News

According to the government, funding could cover everything from high altitude platform stations (HAPS) to delivery drone management technology

This week, the UK Space Agency has announced £20 million in funding aimed at supporting the development of aerial connectivity projects.

Companies can submit applications for funding under three categories – drones, HAPS, and High-Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) unmanned air vehicles.

Projects could include, but are not limited to, “aerial platforms with hybrid capabilities that can seamlessly switch between satellite and terrestrial networks, or traffic management for innovative vehicles such as electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft”.

Possible applications include drones delivering medical supplies, the rapid deployment of dedicated emergency services communications, and delivering broadband connectivity to rural customers.

“From using drones to quickly get medicines to hospitals, through to boosting mobile network access in remote areas, the benefits of aerial connectivity cut through many aspects of our lives,” said UK Technology Secretary Chloe Smith. “The Government’s £20 million investment will further strengthen the UK’s fast-growing satellite communications industry, which already contributes more than £10 billion to our economy and supports over 26,000 jobs. It will improve our health and security, too, and support our plan to level up every part of the UK.

The funding comes as part of the European Space Agency (ESA)’s Advanced Research in Telecommunications Services (ARTES) programme, in which the UK is a major investor. In November 2022, the UK government committed £190 million to the programme, pledging to further develop the country’s growing satellite industry and promote the creation of new aerial connectivity technologies.

The first £50 million of this funding was made available to applicants by the government earlier in the year, targeting related projects in the satellite communications industry.

The UK is not alone in its interest in non-terrestrial connectivity. In related news, today the GSMA announced a new Memorandum with Understanding (MoU) with the ESA, aiming to explore greater collaboration between the satellite and mobile industries to better develop network technologies. The agreements initial focus will be on accelerating the integration of satellite communications with terrestrial 5G and, in the future, 6G networks.

“By collaborating more closely with the European Space Agency, and its satellite network operator ecosystem, we hope to accelerate the immense potential satellite and terrestrial telecommunications networks can create for consumers and businesses when they are more closely connected,” said Alex Sinclair, Chief Technology Officer at the GSMA. “By working together, we can help the communications industry bring innovative solutions to market, which in turn will create tremendous benefits to society by connecting even more people, wherever they are in the world.”

How is the UK’s growing satellite communications industry reshaping the nation’s telecoms sector? Join the operators in discussion at this year’s Connected Britain conference

Also in the news:
Netomnia passes half a million premises with full fibre
Telefónica sells majority share of Peruvian fibre network to KKR
5G NTN-mobile market revenue to hit $18bn by 2031

As expect, CityFibre has today announced that they’ve officially made a new 2.5Gbps (symmetric) speed consumer UK broadband tier available at wholesale for their retail ISPs to sell on to customers, which harnesses the operator’s new 10Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP / XGS-PON) network. The launch doesn’t come as much of a surprise because we’ve already […]

News

The deal is Vodafone’s latest push towards their ambitious net-zero carbon emissions goals

Spanish firm Iberdrola, one of the world’s biggest renewable energy companies, has agreed to supply Vodafone with clean, renewable, photovoltaic solar energy across Spain and Portugal.

Vodafone Portugal’s energy will be supplied from the newly built Velilla solar plant in Palencia, Spain, while Vodafone Spain will receive 280 GWh from Iberdrola’s Cedillo photovoltaic plant in Caceres, also in Spain.

This announcement builds on last week’s agreement that will see all the energy produced from the new Boldekow photovoltaic plant supplied to Vodafone Germany. The plant, currently under construction, will be up and running by 2024 and will have a total capacity of 56MWp. In total, the three agreements will see Iberdrola provide 410 gigawatt-hours (GWh) per year to Vodafone across the three countries.

The move will assist Vodafone in reaching its target of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2030.

“These agreements across Europe underline Vodafone’s commitment to ensure our customers will continue to benefit from electricity purchased 100% from renewable sources,” said Joakim Reiter, Vodafone Group Chief External & Corporate Affairs Officer.

