Most of the daily talk on these pages is currently about UK broadband ISP packages that reach top speeds of around 1Gbps (Gigabit per second). But spare a thought for customers of Ooredoo in Qatar, who are about to achieve somewhat of a world’s first by deploying a 50Gbps capable full fibre (FTTP) plan for […]

Network access provider Openreach (BT) are gearing up to launch a new high-speed Ethernet Access Direct (EAD) v2.0 product for businesses and UK ISPs in the future – estimated for early FY25/26 (i.e. the current details are highly tentative), which will introduce various improvements and new data speed profiles. The EAD product is perhaps one […]

Startup Stories

Czech startup BrnoLogic specialise in FPGA programmable logic technology, field programmable integrated circuits that can be reconfigured after manufacturing. They will be at Total Telecom Congress in Amsterdam this November.

Tell us about your start up
We established BrnoLogic company 2 years ago. We see great potential in the utilization of special technology of programmable chips (FPGA) in the networking area. FPGA-based network interface cards (NICs) can very efficiently handle different network packet processing tasks and thus significantly reduce the need for powerful processors with a large number of processor cores. Moreover, FPGA technology allows for flexibility in terms of different specific tasks that can be performed, as well as the ability to easily update or modify the functionality as needed. So the new era of so-called “SmartNIC” arose, that is according to Gartner’s or Dell’Oro research predicted to be USD 3.824 billion in 2026.

FPGA-based SmartNIC can be utilized in many areas and use-cases such as network security, network monitoring and analysis, cloud computing and virtualized networking and many more. Thanks to our newly developed portfolio of unique FPGA components, our company is able to cover all mentioned cases and even more. Soon we were recognized by Intel and AMD/Xilinx and we became their official partners with our high-speed FPGA packet processing technology.

Based on our know-how, we have built and introduced a complete FPGA-based SmartNIC solution DYNANIC in partnership with many top hardware manufacturers such as AMD/Xilinx, BittWare, Silicom, Reflex CES or PRO Design Europe. We offer integration into customer solutions to utilize the maximum of the FPGA but without the need for special FPGA knowledge. We are able to prepare highly effective FPGA-based packet processing for customer specific application needs to offer solutions even where other SmartNICs fail.

What is your USP?
We have 3 key USPs:

With our solutions, we are able to achieve full wire-speed throughput even on 400 Gbps network lines. Existing solutions support at most 100 Gbps, and that’s even on selected network packet sizes. We are ready for all packet sizes even in 400 Gbps networks. The 400 Gbps speeds are slowly starting to appear in data centers or at telco operators and we are ready for them!
Thanks to our many years of activity in the field and thanks to connections to top research centers we have really a huge portfolio of high-end packet processing IPs (e.g. for packet parsing/deparsing, packet/headers fields extraction, hash based pattern matching, different types of filtering, traffic flow management, etc.), while patent protection is being prepared for some of them. With all of this, we are able to cover almost any high-speed networking use-case.
Our solution uses standard interfaces (APIs), which are already used in today’s installations that do not utilize FPGA technology. We are thus better prepared for the integration of FPGA technology as we help to save the time required for familiarization and final deployment.

What is your relationship with the telecom sector?
The telecom sector is our primary market of interest. Our main customers are network operators, especially large telecom operators (CSPs) and datacenter or cloud solution providers. Our SmartNIC solution is best suited to the network security, network infrastructure monitoring and analysis, cloud computing and virtualized networking and others, making it an ideal fit for the telecom industry.

How have you got to your current stage of development?
BrnoLogic company is a university spin-off, so we started already at the university. Our team members have been dealing with acceleration of network applications using FPGA technology for more than 20 years. During that time we have participated in the design and development of a number of successful results that were used commercially by large technology companies or by state security forces. An example is the design of the one of the first FPGA-based network interface cards with 100 GE interface in 2014 or the market first card with 400 GE interface and PCI Express gen5 interface in 2021. Our team was also behind the development of a system for programming FPGA cards using the P4 language.

