News

Openreach’s parent company, BT, has lobbied the opposition party to help remove the red tape surrounding fibre deployment for multi-dwelling units (MDUs)

According to a report from the Financial Times, the UK’s largest broadband provider Openreach has held talks with the Labour party asking them to commit to legislation that would make it easier to deploy fibre broadband infrastructure in blocks of flats and other MDUs.

Currently, companies seeking to deploy their full fibre networks in an MDU need extensive permissions from the property’s landlord, known as wayleaves. Acquiring these permissions is often a lengthy and expensive process, representing a significant roadblock to fibre deployment up and down the country.

In the report, Openreach CEO Clive Selley said that acquiring wayleaves could “easily double the cost of providing fibre to a small block” of flats, arguing that the currently status quo left some of these locations “in danger of becoming part of a new digital divide”.

What Openreach is proposing is the introduction of new legislation that would expand the company’s existing wayleave agreements with the MDUs, which cover the company’s legacy copper network infrastructure already deployed in the buildings, thereby removing the need for new approvals.

This change in legislation, Openreach says, would allow them – and rival altnets also deploying fibre – to rapidly accelerate their rollouts in line with government targets.

Openreach is currently aiming to deploy full fibre to 25 million premises by 2026 and has to date passed around 13.5 million homes.

The government, meanwhile, wants to see “gigabit-capable broadband’ (primarily fibre) rolled out to 85% of the country by 2025.

While the effective removal of the majority of MDU wayleave agreements would no doubt accelerate fibre deployment, the proposal is not without its drawbacks. On a fundamental level, critics will argue that this change would infringe upon the rights of property owners and occupiers.

“Measures providing network operators the ability to enter multi-dwelling units without permission from the landlord, as proposed by Openreach, would significantly and adversely impact on the rights of property owners and occupiers,” said a spokesperson from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology in a statement.

According to Selley, Labour was “engaging and listening” to the companies request, noting that he had similarly lobbied the current the current Conservative government on the same topic.

Are wayleaves holding back the UK’s digital transformation? Join the UK connectivity industry in discussion at this year’s Connected North conference live in Manchester

Also in the news:
FCC rejects SpaceX’s request for spectrum
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T-Mobile gets green light to appeal class action lawsuit

Hiya, the global leader in voice security, has published its 2024 State of the Call report, a global study of the trends shaping the voice calling industry. It has revealed that 16% of UK consumers have reported losing money to a phone scam in 2023. On average, those who were successfully scammed lost £634 ($798). The average amount lost by consumers globally was £1,792 ($2,257), with consumers in Germany losing £3686 ($4,649). 

Consumers and businesses consistently identify voice as their preferred method of communication in a variety of circumstances due to the efficiency, reliability, and human touch that only voice calls can deliver. However, voice and fraud are eroding trust in this form of communication. In the UK in 2023, consumers received on average four scam calls each month, totalling nine minutes per week (447 minutes per year) screening unwanted calls.

Hiya analysed over 221 billion phone calls from 2023 and surveyed 12,000 consumers, 1,800 workers and 600 security and IT professionals. Respondents were based in the United Kingdom, the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, and Spain. Here are the five most significant global trends from the research:

Trend #1: Consumers and businesses continue to prioritise voice calls

Consumers in 2023 preferred voice calls over email or text by a wide margin, especially when communicating about sensitive information or important business decisions. For example, 36% of consumers said they prefer voice when engaging with healthcare providers, 33% prefer voice for bank/lender communications, and 32% opted for voice when talking to credit card companies. Regarding business operations, 66% of companies said voice calls were “essential” or “very important” to achieving their goals, such as making sales. Nevertheless, 44% of companies reported ongoing efforts to diversify communication channels across email, chat, and social media.

Trend #2: Spam and fraud calls are a major problem that is only getting worse

Hiya’s data shows that spam and fraud calls are getting worse. In 2023, more than 28% of the 46.75 billion unknown calls analysed by Hiya were spam or fraud, compared to 24% in 2022. Despite this trend, few consumers are using apps designed to enhance call protection. Only about one-third of consumers have downloaded phone fraud prevention apps, and 59% said they would be unwilling to pay extra for protection.

