Alternative UK broadband network builder Freedom Fibre, which has deployed a 10Gbps capable full fibre (FTTP) network to cover 300,000 premises (27th Mar 2024) and is home to 20,000 customers (12th Aug 2024), has this morning announced the appointment of Nathan Vautier to be their new Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

The move will see Nathan replace the company’s former CEO and Co-Founder, Neil McArthur, who will instead transition into a strategic role while continuing to serve on the company’s board, ensuring his ongoing involvement in the operator’s future growth and vision.

By comparison, Nathan is said to have over 25 years of industry experience and has held various senior leadership roles in the telecoms sector, starting in infrastructure with Ericsson, then Sony Ericsson, EE (BT), and Brightstar Corporation before moving into PE backed businesses. Nathan was also the previous CEO of Box Broadband, which is now part of CommunityFibre.

Neil McArthur said:

“After nearly 30 years in the telecoms sector it’s time I stepped down from the front line. I want to welcome Nathan Vautier to Freedom Fibre and wish him every success driving the company forward.
My move into telecoms started with deregulation in 1996 at Opal Telecom, which teamed up with Carphone Warehouse to form TalkTalk.

I have had a splendid career at a really interesting time in the industry’s history, and the opportunity to set up Freedom Fibre was too exciting to resist. Being involved at the start of deregulation and broadband, and now being able to step down as fibre reaches well over 50% of the UK has been my good fortune.

It’s time to let someone else take the reins. I look forward to continue working in a reduced capacity with the great team at Freedom Fibre as the company enters its next phase of growth.”

Nathan Vautier said:

“I am honored to be joining Freedom Fibre at such an important stage of its journey. It is an important time in the industry and for the continued development of this critical UK infrastructure and Neil’s vision has laid a strong foundation. I look forward to working with the team to drive continued growth, build on the achievements so far, and enhance the value we deliver to our customers.”

According to the spin, Nathan will focus on growing the business as the company embarks on its next phase of expansion, including “accelerating commercialization of Freedom Fibre’s network by leveraging the company’s existing wholesale partnership with TalkTalk and driving direct sales through its own ISP” (LilaConnect). But aside from the recently awarded Project Gigabit contracts, it appears as if the operator is currently more focused on commercialization than network expansion (a common theme among many altnets).

Connectivity Services provider Aqua Comms has announced that they’ve boosted their network capacity by lighting a new fibre pair on their AEC-1 system, which is a subsea fibre-optic network that provides connectivity between New York (USA), Dublin (Ireland) and London (UK). The link is also being upgraded to support Ciena’s latest technology.

The privately owned AEC-1 (AEConnect-1) subsea cable, which is 5,536km long, first went live in 2016 and is designed to handled 130 x 100Gbps (Gigabits per second) wavelengths or 13Tbps (Terabits per second) per fibre pair. The cable is said to comprise six fibre pairs (some reports put the figure at only four) and supports diverse backhaul fibre routes to additional Points of Presence (PoPs) in the USA, Ireland and UK.

Cables like this often increase their capacity over time, both as industry demands and as fibre optic data and broadband technologies improve. The new fibre pair has thus been brought into service to address the growing bandwidth demands of Aqua Comms’ customers, which means more data flowing between the three countries.

In addition, Aqua Comms will, in the “coming months“, begin upgrading the system from Ciena’s GeoMesh Extreme submarine network solution, powered by WaveLogic 5 Extreme (WL5e) coherent optics, to harness the latest WaveLogic 6 Extreme technologies. This is both much more energy efficient and capable of handling wavelength capacity of up to 1.6Tbps.

Aqua Comms CCO, Nick Barton, said:

“From a sustainability perspective, this new fibre pair has given us an opportunity to really analyse the entire system and supplier network to make significant energy savings. Through use of new technology, we will be able to generate more capacity per fibre pair leading to better performance on power draw per Tb and therefore a significantly more sustainable system. The system will also reduce regen requirements at our different cable landing stations and simplify backhauls to create a greener path.”

Aqua Comms also operates and helps to run several other subsea fibre cables under the Atlantic ocean, such as AEC-2 and AEC-3. Not to mention several smaller subsea links, like the recently completed CC-2 (Celtix-Connect 2) cable that runs between Ireland (Dublin), the Isle of Man and England (Blackpool) – featuring 15-fibre pairs.

