Mobile provider giffgaff, which is a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) on O2’s UK platform, has significantly boosted the included data allowances across three of their SIM Only plans with a minimum contract term of 18-months. The change will come at no extra cost to both new and existing customers of the related Pay Monthly plans.

The promotion, which will be available to take until 4th December 2024, means that their £10 per month plan now comes with 60GB (GigaBytes) of data instead of just 25GB, while paying £15 will get you 120GB (up from 40GB) and £20 will get you 200GB (up from 120GB).

All of these plans also come with unlimited UK calls and texts, as well as up to 5GB of inclusive EU roaming (you’ll be charged 10p/MB once 5GB is used).

Press Release

Rorschach, Switzerland – September 2024 – HORISEN is proud to announce its collaboration with Vodafone Germany and DIMOCO Payments in supporting the first-ever public transportation ticketing concept via RCS (Rich Communication Services) and DCB (Direct Carrier Billing) in Germany.

Powered by HORISEN’s Business Messenger Platform, this innovative solution allows users to book public transportation tickets and pay directly through their phone bill – all this inside an RCS dialogue. The process is quite simple: just scan the QR code at the bus stop, choose a tariff, select carrier billing, and enjoy the ride – making public transport more accessible and convenient than ever.

This solution was showcased at the prestigious Future of Tech event, part of Germany’s largest B2B Startup Expo and Conference, highlighting HORISEN’s role in driving digital innovation in public services.

The initiative is part of Vodafone Germany’s UPLIFT project, dedicated to exploring new innovation partnerships. By focusing on future topics like sustainability, data analytics, and AI, Vodafone UPLIFT connects innovators with the resources and expertise needed to bring market-ready solutions to life. Like HORISEN, Vodafone is committed to creating future-oriented solutions that deliver tangible value and sustainability.

About HORISEN:

HORISEN, the home of omnichannel technology, is the ultimate one-stop shop for wholesale and retail messaging businesses. With over two decades of experience, we push the boundaries of technological innovation to empower Messaging Technologists in establishing, operating, and expanding successful messaging businesses. Our commitment to advancing the industry is evident in our pioneering projects that will drive the next wave of digital transformation.

Press Release

News

The altnet has been deploying fibre networks in south Wales since 2021 

Wales’ largest altnet Ogi has secured £45 million in funding from the Cardiff Capital Region (CCR) to support the next stages of its fibre rollout.  

Set up in 2017, the CCR represents 10 local councils from across South East Wales and provides funding for projects aimed at job creation and critical infrastructure development across the region. 

For Ogi, the new funding will allow the altnet to expand its full fibre footprint across Blaenau Gwent, Bridgend, Caerphilly, Cardiff, Merthyr Tydfil, Monmouthshire, Newport, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Torfaen, and the Vale of Glamorgan. The company already has fibre network deployments in each of these regions. 

“With key strategic sites like Aberthaw to the south and the heads of the valleys to the north, there’s massive potential across the capital region – and partnering with CCR at such an exciting time in their own development is the next logical step for Ogi’s growth in southeast Wales,” said Ogi’s CEO Ben Allwright in the announcement. 

“Ogi has taken regeneration to a new level with its initial investment – connecting communities to new possibilities right across the Cardiff Capital Region and beyond,” said Councillor Mary Ann Brocklesby.  

“Our investment into Ogi recognises that ongoing commitment to boosting the region, and the work already being done to bring vital connectivity to some of Wales’s biggest towns and villages,” she continued. 

The exact number of new premises to be covered as a result of this funding was not revealed.  

Ogi secured its first funding round from Infracapital in 2021 and has since then provided 100,000 premises in South Wales with fibre-to-the-premises. Currently, one in five of those premises have signed up as a customer. 

Join the conversation around the UK’s connectivity landscape at this month’s Connected Britain, 11-12 September in London. Get tickets here.

Also in the news: 
Coastguard’s emergency network gets an upgrade from Telent
AT&T fined nearly $1m over 911 failings
How will the CityFibre–Sky deal really affect BT?

Broadband ISP Virgin Media O2 Business (VMO2) last week won the contract to deploy a new Dark Fibre network as part of the Swansea Bay City Region project (Digital Infrastructure Programme). The new network should deliver significantly improved data capacity and speed to 36 public sector sites throughout Swansea and Neath Port Talbot.

Just to recap. The UK and Welsh Governments gave their approval for a £55m digital infrastructure investment under the £1.3bn Swansea Bay City Region project back in 2021 (here), which aimed to expand full fibre broadband and 5G mobile connectivity to benefit residents and businesses across Carmarthenshire, Neath Port Talbot, Pembrokeshire and Swansea.

