The new Labour-led Government (DSIT) has this afternoon announced that they’ve appointed Hazel Hobbs to act as the “interim” chair of their broadband and mobile centric Building Digital UK (BDUK) agency, starting on 1st September 2024. She replaces Simon Blagden, who resigned “with immediate effect“ a month ago (here).

Hazel has also been reappointed as a non-executive director of BDUK, having been a member of the Board since the organisation became an executive agency in March 2022. She will serve as interim Chair whilst an exercise is launched to recruit a permanent Chair.

Hazel previously chaired BDUK’s Audit and Risk Committee. Her wider experience includes being former job-share Director at the Government Digital Service where she led on implementing the transformation strategy for digital government and championed innovation to bring modern, digital services to every community in the UK. Hazel is also an Associate at the Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) and leads assurance reviews of the highest profile major projects in government.

Hazel Hobbs said:

“I’m delighted to have been appointed as BDUK’s interim Chair and will continue working with DSIT, the Board and Chief Executive to drive forward the Government’s commitment to achieve full gigabit coverage by 2030.

As a citizen, independent business director and parent, I know how critical our work is to power economic growth and ensure nowhere is left behind. My priority will be to build on the hard work and brilliant foundations established by BDUK staff and prepare for the forthcoming Spending Review.

We remain focused on collaborative working with the telecommunications industry and devolved governments to secure fast, effective and good value digital infrastructure for the taxpayer.”

The Labour Party’s recent 2024 General Election Manifesto (here) made clear that they would be making a “renewed push to fulfil the ambition of full gigabit and national 5G coverage by 2030,” which is partly being supported by reform of the existing planning framework. But other than that they’ve mostly been keeping continuity with the previous government’s programmes and targets (Project Gigabit, SRN etc.).

The Scottish Government (SG) has revealed that their £28.75m 4G Infill Programme (S4GI), which completed earlier this year (here) after spending several years improving mobile voice and data (broadband) coverage by building 55 new masts in remote rural areas, has benefitted 2,211 homes and businesses.

The initiative, which was part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and delivered in partnership with WHP Telecoms (the main infrastructure provider), Cellnex UK and the Scottish Futures Trust, might not sound like particularly good value for money when you just look at the premises passed figure.

However, it’s important to remember that mobile network coverage also exists to serve people moving around outside of homes and offices, such as visitors to tourist destinations, commuters and the emergency services etc. Residents and business owners have similarly highlighted a range of benefits since the programme’s completion, including wider online customer bases and better connectivity for communities during fixed broadband outages.

Surveys and focus groups also flagged flexible working patterns, improved employee productivity and easier access to online learning materials and jobs. In addition, access to a 4G connection was given as a factor for people remaining in or moving to the areas.

Tom Arthur, SG Employment and Investment Minister, said:

“Although Telecoms responsibility is reserved to the UK Government, the Scottish Government has long recognised the vital importance of good digital connectivity – both for work, for business and for day-to-day life.

S4GI is an excellent example of strategic investment delivering multiple benefits. This is about creating opportunities for businesses, improving daily life and ensuring no one – even the hardest to reach – is left behind in the digital era.

The availability of 4G services has proven to be transformational for residents and businesses in these 55 areas included as part of the programme, and we are sharing the lessons learned through months of complex build and collaboration with the UK Government so that they may benefit the ongoing rollout of the Shared Rural Network programme.”

According to the SG, all of the new mast sites are in rural locations with 67% in ‘very remote rural areas’, 18% in ‘remote rural areas’, and 15% in ‘accessible rural areas’. In terms of deprivation, while there are no mast sites in the 20% most deprived data zones in Scotland (as defined by SIMD), all of the mast sites fall into the most deprived 10% when only the SIMD access domain is considered.

In total, at this point, EE is providing services on 51 out of the 55 masts in the programme and was sadly the only operator on 35 out of the 55 mast sites. As for the other operators, Three UK is currently present on just a single mast site, while O2 and Vodafone are present on 3 sites and all of O2, Vodafone and EE combined can be found at 16 sites.

