Alternative broadband ISP and network builder Grain (Grain Connect) claims to have broken their previous home installation record of 36 minutes (here). The event occurred yesterday after a new customer signed-up and had a brand-new Full Fibre (FTTP) broadband service installed into their home in just 29 minutes.

The operator’s full fibre network currently covers 220,000 premises (21st May 2024) across parts of 59 UK locations (and over 150 new build housing developments), which includes a lot of small-to-modest sized patches of various urban areas like Leicester, Liverpool, Accrington, Grimsby, Cleethorpes, Scarborough, Carlisle, Barrow-in-Furness, Hartlepool, Newport, Sunderland, Bolton, Blackburn and so forth. The operator also has 30,000 customers.

However, in terms of installation times, it’s worth remembering that there can be many different variables to consider depending upon the state of the local network, which makes it difficult to do a general comparison between operators. For example, some homes that have ONTs (optical modems) pre-installed for the same network could technically be remotely provisioned in seconds. But in reality it would still take slightly longer as you also have to boot the customer’s router up to establish a live link and WiFi etc.

Suffice to say, it’s important to give some context to Grain’s previous installation and their latest personal record. The 36 minute (original) installation was for one of their urban premises (a house, not a flat), where they had no infrastructure already in place inside the customer’s property (only outside in the street). The 36 minutes thus covered the following process:

1. The customer calling into our sales team, selecting their package and completing the order.

2. Creation of a work pack that was issued to an engineer.

3. Engineer attending the customer’s home and bringing a new fibre line into their home, terminating the fibre in the home and connecting up the router.

4. Connecting the broadband line to a port in our electronics and configuring the broadband service on the router.

5. Engineer testing the customer connection to ensure the service is working.

6. Tidying up and leaving the customer premises with a brand new working full fibre broadband service.

Doing all that in just 36 minutes really does require the most ideal of circumstances and we should point out that Grain also has a different definition of ‘Ready for Service’ (RFS) from some other operators. For example, Openreach and some other PIA based providers define a home RFS where they have a live service either in a chamber or at the top of the pole somewhere near the premise, which can sometimes be over 100 metres away.

By comparison, Grain define a home RFS when they have a live network to the boundary of the premise. It costs Grain about £200 to connect customers in a property (including the costs of marketing to acquire the customer and the in-home router), which compares with c.£300 for Openreach (excluding marketing and an in-home router).

So, with all that in mind, it’s interesting to note how Grain has just informed ISPreview that they’ve managed to beat their previous time and deliver a new service within just 29 minutes (it was the same type of install as the last one). The event took place in Oldham, where install engineer Samantha completed the install for new customer, Rebecca. The Grain sales, provisioning and technical support teams then facilitated the sign-up, scheduled the installation, and configured the router – going from sign-up at 16:40 to service activation at 17:09.

Richard Cameron, CEO of Grain, said:

“Our customers are at the heart of everything we do. For too long customers have endured long delays to have broadband installed in their homes. At Grain, we have chosen to build our own independent infrastructure, rather than renting the Openreach network. This enables us to deliver for our customers in a way no other provider can match. To do this in just 29 minutes is a testament to our efficient connection process and dedicated team.

While other providers deal in days or weeks, at Grain we deal in minutes.

We strive to deliver exceptional service, offering the lowest prices and the fastest installations, and I am extremely proud of the team for delivering this.”

The catch here is that, as good as this is, it won’t matter much unless you’re lucky enough to be in the minority of premises covered by Grain’s network. Most other network operators normally take several days (lead times of around 1-2 weeks are not uncommon) and of course Grain’s other installs will be slower than this (the operator notes that this will be a hard record for them to beat).

Viewpoint

Jakarta, August 6th, 2024 – Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison (Indosat or IOH) today celebrates a major milestone in its journey towards digital transformation with the inauguration of its state-of-the-art Digital Intelligence Operations Center (DIOC) on. This advanced facility represents a significant leap forward in Indosat’s commitment to leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to deliver exceptional service to more than 100 million customers across Indonesia.

