A Warrington-based company called Sunningdale Solutions has revealed that they’re planning to build a new gigabit-capable UK Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network to serve homes and businesses in rural parts of Lancashire (England), which may be complemented by a Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) network in certain locations.

The plan was revealed as part of the company’s application for Code Powers from Ofcom. Such powers are typically sought to help speed-up deployments of new fibre and cut costs, not least by reducing the number of licenses needed for street works. The powers can also help with supporting access to run new fibre via Openreach’s (BT) existing cable ducts and poles (PIA), which is something Sunningdale Solutions intends to harness.

At the time of writing, there’s still very little information available on Sunningdale Solutions, which is a small company that was first incorporated on 18th June 2020 (here) and is home to two Directors – Michael Taylor and Sharon Taylor.

The plan seems to be for the company to build and then sell retail and wholesale broadband services over the new network, which seems set to focus on areas of Lancashire that currently lack any FTTP coverage.

Code Powers Statement

The Applicant has stated that it intends to deploy its network in rural areas of Lancashire currently not served by such networks which suffer from slow broadband speeds and a lack of provider choice. It considers that people and businesses would benefit from the introduction of ultrafast full-fibre broadband services.

The Applicant also intends to provide other communications providers with access to the backhaul network that it intends to deploy to support its access network. It considers that this will allow a broader range of services offerings to the local economy and increased competition with improved connectivity.

However, Companies House describes the nature of this business as being a “management consultancy“, which engages in “activities other than financial management.” Suffice to say that it’s unclear what kind of network ownership and build structure will be involved here, and we also couldn’t find a website for the company. But hopefully more information will surface in the near future.

Australian investment group Macquarie has reportedly placed broadband ISP and full fibre network operator KCOM, which is the dominant operator in Hull and is also expanding further out into East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire in England, under strategic review. The move could potentially result in a sale or merger of the business.

In case anybody has forgotten. Macquarie Infrastructure (MIRA / MEIF 6 Fibre), following a fierce bidding war with the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), finalised their £627m acquisition of Hull and East Riding’s incumbent broadband operator KCOM in August 2019 (here).

At the time, KCOM had only just finished its £85m “Lightstream” project (here), which made their gigabit speed Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network available to nearly all of their addressable network area (195,000 premises). But in 2020 they began a large £100m network expansion into more competitive areas (here), which was followed in 2022 by a second £100m fibre expansion and copper upgrade programme (here).

The latest development, according to the Telegraph (credits to Carl for spotting), is that Macquarie has allegedly appointed advisory-focused investment bank PJT Partners to conduct a strategic review of KCOM’s business. The speculation is that this move could potentially result in a sale or merger of the business with a rival operator, although such a proposition seems likely to be much more challenging this time around.

The original deal came at a time of low interest rates and easier access to funding, while the situation today is the opposite and the market (infrastructure level) is also much more competitive than in 2019. Not to mention that KCOM has since sold off some parts of its business (here) and is coming under pressure to grant rivals more access to run new fibre via their network (here). Suffice to say that KCOM may struggle to attract the same sort of money as they did five years ago.

On the other hand, growing network operators like CityFibre and nexfibre (Virgin Media O2) are currently looking to help boost their reach through consolidation and neither have any significant overbuild with KCOM. On top of that, KCOM delivered its first pre-tax profit in the year to the end of March 2023 (current earnings are said to be around £50m), which is something that a lot of alternative networks are still some distance from achieving.

In addition, the investment environment may soon start to improve once interest rates drop, although it will take time to move away from the current peaks. In any case, we probably won’t hear much more on this until later in the year, after the completion of the strategic review.

Consumer magazine Which? has published the results of their latest 2024 consumer survey of UK mobile operators, which revealed the best and worst providers. Overall the four primary operators (O2, EE, Vodafone and Three UK) came at or near the bottom of the table, while Tesco Mobile attracted the highest customer score.

The survey itself questioned 3,739 customers during January 2024, which produced an overall customer score based on service satisfaction and the customers’ likelihood to recommend the service to others. The caveat of this is that the scores for some operators – particularly the smallest Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) providers – will inevitably be based on a fairly small sample size, so take with a pinch of salt.

Overall, the highest rated mobile operator was Tesco, which delivered a customer score of 83%. In fact, the top half of the table was dominated by similar MVNO providers, while the primary operators could all be found toward the bottom of the table, with Three being named as the lowest rated provider.

Take note that Which? retains the full results for those who go out and buy their magazine, thus the online release only provides a basic summary of their overall customer scores.