The new network, which forms part of that agreement and aims to become fully available by December 2025, is initially only focused upon catering for public sector sites (e.g. council offices, NHS, doctors, schools etc.). But we’ve seen before how similar anchor tenancy models can also result in such networks being opened up for use by commercial network expansions too, although this would require additional private investment.

Carl Mustad, Assistant Director at Swansea Bay University Health Board, said:

“This is an integral step forward for the health boards, local authorities and universities in this area and will help us collaborate and expand our future research and development relationships.”

Modern networks are essential to provide the backbone for cutting edge telemedicine services, artificial intelligence and improved data management which in turn supports improvements in diagnostics, and patient experience.”

Catherine Amran, Customer Director at VMO2 Business, said:

“We’re looking forward to working with Swansea Bay City Deal to help connect the Swansea and Neath Port Talbot regions. Virgin Media O2 Business have the largest available dark fibre coverage in the UK. With dark fibre right across our national footprint without any regional restrictions, this new network will provide the region with a range of benefits like increased capacity and speed. Collaborations like this are important for public services, enabling growth and ensuring organisations have access to reliable connectivity.”

This new connectivity infrastructure will initially work to “future proof” the digital capabilities of the Welsh Ambulance Service University Trust, Swansea Bay University Health Board, Hywel Dda Health Board, Swansea University, the University of Wales, Trinity St David, and the three local authorities – Neath Port Talbot, Swansea and Carmarthenshire.

Broadband ISP Virgin Media (O2) has today given their Digital Landline Switchover (DLS) programme (i.e. migrating old analogue landline phones to IP-based services) a boost by signing a “first-of-its-kind partnership” with TSA, the telecare advisory body, to enhance the support provided to telecare users as the UK transitions to Digital Voice.

Just to recap. Virgin Media restarted their DLS scheme in April 2024 (here), which came after it was put on pause at the end of 2023 as part of their commitment under the Government-led charter that had been designed to limit risks for vulnerable users.

The switch is a particular concern for the c. 1.8 million people who use telecare devices / alarms in the UK (e.g. elderly, disabled, and vulnerable people), many of which are located in rural and isolated areas. Sadly, a lot of those telecare systems haven’t yet been updated to work with the newer Internet Protocol (IP) based voice / phone services, which is despite the telecare industry having plenty of years to prepare.

In keeping with this, Ofcom are currently investigating Virgin Media’s migration of customers from analogue to digital landlines, which focuses upon whether they’ve been treating vulnerable consumers correctly and “ensuring uninterrupted access” to emergency services (here). The risks here were tragically underlined by the recently reported deaths of two “vulnerable” Virgin Media Phone customers (here).

The new deal between Virgin Media and the TSA is thus looking to help change all this by enhancing support for telecare users going through the DLS. VMO2 claims to be the first telecoms company to form a partnership with the industry body which represents UK telecare organisations, including care providers, device manufacturers, ambulance services, housing associations and local authorities.

The two organisations are already working together on a new trial with Stockport-based telecare provider Carecall to provide dedicated support to telecare users as their services are migrated.

Description of the Stockport Trial

Alongside the existing measures that Virgin Media O2 already had in place, and those brought in earlier this year to support customers, the trial has seen all parties come together to provide enhanced support for telecare device users, ensuring they get the help they need as the essential digital switchover takes place. This includes:

Using the secure data sharing agreement between Stockport Homes and Virgin Media O2 to better identify telecare customers who have not yet made themselves known to the telecoms provider;
Combining resources to communicate and engage with customers;
Providing joint visits with teams from both Virgin Media O2 and Carecall present to support customers with their services and check devices are working as they should and committing to never leaving a property without a working landline.

Having only kicked off in late July, this trial has seen around 80% of targeted telecare customers successfully switched to Digital Voice on a voluntary basis, rising to 95% when accounting for those with appointments booked in (21st August 2024). All customers’ services are being closely monitored post-migration to ensure a smooth transition to the new technology.

Further trials in different parts of the country are now planned to further refine the process “ahead of a potential nationwide roll-out“. Carecall is a part of Stockport Homes Group, which provides housing services on behalf of Stockport Council. The successful trial was made possible because Stockport Homes signed a “data-sharing agreement” with Virgin Media, meaning telecare users could be quickly and efficiently identified.

Rob Orr, Chief Operating Officer at VMO2, said:

“With the decades-old phone network becoming increasingly difficult to maintain, we must take action to ensure we are safeguarding landline services in future. We know that change is never easy, however we’re committed to providing enhanced support and doing everything we can for our customers as we migrate to digital voice services.