We founded the company at the end of 2021, and we transferred to this company some of the FPGA IPs that we have been working on for quite a long time. We have seen the problem that instead of custom development many customers want a complete solution and do not have the knowledge of how to deal with FPGAs. So, thanks to our own capital and our own resources, we started to develop our own DYNANIC solution that would help break down this barrier. We are now in the state of a finished technical MVP, which we are able to offer to customers for deployment and possible further modifications.

Why did you establish the business?
We wanted to bring the results of long-term excellent R&D into practice and help customers utilize very advanced technology in which we have unique know-how and expertise. The founding team considered that this know-how and expertise can bring enormous added value to customers from the telecom industry. And based on initial consultations and the interest shown by potential customers, it appears to be the case.

Who inspired you?
We were inspired by competitive solutions. They do not even come close to the parameters that we are able to provide with our DYNANIC solution. This is a great inspiration. To know that we are really working at the cutting edge of technological possibilities.

What does the future hold for your business?
It is possible to be inspired by the past. Just as network line speeds gradually went from 1 Gbps to 2.5 Gbps, then to 10, 25, 40 or 50 Gbps, so will the transition not only to the more common 100 Gbps today, but also to 200 and 400 Gbps. It is given by increasing volume of network traffic (e.g. video streaming in higher quality) together with increasing number of end users. Telco and other segments must adopt these requirements for higher network speeds to offer a satisfying level of services.

And, of course, there will be new standards for the speed of network lines in the area of terabits and we want to be there and offer solutions for these speeds as well!

Come and meet the BrnoLogic team at Total Telecom Congress in Amsterdam this November. Find out more here: www.totaltele.com/congress

The recent increase in protests against the use of telecoms poles, which are often used to deploy new full fibre broadband ISP infrastructure across the UK, has prompted one network operator, Grain (Grain Connect), to reinforce its pledge to “never use poles as part of network deployment“. Grain has so far unveiled full fibre builds […]

Insight 

Tell us about your start up. Who do you sell to?  What do you offer?  

Completely unique to the UK, Jetty is a white-label customer management platform built specifically for fibre retailers. It uses the latest technologies to manage the full journey of a residential fibre customer efficiently, compliantly and at scale.  

Jetty provides all this functionality out-of-the-box to Altnets and Communication Service Providers, enabling a rapid route to market and the reassurance that their customers will be managed efficiently and compliantly.  

The Jetty platform is totally end-to-end, bringing together a number of products to support the customer experience, including Sales / Order / Provisioning, Customer Service, Customer Communications, Billing & Payments, Contact Centre Technology, Hardware Logistics and Digital Applications. 

This full service offering allows our clients to focus on scaling their business either organically, or through acquisition by leaning on Jetty’s expertise of consolidating customer bases.  

 

 What is your USP?  

Jetty is the only white-label SaaS platform in the UK that automates the full journey of a residential fibre customer – efficiently, compliantly and at scale.  

Jetty is run by a team who, individually, have all previously worked in customer telcos. As a result, the client and its customers are put at the heart of every single decision. Being built around the principles of case management, Jetty automates the customer journey and creates frictionless digital experiences for customers. Consequently, customer service agents only handle the most complex cases. 

 

What is your relationship with the telecom sector? 

Jetty has worked hand-in-glove with its clients to enhance the experience of its customers and customer service agents, as well as delivering a transformation programme to unlock millions of pounds of value to the group. 

We are now offering this platform to other fibre retailers to transform the experiences of their customers too. 

 

How have you got to your current stage of development? (role of accelerators, partners etc)  

Jetty launched in 2022 following a management buy-out led by OVO’s previous Director of Telecoms, Alex Hollingdale.  

As well as Alex, the Jetty board includes Vinny Casey (CFO at OVO) and Steven Ackroyd (VP at OVO & Vertical Aeropace).  

 

Why did you establish the business?  

For the last few years we have seen over 100 UK Altnets secure funding to build a fibre network and start acquiring customers. We knew that once they started reaching some degree of scale, the manual processes and systems that had got them to launch, would not be fit for purpose. We know how hard and expensive it is to build an efficient and compliant BSS. We believe a more efficient model is for Jetty to license our platform to them as part of a managed service. This would in turn mean the Altnets could focus on the things that add the most value to them; a) building fibre networks and b) putting customers on those networks 

 

Who inspired you? Do you have a mentor?  

