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The regulator said the operator had not done enough to protect consumer data

This week, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has reached a settlement with telco giant AT&T, fining them $13 million for their lack of oversight over customers’ data security.

Back in January 2023, bad actors gained access to the data of 8.9 million AT&T customers via a cyberattack on an unnamed third-party cloud vendor.

According to the FCC, this vendor was used by AT&T “to generate and host personalized video content, including billing and marketing videos” for the affected customers.

As part of the vendor’s service agreement with AT&T, the company was required to destroy or return customer data once it was not longer needed. However, the FCC claims that AT&T did not enforce these obligations, thereby creating the conditions for the data theft to take place.

Customer data stolen included that from the period 2015 to 2017, which should have been deleted in 2017 or 2018.

Today, following an investigation, the FCC has fined AT&T $13 million for its failure to protect consumer data.

“The Communications Act makes clear that carriers have a duty to protect the privacy and security of consumer data, and that responsibility takes on new meaning for digital age data breaches,” said FCC chairwoman, Jessica Rosenworcel. “Carriers must take additional precautions given their access to sensitive information, and we will remain vigilant in ensuring that’s the case no matter which provider a customer chooses.”

As part of the settlement with the FCC, AT&T will be required to increase its data security and supply chain integrity practices, as well a carry out annual compliance audits.

It is worth noting that this is not the only cybersecurity breach of AT&T being investigated by the FCC. Earlier this summer, AT&T revealed a data breach that took place in April affecting roughly 109 million customers – almost the company’s entire subscriber base.

The FCC’s investigation into this incident is still ongoing.

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Internet provider Cuckoo, which is the retail anchor tenant broadband ISP for the newly consolidated AllPoints Fibre network (comprising FTTP networks from Jurassic Fibre, Swish Fibre and Giganet), has today announced that the old Giganet brand is being retired and remaining customers fully migrated to Cuckoo.

Cuckoo originally started life around four years ago as an independent ISP, which changed in 2022 after they were acquired by the Fern Trading backed Giganet (here). But last year’s decision by Fern Trading to consolidate almost all of their full fibre operators into a single wholesale network under APFN changed all that (here and here).

Giganet, which was born out of M12 Solutions some years earlier, was arguably the best known and most reputable of Fern’s ISP brands. But despite this, the writing has been on the wall for Giganet ever since May 2024, when existing customers of the service were notified that their contracts had transferred to Cuckoo Fibre Limited (here), which followed similar moves with Swish Fibre and Jurassic Fibre.

However, the announcement in May 2024 didn’t include the physical migration of customers or the merging of Giganet’s brand into Cuckoo, which is what today’s update is all about. Cuckoo is starting to migrate a “small number of customers” from today, and that will gradually build until everyone is moved across (this is happening in phases, so most customers won’t have been notified yet). The Giganet brand will then be retired.

Sarah Howells, Managing Director at Cuckoo, told ISPreview:

“Cuckoo’s sole focus is on selling the fastest, most reliable full fibre to customers across the country. We are also welcoming new customers to the Cuckoo family.

This migration, which has just begun, will help us to deliver fast, fair and feel-good broadband.

We’re confident that the migration won’t cause customers any disruption, and they certainly won’t see any change in contract price. In some instances, customers may even receive better speeds as a result of the switch.

We’re pleased to be welcoming the first batch of customers under Cuckoo’s wing, and to be delivering the exceptional customer service which Cuckoo has been built on to even more people.

If customers have a query on the migration, they can get in contact with us directly or visit our support page.”

Cuckoo states that the new service will include some “updated T&Cs“, but they add that the “important bits” of the service will stay the same (i.e. price, contract period and end date, speeds, reliability and UK based customer service – managed by the same people). Hopefully those with Static IP addresses will also continue to receive them.

News

The decision from the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) follows a complaint from rival telco BT

This week, Vodafone Group has been ordered by the ASA to discontinue a trio of recent ads, with the regulator calling the ads “misleading”

The ads, which were challenged by Vodafone’s rival BT, claim that customers could “switch from BT to Vodafone and get the same broadband for less”.

