Startup Story

Enthusiast founded Dutch startup, Usafe, is setting out to reclaim online privacy from tech giants and give it back to the user

Tell us about your startup
Usafe is a tech startup that focuses on managing digital identities to restore privacy to individuals from the grip of technology companies.

The company intends to achieve this by providing individuals with a clear view of the flow of their data. Usafe’s approach is based on three fundamental concepts: zero-knowledge proof, decentralized identity, and ongoing user education.

Established in 2019 by a talented team of experts, Usafe seeks to collaborate with established identity providers, such as banks, insurance companies, and governments, to enhance personal online privacy and establish an innovative approach to online security.

What is your USP?
Usafe’s Unique Selling Proposition (USP) can be summarized as follows:

Enhanced Security: Our decentralized platform architecture reduces the threat of data breaches, providing robust protection for sensitive information.
Elevated Privacy: The platform provides users with full control over their personal information, enabling them to access and share it as they see fit.
Empowered User Control: The solution empowers users to manage their digital identity and information in accordance with their preferences.
Interoperability: The platform is designed to be compatible with multiple platforms and devices, making it accessible from anywhere.
User-friendly: Our solution is easy to use, requires no technical knowledge, and can be accessed through an internet connection and a device.

What is your relationship with the telecom sector?
Telecom companies have a large customer base and have established trust with their clients, providing access to verified customer data. Usafe’s solution enables telecom companies to efficiently enter the competitive digital identity market.

By leveraging their existing customer data and relationship, telecom companies can offer digital identity solutions that are secure and trustworthy, thereby expanding their product portfolio.

How have you got to your current stage of development?
Our current stage of development is the result of a combination of passion for technology and problem-solving. The company was founded by individuals who are driven to create innovative solutions to real-world challenges. Currently, we have developed a working prototype that is ready to be deployed on actual infrastructure and integrated with relevant stakeholders.

Why did you establish the business?
Usafe was established as a response to the founders’ personal experiences with data breaches and privacy violations. Recognizing the need for a solution to these challenges, the founders leveraged their technical expertise as engineers to design and develop a product that would address these problems. Their experience and expertise in solving technical problems, coupled with a deep understanding of the challenges faced by individuals in protecting their personal information, led to the creation of Usafe – a product aimed at providing users with secure and private digital identities. The company was founded with a strong focus on making a positive impact on the world by helping people regain control over their personal information.

Who inspired you?
We were inspired by the experiences of those around us who have suffered from data breaches and privacy violations. We saw the frustration, anger, and helplessness that resulted from these incidents and were motivated to find a solution that would empower individuals and give them back control over their personal information. The company was inspired by the many individuals who have been impacted by these challenges and sought to make a positive difference in the world by addressing this problem.

What does the future hold for your business?
Regarding the future of Usafe, we strongly believe that the decentralization of digital identities is the way to go. We are proud to be part of a company that is at the forefront of this industry and we are excited to see where it will go in the future. We know that this market will become more competitive over time, but we are confident that the benefits our product brings to internet users make it all worth it. We are committed to continuing to improve our solution, so that we can provide the best possible digital identity experience for our users.

COMPANY CV
Headquarters: The Hague, Netherlands
URL: https://www.usafe.digital/blog
CO-FOUNDER: Aleksandr Arakelov

Usafe will showcase their solutions at the Total Telecom Congress Startup Village at the event in The RAI this November. If you would like your startup to participate, visit the website to find out more: totaltele.com/congress

 

Press Release

ST Engineering iDirect’s leading Mx-DMA® MRC waveform technology will enable Mexican connectivity service provider Aitelecom/APCO Networks (Aitelecom) to support services on its new MicroGEO satellites that will be built by satellite manufacturer, Astranis Space Technologies (Astranis). The satellites and ground infrastructure will deliver critical connectivity for 4G cellular backhaul and enterprise services across Mexico and part of Central America. Deployed on Aitelecom’s existing Dialog® platform, the services will be made available to hundreds of sites across the country and part of Central America.

