The Ordnance Survey (OS), which creates and maintains detailed location (map) information for Great Britain, claims to have launched a “game-changing advantage” for alternative broadband networks (Altnet) that can help them to roll-out full fibre lines by “eradicating time-draining obstacles“, such as missing data for multi-dwelling units (big residential buildings).

According to OS, Altnets can sometimes run into trouble, when confronted with high rise flats and mixed-use residential and commercial buildings in Britain. For example, gaps in data around the classification and characteristics of these types of buildings sometimes “prevents the smooth running of operational rollouts, or targeted sales and marketing strategies from reaching the different occupiers inside.”

In addition, other problems, such as “not knowing how much cable or pipework is required for a job, not knowing what tools need to be on-site, or not knowing what type of staffing expertise will be needed to work on a specific type of building” can all mount up. Even before the work can start, not having a clear idea of who owns the piece of land around a building that must be accessed or dug up can create problems.

Suffice to say that OS has been working on a solution to help network operators get good and correct data on these sites, which can reduce the chances of related deployments becoming time-consuming and resource heavy. The solution is a concept called Complex Building Intelligence (CBI), which was first previewed at last year’s Connected Britain event.

Complex Building Intelligence

The analytics pulls data from multiple sources into one new single layer, combining OS’s addressing, topographic and building height data with HM Land Registry and Royal Mail PAF data.

Attributes for complex buildings are all available in one place, including: building geometry (e.g. size and shape), building height, functional use of buildings (e.g. retail or education), key infrastructure sites (e.g. hospitals), Unique Property Reference Numbers and tenure data for England and Wales (e.g. registered owner or leaseholders).

The full analytics service contains 7.2 million addresses shown within 1.2m buildings around Britain.

The solution incorporates HMLR Title Number data and information about land ownership. For altnets, this streamlines the wayleave consent process when installing telecoms equipment on private land. It also means altnets are no longer forced to licence HMLR and OS data separately when seeking correct land ownership data for sites.

Naturally, anything that enables better planning, cost efficiencies and thus faster deployments of new broadband infrastructure can only be a good thing when it comes to the complex task of dealing with MDUs.

Richard Crump, OS’s Strategic Product Manager, said:

“We have observed the challenges surrounding complex building that telecoms providers face, for some time. Having listened and had conversations about these difficulties with many voices in the industry, OS has gone away and developed a solution for its partners that provides a single source of truth in one place.

Complex Building Intelligence basically removes all the complexity of data management – whether that’s collating the data or querying it. It’s a simple, easy-to-use analytics service, kept up to date by experts, that’s ready to load into anyone’s network planning or GIS software.”

Credits to Thinkbroadband for spotting this one.

The UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has today finalised their earlier proposal to BAN phone, mobile, pay TV and broadband ISPs from doing mid-contract price hikes that are linked to inflation and percentage changes. The plan is to introduce this change from 17th January 2025, before the next round of annual price increases typically hit.

Back in 2020 most of the major providers preferred to announce a general price increase each year, which usually averaged around 4-6%. But that changed after BT adopted a key policy and now almost all of them (except Sky Broadband) increase their prices each year by nearly 4% plus the rate of annual inflation (CPI or RPI) – as published in a particular month (usually January or February).

Initially, the change wasn’t such a problem because inflation remained low, but it’s been far from low over the past couple of years. In 2022 most consumers saw their prices rise by around 9% (here) and in 2023 that hit over 14% (here), although falling inflation meant that the hikes for 2024 weren’t quite that and were closer to 7-8% (here). But these weren’t the only problems with inflation linked price hikes.

The policy also made it harder for customers to exit their contracts penalty free because the providers could argue that they’d already given prior notice of the increases in the small print. On top of that, many consumers found the policy confusing (e.g. not being familiar with how “inflation” actually works or the meaning of terms like CPI or RPI).

The Intervention

The regulator arguably took too long to respond to the concerns, but their review eventually found that consumers have “low awareness and understanding of inflation-linked price rises” and are “unable to estimate reliably what they will pay”. Ofcom also found that people do not typically consider future inflation-linked price rises when choosing a contract.

