPEs among broadband carriers are expected to surge. Dual-band Wi-Fi 7 CPEs with 2×2 MIMO are an ideal choice for many carriers considering spectrum resources, power consumption, and user experience.

Peter Weiget, Lead Architect of Network Connectivity at Swisscom, said, “Swisscom is dedicated to providing a faster and more intelligent all-optical access network. Based on the FANO target network architecture, Swisscom uses 50G PON to provide the best access services and provide customers with network rates of up to 50Gbps. It also supports XGS-PON and 50G-PON Combo mode, achieving smooth service upgrade.”

Hudson KC Lou, SVP of Network Services and Development at CTM Macau, China, stated that CTM is committed to providing ultimate network experience for local residents with three innovations: FTTR services that feature full-home gigabit Wi-Fi coverage, differentiated intelligent acceleration services for eSports, and “Wi-Fi Manager for intelligent O&M”. To embrace the upcoming F5.5G 10Gbps era, CTM focuses on deploying mobile smart home and cloud storage services at the application level, and uses Wi-Fi 7 FTTR technology on home networks and 50G PON on access networks, driving the development of “Digital Macau 3.0”.

In a speech titled “One fiber to One Home, iFTTR Lights up Smart Life”, David Yi, General Manager of Huawei’s Home Network Domain, noted that, in the digital era, more smart home devices need to be deeply integrated with networks, and a unified smart home base is critical to high-quality smart home services. Huawei iFTTR OptiXstar F50 is the industry’s first FTTR+X product. It helps build a unified smart home base and provides storage, sensing, computing, and control capabilities. In this way, it can enable many smart home application scenarios, such as home guard, home healthcare, HD live broadcast, cloud gaming, and remote education. All of this brings users better smart life experience, propelling us towards a smart home era.

Balla Peter, Fixed Access Network Product Owner of DTAG, shared valuable experience in the successful development of 10G PON. He also pointed out that amid the rapid growth of live streaming, IoT, and remote work, the demand for bandwidth has skyrocketed, prompting us to pursue true gigabit experience. The company’s fiber strategy plays a fundamental role in the development towards 10G PON. In this case, the company focuses not just on network speed but also on creating a scalable and reliable network to meet future requirements.

Allen Zheng, Chief System Engineer of Huawei Optical Access Network, said that new digital and intelligent services drive continuous broadband evolution. Access networks should fulfill the following requirements: 0 video freezing, 0-wait experience, and 0-delay intelligence. Huawei intelligent OLTs can provide three key capabilities for the best service experience and new broadband growth:

1. Ultra-broadband: from leading 10G PON to the industry’s first commercial 50G PON solution;
2. The industry’s first dual-plane forwarding and hardware slicing: from best-effort experience to deterministic experience;
3. FAN intelligent engine: The industry’s first native intelligence enables quality on demand for carriers.

Cisternas Gonzalez Nicolas, Entel 2H Product Director, delivered a speech titled “Premium Broadband Operation Brings Ultra-Gigabit Experience to Every Chile Home”. In the speech, he introduced how Entel provides the best home connectivity experience in Chile and discussed its strategy in maintaining leadership. The company expects to expand home services to Peru and continuously improving user experience. He emphasized Entel’s focus on innovation and its position as a pioneer in the region thanks to technologies such as 10G PON and Wi-Fi 7 optical terminals.

Xu Fan, Chief Architect of Huawei’s Access Network Domain, said that as AI keeps growing, different applications have different requirements on bandwidth and latency. Huawei has introduced FIE intelligence technology to its latest access network solution. The wireless optical network (AI-WON) architecture, where APP-Flow at the intelligent service layer and OLTs at the intelligent network layer coordinate with the FTTR solution, provides ms-level adaptive closed loops and on-demand deterministic experience, helping carriers provide SLA payment methods based on bandwidth and latency. All this promotes experience monetization.