The DIOC was inaugurated by Vikram Sinha, President Director and CEO of Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison and board of management and commissioner, and Simon Lin, President of Huawei Asia-Pacific Region and board, underscoring the strategic collaboration between the two companies. The DIOC will serve as the nerve center of Indosat’s network operations, providing real-time insights and proactive service management to ensure optimal network performance and reliability. This innovative center merges the traditional Network Operations Center (NOC) and Service Operations Center (SOC), marking a new era of intelligent network and service management, propelling Indonesia’s digital future.

Vikram Sinha, President Director and CEO of Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison, said, “Today marks a new chapter in Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison’s story as we inaugurate our Digital Intelligence Operations Center. This facility embodies our ambition of becoming an Intelligence Native Telco, where cutting-edge technology and innovative solutions are at the core of our operations. With the DIOC, we are not just improving network performance; we are redefining the way we serve our customers. By integrating advanced technologies and fostering talent, we are setting new benchmarks in network performance and customer satisfaction. This collaboration is pivotal in realizing our mission to connect and empower every Indonesian through digital connectivity.”

Furthermore, the DIOC has new advanced functionalities such as Real-time Network Insights, enabling Indosat to shift from reactive problem-solving to proactive service management, leveraging real-time data to optimize network performance and reliability. The DIOC also provides comprehensive End-to-End Service Management of all services, including performance, application experience, and quality which empowers Indosat to swiftly resolve customer issues and enhance satisfaction. In the end, the ability of DIOC to integrate data analysis and cutting-edge technologies can fuel continuous Data-Driven Innovation, which enables Indosat to develop new customer-centric products and services, leading the way in digital service advancements.

The inauguration also highlights the deepening partnership between Indosat and Huawei. Together, both companies aim to enhance network infrastructure, accelerate digital transformation, and cultivate top-tier talent to drive Indonesia’s digital future. Huawei’s advanced ICT solutions and technology leadership will help Indosat build a future-oriented, automated, and intelligent network, ensuring flexibility to adapt to customers’ dynamic digital needs.

Reflecting on this collaboration, Simon Lin, President of Huawei Asia-Pacific Region said, “The unveiling of IOH’s Digital Intelligence Operations Center represents a ground-breaking achievement, marking a new era of co-building the innovation hub and embracing intelligent network. This collaboration is built upon our long-term strategic partnership with Indosat, and serves as a testament to our shared commitment to continuously providing exceptional network experience. As a technology innovator, industry pioneer, and local contributor rooted in this region, Huawei is committed to leveraging our innovative solutions to help our customers maintain sustainable business success and competitiveness. Together, we are shaping a more digital, connected, and intelligent future for Indonesia.”

Indosat has made significant strides in its digital transformation journey and achieved significant results. In collaboration with Huawei through the managed services and operations center, Indosat completed experience-centric network consolidation and significantly improved network quality and user experience. Independent third-party testing has shown Indosat’s substantial improvements across rural, urban, and suburban areas, where the download speed in has improved significantly year-on-year (YoY), increasing 44.1% YoY in rural areas, 43.5% YoY in urban areas, and 43.9% YoY in suburban areas, contributing to higher customer satisfaction and network performance. Indosat’s population coverage also increased, by 12.7 million people.

The implementation of network transformation strategies and the adoption of cutting-edge technologies that coupled by strong collaboration with global partners are critical to provide marvelous experience to customers. Indosat and Huawei have embarked on collaboration journey to deepen cooperation, focusing on network infrastructure, network operations, and talent cultivation. Indosat also establish an open and collaborative environment by working closely with international organizations such as TM Forum to nurture innovation and explore new use cases with other global industry leaders.

“As Indosat continues to deploy innovative technologies like digital twin networks, AI/ML, and automation, we remain committed to catalyzing Indonesia’s digital future. By leveraging our extensive network reach and next-generation technology adoption, Indosat aims to connect individuals, businesses, and everything in between, unlocking Indonesia’s full digital potential,” Vikram concluded.