This agreement further strengthens the long-standing relationship between ST Engineering iDirect and Aitelecom and creates a roadmap for the future which will see the companies evolve together to meet Aitelecom’s current and future requirements.

The demand for cellular backhaul services across Mexico has seen a major surge in recent years. In 2022, more than 74 percent of mobile phone users in Mexico accessed the internet through their mobile phone. By 2027, it is projected that this will rise to around 88 percent [1].

ST Engineering iDirect’s Mx-DMA MRC return technology and GTP acceleration was a critical consideration for Aitelecom as it will enable the company to serve a myriad of use cases in a single return link without making tradeoffs between speed, efficiency and scale. This also lowers their total cost of ownership, whilst minimizing network configuration complexity and creating flexible connectivity for all LTE/4G types of sites. Mx-DMA MRC will empower Aitelecom to scale its services while simplifying its operations, sharing capacity seamlessly and very efficiently amongst its user terminals, and satisfying the most demanding throughput requirements presented by its MNO and enterprise customers.

The MicroGEO satellites from U.S.-based Astranis are small and highly capable spacecraft that are designed and manufactured at a rapid pace in comparison with larger GEO satellites, and at a lower cost. The satellites are slated for launch in Q3 2024 and will enable Aitelecom to go to market rapidly, delivering high-speed, flexible services with advanced ground infrastructure to match.

“We are excited and motivated to take the next step in our company’s evolution towards a fully vertically integrated service provider controlling our own destiny in terms of capacity, technology and service delivery,” said Orlando Castillo, CEO of Aitelecom. “With ST Engineering iDirect´s Mx-DMA MRC as the focal technology, we are confident that service continuity, quality of service and unparalleled support will be paramount in the delivery of our solutions to our customers.”

“We are excited to partner with Aitelecom and ST Engineering iDirect to offer an end-to-end, managed service for our customers,” said Astranis Chief Commercial Officer, Doug Abts. “This offering will allow us to expand high-speed coverage throughout Mexico, offering a turnkey service for an affordable price.”

“The sheer flexibility of Mx-DMA MRC will enable Aitelcom to serve the burgeoning markets in Mexico and Central America in the most operationally and cost optimal manner,” said Darren Ludington, Regional Vice President, Americas at ST Engineering iDirect. “Extending our commitment and partnerships with Aitelecom allows them to augment their service delivery to reach new parts of the region.”

[1] Source: Statista

 

Ofcom has this morning announced that they will need “an additional two months” to undertake further analysis of Openreach’s “Equinox 2” discount scheme, which will delay the operator’s planned 1st April 2023 launch of cheaper wholesale prices on their Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) based broadband ISP products. In case anybody has forgotten, Openreach were preparing to introduce another […]

Mobile benchmarking firm Opensignal has published the results of their latest study, which reveals that the fastest UK city for 5G (mobile broadband) internet download speeds is Birmingham (162.7Mbps), while the West Midlands in England tops the table for fastest UK regions on 151.4Mbps. The report is based off crowdsourced data gathered from users on […]

Press Release

Lightpath, an all-fiber, infrastructure-based connectivity provider that is revolutionizing how organizations connect to their digital destinations, announced today the launch of an enhanced national long-haul network that will offer high bandwidth wavelength and Ethernet services between Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Ashburn, Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta, and Miami.

Lightpath customers can choose bandwidth options up to 100 Gbps, in the form of a wavelength service or switched Ethernet service. Long-haul customers can also easily scale up their bandwidths as their demands change over time. This high-performance network will also serve as the intercity backbone connecting Lightpath’s core markets of New York Metro, Boston Metro, and Miami Metro.

