The One Touch Switching Company (TOTSCo), which is responsible for implementing Ofcom’s now heavily delayed One Touch Switch (OTS) migration system for faster consumer switching between UK broadband ISPs, has today helped to clarify the tedious subject of applicability to Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) networks.

At present most of the talk around OTS has tended to focus upon fixed line providers, which might have caused some FWA providers to assume that the new rules don’t apply to them. Ofcom has previously stated that it applies to all residential customers switching services provided at a fixed location, regardless of technology (FWA is specifically said to be in-scope).

However, wireless network technologies are quite a diverse group, particularly once you get into the awkward area of wireless broadband services that harness 4G and 5G (mobile broadband) technologies. Mobile operators already have a “Text-to-Switch” (Auto-Switch) system, but there are some products and solutions that may appear to sit in-between this and OTS, which are hard to place.

The latest TOTSCo Bulletin No.54 addresses this conflict by clarifying where the dividing lines sit for different network types.

FWA v mobile broadband

FWA is delivered to most locations using powered proprietary FWA equipment using outdoor-mounted [Customer-Premises Equipment (CPE)] devices. In some cases, mobile technology based on 3G, 4G or 5G equipment is used. In the latter cases, the CPE device might be indoor or outdoor-mounted and would have a SIM or eSIM installed. In either case, the connection would bypass any wired service to the property.

A service marketed as a “home broadband” service, typically requiring a main power supply, and intended to be used in a fixed location, would be FWA, and in scope of OTS switching. A mobile broadband device (e.g. a “MiFi” device) typically has an internal battery, is primarily intended to be used away from a fixed location, and would not be in scope.

The full document covers this and other setups in more detail, and the extra clarity it brings to the table is most welcome. But a quick look at TOTSCo’s membership list suggests that quite a few ISPs, both fixed line and wireless alike, have yet to join the scheme. If this doesn’t change soon, then the early launch could be quite rocky for any as yet unprepared providers.

In addition, while OTS only applies to residential services, the new high-level switching rules do technically mean that all switches, including business switches (particularly consumer-grade business broadband), should also be Gaining Provider Led (GPL). Ofcom’s February 2022 Statement, paragraphs 3.122 to 3.132, covers some of this and helps to show why TOTSCo may have much wider applicability than some providers realise.

News

The parent company of Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp is increasing spending to become a global AI leader 

This week, Meta released its Q1 earnings report, in which the company announced a heavy increase on AI spending, and confirmed its plan to turn the group into “the leading AI company in the world”. 

Revenue for the quarter totalled $36.5 billion, a year-on-year increase of 27% and just above analyst expectations ($36.2 billion). Total expenses reached $22.6 billion, a 6% increase. 

“It’s been a good start to the year — both in terms of product momentum and business performance,” said CEO mark Zuckerberg in the earnings call. 

Two key factors of the report appear to have worried investors, causing shares to plunge 15% in after-hours trading. 

Firstly, a weaker-than-expected Q2 revenue. Meta’s second-quarter revenue guidance fell short of analysts’ forecasts. The company expects overall sales to be between $36.5 billion and $39 billion, with the mid-point missing the estimated $38.2 billion. This cautious outlook has raised concerns about Meta’s ability to sustain its impressive performance so far. 

Secondly, Meta have announced an increase in AI spending, including AI training and high-computing chips in its data centres. Its capital expenditures for full-year 2024 are now projected to range from $35 billion to $40 billion, up from the previous estimate of $30 billion to $37 billion. 

CEO Mark Zuckerberg said this was so Meta can “continue to accelerate our infrastructure investments to support our AI roadmap”. While not providing expenditure guidance beyond this year, Zuckerberg noted that it is expected to increase as the company is set to “invest aggressively” in AI R&D to compete with rivals such as OpenAI and Microsoft. 

Last week, Meta released the latest version of Meta AI, which is powered by its latest model, Llama 3. In the earnings call, Zuckerberg confirmed that the “goal with Meta AI is to build the world’s leading AI service both in quality and usage.” The company believes that Meta AI is the most intelligent free AI assistant. 

