News 

The move is SKT’s latest play towards becoming an AI global leader 

South Korean telco SK Telecom has announced that its proposal to standardise technology for AI data centres has been approved as a new research project by the ITU-T (the International Telecommunication Union’s Telecommunication Standardization Sector), a United Nations specialised agency. 

The proposal will enhance the interoperability and integration of the technological components within AI data centres and provide a standardised framework for the different aspects of the technology. The proposal establishes three categories: AI Infrastructure, Management, and Resource Allocation. 

The ITU-T is responsible for coordinating standards for telecommunications and is comprised of 900 entities from 190 member counties. 

At the ITU-T International Conference in Geneva, SK Telecom noted that demand for an international standard for AI data centre-related technologies is rising, due to an increase in AI-related traffic and data centres. 

“The ITU-T’s endorsement of our new standardization project not only underscores the international community’s recognition of the importance of AI DC-related technologies but also affirms our extensive AI R&D capabilities in this field,” said Lee Jong-min, Vice President and Head of Future R&D at SK Telecom.  

“We aim to finalize the AI DC standard specifications through the collective expertise of SK Group and global partners,” he continued. 

SK Telecom has been aiming to become a global AI powerhouse for over a year, with this goal reflected in its subsequent investments. SKT’s Chief Financial Officer Kim Jin Won has confirmed that the company is “stepping up efforts on all fronts to transform itself into an AI company”. 

In July last year, SK Telecom, e&, Deutsche Telecom, and Singtel formed a Global Telco AI Alliance to collaborate on the use of AI to create new customer experiences and business opportunities. The companies will co-develop a Telco AI Platform, which will serve as the core foundation for new AI services, including digital assistants and super apps. Last year, the company also invested $100 million in AI firm Anthropic, and became the third-largest shareholder in Persona AI, a South Korean AI technology firm focussing on AI contact centre (AICC) solutions. 

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

Also in the news:
UK government conditionally approves £15bn Vodafone–Three merger
Nokia and Vodafone trial Open RAN with Arm and HPE
T-Mobile and Verizon to buy US Cellular, reports say

News

The Japanese operator has reportedly invested $64 million in drone start-up Skydio as part of the deal

This week, Japan’s KDDI has announced a new partnership with US-based drone specialist Skydio aiming to create a network of drone stations across the country to aid in disaster response.

The deal, which reportedly involves an investment of $64 million, will see KDDI deploy Skydio’s X10 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to around 1,000 locations. This will allow them to be launched rapidly in response to natural disasters like earthquakes and tsunamis, where they will help in search and rescue operations, as well as surveillance task and infrastructure inspections.

According to KDDI, the locations have been selected so that a drone can reach any location in the country within just 10 minutes.

The X10 drones are notably equipped with thermal imaging and night-vision capabilities, making them effective in any rescue scenario.

They will also use Skydio’s Visual Slam technology, onboard AI to enhance real-time spatial understanding and image processing. This will allow the drones to fly autonomously, automatically avoiding obstacles, even in the dark.

“The drones will be useful in finding survivors during disasters, as they can fly in the dark and are equipped with temperature sensors,” said Hiromichi Matsuda, KDDI’s managing executive officer.

Data gathered by the drones will be transmitted over KDDI’s infrastructure, including the company’s 5G network where possible, but also satellite.

Beyond disaster response, KDDI says they will also use the drones to support local governments and companies, helping to tackle issues like infrastructure inspection.

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

Also in the news:
UK government conditionally approves £15bn Vodafone–Three merger
Nokia and Vodafone trial Open RAN with Arm and HPE
T-Mobile and Verizon to buy US Cellular, reports say

Contributed Article

By Jon Abbott, Telecom Strategic Client Director Sales at Vertiv

The past 20 years have seen increases in communications network coverage, with the birth and adoption of mobility data and the cloud contributing to a huge ramp in traffic. Layers of technology have been added during this period and much of it is physically located in a growing number of facility locations.

These facilities, too numerous to name, are generally regarded as serving a particular purpose. For example, an In-line Amplifier (ILA) site is created to amplify or reconstitute a signal over a long route distance; an aggregation node is built to consolidate and disperse fibre routes to a city; a Cable Landing Station (CLS) is made as a landing point for a subsea cable to serve new territory or increase capacity to an existing territory. In all cases, the facility has a primary purpose and was dimensioned accordingly.