Suffice to say, there’s room for improvement, although coverage does vary between operators and some may see no tangible benefit to deploying at certain sites (i.e. the risk of duplicating pre-existing coverage or too few potential customers).

However, it’s worth noting that the expansion of 4G and 5G mobile coverage in Scotland will not stop. The UK government’s wider and industry-led £1bn Shared Rural Network (SRN) project is separately working to extend geographic 4G mobile coverage to 95% of the UK by the end of 2025 (91% in Scotland) via a mix of mast sharing and new mast builds.

Scottish 4G Infill Programme Evaluation
https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-4g-infill-programme-evaluation/

Woking, 20th August 2024 – Strategic Imperatives, the UK’s leading provider of SaaS provisioning, connectivity, and monetisation solutions for the telecom industry, announced today that Netomnia, following its recent merger with Brsk and now the UK’s fourth-largest full-fibre network, has joined The Fibre Café platform. Powered by Strategic Imperatives, The Fibre Café is the UK’s principal integration platform, transforming access to the UK wholesale fibre market and accelerating the growth potential of AltNets and ISPs.

This strategic partnership allows Netomnia to leverage The Fibre Café to rapidly onboard a wider range of ISPs as its network expands. Together with Brsk, Netomnia brings an additional 1.6 million premises to the platform, enhancing its position as the only scaled, capital-efficient wholesale and consolidation platform in the market.

The announcement of Netomnia follows a host of other AltNet and ISP partnerships and new customer wins for Strategic Imperatives, as the organisation continues to demonstrate strong momentum throughout 2024.

“We are delighted to welcome Netomnia to The Fibre Café,” said Wail Sabbagh, MD of Strategic Imperatives. “Their robust network and commitment to delivering ultrafast full-fibre broadband aligns with our mission to simplify and accelerate access  to wholesale connectivity across the UK. By adding Netomnia’s extensive network to our platform, we take significant strides towards meeting our objective to provide seamless and cost-effective access to the services of wholesale providers, AltNets, and ISPs. We are excited to work with Netomnia and furthering our shared mission of transforming the UK connectivity landscape.”

By connecting wholesale providers like Netomnia with ISPs through its unified gateway, API and order journey, The Fibre Café empowers network owners to reach a broader customer base and enables ISPs to access a diverse range of network owners and connectivity providers. Seamless integration is built into the core of The Fibre Café platform, designed to facilitate scaled growth for customers as efficiently and cost effectively as possible.

“The Fibre Café’s proven track record in the wholesale market made this partnership an obvious choice for Netomnia,” said Jeremy Chelot, CEO of Netomnia and Brsk. “Joining The Fibre Café opens up new avenues for collaboration with more ISPs and service providers. Leveraging Strategic Imperatives’ platform allows us to accelerate onboarding and connect more homes to our full-fibre network. With a goal to serve 1 million customers by 2028 and 162,000 already on the platform, we’re eager to work closely with Strategic Imperatives to deliver an unparalleled internet experience, while driving innovation and fostering further consolidation among Altnets.”

Join Strategic Imperatives at Stand 133 at Connected Britain 2024, running 11th – 12th September at ExCeL London. Additionally, join senior executives from both Strategic Imperatives and Netomnia for their Gold Sponsor presentation slot on day one of the Conference at the Enterprise Track from 11:40 – 12:00, which will explore the topic of wholesale enablement in the UK market.

