News 

The platform will allow customers to “hit the cloud running”, says BT 

Photo Credit: BT

BT has announced it has switched on its new Global Fabric platform, a network-as-a-service (NaaS) solution designed to help businesses take up the growing demands of AI and multi-cloud environments.  

The platform, called Global Fabric, is currently undergoing live testing and is set to launch in early 2025. 

BT has already installed Global Fabric’s core network hardware (i.e., points of presence [PoPs]_ in over 45 carrier neutral cloud data centres across the world, with this expected to rise to 140 by 2025. These PoPs act as gateways for businesses to connect to their partners, their apps, and their workloads hosted in across multiple clouds around the world. 

According to BT, this will allow companies to scale quickly and securely, which will be especially useful given unpredictable AI-driven data spikes. Unlike legacy networks, which take weeks to set up or modify, Global Fabric will also enable real-time adjustments, boosting efficiency. 

“BT’s Global Fabric will help customers hit the cloud running,” said Colin Bannon, Chief Technology Officer of BT Business in a press release. “It will give them a choice of the world’s best cloud locations to interconnect with their customers, partners and suppliers, making them easier to do business with not just today but tomorrow too. With the achievement of our latest Global Fabric delivery milestones, we take another step closer to a new age of AI-ready, digital interconnectivity.” 

Ahead of the launch, BT will release a demo of Global Fabric’s management portal by November, allowing customers to test network configurations and explore API integrations.  

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

Also in the news:
Meta resumes use of UK user posts to train its AI models
Verizon’s 4,800 job cuts will cost over $1.9 billion
CMA questions Vodafone–Three merger after second probe

UK ISP Sky Broadband today claims to have become “the UK’s only major provider” to launch a “dedicated 24/7 switching support service” for consumers moving to their service, which they say means “customers can get through to a real person with any questions about switching their broadband, day or night.”

The move comes shortly after the market regulator, Ofcom, announced that its new and much delayed One Touch Switching (OTS) system had finally been introduced, which aims to make it easier for consumers to change broadband provider.

However, the process for OTS is being introduced through the industry-led One Touch Switching Company (TOTSCo), which is likely to be a bit of a bumpy ride until at least 24th October 2024, due to ongoing issues with the new process (here). This might help to explain why Sky feels it needs a dedicated switching support service.

On the other hand, the “dedicated” team for this will be handling exactly the same sort of issues as a general 24/7 support channel, so we wouldn’t necessarily describe this as being all that different from what a number of other ISPs already offer. But it’s still good to see Sky proactively recognising the need for extra support in this area, even if this is something that other providers will already be doing behind the scenes.

Sky Statement

As the UK’s least complained about major provider according to Ofcom’s quarterly complaints report, Sky Broadband has launched the 24/7 switching support service to continue to put customers first. When switching to Sky Broadband we’ll support customers with:

The Digital Hub: After switching to Sky Broadband customers will get access to the digital hub packed with everything they need to know when switching their broadband, from set up to billing. If customers can’t get the answers they need there, the 24/7 switching support service means they’ll always be able to get through to a real person.  
24/7 Service: Customers can speak to an agent via phone between 8am and 8pm, or use the online chat function from 8pm to 8am for round the clock support.  
Expert Engineers: Sky Broadband also has expert engineers on hand if needed to help customers switch and stay connected. 

For even more reasons to switch to Sky Broadband, its Full Fibre 300 package is now at its lowest ever price, just £29pm (with a 24 month contract – prices may change during contract), until the 23rd October, with savings of £11pm and average download speeds of 300Mb/s.

Amber Pine, MD of Connectivity at Sky Broadband, said: “We know switching broadband providers is a big decision for our customers, so we’re making it easier than ever. As the UK’s only major provider with a 24/7 broadband switching support service, we can help with round the clock questions about your Sky Broadband or even change your Full Fibre installation date in the early hours of the morning!”

News 

The deal will support the extraction and recycling of copper cable from BT’s network until 2028 

BT has secured £105 million from the sale of its surplus copper cables, according to a Guardian article published today. 

The deal with global recycler EMR (European Metal Recycling) involves selling copper granules from the 3,300 tonnes of copper cables that BT has already removed in its journey to upgrade the nation’s infrastructure to full fibre. 

BT’s ongoing fibre rollout aims to reach 25 million homes by 2026, with potential to recover up to 200,000 tonnes of copper over the next decade. 

