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The move represents the first instance of BT using generative AI (GenAI) tools to enhance product development

Today, BT’s Digital Unit has announced that it will us Amazon Web Services (AWS)’s GenAI coding companion Amazon CodeWhisperer to help their software engineers code effectively.

Amazon CodeWhisperer works something akin to autocorrect on a mobile phone, with the AI assessing the piece of code being written in real time and suggesting additional code suited to the programme.

These capabilities span from snippets to full functions in multiple integrated development environments (IDEs) based on natural-language comments and existing code, across 15 coding languages.

The solution also filters out unreliable code and can flag its suggestions if they resemble open-source training data, all the while scanning for vulnerabilities within the code that can be corrected.

According to BT, the code is currently providing 15–20 suggestions of code per user per day, with software engineers accepting these suggestions 37% of the time. This, says BT, has led to the automation of around 12% of “tedious, repetitive, and time-consuming” coding work done by an initial group of volunteers.

“The adoption of generative AI solutions on this scale is not just a major milestone for BT Group, but for industry as a whole. It will equip our colleagues for a world of work that is transforming overnight, in turn delivering solutions for our customers quicker than ever before. Implementing coding assistance is step one in a wider enablement move for our digital colleagues in AI-supported product lifecycle management.”

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The announcement comes as EE continues to play its part in the Shared Rural Network project 

EE has announced today that it has significantly improved its 4G coverage in rural North Yorkshire, revealing that it has built or upgraded over 40 masts in the area over the last two years. 

The villages of Chapel-le-Dale, Rievaulx, Blubberhouses, Danby Wiske, and Terrington, have recently benefitted from 4G connectivity from five recently updated masts, bringing connectivity for residents, visitors, local businesses, and the emergency services. 

The majority of the masts have been built as part of the ongoing Shared Rural Network (SRN) project, the £1 billion initiative to extend 4G to rural areas of the UK, with the aim of covering 95% of the country’s landmass by the end of 2025. The project combines investment from both the private and public sectors, with all related infrastructure being shared between the UK’s four (perhaps soon to be three…) mobile network operators.  

BT’s Chief Networks Officer, Greg McCall, confirmed that EE has upgraded over 1,600 rural locations so far under the SRN, which it claims is more than any other UK operator. 

These network upgrades cannot come soon enough. Back in 2021, an independent report from the North Yorkshire County Council noted that the “not-spots” in the area were hindering economic growth and development in the county, adding that increasing the area’s connectivity will boost investment and jobs in sectors such as hospitality, tourism and agriculture. 

“Having championed the creation of the Shared Rural Network, I know how essential it is in helping to close the digital divide between urban and rural areas and boost regional economic growth,” said local Kevin Hollinrake, MP for Thirsk and Malton in a press release. 

“This improved mobile connectivity from EE means businesses and visitors in North Yorkshire are now better connected and residents have more options when it comes to working remotely and accessing essential services,” he continued. 

In January this year, EE became the first of the UK’s four mobile operators (EE, Three, Vodafone, and Virgin Media O2) to complete the first phase of the SRN, six months ahead of schedule. As a result, EE’s networks now cover 88% of UK landmass or 99% of the population. The project’s second deadline in 2027 will involve the mobile operators developing shared masts to bring coverage to areas with no existing coverage, known as ‘total not spots’.  

Catch North Yorkshire Council at this year’s Connected North Event, 22-23 April in Manchester. Get your tickets here! 

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The merger, which was first announced in June 2022, is worth €18.6 billion 

After an in-depth investigation was opened into the potential transaction in April last year, the European Commission has approved the creation of a 50:50 joint venture (JV) between France’s Orange and Spain’s MásMóvil.  

The JV’s approval was conditional on Romania’s Digi (the largest MVNO in Spain) acquiring spectrum from MásMóvil in order to become a new fourth mobile operator. 

The initial investigation was concerned that the transaction would restrict market competition by creating the largest operator in Spain in terms of customers and reducing the number of players in the market from four to three. 

To combat these concerns, Digi, which also has operations in Portugal, Italy, and Belgium, finalised a spectrum transfer agreement with the two Spanish firms in December last year, worth €120 million. The spectrum acquired is set to be 2x10MHz in the 1,800MHz band, 2x10MHz in the 2.1GHz band, and 20MHz in the 3.5GHz band. As a result of this, Digi can take the place of a fourth MNO in the Spanish market, providing a solution to the market’s competition problem. 

