Gigaclear Start FTTP Broadband Build to 16,000 Yorkshire UK Premises

UK ISP Gigaclear, which has so far deployed a new gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network to 450,000 premises in rural areas (across 23 counties), has today announced that they’ve kicked off a new expansion phase in Yorkshire (England) that will see them add another 16,000 premises to the total. Engineers will start working in Brayton […]

CampusDynA consortium makes moves to provide private 5G for Industry 4.0 in Germany

Press Release

The CampusDynA consortium, comprising of German industry leaders such as Gestalt Robotics, T-Systems, OSRAM, Fraunhofer, and Werner-von-Siemens Center for Industry and Science, has chosen IS-Wireless as the provider of the 5G network based on the Open RAN model. It will be deployed in Berlin later this year.

The consortium focuses on exploring the potential of Open RAN private networks in industrial applications, including autonomous mobile robotics and optimization of energy use in production plants. IS-Wireless will support these activities by delivering a complete Radio Access Network including O-RU (radio units), DU (distributed units) and CU (centralized units). The company will also provide near-RT RIC (RAN Intelligent Controller) with xApps ensuring the necessary network performance needed in the demanding use case of connected and autonomous mobile robots. Successful CampusDynA private 5G deployment in Berlin is of prime importance for the consortium members to reach the project goals:  gaining insights on the potential of Open RAN technology for industrial applications.

Gestalt Robotics, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jens Lambrecht (Managing Director): “We are pleased to be able to work with IS-Wireless in the future. A stable private 5G network creates the basis for novel edge-controlled AMRs that communicate with our NavigateSYS software. Our primary goal in the research project is to achieve an optimal allocation of capacity in the network and thereby use the bandwidth more efficiently. In this way, we are working on making future AMR models much more intelligent. We are proud to be part of this project.”

Lutz Schneider, Product Owner Autonomous Logistics at T-Systems says: “With the test field at the Werner-von-Siemens Centre for Industry and Science in Berlin, we have the opportunity at an early stage to practically test the latest technology trends such as Open RAN based campus network in interaction with our robotics platform ‘Autonomous Logistics’ and demonstrate them to our customers at the point of value creation.” 

“With the Open RAN network from IS-Wireless we have a great value add to our industrial infrastructure used for research projects with our partners” said Peter Höhmann, project manager at Werner-von-Siemens Centre for Industry and Science.

“We are happy to deliver Private 5G based on our latest technology” said Slawomir Pietrzyk, CEO and Founder at IS-Wireless. “The fact that we were selected among tough competition indicates a good direction we took with our product development. It’s both the functionality and quality that matters a lot, especially in the Industry 4.0 applications”.

For more on this, join Total Telecom for Connected Germany – 5 – 6 December 2023 | International Congress Center Messe München

Concerns raised over government transparency relating to Huawei

News

The annual report into the risks posed by Huawei – and in particular software it produces – to the UK’s national infrastructure has remained unpublished since 2021, raising concerns about a lack of government transparency.

The Telegraph newspaper article said that the report overseen by the Huawei Cyber Security Evaluation Centre (HCSEC) – otherwise known as the ‘The Cell’ – has been in existence since 2010, but in 2021 the then-culture secretary, Nadine Dorries, decided to not to make it publicly available.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology did not comment on the decision, leading to suggestions that the government “let Huawei off the hook.” It is not clear if the report is still being produced as the work of ‘The Cell’ continues at its Banbury HQ.

In 2020 Total Telecom reported that the same watchdog report had found numerous flaws during its investigations, including one vulnerability deemed “nationally significant”. HCSEC said at the time that it “continues to reveal serious and systematic defects in Huawei’s software engineering and cyber security competence”.

Connected Britain will examine the issues around securing critical infrastructure at this year’s conference. Join us at ExCel London in September – REGISTER HERE

County Broadband See Success with Connecting Remote UK Homes

Alternative network provider County Broadband, which aspires to cover 500,000 premises across the East of England with their gigabit speed Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network by the end of 2027, has revealed that the specialist team they created to help reach the most remote homes has now completed 200 connections. The full fibre provider, which is being […]

Openreach Falls Behind on Ofcom UK Quality of Service Targets

The UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has today opened an investigation into the Quality of Service (i.e. minimum standards for repairs and new line provision) targets that they impose upon some of Openreach’s (BT) broadband and Ethernet products, which comes after the regulator found that the operator had fallen short in several areas. As an operator […]

Rural UK ISP Quickline Launch Zero Conditions FTTP Broadband Deal

Network builder and ISP Quickline, which is currently rolling out their new gigabit speed full fibre (FTTP) infrastructure to 96 rural locations (55,000 premises) across Yorkshire and Lincolnshire in England, has launched a new “zero cost, zero conditions broadband deal” to help attract new customers away from rivals in their patch. The provider, supported by […]

First CityFibre UK ISP Launches Cheap 2.5Gbps Broadband Plan

Broadband provider Yayzi appears to have quietly become the first ISP on CityFibre’s national Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network to launch a symmetric speed 2.5Gbps package for UK consumers, which will set you back just £45 per month on an 18-month term (inc. free wireless router). Now that’s cheap. The change, which was spotted yesterday by ISPreview’s […]

BT UK Preps Pay TV Rebrand to EE TV with Free Multi-Room

Credible sources have informed ISPreview that broadband ISP and mobile operator EE, as part of BT’s ongoing work to turn the provider into their “flagship brand for our consumer customers” (here), are preparing to rebrand the BT TV service to EE TV and re-launch it alongside free multi-room support, while also adding YouTube. The move, […]

China’s big three join GSMA Open Gateway initiative

News

The GSMA have announced the addition of China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom to the Open Gateway initiative, a global network of operators using Application Programmable Interfaces (APIs) to provide universal access to operator networks.

The aim is to help developers and cloud providers enhance and deploy services more quickly across operator networks via single points of access. Early test programmes have centred on areas including online financial crime and more immersive gaming experiences.

Mats Granryd, Director General of the GSMA said “This will help unlock further value from 5G connectivity which will flow into the global economy and strengthen future investments, bringing transformational benefits of connectivity to all,”

Li Jun, EVP, China Telecom, said “We believe collaboration and common frameworks between mobile operators, developers and cloud providers will create new opportunities and drive forward new industries and experiences.”

Whilst Gao Tongqing, EVP, China Mobile, said they were “committed to opening up network capabilities and driving positive contributions to promoting the development of the digital economy.”

Launched earlier this year, there are now 29 signatories to the MoU including America Movil, AT&T, Axiata, Bharti Airtel, BT Group, China Mobile, China Telecom, China Unicom, Deutsche Telekom, Du, e& Group, KDDI, KPN, KT, Liberty Global, MTN, Omantel, Orange, Singtel, Swisscom, STC, Telecom Argentina, Telefónica, Telenor, Telstra, TIM, Veon, Verizon and Vodafone.

Farmers See Modest Improvements in Mobile and Broadband Cover

The National Farmers Union recently published the results of their latest annual survey of 814 members across England and Wales, which among other things found that 36% can now access “supefast broadband” (24Mbps+) speeds (up from 20% two years ago), while 80% had access to 4G on their mobiles and 10% could get 5G. Naturally, […]