A new analysis of 265,572 consumer broadband ISP speed tests claims to have revealed the top fastest and slowest five areas, as well as five cities, across the United Kingdom. For example, the village of Halkirk in the Highlands of Scotland was named as the slowest area (2.8Mbps), while Canterbury came out as the slowest […]

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The investment aims to push France to forefront of the AI advancement race 

Xavier Niel, the founder and CEO of telecoms group Iliad, is set to invest €200 million in AI projects in an effort to ensure that Europe remains competitive against US and China in the field. 

“We want – and we can – create a European AI champion. It’s a question of sovereignty: to protect our data, we need platforms established on our territory,” said Niel. 

The investment includes the purchase of an NVIDA supercomputer, said to be the most advanced supercomputing platform in the world; the establishment of a research centre in Paris; the creation of an annual AI conference; and providing funding for startups. 

“To influence the AI market, you need computing power. To have computing power, you need supercomputers. And to have supercomputers, you have to invest massively,” Niel continued. 

In this regard, Iliad has also been pushing to scale up its cloud subsidiary Scaleway, attempting to develop a European cloud system that can act a as an alternative to those offered by US tech companies, like Microsoft and Google. 

However, Niel and Europe at large have an uphill battle on their hands when it comes to AI. Major US tech firms like Google, Microsoft and Meta, are already investing billions on AI R&D, seemingly giving the country a significant lead when it comes to the new technology. China, while somewhat lagging behind in this initial AI frenzy, has plans to massively scale up its AI investments over the coming years, with some industry reports suggesting it will exceed $38 billion in 2027. 

Combined, the North America and Asia Pacific regions are leading the global AI market, according to analysts at GlobalData, with a 63% market share, compared to France and Western Europe’s 19%. 

Nonetheless, Europe racing to close the gap, with Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, announcing a new initiative earlier this month to give fast-track access to AI startups to high-performance computers to train their models.  

“Europe has now become a leader in supercomputing, with three out of the five most powerful supercomputers in the world. We need to capitalise on that,” von der Laden said in a speech to MEPs. 

Want to keep up to date with the latest developments in the world of telecoms? Subscriber to receive Total Telecom’s daily newsletter here   

Also in the news: 
TalkTalk CEO steps down as de-merger continues 
BT outlines timetable for analogue landline switch-off 
Broadway Partners, Cadence Networks, and SWS Broadband folded into Voneus 

Interview

At this year’s Connected Britain, we had the pleasure of speaking to Clive Selley, CEO of Openreach, to discuss the enormous acceleration of the UK broadband market in recent years and the current chatter around market consolidation 

“Some level of consolidation is inevitable,” explained Selley. “I see well over 100 altnets out there and that possibly is not what we are going to see in five years’ time. Some of the bigger altnets sound like they are interested in being consolidators. Some level of consolidation is likely and healthy, so I look forward to the developments in that space – but it’s highly unlikely to involve Openreach!” 

In the interview, Selley went on to describe the current state of the UK broadband market as “super healthy”, touching on the importance of Equinox 2 pricing offer and the growing focus on public education to promote the take-up of fibre services.    

“Let’s celebrate achievements of the industry over the last few years,” concluded Selley. “How far we have come in the last few years is incredible.”  

 You can watch the full Connected Britain interview from the link below: 

Openreach were a Gold Sponsor at this year’s Connected Connected Britain. To hear more about the UK’s broadband market, join us at Connected North in April next year – book your tickets now!

Also in the news:
FCC continues to wrestle with net neutrality
TalkTalk CEO steps down as de-merger continues
Broadway Partners, Cadence Networks, and SWS Broadband folded into Voneus

News

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairperson Jessica Rosenworcel (pictured) is set to reopen the ‘open internet’ debate later this week

Earlier this month, Democrat Anna Gomez was finally confirmed as the new FCC Commissioner, ending the deadlock over the agency’s vacant fifth seat that had been immovable for the last two years.

Upon taking office in November 2021, President Joe Biden had quickly indicated his preferred candidate to fill the vacant fifth seat on the FCC as lawyer Gigi Sohn. However, Sohn quickly found herself facing fierce opposition from Republicans within the Senate, with some arguing she “lacked the impartiality to sit on the FCC”.

Now, with the seemingly less objectionable Gomez confirmed to be taking on the position on the FCC, the Democrats once again have a three-to-two majority within the agency, potentially opening the door for a number of reforms.

One such topic that appears likely to be up for debate once again is the matter of net neutrality, with FCC chairperson Jessica Rosenworcel set to release a full proposal on the matter for public comment tomorrow. After a three-week period, the proposal will then be brought to a vote within the FCC itself, which, if successful, would begin the lengthy process of drafting new regulatory rules.