Ofcom said more than half (55%) of broadband customers and pay monthly mobile customers (58%) do not know what inflation rates such as CPI and RPI measure. And of those who are with providers that use inflation-linked price rises, very few broadband (16%) and mobile customers (12%) were both aware of the price rise and able to identify that it was inflation-linked with an additional percentage.

In response, the regulator announced a proposal in December 2023 to “effectively ban” the practice (here). Instead, wherever telecoms or pay TV providers apply in-contract price rises they must now “set these out clearly and up-front, in pounds and pence, when a customer signs up“. Put another way, providers would be able to present their monthly subscription price (e.g. £30 per month), but any mid-contract price hikes must be spelled out alongside and include the dates when they will become applicable.

Ofcom has spent the past few months consulting the industry on these proposals, and they’ve today announced their intention to adopt them into their rules (General Conditions). The announcement confirms that the regulator will formally begin to enforce this change on the market from 17th January 2025.

Some providers, such as TalkTalk, complained that the move was unfair because Ofcom hadn’t applied the same rules to wholesale providers – they singled out Openreach as an example. But unlike retail providers, Openreach don’t do the CPI + X% model (usually they just do a pure inflation increase) or apply such changes mid-contract. Likewise, it’s not as if other providers (e.g. smaller players) don’t have to deal with variable supply side costs already, yet many of them still manage to avoid mid-contract hikes.

Cristina Luna-Esteban, Ofcom’s Telecoms Policy Director, said:

“With household budgets squeezed, people need to have certainty about their monthly outgoings. But that’s impossible if you’re tied into a contract where the price could change based on something as hard to predict as future inflation.

We’re stepping in on behalf of phone, broadband and pay TV customers to stamp out this practice, so people can be certain of the price they will pay, compare deals more easily and take advantage of the competitive market we have in the UK.”

The change will naturally increase the risk for providers that typically adopted the CPI/RPI + X% model to annual hikes. But providers still have to balance that higher risk through their pricing, which could well result in bigger price increases to compensate for greater uncertainty (the longer the contract term, the greater the uncertainty). So none of this will make services cheaper, only clearer. In some cases, it may even make them more expensive than the old approach.

Some providers, such as the BT Group ISPs (e.g. BT, Plusnet and EE) and Vodafone, have already responded to this by introducing a flat £3 per year increase on broadband and a c.£1-£2 increase on mobile. Such a policy is much clearer, but it doesn’t scale well across differently priced packages (i.e. those on entry-level services will be hit harder) and is unlikely to damped calls for an outright ban on mid-contract hikes – something we’d support.

Speaking of which, if service providers can now predict their increases ahead of time, then it arguably increases the case for just baking those planned hikes into a fixed price contract. At this point it’s worth remembering that not all providers adopt the same approach as the biggest players and many smaller ISPs, particularly newer alternative networks (altnets), often already promote packages with simple fixed price terms.

Finally, Ofcom’s changes will only impact new or recontracting terms, which means that existing customers will need to change (or re-contract) their current package in order to be covered by the new policy.

Statement: Prohibiting inflation-linked price rises
https://www.ofcom.org.uk/../review-of-inflation-linked-telecoms-price-rises

Mobile network operator Lebara, which harnesses Vodafone’s Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) platform, has introduced a handful of exclusive 4G and 5G (mobile broadband) supporting SIM-Only Pay Monthly mobile plans on 30 day terms for those who want a save a bit of extra money on the middle tier plans.

The additional 30-Day plans include a 10GB for £7 (monthly) option, as well as 20GB for £8 and 30GB for £9 – the latter two are cheaper than the same tiers on their 12-Month terms. The additional plans all include unlimited calls, texts and 100 International Minutes (from the UK) to over 40 countries. You also get a promise of no annual price rises in 2024 and EU roaming at no extra cost (30GB data FUP).

As usual, you’ll need to click the affiliate links above to get these specially discounted plans.

Broadband network builder and UK ISP CommunityFibre, which runs a 10Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network across around 1.4 million UK premises – mostly in London (inc. parts of Surrey and West Sussex), has launched a new offer that discounts their 500Mbps (symmetric speed) package to just £20 per month on a 24-month term (£33 thereafter).