According to the Guardian article, it is currently too early to estimate the full financial value of BT’s copper, although it is considered a significant revenue stream for BT. Back in May, Openreach explained to Bloomberg that “recovering the copper cables generates a net income, even after the costs of extracting the cables and processing them.” 

“As we look to recover and reuse scarce resources like copper in line with our commitment to sustainability, we estimate that as we replace old copper networks with fibre, we’ll be able to recover up to 200,000 tonnes of copper through the 2030s – in line with customer migrations,” said Openreach. 

Earlier this year, a report from engineering firm TXO said that telecoms companies around the world could expect to recover up to 800,000 tons of copper by 2035, worth up to $7 billion at today’s prices. Post-pandemic, the price of copper has risen by nearly 50%, and this is set to grow even more by 2040. While becoming obsolete in the telecoms industry, the metal is widely used in other industries, such as electric vehicles and renewable energy. 

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

Also in the news:
Vodafone and Three defend merger amid CMA warnings
Verizon offloads mobile towers to Vertical Bridge for $3.3bn
Korea Telecom and Microsoft sign multibillion-dollar AI partnership

Interview

As homes and businesses become increasingly connected, with more devices and higher requirements, quality of experience is becoming a key selling point for broadband service providers.

At Connected Britain 2024 we caught up with Dan Bloch, Senior Vice President – Global Solutions at Calix, to discuss the company’s 25-year journey from hardware to software and what the future holds for connected homes and businesses

Check out our full interview below!

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

Also in the news:
Meta resumes use of UK user posts to train its AI models
Verizon’s 4,800 job cuts will cost over $1.9 billion
CMA questions Vodafone–Three merger after second probe

Simon Dodsworth Joins Linxa as CEO to Lead Next Phase of Growth

Telecom industry veteran, Simon Dodsworth, takes the helm at Linxa, aiming to strengthen the company’s position as the premier partner for voice and messaging operators and carriers worldwide.

London, October 1, 2024 – Linxa, a global leader in telecom software solutions, proudly announces the appointment of Simon Dodsworth as its new Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. Simon transitions to Linxa from Arelion, where he played a pivotal role in transforming global voice and messaging services, positioning the company as a top-tier provider of telecom solutions. With his expertise in scaling businesses, operational efficiency, and fostering global partnerships, Simon is uniquely positioned to lead Linxa into its next chapter.

Having been a long-time customer of Linxa, Simon was deeply impressed by the unparalleled quality and innovation of its products. His decision to step into the CEO role is driven by a passion for the company’s excellence and a belief in its potential to shape the future of telecom operations on a global scale. “Throughout my engagement with Linxa as a customer, it was always clear that this was a different breed of vendor, in both thought and deed. Taking the opportunity to steer the company on its future journey was one of the easiest decisions of my career.” said Dodsworth.

In his new role, Simon is committed to building on Linxa’s strong foundation and driving forward with a vision to strengthen Linxa’s position as the partner of choice for voice and messaging operators and carriers worldwide. “Our goal is to be recognized as the industry leader, providing our customers with the tools and insights they need to thrive in an increasingly complex and competitive market. My focus will be driving innovation, and ensuring we deliver unmatched value to our clients.”

Simon’s extensive experience in managing global voice operations and his strategic vision are set to propel Linxa to new heights. His leadership will be instrumental in navigating the evolving challenges of the telecom industry, while reinforcing Linxa’s reputation for excellence and customer-centric solutions.

“Simon’s passion for Linxa, combined with his proven track record, makes him the perfect fit to lead our company into its next chapter,” said Ali Gazioğlu, co-Founder, Linxa. “We are excited about the future under his leadership and are confident that Simon’s vision will help us achieve our goal of helping our customers to take their business to the next level.”

About Linxa

Linxa delivers telecom software platforms designed to make it simpler and faster to grow profitability and capture new revenue in the complex telecom market. Along with high performance switching and network products, we offer tools and support to efficiently manage rating, pricing, routing, monitoring / reporting and invoicing with high levels of automation. This enables telecom providers to focus on their core business, reduce fraud and disputes, while optimizing routing and making real-time decisions based on price and quality. Linxa has offices in the UK and Turkey with local presence in USA, Sweden, Netherlands, Germany, Tunisia, South Africa and Australia.

www.linxa.com

Linxa

Press Relations

Tel: +44 203 865 5555

Email: info@linxa.com

LONDON (1st October 2024) – Cavell, a leading research and consulting firm, has today announced the launch of its AI-powered platform, Channel Insights, to help IT and telecoms companies better identify and nurture channel partnerships.