-ends-

 Athens, 21st August 2024: Grid Telecom, a wholly owned subsidiary and the telecommunications vehicle of the Independent Power Transmission Operator (IPTO) of Greece, and Tamares Telecom, a leading fiber-based international communications and data service provider and network operator, a subsidiary of Aluma Infrastructure Fund, announced today the signing of a Heads of Agreement regarding their joint participation in Tamares Telecom Cyprus, a fully licensed operator in Cyprus and owner of a Cable Landing Station and landing infrastructure on the western coast of Cyprus. This strategic alliance marks a significant milestone in advancing the regional digital infrastructure and fostering sustainable growth in the data-driven economy.  The Cable Landing Station will act as an interconnectivity node providing carrier and hosting facilities to anchor international subsea optical fiber cable systems from Europe and the Middle East crossing the Eastern Mediterranean, connecting Cyprus with Greece, Israel, Egypt and other East and West destinations. Grid Telecom and Tamares Telecom will offer, through their subsidiary Tamares Telecon Cyprus, state-of-the-art infrastructure for the secure landing and operation of subsea cable systems in Cyprus, including services for housing the power feeding and subsea line terminating equipment, as well as other mission-critical equipment for interconnection and peering of optical, Ethernet and IP data traffic.  The strategic partnership between Grid Telecom and Tamares Telecom will bring advanced data transport solutions to the market, creating a new telecommunications corridor between Europe and the Middle East, facilitating the termination and efficient interconnection of subsea cable systems to their customers and partners. Leveraging on the strategic position of Cyprus, it will create a carrier neutral open-access hub with interconnection data center facilities through alternative low latency paths to major destinations in Greece and Europe, including the Balkan region and Turkey, Egypt and the north coast of Africa, Israel, and the Arabian Peninsula.  Tamares Telecom is already collaborating with Grid Telecom, to construct and operate ANDROMEDA optical fiber cable system that will be landing at the Cable Landing Station of Tamares Telecom Cyprus, interconnecting Greece as a new eastern gateway to Europe, with Cyprus and Israel, extending though Israel to the Arabian Peninsula and beyond. Emerging as the prime carrier-neutral wholesaler in the Greek market, Grid Telecom exploits IPTO’s extensive optical network in Greece and neighboring countries and integrates it with its own fiber links and Points-of-Presence, to achieve network diversity, maximum security, and exceptionally low latency. Tamares Telecom, owns and operates TAMARES-North, a high-capacity subsea fiber cable system between Israel and Cyprus, with extensions to multiple international destinations, providing customized communication and cloud infrastructure solutions and services.  

The Chairman of Aluma Infrastructure Fund, Ori Yogev, commented:

“Tamares Telecom is continuously developing and extending its national and international infrastructure. Our collaboration with Grid Telecom and IPTO to acquire a state-of-the-art Cable Landing Station in Cyprus, in parallel with our collaboration to build and operate the ANDROMEDA fiber cable system, will bring security and add value to our reach in Europe and the Middle East. Our investments in new strategic projects provide multiple layers of infrastructure diversity, which include developing cable landing infrastructure and new optical fiber cable systems to meet market demands for high-quality data transport solutions, through a telecommunications bridge between East and West”.

The Chairman and CEO of IPTO, Manos Manousakis, stated:

“IPTO is building infrastructure for tomorrow’s electricity and telecommunications backbone networks throughout Greece and beyond, contributing to Greece’s transformation into a critical energy and data hub of high geopolitical value at the crossroads of Europe, Africa and Asia. IPTO is the Project Promoter of “Great Sea Interconnector”, a leading EU Project of Common Interest, interconnecting the national grids of Israel, Cyprus and Greece and creating an energy bridge between Europe and the Middle East, with multiple benefits for the three countries. The strategic partnership between Grid Telecom and Tamares Telecom will create a combined landing and interconnection solution with leading edge connectivity and international reach, which will help new subsea fiber cable systems to eliminate costly and time-consuming permitting processes and landing infrastructure construction, acting as a catalyst that accelerates developments in the region. Furthermore, it will provide the ability to directly cross-connect with other cable systems, backhaul carriers and digital platforms, within the Cable Landing Station of Tamares Telecom Cyprus, creating a rich telecommunications ecosystem that will bring digital transformation to Cyprus and the broader Eastern Mediterranean region”.