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

Also in the news:
South Korea to invest $7 billion in AI semiconductors
Swisscom expands 5G partnership with Ericsson
Daisy Group set to acquire 4Com for £215m

Alternative broadband operator Trooli, which was last year acquired by Agnar UK Infrastructure (here) and had been aiming to build their gigabit-capable full fibre (FTTP) network to cover 330,000 premises across England by the end of 2023, appears to now also be harnessing Axione UK‘s once separate fibre network in Scotland.

In case anybody has forgotten, Axione UK – a subsidiary of French provider Axione – started a £300m project a few years ago to build a new open access (wholesale) and gigabit-capable broadband (FTTP) network to 4 million premises. The project has mostly focused on North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire and Fife in Scotland (e.g. Shotts, Ashgill, Kirkmuirhill, Law, Lesmahagow, Stonehouse, Strathaven, Cupar and St Andrews).

However, we’ve not heard a peep out of Axione UK since 2022, while Trooli hasn’t said much on their future network plans since last summer. But independent data from Thinkbroadband does reveal that Trooli had successfully expanded their full fibre broadband network to cover 334,000 premises (RFS) in England by January 2024 (here), which pleasingly exceeds their previous target.

One key point to note above is that Paris-headquartered Vauban Infrastructure Partners (VIP) technically backs both Axion and Trooli (the latter via Agnar UK Infrastructure). Suffice to say that it had long been expected that the two would consolidate their physical fibre networks into a single operation, but the exact plan for when and how this might occur has not previously been confirmed.

When two became one..

The MD of Scottish ISP Scotnet, Stuart Glendinning, recently told ISPreview that the two networks have now largely been consolidated and, as a result of that, Trooli are already promoting themselves to customers covered by Axione UK’s network in Scotland too (apparently at a price point that is causing Scotnet some concern).

Stuart Glendinning said:

“Axione’s parent company bought Trooli last year and decided to consolidate as a single provider and rebrand the Scottish network as Trooli. At that time, we were Axione’s only wholesale customer … In Scotland Axione had only managed to pass circa 17k premises with the first customers going live at the start of 2023.

Before Axione had even told us that Trooli were taking over, Trooli’s Retail dept had written to every passed premises in Scotland offering them a winter deal which was basically 900Mb/s service for £25+VAT per month, with free connection, free router and free WiFI extenders. That’s significantly below the real wholesale cost of the service.”

The consolidation similarly appears to have been reflected in a recent change of details on Companies House, which publicly lists AXIONE UK INFRASTRUCTURE LIMITED (13355887) as being renamed to TROOLI HOLDCO THISTLE LIMITED on 8th April 2024 (here). The address (18 Kings Hill Avenue, Kings Hill, West Malling, ME19 4AE) is also identical to the one used for TROOLI LTD (04366668).

The other question mark is over what the future build plans are for the now seemingly consolidated network. So far as we can tell, Trooli still seems to be expanding their network, at least in parts of England, while the coverage page on Axione UK’s website for Scotland states (here): “Unfortunately due to changes in strategy all other deployments have been stopped.”

Meanwhile, the coverage page on Trooli’s website currently makes no mention of Scotland, although Axione UK’s partner page has started listing both Trooli and Scotnet as being ISP partners for the network. We also attempted to put one of Cupar’s (town in Scotland) postcodes – KY15 4LF – through Trooli’s website, which returned a “GREAT NEWS, WE CAN CONNECT YOU!” message. But it would be nice if Trooli didn’t require potential customers to enter their lots of personal details before showing their package options.

In terms of packages, Trooli are currently offering their top 900Mbps (300Mbps upload) tier for just £29.99 inc. VAT per month (normally £39.99), which is on a special discount with a 24-month term and free installation (Scotnet charges £49.99 per month for this). Alternatively, you can take a 150Mbps (50Mbps upload) package for £29.99 or 500Mbps (200Mbps upload) for £34.99 from Trooli – these two packages aren’t on a discount like their 900Mbps tier.

Trooli has not responded to our requests for a comment.

Alternative UK network builder and broadband ISP Grain (Grain Connect), which has been gradually deploying a new gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network, has revealed that they’ve now passed 236,000 premises (207k Ready for Service) and confirmed they have 28,000 customers.