Additionally, Lightpath now offers long-haul customers the ability to connect locally in non-core long-haul cities like Philadelphia, Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta, and Ashburn. Lightpath can offer these customers all-fiber connectivity from the local, long-haul point-of-presence to their specified end location.

“Many Lightpath customers require powerful connectivity between major cities – connectivity that is reliable as well as easily scalable. This enhanced long-haul network will address those needs, while adding the ability to connect them locally – all in a single bundle from Lightpath, with Lightpath support standing behind it,” commented Chris Morley, CEO of Lightpath. “These long-haul enhancements create a cohesive and powerful long-haul solution that offers customers incredible performance with the highest levels of reliability.”

Lightpath announced its entrance into the Miami market in late 2022. Lightpath customers can now easily connect in-and-out of Miami and have access to the entire Lightpath network of over 20,000 route miles of fiber connecting over 13,500 service locations. Lightpath’s Miami network will connect diversely to the Lightpath network through Atlanta and Dallas.

This enhanced long-haul network also opens up connectivity options for customers seeking to utilize Lightpath’s previously announced New York to Ashburn express route, that is geographically diverse from typical routes along Interstate 95. For customers with end points in Ashburn, this route offers direct connectivity back to locations in the New York Metro region.

 

 

VIEWPOINT

With 5G making its way into the mainstream, telcos need superior antenna efficiencies to improve the user experience and leverage new revenue opportunities. In addition, telecom services are using more energy than ever before as more and more devices are connected and 5G offers extraordinary possibilities to drive new use cases from technologies like IoT, Edge, and Cloud.

Telcos not only have a social responsibility to save energy and reduce emissions, but they also need to do so in order to reduce energy costs. Huawei, a global provider of ICT solutions, is working closely with the industry to address this issue by developing new power-efficient innovations that will boost energy savings and enable telcos to build networks that are extraordinarily efficient.

“One of the biggest focus areas for telcos is energy efficiency. In the past decade the industry focused on gains from shrinking dimensions but neglected efficiency. Now we must place emphasis on efficacy as efficient antenna will contribute to a highly efficient network,” says Eric Zhao, President of Huawei Antenna Business Unit.

SDIF Technology brings high efficiency to antenna

There has been a greater focus of Huawei antenna toward higher network energy efficiency. Understandably, antennas play a pivotal role in wireless networks as they are the medium of RF energy transmission to mobile devices.

“If we can improve antenna efficiency, we can reduce the loss of energy during transmission, and that’s going to save energy consumption,” Eric adds.

Huawei says that its highly energy-efficient antenna with Signal Direct Injection Feeding (SDIF) technology helps telcos maximise energy saving while improving coverage. As a result, they can increase coverage and save energy.

The numerous cables and independent components inside an antenna are replaced by SDIF technology. Further, the traditional wires are replaced by metal striplines and the input and output are directly connected by metal striplines. As a result, there is no loss because the structure is directly connected.

Huawei’s unique SDIF technology has been designed for all antenna scenarios, and the company says that the antenna series is designed to meet the band- and region-specific configuration requirements, helping telcos get about a 20% increase in the energy efficiency of all bands.

Antenna innovation is moving towards generalized efficiency.

Eric further said that antenna innovation shall move towards a more comprehensive aspect. We can call it generalized antenna efficiency, it includes:

RF efficiency, reduce the internal energy loss in antennas, reduce the waste of energy into heat and convert more energy into electromagnetic waves for network coverage.

Coverage efficiency means project more energy into the target area. This maximizes the signal strength of the area where coverage is required and reduces the interference of the location where coverage is not required. For example, based on Huawei’s latest Meta Lens technology, by managing antenna pattern to ensure power is concentrated in the appropriate directions, operators will get better network performance from high coverage efficiency.

And Beamforming efficiency, means enables antenna focusing more energy to user device which need date transmission, and reduces interference to other user devices. This relies on high-precision hardware design to provide phase consistency between multiple arrays. In this way, users can obtain better service experience and network capacity is improved.