I have been fortunate to work for 2 incredible entrepreneurs in my career, both of whom have founded not just one, but two £1bn+ unicorns. 

Firstly Sir Charles Dunstone (Carphone Warehouse, TalkTalk), who taught me the importance of putting the customer and those that speak with customers at the heart of every decision you make.  

Secondly, Stephen Fitzpartick (OVO, Vertical Aerospace), who continually challenges the status quo and is driven to help solve our greatest global challenge of achieving net zero. 

 

What does the future hold for your business?  

Since Jetty is a cloud-based application and multi-tenant by design, technologically its scalability is limitless. Over time we anticipate Jetty expanding to offer its clients a multi-product offering (Fibre, Mobile, TV, Energy) completely on their brand. In addition we are already seeing opportunities to expand into Europe, Africa, Australia and North America. 

Fundamentally we will be successful only if our clients are successful. Our belief is that by enabling them to grow by using our technology and our deep industry knowledge, Jetty will be the platform of choice for retailers globally.  

Company CV  
HQ London, UK 
Number of employees 21 
Last fund type Self-financed management buy-out 
URL https://www.jettytechnologies.com 
Founders Alex Hollingdale 
Linkedin Address https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhollingdale 

Make sure to catch Jetty exhibiting at this year’s Connected Britain on stand S5

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Connected Britain 2023: the keynote panel agenda
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T-Mobile signs spectrum deal with Comcast worth up to $3.3 billion

Some of VOXI’s existing contract-free mobile operator customers, which is a UK virtual operator (MVNO) sibling of Vodafone, have complained after the provider appeared to misleading offer them a £10 unlimited data (mobile broadband) deal to prevent them from switching away – only to later decline to honour it. The situation first came to our […]

News 

The investment will aid the UK’s aim to be a global leader in telecoms research and development 

The UK government has announced an £88 million investment in open 5G open network solutions across the country. 

The funding has been awarded to 19 successful projects through the Open Networks Ecosystem competition, which aims to find new solutions for the delivery of mobile phone data in densely populated places, such as tourist hotspots or sports stadiums. In areas such as these, the simultaneous use of many devices can create issues for mobile operators, as they are handling high levels of traffic. 

The 19 successful projects will demonstrate the reliability and usability of Open RAN technologies, highlighting how they can bring resilient connectivity to UK citizens and businesses.  

Instead of using only one company’s equipment, Open Radio Access Networks (Open RAN) allows different companies’ technology to work together, allowing for a better and more flexible network. 

“Whether you’re in a busy city centre or a rural village, a fast and reliable mobile connection is vital to staying in touch, accessing services and doing business,” said Sir John Whittingdale, Minister for Data and Digital Infrastructure. 

“In order to secure that, we need to embrace a diverse and secure range of technology that will underpin the network”

“The projects we’re backing today with £88 million in government research and development investment will use innovative Open RAN solutions to make our mobile networks more adaptable and resilient, with future-proofed technology to support bringing lightning-fast connections across the country for many years to come”. 

The successful projects will run until March 2025 in major urban areas such as London, Glasgow and Liverpool, large events venues such as Cardiff’s Principality Stadium, Sunderland’s Stadium of Light, and seaside resorts of Blackpool and Worthing.  

The four major mobile network operators in the UK: EE, Three, Virgin Media O2 and Vodafone, have all endorsed the UK’s Open RAN principles, which aims for 35% of the UK’s network traffic to pass through open and interoperable Radio Access Network (RAN) technologies by 2030, which has been affirmed by a Memorandum of Understanding. 

“The Government’s funding to tackle adoption barriers of open mobile networks is another significant contribution to the telecoms industry, and once again highlights the important role the sector plays in driving connectivity and economic growth in the UK,” said Nick Johnson, Head of UKTIN. 