Orange CEO Christel Heydemann has emphasised that the deal will allow increased scale, innovation, and investment in Spain as a result of the “stronger and more sustainable” unified player. 

“The commitments offered by the parties will enable Digi, the largest and fastest-growing mobile virtual network operator in Spain, to replicate the strong competitive pressure exerted by MásMóvil,” EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager said in the announcement’s press release. 

“They will ensure that consumers in Spain continue to benefit from a competitive telecom market, in terms of prices, quality and 5G connectivity,” she continued. 

However, Kester Mann, Director of Consumer and Connectivity at CCS Insight, warned that the deal’s approval will mean the spotlight is turned towards Vodafone and Three in the UK.  

“Both parties will hope that the news represents a shift in position from the region’s regulators as they seek approval to combine,” he said in a LinkedIn post, but warned that the UK Competition and Markets Authority will not be won over easily. 

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The energy will come from multinational energy company RWE’s offshore wind farm in the North Sea 

Vodafone Germany has announced a new 10-year deal to use energy company RWE’s renewable energy to power their 5G network, starting in 2026. 

The Power Purchase Agreement will see Vodafone purchase 250-GWh of energy annually from RWE, enough energy to permanently power 12,000 of Vodafone’s mobile base stations. 

The power will be generated by RWE’s ‘Kaskasi’ offshore wind farm in the North Sea, comprising 38 wind turbines. 

As part of the deal, Vodafone has also built and activated an offshore 5G base station in the sea to enable those working on the wind farm to connect with colleagues and family. In the future, the 5G station will allow enable inspection drones to be controlled in real time via mobile communication, to detect potential technical problems in the wind turbines. 

“We are bringing modern 5G to the sea to support the generation of wind energy in Germany,” said Vodafone Germany CEO Philippe Rogge in the announcement’s press release. 

“And we use wind energy from the sea to make mobile communications in Germany more sustainable – because if we want to support the energy transition with digitalization, then we ourselves have to set a good example and therefore operate our network from 100 percent renewable energy sources,” he continued. 

“We are pleased to be able to support Vodafone in implementing its ambitious climate protection goals,” added Ulf Kerstin, chief commercial officer of RWE supply & trading. “With our green energy solutions, we are helping to ensure that the energy transition is also making progress for our industrial customers.” 

In related news, in April last year, it was announced that Vodafone Germany was accelerating its 5G deployment along the country’s railways, activating its 5G SA network on over 15,000km of railway lines – covering half of the country. 

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The European Commissioner said that merger rules would not change, but nonetheless emphasised the need for a less fragmented European market

This week, European Commissioner Margrethe Vestager has moved to dispel rumours that the European Union will ease merger rules for the telecoms sector, saying that she has not heard of any such proposals.

Her comments come after a report published last week by Reuters, based on Commission documents, said that antitrust regulators were preparing to make it easier for telcos to combine their operations.

Over the past decade, the European Commission has been wary of allowing major telecoms mergers, particularly in cases where this would reduce the number of players in the market from four to three. The Commission argues that these deals typically result in reduced competition and drive-up prices for consumers.

In the rare circumstances when such deals have been approved, the Commission has typically applied stringent conditions, often involving price fixes for customers and divestment of overlapping assets.

In recent years, however, facing expensive rollouts of fibre and 5G, network operators are crying out for change. Intense competition and the troubling macroeconomic environment have shrunk margins considerably, driving the operators into merger discussions as they seek cost-saving synergies and a path to scalable growth.

To make matters worse, the operators have suggested that the congested nature of the European telecoms market is seeing it fall behind rivals like the US and China, which are both dominated by just three nationwide mobile players and therefore can invest at scale far more easily.

Numerous major tie-ups are already being attempted in Europe, most notably Orange and MasMovil in Spain and Three and Vodafone in the UK (though the latter is no longer regulated by the European Commission post-Brexit implementation).

But while some view these deals as representative of a softening sentiment from the EU Commission, Vestager now suggests that merger regulations are unlikely to change. Instead, she argues that facilitating a less fragmented European market will focus on other policy hurdles, such as spectrum coordination.

“One of my hobby horses is indeed to push for taking away the barriers that disable us from having a real European single market for telcos,” Vestager told journalists earlier this week. “If you have a more centralised spectrum management, you can actually harvest efficiencies that are not possible today.”

Currently, each country in the EU has its own independent spectrum policy, making cross-border partnerships problematic.