The new platform utilises AI for comprehensive data gathering and insights, surpassing legacy methods that historically rely on outdated manually sourced information. It will support vendors and service providers with the most up-to-date information on the channel landscape, along with competitor benchmarking to ensure these companies can access a holistic view of the channel in key regions.

Channel Insights offers targeted analysis into potential channel partners using data from various sources, including partner websites, LinkedIn, vendor databases and other public sources. Subscribers simply log in, filter searches through options such as IT services offered, vendors in portfolio, company size and locations to find new partners. The process is completely automated, whilst leveraging AI to drive greater insights into the data – but also done in tandem with human quality checks to ensure the most up-to-date, error-free data for better business decisions.

To give an example of the database, it tracks over 35,000 companies across English-speaking markets. Of these, the data shows 51% of these are currently Microsoft partners, and out of those 17,850 partners, 76% currently sell UCaaS services. Further filters can be applied to either add or remove those providers who offer other vendors or services. This enables IT and telecoms companies to create saveable lists to either track a specific segment of the market to conduct competitive or wider market analysis or use for targeted marketing campaigns.

The creation of private lists also allows for companies to give their channel sales teams a dashboard where they upload their partners in and have an up-to-date view of any news, announcements or changes that may impact their relationship with their partners and can proactively act upon. This can also be done for target accounts who may not be already working with you.

Dom Black, Growth Director, Cavell, commented: “With most IT services being sold through channel partners, the amount of data available on this vital area has historically been shocking and required extensive manual processes. Many companies have resorted to manual reviews of their current channels for projects and customers for years or buying out of date lists from external vendors. With the advent of better data management, scraping and analysis tools, it was the time to automate that process. Now Cavell is delighted to be able to offer this new service to our customers and help them finally shed some light on the complexity of their channel.”

For too long companies have struggled to find the right channel partners that align with their goals and market needs, and there is also often a lack of visibility of existing partners in terms of what they are offering and promoting. With Channel Insights these challenges are eliminated, enabling sales teams to focus on building relationships and ultimately closing new contracts.

-ENDS-

About Cavell

Cavell is a leading research and consulting firm specialising in the telecommunications industry with a particular focus on business communications technologies including UCaaS, collaboration, contact centre and customer engagement software, business messaging, and Microsoft Teams.

Cavell provides insights, analysis, and advisory services to help their clients navigate and succeed in these rapidly evolving sectors.

Cavell’s team combines years of accumulated telecoms industry experience with enterprise and SMB surveys and proven market intelligence to provide a suite of services including market research, commercial and technical due diligence, strategy advisory services and leading industry events.

https://www.cavell.com

Witbe’s Cutting-Edge Technology Enables a Superior Quality of Experience for Video Services on Set-Top Boxes, Smart TVs, and Streaming Media Devices

PARIS — Sept. 26, 2024 — Witbe (Euronext Growth – FR0013143872 – ALWIT), a global leader in test automation and monitoring technology for video service providers, today announced that French operator Bouygues Telecom is strengthening its long-running partnership with the company by upgrading its QA testing equipment to the latest powerful models of the Witbox+. Bouygues Telecom is utilizing Witbe’s new technology to deliver video services more efficiently, with a superior quality of experience (QoE) for viewers.

“Witbe’s technology allows us to detect issues in the lab before they appear in production, optimizing our time to market and ensuring the best possible quality of experience is delivered to our customers,” said Loubna Hamdoun, head of product and service integration and validation for fixed services at Bouygues Telecom.

Bouygues Telecom has been using Witbe’s technology since 2018 and is now supplied with the latest cutting-edge version of the Witbox+ hardware and Witbe Software Suite technology. Integrating the Witbox+’s automated testing technology significantly increases Bouygues Telecom’s quality assurance capabilities for video app performance on set-top boxes (STBs), smart TVs, and HDMI-connected streaming media devices.

The Witbox+ boosts Bouygues Telecom’s testing and monitoring capabilities by allowing team members to easily script new test scenarios, automate complex performance testing, reduce test scenario maintenance with the help of AI algorithms, quickly test 4K assets, and analyze all test results through streamlined reports on Witbe’s Smartgate observability platform. The Witbox+ can power through automated tests that are impossible to perform manually, such as changing a channel thousands of times, continually restarting STBs, or identifying video errors after hours of nonstop viewing.