The details were first released by CEO Richard Cameron at this week’s Connected North event in Manchester, and Grain were kind enough to share the slides (PDF) from that speech. Richard was sharing his thoughts on sustainably transforming digital connectivity and the growth of Altnets.

Grain’s full fibre network can now be found in 58 UK locations (plus 151 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, Blackburn and so forth. But they were recently hit by a few job losses and a “temporary” reduction in their network expansion as part of adopting a more regional build focus (here).

The slides also highlight Grain’s low operating costs per customer, which are claimed to come in at around half the current benchmark of rival Altnets, although this is perhaps to be expected given Grain’s patchy approach to deployment. In any case, more detail is needed on the figures and methodology for this before we’d be able to correctly analyse it, and none of the rival Altnets listed are named.

Meanwhile, Thinkbroadband has informed that Grain’s latest RFS figure of 207k is much closer to their own estimate, which puts them at around 185k. TBB typically runs a bit behind live deployments due to the laborious process of tracking the latest changes, which when factored in would tend to lend some credibility to the provider’s coverage figures.

Customers of the service normally pay from just £18.99 per month for a symmetric 150Mbps package on a 24-month term, which goes up to just £25.99 for their top 900Mbps plan (take note that out-of-contract prices are £5 higher than this or more). All of these packages come with unlimited usage, free installation and a router. The ISP also has a social tariff for those on benefits.

Press Release

Nokia today announced a landmark 5G deal with Perfectum in Uzbekistan. This greenfield deal marks a significant step towards the deployment of cutting-edge 5G technology in the country, revolutionizing connectivity and paving the way for future innovation.

As sole supplier, Nokia will provide a full end-to-end 5G standalone (SA) solution to Perfectum – including radio access, transport, core networks, and applications of network automation, service orchestration, mediation and charging – and streamline the implementation process and maximize operational efficiency. The core network and applications are deployed on Red Hat OpenShift, which is integrated in the Nokia Cloud Platform.

The commercial launch of the 5G SA network is planned for Q4 2024 in Tashkent, the capital city of Uzbekistan, with step-by-step extension to all regions in Uzbekistan expected in the next 2 years. Perfectum’s subscribers will be able to experience high-speed, low latency Internet connectivity services, as well as voice services with national coverage.

The 5G rollout is a strategic investment into the future of Uzbekistan, aligning with the government’s digital transformation agenda and the increasing demand for high-speed connectivity in the region. Improved connectivity, higher capacity and data rates enabled by 5G will support several areas including remote working, telemedicine, and smart city initiatives, as well as new services and applications across industries, fostering a digital ecosystem and driving economic growth in the country.

Dmitry Shukov, CEO at Perfectum, said: “Nokia’s expertise and global reputation make them a trusted partner for the important task of starting the 5G era in Uzbekistan, and ensuring a successful deployment and long-term support for the network. This deployment is an important step to keep pace with the rapidly evolving digital landscape in the region, and to leverage the transformative potential of 5G technology for our society and economy at large.”

Dr. Rolf Werner, Head of Europe, Mobile Networks, at Nokia, said: “We are excited to work with Perfectum to bring a state-of-the-art nationwide 5G standalone network to the people of Uzbekistan. Perfectum has our full commitment for the success of this project, including continuous support, training, and collaboration to ensure they achieve their objectives of delivering a superior network experience for end users, spearheading digital transformation in the country.”

Also in the news:
South Korea to invest $7 billion in AI semiconductors
Swisscom expands 5G partnership with Ericsson
Daisy Group set to acquire 4Com for £215m

News

The app is currently used by over 170 million users in the US 

The US Senate has voted 79-18 to pass a landmark bill to force TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance to sell the company or face a ban in the US. The bill gives ByteDance nine months to sell its 60% stake in TikTok, or the app will be blocked for use in the US.  

President Biden has already said that he will sign the bill into law as soon as it reaches his desk. 

The bill stems from US concern that TikTok’s algorithm is powered by ByteDance, a Chinese company that could theoretically be forced to share US citizen’s data with the Chinese Communist Party.  