News 

The facility is a collaboration between IOH and Huawei, and will act as the centre of the telco’s network operations, providing real-time insights and proactive service management, to ensure the reliability and optimal performance of the network

Indonesia-based telco Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison (IOH) has announced the launch of their Digital Intelligence Operations Center (DIOC).  

The DIOC will feature End-to-End Service Management of all its services, which will allow any customer issues to be quickly sorted. It will also integrate data analysis with “cutting-edge technologies,” which IOH says will enable “continuous, data driven innovation”. 

Back in February and Mobile World Congress Barcelona, the two companies signed a Memorandum of Understanding to work together on digital and AI development. 

The centre is a step forward in IOH’s mission for digital transformation, as it pledges to use AI to provide superior service to over 100 million customers across Indonesia and part of its wider commitment to “democratise digitalisation in Indonesia”. 

“Today marks a new chapter in Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison’s story as we inaugurate our Digital Intelligence Operations Centre. This facility embodies our ambition of becoming an Intelligence Native Telco, where cutting-edge technology and innovative solutions are at the core of our operations,” said Vikram Sinha, President Director and CEO of Indosat in a press release. 

“With the DIOC, we are not just improving network performance; we are redefining the way we serve our customers. Our collaboration with Huawei is pivotal in realizing our mission to connect and empower every Indonesian through digital connectivity,” he continued. 

The partnership has allowed Indosat to make significant strides in its digital transformation journey, improving network quality and user experience, and increasing its population coverage by 12.7 million people. Both companies continue to focus on enhancing network operations and infrastructure to propel Indonesia’s digital future forward. 

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

Also in the news:
Vodafone kick-starts £430 million share buyback scheme
Google Search is an illegal monopoly, US court rules
Deutsche Telekom and Volkswagen leveraging 5G to manage automotive terminal

Viewpoint

This article was written by Matt Rees, Chief Technology & Operating Officer at Neos Networks 

No one needs to be reminded of the dominance of AI and its impact on every aspect of our lives. For telecoms, AI is also fueling another, distinct revolution that is fundamentally changing how networks operate. The ever-growing demand for generative AI (GenAI) is driving the rise of ‘edge computing’, with edge data centres being developed and positioned closer to the end-user. By 2030, this market alone is expected to grow by nearly 15% to meet AI’s increasing real-time data processing and low-latency performance demands.  

The case for the edge 

The case for edge networks is clear. Located close to the areas they serve; edge data centres can significantly reduce latency and boost the performance of applications requiring real-time processing. A shift toward this decentralised approach will help balance loads and maintaining data flows in the event of an outage. Not only do they improve the end-user’s experience, but they also improve the overall resilience of networks for operators.  

It’s no secret that AI applications are both data-heavy and compute-intensive, which raises challenges around latency and data storage. With Gartner predicting that GenAI alone will drive a 24% growth in data centres this year, these issues will be exacerbated. However, the edge is set to reduce these pressures on networks. 

GenAI requires faster processing time than regular AI applications, so in many cases will require networks to deliver ultra-low-latency. Edge data centres allow enquiries to be stored and processed close to the end-user, promising a faster experience. This isn’t just theoretical either, we are already seeing edge use cases, including predictive maintenance, autonomous vehicles, and immersive experiences – where every millisecond counts.  

Sustainability and power consumption of data centres must be considered, particularly given Google’s recent concession that data centre energy consumption significantly contributed to its staggering 48% increase in greenhouse gas emissions. It’s estimated that this year alone, UK businesses will require up to 30% more computing power. However, edge data centres promise to reduce the overall power consumption of the grid due to the wider, distributed network that they create, which spreads the computing burden and power demand more evenly.  

The challenges  

It isn’t all sunshine and roses, however. The recent news that BT intends to close down 4,600 telephone exchanges, reducing the number dotted around the UK to just 1,000 by the early 2030s, put a spanner in the works for edge data centre operators. These exchanges are vital for the full-fibre rollout across Britain and present opportunities to deliver edge computing services essential for supporting AI. Given BT didn’t yet mention which exchanges it planned to close, the lack of clarity will likely slow down investment decisions and create a race for space within the remaining locations for the hundreds of network operators using these exchanges. 