Our partnership with TSA and trial in Stockport are helping us develop a scalable model to safely migrate our most vulnerable customers. By helping to better identify telecare customers and working together to reach our shared customers, this innovative project provides a gold standard service which could be the blueprint for our future roll-out.

Cross industry collaboration is essential to make the digital migration a success so it’s deeply concerning that some local authorities and telecare providers are still not engaging with us despite our repeated efforts. We encourage all parties to step up and work with the industry on this switchover, and for Government to create a “Telecare Charter” to make sure everyone is playing their role and is clear on their responsibilities.”

Alyson Scurfield, CEO at TSA, said:

“Over two million people in the UK rely on telecare services to live independent lives and our sector is very concerned about the impact of power failures on digital landlines. Our prime goal is to support older and disabled people as their landlines change from analogue to digital and that’s why we’re working closely with Virgin Media O2 and Carecall.

We’re creating a blueprint for safe, smooth, speedy digital migration that can be adopted by other housing associations, local authorities, care providers and telecoms providers. We’re also developing guidance, training and quality standards that can support this best-practice migration process.”

On top of this, Virgin Media has now written to every UK local authority it operates in, encouraging others to follow in Stockport Homes footsteps and establish invaluable data-sharing agreements where they haven’t done so already.

To date, more than 4 in 5 of local authorities written to have not yet formed a data agreement with VMO2, with “many not responding to communications at all“. As a result of this, both the TSA and VMO2 are now calling on the government to create a Telecare Charter, which will set out a range of commitments and encourages these parties to work with the telecoms industry to help ensure nobody is left behind.

All of this is very positive, although we should add that Openreach is also doing something similar to the aforementioned trial via their own Prove Telecare Trial, which started at the end of July 2024. But the fact is that the industry should really have been doing things like this years ago, rather than waiting until the final couple of years of the migration. The previous government should have also been more proactive on the topic.

The old phone networks were originally supposed to be completely switched off by the end of 2025, although vulnerable users were recently given more time by BT and Openreach as the deadline for migration in related households has since been extended to 31st Jan 2027 (here and here).

Network access provider Openreach (BT) has made their “Proactive FTTP Upgrades” a standard process from ISPs. This will take effect from 1st October 2024 and should make it easier for UK broadband ISPs that want to migrate existing customers on slower copper-based ADSL, FTTC (VDSL2) and G.fast lines to faster full fibre (FTTP) ones.

A spokesperson for Openreach told ISPreview last year (here): “Proactive migrations arise where a Communications Provider proposes an upgrade to FTTP to its own ADSL/VDSL/GFast broadband customers, at the same time booking an appointment for an Openreach engineer to carry out the upgrade. The end customer is able to confirm, reject or select a different appointment.”

Openreach previously announced a special offer on 28th August 2023, which stated that the first appointment amendment and standard cancellation charges for FTTP orders would be rebated where the orders are part of Proactive FTTP Upgrades.

According to the new briefing, this special offer was due to expire on 30th September 2024, however “given the demand for proactive migrations to FTTP and the success of the process to date“, Openreach said they will instead make this a “standard process” for ISPs from 1st October 2024 (briefing). The charge for cancellation and/or first amend of appointment for FTTP will thus continue to be rebated quarterly for Proactive FTTP Upgrade orders.

The new UK Government has begun informally consulting with the telecoms industry after network operators called on them to make it easier and cheaper to access large residential buildings (MDUs –  blocks of flats or apartments), which could help to upgrade related buildings to gigabit-capable broadband. Easier said than done.

The previous government has already done a fair bit of work to improve the situation around access to Multi-Dwelling Units (MDU). One example of this was the Telecommunications Infrastructure (Leasehold Property) Act 2021 (TILPA), which tackled situations where so-called “rogue landlords” failed to respond (here and here) and tenants had demanded faster connections.

The TILPA changes tackled this by introducing a significantly cheaper and faster route for dispute resolution via a new court process. But this only applies after a landlord has repeatedly failed to respond to requests for access (i.e. when seeking a legal wayleave agreement) and still leaves plenty of other barriers to entry.

For example, Openreach have complained about restrictions on their ability to upgrade existing infrastructure inside large residential buildings (MDUs), which exist because the owners of such buildings must still give their express permission for any upgrades to take place (even when the operator has existing lines in the building). “Some 990,000 tenants are missing out on our Full Fibre [FTTP] network thanks to this red tape,” said the CEO of Openreach, Clive Selley, last month (here). But it’s unclear how many of that 990k may already have gigabit access via a rival network.