Network operator Zayo Europe, which runs a large high-capacity metro and long-haul fibre optic network across Europe, has today announced that they’ve introduced a new DWDM (wavelength) fibre route connecting London to Paris. The move boosts their capacity between the UK and France, while providing a diverse alternative on their existing cable system.

The new route, which is said to be “ready” for their 400G (Gbps) networking, also enables separate connections between other cities, such as Manchester to Frankfurt, with no overlap in networks. Zayo Europe expects around a 20% reduction in transit time or latency between Points of Presence (PoPs), like London and Paris, and says the route will improve network reliability and security for customers by removing the ‘single point of failure’.

In total, Zayo Europe now operates five subsea routes between the UK and continental Europe. This new CrossChannel route complements existing Circe South and Channel Tunnel routes between London and Paris, whilst Zeus and Circe North link London to Amsterdam.

Michael Katz, VP for Product & Technology at Zayo Europe, said:

“Zayo Europe is committed to providing the best connectivity and reliability for our customers across the continent, and this new cross-Channel wavelength route marks a great improvement in the diversity we can offer between these two major hubs and beyond. This high-capacity, low-latency solution will significantly benefit those seeking a fast and secure connection between London and Paris, and will be crucial for those needing to build reliable and secure network solutions.”

The introduction of a new fibre route is said to have been driven by a “surge in adoption of cloud and AI technologies“, which has put higher demands on their network for data capacity and lower latency connections.

News

A key focus of the fund will be on enhancing the digital skills of young people 

UK incumbent BT has launched a £4 million Apprenticeship Fund to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), charities, and public sector organisations across England.  

The funds will be delivered over the next four years, helping these organisations to recruit and train apprentices. 

Since 2017, companies in the UK with an annual wage bill over £3 million have been required to pay an ‘apprenticeship levy’, with 0.5% of the company’s annual wage bill being paid to the government to support various apprenticeship programmes. Larger businesses such as BT can transfer up to 50% of their levy to other companies directly, which is what BT is doing here.  

BT has partnered with Babington, a leading apprenticeship training provider, to manage the fund and guide applicants through the process.  

Eligible organisations can apply for funding and, if successful, will be matched with appropriate training providers within 20 days. The fund could support up to 550 apprentices and is expected to generate a £21 million economic impact. 

“SMEs make a significant contribution to our economy, but their uptake of apprenticeships is low,” said Chris Sims, Managing Director for Small and Medium Business at BT in a press release. 

“By sharing up to £4 million from our apprenticeship levy funds, we’re giving these businesses the financial support they need to invest in talent. This not only helps create a more skilled, diverse, and competitive workforce, it also provides SMEs with additional resources to grow and scale their business,” he continued. 

The fund is available to SMEs, charities, and public sector organisations across England, including the NHS. It focuses on apprentices aged 22 and older and seeks to support local economic growth, reduce the digital divide, and enhance social mobility. 

As one of the UK’s largest employers, BT is already a major player in the UK’s apprenticeship landscape, having recruited around 3,000 apprentices and graduates in the past five years. 

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Also in the news: 

Interview

We caught up with Netceed’s Director of Telecoms, Steve Doddington, at this year’s Connected Britain to discuss how the UK telecoms market is rebounding from a slow year and how AI-fuelled data centre growth is a major opportunity for suppliers.

Check out our full interview here

Leicester-based UK broadband ISP Giganet Networks has today confirmed to ISPreview that, despite putting their best efforts toward attempting to refinance the business, the provider was ultimately unsuccessful and recently appointed a licensed insolvency practitioner to help navigate the situation.

The confirmation probably won’t come as too much of a surprise to our readers, given that the provider had already shifted their residential customer base over to the Telecom Acquisitions Group (i.e. Home Telecom) between June and August 2024 (here and here). But this was initially promoted as a means for the ISP to re-focus on their wholesale and channel business instead.

Despite this, we recently heard that Gigabit Networks’ business and channel customers were now being looked after by Global4, which meant that there wasn’t much of a business base left. The current situation isn’t yet being reflected via Companies House, but the provider’s CEO, David Yates, was kind enough to provide an update.

David Yates, Gigabit Networks CEO, told ISPreview:

“It has been a difficult time in the market and number of factors conspired against Gigabit Networks and its ability to trade profitably. Mounting bad debt within the consumer side of the business coupled with the cancellation of a significant new investment from existing investors put the business in an untenable situation.