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew has refuted these claims, telling a congressional hearing in January that he has “seen no evidence” that the Chinese government has access to that US data.  

“They have never asked us for it,” said Chew. 

In a recent congressional hearing, Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) put it to Chew that “under Chinese intelligence law, all information accumulated in the People’s Republic of China are required to be shared with the Chinese intelligence services”.   

In order to comply with the new bill, ByteDance would require approval from the Chinese government to sell its stake in the firm. China has already indicated it will vehemently oppose attempts from the US to ban the app and will not agree to sell its stake.  

As a result, if President Biden does sign the bill, ByteDance is expected to take legal action, further embedding the company in a legal quagmire . 

The Trump Administration attempted to force ByteDance to divest of TikTok in 2020, though this was ultimately blocked by the courts. 

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

Also in the news:
South Korea to invest $7 billion in AI semiconductors
Swisscom expands 5G partnership with Ericsson
Daisy Group set to acquire 4Com for £215m

News 

Regulators fear that that deal could diminish competition in the wholesale market 

The European Union’s antitrust regulators have begun asking rivals and customers if the acquisition of Telecom Italia (TIM)’s fixed-line network by US investment firm KKR would negatively affect wholesale competition in Italy, according to a Reuters report, citing people familiar with the matter.  

Rivals have reportedly been sent a 49-page document with 79 questions, which they have until the end of the month to respond to. 

Probing from the EU has been prompted by KKR having sought approval from the European Commission earlier this month. The Commission has since confirmed that it would return with a decision on the transaction by the end of May, after seeking input from the wider industry.  

If serious competition concerns are raised by the initial probe, the body could open a four-month in-depth investigation. 

The acquisition, which was confirmed back in November, is worth €18.8 billion and covers all of TIM’s fixed fibre and copper network assets.  

The purpose of the sale is to allow TIM to reduce its debt pile of over €26 billion by €14 billion, giving TIM the financial flexibility it needs to compete in the market effectively.  

If the deal is ultimately receives regulatory approval, it would make Italy the first major European country to divest its landline grid. 

However, TIM’s largest stakeholder, French media giant Vivendi, has made no secret of its disapproval of the deal. Currently undertaking legal action to dispute the deal, it believes that TIM’s assets are worth around €30 billion and are therefore being undervalued.  

In related news, this week TIM also carried out its shareholder meeting, in which CEO Pietro Labriola defeated attempts to unseat him and secured another three years at the helm of the company.  

Minority investors Merlyn Partners and Bluebell Capital Partners had separately sought to challenge Labriola’s reappointment.  

After the meeting, Labriola commended the “sense of responsibility of shareholders who directly or indirectly ensured continuity”. 

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

Also in the news:
South Korea to invest $7 billion in AI semiconductors
Swisscom expands 5G partnership with Ericsson
Daisy Group set to acquire 4Com for £215m

Mobile infrastructure services provider Cornerstone (CTIL), which handles the UK network sharing agreement between O2 (VMO2) and Vodafone (Vantage Towers), has outlined a new plan to Government MP Sir John Whittingdale that it hopes will help digital infrastructure deployments – particularly for 4G and 5G (mobile broadband).

The announcement seems to be built off the back of a meeting between Cornerstone’s senior leaders, Belinda Fawcett (Director of Property and Estates) and Jamie Hayes (Chief Sales and Commercial Officer), and MP Sir John Whittingdale (Minister of State for Department of Science, Innovation, and Technology in 2023) at a tower site in the right honourable member’s constituency of Maldon.

The visit aimed to bring closer collaboration and dialogue on critical issues surrounding infrastructure deployment and governmental support. John Whittingdale’s insights into the challenges faced by the local authorities, particularly in terms of planning resources, are said to have highlighted the need for central government support.

Mobile operators have of course been pleading with the government to give them more support in recent months (example), so none of this should come as any particular surprise, and a lot of the talking points we’ve seen before appear to be touched on again in the new “Six Point Plan” below. But this time the announcement we’ve seen is less of a “plan” and more a list of six very vague bullet points.