The package includes free setup, a WiFi 6 capable Linksys broadband router and a notice that their prices will increase every April by the prior January rate of inflation (CPI) + 2.9%. But the latter policy will almost certainly change before the end of 2024, due to Ofcom’s forthcoming new rules.

The promotional price is expected to remain available for new customers to take until 4th August 2024. Take note that CommunityFibre also offers a 60 Day Satisfaction Guarantee, meaning that if at any point within the first 60 days of installation a customer is not happy with their new full fibre connection, they can leave their contract without incurring any cancellation fees.

News

The project began in September 2021 

Chinese giant Huawei has completed the construction of its new research and development (R&D) centre in Shanghai, China. 

Officially named the Lianqiu Lake R&D Center, the campus includes offices, R&D, incubation and production services. It is the “largest and most heavily invested R&D base globally,” the company said. In the future, the site will designed to become a core node in Huawei’s global R&D network. 

According to South China Morning Post, approximately 30,000 employees are expected to move into the campus upon completion, with the first number expected in September. Operations are expected to begin later this year, although the company have yet to commented on the project’s completion. A state media report in January confirmed that the site will ‘carry out innovative research and development in the fields of Huawei terminal chips, wireless networks and the Internet of Things’.  

There are currently around 19,000 staff at its research centre in the city’s Pudong district. 

The campus is reportedly comprised of eight blocks and 104 buildings, connected via a railway system. Other amenities, such as the 100 on site cafes, have been included to attract foreign employees.  

“[We aim to] create an atmosphere suitable for foreign scientists to work and live in,” said Huewei founder and CEO Ren Zhengfei in an internal meeting in 2021, which was later made public. 

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

Also in the news:
Power play: Thailand’s biggest telco to merge with energy giant
Germany implements long-awaited Huawei ban
Telecom Egypt readies for country’s first 5G services

Altnets embarking on network expansion programmes quickly run into trouble when confronted with high rise flats and mixed-use residential and commercial buildings in Britain.

Gaps in data around the classification and characteristics of these types of buildings prevents the smooth running of operational rollouts, or targeted sales and marketing strategies from reaching the different occupiers inside.

Problems such as not knowing how much cable or pipework is required for a job, not knowing what tools need to be on-site, or not knowing what type of staffing expertise will be needed to work on a specific type of building mount up.

Or having no idea who owns the piece of land around a building that must be accessed or dug up for work to be able to start.

Without the correct data or insight for complex buildings, overcoming these issues becomes time-consuming, resource heavy and results in missing out on prospects to competitors, or the full extent of business opportunities for a building going undetected.

Similar issues can affect altnets when they tackle complex sites such as schools, hospitals and factories.

Complex Building Intelligence

Ordnance Survey (OS) has unveiled a major step forward for dealing with this problem by compiling a concept called Complex Building Intelligence for its partner channel* to deliver.

Introduced at the Connected Britain event in September 2023 to a significant buzz among players in the altnet industry, Complex Building Intelligence allows users to identify and classify multi-dwelling units through a location analytics service.

The analytics pulls data from multiple sources into one new single layer, combining OS’s addressing, topographic and building height data with HM Land Registry** and Royal Mail PAF data.

Attributes such as building geometry (e.g size and shape), building height, functional use of buildings (e.g retail or education), key infrastructure sites (e.g hospitals), Unique Property Reference Numbers*** and tenure data for England and Wales (e.g registered owner or leaseholders) for complex buildings, are all available in one place.

The full analytics service contains 7.2 million addresses shown within 1.2m buildings around Britain.

The solution incorporates HMLR Title Number data and information about land ownership. For altnets, this streamlines the wayleave consent process when installing telecoms equipment on private land. It also means altnets are no longer forced to licence HMLR and OS data separately when seeking correct land ownership data for sites.

OS’s Strategic Product Manager Richard Crump said: “We have observed the challenges surrounding complex building that telecoms providers face for some time.

“Having listened and had conversations about these difficulties with many voices in the industry, OS has gone away and developed a solution for its partners that provides a single source of truth in one place.

“Complex Building Intelligence basically removes all the complexity of data management – whether that’s collating the data or querying it.

“It’s a simple, easy-to-use analytics service, kept up to date by experts, that’s ready to load into anyone’s network planning or GIS software.