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Mobile operator EE (BT) has announced that they’ve upgraded or built more than 40 mobile masts in North Yorkshire (England) over the last two years, which is part of their commitment to expand rural 4G (mobile broadband) connectivity under the £1bn industry-led Shared Rural Network (SRN) project. The five most recent masts to go live […]

Network operator and UK ISP CommunityFibre, which has deployed a 10Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network across a big chunk of London and some surrounding areas, has today announced a new 5-year deal with the London Grid for Learning (LGfL) to supply schools with a “back-up” full fibre broadband service. At present the LGfL already works […]

Openreach (BT) has finally succeeded in deploying ReTransmission (ReTx / G.INP) across their ECI (Ribbon) based UK estate of Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC / VDSL2) broadband ISP cabinets and customer lines, which comes after many years of trying to get the technology to work. The result is faster speeds and improved stability. The news these days is […]

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The company claims the investment will allow them to build more than any other fibre network provider in the UK this year besides Openreach  

UK-based wholesale fibre operator nexfibre has announced that it will invest £1 billion in its network over the 2024 financial year. 

nexfibre was formed in 2022 as a £4.5 billion joint venture between InfraVia Capital Partners, Liberty Global and Telefonica. The company aims to build a Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband networks that will cover up to 7 million homes across the UK that are not already served by Virgin Media’s network.  

As of the end of last year, the company had currently expanded its FTTP network to around 830,000 premises, saying they would pass 1 million premises in spring 2024.  

Now, with confirmation of a £1 billion investment this year, nexfibre says it will aim to increase this total by an additional 1 million premises in the coming financial year. 

 “Our focus is on addressing the historical lack of investment that has left the UK lagging behind its European counterparts, and providing a platform for progress and innovation to deliver lasting value to the communities we serve, and the wider economy,” said nexfibre CEO Rajib Datta in a company press release.  

“The £1 billion we are investing this year will be a major boost to the UK’s digital infrastructure. Backed by our world-class investors, we are bringing much-needed sustainable competition and next generation connectivity to the UK,” he continued. 

nexfibre’s September 2023 build report highlighted that the company aims to have 5 million houses covered by the end of 2026, which will be capable of accessing speeds of up to 10Gbps. The report also shows a full, countrywide upcoming rollout plan. 

Beyond their increased investment, nexfibre has also recently been in the news for hitting out at the UK incumbent BT, arguing that its monopolistic position and lack of investment in the UK market has resulted in the UK lagging behind other European countries. 

According to Datta, speaking to the Daily Telegraph, BT behaves like a “typical monopoly”, and has only begun to invest in its core infrastructure when serious competitors arose. 

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The companies aim to launch the service commercially in 2026, but note that the specific timing remains “uncertain”  

Japanese mobile network operator Rakuten Mobile has announced that it is planning to launch a satellite-to-mobile service in collaboration with AST SpaceMobile in Japan. 

The companies envisage that the direct-to-mobile satellite services will be used for messaging initially, but ultimately being expanded to internet, voice, and video services using regular smartphones.  

Back in November 2022, Rakuten Mobile received preliminary approval from the Japanese authorities to test the service using AST SpaceMobile’s low Earth orbit (LEO) test satellite BlueWalker 3. 

The announcement notes that there is a growing need for such services in Japan because of the country’s high-risk of natural disasters and many hard-to-connect remote areas. For example, in January this year, the country’s Noto Peninsula earthquake cut off of recovery routes, causing delays to emergency responders that could have been mitigated with satellite connectivity. 

“Remote islands and mountainous regions present unique challenges that require innovative solutions, while the threat of natural disasters, coupled with the effects of climate change, has also heightened public awareness of the importance of mobile connectivity for daily life,” said Mickey Mikitani, Chairman and CEO of Rakuten Group and Chairman of Rakuten Mobile. 

“We are proud to partner with AST SpaceMobile to bring their cutting-edge solutions to Japan by realizing satellite-to-mobile services, ensuring our customers would potentially enjoy mobile connectivity across Japan,” he continued. 

The launch is not the first time the two companies have worked together. After entering into a strategic partnership in March 2020, the two firms collaborated on the world’s first two-way voice call in April 2023 between Texas and Tokyo, using two standard smartphones. 

Direct-to-device satellite connectivity is an area of increasing interest for the global telecoms community, with SpaceX’s Starlink beginning to launch satellites equipped with the new technology at the start of this year.  

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