Infracapital-backed broadband ISP Fibrus, which is rolling out a new 10Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network across both Northern Ireland and the North of England (Scotland will follow), has issued a progress update that reveals they’ve now covered around 250,000 premises and have 36,000 customers (take-up of c.15%). Just to clarify that a bit, Fibrus actually […]

NEWS

 The UK-based Low Earth Orbit firm successfully launched 36 satellites over the weekend, with the successful deployment of the satellites confirmed by NewSpace India Limited

This launch marks OneWeb’s 18th launch and completes the total planned constellation of 618 satellites, with 588 earmarked to deliver global coverage with additional ones launched for resiliency and redundancy purposes, and OneWeb will soon be able to roll out global coverage through partner firms. While the total number of 618 satellites is far less than Starlink’s 3,000 the deployment “is the most significant milestone in the history of OneWeb, as we reach the satellites needed for global coverage,” added Neil Masterson, CEO of OneWeb.

“Over several years we have remained focused on our commitment to deliver coverage solutions for the customers and communities that need it most. With today’s satellite deployment, facilitated by our expert team and our partners at ISRO and NSIL, we are realising this central ambition.”

This also marks the second deployment from India, which has been earmarked as a key focus area for the company, with OneWeb committed to bringing connectivity to even the most remote areas across the country.

With OneWeb now firmly established, it’ll be interesting to see where their focus shifts to next, and where satellite connectivity will evolve following its transition to an increasingly affordable technology.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has today set out its “red lines” for businesses (including broadband and mobile providers) that make use of “price reduction” and “urgency claims” when selling their products and services to UK consumers. People are also being encouraged to report online rip-offs via a new form. The goal of this […]

Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) ISP WeLink Communications UK, which has a network that can offer wireless broadband speeds of up to 1Gbps to homes and businesses, has announced that their deployment in the city of Edinburgh (Scotland) is expanding their carrier-grade coverage to 27,500 premises. The first areas to benefit from WeLink’s expanded rollout are […]

Consumer magazine Which? has published a partial summary of the results from their latest biannual 2023 survey of the best and worst broadband ISPs, which once again named Zen Internet as the best overall provider (customer satisfaction score of 81%), while TalkTalk were found to be the worst of the major players. The survey itself […]

Network builder and UK broadband ISP Quickline, which currently plans to roll out their gigabit-capable full fibre (FTTP) network to 96 rural locations (55,000 premises) across Yorkshire and Lincolnshire in England, has announced that their new in-house Build Team has just connected its first community – Dragonby. The tiny North Lincolnshire hamlet of Dragonby is […]

Budget UK broadband ISP Plusnet, which has often been positioned as BT’s low-cost division, have this morning confirmed to ISPreview.co.uk that they will today stop selling their own-brand of EE powered Pay Monthly SIM-Only Mobile plans to new customers. The move appears to form part of the BT Group’s wider branding strategy and their work […]

Infracapital-backed ISP Ogi, which is investing £200m to build a 10Gbps capable full fibre (FTTP) network across 150,000 premises in mostly rural parts of Wales by 2025, has today announced that their rollout is – for the first time – being extended into a city centre, specifically Cardiff. But the focus seems to be on […]

Press Release

At a meeting held today, the Board of Directors of Cellnex Telecom has agreed to appoint Anne Bouverot as non-executive Chair of the company succeeding Bertrand Kan, who is stepping down as Chair of the Board after two years, while maintaining his status as an independent director.

Anne Bouverot has been an independent director of Cellnex since May 2018 and is a member of the Audit and Risk Management Committee (ARMC).

Anne Bouverot built her career at the forefront of technology and innovation, in France and globally. After having held various operational and strategic positions during 19 years at Orange, in the USA, UK and France, she became Director General of the GSMA, the global association for mobile industry, notably in charge of organizing the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the sector’s flagship annual event. She then was CEO of Morpho, a leading provider of security and identity services.

She has extensive corporate governance experience, having been an independent director of listed as well as private technology companies for more than 10 years, from innovative scale ups to large corporates. She is currently Chairperson of Technicolor, a leading global provider of visual effects and animation services for the global entertainment and media industry.