These draft rules would then face further public scrutiny, as well as a final vote by the FCC, before being signed into law.

Net neutrality is the principle that all internet traffic should be treated equally by the internet service provider regardless of content. The concept was a key feature of the Obama administration but was overturned under the Trump government in 2018.

The proposal itself reportedly seeks to reclassify broadband services under Title II of the Telecommunication Act, designating them as a utility and therefore bringing them under the FCC’s regulatory control, just like existing telephony services. This would give the FCC the power it needs to regulate service providers effectively and enforce net neutrality.

However, Rosenworcel says the FCC will also use a “light touch” approach similar to that introduced in 2015, which would make broadband providers exempt from around 700 regulations typically enforced on companies subject to Title II of the Telecommunication Act. These measures, it is hoped, will make the net neutrality proposition more palatable for the concept’s detractors.

“In the wake of the pandemic and the generational investment in internet access, we have a window to update our policies to make sure that the internet is not only open, but fast and fair, safe and secure,” she said. “Now is the time for our rules of the road for internet service providers to reflect the reality that internet access is a necessity for daily life.”

None the less, the proposition is still likely to face significant lobbying from the US broadband industry, which lobbied hard in 2017 and 2018 to see net neutrality rules repealed.

Want to keep up to date with all of the latest US telecoms news? Join the industry in discussion at Connected America 2024 live in Texas

Also in the news:
Vodafone’s Andrea Dona: The UK has fallen behind on 5G, but not lost the race
BT outlines timetable for analogue landline switch-off 
Connected Britain 2023: the award winners   

Press Release

After many years of regulatory, standardization and technical implementation activities, the United States’ dynamic, three-tiered, hierarchical framework to coordinate shared use of 150 MHz of spectrum in the 3.5 GHz CBRS (Citizens Broadband Radio Service) band has finally become a commercial success. Although the shared spectrum arrangement is access technology neutral, the 3GPP cellular wireless ecosystem is at the forefront of CBRS adoption, with more than half of all active CBSDs (Citizens Broadband Radio Service Devices) based on LTE and 5G NR air interface technologies.

LTE-based CBRS network deployments have gained considerable momentum in recent years and encompass hundreds of thousands of cell sites – operating in both GAA (General Authorized Access) and PAL (Priority Access License) spectrum tiers – to support use cases as diverse as mobile network densification, FWA (Fixed Wireless Access) in rural communities, MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) offload, neutral host small cells for in-building coverage enhancement, and private cellular networks in support of IIoT (Industrial IoT), enterprise connectivity, distance learning and smart city initiatives. 

Commercial rollouts of 5G NR network equipment operating in the CBRS band have also begun, which are laying the foundation for advanced application scenarios that have more demanding performance requirements in terms of throughput, latency, reliability, availability and connection density – for example, Industry 4.0 applications such as connected production machinery, mobile robotics, AGVs (Automated Guided Vehicles) and AR (Augmented Reality)-assisted troubleshooting.

Examples of 5G NR-based CBRS network installations range from luxury automaker BMW Group’s industrial-grade 5G network for autonomous logistics at its Spartanburg plant in South Carolina and the U.S. Navy’s standalone private 5G network at NAS (Naval Air Station) Whidbey Island to mobile operator Verizon’s planned activation of 5G NR-equipped CBRS small cells to supplement its existing 5G service deployment over C-band and mmWave (Millimeter Wave) spectrum.

SNS Telecom & IT’s report forecasts that annual investments in LTE and 5G NR-based CBRS RAN, mobile core and transport network infrastructure will account for nearly $900 Million by the end of 2023. Complemented by an expanding selection of 3GPP Band 48/n48-compatible end user devices, the market is further expected to grow at a CAGR of approximately 20% between 2023 and 2026 to surpass $1.5 Billion in annual spending by 2026. Much of this growth will be driven by private cellular, neutral host and fixed wireless broadband network deployments, as well as 5G buildouts aimed at improving the economics of the cable operators’ MVNO services.

The UK media and telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has today revealed more details about their proposed plan to auction off a large chunk of millimetre wave (mmW) radio spectrum frequency across the 26GHz and 40GHz bands, which will be used by mobile operators to deliver even faster 5G (mobile broadband) services in urban areas. At present […]

News 

From March, CEO Tristia Harrison will become a non-executive director of the new independent wholesale platform 

The CEO of TalkTalk, Tristia Harrison, is stepping down from her role as the firm prepares for its demerger. 

Last week, the Broadband ISP informed staff of their plan to demerge the business into three separate entities: consumer, business and wholesale. 

Harrison, who has been in the role since 2017, will oversee the group’s breakup, before handing over leadership of the wholesale unit to Tom O’Hagan, the consumer unit to Adam Dunlop and former Managing Director of TalkTalk Direct, and for now, it appears that Ruth Kennedy with continue to run the business arm. 