The Six Point “Plan”

– Enhance Support for Local Planning Authorities (LPAs)
– Closer Engagement in Digital Connectivity Section of “Section 106” Agreements
– Empower Digital Champions
– Streamline Planning Regime
– Legislative Changes for Multi-Skilled Visit (MSV)
– Implementation of PSTI Act Provisions

Belinda Fawcett, General Counsel and Property Director at Cornerstone, said:

“This visit is about highlighting the significance of collaboration between industry and government in leading the way in bringing digital infrastructure capability to all areas of the UK in an economically viable and sustainable way.

The necessity of appointing and funding of digital champions in local government and further support for submitted planning applications is urgently needed to accelerate the deployment of crucial digital infrastructure, to benefit the local communities.”

Whether the government will actually get behind ALL of this with something tangible remains unclear, although the looming prospect of a General Election may get in the way of these efforts.

Ofcom’s spring 2024 study of UK fixed broadband and mobile coverage has reported that “full fibre” (FTTP) now reaches 62% of the UK (up from 57% in Sept 2023), while 80% are within reach of a gigabit-capable network (up from 78%) and 85-92% of premises can get an outdoor 5G signal from at least one operator (largely unchanged).

The regulator’s latest report is based on coverage and service availability information that has been received from both fixed line UK ISPs and mobile network operators as of January 2024, which is several months more recent than the September 2023 data used in their annual 2023 Connected Nations report.

Overall, the UK’s coverage of fixed “superfast broadband” (30Mbps+) remains unchanged at 97%, while 18.7 million homes (62%) can now order a Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) service via various networks (up from 57%).

Meanwhile, gigabit-capable (1Gbps+) services are now available to 80% of the UK or 24 million homes (up from 78%), which is higher than the FTTP figure because a lot of the gigabit connectivity has flowed from Virgin Media’s upgrade to their existing Hybrid Fibre Coax (HFC) network with DOCSIS 3.1 technology – there’s a lot of overbuild between HFC and FTTP in dense urban areas.

All of this work will help to support the UK Government’s £5bn Project Gigabit programme, which aims to further improve the picture for gigabit speed connectivity by using state aid to target connectivity improvements toward the final 20% of hardest to reach premises (i.e. helping to extend gigabit coverage to at least 85% of UK premises by the end of 2025 and then around 99% “nationwide” by 2030).

However, the number of premises that cannot get a “decent broadband” (10Mbps+) service is currently 57,000 (0.2% of the UK) – when you include delivery via wireless connections (i.e. 4G, 5G and fixed wireless access), which is down from 61,000 at the last update. The download speed of at least 10Mbps (1Mbps upload) also represents the core specification for the UK’s broadband Universal Service Obligation (USO).

Speaking of wireless services, 4G mobile networks have seen geographic coverage across all network operators (EE, Three UK, O2 and Vodafone) rise slightly to 81-88% (up from 80-87%). The new £1bn Shared Rural Network (SRN) agreement should be starting to improve this, but it’s a very slow burn.

Finally, on 5G coverage, Ofcom states that some 85-92% of UK premises can now get outdoor coverage by at least one operator (oddly this compares with 85-93% at the last update), but this collapses to just 16-28% when looking at outdoor coverage by all operators combined (up from 16-25%). Suffice to say, there’s still a lot of work to do.

Spring 2024 Coverage Data by Region

The following table summarises the latest mobile and fixed broadband coverage figures for Scotland, Wales, England and Northern Ireland individually, although you can get a bit more detail by checking the full Spring 2024 Update.

UK Fixed Broadband Coverage

Access to full fibre
Jan-23
May-23
Sep-23
Jan-24

UK
48%
52%
57%
62%

England
47%
51%
56%
62%

Northern Ireland
89%
90%
91%
92%

Scotland
46%
49%
53%
58%

Wales
45%
50%
55%
61%

Access to Gigabit-capable services
Jan-23
May-23
Sep-23
Jan-24

UK
73%
75%
78%
80%

England
75%
76%
78%
81%

Northern Ireland
90%
91%
92%
94%

Scotland
68%
69%
72%
75%

Wales
57%
60%
64%
69%

Access to superfast services
Jan-23
May-23
Sep-23
Jan-24

UK
97%
97%
97%
97%

England
97%
97%
98%
98%

Northern Ireland
96%
97%
98%
98%

Scotland
95%
95%
95%
96%

Wales
96%
96%
96%
96%

Access to at least 10 Mbit/s services 
Jan-23
May-23
Sep-23
Jan-24

UK
99%
99%
99%
99%

England
99%
99%
99%
99%

Northern Ireland
98%
98%
99%
99%

Scotland
98%
98%
98%
98%

Wales
98%
98%
98%
98%

UK Mobile Network Coverage (4G)