— End —

About IPTO:

The Independent Power Transmission Operator (IPTO) is responsible for the operation, monitoring, maintenance, and development of the “Hellenic Electricity Transmission System”, aiming to ensure safe and undisrupted power supply across the country. IPTO’s “Ten Year Network Development Plan” provides for the electrical interconnection of major Greek islands in the High Voltage System by 2029, the strengthening and modernization of the continental power grid as well as the facilitation of Greece’s transition towards a cleaner energy mix. IPTO’s investment program, includes the Crete-Attica power link, supplemented with dual optical fiber cables, the completion of Cyclades as well as the interconnections of the Dodecanese and the NE Aegean islands. IPTO is developing new international interconnections to Italy, Bulgaria, Albania, North Macedonia and Turkey, and supports new subsea electricity interconnectors to Cyprus, Israel, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia, with Greece as the main hub. IPTO is the project promoter of the “Great Sea Interconnector” between Greece, Cyprus and Israel and is currently maturing the “Green Aegean Interconnector”, a new electrical corridor between Greece and southern Germany, for the transmission of clean energy originating from Greece and the Eastern Mediterranean region to the large consumption centers of Central Europe.

For more information, contact:

Email: pressoffice@admie.gr

About Grid Telecom:

Grid Telecom was established in 2019 as a wholly owned subsidiary company of the Independent Power Transmission Operator (IPTO) of Greece and acts as its telecommunications vehicle for providing wholesale services and total solutions to national and international operators and large enterprise customers. Grid Telecom’s optical fiber terrestrial and subsea network exceeds 4,000 km throughout Greece and will soon exceed 6,000 km connecting most Greek islands with the core network, offering dark fiber and spectrum, achieving the shortest possible routes, network diversity, maximum security, and very low latency. Grid Telecom is developing a growing international optical fiber network that is supported by a state-of-the-art proprietary DWDM optical network, providing ultra-fast capacity services, as well as collocation services within protected areas in IPTO’s substation sites across Greece. 

For more information, contact:

Email: pressoffice@grid-telecom.com

About Tamares Telecom:

Tamares Telecom is a leading Digital Infrastructure group, based in the Middle East region, with assets spanning from international subsea fiber optic cables to terrestrial fibers, and Tier-III data center facilities in Israel and Europe. Tamares Telecom provides telecom operators, global and domestic, OTT’s, cloud providers and enterprises, with One-Stop-Shop solution for full networking and connectivity needs, coupled with colocation facilities across Israel, Cyprus, Marseille, London, and Frankfurt. Tamares Telecom is a fully licensed operator, serving more than 5,000 customers across the globe. Tamares Telecom offers a wide range of telecommunications wholesale services, including managed wavelengths, IP transit, DIAs and hosting. Tamares Telecom owns the TAMARES-North subsea fiber cable linking Israel with Cyprus, which was launched in 2012, and is being extended to Marseille and mainland Europe.

For more information, contact:

Email: aviram@pr360.co.il

About Aluma Infrastructure Fund:

Aluma is an Infrastructure Investment Fund, listed on the Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) since November 2021. The Fund’s founders are Ori Yogev (Chairman of the Board of Directors), Yair Hirsh (CEO), Muli Ravina (Chairman of the Investments Committee), Miki Zaharia (Director) and Nati Shachor. The Fund has formulated a proprietary investment model, which differentiates it from the other Infrastructure Investment Funds in Israel and is based on three main principles: The Fund’s management has a “hands-on” approach to target companies, aiming to increase their operations’ efficiency and improve their yields. Showing a preference for investment in infrastructure companies over those in projects or ventures in the infrastructure fields since, in the Fund’s management’s assessment, an investment of this type is expected to generate a higher yield. Focusing on infrastructure fields with the highest potential for growth: telecommunications, green energy, the environment, and transportation.

For more information, contact:

Email: aviram@pr360.co.il

Neterra, a global communications service provider, has achieved carbon neutrality for 2023 and has been officially certified by the international organization Verra. This significant accomplishment is the result of the company’s dedicated efforts to reduce its carbon footprint and invest in sustainable projects.

The Verra certification confirms that Neterra has offset 74 tons of carbon dioxide by supporting the “Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation in Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary” project in Cambodia. This project meets the CCB-Biodiversity Gold and CCB-Gold standards, highlighting its positive impact on biodiversity.

The project covers 167,000 hectares of protected dense forest and a 297,000-hectare buffer zone, home to the indigenous Bunong people and rare, endangered plant and animal species. It also hosts one of the largest remaining populations of Asian elephants. By supporting this project, Neterra contributes to the preservation of Keo Seima’s unique ecosystem and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

“Achieving carbon neutrality is a strategic goal for Neterra, and we are incredibly proud to see the results of our efforts. This marks the third consecutive year of reporting zero emissions. We will continue to strive for a more sustainable future, support projects with a positive environmental impact, and seek new ways to reduce our ecological footprint,” said Neven Dilkov, founder and CEO of Neterra.