As a leader in the global optical network field, Huawei is committed to working closely with industry partners to explore and innovate in three dimensions: bandwidth expansion, user experience optimization, and intelligent upgrade. In this way, Huawei aims to promote the evolution of F5.5G technologies, propelling us towards an intelligent world.

Broadband ISP Virgin Media (O2) has issued a brief update on the gradual roll-out of “Smart Support”, which is a new service that aims to boost the reliability of internet connections by proactively identifying and tackling issues remotely at no extra cost. Some 200,000 customers have now benefitted from this (up from 50k in July), with 150k more to join by the end of 2024.

Just to recap. The Smart Support service is built on technology from Cisco’s ThousandEyes (formerly SamKnows) platform (i.e. cloud-based data sets and advanced device ID technology), which initially targeted customers “whose connections will be checked throughout the year as the service learns and evolves” (i.e. it monitors for things like speed drops and disconnections), before being rolled out more widely.

Smart Support is still going through Phase 2 of its deployment and is currently only “available to fibre customers and not full fibre” ones, which in the land of Virgin’s peculiar definitions means that it will work on both their Hybrid Fibre Coax (HFC) and RFoG (Radio Frequency over Glass) based FTTP broadband lines, but not their latest XGS-PON FTTP network (many ordinary users probably won’t know which one they have).

The forthcoming Phase 3 deployment will also add machine learning to help fix faults and prevent them from reoccurring, but we still don’t know when that will begin. After that, the plan is to develop Smart support to support digital TV issues (e.g. buffering), but for now it’s focused purely on the core internet connectivity angle.

Smart Support’s Multi-Layered Approach Includes:

➤ Always-on monitoring: Using smart support technology to constantly monitor the customer’s broadband speeds and connection performance.

➤ Problem solving: If a fault is detected, the WiFi Hub will work automatically overnight to try and resolve the issue.

➤ Tailored advice: If the suspected issue cannot be fixed remotely, the customer will be sent personalised advice on how they can try to resolve the issue themselves.

➤ Easy to book expert help: Should this be unsuccessful; the customer will be invited to book a free engineer appointment at a time that suits them.

➤ Regular check-ins: The customer’s connection will be monitored continually and they will be updated within 48 hours at every step.

One other benefit of this approach is that it could reduce calls to Virgin Media’s support lines, since customers won’t need to manually report all of their faults. But we should point out that proactive monitoring of broadband lines is something that other ISPs have also adopted, albeit to varying different levels of effectiveness and sophistication. Sometimes this comes as part of a premium add-on, while in other cases it’s a default feature.

Gareth Lister, Director of Connectivity at Virgin Media O2, said:

“We’re committed to giving our customers the very best broadband experience, that’s why we’ve invested in accelerating the roll out of smart support so even more homes can benefit from the service at no extra cost each month. Smart support is a unique benefit that no other major network offers. This game-changing technology will give our customers extra peace of mind, without them having to lift a finger.”

Openreach (BT) has released the next batch of 79 exchanges (Tranche 18) in their “FTTP Priority Exchange Stop Sell” programme, which reflects areas where over 75% of premises are able to get full fibre lines and will thus stop selling copper based analogue phone and broadband products (i.e. FTTP becomes the only product option).

Currently, there are two schemes for moving away from old copper lines and services, which can sometimes criss-cross. The first starts with the gradual migration of traditional analogue voice (PSTN / WLR) services to digital all-IP technologies (e.g. SOGEA), which is due to complete by 31st January 2027 and is occurring on both copper and full fibre products (i.e. ISPs are introducing digital voice / VoIP services). The national “stop sell” on analogue phone services began on 5th September 2023 (here).

The second “FTTP Priority Exchange” programme involves the ongoing rollout of gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) lines – using light signals via optical fibre instead of electrical signals via slow copper lines. Only after this second programme has largely completed (75%+ FTTP coverage) in an exchange area can you really start to completely switch-off copper-based products, which will come later as you have to allow time for natural customer migrations.