Trend #3: The financial cost of spam and fraud calls is also increasing

The impact of spam and fraud calls on consumers amounts to much more than mere annoyance. They’re also losing money – and the financial cost has grown significantly over the past year. Sixteen per cent of consumers surveyed by Hiya said they lost money to a phone scam in the past year, and the numbers are higher in Germany (19%) and France (18%). Unwanted calls are also wasting consumers’ time. On average, consumers report spending nine minutes each week – or more than 7.6 hours per year – screening unwanted calls. Faced with the persistent scourge of unwanted calls, 11% of consumers said they have switched carriers in a bid to improve their call experience. Another 27% are considering switching.

Trend #4: Businesses likewise report growing concerns about the threat that spam and fraud calls pose to their operations, reputations and bottom line

Previous State of the Call reports found that businesses struggled to reach consumers and prospects because their calls were either labelled as spam or fraud, or were unidentified. The latest data shows that this issue remains a serious challenge for organisations: 46% of unidentified calls go unanswered – even when legitimate businesses are calling. Beyond the challenge of being unable to reach consumers using voice, businesses are also suffering reputational harm caused by scammers who impersonate their companies when trying to defraud consumers. Thirty-three per cent of business workers said scammers used their company name in calls, and 25% said their phone numbers have been hijacked or spoofed by scammers.

Trend #5: Solutions that improve call identity are essential to mitigating spam and fraud. Call protection is important, too, particularly for businesses.

The key to solving the challenges described above is to implement better call identity and protection, making it easier for consumers to trust and answer calls – as 77% of consumers report they are more likely to answer a call if they know who is calling. Additionally, business workers agree (31%) that adding identity is the most effective way to increase call answer rates.

“Ninety-two per cent of consumers believe unidentified calls are fraudulent,” said Kush Parikh, President of Hiya. “As a result, nearly half of such calls go unanswered. In the case of the other half of unidentified calls – those that consumers do pick up – recipients typically only answer reluctantly, due to concerns that it may be a call they can’t miss. This erosion of trust is not just a minor inconvenience; it’s a significant barrier to effective and secure interactions between businesses and their customers, not to mention friends and family.”

To view the complete Hiya 2023 State of the Call report, go to hiya.com/state-of-the-call.

AFL, an industry-leading manufacturer of fiber optic cables, connectivity and equipment, today announced an investment of over $50 million to expand its fiber optic cable manufacturing operations in South Carolina. This investment aligns with the Biden-Harris administration’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and Internet for All initiatives to increase broadband access in the U.S. It will result in the creation of new jobs and support AFL’s portfolio of products compliant with the Build America, Buy America Act (BABA).

“This expansion highlights AFL’s commitment to providing an end-to-end BABA compliant cable and connectivity portfolio for our valued U.S. customers and represents a significant milestone toward AFL’s ongoing contribution to a stronger, more connected future for all communities across the country,” said Jaxon Lang, President and CEO of AFL.  

Today’s announcement builds on AFL’s previous investment of more than $35 million in the expansion of domestic cable manufacturing to support broadband deployment and modernization of the power grid. These expansions continue AFL’s four-decade long commitment to job creation and U.S. manufacturing.

Key highlights of the expansion include:

Increased production capacity to meet the surging demand for fiber optic cable
Creation of new jobs at AFL’s manufacturing facilities, boosting the local economy
Development of innovative and sustainable fiber optic cable solutions
Commitment to using U.S. made materials and supporting the domestic supply chain

To learn about AFL’s efforts to comply with domestic preference requirements and other resources related to BABA, please visit our website.

About AFL
Founded in 1984, AFL is an international manufacturer providing end-to-end solutions to the energy, service provider, enterprise, hyperscale and industrial markets. The company’s products are in use in over 130 countries and include fiber optic cable and hardware, transmission and substation accessories, outside plant equipment, connectivity, test and inspection equipment, and fusion splicers.  AFL also offers a wide variety of services supporting data center, enterprise, wireless and outside plant applications.
 