RF efficiency is a research field in the industry today and generalized antenna efficiency is the next research direction. Generalized antenna efficiency improvement will further help operators improve network energy efficiency and performance.

What’s next for telcos?

The ease of deployment will be one of the main problems for carriers as the year progresses. Huawei thinks that telcos will require new technologies and structural designs as networks continue to develop in order to boost their capacity while also making the network more deployable and more energy efficient.

“Antenna vendors need to be fully aware of the network development trends. The design must adhere to the target network’s requirements, which include beamforming functions, evolution capabilities, and more bands integration. Moreover, antenna deployability needs to be improved. More integration, reduced weight, and wind load are required. Via our leading-edge research labs, we will continue to advance fundamental technological research and promote new breakthroughs,” Eric adds.

 

 

News

Two weeks today Total Telecom’s first foray across the Atlantic becomes a reality as Connected America kicks off in Dallas. Building on a similar model to the award-winning Connected Britain, the event will draw together the entire US connectivity ecosystem to explore the whys and hows of delivering a better connected experience for more than 334 million people.

Ever since President Joe Biden signed the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act – the so-called Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill, major focus has been on the $65 billion investment in improving the nation’s broadband infrastructure, billed to ensure all Americans can access affordable, reliable, and high-speed internet – Internet for All.

Connected America brings together over 150 speakers from telecom industry, government, enterprise verticals and more to create the best place to understand the technology, regulation, and investment environment for the rollout of next generation broadband.

Let’s have a look at some of the sessions you won’t want to miss:

Unlocking the Benefits of Internet for All
This will be the closing keynote session on day one and will ask and seek answers for the question of what is the benefit of Internet for All, and in particular address how next-gen connectivity technologies transform the economy and the challenges and roadblocks impeding the delivery of ubiquitous connectivity.

The session is moderated by the Fiber Broadband Association’s Katie Espeseth and features:

Scott Woods, Vice President, Ready.net
Victoria Lamberth, Co-Founder and CRO, ZenFi Networks
Esther Northrup, AVP Market Expansion, Cox Communications

Is Fiber the Future?
This session explores the advantages and challenges of fibre connectivity and whether the preference for fibre under the IIJA is a good thing. It also examines the shortage of qualified workers for laying fibre and strategies for the middle and last mile. Discussing will be:

Kimberly McKinley, Chief Marketing Officer, UTOPIA Fiber
Allison Ellis, SVP Regulatory Affairs, Frontier Communications
Claude Aiken, Chief Strategy Officer, Nextlink Internet

Revolutionizing Public Transport
Better connectivity is poised to change the face of public transport, so we look at themes including how smart transport is currently, the role of private-public investment in transport infrastructure, and how gigabit connectivity can make public transport safer.

An incredible line-up of speakers includes:

Thomas Bamonte, Senior Program Manager, Technology & Innovation, North Central Texas Council of Governments
Gregory Elsborg, CIO, Dallas Area Rapid Transit
Emily Yates, Chief Innovation Officer, Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA)
Anh Selissen, Chief Information Officer, Texas Department of Transportation

This is just a brief snapshot of the sessions and speakers you will find at Connected America. For full information visit the website where you can also register for your ticket and meet our sponsors and partners.

Connected America takes place on March 28-29, 2023 at Irving Convention Center, Dallas. Tickets are free for US-based network operators and US-based public officials.

Visit www.totaltele.com/connectedamerica

 

News

Vodafone announced last week that it had rolled out “reliable 4G” to more than 50 locations across the four nations of the UK

The announcement, is a welcome step to reducing coverage black spots, and is the latest rollout within the UK’s Shared Rural Network (SRN) programme, which was launched three years ago by the UK government and mobile operators with the aim of increasing coverage for hard-to-reach areas, including bringing 95% 4G coverage across the UK by 2025.