“It enables better planning and cost efficiencies because users can identify complex properties ahead of time, particularly when organising attending premises for works.

“Having that data at a click of a button reduces the time needed for planning which means quicker roll out, improved customer service and an advantage over competitors.”

OS support

Richard added: “OS provides the expertise to help support the OS partner channel use Complex Buildings Intelligence. We help the telecoms industry easily identify buildings with multiple residential units, or mixed use residential and commercial buildings. We can help pinpoint commercial use buildings with multiple tenants and identify important land ownership information from HMLR.

“We can also help identify building heights where additional equipment for working at heights may be needed.

“The service takes from OS’s National Geographic Database, the advantage being that complex buildings with extensions or separate structures can be dissolved into a single shape.

“Plus, the data involved is updated quarterly so everyone in the industry is kept informed as new developments come on the system.”

More information about Complex Building Intelligence is available here.

Notes for editors

*OS Channel Partners leverage their expertise, so their customers benefit from premium OS data sets through their bespoke solutions and services. This expands the reach of OS and its customer base and it brings with it a sector expertise and market knowledge.

**HM Land Registry data available comes from the HLMR National Polygon Service and Corporate Ownership.

***Unique Property Reference Numbers serve as a unique identifier for an addressable location, whether that’s a building, bus stop or post box — think of it as a national insurance number or car registration plate for a location.

The latest data from UK-leading fraud prevention service, Cifas, shows a sharp rise in criminals targeting the telecoms sector to carry out facility takeover fraud.

More than 374,000 cases were filed to the National Fraud Database (NFD) in 2023, and of this, cases of facility takeover fraud – where a criminal utilises compromised personal data to hijack an existing account or product – increased by 13%. This was primarily attributed to a 59% rise in filings from the telecoms sector, which now accounts for 2 in 5 of all facility takeover cases.

Previous data showed identity fraud was the favoured tactic for criminals when fraudulently obtaining mobile phones and products. However, while this type of fraud still accounts for 64% of all cases recorded to the NFD, 2023’s figures reveal that criminals prefer to impersonate telecoms customers and abuse their personal data for their own nefarious purposes.

Additionally, mobile users aged 61 and over were most at risk of being defrauded, accounting for nearly one in four (27%) of all facility takeover cases last year.

Duncan McLellan, Senior Intelligence Analyst at Cifas, said: “The data shows how quickly criminals are prepared to adapt their methods to exploit innocent people. By impersonating network operators, often via carefully devised scripts, their aim is to build trust and collect personal information before using it fraudulently to reap ill-gotten gains.

“When reports suggest there are now more mobile phones in the world than people, the telecoms industry remains a lucrative market to exploit. That’s why sharing fraud data and intelligence remains critical if we’re to put a stop to organised crime and the wider impact it has on society.”

Hamish MacLeod, Chief Executive of Mobile UK, said: “Mobile UK calls on all mobile consumers to remain vigilant. Fraudsters are an ongoing problem faced by all UK phone networks, but we hope that by sharing tips and guidance it may help prevent mobile network consumers falling victim.

“Protecting customers from fraudulent mobile scams is and remains a top priority for all operators and they continue to invest in new measures to help monitor and protect them.”

Andy Mayo, Head of Fraud at Sky UK, added: “The nature and appeal of mobile devices means that fraudsters are constantly evolving tactics to get their hands on the latest handsets. We are regularly updating our defences to stop as much fraud as possible, but there are important steps that all consumers can take to help keep themselves protected too.”

Seven ways mobile users can protect themselves from facility takeover

Never divulge personal information or hand over any bank details.
Don’t feel rushed/pressured into a decision you might regret later.
If you do sense something isn’t right, hang up and call the company they claim to be from to check if it is a scam or not.
Check your credit file and bank account regularly.
Report any fraud to Action Fraud here or call: 0300 123 2040.
Read the latest advice from the ‘Stop! Think Fraud’ campaign.
Protect your identity through Cifas’ Protective Registration service which costs £30 for two years’ cover.

In 2023, Cifas member organisations prevented more than £1.8bn of fraud losses. See more data in the 2024 Cifas Fraudscape report.

