Vodafone has reaffirmed its commitment to providing 5G Standalone (5GSA) tech to nearly 90% of Scotland’s landmass by 2034 as a result of its proposed merger with Three UK. The operator also commits to exceeding the UK Government’s Shared Rural Network target of bringing 4G to 74% of Scotland’s geography by pushing it to over […]

Broadband operator Netomnia (YouFibre) has revealed that their 10Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network, which recently covered 850,000 UK premises (up from 730k in Nov 2023), is currently planned to reach 1.5 million premises next year. But they also hold a tentative ambition to push that up to 2 million by the end of 2025. The […]

News

The move will begin on 1st April this year 

Belgian cable operator Telenet, which is wholly owned by Liberty Global, has announced that it will enter into the energy market in April as it launches its new service “Blossom”, which will be used for the installation and running of at home charging stations for electric cars. 

Blossom will be spun out as separate company under the Telenet group, which will initially focus on focus on installing and activating smart charging stations for the employees of companies, with private customers coming later. 

According to Telenet, there will be 1.7 million electric vehicles on the road in Belgium by 2030 with 65% of vehicle charging done at home. The estimate that 800,000 home charging stations will be installed by the end of the decade, but currently, say Telenet, the user experience is not adequate. 

The ambition behind the project is clear. According to a press release, Telenet aims for Blossom to “to become an ally to customers in the energy transition by providing innovative and simple home solutions. Specifically, Blossom will start offering a service to smartly charge electric vehicles at home. Initially, the focus will lie on the corporate market. In a later phase, Blossom will also offer charging services directly to self-employed workers and private customers.” 

Blossom will partner with Scoptvision, Optimile, and Unit-T, amongst others, to launch the company. 

“By placing renewed emphasis on the ongoing digitization of our society, as well as the rapid electrification of our mobility, we can optimize both the installation and management of home charging stations through a unique digital platform,” said Telenet CEO John Porter. “This way, we can simplify the lives of both employees and employers and create a win-win for both parties,” he continued. 

Parent company Liberty Global launched a similar service in the UK in 2022 with a venture called “Egg”. The service will, amongst other things, provide subscription-based electric vehicle charging. The subscription model had not been available in the UK before, and Liberty Global say “customers benefit from ongoing maintenance and technical support, all included in a monthly £30 fee and without any up-front fees”. 

This is a great example of a company in the broadband and telco industry going beyond their usual connectivity realm – and is the type of thing we’re looking for to win “The Beyond Connectivity” award at this year’s World Communication Awards – held in London this December.  

The winner of this award will have developed a product or service that moves beyond the traditional connectivity-based offerings, into new business areas or new market segments – enter now! 

Also in the news:
BT wins £26m contract to connect UK schools
Apple fined €1.8bn by European Commission over Spotify row
Japan to reduce regulatory pressure on incumbent NTT

Network operator and UK broadband ISP CommunityFibre, which is building a 10Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network across London and some surrounding areas, has this afternoon confirmed to ISPreview that its making another round of redundancies and is outsourcing customer support to South Africa. Just to recap. The operator, which also owns Box Broadband – a […]

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The project would see T-Mobile US building its own fibre network, starting in Virginia 

According to a report from German new source Handelsblatt, T-Mobile, the US’s second largest wireless carrier, is in discussions to enter a joint venture (JV) with US-based fibre network operator Lumos Networks to build fibre networks in the US.

The T-Mobile fibre website states that the company currently ongoing fibre sales in thirteen US states, which does not currently include Virginia.  Lumos Networks, however, currently have operations in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina, providing fibre connections to 300,000 across these states – aiming to pass 1 million by 2026. 

The German article states that according to sources at T-Mobile’s parent company Deutsche Telekom, T-Mobile could invest as much as $1 billion in the JV.  

T-Mobile have so far declined to comment on the report. 

Back in 2022, Bloomberg reported that T Mobile US was exploring its options to build a US fibre network, and had hired investment banking firm Citigroup to advise on potential candidates. Here, Bloomberg noted that exploration into the fibre industry would require several billions of dollars of investment. 

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

Also in the news:
Virgin Media O2 Breaks New Ground with Smart Pole Trial  
Swisscom to acquire Vodafone Italia for €8bn
UK Government cracks down on telegraph pole deployment 

Contract-free mobile operator VOXI, which is a virtual network operator (MVNO) sibling of Vodafone, has today introduced new payment terms alongside PayPal to support customers who are looking for more options to help spread the cost of their mobile handset (i.e. applicable when mobile plans are taken with an included handset). The changes mean that […]

The Digital Connectivity Forum, which is an industry think-tank for the UK Government, has published a new “advanced connectivity” report that analyses “full fibre” (FTTP) broadband and 5G mobile deployments, take-up and use cases to understand the key barriers and drivers of adoption, as well as what we might need in the future. Since the […]