Neterra set its ambition to become a carbon-neutral company at the beginning of 2021. Since then, it has been purchasing and using 100% clean energy for its operations and implementing comprehensive measures. Neterra has built a solar park for its own needs and plans to implement a similar project at its Data Center Park in Stolnik (SDC Stolnik).

The company’s fleet consists of electric or hybrid vehicles, and all documentation processes are digital, eliminating the need for paper. In the offices, Neterra ensures that only reusable dishes and utensils are used—no single-use or plastic items are purchased or provided. Employees also actively participate in reforestation initiatives, planting thousands of trees to help restore Bulgarian forests.

News 

The regulator hopes the ruling will deter further use of AI-generated voice impersonation 

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has fined US communications systems provider Lingo Telecom $1 million for transmitting robocalls that used a deepfake of President Joe Biden’s voice.  

A robocall is an automated phone call that delivers a recorded message, usually on behalf of a political party or telemarketing company.  

In this case, the robocalls targeted New Hampshire voters ahead of the Democratic primary in January 2024, urging them not to vote. These calls were reported to the FCC, which quickly launched an investigation.  

Lingo Telecom, based in Texas, distributed 3,978 calls in January this year on behalf of a customer named Life Corporation. These calls were organised by political consultant Steve Kramer, who at the time was working for a candidate running against Biden. The FCC’s investigation revealed that Lingo Telecom failed to verify the calls, violating Caller ID authentication rules. 

In addition to the $1 million fine, Lingo Telecom has agreed to implement a compliance plan. The plan includes adherence to the FCC’s framework for caller ID authentication. These measures will enhance the vetting process for traffic and ensure the authenticity of caller information, marking a first in FCC enforcement history. 

Steve Kramer, the orchestrater of the robocalls, faces a separate $6 million fine and has been formally accused of 26 felony and misdemeanor charges, including voter suppression and impersonation of a candidate.  

New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella praised the settlement, stating, “This is a major victory for the integrity of elections, especially for New Hampshire and its voters who were targeted.” 

FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel has echoed the support for the fine, stating, “every one of us deserves to know that the voice on the line is exactly who they claim to be. If AI is being used, that should be made clear to any consumer, citizen, and voter who encounters it.” 

“Voter intimidation, whether carried out in person or by way of deepfake robocalls, online disinformation campaigns, or other AI-fueled tactics, can stand as a real barrier for voters seeking to exercise their voice in our democracy,” said Kristen Clarke, the head of the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, in a statement. 

The case marks a significant step in addressing the misuse of AI-generated deepfakes in political campaigns and will set a precedent for future enforcement actions. The FCC confirmed the fine sends a “strong message that communications service providers are the first line of defense against these threats and will be held accountable to ensure they do their part to protect the American public.” 

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

Also in the news:
LG and KT partner for 6G research
EE’s first 5G small cells go live, masts now deployed at 1,000+ locations across the UK
Optus clashes with AustralianSuper over slow tower build

Viewpoint

Recently, South Africa MTN and Huawei jointly launched the Ultra-Long-Haul (ULH) 400G optical transport backbone project, aiming to establish high-bandwidth, low-latency, and high-reliability connections between cities in the country, laying a solid foundation for South Africa’s digital and sustainable development, and Leaping towards the F5.5G era.

MTN South Africa, in collaboration with Huawei, has successfully achieved the first ULH 400G commercial link from Cape Town to Bloemfontein. In 2024, it will further expand the deployment of ULH 400G in the backbone links to create ultra-high-speed connections between cities, in order to meet the escalating capacity demands of 5G, home broadband, and enterprise users. Meanwhile, the high-dimensional backbone sites in the network will be transformed into the latest Optical Cross-Connect (OXC) solution, which not only supports the evolution of the existing network to the 400G+ generation, but also enhances energy efficiency to meet the future capacity requirements of the massive data demand in Africa and accelerate the achievement of the goal of a complete average reduction of 50% in carbon emissions by 2030.