Premises (outdoor) – coverage range across MNOs
Jan-23
May-23
Sep-23
Jan-24

UK
99-c.100%
99-c.100%
99-c.100%
99-c.100%

England
99-c.100%
99-c.100%
99-c.100%
99-c.100%

Northern Ireland
97-99%
98-99%
98-99%
98-99%

Scotland
97-99%
98-c.100%
98-c.100%
98-c.100%

Wales
96-99%
96-99%
96-99%
96-99%

sdf

Geographic area – coverage range across MNOs
Jan-23
May-23
Sep-23
Jan-24

UK
80-87%
80-87%
80-87%
81-88%

England
92-94%
92-95%
92-95%
92-95%

Northern Ireland
88-92%
88-92%
88-92%
89-92%

Scotland
57-75%
58-76%
59-76%
60-78%

Wales
74-85%
74-85%
73-85%
74-87%

UK Mobile Network Coverage (5G)

Premises (outdoor) covered by at least one operator
Jan-23
May-23
Sep-23
Jan-24

UK
73-82%
76-85%
85-93%
85-92%

England
76-85%
79-88%
87-94%
87-93%

Northern Ireland
48-55%
54-60%
70-80%
72-79%

Scotland
62-73%
66-76%
80-88%
79-87%

Wales
49-61%
53-65%
72-83%
74-82%

Premises (outdoor) covered by all operators
Jan-23
May-23
Sep-23
Jan-24

UK
12-22%
12-22%
16-25%
16-28%

England
13-23%
14-24%
17-27%
17-30%

Northern Ireland
5-12%
5-12%
8-18%
7-17%

Scotland
7-17%
8-19%
11-22%
11-24%

Wales
5-8%
4-8%
6-10%
6-10%

Hull-based broadband ISP and network operator KCOM, which is operates its own Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network across East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire in England, has warned customers to be on the lookout for a new phishing email that attempts to impersonate the company in order to commit fraud.

The fraudulent use of a legitimate / trustworthy business image (phishing) is typically designed to fool users into entering their personal, financial or other private information. This data is then stolen and abused for the fraudsters own gain. Such attacks usually take the form of emails or similar online messages that appear to come from official sources, but in reality are fakes. Most redirect you to a false website or software for illegally collecting your data or injecting your device with malware.

According to KCOM, the latest phishing email was sent to some of its customers regarding “not using your account in weeks“. The scam email then asks recipients to click a link before requesting their personal information and, naturally, you should NEVER click such links.

However, such emails can often be so well crafted that they risk tricking all but the most experienced of internet users, particularly those using a Smartphone, where it’s often much more tedious to give the email content a closer inspection (e.g. checking the link without clicking and looking at the source code to see if the email was sent by a legitimate KCOM domain / contact / server).

A KCOM spokesperson said:

“We would urge customers to be wary of any suspicious emails arriving in their inbox. Although it is not unusual to see so called “phishing” attempts – where fraudsters try to gain people’s personal details – we have seen an above normal number of attempts within the last 24 hours.

Our advice is always ‘if in doubt, delete’ and never click on a suspicious link. We advise customers who have already clicked on the link to change their password immediately. We will never ask you for personal information, such as bank details, via email.”

Sadly, customers of broadband and mobile operators are targeted like this all the time, although the same also happens with popular internet subscription services (Netflix, Amazon etc.), delivery companies, HMRC and so forth. As we say, the best phishing attempts can be very convincing and may even use personal data that has, in the past, been stolen from you or extracted via other sources. Suffice to say that when it comes to online security and privacy, a little paranoia and an abundance of caution is usually a good thing.

For further support and information about scam calls and emails, visit www.actionfraud.police.uk.