MADRID, Spain, July 18 2024 – Telxius, a leading global connectivity provider, is scaling its core and edge network infrastructure to 400G with a Converged Optical Routing Architecture (CORA) provided by Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR), a leader in secure AI-Native Networks. This will enable a simplified network capacity expansion and efficient delivery of enhanced connectivity to metro networks and data center interconnects (DCI). It provides connectivity across distances of around 100 km to points of presence (PoPs) across Telxius’ global footprint in Spain, the Americas, and wider Europe.

Telxius connects millions of customers globally, providing a wide range of capacity, colocation and security services, as well as direct internet connectivity through its Tier-1 IP network. Its extensive ecosystem combines fiber optic submarine cables and terrestrial backhauls together spanning 100,000+ km, almost 100 PoPs in 17 countries, plus 27 data centers. Telxius seamlessly connects customers with ultra-high capacity, low latency and resilient networking.

Telxius will migrate some of its key architecture to Juniper’s CORA and PTX Series Packet Transport Routers to deliver a network that offers robust power and space savings superior performance and automated operations. This will free up a substantial amount of reserved bandwidth and allow for flexible extension to 400G capacity. The project will create enhanced connectivity for Telxius’ customers and create a more sustainable architecture by optimizing network scalability and bandwidth efficiency.

The solution leverages leading edge technology with the use of an IP over Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (IPoDWDM) solution. This maximizes routing platform capacity, scales up link bandwidth, and can reach more network locations and customers whilst removing the need to manage and maintain external DWDM equipment.

Using Juniper’s CORA, Telxius will simplify the network architecture by consolidating previously siloed IP and optical network layers into a unified system leveraging IPoDWDM. Once the project is complete, Telxius expects to increase network reliability for its customers, simplify network operations and substantially reduce power consumption.

“This project is a fantastic step forward to bring added scalability and capacity to the Telxius network through 400G coherent pluggable optics, meeting our customers’ needs in today’s ever-growing digital economy. Telxius is at the forefront of innovation, ensuring reduced power consumption and a simplified network architecture to provide a better experience for our customers. We anticipate a number of vendor-agnostic solutions that could support this architecture, and we are excited to collaborate with Juniper to build a solid foundation for further network expansion,” said Carlos Dasi, CTO, Telxius.

“400G optics are a highly reliable solution to further enhance Telxius’ infrastructure to enable the best experience for customers. Telxius is leading the way for network innovation with the deployment of Juniper’s PTX and CORA and Juniper is proud to enable this network transformation. Juniper’s optics solutions provide a simplified integration with Juniper infrastructure that allows the customer to scale up and scale out their network in line with their business goals. Built to last, this network transformation will extend Telxius’ network longevity to future-proof the business,” said Julius Francis, Senior Director of Product Marketing, Juniper Networks.

About Telxius

As the world’s needs for uninterrupted global interconnectivity continue to rise, we are preparing the road ahead. Telxius is a leading global connectivity provider that combines subsea and terrestrial networks with data centers worldwide. Its extensive ecosystem includes eight next-generation fiber optic submarine cables and terrestrial backhauls together spanning 100,000+ km, almost 100 PoPs in 17 countries, plus 25 landing stations. Telxius provides a wide range of capacity, colocation and security services, as well as direct internet connectivity through its Tier-1 IP network. With ultra-high capacity, low latency and resilient networking, Telxius seamlessly connects customers across the Americas, Europe and beyond. For more information about Telxius visit www.telxius.com.

Telxius Corporate Comms contact:

comunicacion@telxius.com

About Juniper Networks

Juniper Networks believes that connectivity is not the same as experiencing a great connection. Juniper’s AI-Native Networking Platform is built from the ground up to leverage AI to deliver exceptional, highly secure and sustainable user experiences from the edge to the data center and cloud. Additional information can be found at Juniper Networks (www.juniper.net) or connect with Juniper on X (Twitter), LinkedIn, and Facebook.

Juniper Networks, the Juniper Networks logo, Juniper, Junos, and other trademarks listed here are registered trademarks of Juniper Networks, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Media Relations

Chloe Brown

Juniper Networks

chloeb@juniper.net

+44 (0) 7903746867

News

Sources suggest the US wireless giant is looking to offload between 5,000 and 6,000 mobile towers

This week, reports from Bloomberg suggest that Verizon is exploring the potential sale of up to 6,000 of its telecoms towers situated across the US.