The separation is expected to be effective from 1st November this year, with the legal demerger is aiming to be completed by 1st March next year. 

“The demerger will allow each company to focus on meeting the needs of their distinctive customer bases, eliminate operational complexity, and support balance sheet refinancing and investment on a standalone basis,” said the company in a press release. 

For some time, TalkTalk have mulled the break-up of the group as debt pressure has grown, which now stands at over £1.1 billion. The deadlines to service these debts are quickly approaching, with TalkTalk carrying a £330 million revolving credit facility that matures next November, as well as £685 million of debt that matures in February 2025. 

The cost of refinancing these debts have pushed the firm to reconsider its options. 

Last year, there was chatter around a proposed £3 billion takeover by VMO2, which could have solved TalkTalks’s problems, but this did not materialise. The firm is hoping to fetch £150 million from its business arm, for which Daisy Group is currently the frontrunner, after talks with Sky collapsed.  

How will the TalkTalk demerger affect the UK broadband market? Find out at Connected North 2024 – book your tickets now! 

Also in the news:
Vodafone’s Andrea Dona: The UK has fallen behind on 5G, but not lost the race
BT outlines timetable for analogue landline switch-off 
Connected Britain 2023: the award winners   

News

The UK’s Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), which supports analog landline services, is planned for closure by 2025

This week, BT has shared more details about the way in which it will gradually shut down the nation’s PSTN and rollout its replacement Internet Protocol (IP)-based Digital Voice service.

Having successfully completed shutdown trials earlier this year in the East Midlands, Yorkshire, and Northern Ireland, BT says it is now ready to continue the process in a phased manner, region by region, aiming for a nationwide shutdown of the PSTN in 2025.

BT’s Digital Voice Rollout plan:

Autumn 2023

North West
London

Spring 2024

West Midlands
South East
Wales
East Anglia

Summer 2024

North East
Scotland
South West

The UK’s PSTN is best understood as BT’s old copper network that facilitates analogue landline phone calls throughout the country, though it can also support some other older technologies too, such as CCTV and alarm systems.

In recent years, however, this network is increasing becoming obsolete, as more customers prefer communicating via mobile services, messaging apps, and internet calls. All of these services far outclass those delivered via PSTN, being more reliable, more flexible, and even mor energy efficient than their copper counterpart.

As a result, PTSN closures are currently taking place in developed markets all over the world, with markets like the Netherlands, Germany, and Estonia having already completed the process of shifting to digital voice.

Indeed, BT itself had been planning this phase out for a number of years and, in fact, had originally initiated the process on a nationwide basis last year. However, these plans were halted in March when Storm Eunice caused power cuts for some customers, temporarily leaving them unable to contact emergency services over their new IP-based voice service.

With the newly announced schedule, BT is restarting this process, but is being notably more cautious in its planning, noting that it will not proactively switch customers to digital voice in cases where it believes additional support will be needed.

This includes customers with a healthcare pendant that may currently operate on the PSTN, customers who only use landlines, those with no mobile signal, those over 70 years of age, and those that have disclosed any additional requirements.

The operator is also holding events around the country and taking out numerous ads to highlight that the shift is taking place, encouraging customers to get in touch if they are concerned about what the switch off may mean for them.

“Through the work with our Digital Voice Advisory Group and our regional engagement, we’ve held 40 events, placed local radio and newspaper ads and met over 4,000 customers in person,” said Lucy Baker MBE, All-IP Director, BT Consumer.

“We understand that any change can be unsettling, and we’re here to support our customers every step of the way. First-hand experience shows that once people have the facts and have spoken to one of our advisors, they feel confident to make the switch.”

For vast majority of customers, however, the shift to digital voice will be relatively painless, simply meaning they will plug their phone handset into their broadband router rather than the traditional wall socket.

How will the PSTN shutdown affect customrs across the UK? Join the UK’s telecoms ecosystem in discussion at Connected North 2024

Also in the news:
Vodafone’s Andrea Dona: The UK has fallen behind on 5G, but not lost the race
Zegona in talks to buy Vodafone Spain
Connected Britain 2023: the award winners  

Customers of BT’s national UK network of free and premium public WiFi hotspots, which are currently branded as BT Wi-Fi, have noted that the operator recently started to inform users that the service is shortly going to be rebranded under the EE WiFi name. The move is part of BT’s wider branding shake-up, which was […]

The Zayo Group, which runs a large metro and long-haul fibre optic network that delivers global reach, has just announced that their network capacity across the United Kingdom and Europe has been “supercharged” by becoming fully 400G (Gbps) enabled. Next stop.. 800G! Zayo’s European network is currently built on 5 diverse subsea cables, 3 of […]