“Building a diversified telecoms infrastructure in the UK is crucial to unlocking opportunities for growth and creating a prosperous future. The projects announced today, in support of that mission, will both deliver exciting innovations and consider how to overcome some of the tricky but important challenges to wide-scale deployments.” 

The full list of successful projects can be found here. 

Hear from Sir John Whittingdale, Minister for Data and Digital Infrastructure, at this year’s Connected Britain in his day one ministerial address. It’s not too late to get tickets – grab yours now!

Also in the news:
Connected Britain 2023: the keynote panel agenda
Intelsat reaches teleport network deal with Italy’s Telespazio
T-Mobile signs spectrum deal with Comcast worth up to $3.3 billion 

PRESS RELEASE

Insight

Summary:

• RFT operations are fundamental for all operators building and running FTTP networks

• Computer vision is a game changing technology that can help operators enhance RFT operations

• Learn which are the immediate use cases that can benefit from computer vision

Market landscape

The race is on for UK FTTP operators to complete their network deployments, whilst juggling the challenges of build contractor shortages, network overbuild, rising cost bases and most recently consolidation, as market dynamics and insufficient scale proves unsustainable for some players.

Network deployments are often plagued with quality issues, leading to roll-out delays, additional costs and disruption for residents. In overbuild areas, delays lead to a detrimental impact on ROI when customers make the switch to full fibre using a competitor.

Once the network is ready for service (RFS), there is also an ever-increasing focus on delivering the best possible installation journey, not just to differentiate, but to better manage the cost base, accelerate time to revenue and ensure great Net Promoter Score (NPS) feedback when engaging with customers.

Enhancing RFT through computer vision

Right First Time (RFT) operations have become the key metric of choice in helping operators address these challenges. It measures whether tasks are correctly completed to the required standard in the initial attempt, without the need for rework. Whether applied to network build, customer install or resolving network faults, RFT reduces revisits, operational costs and time spent on each task.

Computer vision solutions are being deployed to help operators significantly increase RFT rates through the detection of anomalies and poor-quality operations, enabled by the automated analysis of visual data, captured and uploaded by engineers or auditors in the field. Having successfully deployed with FTTP providers in Europe, we see immediate benefits for UK alt-nets.

Openreach PIA: Managing Openreach’s PIA compliance process is a pain-point for many FTTP providers reliant on access to Openreach’s ducts, poles, and chambers to deliver and build out their own networks. Similar to other markets, adherence to strict quality standards and compliance with photographic evidence is mandatory. Using computer vision, operators are able to capture noncompliant photos or sub-standard work prior to sending to Openreach, avoiding delays and unnecessary costs that come with resubmissions or additional site visits.

Network Build Audits: As-built network auditing and documentation is often incomplete, with many operators seeking to improve their quality control processes. Computer vision can be used to ensure build standards are met, avoiding delays in handover and accelerating RFS network availability. Relevant for equipment across end-to-end fibre network, automating real time quality checks via AI, significantly reduces rework, as well as the time, effort and costs needed to complete desktop and site surveys.

Customer Installs: Issues with network availability, splicing, broadband speeds, reinstatement or even poorly mounted ONTs can result in service delays, issues or unhappy customers, where an additional site visit maybe required. Using computer vision to automate install health checks, operators can detect any corrective rework needed on the day of install, as well as guarantee the best possible install experience for their customers.

Inveniam AI – a better way to benefit from computer vision. Inveniam AI is a fully managed solution that integrates computer vision and machine learning capabilities to enhance field service operations, transforming raw data into real time actionable insights when engineers are in the field. With every stage of the computer vision life cycle covered, we build, deploy, and manage transformative computer vision solutions without our customers having to invest in their dedicated AI resources.

Get in touch or meet us at Connected Britain to explore how Inveniam can support you to enhance RFT operations.

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Intel to sell minority stake in IMS Nanofabrication to TSMC

Alternative network operator Spring Fibre, which only a few months ago began to deploy a new 10Gbps capable wholesale Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network for UK ISPs – starting in Lincolnshire (England), has announced that Rosalind Singleton has been replaced as CEO by ex-Virgin Media man Gareth Greppellini. Just to recap. Spring Fibre, which was initially […]