A partnership between BTWholesale and broadband ISP Barclay Communications has resulted in the launch of a new £6 million scheme, which will see the internet and telecoms provider offering a “Free Ultra-Fast Fibre” (FTTP) connection to businesses in Northern Ireland. The collaboration hopes to connect 50,000 of those businesses by the end of 2024 and […]

Insight 

Teragence, with its Signal Checker product, delivers geo-located, quantitative mobile network coverage data to anyone who depends on mobile connectivity for the success of their business

So what does that mean? Christian Rouffaert, Teragence’s founder and CEO, breaks down Teragence’s target market in five  segments: 

MVNO’s: MVNO’s (Mobile Virtual Network Operators) depend on licensed operators to deliver their underlying mobile network services. And till date, they had to take their supplier’s word on the coverage quality as given, – there  really was no way to hold them to account. Teragence has changed that: MVNO’s can now use our geo-located mobile network coverage data to assess the quality of the network they are buying. 
Real-estate and property: We are all familiar with the energy rating of a building and the impact on its valuations Similarly, property is moving towards a digital rating – residential properties already have a fixed broadband rating and will soon require a mobile coverage rating as well. In the commercial property space, the value of connectivity is also well understood – you can’t attract a premium tenant if the employees cannot make calls when in the building. Teragence delivers a simple, bite-size way of assessing the available mobile connectivity inside any existing or new building . 
IoT service providers: The economic promise of IoT is driven by a network of remote sensors detecting local conditions, transmitting this information and enabling suitable interventions. But, if there is no connectivity, this promise cannot be delivered. And if not carefully managed, IoT’s economic benefits risks being reversed as repeated site visits rack up the costs side of things. With Teragence, IoT service providers can assess the available mobile connectivity from the comfort of their desk and optimise their deployments accordingly. For example, UDlive, a water metering company estimates that thanks to Teragence Signal Checker, their deployment costs reduced by 15%.   
Local authorities and other government entities: Connectivity is the lifeblood of the of the physical and the digital economy and it is the foundation for digital inclusion. But government organisations often struggle to cost effectively obtain mobile coverage data at the required granularity. We provide that data instantaneously and cost-effectively, giving government organisations the data needed to engage knowledgeably with the mobile operators. 
Digital Infrastructure: Our digital economy is underpinned by a  large physical infrastructure fabric: data centres, towers, fibre, etc…knowing where they are or identifying suitable locations for new deployment, is vital for their success. For example , the decision to erect a new cell tower is not only driven by the nature of the existing mobile coverage, but also the availability of nearby fibre networks.  

When asked about Teragence’s USP, Christian talks about the quality, granularity and transparency of Teragence’s mobile signal data, but also its pay-per-use commercial structure. “It enables our customers to buy the required data in the quantities and financial outlays that fit their own commercial circumstances. We serve customers that spend £ 100 with us as well as £ 10,000” says Christian. 

Before starting Teragence, Christian worked in various roles in the telecoms sector , typically with a data-focused slant. After a fruitful corporate career he decided to start his own business based on two converging ideas: 

The belief that a lot of businesses and organisations, beyond the mobile operators, want to have access to an objective, quantitative data source on available connectivity. 

The power of data and geo-spatial analytics: by combining crowdsourced data and advanced geo-spatial analytics and machine learning, this data can be made accessible.  

Christian is a great story teller- one of his great inspirations is the movie “Moneyball”. “It is the story of how a new, data-driven approach to baseball, enabled an underdog team to punch far above its weight and have one of the most successful seasons ever. I love these data-driven David vs Goliath stories” he says.. 

Today, Teragence is gaining steady traction in the market: the company is partnering with several IoT MVNO’s such as Zariot and 1nce and it recently signed a partnership with WiredScore to provide algorithmic assessments of indoor mobile coverage quality.  

When asked about the future, Christian talks about geographic expansion beyond the core footprint of Europe and North America and functional expansion to go beyond mobile connectivity and create an authoritative source for all forms of connectivity: wireless as well as fixed. Teragence is finalising a agreement with US-based FiberLocator, a CCMI Company. Their specialty is in bringing geo-located fixed connectivity insights to the market 

“Teragence has been going from strength to strength with its mobile connectivity insights” says Christian. “We believe that providing actionable, bite-size insights into the state of all types of connectivity-whether fixed or mobile, will become more and more important. And we are very excited to collaborate with FiberLocator to bring this joined proposition to market.” 

 Company CV  

HQ : London, United Kingdom 
Number of employees : 6 
Last fund type : £ 300 K angel round 
URL : www. Teragence.com 
Founders / Linkedin Address  : https://www.linkedin.com/in/christian-rouffaert-347993/

Videos:
Signal Checker demo
Indoor Signal Checker demo
Customer case study interview

Catch Teragence at Connected North this year, 22-23 April in Manchester. Get your tickets here!

A new study from Global Wireless Solutions (GWS) claims to have found that the UK’s major mobile operators are currently delivering mobile broadband (4G and 5G) speeds that “satisfy the majority of mobile users” and, apparently, the “sweet spot” for most Apps is said to be between just 1-5Mbps. But this does require some context. […]