Headquartered in Spartanburg, SC, AFL has operations in the U.S., Mexico, Canada, Europe, Asia and Australia, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Fujikura Ltd. of Japan. For more information, visit www.AFLglobal.com. Follow us on LinkedIn, X, Facebook, and read our blog.

Rural full fibre broadband provider Gigaclear is celebrating two major milestones this month (March), reaching 100,000 customers and a total of 500,000 homes and businesses able to connect to its network.

The figures serve to underline the significant growth Abingdon-based Gigaclear has undergone during the past three-and-a-half years, having begun 2021 with 36,000 customers and 140,000 homes and businesses able to connect.

Welcoming the news, newly appointed CEO Nathan Rundle said whilst the milestones marked the end of one chapter in Gigaclear’s growth story, a new one was already underway that would see the UK’s largest rural alternative network provider reach over one million premises in 2027.

Nathan said the company would double-down on its mission to create a unique, full fibre broadband network that would help generate economic and social value to ultra rural communities whose only other option was their existing slow copper connection.

He added: “It’s about giving people choice, something many of those living in small, often hard-to-reach rural communities currently don’t have. Our full fibre broadband fundamentally changes many of the communities we go to because it enables people to decide how they want to work and how they want to live their lives. It’s a choice many don’t have until we come along.”

Helping accelerate delivery of the company’s mission were two funding announcements last year. In June, Gigaclear secured a funding commitment of up to £420m from global investor Equitix followed, six months later, by an announcement it had entered into a new debt facility of up to £1.5bn with a consortium of banks.

Nathan said: “It’s reassuring to know that as we travel towards our target of reaching more than one million rural properties in 2027, the funding we secured last year demonstrates that investors are happy to join us on this journey. It’s going to be a very exciting period for Gigaclear.”

VIEWPOINT

[Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, March 28, 2024] stc Group, the leading operator in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, partnered with Huawei to complete the MENA region’s first-ever long-haul 800G/channel trial in its live optical network. This successful live network trial with connection over 1,000 kilometers, from Riyadh to Makkah, of state-of-the-art processing and transporting capacity proves the 800G solution is ready for scale deployment across Saudi Arabia, driving the Kingdom and the MENA region’s digital transformation.

stc Group and Huawei completed long-haul 800G/channel live trial in dense wavelength-division multiplexing (DWDM) network

As a result of this successful trial, stc Group networks can now transport more data throughput for every wavelength deployed and extend across longer distances without generation, reducing power and transport costs, and supporting efficiency standards across stc Group’s infrastructure.

The high-performance 800G/channel optical module, empowered by a built-in high baud bandwidth modulator and super 16QAM modulation with a Channel-Matched Shaping (CMS) 2.0 algorithm, established connection over 1,000 kilometers in a live Colorless-Directionless-Contentionless (CDC) network, proving the stc systems can monitor and sustain complex link environments in real-time, optimizing network transmission performance.

stc has been committed to offering excellent experience to all customers with state-of-the-art technologies and solutions. The 800G channel trial project is the result of stc’s focus on maximizing fiber capacity and optical network efficiency, making it possible to deliver up to 64Tbps single fiber capacity to meet ever-increasing bandwidth demand from all users, and reduce the per bit power consumption by more than 50% compared with 100G channel. The trial shows that stc is strengthening its partnership with Huawei in the ultra-high-speed optical transmission field.

On the importance of the trial’s milestone, Huawei’s President of Optical Transmission Domain, Victor Zhou, commented: “This long-haul 800G live trial in the stc network is a significant milestone in the ultra-high-speed optical industry. Huawei will continue to innovate and cooperate with stc in optical networks, providing leading and sustainable optical solutions for optimal user experiences.”

Despite last year’s concerns over redundancies (here), network provider County Broadband has today announced the completion of their work to deploy a new gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network across the Suffolk market town of Sudbury, which is home to a population of around 13,000.

The full fibre provider, which has been supported by an investment of £146m from Aviva Investors (here), is currently deploying their new FTTP network across rural parts of Cambridgeshire, Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk in England (i.e. they’ve been building to over 250 villages).

One of CB’s biggest individual builds, across the town of Sudbury, first began all the way back in October 2021 (here) and was a demand-led project (i.e. CB may have only been able to proceed once enough locals had expressed an interest). In total, 75% of Sudbury’s approximate 8,000 homes, businesses and community venues were earmarked for the rollout.