Ofcom’s Connected Nations report, published at the end of last year, has revealed that progress towards this goal is being made, albeit at a moderate pace. UK mobile operators have deployed more than 150 new sites under the SRN programme, not including sites that were already planned when the SRN was announced or those built primarily to support the emergency services, while more sites have been upgraded. As Ofcom noted however, this growth has produced a small increase in the areas where all MNOs provide coverage, with good mobile coverage now available across 92.2%, up from 91.9% in 2021.

While this is moderate progress, it is still a good step to reducing coverage black spots, and the percentage of coverage will likely to continue creeping up over the next year or so.

Rural connectivity and the provision of a truly Gigabit Britain are big topics at this year’s Connected North which is being held in Manchester on April 17 & 18. Make sure you pick up your tickets by following the link!

News

Cable has long seen the Netherlands as a stronghold but now things are starting to change.

In Q4 of 2022, the market share of fibre overtook cable for the first time, taking a 38.4 percent share of a residential fibre broadband market, worth a reported €873 million. Cable share fell to 37.6 percent of revenues, down from 39.7 percent a year earlier.

The shift is not so much a fall in the popularity of cable, but more the growth of fibre with a significant factor being KPN initiating the first stage shutdown of their copper network in back in February.

Telecompaper senior analyst, Kamiel Albrecht commented “From 2024 fibre is expected to take the market lead also in terms of number of connections.”

Research by Telecompaper shows that the Dutch consumer broadband market grew revenues by 3.7 percent in 2022 to a total of €2.4 billion with fibre adding 60,000 new connections to exceed 7.5 million by the end of 2022.

Incumbent KPN and VodafoneZiggo both lost market share as T-Mobile group rocketed past 10 percent market and Delta Fiber grew their market share to more than 6 percent.

T-Mobile claim they will be able to offer gigabit fibre internet to 5 million households through partnerships and acquisitions, including purchasing Tweak in October 2022 and forming a partnership with E-Fiber – a subsidiary of Open Dutch Fiber.

Delta Fiber have a stated ambition to reach two million premises passed in 2025 and to achieve this are not only selling direct via their Delta and Caiway brands, but are also making their network available to other service providers. In December they announced consumer broadband would be made available in Zeeland via Kliksafe, Online.nl, Solcon, MultiFiber, Freedom, PlinQ, GlasNet and Libernet.

The Netherlands will be the new home of the Total Telecom Congress this November as the event moves to The RAI. It will be joined by the 25th anniversary edition of the World Communication Awards which will be presented at the National Maritime Museum, Amsterdam on the 22 November 2023. Entries for the WCA are now open.

 

Startup Story

KoalaTech is a Portuguese startup, spunoff from Nova University of Lisbon and focuses on reducing wasted energy in wireless communications, hence reducing operational costs and enhancing eco-sustainability in telecommunications.

Tell us about your start up
Koala Tech is focused on the solution for the problem of power consumption and energy efficiency in telecommunication systems. Koala Tech’s holistic design engineers created disruptive technology that reduces the huge amount of wasted energy in present and future wireless communications, contributing both for reducing the operational costs and achieving ecosustainability in telecommunications. The new concept QDA (Quantized Digital Amplification) creates a disruption over traditional RF front ends power amplifiers and opens a way for a new level of energy efficiency in telecommunications, addressing the longstanding topic of the energy efficiency in wireless communications networks due to its impact on coverage, signal quality and operational costs, and the consequent negatives impacts on the environment.