Another issue is a lack of investment. Despite widespread investment in ‘traditional’ data centres such as Google’s $1 billion data centre announced earlier in the year, there’s been less investment in edge data centres. The UK’s ambitious AI strategy must address this; focusing on the size, location, and quality of the underlying infrastructure that will support it. Endeavours like Project Gigabit are crucial steps in the right direction as investment in full-fibre rollout is essential to enabling data centre buildout. However, UK government must also prioritise building out the network edge, not just fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) and the central network.   

Data centre buildout = the key to the UK’s AI ambitions  

The UK’s goal to become an AI ‘world leader’ will depend on the country’s fixed telecoms infrastructure’s ability to carry significant amounts of data with minimal latency. If our data centres and networks are ill-equipped to deal with the influx of traffic generated by ‘always on’ Large Language Models (LLMs) and other data-hungry applications like IoT and AR/VR, the government’s ambitions could flounder.  

A hybrid approach 

As AI develops, we anticipate more data centre investment in the North of England. While this will support AI in the region, this investment must be supplemented by edge buildout across the country if the UK is to reach its goal to become an AI superpower. The best approach is a hybrid one, combining strategically placed data centres and adequate PoPs at the network edge in tandem with central data centres. This arrangement will be essential to manage rapid information flow cost-effectively and sustainably while meeting the low-latency needs of AI.  

While AI is fueling significant growth in edge computing, its success is reliant on edge data centres being built to strengthen the network. GenAI cannot perform without the low-latency capabilities and real-time processing provided by these facilities. However, they face challenges including minimal investment and the uncertainty created by the BT Openreach exchange closures. The UK government needs to focus on bolstering telecoms infrastructure, including the edge, so that it can handle the increase in data that comes with widescale AI use. Without this, the UK’s fate as an AI superpower hangs in the balance.  

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

Also in the news:
Vodafone kick-starts £430 million share buyback scheme
Google Search is an illegal monopoly, US court rules
Deutsche Telekom and Volkswagen leveraging 5G to manage automotive terminal

News 

The news comes after the successful sale of Vodafone Spain to Zegona Communications for €5 billion 

Vodafone has announced that its share buyback programme has begun.  

Run by Goldman Sachs, the programme will continue until 29 November. The scheme was authorised at the company AGM last week. 

“The sole purpose of the programme is to reduce share capital,” confirmed the company in a London Stock Exchange filing. 

Back in March, the company confirmed that it would return £2 billion to shareholders after the successful sale of Vodafone Spain to Zegona Communications earlier this year. 

The buyback is part of Vodafone’s ongoing restructuring plan, which includes a series of financial strategies aimed at enhancing value for shareholders. Despite these efforts, Vodafone’s shares have seen a nearly 10% decline year-to-date, reflecting a longer-term decrease in value over the past five years. 

The news of the share buyback comes just days after the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) pushed back the investigation deadline into the £15 billion Vodafone–Three merger that was announced last June. The new deadline is now 7 December this year, eight weeks later than expected. In a statement, the regulator explained that it needed additional time to assess the evidence, given the inquiry’s “very wide scope”. 

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

Also in the news:

AST SpaceMobile prepares to launch first commercial satellites
nexfibre passes almost 1.3m homes with full fibre
Telstra joins UNESCO’s Business Council to promote ethical AI

The latest research from Point Topic has revealed that global fixed broadband lines grew by 1.22% (17.55 million) in Q1 2024 (down from 1.6% in Q3 2023) to end the quarter on a total of 1.45 billion connections. But the subscriber growth rate of “full fibre” (FTTP/B) networks in the UK jumped to 7.2% (up from 1.5% in Q3).

The largest regional broadband market of East Asia has continued to maintain the lion’s share of net additions of fixed broadband subscribers at 50.20% in Q1 2024, which is mainly due to China’s market size and the more than 10 million fixed broadband subscribers being added there in the quarter. By comparison, the whole of Europe (inc. UK) accounted for 17.99% of net adds in the last quarter.