According to today’s announcement, the operator has now “completed building its gigabit-speed full fibre infrastructure in Sudbury“. The operator adds that a total of approximately 6,200 premises have been “connected” to the FTTP infrastructure as part of the multi-million-pound infrastructure build work across the historic market town. But we suspect they mean covered, rather than connected.

James Salmon, Director of Corporate Development at County Broadband, said:

“We are pleased to complete our full fibre network build in the historic Suffolk market town of Sudbury which will benefit from the unrivalled network reliability and significantly faster gigabit speeds that the new infrastructure provides.

As a community provider that prides itself on its commitment to engage closely with local leaders, residents and businesses across our network, we are also pleased to be working with local sports clubs and the town council on upcoming exciting events. This vital community engagement will enable us to continue to provide on-the-ground support where it’s needed across the town.”

Customers of the service typically pay from £35.99 per month (reduced from £42.99) for an unlimited symmetric speed 100Mbps package with a bundled wireless router on a 24-month term, which rises to £54.99 for 900Mbps (reduced from £84.99).

However, it’s worth noting that Openreach also has extensive FTTP coverage in the town, while Lit Fibre, which is currently being consolidated into CityFibre’s national UK network, has also covered quite a few parts of Sudbury.

Insight

At MWC this year, Shaun Collins, Executive Chairman of CCS Insight interviewed Barry Hou, Huawei’s President of 5G Marketing and Solution Sales to discuss the current state of the 5G market, and what future growth in the industry might look like

Barry explains that it has been 5 years since the launch of 5G, and monetisation of the offering is still a huge hot topic. At the end of last year, there were around 1.6 billion users, which accounts for 20% of all mobile connections. This 20% of users contributes almost 30% of total mobile traffic, and generate 40% of total revenue. He says that there are three main phases in which to monetise 5G at the moment:

1. Traffic monetisation, the foundation, to be able to provide more data packages to subscribers

2. Experience monetisation

3. New service monetisation

Shaun then asks Barry on his thoughts on experience monetization or Quality-of-Service tariffing, charging on speeds or other elements. Barry says Huawei have been working closely with operators on exactly this. The key, he says is that operators must fulfil the needs of different market segments. For example, some users need higher speeds, some need faster uplink speeds, or gamers need guaranteed low latency for the best gaming experience. These needs can then be packaged up and marketed towards different types of consumers. For example, AIS recently launched their Living network service, 49 baht for 3 hours, which represents 21% of average ARPU. Secondly, China Unicom in Guangdong has managed to recruit 300K subscribers and bring a very decent 75% ARPU increase.

The conversation then moves towards arguably the hottest topic at MWC this year, AI. Does Barry see AI generated content as a new opportunity for 5G monetisation? And what about other 5G applications? In short – yes! “The recent development of generative AI can be very positively relevant for mobile network operators.” premium connectivity is essential for AI uses cases, from AI wearables to instant language translation on calls.

Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) was also touched on. Here, Barry explained that 5G has allowed more than 50% of operators to launch FWA. 5G FWA can not only provide high speeds, but guaranteed speeds. This is thanks to the larger capabilities of the 5G network. Moving forward, Huawei thinks that FWA will be an ultimate broadband solution, not a temporary one, because 5.5G can provide FWA 1Gbps speeds – which is fibre like.

Moving away from the consumer segment of the market and onto enterprise, Barry notes how 5G for enterprise is set to be a huge growth engine, with the number of 5G private networks (excluding China) has doubled, and connections increasing by 5 times as of 2023. Operators must be able to provide the 5G to the use cases with wide area private networks, which will feature lightweight use cases in areas like mobile VPN, healthcare and transport. Secondly, the campus private network, which is more difficult) 5G with SLA becomes key part of workflows in sectors including mining, port, manufacturing, healthcare, oil and gas.