ULH 400G and 800G are the critical technologies of the F5.5G industry. The ULH 400G solution employed in this project adopts built-in high baud modulators and QPSK modulation. With the unique Channel-Matched Shaping (CMS) 2.0 algorithm, the transmission distance is increased by 20%, meeting the large capacity and ultra-long-distance transmission requirements of national backbone networks and transnational backbones.

Takalani Ligudu, Senior Specialist in Core Fibre and Transmission at MTN SA, said: “The Ultra-Long-Haul 400G deployment with Huawei is a result of MTN’s purpose to enable the benefits of a modern connected life for everyone. MTN has been committed to leading digital solutions for South Africa’s progress by using industry leading technologies to deliver superior network services”.

“400G solutions can not only bring more bandwidth, but also bring lower per-bit power consumption. ”Victor Zhou, president of optical transmission domain at Huawei, pointed out: “We will continue to support MTN to build a F5.5G All-Optical Premium Transmission Network, laying a foundation for the country’s digital economy and ensuring optimal user experience.”

This joint effort by MTN in South Africa and Huawei has set a new standard for the development of the communication industry in the African region and also injected new momentum into the global push towards the F5.5G generation.

News

The tower company is currently conducting a strategic review of its operations across its portfolio

According to anonymous sources speaking to Bloomberg, IHS Holdings Ltd. is mulling the potential sale of its businesses in Rwanda and Zambia.

Sources say the company is currently seeking interest from potential buyers, suggesting that any proceeds from the sales would be used to reduce the company’s debt.

IHS currently owns and operates over 40,000 sites across 11 countries in Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East. Of these, 1,434 sites are based in Rwanda and 1,879 in Zambia, according to the company’s financial report from Q4 2023. Specific revenues from these business units were not included.

Since the start of the 2020s, IHS has been on an M&A spree, buying up thousands of towers, most notably in Africa and Brazil.

In summer last year, however, the company was dealt a major blow to its finances when the new Nigerian government relaxed foreign exchange restrictions, leading to the rapid devaluation of the naira. Today, the naira has lost roughly 70% of its value against the US dollar.

This devaluation has been punishing for IHS. Nigeria is the tower operator’s largest market, representing some 16,395 towers and the lion’s share of its annual revenue. The devaluation has cost the company hundreds of millions of dollars, including $267 million in the last financial quarter alone.

As a result, IHS has been undergoing a strategic review of its assets since March this year, having hired JP Morgan as financial advisors to help evaluate its options.

Regardless, IHS remains optimistic that about its growth trajectory.

“We own and operate 40,000 towers across eleven markets, covering approximately 800 million people who need their phones for almost every basic aspect of their life. And IHS sits at the heart of enabling sustainable connectivity as a leader of this domain,” said CEO Sam Darwish. “It is for these reasons that we believe IHS Towers is under-appreciated at our current valuation, and that we have to consider ways of unlocking value for our shareholders.”

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

Also in the news:
Meet our Top 20 Telco AI Champions!
Are AI and Sustainability Compatible?
Singtel partners with Bridge Alliance to boost GPUaaS offering

Viewpoint

On August 14, 2024, 200 industry leaders and experts from around the world attended the Asia-Pacific F5.5G All-Optical Summit themed “F5.5G All-Optical Access, Premium Transmission for Intelligence” at the QSNCC conference center in Bangkok, Thailand. In the Asia-Pacific region, the optical industry is booming, which promotes the popularization and quality improvement of broadband. With policy support and industry collaboration, China has accumulated rich experience from early fiber reconstruction to FTTR and 10 Gbps network evolution. The application of all-optical bearer technologies is achieving closed-loop business for users, operators, and society, and helping build a new engine for digital economy. The success stories of the F5G technology demonstrate how continuous fiber coverage and network upgrade promote business growth and become the cornerstone of digital transformation. The Asia-Pacific region is embracing F5.5G, bringing new growth opportunities for operators and promoting the construction of all-optical smart homes and premium networks.