Fast forward to today and we are creating oceans of data (personally and professionally), most of which is processed in some way, stored, and recalled on demand. As a consequence, the data centre industry has grown and continues to grow by immense proportions.

We used to consider that the data centre was centrally architected. They were clustered in groups and located around four cities – at least for the European space – Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, and Paris. And so the FLAP market was born. Demand has shattered this limitation and those clusters have increased to include cities such as Dublin, Marseille, Lisbon, Berlin, Madrid, Milan, and Warsaw. The list continues to grow, and this effect is by no means restricted to Europe.

Decentralisation

The principle of decentralised architecture goes way beyond just building more data centres. Decentralisation is making its way into the communication facilities themselves for two main reasons: The first is that pushing vast amounts of data between data centres is becoming inefficient and puts unnecessary strain on the networks. The second is the facility itself. Newer technologies are being deployed within facilities, resulting in densification of hardware. What once required several rows of rack space can now be contained in only a few racks, resulting in huge savings in the amount of physical space required. As a result, data can be cached between data centres within the network itself, and the available space can be repurposed as ‘white space’ for processing and storage tenants.

User processing and storage can occupy the same space in the same facilities as the network. It can be referred to as ‘Edge Computing’ or processing propagation. Either way, it will eventually saturate the network and it will be difficult to see where the network ends and the data centre starts.

At Vertiv, we don’t see function, we only see facilities – each with their own capacities and dimensions. In terms of physical support of passive infrastructure, the needs are changing.

Continuing with the examples referred to earlier, there are instances of ILA sites growing from their original capacity of about 3kW and taking less that a single rack of space to beyond 10x that amount, requiring five to eight racks of space for tenant data caching. In terms of new territory coverage, CLS is being blended with the data centre, right on the shoreline, making its own capacity demand grow from 100’s of kW to several MW, adding rows of whitespace to the facility. The aggregation node, perhaps most complex because it is a brownfield site, keeps its physical dimensions but is internally repurposed for whitespace tenancy with a different power and thermal profile.

If you work with a company that has a broad product portfolio, as Vertiv does, all things are possible; from revising power and cooling topologies, to utilising space, to enhancing your renewable energy management.

The data and communications spheres are not colliding – they are blending, creating the next evolutional step in network facilities.

For more information about Vertiv’s portfolio, visit Vertiv.com.

Want to learn more about Europe’s evolving data landscape? Join Vertiv at Stand 3 at Submarine Networks EMEA 2024, live in London!

Also in the news:
UK government conditionally approves £15bn Vodafone–Three merger
Nokia and Vodafone trial Open RAN with Arm and HPE
T-Mobile and Verizon to buy US Cellular, reports say

Last week we covered how Sky Broadband was responding to the UK government’s new internet and network security laws, which among other things prompted them to launch a new router upgrade scheme and be more transparent with customers about the state of security updates for their existing network kit. Since then, we’ve asked the other major ISPs how they plan to respond.

Just to recap, there are actually two sets of laws playing a role here. The first reflects the new Secure by Design rules under the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act (PSTI), which came into effect on 29th April 2024 (here). This requires, among other things, that manufacturers and retailers must be “open with consumers on the minimum time they can expect to receive important security updates” for their smart / connected devices (e.g. broadband routers, phones, TVs, game consoles, smart doorbells etc.).

The second one is the new Telecoms Security Act, which sets out expectations for how telecoms providers should monitor and reduce the risks of security compromises relating to older devices (such as routers), which no longer receive security updates. This comes into force at the end of March 2025, although Sky Broadband’s approach seems to already be taking account of both laws.

Naturally this made us curious about the approaches being taken to this by BT (inc. EE and Plusnet), Virgin Media (VMO2), TalkTalk and Vodafone, which have all now provided a response.

Big ISPs and Router Security Changes

➤ TalkTalk

The provider said that they’re currently in the process of putting procedures in place to comply with the Telecoms Security Act requirements and will communicate this to customers in due course. As for the PSTI, TalkTalk claims to have been compliant since 29th April 2024, although they didn’t elaborate on how they were achieving that.

A Spokesperson for TalkTalk said: “The requirements included in the Telecoms Security Act come into force at the end of March 2025 and we will communicate with customers in due course.”

➤ BT (inc. EE and Plusnet)

BT said they are already “fully compliant” with the new PSTI regulations, although they don’t currently plan on introducing a router upgrade scheme. But the provider does say that they continually review the products and services they offer to ensure they get the best possible experience and to maintain their responsibility to be sustainable.