Shaun was then asked on his opinions of both 5.5G and AI. He emphasises that networks are where the money in the industry will be made, and for this, 5G and the evolution of 5G is essential and partnership will be needed

Watch the full interview here:

Network access provider Openreach (BT) are reportedly lobbying MPs, both UK government ministers and members of the Labour opposition, to introduce further legislative changes that could make it even easier for them to extend their 1.8Gbps speed Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP network into multi-dwelling units (MDUs) by upgrading existing copper lines.

The government has already done a fair bit of work to help make it both quicker and cheaper for gigabit broadband networks to access big residential buildings (e.g. apartment blocks / flats), such as via the Telecommunications Infrastructure (Leasehold Property) Act 2021 (TILPA), which tackled situations where so-called “rogue landlords” failed to respond (here and here), and tenants demand faster connections.

The TILPA changes essentially tackled this by introducing a significantly cheaper and faster route for dispute resolution via a new court process, but this only applies after a landlord has repeatedly failed to respond to requests for access. According to the FT (paywall), Openreach appears to want to sidestep this process by securing a change that would allow them default access to conduct an upgrade, such as when they already have existing copper line infrastructure inside the building (i.e. extending existing maintenance/repair agreements to include full fibre).

The UK is home to approximately 480,000 blocks of flats or apartment buildings (MDUs). But Openreach’s CEO, Clive Selley, said the process of obtaining new wayleaves (legal land/property access agreements) from landlords to install full fibre was still “painful … time-consuming and it’s expensive” and could “easily double the cost of providing fibre to a small block”.

Despite TILPA, the operator still claims to be finding it difficult to contact the owner or managing agent of a building and has had to bypass almost 1 million apartments on streets where it had already laid full fibre. However, we should point out that this problem affects all network operators, not only Openreach.

Similarly, it’s plausible that at least some of the MDUs being referenced by Openreach may already have access to gigabit-capable broadband via a different operator, such as Virgin Media or Hyperoptic, although the FT didn’t think to query that. One other thing to be aware of here is that, if Openreach were to be granted such an extension of access, then they would gain a competitive advantage that rivals networks may not be able to harness.

According to Clive Selley, Labour was “engaging and listening” to its policy request, although it remains to be seen whether that is merely paying lip service to the issue. For its part, the Conservative government has pointed out that landlords have rights too.

A Government (DSIT) spokesperson said:

“Measures providing network operators the ability to enter multi-dwelling units without permission from the landlord, as proposed by Openreach, would significantly and adversely impact on the rights of property owners and occupiers.”

Suffice to say that there are complex issues to consider here, although Openreach have made clear that they’d be just as happy for a change to be introduced that makes it similarly easy for rival networks to access MDUs. The issue was considered while TILPA was being created, but was rejected. In any case, even if such changes were tabled for debate tomorrow, it would still be at least 1-2 years before they could be introduced. In other words, the issue of MDUs looks set to run for a few more years yet, assuming further changes do eventually get made.

News

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said that the company’s requests “do not substantially comply with Commission requirements”

The FCC’s Space Bureau has rejected SpaceX’s requests to use spectrum in the 1.6 GHz, 2 GHz, and 2.4 GHz bands to provide mobile services via its next generation Starlink satellites.

The regulator said that they are currently not looking to allow additional satellite players access to these bands, hence the application itself was invalid.

“SpaceX’s application was unacceptable when it was filed because the commission is currently not accepting applications for new mobile-satellite services (MSS) entrants in the 1.6/2.4 GHz and 2 GHz bands,” explained the FCC in its ruling.

According to astronomer Jonathan McDowell, Starlink currently has 5,504 low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites in orbit around the Earth, 5,442 of which are operational. These satellites currently provide connectivity to customer devices via ground-based Starlink terminals, typically deployed on top of customers’ buildings or vehicles.

However, Elon Musk and SpaceX have far greater ambitions for the next generation of Starlink satellites, which are being equipped with technology allowing them to connect directly to consumers devices, without the need for a Starlink terminal.

Six of these new satellites were launched in January to begin testing, with the first direct-to-device text sent from space using spectrum from US mobile giant T-Mobile just a week later.

Ultimately, SpaceX plans to launch 7,500 of these upgraded satellites, allowing them to provide global direct-to-device services.