“We are very happy to continue our partnership with Bouygues Telecom and help contribute to their tremendous success by providing them with cutting-edge video testing and monitoring technology,” said Marie-Véronique Lacaze, president and co-founder of Witbe. “This deployment underscores our mission to ensure that operators like Bouygues Telecom have reliable and innovative tools to deliver exceptional experiences to their users.”

Additional information about the Witbox+ and Witbe’s technology is available at www.witbe.net.

###

About Witbe (www.witbe.net)
Witbe (Euronext Growth – FR0013143872 – ALWIT) makes automated testing and proactive monitoring technology for global video service providers. The company’s award-winning technology accurately measures the quality of experience that viewers receive. Witbe’s nonintrusive, plug-and-play technology replicates user behavior to automatically test and monitor video services from anywhere in the world. The Witbe Software Suite allows teams to remotely access their Witbox robot, which can control, test, and monitor any video app running on a real device. The essential data collected by the Witbox can then be analyzed and shared in Witbe’s observability platform.

Witbe’s recent innovations include its streamlined Automated Testing Set, deploying automation and providing QA results faster than ever before; its popular Ad Monitoring and Matching technology to resolve dynamic ad insertion errors; its acclaimed Smart Navigate AI algorithm; and its new Mobile Quality of Experience and Video Traffic Optimization technology. Witbe has a dozen offices around the world and is proud to have customers — including Comcast, Cox, Verizon, Peacock, and Orange— in more than 50 countries. More information and further updates are available at www.witbe.net.

About Bouygues Telecom (www.bouyguestelecom.fr)
A subsidiary of the Bouygues Group, Bouygues Telecom is a global French operator of communications and digital services, generating an annual revenue of €7.7 billion with 10,500 employees and 519 stores across France. Founded in 1994, Bouygues Telecom is committed to providing individuals, businesses, and public administrations with fixed and mobile communication services, as well as high-speed, secure, innovative, and quality internet services by constantly developing its network and user experience.

Bouygues Telecom serves 23.9 million mobile customers and 5 million fixed customers, making it the leading provider of Wi-Fi and fixed internet connections in 2023, according to Nperf, and the second largest mobile operator, according to ARCEP. Its 4G network covers 99% of the French population, while its 5G network covers nearly 17,000 municipalities and more than 81% of the population. Bouygues Telecom Enterprises supports nearly 100,000 clients, including 70% of the CAC 40, in adopting new collaborative tools, migrating to the cloud, and transforming their digital infrastructures. Committed to reducing its carbon emissions, Bouygues Telecom aims to achieve -29.4% for scopes 1 and 2 and -17.5% for scope 3 by 2027, with goals approved by the Science Based Targets initiative. Follow Bouygues Telecom news at www.corporate.bouyguestelecom.fr or @ByTel_Corporate on X.

Link to Word Doc: www.202commsc.om/Witbe/240926-Witbe-Bouygues_Telecom.docx

Wireless infrastructure provider Freshwave has revealed that EE UK have begun to expand their original trial deployment of a new small cell based outdoor 4G and 5G mobile (mobile broadband) network in the central City of London area, which has since added 25 new sites to its coverage.

Small cells are akin to mini shoebox sized mobile base stations, which have been designed to deliver limited coverage (usually up to around 80-120 metres) and thus tend to be more focused on busy urban areas and specific sites. As a result, it’s not uncommon to find these sitting on top of lampposts, CCTV poles or old payphone boxes etc. The same sort of approach can also be adapted to help with indoor mobile coverage too.

EE began trialling Freshwave’s new outdoor small cell mobile network in the central ‘Square Mile’ area of London during 2022 (here). But this appears to have gone well, which has resulted in EE moving beyond the trial phase. The mobile operator has since put 25 new sites live in the central area to boost their network capacity and performance, with more set to follow.

Dozens of additional small cell sites for EE are currently being built and will enhance mobile connectivity in even more of the Square Mile when they are brought live in the future. The network being used here can also be harnessed by other operators, as Freshwave’s bespoke neutral host solution enables the network to accommodate all four MNOs on 4G and 5G from day one with no adjustments needed to the infrastructure.

Simon Frumkin, Freshwave’s CEO, said:

“We believe that multi-operator, shareable digital infrastructure is the future of mobile connectivity. Our unique approach allows the mobile network operators to enhance their networks where they need it most with minimal disruption for the surrounding communities and we’re looking forward to continuing to expand the network.”

James Hope, EE’s Director of Mobile Radio Access Networks, said:

“With our customers using more data than ever we’re committed to ensuring they enjoy the same great experience with EE in more places. Outdoor small cells are an important part of our mobile network and we’re happy to be extending our work with Freshwave using their cutting-edge approach.”