Despite our best efforts to refinance the business we were ultimately unsuccessful. As a result, we appointed a licensed insolvency practitioner last month.

All customer services have been maintained throughout this time and have now been transferred to Telecom Acquisitions Ltd as previously reported by ISP Review.”

Naturally, our thoughts go out to the company’s staff too, who will hopefully be able to find a new home. Such situations can be very disruptive for all involved, particularly customers, but it could also be seen as a reflection of the difficult trading environment that many ISPs and network operators currently find themselves inhabiting.

News

The deal includes the supply of both 4G and 5G network equipment over the next three years

This week, Vodafone Idea has concluded a $3.6 billion telecoms equipment deal with Ericsson, Nokia, and Samsung.

The deal will see the trio of vendors provide Idea with equipment over the next three years. Idea will use this equipment to expand its 4G population coverage from 1.03 billion to 1.2 billion, as well as launching 5G in selected markets and expanding existing capacity.

Idea says this will not only allow the company to offer more advanced mobile services to a wider audience, but will also improve the network’s power efficiency, thereby delivering cost savings.

The deal is notably the first time Idea has worked with Samsung for networking equipment. Ericsson and Nokia, on the other hand, are both long-term partners with Idea; in fact, earlier this year, Idea issued $294.2 million in shares to the two companies in order to settle existing debts with them. This gave Nokia and Ericsson 1.5% and 0.9% stakes in Idea, respectively.

“We have kickstarted the investment cycle. We are on our journey of VIL 2.0 and from hereon, VIL will stage a smart turnaround to effectively participate in the industry growth opportunities,” said Vodafone Idea CEO Akshaya Moondra. “Nokia and Ericsson have been our partners since our inception and this marks another milestone in that continuing partnership. We are pleased to start our new partnership with Samsung. We look forward to work closely with all our partners as we move into the 5G era.”

The deal is funded via the $4.4 billion Idea raised in April and May via equity financing.

Vodafone Idea has been struggling to compete in the Indian market and has teetered on the edge of bankruptcy for years. Despite managing to raise funds earlier this year, the company continues to bleed subscribers to its rivals Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel.

The company is notably behind rivals when it comes to the rollout of 4G and, unlike Airtel and Jio, has yet to commercially launch 5G at scale.

To make matters worse, Idea is drowning under the weight of billions of dollars it owes the government a part of Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) payments from 2019. Last week, the Indian Supreme Court rejected appeals to recalculate the AGR dues, news which sent Idea’s share price plummeting by 15%.

Vodafone Idea is currently attempting to raise yet more cash, both to meet its debt obligations and to upgrade its infrastructure in an effort to become competitive.

Keep up to date with all of the latest telecoms news with Total Telecom’s 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

Viewpoint

[Singapore, September 17, 2024] At the FutureNet Asia 2024 Summit in Singapore, the General Manager of Huawei ADN Solution, Sam Wang, delivered a keynote speech titled “AI for Network, Ushering in L4 New Era.”

Sam Wang, General Manager of Huawei ADN Solution delivers the keynote speech

As communications service providers (CSPs) worldwide strive towards network automation, Autonomous Networks (AN) have become an industry consensus. The AN Level 4 industry blueprint, released jointly by TM Forum and industry partners at the Digital Transformation World summit in June, provides systematic guidance for Level 4 implementation. Advancements in emerging technologies like generative AI (GenAI) have also accelerated the development of AN Level 4.

Sam identified three key factors for implementing AN Level 4.

Technology breakthroughs: Breakthroughs in GenAI technology have enabled the development of telecom foundation models that address long-standing O&M challenges faced by CSPs. These models allow for the creation of role-based copilots and scenario-based agents, creating an innovative human-machine collaboration paradigm and solving issues such as over-reliance on expertise, time-consuming system integration, and mandatory manual decision-making.
Clear goals: Value-driven goals are crucial to achieving AN Level 4. High-value scenarios must be selected to build up key capabilities of AN L4, and the Level 4 target state must be defined to help CSPs improve O&M efficiency and business revenues. TM Forum’s AN Level 4 industry blueprint offers 15 high-value scenarios focused on maintenance, optimization, and operations.
Hierarchical collaboration: In-depth collaboration among all industry partners is vital. Employing value-driven approaches and principles of single-domain autonomy and cross-domain collaboration can facilitate the commercial use of AN Level 4 by multi-layer and multi-domain.