The data shows that, overall, both cable (hybrid fibre coax) and copper (ADSL, SDSL) based broadband connections continued to lose market share as full fibre lines cannibalised their customers. Between Q4 2023 and Q1 2024, copper-based broadband lines lost -0.25% of their market share, while cable lost -0.20% and even hybrid-fibre (FTTC, G.fast) lost -0.20%, while FTTH/B/P grew by +0.64%

Changes in broadband technology market shares

Technology
Q4 2023 Market Share
Q1 2024 Market Share
Difference

Cable
14.80%
14.60%
-0.20%

Copper
6.02%
5.78%
-0.25%

FTTH/B
69.61%
70.24%
0.64%

FTTx
7.11%
6.91%
-0.20%

Satellite
0.21%
0.21%
0.00%

Wireless
1.87%
1.89%
0.03%

Others
0.37%
0.36%
-0.01%

The good news is that the country-specific quarterly growth of FTTP/B subscribers in Q1 2024 has seen a big improvement for the United Kingdom. Back in late 2021, and through much of 2022, it wasn’t uncommon to see the UK reporting a quarterly growth rate for related subscribers of between 12-13%. But the UK’s growth rate fell to 1.5% in Q3 2023, which is down sharply from 9.2% in Q2 and put us outside the top 10, although in Q1 2024 it has recovered to a respectable 7.2% and is now back in the top ten.

Top 10 Markets by FTTH/B Growth Rates
(countries with at least 0.5m fibre broadband subscribers)

Country
FTTH/B subscriber growth, Q1 2024

Algeria
18.0%

Belgium
14.2%

Dominican Republic
11.4%

Peru
9.5%

Morocco
8.8%

Pakistan
8.5%

Colombia
7.9%

United Kingdom
7.2%

Ireland
6.7%

Italy
6.7%

People looking to join Sky’s sibling NOW Broadband ISP sub-brand, which is better known for its NOW TV streaming service, may like to know that they will today launch an additional 300Mbps full fibre (FTTP) package via Openreach’s national network. Previously their fastest package topped out at 100Mbps.

The move is another continuation of the strategy that we first saw in February 2024 (here), when NOW TV introduced their first Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) package (100Mbps “Powered by Sky“) and only made it available via Sky’s website – diluting the somewhat more separate approach and branding that NOW TV had previously been taking.

The same is true of the new 300Mbps tier, which we’re told will be priced at £30 per month on a 24-month contract term (£43 thereafter) and attracts no setup fee. But at the time of writing this article the new package was not yet live on their website and so we haven’t been able to confirm all the little details, but it should start showing up later today.

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

News 

The court ruling reflects the US government’s increasing scrutiny of Big Tech companies’ market power 

US federal judge Amit P. Mehta has ruled that Google, owned by Alphabet, has maintained an illegal monopoly over online searches and search-related advertising. 

Back in 2020, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) sued Google, accusing it of maintaining illegal monopolies through anticompetitive contracts, exclusionary practices, and the preferential treatment of its own services. It highlighted Google’s agreements with other companies to make its search engine the default on devices and browsers, which the DOJ argued harmed competition.  

District Judge Amit Mehta noted that Google’s control of about 90% of the online search market was maintained through these payments. This meant the giant could push out rivals to increase its own advertising revenues.  

In 2021, for example, the company paid out $26.3 billion to ensure that its search engine was the default on various smartphones and devices. Mehta described the default search engine position as “extremely valuable real estate”. 

Separately, the DOJ also sued Google last year, accusing the company of monopolising the adtech market, which focused on the different aspects of Google’s business related to online advertising technologies. 

“Americans deserve an internet that is free, fair, and open for competition,” said the White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre. 

Google disagrees with the ruling, saying it is being punished for outcompeting its opponents. 

“This decision recognizes that Google offers the best search engine, but concludes that we shouldn’t be allowed to make it easily available,” said Kent Walker, Google’s president of global affairs. 

Alphabet is expected to appeal the decision, indicating that the legal process will continue for some time. If the ruling is upheld, the court may impose remedies to address the antitrust violations. These could range from financial penalties to structural changes within Google’s business operations.  

