A small alternative network provider called Smartfibre, which until now has managed to slip under our radar, has revealed that they’re tentatively planning to expand the reach of their gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP network to homes and businesses across more of the UK. According to their website, Smartfibre is a “privately funded company established […]

A new alternative network builder called NIO Net LTD (NIO Group) has revealed that they intend to build and operate both a Fibre-to-the-Premise (FTTP) and Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) network, which they’ll then wholesale out so that retail broadband ISPs can sell related packages on to homes and businesses. The plan was revealed as part […]

News

New research from consultancy Vertical Systems Group shows that small commercial buildings (less than 20 employees) have seen most of the growth in lit fibre in the U.S. during 2022, but that over 3.8 million commercial sites have no optical fibre access to network services.

The research highlights that fibre connections from three or more providers are available to more than a third (37%) of commercial sites with greater than 250 employees, but as you move down to smaller premises, availability of fibre diminishes. In the medium/large buildings segment (Up to 251 employees) availability has now reached 76.4% whilst in the small buildings (under 20 employees) only 19.1% have access to lit fibre – although this was the sector showing the greatest growth in 2022.

The research includes 5+ million U.S. commercial buildings and data centres, which are defined as lit if they have optical fibre connectivity to a network provider’s infrastructure and active service termination equipment onsite.

Rosemary Cochran, principal of Vertical Systems Group said “Small buildings accounted for the majority of new fibre lit sites during 2022. Suppliers include the hundreds of fibre providers across the U.S. with nationwide, regional or metro footprints,”

“Fiber expansion continues to be boosted by multiple factors, including business demand for higher speed network services, government funding incentives, M&A activity, joint ventures, and private investments.”

Vertical Systems produce a U.S. Fiber Lit Buildings LEADERBOARD based on commercial buildings lit as of year-end 2022. To make the leaderboard requires more than 15,000 building lit which led to the ranking being led by AT&T, Verizon, and Spectrum Enterprise. Below the top dozen they have identified challengers with between 5,000 and 14,999 U.S. fibre lit commercial buildings.

Connected America returns to Dallas in 2024 – find out more at totaltele.com/connectedamerica

Cuckoo (Giganet) has quietly become one of the first Openreach based UK broadband ISPs to withdraw their Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC / VDSL2) based products from sale for new customers (existing users remain supported), which leaves them only able to offer Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) plans to over 10 million premises. The change, which was spotted during a routine […]

NEWS

American satellite giant completes acquisition of UK based satellite operator, 18 months after first announced following clearance of all regulatory hurdles

The acquisition completes the merger of two of the largest satellite operators, both of whom have been under pressure from Starlink’s expansion into the satellite market. Viasat founder Mark Dankberg will lead the combined company as chairman and CEO, with former Verizon Media executive Guru Gowrappan as president, while Inmarsat CEO Rajeev Suri will step down from his role and serve on Viasat’s Board of Directors.

Mark Dankberg, chairman and CEO of Viasat, commented: ‘The combination of our companies brings together the people, technology, innovation, network assets, spectrum resources and global partnerships needed to help connect the world more affordably, securely and reliably. Together, we believe we are positioned to offer customers a multi-layered network that gives them the right connectivity at the right time, place and price.’

The closing of the Inmarsat acquisition enables the companies to bring together spectrum, satellite, and terrestrial assets, including 19 satellites in space spanning Ka-, L- and S- bands. These complementary assets are expected to deliver connectivity and key safety services across maritime, aviation, government and consumer markets with speed and reliability of connection front of mind.

The acquisition was subject to a lengthy approval process, with both the UK and EU regulatory bodies approving the merger earlier this year. Under the terms of the deal, Inmarsat’s shareholders received an aggregate of $551 million in cash and approximately 46.36 million shares of common stock. The cash portion of the purchase price was reduced from $850 million to $551 million after Inmarsat paid a $299 million special dividend to its shareholders in April 2022.

The shares issued to the Inmarsat shareholders at the closing represent an aggregate of approximately 37.6% of the total shares of Viasat common stock on a fully diluted basis.

Viasat drew down approximately $1.35 billion of its committed financing package, including a $617 million secured term loan facility and a $733 million unsecured bridge loan. Viasat said the lower financed amount reflects the reduction in the cash component of the purchase price.