Which? 2024 Mobile Survey
Tesco Mobile 83%
Smarty 82%
Giffgaff 80%
Talkmobile 79%
Voxi 77%
iD Mobile 77%
Lebara Mobile 76%
1p Mobile 72%
EE 69%
O2 68%
Sky Mobile 68%
Vodafone 68%
Asda Mobile 67%
BT Mobile 67%
Lycamobile 65%
Three UK 60% (down from 66% last year)

The Scottish Government (SG) has announced that both of its past and present broadband roll-out programmes, accounting for a total public investment of £1bn, have now helped more than 1 million extra premises (homes and businesses) in poorly served areas to gain access to a faster broadband ISP network.

The two programmes concerned include the SG’s £463m Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) project, which – running between 2014 and 2020 – expanded fibre-based broadband (mostly FTTC / VDSL2 and some FTTP from Openreach) to cover an additional 950,600 premises (over 150,000 more than originally anticipated). The focus of such schemes is typically on areas where commercial builds either wouldn’t reach or, without intervention, might have been left to wait years longer for a faster service.

On top of that, we also have the more recent £600m Reaching 100% (R100) project – with Openreach, which largely involves extending gigabit-capable “full fibre” (FTTP) networks to another 114,000 premises in areas that lack access to “superfast broadband” (30Mbps+) speeds by 2027/28 – so far, it’s already covered 48,000 premises. But take note that their 48k figure includes the impact from both vouchers (3,800) and contracted build, as well as overspill (explainer).

The combination of both public and privately funded deployments means that, according to the latest Thinkbroadband data, some 96.14% of premises in Scotland can today access a “superfast broadband” (30Mbps+) connection, while 76.06% already have access to gigabit-capable broadband (1000Mbps+) – dropping to 58.78% when only looking at FTTP lines.

Ofcom currently predicts (here) that Scotland’s full fibre coverage will reach around 78-83% by May 2026, while gigabit-capable broadband (FTTP and Hybrid Fibre Coax / cable) should deliver 83-85% by that same date.

Mairi McAllan, Wellbeing Economy Secretary, said:

“Fast and reliable broadband has never been so important: it is an increasingly vital tool for everything from work and leisure, healthcare and education. This is precisely why the Scottish Government has prioritised investment in digital connectivity in the 2024-25 Budget. Indeed, despite telecoms being reserved, we have now committed to investing more than £650 million across the DSSB and R100 programmes, recognising that faster broadband is a key building block for a green and growing economy.

Enabling more than one million connections to faster broadband is a landmark achievement in delivering this vision, and we are fully committed to ensuring as many people as possible can benefit from the advantages of future-proofed digital infrastructure to run businesses and services across the country.”

Fraser Rowberry, Chief Engineer for Openreach Scotland, said:

“Scotland’s digital journey is a story of resilience and progress. From adapting to remote work and learning during the pandemic to expanding ultrafast internet access, we’ve come a long way. Today’s milestone marks a massive engineering success, connecting people and businesses from Shetland to Stranraer, and we’re proud of the part we’ve played through our work with the Scottish Government.

Change on this scale, reaching even the most rural areas, is a testament to teamwork and determination. Let’s celebrate our achievements as we keep reaching for better connectivity across Scotland.”

However, in terms of gigabit broadband coverage, it’s clear that a gap will still be left for Scotland to fill once R100 completes and most of that will be in rural areas – only around 30% of rural Scotland can currently access gigabit speeds, although this is due to shrink further over the next few years.

The UK Government’s £5bn Project Gigabit programme is aware of this and has already allocated £450m (here) to help this project spread 1Gbps speeds into some of the most remote rural areas. The associated Building Digital UK (BDUK) agency has previously estimated that some 410,000 premises across Scotland may need support from public funding to help them gain access to such speeds (here).

The Scottish Government is currently expected to launch their first Project Gigabit procurement, for the Borders and East Lothian areas, this month, and that is aiming to reach over 11,000 premises. Further procurements are expected to launch in phases throughout the rest of 2024 including in Dumfries and Galloway, Fife, Perth and Kinross, Aberdeen, Dundee and Moray Coast, and Orkney and Shetland, subject to market interest being confirmed.

Finally, projects for Central and North Scotland will be included within a future call-off procurement under the project’s cross-regional (type C) framework contract that is currently in procurement, which will be delivered by BDUK rather than the SG. Cross-regional contracts are arguably more tailored toward bigger operators (e.g. Openreach, Virgin Madia/Nexfibre, CityFibre etc.), largely because smaller players may have found the areas too challenging (i.e. little market interest was shown).