Crucially, the operator notes that the majority of the broadband router/hubs that EE, BT and Plusnet customers have, are still supported by security updates and would not need to be upgraded at this time. But majority is not the same word as “all“, which leaves a little question mark over what active kit might have fallen by the wayside.

➤ Virgin Media

Virgin have introduced a page that provides useful information about the security of their consumer equipment (here), which includes sub-links to manufacturers pages showing the security updates and planned support lifetime. For example, the latest Hub 5x will be supported until the 31st December 2029. But sadly this same information isn’t yet available across most of their router models (it should be soon).

The provider also notes that a separate deadline, which takes effect next year for Tier 1 providers (like VMO2), exists to ensure all customer premises equipment (CPE) is still supported and / or customers are contacted and offered a replacement as required (we believe this to be the March 2025 obligation). But Virgin doesn’t say precisely what approach they’ll take to implementing that.

➤ Vodafone

Vodafone has setup a PSTI Page that provides details on device support and compliance. For example, if you type “Vox 3 (Intelligent WiFi Hub)” into the search box (this is one of their older broadband routers), then it gives you a statement of complaince and reveals that this device will continue to receive security updates until 31st December 2026.

A Spokesperson for Vodafone told ISPreview: “As per the PTSI requirements, customers can find support information throughout our sales journeys and on our PSTI information page for relevant devices.”

In short, there are still quite a few unknowns as to how certain broadband ISPs will approach these changes, but it’s positive to see that they’re all aware of the new measures. Nevertheless, some providers seem to be taking a more proactive approach than others, and it’s worth noting that the new rules also apply to smaller players.

SpaceX has warned customers of Starlink’s mega constellation of ultrafast broadband satellites, which sit in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), that they may experience “degraded service” as a result of a major geomagnetic solar storm that hit the planet, which last night also caused the northern lights to spread across much of the UK.

The operator currently has 5,935 LEO satellites in orbit around the Earth (altitudes of c.500-600km) and they’re in the process of adding thousands more by the end of 2027. Customers in the UK typically pay from £75 a month for a 30-day term, plus £449 for hardware (currently discounted to £225 or £150 if refurbished) on the ‘Standard’ plan, which promises internet latency times of 25-50ms, downloads of c. 25-100Mbps and uploads of c. 5-10Mbps.

However, satellites are typically exposed to some of the strongest impacts from solar storms, which means that it’s not uncommon for related services (internet, GPS etc.) to experience some disruption during related events. For example, back in 2022 Starlink lost 40 of their LEO platforms due to a solar storm (here), although that was more related to its impact upon atmospheric drag (i.e. pulling some recently launched satellites back down to earth), rather than direct service deliverability.

Solar storms typically occur when intense solar wind interacts with Earth’s magnetosphere, which is the magnetic field that exists around our planet and helps to protect us from a lot of nasty solar and cosmic particle radiation. But this interaction, which spawns shifting currents and plasmas, can also cause the atmosphere to warm a little and atmospheric density to increase, while also disrupting electronic communications and triggering a beautiful light show (Aurora Borealis / Northern Lights) on the ground.

Last night, one of the largest solar geomagnetic storms in the past few decades erupted from the sun, which registered up to around G5 in intensity (near the top of the scale – an “extreme” event). As a result, even people living in parts of southern England would have been able to see faint lights if they looked up at the night sky just before midnight, which is incredibly rare.

The sun is currently in its Solar maximum phase, which is the regular period of greatest solar activity during the Sun’s 11-year solar cycle. As a result, more storm activity is expected to continue over the weekend (another X5.4 class flare just happened this morning), and there’s always the possibility of an even stronger event to come in the near future.

As a result of this, Starlink’s website is currently carrying a warning notice: “Starlink is currently experiencing degraded service. Our team is investigating.” The boss of SpaceX, Elon Musk, similar warned at around 7am (UK time) today that “[a] major geomagnetic solar storm [is] happening right now. Biggest in a long time. Starlink satellites are under a lot of pressure, but holding up so far” (here).

The issue of degraded service will vary by location, with a few people reporting a near loss of service and some noting a 30-50% reduction in broadband speeds, although most others may well find that their service is functioning just like normal (complaints remain at a low level). As we say, such activity may continue to be high over the course of this weekend, but so far SpaceX and modern networks on the ground appear to be weathering it well.