APAC F5.5G Commercial Launch And Premium Home Broadband Initiative released at the summit

Saneh Saiwong, Principal Engineering Expert of Thailand National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) office, pointed out in his opening speech that fiber networks have become the “third largest infrastructure” for urban construction. He stressed that NBTC plans to increase broadband penetration to 80% by 2025. Through projects such as Giga City, NBTC is promoting innovation and cooperation, bridging the digital divide, and helping Thailand achieve economic growth and full connectivity.

Bob Chen, President of Huawei’s Optical Business Product Line, delivered a keynote speech entitled “F5.5G All-Optical Access and Premium Transmission Make Intelligence Ubiquitous”. He released the F5.5G All-Optical Network Solution for Asia Pacific and pointed out that: “With the growing maturity of AI models, terminals, and applications, AI has entered an era of full popularization. In the intelligent era, networks must be ready first. Huawei advocates that all industry players work together to construct F5.5G all-optical networks, promote gigabit popularization and 10 Gbps take-off, and build premium transmission networks, jointly winning opportunities in the AI era and helping Asia Pacific build a new engine for digital economy.”

Facing the unbalanced development of optical networks in the Asia-Pacific region and the future development trend, multiple industry experts shared their opinions on optical network construction. Tao Jing, Vice President of Huawei Asia Pacific ICT Marketing & Solution Sales Dept, emphasized that a higher fiber penetration not only bridges the digital divide, but also boosts the development of the digital economy. He pointed out that the next decade will be the decade of AI. As premium network assurance for AI, all-optical networks will change our way of production, life, and social governance.

Martin Creaner, Director General of the World Broadband Association (WBBA), called on governments to introduce national broadband policies to accelerate broadband development, optimize fiber network coverage, improve broadband service quality, and bridge the regional digital divide. Dang Meimei, Chief-engineer in the ITSR (Institute of Technology and Standards Research) of CAICT, emphasized that fiber broadband is an important engine that drives operators’ full-service growth and requires policy support and industry collaboration to improve coverage, bandwidth, and user experience. Arik BENAYOUN from the Sales-Partner Dept of nPerf, a world-leading broadband consulting firm, pointed out that gigabit optical networks represented by 10G PON and FTTR can effectively meet gigabit and ultra-gigabit service experience requirements and are ramping up in Asia Pacific.

Eric Arianto, Deputy Chief Technology & information Officer of Link Net, a leading telecom service provider from Indonesia, shared their successful experience in implementing fast and economical network construction and intelligent O&M by deploying the end-to-end DQ ODN solution, thereby improving go-to-market efficiency and reducing construction costs. Chotedhanin Piwaranatthakul, broadband strategic ecosystem and partnership management manager of AIS Thailand 3BB Fibre3, said that AIS 3BB Fibre3 continuously explores innovations in smart acceleration of broadband services, ultra-gigabit broadband (FTTR), and digital platforms, to comply with the AIS 3BB Fibre3 brand proposition of “I Know it before you feel it” to improve customer experience and better meet their needs.

In addition, Mr. Phongsira Prungsin, head of Thailand True Online Acquisition Department, introduced their smart home strategy and plan to unleash the potential of smart home services through AI. K.M. Tariquzzaman, Chief Technology Officer of Bangladesh Summit Communications Limited, shared their efforts to integrate the latest 800G technology on the all-optical platform, with the goal of providing high-quality multimedia services to every household in Bangladesh.

The home broadband market in the Asia-Pacific region has huge potential. Although the fiber coverage rate is increasing, the average penetration rate is only 35%, and many households have not enjoyed the convenience of the fiber Internet. To achieve digital equality, countries need to strengthen fiber infrastructure construction and promote more extensive coverage. This will narrow the digital divide, support the development of smart homes and online education, stimulate the potential of the digital economy, and drive social progress.

At the summit, leading operators in the Asia-Pacific region and optical industry partners jointly launched the premium home broadband construction initiative, aiming to accelerate the full coverage of optical networks and promote the popularization of gigabit broadband. The initiative officially announced the launch of the 10 Gbps era, with the aims of creating premium broadband experience for users, achieving digital equality, and boosting the economic growth.