News 

The deal will see over 60,000 Delta workflows transferred to T-Mobile  

This week, Delta Airlines has announced that it has chosen T-Mobile as its preferred mobility partner.  

The two companies have signed a long-term strategic partnership to bring 5G to Delta’s operations. 

The deal will see Delta move more than 60,000 workflows to T-Mobile, including devices used by flight attendants, customer agents, and ground crews on 5G-enabled smartphones, tablets, and other devices. According to Delta, this will allow for airport operations to be streamlined, from check-in to take-off. 

Delta will also deploy a T-Mobile 5G hybrid network at their headquarters in Atlanta, which will bring both indoor and outdoor 5G coverage to support the operations across the campus. 

Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. 

“Connecting the world also means harnessing world-class connectivity,” said Ranjan Goswami, SVP of Customer Experience Design, Delta Air Lines in a press release. 

“Our collaboration with T-Mobile is unlocking how we serve customers at each step of their journey and ensuring our people have all the information they need at their fingertips to deliver the elevated and welcoming experiences Delta is known for,” he continued. 

Also this week, T-Mobile announced the completion of a 5G network investment in Louisiana, which totalled $290 million. The network’s development included the deployment of 300 new cell sites and over 1,870 upgrades to existing sites.  

The move comes after the company announced that it would add new capacity to the country’s leading 5G network by activating the 2.5 GHz spectrum purchased in a 2022 auction. 

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

Comcast bucks convention with prepaid broadband under “NOW” branding

Under its new “NOW” brand, Comcast is debuting a host of prepaid service offerings including wireless, fixed broadband, Wi-Fi, and streaming TV

Prepaid mobile plans have been commonplace for years. These plans are often used by consumers with lower incomes and do not require a good credit score, making them more accessible than postpaid plans.

Fixed broadband, on the other hand, requires customer premises equipment (CPE) and an installation process that typically requires providers to send out a technician. Doing so for customers without a credit score presents a degree of risk that providers are generally unwilling to take.

Comcast is one of few providers that has previously offered prepaid broadband through Xfinity Prepaid, with NOW Internet being the company’s new focus in the prepaid segment.

New NOW Internet customers will receive a self-installation kit which includes a Comcast gateway. The gateway has to be plugged into an existing Comcast connection. For homes with no existing connection, Comcast will send along a technician at no cost to the consumer, provided the customer is in Comcast’s existing footprint.

Dave Watson, president and CEO of connectivity and platforms at Comcast, said in a statement that the new prepaid offerings will cater to consumers’ requests for “low-cost, easy-to-use connectivity and entertainment options” that offer the same “reliability and consistency of [Comcast’s] leading Xfinity services”.

The prepaid broadband plan is designed to be easy to use. Once the gateway is plugged in, the customer can set up their service through an app. They can also pause or cancel online at any time.

NOW Internet will offer two prepaid plans. 100Mbps internet is $30/month, and 200Mbps is $45/month. This is intended to complement the existing “Internet Essentials” options for lower-income consumers.

In addition to NOW Internet, Comcast is expanding its prepaid mobile offerings through NOW Mobile.

Comcast already offers existing mobile plans to customers using Verizon’s network, serving around 6.5 million subscribers.

NOW Mobile will offer unlimited 5G, talk and text for $25/month per phone line. It will also allow subscribers to connect to over 23 million Xfinity Wi-Fi hotspots.

The new NOW Wi-Fi Pass will give non-Comcast customers access to all Xfinity hotspots at a cost of $20 for 30 days. Previously, these hotspots were only accessible for Xfinity customers.

The final offering in the new prepaid services is NOW TV. The streaming service includes live and on-demand programming from over 40 networks, in addition to free-ad supported streaming channels and Peacock Premium for only $20/month. This package can be streamed on any device that supports the Xfinity stream app.

ARNHEM, NETHERLANDS, April 19, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ — Alepo Technologies Inc. is pleased to announce that it has partnered with Nomios, a provider of secure network solutions, to successfully deploy an advanced Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting (AAA) solution for VodafoneZiggo, a leading integrated communications provider in the Netherlands.

VodafoneZiggo’s decision to upgrade to Alepo’s AAA solution reflects its commitment to modern, secure technologies for enhanced network performance. Alepo solution streamlines broadband authentication and guarantees high performance and low latency, particularly during peak traffic. Additionally, it supports increased concurrent sessions and reinforces VodafoneZiggo’s network security. This advancement is a crucial step in today’s digital landscape, emphasizing the importance of protecting user data and privacy alongside delivering an advanced network experience.