Vodafone also claimed that “millions of BT customers across the UK are realising they can switch to Vodafone and get the same broadband for less”.

BT said that this claim was untrue, since customers would not receive the same performance on the two networks and that there was no evidence of “millions of BT customers” having switched or preparing to switch to Vodafone’s services.

Vodafone defended its claims by saying that both BT and Vodafone provide services to customers over the same physical network (provided by wholesaler Openreach). The operator also referenced Ofcom’s UK home broadband performance report from 2023 to support its position; this report showed comparable results for the two companies’ 67 Mbps fibre-to-the-cabinet plan.

The ASA rejected this defence, noting that the physical network was only one factor in the overall broadband experience for a customer, discounting things like different router hardware and Wi-Fi technology. It also said the Ofcom report cited did not support the position, given that it only included one of the six broadband plans referenced in Vodafone’s ads and was also related to speeds delivered to the router and not the end customer device.

“Because the claims in the ads would be understood to relate to the full internet connection up to the device, rather than to the router, we considered the data did not support the claims. For those reasons, we considered the comparative data in the Ofcom report did not support the advertising claims as they would be understood by consumers,” said the ASA in their ruling.

“We had not seen evidence which supported claims that BT customers who switched to Vodafone would, in practice, get nearly identical performance, including through the use of nearly identical technology. Therefore, we concluded the claims “the same broadband” and “the same broadband technology” had not been substantiated and were misleading,” the judgement continued.

As a result of the ruling, Vodafone is banned from showing the ads again in their current form.

Misleading claims in telco advertising is certainly nothing new. In the last four years, all of Vodafone’s major rivals – Three, BT (EE), and O2 (now Virgin Media O2) – have had adverts banned by the ASA for making misleading claims about their own services in comparison to that of their rivals.

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

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Alternative network ISP Fastr Broadband (formerly UK Fibre Networks) has announced that they’ve adopted ADTRAN’s hardware and services to underpin their ongoing roll-out of a 10Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network in central York (England), which is aiming to cover around 8,000 homes and businesses in the city centre.

Based on our earlier article (here), Fastr’s network expansion began in the Gillygate area of York during January 2024 (Phase 1) and has since expand into the Micklegate area (Phase 2), as well as Walmgate (Phase 3), with Goodramgate / Stonebow (Phase 4) being due to follow anytime now. The initial goal seems to be to cover around 8,000 premises by the end of 2024, although it’s unclear how close they’ll get to that.

The main development today is that Fastr, which is a Norse word that harks back to the city’s Viking roots, has adopted ADTRAN’s Mosaic CP solution to streamline their network management and orchestration. In addition, its 10Gbit/s capable (XGS-PON) 48-port SDX 6330 software-defined Optical Line Terminals (OLTs) will also be deployed to “ensure efficient service delivery and scalable network growth” (this takes the Combo PON approach, which will be easier to upgrade).

Fastr previously said they’d be building the network “considerately at night” and “following the routes of existing cables along the outsides of each property to ensure minimal impact” (i.e. Openreach’s ducts and poles / PIA) on the heritage and historic buildings in the city. The SDX 6330 is fairly compact and so should work well with a discreet deployment in areas where minimising the physical footprint is important.

Stuart Broome, GM of EMEA sales at Adtran, said:

“Many of our professional services team in the UK have strong ties to York and a personal commitment to enhancing the city’s digital landscape. That’s why we’re so pleased to be helping Fastr Broadband expand the availability of advanced broadband services and enrich the options for both residents and businesses. And beyond the initial rollout, we’re committed to ongoing support, ensuring the community enjoys continuous access to ultra-fast services.

Compact, modular and software-driven, our SDX 6330 is ideal for tackling the unique challenges and requirements associated with working in dense urban environments while also respecting the historical character of cities like York. Our flexible Combo PON platform is also highly scalable, ensuring the service provider can expand its network cost-effectively and sustainably in the years to come.”