The issue of automatic upgrade rights in MDUs sounds like a fair argument (i.e. extending Openreach’s existing maintenance/repair agreements to include full fibre upgrades). But rival operators have previously warned that granting special access to Openreach – without also affording opponents a fair level of comparable accessibility – risks handing the incumbent an unfair competitive advantage (here).

However, the new government, which has pledged to make a “renewed push to fulfil the ambition of full gigabit and national 5G coverage by 2030,” currently appears to be quite receptive to the idea of tackling such problems. For example, they’ve already set out their desire for reform of the planning system under their Planning and Infrastructure Bill (here and here), which might also make it easier to deploy digital infrastructure.

What’s new today

According to the FT (paywall), the government’s Building Digital UK (BDUK) agency has now engaged their Barrier Busting Task Force (BBTF) to informally contact broadband operators and seek feedback on the main challenges being faced in securing agreements for private and social housing MDUs, as well as the average costs and resources used in doing so.

In a letter seen by the newspaper, the BBTF states that they’re looking to understand where the barriers to deployment are “most pronounced and where they can be mitigated or removed“, before adding how they “know there are varied views on this subject and are keen to fully understand different perspectives and experiences“.

The government correspondence, which has been expressed as an “information gathering exercise” that is “not intended as a formal call for evidence or consultation“, is seeking responses to be returned by 9th September 2024.

A spokesperson for the Government (DSIT) said:

“No decision has been reached following an informal gathering exercise. [DSIT] is committed to fair competition, and as set out in our manifesto, our priority is closing the digital divide and ensuring everyone has access to fast and reliable connection, no matter where they live or work.”

However, property owners and tenants also have concerns that have to be balanced in all this (i.e. insurance, damage to property, security, safety [e.g. fire, asbestos] and other liabilities etc.), which is because upgrading copper to fibre lines in MDUs can sometimes be a bit more involved than it may seem (not minor work) and not everybody wants that (especially if the building already has such a network or networks present).

The previous government never quite managed to find a complete solution for all this and the new government will inevitably face the same issues. Suffice to say, network operators and the government will be walking a bit of a tightrope in terms of the rights of freeholders and leaseholders etc.

Broadband ISP Ogi, which is building a multi-gigabit speed Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network across parts of South Wales (UK), has today announced that they’ve secured a new £45m financing package from Cardiff Capital Region (CCR), alongside ongoing equity investment from its principal shareholder, Infracapital, to support their future growth.

The network operator has so far covered a total of 100,000 premises RFS (4th Jan 2024) with their full fibre network – most of them residential – in Wales up to the end of 2023. In addition, they’re home to over 20,000 customers (13th May 2024), which is up from 10,000 on 4th Jan 2024. However, we haven’t seen as much build activity from them in 2024 as we did in previous years, but that may now be about to change.

According to today’s announcement, the new finance package will enable Ogi to extend its reach in the ten local authority areas that make up CCR (Blaenau Gwent, Bridgend, Caerphilly, Cardiff, Merthyr Tydfil, Monmouthshire, Newport, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Torfaen and the Vale of Glamorgan), where it already has an established presence.

The CCR is also home to Ogi’s multimillion-pound and 70km long diverse “high-capacity digital” network (here), which spans the South Wales trunk road into England. This separately stemmed from a 25-year concession agreement with the Welsh Government that is seeing Ogi bring new Dark Fibre and Microduct Access products into the South East region of Wales, while also improving their own network capacity and resilience.

Ogi’s CEO, Ben Allwright, said:

“Right from the start, our ambition has been to become a leading Welsh telecoms company, and the last few years have certainly laid strong foundations for that goal.

With key strategic sites like Aberthaw to the south and the heads of the valleys to the north, there’s massive potential across the capital region – and partnering with CCR at such an exciting time in their own development is the next logical step for Ogi’s growth in southeast Wales.

Together with further investment from our principal shareholder, Infracapital, this is yet another endorsement of our mission to make sure no Welsh community gets left behind.

I’m immensely proud of the work the team at Ogi are doing across Wales, and this news – another leap forward in Ogi’s development – is testament to their commitment to making sure Wales keeps up to speed with the rest of the UK, and the world.”

Councillor Mary Ann Brocklesby, Chair of CCR, said:

“Ogi has taken regeneration to a new level with its initial investment – connecting communities to new possibilities right across the Cardiff Capital Region and beyond. Our investment into Ogi recognises that ongoing commitment to boosting the region, and the work already being done to bring vital connectivity to some of Wales’s biggest towns and villages.”