To do this effectively, however, the satellites will need access to spectrum. As such, in February 2023 SpaceX filed an application with the FCC, seeking access to spectrum in the 1.6 GHz, 2 GHz, and 2.4 GHz bands to provide mobile-satellite services (MSS).

The request was immediately controversial. The 1.6GHz and 2.4 GHz bands are currently occupied by Globalstar and Iridium satellites, respectively, with little overlap. Meanwhile, DISH (recently reabsorbed into parent company EchoStar) provides satellite services over the 2 GHz band spectrum.

Both DISH and Globalstar wrote to the FCC to oppose SpaceX’s proposal, saying that the addition of a new satellite player in these bands could produce interference for existing services, including access to emergency services as provided by Globalstar.

SpaceX, on the other hand, says that “any modern, capable, and well-designed” satellite system can co-exist in these bands without fear of interference.

Ultimately, however, it was not these arguments themselves that led the FCC to reject the SpaceX’s request, but rather the nature of the request itself. As the FCC explained, there is simply no process for introducing new MSS players under the current framework.

“We conclude that the requests in the Modification Application do not substantially comply with Commission requirements established in rulemaking proceedings which determined that the 1.6/2.4 GHz and 2 GHz bands are not available for additional MSS applications and, with respect to operations in the 2020-2025 MHz band, conclude that the remaining request for uplink operations only does not constitute a comprehensive proposal necessary to sustain a satellite application, as required under Commission rules,” explained the FCC.

However, all hope is not lost for SpaceX. The lengthy application process seems to have indicated to the FCC that the current regulatory framework needs updating. SpaceX is currently petitioning the FCC to revise the rules when it comes to sharing the relevant spectrum, with the FCC issuing two public notices seeking comment on the matter earlier this week.

“The framework the commission adopted 30 years ago to facilitate multiple-operator sharing in the Band remains frozen in time, conceptualized around the almost entirely defunct MSS systems originally proposed in 1994,” argued SpaceX in a statement. “The commission now has the opportunity to modernize the rules for the 1.6/2.4 GHz Band to reflect significant technology developments and new entrants poised to bring renewed competition and consumer value in the satellite market.”

Naturally, the likes of DISH and Globalstar will continue to oppose such a request, but if SpaceX can demonstrate their technology will not cause interference to existing services, it seems unlikely that the FCC would continue to oppose such a development.

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Also in the news:
VEON exits Kyrgyzstan to focus on key markets
BT pledges to upgrade payphones nationwide
Spanish govt buys 3% stake in Telefonica, eyes 10%

The Fusion Fibre Group (formerly FACTCO), which is a rural ISP and UK full fibre network builder, has announced that their much delayed deployment across the small commuter village of Stocksfield in Northumberland (this also includes homes in Mickley) has finally started to go live after suffering three years of “unexpected hurdles“.

The previous article (here) covers some of the difficulties faced by the deployment, which were at least partly related to Project Gigabit’s wider suspension of its Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme in the county (this has affected quite a few voucher based deployments).  Suffice to say that several deployment targets were missed, and the roll-out ended up taking significantly longer than originally envisaged to complete.

The good news today is that, after finally making the network live in February, the Fusion Fibre Group has been busy bringing full fibre to local homes and businesses. The Guessburn Estate is one of Stocksfield’s first areas with full fibre connectivity to benefit from this.

Residents in the area were given the opportunity to find out more about the first phase of the new service roll out at an event which took place at Stocksfield Community Centre on Tuesday 19th March. The next release of live properties is currently expected in May, and further events will be held for residents.

Gary Spooner, Fusion Fibre Group’s Head of National Sales, said:

“Although the network build presented its fair share of challenges, witnessing the positive reaction to vastly improved speeds has been incredibly rewarding for the whole team. This upgrade wouldn’t have been possible without the support of County Councillor for Stocksfield and Mickley Anne Dale.”

In fairness, building a new FTTP broadband network, particularly for smaller and more rural communities, is often a very slow, disruptive and expensive process. Delays are not uncommon in such areas, although operators do need to have a good level of local communication to ensure that residents and businesses are kept fully informed about progress.

According to past updates, the completed build should eventually reach “close to 700 premises” across the area.