The carrier-grade, geo-redundant solution ensures high availability, robust authentication, and accounting for large subscriber bases. Customized AAA authentication policies for granular access level control further enhance VodafoneZiggo’s network security. The built-in API gateway enabled rapid integration with VodafoneZiggo’s existing provisioning systems, eliminating the need for changes to their IT landscape.

“We’re excited to have partnered with Alepo and Nomios to find the right AAA platform for our requirements,” said Dick Loef, Technology Manager, VodafoneZiggo. “Alepo’s stood out for its advanced capabilities, integration experience, and service excellence.”

The solution also features Alepo’s AAA EMS, which provides unified visibility and control across all AAA nodes from a single pane of glass. This allows VodafoneZiggo’s network and security teams to pinpoint and resolve issues more efficiently. The deployment demonstrated Alepo’s core network expertise by integrating its AAA seamlessly with VodafoneZiggo’s systems without service disruption. The migration of subscribers was completed smoothly, with no downtime or impact on subscribers.

About Nomios Group

Nomios is a leading European provider of cybersecurity and secure networking solutions and services and has a broad customer base in highly diversified sectors. In 20 years, Nomios has grown into an organization with more than 20 offices in seven European countries and has continuously expanded its professional services, managed services, support, and SOC offerings.

Nomios has an experienced and certified pool of engineers and has strategic partnerships with leading technology providers to deliver secure and reliable networks.

For more information, please visit https://www.nomios.nl/

About Alepo: https://www.alepo.com/about-us/

LONDON (18 April 2024) – The quality of customer service is falling and UK adults are increasingly turning their back on automated systems and chatbots for resolving issues, according to new research released today by Cavell, a leading research and consulting firm.

Cavell’s 2024 Voice of the Consumer Report surveyed over 1,000 adults across the UK, with the findings revealing that close to half (44%) of consumers think the quality of customer service is worse now than three years ago.

Additionally, over a third (35%) of adults in the UK feel that chatbots and automated systems are bad at customer service. As a result, half of UK consumers feel that speaking to a human is still the fastest and best way to resolve a customer service issue and receive a positive outcome.

Finbarr Begley, Senior Analyst at Cavell, commented: “Consumers are growing increasingly frustrated with customer service. Automated systems are seen as the solution but the huge differences in quality across systems like chatbots result in consumers getting more frustrated than helped. Expectations on the technology are soaring, fuelled by the AI narratives in the media, but the reality isn’t there yet.”

The research also revealed that:

Over three quarters (79%) of UK adults prefer to receive customer service from someone located in their own country
45% of consumers have ignored an issue with a product or service because they would have had to interact with customer service
More than a third of UK adults would pay for a ‘premium’ customer service add-on featuring benefits such as prioritised response, personalised service and a dedicated point of contact

Begley added: “Added to the growth in consumer expectations on customer service, is the increased focus on deflection techniques to try and get consumers to self-solve issues. This is being done to reduce customer service costs but also means that consumers cannot easily reach a human agent even when they know they need to. This will continue to ease over the next few years as automated systems improve, and companies continue to add more methods of contacting them to their platforms.”

Cavell’s 2024 Voice of the Consumer Report is available for free download here.

-ENDS-

Survey Methodology

Cavell surveyed 1,019 consumers across the UK ranging from 16-55+ in age at the start of 2024. All respondents had interacted with a business or organisation for customer service or had shopped online in the last six months.

About Cavell

Cavell is a leading research and consulting firm specialising in the telecommunications industry with a particular focus on business communications technologies including UCaaS, collaboration, contact centre and customer engagement software, business messaging, and Microsoft Teams.

Cavell provides insights, analysis, and advisory services to help their clients navigate and succeed in these rapidly evolving sectors.

Cavell’s team combines years of accumulated telecoms industry experience with enterprise and SMB surveys and proven market intelligence to provide a suite of services including market research, commercial and technical due diligence, strategy advisory services and leading industry events.

https://www.cavellgroup.com 

Infinera GX Series Powers Paratus Superhighway Network Between Johannesburg and Europe

San Jose, Calif. – April 18, 2024 – Infinera (Nasdaq: INFN) announced today that Paratus Group, a leading network provider in Africa, deployed Infinera’s GX Series and FlexILS solutions to offer the lowest-latency express route between Johannesburg and Lisbon, delivering services with a latency of 123 milliseconds and supporting wavelengths up to 800G. Infinera’s solutions were deployed on the recently completed 1,890-km Paratus express fiber link between Johannesburg and Europe, via Botswana to Swakopmund, where it connects with the Equiano subsea cable from Namibia to Lisbon and on to London and the rest of Europe.