Network operator and UK ISP LightSpeed Broadband, which was last year acquired by Kompass Kapital (here) after suffering job cuts and a slowdown of their full fibre (FTTP) build in the East of England (here), has announced that they’re shifting their HQ from Spalding (Lincolnshire) to Peterborough (Cambridgeshire).

The operator was, until last year, still busy expanding their gigabit-capable broadband network at full pace across parts of 32 market towns in South Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Cambridgeshire and Rutland. But the deal with Kompass Kapital also involved an unspecified amount of new capital for the business, which is being utilised to continue developing and expanding their network and ISP offerings.

According to the latest update, they now cover 250,000 premises, although independent data from Thinkbroadband puts the ‘Ready for Service’ (RFS) figure at a much lower level of 140,000 (note: TBB are currently a bit behind on their data checking). But the announcement also indicates that the HQ shift may be at least partly related to the fact that they’re now planning to add another 150,000 properties across the East and West Midlands.

A spokesman for Lightspeed Broadband said (Lincs Online):

“LightSpeed Broadband is continuing the expansion of its 250,000 premises full fibre network by adding an additional 150,000 properties across the East and West Midlands. Our network will soon bring multi-Gigabit full fibre broadband to homes and businesses in parts of the UK that have, until now, been starved of good internet connections.

While our roots have been planted firmly in Spalding for the past three years, we do anticipate relocating our headquarters to Peterborough in the coming months. This is spurred by the improved transport infrastructure provided by the town, which in turn facilitates the expansion of our network and enables us to better cater to our expanding customer base.

Despite this move, we remain committed to maintaining strong ties with the Spalding community, where many of our satisfied customers reside. We’re excited for our ongoing expansion, and we want to assure our customers that our dedication to providing fantastic broadband services will continue unabated.

In fact, it’s our aim to provide services that step beyond broadband into areas that include VoIP, home security, entertainment and more. We’re doing this because we believe that being digitally connected transforms lives.”

Residential customers of the service tend to pay from £24.95 per month on a 24-month term for symmetric speeds of 100Mbps, which rises to £29.99 (discounted from £39.95) for their top 1000Mbps tier. The package includes a WiFi 6 capable wireless router and there’s also a £30 one-off setup fee to pay.

Broadband ISP Connexin, which is aiming to deploy a new 10Gbps capable full fibre (FTTP) network across 500,000 premises in East Yorkshire and beyond (England), has announced that they’ve become the next UK alternative network to be certified as a “B Corporation” (i.e. meeting key social and environmental standards).

In case anybody is unfamiliar with what being certified as a B Corporation actually means. In short, this reflects for-profit companies that have committed to create a positive impact on society and the environment through their operations (i.e. businesses that want to do some good in the world, beyond simply making profit).

At present there are known to be over 8,000 Certified B Corporations in more than 93 countries around the world, including over 2,000 here in the UK (e.g. Ben & Jerry’s, Patagonia, Zen Internet, iDNET, Wildanet). The certification requires firms to meet strict standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency.

Furqan Alamgir, CEO at Connexin, said (Fibre Provider):

“Becoming a B Corp is further validation of our sustainable practices and our ongoing commitment to create positive social impact. We have always lived by the principle that businesses should be a force for good, and we practice this belief through everything we do, from our business strategy, product sets, to our operational practices.”

Admittedly some may view all this as a form of virtue signalling, but on the other hand it’s nice to have practical business virtues worth signalling in the first place, as opposed to none. The company is currently committed to becoming Net Zero by 2040 (i.e. removing as many emissions as they produce).

News 

The news follows T-Mobile’s acquisition of Mint Mobile just last month 

US mobile operators T-Mobile and Verizon are in discussions to separately buy parts of smaller rival US Cellular, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal. 

US Cellular serves over 4 million customers, predominately in rural areas. The company was put up for sale last year by its owners, TDS, in response to years of pressure from shareholders. 

According to the report, T-Mobile is seeking to purchase over $2 billion in assets, which include “some operations and wireless spectrum licenses.” 

This deal is close to being finalised and could be announced later this month, said people familiar with the matter.  

The deal with Verizon is less defined, with these discussions still in the early stages.  

Both Verizon and T-Mobile are seeking to acquire the spectrum from US Cellular as well as assets and customer base. 

US Cellular also has 4,000 mobile towers, though these are reportedly not part of either deal. 