“Our goal is to be the undisputed leader in satellite communications with a sharp focus on providing the best products and services for our customers,” said Gowrappan. “We are more than the sum of our parts. This combination broadens the global fixed and mobile services available to customers in an industry-defining moment. We intend to move quickly to bring the best from each company together in a way that creates much deeper value for our stakeholders and ensures we deliver on our synergy commitments.”

Network builder and UK ISP Connect Fibre (Fibre Assets), which aspires to cover 100,000 premises across the East of England with their gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network, has today launched a “revolutionary” Try Before You Buy offer, albeit only for homes in Sutton and Edwinstowe. The promotion allows new customers in the two locations to experience […]

New data from mobile benchmarking firm Opensignal has revealed that 53.3% of UK Smartphone users achieve average mobile broadband download speeds below 30Mbps (sub-“superfast” level), while 14% suffer sub-10Mbps downloads and 4.7% of users spend over 5% of their time with no mobile signal at all. The analysis, which is based off crowdsourced data gathered […]

Interview

Total Telecom caught up with Tomasz Dylik, Director of Investment and Maintenance Department at EXATEL, ahead of his talk at Submarine Networks EMEA on how EXATEL is expanding into the subsea sector

EXATEL has a network in Poland and in Europe, but has not been involved in subsea investments so far. What is the reason for your interest in this direction?

For many years, EXATEL has mainly focused on transit services on the East–West line across Europe. We have plenty of interconnections with all our neighbours and have been increasing our international presence for last few years with new POP and Exchange hubs across the Europe. We believe that right now is time for us to grow not only on the North–South data axis but in the worldwide transit industry. This won’t be possible without getting involed more directly in subsea projects.

What other new projects are you planning over the coming years?

For 10 years, EXATEL has been growing in various areas of the telecommunications industry, from being a legacy fibre telco to also offering wireless and cybersecurity services. We have also developed satellite communication services and added them to our portfolio, and we are building our own solutions like TAMA (anti-DDOS) or SDN network based on our own equipment.  We are planning to continue developing new services that will allow us to grow with the telecom industry; e.g., we plan to launch a nationwide Public Protection and Disaster Relief network (i.e., a network for first responders) using spectrum in the 700MHz band.

What are your expectations for the Submarine Networks EMEA event?

We are looking for partners to get involved in our transit projects, anchor customers, and technological partners who are willing to participate in our investments to build a TransitHUB for the Central and Eastern European (CEE) region.

EXATEL are sharing their expansion strategy today at Submarine Networks EMEA. Join the discussion now using the hashtag #SubNetsEMEA

Also in the news:
BT targets education, healthcare, and more with Immersive Spaces
Telefonica Tech expands operations in Colombia
Vodafone launches dedicated healthcare unit

The UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has today proposed to stop publishing its annual summary of fixed line home broadband ISP speeds after the next report is released later this year (due Q4 2023). Mainly because they deem that it’s no longer needed as the market has changed. Ofcom’s most recent report, which was based on […]

NEWS

The Netherlands based multinational announced yesterday that it has entered the final stages in closing the sale of its Russian division to senior members of the latter’s management team

The plan to exit Russia, first announced last November, now appears close to fruition with VEON announcing, hat it has submitted all necessary paperwork to Euroclear and Clearstream – two European securities transaction settlement firms – pertaining to the cancellation of Veon’s Eurobonds held by its Russian unit, PJSC VimpelCom.

The cancellation of the bonds put the company closer to its final exit from Russia, with the company’s Eurobond holders in Russia having been cut off since the EU initiated sanctions in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. VEON have also since revealed through filings with the SEC in May that VimpelCom had bought back $1.6 billion worth of Eurobonds, which were subsequently reclassified as inter-company debt.

Veon CEO Kaan Terzioğlu stated ‘The cancellation of VEON’s Eurobonds will pave the way for VEON to exit Russia in a way that we believe to be the optimal outcome for all our stakeholders – including our investors, creditors, customers and employees. This cancellation is a non-cash transaction necessary for our timely exit from Russia; and protects VEON and its investors from a risk of double payments in the future.’

Once the deal closes, VEON’s financial scale will be significantly reduced with the exit from its largest market, with Russia comfortably dwarfing in revenue terms its seven remaining markets (including Ukraine.) Nevertheless, VEON appears on track to complete the sale to its timeline of June 2023 and navigate its exit from Russia.