Residential customers currently pay from £35.99 per month on a 24-month term for a 150Mbps (symmetric speed) package with free installation and Wi-Fi 6 router, which rises to £59.99 for their 950Mbps plan.

News

The news follows Intel’s disappointing Q2 results last month

US chipmaker Intel has said it will pause its plans for new chip factories in Germany and Poland for two years, citing lower-than-expected demand and financial pressures.

Intel had announced plans to build a €30 billion factory in Magdeburg, Germany, and a €4.6 billion facility in Wrocław, Poland in 2022 and 2023, respectively.

Both projects were heavily subsidised by the respective national governments, with the European Union viewing the investment as key steps in boosting the bloc’s domestic semiconductor capabilities and ease reliance on China’ manufacturing capacity. Indeed, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had hoped the move would help the country “become one of the world’s major semiconductor production locations”.

However, Intel’s recent financial struggles, including a $1.6 billion loss in Q2 2024, has led to a reassessment of these project. As a result, both the German and Polish fabs will be delayed by about two years, with Intel instead focussing on its new US fab, where it is also receiving significant government support..

“We recently increased capacity in Europe through our fab in Ireland, which will remain our lead European hub for the foreseeable future. We will pause our projects in Poland and Germany by approximately two years based on anticipated market demand,” said CEO  Gelsinger in a published note to employees this week.

“We have a lot of work ahead to drive greater efficiency, improve our profitability and enhance our market competitiveness,” continued Gelsinger.

Despite the European manufacturing pause, the company gave the green light to other investments, particularly in the US. This will include an expansion of a preexisting strategic collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS). Secondly, Intel secured $3 billion under the CHIPS Act to produce secure semiconductors for the US government, reinforcing its position in the domestic chip supply chain.

Finally, the company aims to spin out Intel Foundry, its manufacturing arm, into an independent subsidiary. This, Intel says, will give “external foundry customers and suppliers with clearer separation and independence from the rest of Intel”. It will also provide the flexibility to evaluate independent sources of funding, the company said.

How will this semiconductor setback impact the German tech market? Join the industry in discussion at Connected Germany 2024

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The CEO and Co-Founder of alternative UK full fibre broadband operator Freedom Fibre, Neil McArthur, has just become one of 71 leading figures in the engineering and technology fields to be elected as a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.

Following its AGM on 17th September 2024, the Royal Academy of Engineering announced the group consisting of 60 Fellows, 6 International Fellows and 5 Honorary Fellows, each of whom has made exceptional contributions to their own sector, pioneering new innovations, leading progress in business or academia, providing high level advice to government, or promoting wider understanding of engineering and technology.

Just to recap. Freedom Fibre’s new 10Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP / XGS-PON) broadband network currently covers over 300,000 premises across England and is home to 20,000 customers. The wholesale network is typically available via a number of retail ISPs, such as TalkTalk, Yayzi, Home Telecom, Lila Connect and many more.

Neil himself is an industry veteran that first joined telecoms in the mid 90s when deregulation happened, setting up a business ISP called Opal Telecoms. That business ultimately merged with Carphone Warehouse in 2002 and helped to form the foundations for a much more familiar consumer and business provider – TalkTalk.

Neil then ran the technology side of TalkTalk for 8 years and was a non-exec for quite a few years before returning to run Fibre Nation, a direct trenching FTTP venture based in York that was also linked to TalkTalk. In case anybody has forgotten, the Fibre Nation project was sold to CityFibre for £200m in 2020 (here) and at that point Neil decided to stay in the business of building digital infrastructure by establishing Freedom Fibre.

Neil McArthur, MBE FREng, said:

“I am honoured to have been elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering. Throughout my career in telecoms and through my work founding the Hamilton Davies Trust, I have been a passionate advocate of creating a sustainable and inclusive society and hope to continue this work through the variety of opportunities the fellowship presents.”

