Startup Story

Join Opious on stand S10 at Connected Britain, taking place at the ExCel in London on 20–21 September

Opious are a 100% technology and carrier-agnostic data connectivity provider. We offer the full range of connectivity solutions including fixed line, microwave, satellite, and mobile data, as well as rapid deployment services, Wi-Fi, and cellular surveys and cellular boosting technologies. Our field services operation covers the UK, mainland Europe, and the US, giving customers access to a range of mobile data, satellite, and bonding services for site launches, disaster recovery, and corporate events.

What is your USP?

We are solution led, unrestricted by technology or carrier, and we identify the optimal solution for the customer and provide them with a personalised service to ensure that they are kept informed on available options, progress of installations, support and billing. Likewise, we build long lasting relationships with our carrier base, promoting their technologies in an unbiased and impartial way to all customers.

What is your relationship with the telecom sector?

We have a range of entry points into the market: we have distribution relationships in place for some technologies and direct relationships in place for others. We look to establish the most cost effective and beneficial way forward for each project.

How have you got to your current stage of development?

Honesty, integrity, and a willingness to always do what is right. We have had tremendous, good fortune in the team of people who have joined Opious, the customers we have attracted, and the capabilities of our supplier base to deliver outstanding services.

Why did you set up the business?

As the head of IT for what was to become Amazon logistics, I was tasked with supporting the global expansion of their physical infrastructure on extremely aggressive timescales. The primary blocker for the business was our ability to obtain robust connectivity within timescales that aligned with the operational deadlines. Traditional fibre connectivity wasn’t an option because the lead times would have significantly delayed the business’ ability to deliver on customer promise, therefore I investigated alternative technologies. Microwave proved to be a reliable and cost effective alternative, enabling us to reduce timescales to approximately 20 days. Knowing the growth plans for the department, I took the opportunity to start the business, partnering with all of the UK microwave WISPs before expanding into fixed line, satellite, and mobile data.

We have a current portfolio of around 200 carriers and this is increasing in line with customer requirements and technological advancement. We are very much solution led, offering customers access to unparalleled choice in an honest and transparent way.

Who inspired you? Do you have a mentor?

I have been fortunate enough to have had access to multiple mentors throughout my career and where possible I still actively seek advice and input from industry peers and other business leaders as the opportunity arises.

What does the future hold for your business?

I am honoured to find myself surrounded by a growing team of intelligent, motivated and, most importantly, inspiring people, who amaze me every day with their creativeness and unrelenting desire to do what’s right for our customers.  Our goal is to be our customer’s best supplier and our supplier’s best customer, creating a virtuous ecosystem where the customer gains access to the optimal solutions at the best price, the supplier grows their business, and we get to deal with people we like on both sides.  For me, the future of Opious is unknown but exciting, with a steady stream of new technologies, new geographies, and new carriers for the team to integrate and a mass of customers that we can offer real choice to.

Company CV 

HQ
Cranfield Innovation Centre, University Way, Cranfield, Beds MK43 0BT

Number of employees
30+

Last fund type
Privately funded

URL
https://www.opious.com/

Founders / Linkedin Address
https://www.linkedin.com/company/opious/

Join Opious and a host of start-ups at Connected Britain, the UK’s largest digital economy event

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News

STC announced the investment on Tuesday after trading closing 

STC Group, Saudi Arabia’s largest telecoms operator, has acquired a 9.9% stake in Telefónica worth €2.1 billion, becoming the firm’s largest shareholder. 

The deal includes the acquisition of 4.9% of Telefonica’s shares, with the remaining 5% stake derived from various financial instruments. The Saudi firm plans to secure voting rights for the 5% interest held through financial instruments after receiving regulatory approvals, the company said. 

STC have confirmed that they do not intend to acquire a majority stake in Telefónica, but rather see the move as a “compelling investment opportunity to use our strong balance sheet whilst maintaining our dividend policy,” according to a statement by STC CEO Olayan Alwetaid in a company press release. 