The Wall Street Journal suggests part of the reason for the piecemeal sale is to stay under the radar of the US competition authorities. T-Mobile’s acquisition of Sprint in 2020 faced almost two years of scrutiny from federal regulators, as well as a lawsuit over potential harm to consumers. Critics essentially argued that the merger would reduce competition and create a player in the market whose market share was too dominant, which could easily be the case here should either Verizon or T-Mobile acquire the entirety of US Cellular. 

Indeed, T-Mobile has already grown via M&A activity this year. Just last month, T-Mobile finalised the acquisition to buy Ka’ena Corp, the owner of Mint Mobile, for up to $1.35 billion. The deal has been approved by the Federal Communications Commission after being first reported in January last year. 

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

Also in the news: 
Verizon Business and Cummins deal combines private 5G and neutral host tech 
Samsung and Telefonica partner for German vRAN site 
AT&T sheds cybersecurity division to create LevelBlue 

News

The merger is under ongoing investigation from the Competition and Markets Authority 

The UK government has this week released a “Publication of notice of Final Order” that provisionally approves the Vodafone–Three merger, subject to certain conditions. 

Following a “detailed national security assessment”, the cabinet office has approved the merger, providing that: 

– A National Security Committee is set up within the merged company to oversee any sensitive information that the company deals with that is related to the national security of the UK. It will be necessary for the company to provide regular updates to the government; 

– Within this group, a specific technical group is established that will deal with a specific list of topics (such as cyber, physical, and personnel security); 

– The MergeCo’s network migration planning is subject to review by a government approved external auditor;  

– The MergeCo will have specified arrangements for its governance. 

The government said in this statement that the above measures will mitigate national security risks in relation to UK networks and data “resulting from the merging of two large, complex organisations and their respective staffing, policies, processes and networks.” The government also says these measures will eliminate risks in relation to Vodafone’s role as a supplier of services to the government. 

“We strongly believe (the merger) will strengthen competition in the UK’s mobile sector and enable a significant step-up in the UK’s mobile network infrastructure,” said the two companies in a joint statement. 

The investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is separate and still ongoing. The investigation began its second phase last month, with results expected by September. 

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

Also in the news:
Verizon Business and Cummins deal combines private 5G and neutral host tech
Samsung and Telefonica partner for German vRAN site
AT&T sheds cybersecurity division to create LevelBlue 

Press Release

Nokia and Vodafone have announced the successful completion of a trial, leveraging Nokia’s anyRAN approach in collaboration with partners Arm and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE). The live demonstration, held at Nokia’s Open RAN Innovation Center in Dallas, Texas, showcased the completion of an end-to-end Layer 3 (L3) data call.

To achieve this milestone, the test platform utilized leading technologies including Ampere® Arm-based general-purpose processors, the HPE ProLiant RL300 server, Nokia’s Layer 1 (L1) accelerator, and Nokia’s RAN software. To complement the 5G Standalone (SA) RAN architecture, Nokia integrated its 5G SA Compact Mobility Unit (CMU) Core.

The trial took place over-the-air with Nokia’s AirScale massive MIMO radios on the n78 spectrum band (3.5 GHz band). Additionally, Nokia’s intelligent MantaRay NM network management system provided a consolidated network view for improved monitoring and management.

During the demonstration, the data calls were successfully conducted using commercial user devices. The trial shows that the introduction of Arm Neoverse™-based processors on HPE servers within the Nokia anyRAN approach will provide operators, including Vodafone, with enhanced supplier diversity and efficiency advantages of the latest silicon technology.

Francisco Martin, Head of Open RAN at Vodafone, said: “Vodafone is dedicated to supporting the development and adoption of Open RAN platforms by fostering a diverse ecosystem of silicon solutions. The approach offers numerous benefits, including increased choice, enhanced energy efficiency, higher network capacity, and improved performance in wireless networks. We are excited to collaborate with Nokia, Arm, and HPE in this live demonstration, and the initial results have been promising, paving the way for future commercialization.”

Mark Atkinson, Head of RAN at Nokia, said: “Achieving future computing evolution requires a flexible approach to RAN deployments, allowing freedom of choice in server hardware, general-purpose processors and cloud platforms. This trial not only builds upon past accomplishments but also solidifies Nokia’s leadership in Open RAN innovation. It is another testament to the openness of Nokia’s anyRAN approach, ensuring consistent performance of Open RAN while empowering operators with more options to build their networks.”

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

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T-Mobile and EQT form JV to buy Lumos
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