Congrats Neil.

The London Internet Exchange (LINX), which handles a key chunk of UK and global data traffic through their switches via around a thousand members (broadband ISPs, mobile operators etc.), has today reported that they set a new peak record for data traffic yesterday when the aggregate total topped 10.69Tbps (Terabits per second).

The new 10.7Tbps peak, which was officially recorded on Tuesday 17th September 2024 at 8:45pm, appears to have been largely driven by football fans heading online to stream several key matches. But the September 16th release of the latest iOS 18 update from Apple may have also been playing a role, as not everybody updates straight away, and it usually gets deployed gradually over a period of several days.

Just for a quick comparison. The latest figures represent a huge leap over the 7.83Tbps recorded by LINX in August 2023 (here), albeit not so much the 9.23Tbps seen in December 2023 (here). But it should be noted that those figures aren’t completely comparable because LINX has since added new sites in Jeddah (400Gbps), Riyadha (81Gbps) and Nairobi (6Gbps).

LINX Traffic Overview from 11th to 18th September 2024

Broadband and mobile providers use sophisticated Content Delivery Networks (CDN) and systems to help manage the load from big online events and software release, which caches popular content closer in the network to end-users (i.e. improves performance without adding network strain). This in turn lowers the provider’s impact on external links and helps to keep costs down.

Nevertheless, demand for data is constantly rising and broadband connections are forever getting faster, thus new peaks of usage are being set all the time by every ISP. Ofcom’s Connected Nations 2023 study noted that the average monthly data volume per household on fixed broadband connections increased over the past year to 535 GigaBytes (up by 11%).

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned several Vodafone broadband adverts after BT lodged complaints, which claimed that the ISP was being “misleading” by claiming that customers could “switch from BT to Vodafone and get the same broadband for less” (emphasis on the “same broadband” part). But that wasn’t the only issue.

The adverts themselves – reflecting several promotions via TV, Twitter (X) and the operator’s own website – related to Vodafone’s “Great British Broadband Switch” campaign, which was launched back in March 2024 (here). But BT complained the related promotions were misleading because, they said, Vodafone’s broadband “did not provide the same performance“.

In addition, BT also complained when Vodafone suggested that “millions of BT customers across the UK are realising they can switch to Vodafone and get the same broadband for less”. BT said they did not believe millions of BT customers had switched or were considering doing so.

The difficulty here is that not every broadband package can truly be considered the “same” when switching between ISPs, due to differences in the bundled router, WiFi technology, the underlying network, various value-added extras and so forth. Vodafone attempted to support their generalised claims by using Ofcom’s UK home broadband performance report from 2023, which was not only old but also not fully comprehensive. Needless to say, the ASA upheld BT’s complaints.

ASA Ruling Ref: A24-1241350 Vodafone Ltd

We understood Vodafone offered six broadband plans which were comparable to BT plans: two FTTC and four FTTP. However, the Ofcom report included data on only one Vodafone broadband service – their 67 Mbps FTTC plan. While the report included data for a comparable BT service, the evidence did not relate to all six of the broadband plans included in the ads’ comparisons. The data was also collected in March 2023, one year before the ads were published.

Furthermore, we understood that the performance metric data collated in the Ofcom report was collected at the router, rather than by connected devices. We acknowledged this was a robust methodology which factored out the potential for metrics to be affected by Wi-Fi bandwidth. However, because the claims in the ads would be understood to relate to the full internet connection up to the device, rather than to the router, we considered the data did not support the claims. For those reasons, we considered the comparative data in the Ofcom report did not support the advertising claims as they would be understood by consumers.

We had not seen evidence which supported claims that BT customers who switched to Vodafone would, in practice, get nearly identical performance, including through the use of nearly identical technology. Therefore, we concluded the claims “the same broadband” and “the same broadband technology” had not been substantiated and were misleading.