While discussions are still in the early stages and potential suits have not been named, the anonymous sources suggest that the deal could be worth up to $3 billion.

The divestment should not come as a huge surprise. This decade has seen many of the world’s largest telcos divest of or spin off their tower portfolios, including the likes of Vodafone (Vantage Towers), Telefonica (Telxius), and Orange (Totem). More recently, Austria’s A1 has announced it will spin off its tower unit, while Greece’s OTE looks likely to follow suit.

Towers are typically seen as low-risk, long-term investments by the investor community, with both indendent infrastructure companies and private equity showing a strong appetite for the towers in recent years. For the operators, on the other hand, sales or spin offs offer an excellent opportunity to monetise their passive assets. At a time when operators are still spending heavily on rolling out fibre and 5G networks, this cash injection often comes as a much-needed boost.

In the US, however, much of this divestment already took place around 20 years ago, subsequently leading to the rise of a cadre of independent tower giants such as American Tower, Crown Castle, and SBA Communications, which now own and lease access to the majority of the US’s tower infrastructure.

The most recent tower divestments from Verizon themselves came in 2015, when the company sold 11,000 towers to American Tower for $6 billion.

AT&T had similarly sold 9,700 towers to Crown Castle in 2013 for $4.8 billion.

How is the American connectivity landscape changing in 2024? Join the discussion at Connected America live in Texas

Also in the news:
Australian Government and AWS Collaborate to Strengthen country’s Cybersecurity
Solving congestion challenges in FTTP deployment
Vodafone Invests £120m in AI Chatbot ‘SuperTOBi’

News 

The speech is the first delivered under the new Labour government  

At the state opening of parliament yesterday, the new government set out its agenda for its tenure ahead. At the centre of the event was a speech from the King, written by the new government, which outlines the government’s agenda and proposed policies for the coming parliamentary session.  

Of the 40 bills mentioned in the speech, there were three of relevance to the telco sector: 

The ‘Cyber Security and Resilience Bill’ aims to address the increasing number of cyber threats that the country faces. To prevent cyberattacks, such as the recent cyberattack on London hospitals, this new bill will strengthen the country’s cyber defences, ensure essential cyber safety measures are being implemented fully, and mandating increased incident reporting. 

The ‘Digital Information and Smart Data Bill’ will enable new uses of data to be developed and deployed safely, as well as improving data sharing standards. The bill builds on the news government’s commitment to better serve the British public through science and technology. The bill, the government says, will result in more and better digital public services. 

The ‘Planning and Infrastructure Bill’, according to the King, “will get Britain building, including through planning reform, as they [the government] seek to accelerate the delivery of high-quality infrastructure and housing. They will also pursue sustainable growth by encouraging investment in industry, skills and new technologies.” The planning system will face reform at local level, which will increase the speeds of infrastructure builds. 

The ongoing Project Gigabit, the UK government initiative aimed at providing high-speed, reliable broadband internet to areas that are currently underserved or lack adequate connectivity, was not mentioned directly, and instead was granted a few lines in the party manifesto. The project currently aims to deliver gigabit-capable broadband to at last 85% of UK premises by 2025 and the whole of the UK (roughly 99%) by 2030. 

In the Labour party’s manifesto, published on 13 June, the party blamed the Conservative government for underfunding digital infrastructure, leaving the UK lagging behind its international peers.  

“Under the Conservatives, investment in 5G is falling behind other countries and the rollout of gigabit broadband has been slow. Labour will make a renewed push to fulfil the ambition of full gigabit and national 5G coverage by 2030.” 

It is worth noting here that the King’s speech made no specific mention of the new AI laws the Labour government is expected to introduce, saying only that the government will “seek to establish the appropriate legislation to place requirements on those working to develop the most powerful artificial intelligence models”. 

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

Also in the news:
Power play: Thailand’s biggest telco to merge with energy giant
Germany implements long-awaited Huawei ban
Telecom Egypt readies for country’s first 5G services