Paratus’ new superhighway offers network operators an unparalleled opportunity for capacity and redundancy where resilience and high-speed performance are required. This guarantees seamless data flow, efficient communications, and uninterrupted services. Paratus is the landing partner for the Equiano subsea cable, which offers diverse routing and geographically separated paths. Deploying Infinera’s solutions mitigates possible cable station faults and ensures the network remains intact and fully functional around the clock.

“As a steadfast partner on the ground in Africa, Paratus offers unrivalled wholesale capacity solutions for network operators, as exemplified by our advanced technology from Infinera, our infrastructure, and our commitment to offering redundancy,” said Martin Cox, Paratus Group Chief Commercial Officer.

“Our continual investment in creating Africa’s quality network is now extended with the live launch of this superhighway powered by Infinera’s industry-leading technology. This is an exciting time for network operators in South Africa because they can now enjoy the fastest and most robust connectivity from Africa to Europe,” said CEO of Paratus Group, Schalk Erasmus.

“Deploying Infinera’s GX networking solution enables Paratus to leverage the industry’s highest-capacity solution to offer its customers high-performance services while minimizing latency and maximizing reliability,” said Nick Walden, Senior Vice President, Worldwide Sales, Infinera. “We are pleased to work with Paratus to launch these new services to the region.”

Contacts:

Infinera Media:

Anna Vue

Tel. +1 (916) 595-8157

av**@******ra.com   

Infinera Investors:

Amitabh Passi, Head of Investor Relations

Tel. +1 (669) 295-1489

ap****@******ra.com

About Infinera

Infinera is a global supplier of innovative open optical networking solutions and advanced optical semiconductors that enable carriers, cloud operators, governments, and enterprises to scale network bandwidth, accelerate service innovation, and automate network operations. Infinera solutions deliver industry-leading economics and performance in long-haul, submarine, data center interconnect, and metro transport applications. To learn more about Infinera, visit www.infinera.com, follow us on X and LinkedIn, and subscribe for updates.

Infinera and the Infinera logo are registered trademarks of Infinera Corporation.

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including but not limited to the operational and performance benefits of Infinera’s GX Series and FlexILS solutions. These statements are not guarantees of results and should not be considered as an indication of future activity or future performance. Actual results may vary materially from these expectations as a result of various risks and uncertainties. Information about these risks and uncertainties, and other risks and uncertainties that affect Infinera’s business, is contained in the risk factors section and other sections of Infinera’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the Fiscal Quarter ended September 30, 2023 as filed with the SEC on February 29, 2024, as well as any subsequent reports filed with or furnished to the SEC. These reports are available on Infinera’s website at https://www.infinera.com and the SEC’s website at https://www.sec.gov. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding our expectations, beliefs, intentions, or strategies and can be identified by words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “should,” “will,” and “would” or similar words. Infinera assumes no obligation to, and does not currently intend to, update any such forward-looking statements.

News 

New Washington D.C.-based mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) Cape has raised $61 million in three financing rounds.

Cape operates as an full MVNO on the UScellular network.  Unlike other MVNOs, however, Cape’s unique selling point is not its pricing structure or attractive bundled services, but privacy and security. 

Cape says it will not store customers’ personal information, such as name, numbers, and location date, thereby ensuring that those details remain beyond the reach of hackers. 

At its core, the company believes that “privacy and security are inherently valuable”, and that “control over your personal information is critical to autonomy and freedom”. 

“Cape doesn’t ask for personal information, like your name or social security number, to give you great cell service,” reads the website. “We don’t even store your payment information, including your credit card number or address, and your bills are stored locally on your device.”  

Founder and CEO John Doyle came from software company Palantir, where he learned of the many vulnerabilities in the cellular network. Cape aims to break the “chain of trust” that results in consumer data being shared with advertisers or being exposed to hackers and data breaches.  

In more extreme circumstances, bad actors gaining access to this can be lifechanging for customers. 

“Millions of mobile network subscribers see their personal data breached and their identities stolen, or individual identities stolen via SIM jacking. Ukrainian troop locations are exposed by Russian network-based attacks. Ad-id data reveals details of your personal life. The list goes on,” reads a Cape blog post,   

The company also provides AI based spam protection, which claims to reduce unwanted calls and texts by up to 90%. 

Although not officially launching until June, Cape is currently operating in early-access mode, and has already secured a pilot project with the US government, securing communications on US island territory Guam. 

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