…

The TV ad stated that “millions of BT customers across the UK are realising they can switch to Vodafone and get the same broadband for less”. We considered that claim would be understood by viewers to be an objective claim that millions of people had come to this realisation already and had either switched from BT to Vodafone or were actively considering doing so. We further considered that the impression that there was a growing trend of people switching from BT to Vodafone was likely to have a more persuasive effect in encouraging viewers to look into switching than if the ad had not referenced that “millions of BT customers […] are realising they can switch”.

Vodafone had said the purpose of the ad was to bring BT’s customer base to the realisation that switching could save them money. The ad itself was therefore intended to educate BT customers about Vodafone’s pricing compared to BT, rather than informing them of an evidenced trend of people switching that was already occurring. Because we had not seen evidence to substantiate the claim that millions of BT broadband customers already had switched, or were actively considering switching, to Vodafone, we concluded the claim was misleading.

As usual, the ASA banned Vodafone’s broadband adverts in their current form and warned the operator “not to state or imply that their broadband services provided a nearly identical performance to BT’s services“, or to “state or imply that millions of BT broadband customers already had switched, or were actively considering switching,” unless they held evidence to prove that.

Press Release

Besides the implementation of the world’s first academic specialization course on submarine cables, the agreement includes collaboration on joint initiatives for the sector’s development

Sparkle, the first international service provider in Italy and among the top global operators, the University of Genoa, one of the oldest in Italy and one of the best in the world on marine and maritime issues, and the SubOptic Foundation, a philanthropic organization that aims to promote knowledge of the digital infrastructure sector among global stakeholders, signed an agreement today  for a long-term strategic collaboration to realize initiatives to teach, research and innovate in the field of submarine communications. The agreement was signed by Federico Delfino, Rector of the University of Genoa, Jayne Stowell, Board Member of the SubOptic Foundation, and Enrico Bagnasco, CEO of Sparkle.

The agreement includes among its main academic objectives the implementation the world’s first post-graduate course on submarine fibre optic cables.

The didactic activities of the course, coordinated by the University of Genoa, will also benefit from the contribution of expert professionals from Sparkle and other companies in the sector and will have a strong international footprint also thanks to the contribution of SubOptic, an association that confederates the global players in the sector – companies that operate, manufacture, install and maintain – and which has among its objectives that of training and attracting young talents to the industry.

The partners also intend to identify common actions in the definition of relationships at national and international level and in the organization of institutional events for the promotion of scientific-technological and entrepreneurial culture.

Collaboration is also foreseen with other bodies that share a focus on underwater technological innovation, such as the Polo nazionale della dimensione subacquea (PNS, Italian national hub of the underwater dimension), also based in Liguria at La Spezia, which brings together the national public and private excellences operating in the sector.

Federico Delfino, Rector of the University of Genoa, comments: “It is a source of pride for the University of Genoa to be the home of the world’s first academic specialization course on submarine fibre optic cables. The post-degree course marks a strategic and innovative enrichment for our University in the context of marine and maritime disciplines, aimed at deepening studies of significant topical interest. The sea will increasingly be a functional infrastructure for telecommunications and Genoa, with its geographical position as an ideal bridge between the South and North of the world, will represent a highly qualified hub for higher education and a fundamental development pole for the innovation economy”.

“Education and research are core to the SubOptic Foundation’s mission” said Jayne Stowell, Board Member of the SubOptic Foundation. “This is an exciting opportunity to collaborate on developing education and training programs that will inspire and engage the next generation of talents to pursue careers in our dynamic submarine cable industry”.

“Genoa is a strategic hub of Sparkle’s innovation and growth: we have created, with the BlueMed cable and the Genoa Landing Platform, a state-of-the-art infrastructure system destined to be a central hub of digital traffic between Europe, Africa and Asia” says Enrico Bagnasco, CEO of Sparkle. ‘It is therefore a source of pride for us to collaborate with a prestigious academy as the University of Genoa and with a reference industry institution as SubOptic Foundation with an initiative such as this specialization course which has the characteristics of uniqueness and a strong international scope, and which places oceanic fibre optic cables among the pillars of the country’s educational and economic development.”