During the presentation, Sam also showcased Huawei’s autonomous driving network (ADN) solution panorama and highlighted the use of the telecom foundation model to support network O&M, experience assurance, and service enablement. Additionally, he said that Huawei are developing five role-based Mate series copilots and five scenario-based Spirit series agents to enhance O&M efficiency and customer experience for CSPs. For instance, when complex cross-domain faults occur, wireless, IP, and core networks can use the Mate copilots and single-domain Spirit agents for single-domain closed-loop of fault handling. The OSS can then demarcate the cross-domain faults, dispatch trouble tickets, and provide instructions for fault repair. This approach enables field engineers to resolve faults in a single site visit, reducing trouble tickets by 30% and improving operation efficiency by 80%.

As network AI enables a new era of AN Level 4 across the entire industry, Sam called for industry partners to launch scenario-specific, innovative Level 4 practices actively to enhance business value and evolve toward an intelligent world.

News 

“AI’s potential to drive economic growth and scientific progress is enormous, but Europe’s fragmented decision-making is putting it at risk of being left behind,” reads the open letter published in the Financial Times 

A coalition of major tech companies, researchers, and institutions has issued an open letter calling on European regulators to provide clear, consistent rules for AI development to ensure the EU remains competitive in the global race for AI supremacy. 

The letter, signed by CEOs and leaders from companies such as Meta, Spotify, and Ericsson, warns that fragmented and unpredictable regulation is stifling Europe’s innovation in AI, leaving it trailing behind global leaders like the US, China, and India.  

“The reality is Europe has become less competitive and less innovative compared to other regions,” reads the letter, which argues the situation will only get worse without AI regulation reform. 

The letter argues that without consistent regulation, the EU will “miss out” on AI and its advancements, such as in the development of open-source AI models, which integrate text, images, and speech. According to the letter, these technologies have the potential to modernise industries, increase productivity, and contribute hundreds of billions of euros to the European economy. Generative AI, for example, “could increase global GDP by 10% over the coming decade.” 

“Public institutions and researchers are already using these models to speed up medical research and preserve languages, while businesses gain access to tools they could never afford to build themselves,” the letter says.  

Europe is infamous for its tough regulatory landscape that places a strong emphasis on the privacy of consumer data.  GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) imposes strict conditions on the collection, processing, and sharing of personal data – data which represents an invaluable training tool for nascent AI models.  

Other countries, on the other hand, do not have such comprehensive laws, allowing AI companies to more freely use customer data to train their AI models. The US for example, does not have a single, comprehensive federal law governing data privacy.  

Although GDPR has been a landmark in protecting user privacy, the signatories argue that its current governance means there is a lack of certainty what data can be used legally. This, in turn, is making it difficult for companies to invest in European AI, making the continent fall behind even more. 

Keep up to date with all of the latest telecoms news with Total Telecom’s 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

Telecoms and broadband giant BT, which is already in the process of recruiting another 500 UK apprentices and graduates for 2024 (here), has today committed £4m to support a new Apprenticeship Fund that is designed to support SMEs, charities and public sector organisations across England by providing access to funding over an initial 4-year period.

Since 2017, companies with an annual wage bill of more than £3m have been required to pay the “apprenticeship levy“, using the funds to recruit and train apprentices. But as part of this, they can also choose to transfer up to 50% of their levy to help support other companies. The BT Group has thus partnered with Babington, one of the UK’s largest apprenticeship training providers, to transfer up to £4m from its apprenticeship levy.

The new Fund is said to have the ability to scale up depending on take up and could support up to 550 apprentices (focusing on apprentices aged 22 and older). Babington’s role will then be to match businesses with appropriate training providers and guide them through the application process. Successful applicants will be provided with access to funded apprenticeship training within 20 days, subject to meeting funding criteria.

Chris Sims, BT’s MD for Small and Medium Business, said:

“SMEs make a significant contribution to our economy, but their uptake of apprenticeships is low. By sharing up to £4 million from our apprenticeship levy funds, we’re giving these businesses the financial support they need to invest in talent. This not only helps create a more skilled, diverse, and competitive workforce, it also provides SMEs with additional resources to grow and scale their business. The apprenticeship programme at BT has not only shaped our workforce, it has also helped set industry standards.”