What is your USP?
QDA brings an energy efficiency increase of several times compared to competing technologies. This is independent of bandwidth and signal characteristics. Or put another way, for each unit of energy supplied to the RF power amplifier, the QDA can put 2 to 5 times more RF power on the air, when compared with current solutions. Conversely, for the same output power, use of QDA technology will reduce the energy required by same amount. This represents significant energy cost savings for the mobile operator, or extended battery life in handsets. The production costs of QDA chips for Radio remote units of base stations (QDA4RRU) are the same as current RF PA production costs, and potentially lower due to the reduction in the Bill of Materials. Also, the adoption of QDA4RRU is very simple since it implies only a change on the amplification stage of the RRU equipment of existing Base Stations, satellites, and other devices without affecting other equipment stages, such as the Base Band Unit. Therefore, it can be rolled-out gradually without affecting other elements of the network. Also, the adoption of the QDA for system on chip (QDA4ASIC) in the production of chipsets for wireless user equipment will benefit from the lower integration costs of CMOS technology. Contributing to our USP, all of the presented technology is patented in the United States, Europe, China and India.

What is your relationship with the telecom sector?
The new Quantized Digital Amplification can be deployed at both sides of the wireless communication channel, from network radio transmitters (e.g. mobile base stations, Wi-Fi access points) to wireless user equipment (e.g. mobile handsets, computers, tablets, IoT). QDA4RRU directly addresses the market of RF power amplification and RF front ends (FEM) for network telecommunications systems like 4G and 5G standards, and Satellite Communications (both ground and space segments). The target market of QDA4RRU is divided into two main groups: • Mobile Network Base station and satellite producers. • RF front end and RF power amplifier manufacturers. The QDA4ASIC market includes the major chipset manufacturers for handsets and Wi-Fi routers.

How have you reached your current stage of development?
Six years of research and development were needed to create the concept and validated the technology before company foundation at the end of 2018. First discrete hardware prototype for practical validation was concluded in 2019. In 2020, a second QDA PCB prototype was developed and implemented using switched amplifiers (TRL6), with average energy efficiencies around 40% for multi-carrier (MC) and above 50% for single carrier (SC) and bandwidths of up to 20 MHz. In 2021, a first chip for 880 MHz was implemented with average efficiency around 40% for bandwidths higher than 100 MHz. Discrete TRL6 QDA prototypes for 3.4 GHz with bandwidths of up to 20 MHz and similar efficiencies to the first discrete prototype, were implemented in 2021. First TRL6/7 QDA4RRU prototypes with combination over the air (no combiner chip needed) have been already implemented for 3.4 GHz and 5.2 GHz Second version of combiner’s chip will be concluded in first quarter of 2023. The design of an evaluation kit fully compliant with the 5G was almost completed in 2022 (it will be ready in second quarter of 2023) with efficiencies around 50%.

Why did you establish the business?
To develop a new generation of signal power amplification chips based on QDA and contribute to reduce the huge amount of wasted energy in present and future wireless communications, contributing to lower operational costs and to eco-sustainability in telecommunications.

What inspired you?
An unsolved problem which is the very low energy efficiency present on current power amplification technologies in telecommunication transmitters. Current typical average efficiency on power amplification of signals are around 12% for base stations in 4G and near 6% in 5G base stations, meaning that up to 90% of the energy used in amplification is wasted as heat (in fact the wasted energy is 7 to 10 times higher than the transmitted one), resulting in severe power losses & high energy consumption. And a background of more 25 years in research on signal design and microelectronics supporting a new holistic approach for a solution to reach higher energy efficiency on signal amplification transmission based on a new concept.

What does the future hold for your business?
We would like to see Koala Tech (KT) recognized as playing a key role in energy efficient transmitters for modern and greener telecommunications systems. The QDA technology developed by KT is timely and can have a significant impact in the coming years with the deployment of new generation communication systems. KT is also developing other technologies with the potential to embrace other markets, like physical layer security, and we are confident we can become one of the forerunners in this area. Five years on, we see KT continuing to expand the application of its technology and contributing for a reference cluster in this area of Europe and contributing towards a greener society.

Koala Tech are one of the organisations you will meet in the Startup Village at Total Telecom which this year moves to a new home at The RAI in Amsterdam. Find out more at totaltele.com/congress or to join as a startup email an*********@*******le.com