Between the scrapping of analogue phone services, the full fibre rollout and the gradual switch away from copper lines themselves, this process will take several years in each area to complete, and the pace will vary (i.e. some areas have better coverage of full fibre than others). Naturally, premises that can’t yet get FTTP will continue to be served by copper-based broadband products.

79 New Exchange Locations (Tranche 18)

In this programme, the migration process away from legacy services starts with a “no move back” policy (i.e. no going back to copper) for premises connected with FTTP, which is followed by a “stop-sell” of copper services to new customers (12-months of notice is given before this starts and that is what today’s list represents). This stage is then followed by a final “withdrawal” phase, but that comes later.

The stop sell is applied at premises level, so it shouldn’t impact you if you don’t yet have access to FTTP, although edge-case conflicts may still occur due to rare quirks of network availability.

The 79 exchanges announced today takes the total number of exchange upgrades that have already been notified as part of the aforementioned process (including trial exchanges), or which are actively under “stop sell” to 1,175. The “stop sell” in the Tranche 18 areas will be introduced from 6th November 2025.

The operator also has a Stop Sells Page on their website, which makes it easy to see all the planned changes. Otherwise, the following list is tentative, so changes and delays will occur (exchanges can and are often shifted around into different tranches).

79 Stop Sell Exchanges in Tranche 18

Exchange Name
Exchange Location
Exchange Code

Collingham Bridge (ZOG)
Collingham
MYCOL

Ecclesfield (ESF)
Sheffield
SLEF

Mexborough (MIT)
Mexborough
SLMEX

Old Whittington (NEP)
Chesterfield
SLOLD

Brent Knoll (QKO)
Burnham-on-Sea
WWBKNO

Bridgnorth (BNS)
Bridgnorth
CMBRI

Bury St Edmunds (BN)
Bury St Edmunds
EABSE

Caersws (CZX)
Caersws
WNCSW

Drayton (DRX)
Taverham
EADRA

Hartlepool (WP)
Hartlepool
NEHAL

Machynlleth (MAF)
Machynlleth
WNMAC

Pocklington (PDP)
Pocklington
MYPOC

Riccall (RAL)
Riccall
MYRIC

Rowhedge (RHG)
Rowhedge
EAROW

Cranmore (VTC)
Shepton Mallet
SSCRA

Dundrod (DVD)
Unmapped
NIDOD

Mossyard (MZC)
Gatehouse of Fleet
WSMOD

Mochrum (MHM)
Bladnoch
WSMOC

Cummertrees (ZMT)
Powfoot
WSCMM

Bobbington (JOB)
Bobbington
CMBOB

Port Of Menteith (PRM)
Buchlyvie
ESPRM

Trossachs (TSS)
Brig o’Turk
ESTRO

Balfour (QFO)
Pierowall
NSBFR

Medbourne Green (MEB)
Medbourne
EMMEDBO

Stoke Goldington (XGS)
Newport Pagnell
SMSGT

Bleasby (JLI)
Carlton (Gedling)
EMBLEAS

Hursley (HUY)
Eastleigh
STHRSLY

Abermule (AAG)
Abermule
WNAMU

Yarrowford (YRF)
Yarrowford
ESYRF

Fair Isle (FIE)
Cunningsburgh
NSFIS

Weston-Super-Mare
Weston-Super-Mare
SSWSM

Shotts (SXK)
Shotts
ESSHO

Whitstable (WHV)
Whitstable
NDWHI

Airdrie (AHY)
Airdrie
WSAIR

Anfield (LV/ANF)
Liverpool
LVANF

Boldon (QGP)
Jarrow
NEBO

Bootle (LV/BOO)
Bootle
LVBOO

Cheslyn Hay (ZAH)
Great Wyrley
CMCHY

Codsall (COJ)
Codsall
CMCOD

Dewsbury (DW)
Dewsbury
MYDEW

Kempston (KPN)
Kempston
SMKT

Kings Norton
Birmingham
CMKING

Market Harborough (MGA)
Market Harborough
EMMRKTH

Marshalls Cross (MSL)
St Helens
LVMSX

Runcorn Main (RZ)
Runcorn
LVRNM

Stafford (SPA)
Stafford
WMSPA

Wantage (WBY)
Wantage
SMWN

West Bromwich (BM/WES)
West Bromwich
CMWESB

Whiteley (SBP)
South Hampshire
STWHTLY

Woodseats (SF/WS)
Sheffield
SLWS

Barrow-In -Furness (BBZ)
Barrow-in-Furness
LCBAR

Gresford (GEF)
Llay
WNGRE

Ravenhill (RVH)
Swansea
SWRVH

Rossendale (RBK)
Rawtenstall
LCROS

Ellon (EL)