She is also strongly committed to the academic sector, as chair of the Board of Ecole Normale Supérieure, France’s leading “grande école” in Science and Humanities, and as co-founder of Fondation Abeona, championing responsible artificial intelligence and dedicated to studying its societal impacts.

She is a graduate of Ecole Normale Supérieure in mathematics and holds both an engineering degree in telecommunications and a PhD in artificial intelligence.

“Since its IPO in 2015, Cellnex has grown to become Europe’s leading independent operator of telecommunications infrastructures – said Anne Bouverot.  As announced last November, the company is at the beginning of a new chapter, focussed on organic growth and strengthening of its balance sheet. The Board of Directors is fully supportive of this strategy and agrees that finding the right successor for Tobias Martinez, who has announced he is stepping down as CEO in June, is a key priority. On behalf of the whole Board, I want to thank Bertrand Kan for his work and dedication leading the Board for the past two years. I look forward to working with all my colleagues on the Board as I assume this new responsibility as Chairperson”.

Also in the news:
Fibre overtakes cable in the Netherlands
Ericsson IoT Accelerator to manage the connectivity for Lyft e-bikes and scooters
Spring Equinox? It seems Ofcom aren’t certain of the balance

Press Release

BT Group’s Digital Unit and Amazon Web Services (AWS) today announce a new, wide-ranging strategic collaboration agreement, building on the existing partnership between the companies that already sees AWS play a key role in supporting the Group’s modernisation.

The new partnership covers a few core areas:

·       An agreement to collaborate on new Internet of Things (IoT) industry solutions that help UK and global customers take advantage of the efficiency and innovation benefits next generation connectivity offers

·       BT becomes a Channel Partner for AWS Marketplace, providing a single source for managed solutions to its customers

·       New 5G edge computing services for BT’s UK business customers powered by AWS Wavelength

Collectively, the collaboration agreement targets a $500m revenue opportunity for BT across the spectrum of connectivity and digital solutions and services, in the UK and worldwide, over the next five years.

Connected industry

BT Group’s IoT platform is already built on AWS, delivering connected device capabilities across healthcare, smart places, ports, manufacturing and transport and logistics, including work at Belfast Harbour and the Association of British Ports in Ipswich.  As part of this agreement, the two companies will work together to advance BT’s  existing IoT services and create new ones that combine AWS services with BT’s leading network and service delivery expertise to solve problems for customers across a variety of vertical industries. The new solutions and services that will be explored through the partnership are focussed on delivering value and opportunity for BT’s customers in the UK and globally as they tackle a wide range of challenges.

Reseller partnership

BT becoming an AWS Marketplace Channel Partner allows the company to offer additional enhanced managed security and third party Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions to its customers globally. BT has already started offering customers the opportunity to buy software elements of managed service agreements through the AWS Marketplace. This allows BT customers to benefit from improved simplicity when purchasing via AWS Marketplace, allowing them to retire their annual spend commitments and make use of available AWS programme incentives, while retaining the value of working with BT as a managed service partner to deliver the solution end-to-end.

“AWS and BT Group have shared ambitions at the intersection of cloud and connectivity, and we’re delighted that we have this partnership to frame how we will work together to accelerate these outcomes, for our customers and for the Group,” explains Thomas Duecke, Chief Operating Officer, Digital, at BT Group.

“Moving from a connectivity provider to a digital services provider is a strategic shift to help communication service providers unlock growth,” said Adolfo Hernandez, Vice President and General Manager, Telecom Global Industry Business Unit, AWS. “This new agreement with AWS helps BT accelerate that journey and deliver greater value to its customers.”

For more information on AWS & BT’s partnership for 5G edge computing services, see here. More information on the companies’ collaboration on cloud networking will be released later in the year.

Also in the news:
Fibre overtakes cable in the Netherlands
Ericsson IoT Accelerator to manage the connectivity for Lyft e-bikes and scooters
Spring Equinox? It seems Ofcom aren’t certain of the balance