The announcement doesn’t clarify precisely how many premises (homes and businesses) will benefit from the next phase of their expansion, but it will no doubt be in some service of helping them to reach their first goal of 150,000 premises passed.

Otherwise, Ogi was advised on the transaction by Deloitte and CMS Law acted as legal counsel for Ogi and Infracapital. The new Debt facilities (September 2024 onwards) are provided by the CCR through the South East Wales Corporate Join Committee.

Previously announced build programmes in communities outside of the 10 local authority areas that make up the Cardiff Capital Region – including Pembrokeshire – will continue as planned.

Ogi’s Existing Rollout Locations

Bridgend: Caerau, Cwmfelin, Garth, Llangynwyd, Maesteg^, Nantyffyllon, Pencoed^, Porthcawl^
Caerphilly: Blackwood^, Cefn Fforest, Cefn Hengoed, Fleur-de-lis, Hengoed^, Pengam, Ystrad Mynach, Maesycymmer, Pontllanfraith, Tir-y-Berth, Woodfieldside.
Cardiff^
Monmouthshire: Abergavenny^, Caerwent, Caldicot^, Chepstow, Crick, Monmouth^, Portskewett, Rogiet, Sudbrook, Undy.
Newport: Langstone, Llanvaches^, Underwood^.
Pembrokeshire: Haverfordwest^, Johnston, Milford Haven^, Neyland^, Pembroke^, Pembroke Dock^. Tenby^.
Rhondda Cynon Taf: Cymmer, Dinas, Llwyncelyn, Mount Pleasant, Porth^, Tonyrefail^*, Tonypandy^*, Trebanog, Trehafod, Ynyshir.
Torfaen: Griffithstown, New Inn, Pontymoile, Penygarn, Pontypool^, Sebastopol, Trosnant,
Vale of Glamorgan: Dinas Powys^, Llantwit Major^, Rhoose^, St Athan.

^Local Network Exchange

Broadband, TV and mobile provider VMO2 (Virgin Media and O2) is reportedly seeking outside investors to raise a further £1bn in order to help fund the company’s plan (here) for opening up their existing fixed line network to wholesale via a new business (NetCo), which is expected to be introduced during the first half of 2025.

Just to recap. Virgin Media’s existing gigabit-capable broadband network covers a shade over 16 million UK premises via a mix of different fixed line technologies – primarily Hybrid Fibre Coax (HFC) and some Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) lines (using both Radio Frequency over Glass (RFoG) and XGS-PON). The operator is also working to upgrade their entire HFC network (c.14.3m premises) to FTTP (XGS-PON) by 2028.

As a complement to that, some of VMO2’s parents – Telefónica and Liberty Global (inc. support from InfraVia Capital Partners) – also setup a £4.5bn joint venture called nexfibre in 2022 (here), which aims to deploy an open access full fibre (FTTP) network to reach “up to” 7 million UK homes (starting with 5m by 2026) in areas NOT served by Virgin Media’s own network of 16m+ premises; Virgin Media is currently the only ISP on this network (here). Nexfibre has so far covered 1,277,800 premises (here) and is well on their way to hitting 2m before this time next year.

However, according to a slightly confusing report on Bloomberg from last Friday (via Thinkbroadband), VMO2 is currently seeking to raise “at least” £1bn from “outside investors to help fund its £5 billion newly created network company to challenge incumbent BT Group Plc.” This would, it’s claimed, be done via the sale of a minority stake in the new company.

The confusion in all this stems from the fact that Bloomberg’s language could be taken as referencing either their NetCo or nexfibre, but we’re confident they mean the former. VMO2 is already known to be working on the financials for their NetCo (here) and the idea, as suggested by Bloomberg, of a minority stake (20-40%) in that NetCo business being sold to raise investment to support its development would be in keeping with their plan.

The big challenge will be whether the new NetCo can attract any significant ISP support, at least beyond those already owned by the likes of Liberty Global or Telefónica (i.e. O2, Virgin Media, Giffgaff). Potential ISP partners will be looking to be treated fairly (wholesale agreements), which is always a tricky thing to balance vs the desire by some for exclusivity agreements. The NetCo must at the same time be competitive with the dedicated wholesale platforms from larger providers like CityFibre and the regulated Openreach, while also making what they build as easy to harness as possible.

The opportunities to be had in this space are still potentially very significant, but there’s no escaping the fact that today’s infrastructure market is also fairly diverse and competitive. The NetCo may initially also suffer a bit due to Virgin Media still being in the early phase of their HFC to XGS-PON upgrade, which hasn’t even gone live yet (they’ve only put XGS-PON live via nexfibre, not Virgin’s own network).