It is no coincidence that STC’s stake stops just shy of reaching 10%, since any foreign investment of 10% or greater in Telefónica would require the approval of the Spanish Council of Ministers. The Spanish government prohibits the foreign acquisition of over 10% in firms active in sectors related to public order, public security, or public health without prior governmental authorisation. It also prohibits acquisitions of less than 10% if this would result in management of the company. 

 “Telefónica and STC Group share many similarities, with a vision to use technology to connect people and a strategy to drive growth. This long-term, significant investment by STC Group is a continuation of our growth strategy, as we invest in vital technology and digital infrastructure sectors across promising markets globally,” said Mohammed K. A. Al Faisal, chairman of STC Group. 

“Our investment in Telefónica demonstrates our confidence in Telefónica’s leadership, its strategy and its ability to create value. As long-term, supportive shareholders, we are committed to strengthening our partnership,” added Alwetaid. 

STC have made a number of investments across the tech and telecoms sectors in recent months, both within Saudi Arabia and globally. Most recently, STC completed the acquisition of tower assets from Netherlands-based United Group in a deal worth €1.22 billion.  

It is also worth noting that STC is not the only Middle Eastern, state-owned telco investing in major European operators. UAE-based e& has slowly been growing its stake in Vodafone Group since 2022, most recently announcing their intention to increase their equity in business to 20%. 

Want to keep up to date with all of the latest international telecoms news? Sign up for Total Telecom’s daily newsletter 

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News 

The rebrand was presented to employees and partners this week at the firm’s headquarters in The Hague 

From 5 September, the T-Mobile brand will be totally withdrawn from the Dutch market and be replaced by Odido.  

The operator says its intention with the rebrand is to refocus on putting customer service and new subscription services at the heart of its operations, in an effort to set themselves apart from the competition. 

Specifically, the firm will aim to increase personalisation, access to fibre services, unlimited data packages, and education programmes. 

The name change comes after the company was acquired by two private equity firms – Warburg Pincus and Apax – early last year. Since then, T-Mobile has not been part of the Deutsche Telekom group, which operates as T-Mobile in numerous markets around the world.  

“Shake off who we were. The T-Mobile company in the Netherlands no longer has anything at all to do with that brand and its parent company, Deutsche Telekom, in terms of ownership,” said CEO Søren Abildgaard. 

Odido currently has around 8 million customers and will become the largest provider of 100% fibre optic connectivity in the country, providing service to over 6 million households. 

“All telecom providers now do more or less the same thing. And if you dare to look critically at your own products and services, you realize that things have to be different. The average customer satisfaction of our industry is many times lower than in other industries,” said Tisha van Lammeren, Chief Commercial Officer in a press release. 

“Over the past 18 months we have worked very hard on this new positioning, rebranding and new products and services. Our ambition is to become and remain the ‘customer champion’ with the highest customer satisfaction in the Netherlands. This means that we have to get to work taking customer friendliness to a new level. We have a clear mission to get there. 

To hear more about the global telecoms market, join us at this year’s Total Telecom Congress, 21-22 November 

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VIEWPOINT

Prof. Dr. Emre Alkin, Economist, Istanbul Topkapi University

Amidst the excitement and question marks created by the BRICS summit, the world once again recognises that the next biggest global megatrend is 5G.

5G technologies have the power to connect not only different geographical regions or objects to each other via the IoT, but also different approaches, cultures, knowledge and it can even bring more understanding that will eliminate meaningless hatred. Like any word that comes out of our mouths can lead to undesired misunderstandings, this can happen between governments as well. Since governments have less thought flexibility than people, they cannot always find themselves capable of being open for dialogue therefore resolving misunderstandings. Knowing that 5G is the most important invention for the fastest, most reliable and complete transfer of data from point A to point B, all we need to do is convince people to bring humanity closer together. Of course, it is easier said than done. To convince people sometimes needs an explicit explanation of the amount of resources and time we have lost or wasted due to our stubbornness.

Having introduced the Industry 4.0 concept, made a considerable research effort to develop and implement Industry 4.0 technologies, Europe needs to sustain an uninterrupted digital infrastructure in order to go beyond putting robots in factories. Of course, they can develop such an infrastructure, but if they agree to cooperate with China, which has already achieved this, they will save money tremendously in the long run.