“They also provide Vodafone with improved energy security and long-term price certainty as we work towards achieving net-zero in our operations by 2030.”

Both companies have committed to working together to search for new European sustainable projects and PPA options.

Is the telecoms industry moving fast enough when it comes to renewable energy and sustainability? Join the operators in discussion at this year’s Total Telecom Congress live in Amsterdam

Also in the news:

Telenor signs new renewable energy deal with Statkraft
A more sustainable future: How telcos can improve energy use
Met Office makes climate data more accessible to help telcos respond to climate change

Network operator CityFibre has today announced that they’ve finally entered the construction phase of their £42 million project to deploy a new 10Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP / XGS-PON) broadband network across South Tyneside (Tyne and Wear) in North East England. The operator is already working in neighbouring Gateshead. The first building work – supported by […]

Fibre optic builder and ISP B4RN (Broadband for the Rural North), which since 2011 have been working with community volunteers to roll out a 10Gbps Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network across rural parts of England, has confirmed that they will upgrade their core network to 400G in order to make it future-proof through 2030. The provider, […]

Broadband ISP and network operator Brsk, which has so far built their gigabit speed Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network to cover 200,000 UK premises (rollout plan), has today announced that their West Midlands (England) focused deployment has been extended into South Birmingham. The operator, which last year secured a huge funding boost of “up to” £178 million […]

Customers of EE‘s mobile and home broadband ISP packages may like to know that the UK network operator has now joined forces with NVIDIA to launch a new range of “great value cloud gaming offerings“, which include membership of the ‘GeForce NOW’ cloud gaming service (access to over 1,600 games). Prices of the new bundles […]

News

The South African operator has rejected a takeover offer from the Public Investment Corporation, a consortium led by former CEO Sipho Maseko

This week, struggling South African telco Telkom has announced it has rejected yet another takeover offer, this time from a consortium led by the company’s previous boss, Sipho Maseko.

The Public Investment Corporation consortium, comprising Axian Telecom, Afrifund Investments Proprietary, and the Government Employees Pension Fund, approached Telkom with an unsolicited offer last month.

Financial details of the offer were not revealed, though reports suggested the company was seeking a majority stake in the operator.

According to a stock exchange filing, Telkom’s board considered the offer at length, including asking the consortium to provide additional clarity around certain elements of their offer, before ultimately rejecting the bid.

The news saw Telkom’s share price fall by 7%.

That this bid was rejected by Telkom should not come as too great a surprise. Commenting on the unsolicited bid at the company’s latest financial results presentation last month, current Telkom CEO Serame Taukobong said that “we do not need a knight in shining armour, be it my former employee or my former employer”.

He added that takeover proposals would not be considered “until somebody comes to our [board] chair with a strong letter and also proof that they can deliver”.

Telkom’s shares have fallen roughly 40% in the last 18 months, with the company struggling under the weight of high inflation and the most severe energy crisis facing South Africa for many years.

As a result, the company has been considering numerous tie-ups with its local rivals over the past year, having held discussions to with both MTN and Rain to combine their operator businesses. Ultimately, however, all of these discussions have fallen through before formal offers were made.

Want to keep up with all of the latest hot topics in the telecoms industry? Join the operators in discussion at this year’s Total Telecom Congress in Amsterdam

Also in the news:
Netomnia passes half a million premises with full fibre
Telefónica sells majority share of Peruvian fibre network to KKR
5G NTN-mobile market revenue to hit $18bn by 2031

A new study by Uswitch, which adopted a Flesch–Kincaid readability test to examine the Terms & Conditions (T&Cs) of all the major UK broadband ISPs, has concluded that Sky Broadband’s terms are the “trickiest” for customers to understand. On the other hand, Plusnet’s terms were found to be the “most straightforward“. In an ideal world, […]

After years of development, the new Visible Light Communication (VLC) based networking method – called LiFi (Light Fidelity) – now has an official global standard after the release of IEEE 802.11bb, which is based off the hugely successful WiFi standard and should help with commercialising related devices. The idea of using light as a communication […]