Insights

Sparkle’s presence and commitment in Genoa is becoming increasingly strategic: thanks to its privileged position, in fact, the Ligurian capital is becoming the preferred route in Europe for new submarine cables seeking diversified access compared to Marseille and therefore a new hub for traffic between Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Europe.

Genoa is home to BlueMed, Sparkle’s new proprietary submarine cable, an integral part of the Blue & Raman Submarine Cable Systems project launched in collaboration with Google and other operators, and which will connect Italy with India, becoming the new main data highway between Asia and Europe.

Besides BlueMed’s key landing site, in Genoa Sparkle has developed a truly integrated system, the Genoa Landing Platform, characterized by the innovative multi-cable ‘Bore Pipe’ system for the safe and plug-in docking of multiple cables without impacting the marine environment; from the beach man-haul the cables, through a network of underground tunnels, are directly interconnected with the Landing & Connectivity Hub of Genoa Lagaccio, an open and neutral colocation facility.

Is the submarine cable industry doing enough to nurture the next generation of telecoms professionals? Join the ecosystem in discussion at Submarine Networks EMEA

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News

The five new Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites are the first step in providing mobile coverage to ‘not spots’ across the USA

AST SpaceMobile has successfully launched its first five BlueBird LEO satellites, which will ultimately form part of a constellation aimed at delivering direct-to-device (D2D) connectivity to mobile subscribers.

The five satellites carry antenna arrays that each cover around 700 square feet, making them the largest ever deployed by a commercial space craft.

For the next three months, the quintuplet will undergo various calibration testing, after which beta tests with AT&T (and likely Verizon) customers will begin.

Each of the satellites’ beams are designed to support a capacity of up to 40 MHz, enabling peak data transmission speeds of up to 120 Mbps. and will target approximately 100% nationwide coverage from space with over 5,600 coverage cells in the US.

Initial coverage from the satellites will be limited; the devices will orbit the Earth twice a day, providing about an hour of combined connectivity across the US. AST aims to launch 17 additional satellites during Q1 next year, with plans for up to 155 to be built by 2030, which will ultimately provide global coverage.

“This is a pivotal moment for AST SpaceMobile as we bring our vision to enhance cellular connectivity globally, with the support of our strategic partners and the unwavering commitment of our team,” said Abel Avellan, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of AST SpaceMobile. “As we shift our manufacturing focus to increase Block 2 production of the active payload systems and other components for the first 17 Block 2 satellites, we are excited to bring this revolutionary technology to the world. We believe space-based broadband cellular connectivity will revolutionize how people connect, empowering communities and driving economic growth on a global scale.”

Both AT&T and Verizon have deals with AST SpaceMobile to make use of the satellites to deliver connectivity to ‘not spots’ across the country. The services will use the operators’ respective 850MHz spectrum and will connect to unmodified smartphones.

“This is an exciting next step to a future where our customers will only be hard to reach if they choose to be – giving them the power to go anywhere and the possibility to do anything while staying connected with just an everyday cell phone” said Jeff McElfresh, Chief Operating Officer at AT&T. “This moment has been several years in the making, and I am proud of our teams’ work, in collaboration with AST SpaceMobile, to help make space-based connectivity a reality.”

Exactly how the mobile operators will commercialise these services remains to be seen, but AT&T’s network chief Chris Sambar has previously hinted that the service will be available as-standard on premium packages or as a paid addition to cheaper packages.

Besides AT&T and Verizon, AST SpaceMobile also has partnership and investments from the likes of American Tower, Google, Rakuten, and Vodafone.

It should also be noted that AST SpaceMobile is not the only satellite operator to be eying D2D connectivity. Indeed, SpaceX’s more than 7,000-satellite Starlink constellation has plans to launch its own D2D connectivity services later this year.

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