Regardless of whether a penalty is imposed, the ruling represents the increased scrutiny that governments are pushing on tech giants. 

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

Also in the news:
AST SpaceMobile prepares to launch first commercial satellites
nexfibre passes almost 1.3m homes with full fibre
Telstra joins UNESCO’s Business Council to promote ethical AI

News

The network operator says it has secured $5 billion-worth of deals from cloud and tech companies seeking connectivity for their AI data centres

As the demand for generative AI services soars, global tech giants are racing to deploy the crucial data centres that underpin the new technology. The scale of their investment has been monumental; according to a report from GlobalData, investment by the data centre investment by the big five – Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, Alphabet (Google), and Apple – has risen to $37 billion in 2024, up from $8.8 billion last year.

All of these new data centres will need to be connected to national backbone fibre networks and this, as evidenced by today’s announcement, can prove hugely profitable for national fibre network operators like Lumen.

Lumen says it has not only secured $5 billion in new business from major cloud and technology players, but is actively in discussions related to a further $7 billion.

While specifics of the deals in question were not revealed, they reportedly include the major contract secured last month with Microsoft to help the cloud giant expand capacity for its AI data centres.

“The AI economy is changing business operations, and companies are recognizing they need powerful network infrastructure to manage the unprecedented data flows today and the demand in the future,” said Kate Johnson, president and CEO, Lumen Technologies. “Our partners are turning to us because of our AI-ready infrastructure and expansive network. This is just the beginning of a significant opportunity for Lumen, one that will lead to one of the largest expansions of the internet ever.”

To help facilitate this surge in demand, Lumen announced a deal with fibre cable manufacturer Corning last week reserving 10% of the company’s production capacity for the next two years.

This, Lumen says, will give them the capacity they need to “more than double” their US intercity fibre miles over the next five years.

All of this dealmaking has seemingly made Lumen take a closer look at its own structure, with the company also announcing today that it is carving out a new Custom Networks division to better manage its portfolio of private network services. These services include managed network services, dark fibre infrastructure, custom fibre routes, and secure connections for data centres.

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

Also in the news:
AST SpaceMobile prepares to launch first commercial satellites
nexfibre passes almost 1.3m homes with full fibre
Telstra joins UNESCO’s Business Council to promote ethical AI

News 

The 5G network support Volkswagen Group’s automotive terminal at the port of Emden, covering a logistics area the size of over 100 football fields 

Deutsche Telekom, Volkswagen Group Logistics, the Bremen Institute for Production and Logistics (BIBA), and software expert Unikie have collaborated on a project to increase efficiency at Volkswagen’s automotive terminal in Emden.  

The port of Emden is the largest automotive terminal in Germany, where more than 1 million vehicles are imported and exported every year. 

The project is part of the publicly funded “AutoLog” project at the port of Emden, which aims to automate and improve workflows at automotive terminals, using the Volkswagen plant in Emden as a primary test site.  

AutoLog is set to run for three years with a budget of €5.8 million.  

Today’s partnership will see Deutsche Telekom support the Emden terminal with 5G, a well as deploying an edge data centre at the site. Combined, this infrastructure will allow the vehicles at the site to be handled more efficiently and enable the testing of various traffic management scenarios, notably including both manual and autonomous vehicle operations. 

As part of this process, a digital twin of the test field is also being established at the port using LiDAR sensors. This will allow those overseeing the port to understand the exact movement of people and vehicles around the port in real time. 

For the vehicles themselves, software company Unikie is supplying a “marshalling system”. The system enables precise and safe automatic control of the vehicles even in densely populated or confined areas. The system is facilitated by the public 5G network and the special purpose edge data centre, which can ensure faster response times and real-time data processing.  

It is hoped that this test site at Emden will serve as a case study for the wider AutoLog project, demonstrating how automotive terminals can be made more automated and efficient.  

Join us at this year’s Connected Germany, 5-6 November in Munich. Get tickets here. 

Also in the news:
AST SpaceMobile prepares to launch first commercial satellites
nexfibre passes almost 1.3m homes with full fibre
Telstra joins UNESCO’s Business Council to promote ethical AI