The summit is not only a milestone in the communications field, but also points out a direction for optical network construction in the Asia-Pacific region—Deploy 10G PON technologies to achieve extensive gigabit coverage in areas with weak infrastructure, and use FTTR technologies to build all-optical smart homes and enterprises. The F5.5G 10 Gbps era is coming. 50G PON can be used to build a 10 Gbps intelligent access network. All-optical switching OXC enables OTN to move to edges and builds a 1 ms low-latency metro network. The 400G ultra-high-speed technology and 3D Mesh architecture can be used to build a 3D joint computing backbone network, enabling various industries to upgrade to the F5.5G all-optical network era, laying a foundation for the digital economy in the Asia-Pacific region, and accelerating the development of an intelligent world.

Mobile network analyst firm Streetwave has revealed that only EE (BT) and Vodafone UK were able to provide “Good Coverage” across more than 50% of Ceredigion’s road network in Wales. The data reflects the next batch of results from their work with Growing Mid Wales (GMW), which uses bin lorries to map local network (4G, 5G etc.) coverage and broadband speeds.

The use of bin collections to map mobile coverage and data performance recently become quite popular (here, here, here and here). In this setup, refuse collection vehicles are installed with four off-the-shelf Smartphones using software from Streetwave on top, which run continuous network tests (once every 20 metres in rural areas and 5m in urban areas) as the vehicles go about their routes.

The data this creates is thus much more accurate than the flaky estimates of mobile network coverage that are so often produced by mobile operators and Ofcom, which is because bin lorries need to go down almost every single road in order to conduct their collections and do so on a regular basis. Suffice to say that this makes them a uniquely useful and cost-effective resource for conducting this sort of study.

The downside is that the initial data being released to the public is quite limited and only offers a very broad overview. Streetwave typically deems an operator to have delivered “Good Coverage” where they provide users with mobile broadband performance of at least 5Mbps download, 2Mbps upload, and below 40ms (milliseconds) latency.

The above is said to reflect speeds where “most ordinary use cases”, including internet browsing, video streaming or conference calls, can be performed. The company also defines a second level for “Essential Coverage“, which defines as at least 1Mbps download, 0.5Mbps upload speeds and below 100ms latency – enough for only the most basic of modern online tasks (i.e. trying to use the modern internet at such speeds is painful).

Overall, EE was found to have delivered the highest level of “Good Coverage” across Ceredigion (54%) and they were followed closely by Vodafone (51%), then O2 (44%) and finally Three UK (34%). This means that the average level of Good Coverage between the operators in Ceredigion was 46% – higher than the average of 40% found in Powys back in May 2024 through the same body of work (here).

As for Essential coverage..

Level of Essential Mobile Coverage in Ceredigion (July 2024)

Mobile Operator
‘Essential Coverage’ in Ceredigion

1 – EE
74%

2 – Vodafone
74%

3 – O2
65%

4 – Three UK
60%

Relevant to the £1bn industry-led Shared Rural Network (SRN) programme, Streetwave also identified large areas affected by total not-spots in the region. There was not a single operator who could deliver download speeds above 5Mbps across 12% of Ceredigion. Likewise, there was not a single operator who could deliver upload speeds above 2Mbps across 31% of Ceredigion.

GMW will soon make the data from its ongoing surveys across Powys & Ceredigion available to view for the public through their own free to use mobile coverage checker (we’d also love to see a visual interactive map of performance). This will allow residents and businesses to check the download and upload speeds of the primary mobile networks outside of their own addresses.

The results from this project will now be used by GMW to identify digitally excluded communities across Mid Wales, which could help them to deliver future connectivity interventions.

UPDATE 8:02am

After a request, Streetwave have kindly also furnished ISPreview with results that show the average mobile broadband speeds of each operator across Ceredigion.

EE:
19.8 Mbps download
3.6 Mbps upload

O2:
8.4 Mbps download
2.8 Mbps upload

Three UK:
13.3 Mbps download
2.1 Mbps upload 

Vodafone:
10 Mbps download
3.2 Mbps upload