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. […]

Broadband ISP Connexin has today responded angrily to KCOM’s move last week to send them a feasibility study on infrastructure sharing (PIA / cable duct and pole access) in the Hull area of East Yorkshire (here), which it was hoped might have reduced the level of new pole deployments for full fibre networks. But instead […]

The UK telecoms regulator has today launched an own-initiative investigation into Vonage‘s internet phone (VoIP / Cloud) service, which follows an incident resulting in disruption for its business customers to emergency call (999) services during October and November 2023. The regulator’s existing General Conditions rules (e.g. General Condition A3.2 and sections 105A, 105C and 105K […]

Insight

At this year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Total Telecom’s James had the opportunity to attend a media roundtable hosted by Huawei, titled “leading infrastructure to accelerate electric power intelligence”

Here, the audience heard from Rashid Alahmedi, Chief Operating Officer of InfraX, the information, Communication and Technology arm of Digital DEWA. This is a subsidiary owned by Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (DEWA).

InfraX is a licensed IOT service provider by the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA). This allows InfraX to offer a diverse range of IOT connectivity options catering for the smart cities digital transformations. InfraX provides infrastructure, solutions and managed solutions.

Alahmedi gave an introduction to DEWA, and how in order to comply with the 10X strategy (a strategy launched in line with Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s strategy for Dubai, which involves restructuring the functions of Dubai’s government entities to position Dubai 10 years ahead of all other cities), DEWA proposed the Digital DEWA’s strategy. It is aimed at four directions, renewable energy, electric energy storage, artificial intelligence and digital business.

It is hoped that using technologies such as AI and cloud to reduce costs and increase growth in the  in the field of digital business, increasing investment to provide more smart services to the people of Dubai and the UAE. Therefore, DEWA established a subsidiary, Digital DEWA, to provide traditional water supply and power supply services to society and the public, while further providing future-oriented digital services through its own pipelines and infrastructure; and in 2018, it established InfraX (Digital DEWA’s information Communications and Technology Department), responsible for connecting the value-added services of digital DEWA data centres and cloud services to customers.

In Total Telecom’s exclusive interview with Alahmedi, he then discussed the media panel in more detail, outlining digital DWEA and its four pillars in more detail: solar energy, energy storage, artificial intelligence and digital services. Then, Alahmedi gave us some examples of specific use cases on their partnership with Huawei on this, and how they are working to achieve their future goals.

You can watch part of the media roundtable and Mr Alahmedi’s exclusive interview with Total Telecom here:

Mobile network analyst firm Streetwave and train operator c2c have today published the results of a new real-world benchmark, which examined the mobile network (2G to 5G) performance of EE (BT), O2 (Virgin Media), Vodafone and Three UK across the Essex Thameside Railway route. Overall, EE customers get the best experience. c2c operates the Essex […]

Rural broadband ISP Alncom have this morning announced that the Government’s Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme (GBVS) has approved a new project, which will see them extend their gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network further into the north of Alnwick area in Northumberland (England). The provider is currently aiming to build their full fibre network to cover 50,000 […]

The Government has today announced that the first of 86 new state aid supported 4G mobile masts in rural parts of Wales have been upgraded and switched-on. The work forms part of the £1bn industry-led Shared Rural Network project (i.e. extending 4G mobile / broadband cover to 95% of the UK by the end of […]

News 

The trial will boost mobile capacity in dense urban areas 

British broadband and mobile operator Virgin Media O2 (VMO2) has announced its latest initiative – the Smart Pole Trial, in collaboration with shareholder Liberty Global.  

As part of the trial, VMO2 has erected 4G and 5G smart poles on their existing fibre network to help boost mobile network coverage and capacity. 

The poles are smaller than normal mobile masts and can be set up quickly and without regulatory hurdles such as planning permission. As VMO2 have approximately 25,000 street cabinet dotted across the UK, the trial allows for a wide scale rollout that would speed up network build, reduce costs and de-risk upgrade programmes.  

The company also claim that in a UK first, the electricity “is supplied by Virgin Media’s fibre network rather than a traditional power supply through innovative ‘digital electricity’ technology, which transmits power from on-street cabinets in the local area along fibre optic cables”. 

There is also the possibility that in the future, the smart poles could power smart city solutions and electric vehicle chargers using the company’s existing network. 

“As we continue investing to upgrade and expand our network, we’re always looking for new ways to work smarter and deliver more for our customers,” said Chief Technology Officer Jeanie York in a press release.  

“The ability to use our existing national fixed network to backhaul and power small cells could be transformational – helping us save time and money, open up new revenue streams, support smart city technology and fully leverage the benefits of our scaled converged network,” she continued. 

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

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 

News

The move is the latest step towards Vodafone’s “reshaped European footprint” 

Swisscom has announced a binding deal to acquire Vodafone’s Italian business unit for €8 billion (£6.8bn). 

After the deal’s completion, Swisscom will merge Vodafone’s Italian unit with Fastweb, Swisscom’s Italian subsidiary to create Italy’s second-largest fixed-line broadband operator behind Telecom Italia (TIM). This, they said, will create around €600 million in savings through increased scale and a more efficient cost structure. As part of the transaction, Vodafone will provide some service to Swisscom for the next five years. 

“The industrial logic of this merger is very strong,” said Swisscom’s CEO Christoph Aeschlimann in a press release. “Fastweb and Vodafone Italia are an ideal fit to create high added value for all stakeholders,” he continued. The deal will allow Swisscom to reinforce its Italian operations, a market it has been operating in since 2007 through Fastweb. 

For some time, Vodafone has been reshaping its operations globally. In October last year, the company sold 100% of its Spanish unit to Zegona Communications for €5 billion, and are currently in proceedings to merge business with Three in the UK. 

“Today, I am announcing the third and final step in the reshaping of our European operations,” said Vodafone’s CEO Margherita Della Valle in a company announcement. “Going forward, our businesses will be operating in growing telco markets – where we hold strong positions – enabling us to deliver predictable, stronger growth in Europe.” Additionally, the company’s announcement stated that it also intends to focus on its B2B sector, which it says is its “biggest opportunity”, to focus on  

Vodafone also stated that from 1st April this year, it will move most of its central operations to a a fully commercial model, allowing them to respond quickly and flexibly to demand changes. 

The deal is subject to standard regulatory approval, and is expected to close in the first quarter of next year. Also on this date, the company will be reorganised into five business divisions: Germany; European Markets; Africa; Vodafone Business; and Vodafone Investments. A personnel change will be implemented to reflect this, including Philippe Rogge stepping down as Vodafone Germany CEO. The full staff changes can be found here. 

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

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