Across all of the sites involved in the initial pilot, EE is seeing up to 7.5TB (TeraBytes) of data downloaded per week.

City-focused UK broadband ISP Hyperoptic, which has deployed a full fibre (FTTP/B) network to reach “more than” 1.73 million homes in parts of 64 towns and cities, have recently published their annual accounts and revealed a surge in losses to £142m on the back of high interest rates. But revenues, coverage and their customer base also saw growth.

The operator, which is now home to a customer base of 340,000 and is targeting 500,000 for the future, was previously known to be aiming to cover 2 million premises with their gigabit broadband network by the end of 2024. But Hyperoptic’s latest results reflect the period to the end of 2023, which means that its figures are a bit behind some of those more recent ones mentioned above.

Overall, it’s been a bit of a mixed year for Hyperoptic, which like many established networks is seeing the impact from high interest rates helping to fuel a total loss for the year of £142m (e.g. the interest due on their loans reached £66.85m, up from £27.66m in 2022). The operator has also continued to expand their network, which is very capital intensive.

On the other hand, revenues grew by 19%, their customer base jumped 17%, while network coverage jumped from 1.08m to 1.51m total homes passed and their total employee count increased from 1,865 to 1,943. But we have seen a few smaller redundancies during 2024 (mostly ‘business as usual’ style movements, with hires in other areas), so this may not change much in 2024.

As Hyperoptic gets closer to hitting their 2 million premises target then, without a big surge of new investment, we’d expect their focus to increasingly switch away from build and more toward growing their customer base.

Summary of Key Hyperoptic Figures for 2023

Revenues grew 19% to £93.4m (2022: 21% growth to £78.7m)

Gross profit grew to £73m (2022: £62.3m), but their profit margin shrank a bit to 78.1% (2022: 79.2%) due to a rise in network operating costs (EAD rentals, PIA etc.)

Capital investment reached £209.5m (2022: £186m), due mainly to network expansion

Subscribers grew by 17% to total 311,999 (2022: 266,856)

Average revenue per user (ARPU) increased to £26.9 (2022: £26.7)

Total homes passed (network coverage) grew to 1,514,162 (2022: 1,085,763) – including 200,000 from new build homes

Administration costs increased to £128.4m (2022: £105.1m), mainly due to a rise in depreciation related to increased fibre network investment.

Operating loss increased by £14m to total £63.1m (2022: £49.1m), but total loss for the year hit £142m (2022: £76m) – due largely to high interest rates increasing borrowing costs.

Interest due on loans reached £66.85m (2022: £27.66m)

Borrowing grew sharply to total £916.2m (2022: £624m). The provider had total loan and debt facilities of £996.5m at the end of 2023, which has since grown and is now around £1.3bn (here).

Employees totalled 1,943 (2022: 1,865)

Network access provider Openreach (BT) has today revealed the top locations for coverage of their Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network in Oxfordshire (England), which sees the historic market town of Witney top the table with “nearly” 70% of all premises able to upgrade.

The operator claims to have so far invested more than £26 million to deploy their new network across Oxfordshire, which has already reached around 88,000 homes and businesses across the county. This works out at a per premises cost of roughly £295 and that’s in keeping with their current expectations. Build in the Oxford exchange area will start later this year.

Interestingly, Openreach also states that around 50% of all homes and businesses which have access to the new network in Oxfordshire have taken a service from a supporting ISP (e.g. BT, EE, Sky Broadband, TalkTalk, Vodafone, Zen Internet, iDNET, AAISP, Freeola and many.. more), which is well above their average UK FTTP take-up figure of c.34%.

Openreach’s partnership director for the South East, Kasam Hussain, said: “Our amazing engineers and build partners have done a wonderful job to help us reach this significant milestone. This Full Fibre upgrade is a huge boost for the county and the wider region. We’re adopting a balanced build, bringing ultrafast speeds to the region’s biggest cities and towns as well as the most rural communities.”

The catch with Openreach’s top ten list below is that the operator hasn’t included any other coverage figures for each location, which is relevant because some places – like Longworth – may be in the top list, but they actually only have around 20% coverage. Suffice to say, there’s still a lot of build left to do and this doesn’t factor in the efforts of their many rival networks.

Top 10 Locations for Openreach FTTP in Oxfordshire (Exchange area):

Witney

Bicester

Banbury

Thame

Wantage

Blewbury

Childrey

Stratton Audley

Abingdon

Longworth