Ellon
NSELL

Swindon (SWP)
Swindon (Wiltshire)
SSSWN

Aughafatten (AFN)
Antrim
NIAFN

Moneymore (MRN)
Londonderry
NIMM

Carrickmore (ZEF)
Tyrone
NICE

Kneller Hall
Greater London – Richmond upon Thames
LWKNE

Pembury
Royal Tunbridge Wells
NDPEM

Redcar (RBZ)
Redcar
NERC

Scarborough (SC)
Scarborough
MYSCA

Tewkesbury (TX)
Tewkesbury
SSTXY

Thorpe (TCU)
Norwich
EATHP

Wrexham (WX)
Wrexham
WNWX

Ibstock (IAA)
Ibstock
EMIBSTO

Pelsall (PBC)
Aldridge
CMPEL

Pontefract (PB)
Pontefract
MYPON

Seighford (SEI)
Great Bridgeford
WMSEI

St.Helens (SBK)
St Helens
LVSAI

Stone Cross (BM/STO)
West Bromwich
CMSTOX

Westhoughton (WFV)
Greater Manchester – Bolton
LCWES

Brigg (BOI)
Brigg
SLBOI

Lowestoft (LT)
Lowestoft
EALOW

Dorchester (DO)
Dorchester (West Dorset)
STDORCH

Cowes (CNI)
Cowes
SDCWS

Haywards Heath (HGR)
Haywards Heath
SDHYWRD

Penzance (PZ)
Penzance
WWPENZ

News 

The new agreement creates a joint working group to address the risks posed by children’s interactions with social media and emerging technologies 

The UK and US have signed a new agreement aimed at improving online safety for children, led by UK Technology Secretary Peter Kyle and US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. The agreement will create a joint working group to research and develop ways to protect children more effectively in the digital world. 

The working group will focus on making tech companies whose products impact children more transparent and giving researchers access to data while protecting privacy. This will help governments and regulatory bodies better understand the risks and benefits of social media and new technologies such as generative AI. 

“The online world brings incredible benefits for young people, enriching their education and social lives. But these experiences must take place in an environment which has safety baked in from the outset, not as an afterthought,” said Peter Kyle in a press release. 

“The digital world has no borders and working with our international partners like the US – one of our closest allies and home to the biggest tech firms – is essential. This joint statement will turn our historic partnership towards delivering a safer online world for our next generation,” he continued. 

The joint effort builds on the work already happening in both countries to integrate child safety into technology. The UK’s Online Safety Act requires platforms to protect children and remove harmful content, while the US is advancing child safety through its Kids Online Health and Safety Taskforce. 

“As more children across the US and around the globe have access to online platforms for online learning and social media, there is also increased risk to this exposure. That is why we are taking the necessary steps in the United States, and with our UK partners, to protect children’s privacy, safety, and mental health,” said Gina Raimondo. 

Both countries are also leading in the global “safety tech” sector, with related UK companies contributing £600 million to the economy last year, behind only the US.  

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 

News

As the UK’s fibre network rollout continues to push ahead, operators are increasingly seeking to deploy in more challenging environments, particularly in rural areas.

In this interview at Connected Britain 2024, Asa Malone, Sales Director at Hexatronic UK discusses how the company is building bespoke solutions for customers and investing heavily to make these hard-to-reach areas more accessible.

Watch our full interview here

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