Some European companies in China have higher market penetration than their Chinese counterparts, which does not bother the Chinese, because in market economies, both producers and consumers normally do not spoil a good situation with “national sentiments”. True patriotism is to know when to take that leap for your country. As a matter of fact, there have been deeper and bigger adversities between the Turks and the Chinese than those between the Western World and China. But, neither Turkey nor China cares too much about those past issues.

Because the diplomacy that both countries conduct is based on facts, needs and grounded plans. As a NATO member, Turkey has gone through some big difficulties while trying to keep an equal distance from both the Middle East and Russia, as well as the US and the West, and of course, China. Because as much as being close at an equal distance, you need to also stay away at an equal distance due to necessities. So, although Turkey knows who is the right supplier is, it has to stay away because of diplomatic sensitivities. However, Turkey is running late and still has a lot of work to do.

Such as, Turkey needs to make at least 50 billion dollars’ worth of investment in industry 4.0 and it has to do it in the most affordable way possible and with the highest quality. Besides, there are sectors which supply chains need restructuring. They need to be relocated closer to the market and their network connections need to be re-established. I am talking about an investment of 100 to 150 billion dollars in sum.

Lately, Europeans have been giving the impression that they would stop the anti-Chinese sentiment, but they had to get closer to the US again through NATO because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. To protect themselves they accepted the United States as their “powerful ally” again. For this reason, they cannot come together with Chinese companies and have their industry 4.0 breakthrough. But the train is about to leave the station. The more they delay, the higher the cost will be.

Say, you need to throw 10 bags of gravel in the sea to build a pier. But instead, you decide to throw four of these bags at night, and the rest in the morning. When you come by the shore in the morning, you see two bags of the gravel you threw in the sea at night were swept by the waves. And you are left with no other option but to throw 12 bags of gravel in total. What I mean is if we don’t change our ways, we keep paying higher costs.

If European governments can quickly build the 5G infrastructure required for industry 4.0, they are likely to increase the global GDP by 1.3 trillion dollars in 2030. Research efforts and studies in which I have personally taken part show that 5G technologies can help companies grow their revenues by 15% to 25% higher than projections.

Fortunately, some European companies do not agree with their governments and they have decided to openly work with Chinese digital solution partners. But there are also those who do not. According to a report by the European Commission, some countries, such as Estonia, Latvia, Belgium, Romania, and Sweden, have failed to meet the “5G population coverage” criterion. 10 EU states have imposed restrictions on “high-risk telecom suppliers” such as Huawei. I can understand that the Baltic States and Sweden, which are creating disturbances for Russian Diplomacy, are pro-American, but I cannot understand why Romania and Belgium are acting the same way. Undoubtedly, their decision will cause them to lag behind other countries in industry 4.0. These countries have also been in decline in terms of connectivity since 2020, according to the European Commission’s Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI).

Despite national legislation banning high-risk suppliers, the smart solutions of Chinese companies continue to add value to people’s lives in many European countries and especially in China. For example, in Tianjin, AI was used to start a fully automated 5G-based warehouse and dock activity. Chinese electrical appliance manufacturer, Midea Group has launched a facility that is fully interconnected with 5G, and since October 2022, the East-West Gate Intermodal Terminal (EWG) in Hungary operates a smart railyard that is equipped with Huawei 5G networks.

Such measures banning Huawei from core networks caused a serious problem for the two economic giants of Europe, Germany and the UK. The FT’s report says that the United Kingdom, which had launched 5G commercially in 2019, fell behind Germany, France and the Netherlands in terms of download speed. The ban has also caused 5G coverage to drop from 82% to 20%, which obviously affects the growth figures.

In 2020, Hannes Ametsreiter, CEO of Vodafone Germany, had said that Europe could pay a big price for banning Huawei, both politically and technically. Ametsreiter kept repeating that, instead of producing horror scenarios, Europe should always keep an open dialogue with Huawei, and technical solutions such as encryption could overcome this paranoia. Perhaps it would be better to be in closer contact with the Chinese regarding the protection of trade secrets. While the West should try to reduce its paranoia, China needs to showcase that the country has transformed from “copy & paste” into an innovation powerhouse.

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