Contributed Article

In a rapidly changing world, new technologies are transforming the way we live and work. Much has been said about the importance of rural connectivity in delivering these changes, but what about our towns and cities? Paul Stonadge, Sales and Commercial Director at Cellnex UK, discusses the need to address the digital divide in urban areas in order to tackle exclusion.

In a post-pandemic world, we have become even more dependent on reliable, high-speed connections for our work, education, and access to healthcare. But as the world has become even more digital dependent, the digital divide across towns and cities has grown and must be addressed urgently if we are to grow socially and economically.

The work done to bridge the digital divide in the UK has traditionally focused on improving access in rural areas. This has been done through the vehicle of the Shared Rural Network, which has successfully improved internet access in the most remote areas of the UK. However, 5 in every 6 people live in urban areas in the UK, and the number is increasing.

Across urban areas of the UK, only 24.7% of the South West and 42.2% of the North West of England have access to gigabit broadband. Yet it is recognised that these areas have the potential to be two key technology hubs across the UK. Although most people might picture these places as hyper-connected, the fact is huge numbers of people in towns and cities still struggle with internet access. With the right collaboration, investment and infrastructure, urban areas could play a vital part in supporting the UK economy and growing digital skills.

Levelling Up

Urban areas make up 84% of the UK’s population, yet they are massively impacted by the ‘urban digital divide’, with less than 50% of urban areas in the UK having access to gigabit-capable networks, For businesses, this can have a significant effect on productivity, and the subsequent economic impact is huge.

Recent research conducted by Three UK, YouGov, and Development Economics found that professional services firms – legal, accounting, and media businesses – lost an average of £5.3 billion in revenue per year due to poor connectivity, accounting for an annual output loss of £2.8 billion to the British economy.

The ‘Levelling Up’ agenda is a welcome focus that can help support regional productivity, but addressing the need to level up cellular coverage in dense urban areas should be an industry and policy priority in the fight against digital exclusion.

With the Government recently going through a significant period of change, it is more important than ever that the new Prime Minister continues to ensure levelling-up remains a key parliamentary aim. If we hope to truly address regional disparities, creating opportunities for businesses to thrive by investing in urban connectivity to tackle low productivity and skills shortages is essential.

Policy to remove barriers

Effectively bridging the digital divide requires swift, cost-effective solutions in high-density populations. A combination of more investment and streamlined planning processes for deployments is beneficial, but the simple solution lies in collaboration between industry leaders and Government decision-makers.

Much has been done to break down the barriers to delivering robust connectivity throughout the UK. Whether it’s via industry rallying together through campaigns like Speed Up Britain to call for improved, streamlined processes in the Electronic Communications Code; or appealing against aspects of policy that disrupt the efficient rollout of infrastructure – the commitment to building a digitally connected world is being heard.

For example, as we collaborate and rollout 5G connectivity, the recent Supreme Court ruling on the Code’s reform is a milestone development as now new site applications can be streamlined, enabling towers to be installed more quickly. The Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Bill is also currently passing through parliament and seeks to encourage faster and more collaborative negotiations of tower installation on private land. The effort to create a digitally connected ‘Gigabit Britain’ is beginning to take shape.

While the telecommunications industry is rising to the challenge and making good progress, there is still much work to be done in meeting the Government’s ambitions to ensure all urban areas have access to the opportunities, knowledge, services, and goods that come through effective digital connectivity. Collaboration with policymakers is pivotal in the rollout of 5G connectivity and must be at the forefront of industry ambitions and future levelling up plans if we hope to successfully close the urban, and indeed, UK-wide digital divide and successfully grow the UK economy.

When it comes to the levelling up connectivity, the North-South divide in the UK remains a huge challenge. Join operators, local authorities, and the wider connectivity ecosystem in discussion about the biggest issues in UK telecoms at the upcoming Connected North conference

Also in the news:
The missing 3.2 billion…
New EXA investment serves customers across the Iberian peninsula
Startup stories: Facing up to cybersecurity risks

The post The digital divide is no urban myth first appeared on Total Telecom.

PARTNER CONTENT

China Unicom Qinghai, China Unicom Research Institute, and Huawei have jointly completed the world’s first trial commercial use of 800G OTN technology on live networks to fully upgrade all-optical networks.

This technology helps build a green ultra-broadband network. As data center services ramp up, there are urgent demands for higher bandwidth to transmit massive data. Such demands come from migrating hundreds of terabit-level enterprise service systems to cloud platforms, cloud rendering, and other use cases. 800G OTN provides bandwidth 4–8 times higher than mainstream single-wavelength 100G/200G networks, at less than half the per-bit power consumption. Using 800G OTN, China Unicom Qinghai builds a green ultra-broadband all-optical network capable of massive DC data transmission, fulfilling its goal of green and low-carbon development in the communications industry. In addition, 800G OTN uses Flexrate technology to program 400G, 600G, and 800G rates as required by growing traffic.

This technology also promotes intelligent upgrade. As all-optical network access is more and more ubiquitous, services and network O&M are increasingly complex, and intelligence is an important trend for optical network technology innovation. With this trend, China Unicom Qinghai, China Unicom Research Institute, and Huawei jointly apply the optical digital label technology to all-optical networks to make them more intelligent. This technology transmits embedded label information, without needing hardware, to detect network performance in real time. It is able to:

Automatically discover and verify optical fiber connections, improving site delivery efficiency and simplifying online network O&M.
Accurately identify signal optical power, improving network fault rectification and simplifying large-scale network recovery.
Support visualization and control of wavelength routes, similarly to the navigation function of autonomous driving. Such visualization plans driving routes while control corrects them in real time.

As core components of the all-optical autonomous driving network, the optical digital label technology and iMaster NCE empower users with four capabilities: self-configuration for transmission provisioning, self-optimization of transmission quality, self-healing from transmission faults, and transmission monetization. These capabilities further improve network O&M efficiency.

Wang Guangquan, Chief Engineer of China Unicom Research Institute, said that the first trial commercial use of the 800G OTN + optical digital label technology in China Unicom Qinghai made two key breakthroughs and upgraded the quality of all-optical networks.

Zhu Changbo, General Manager of China Unicom Qinghai, said that better quality better serves digital economy construction in Qinghai Province and promotes the development of various projects such as digital government, smart city, smart healthcare, smart transportation, and smart salt lakes.

According to Omdia’s latest report, 100G+ Coherent Optical Equipment Ports-2Q22, Huawei 400G port ranked as No. 1 in global shipments for two quarters in 2022, and remains No.1 in the global WDM market for 14 consecutive years.

 

The post China Unicom Qinghai Trials 800G OTN to Upgrade All-Optical Networks first appeared on Total Telecom.

Homes and businesses on Shetland, which is a remote subarctic archipelago that resides some way north of Scotland, have suffered two breakages to different parts of their main SHEFA-2 (Faroese Telecom) submarine (subsea) fibre optic cable. As a result, a lot of broadband and phone connections on the island are being disrupted. The cable is […]

Residents of a block of flats in Edinburgh (Scotland) – called ‘Tytler Court‘ – have been left confused after Cityfibre, which had just completed the build of a new 1Gbps Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP network in the area, told them that they could not serve the building because it was “too tall“.. at just four-stories […]

NEWS

The latest GSMA annual State of Mobile Internet Connectivity Report has highlighted that 4.3 billion people were using mobile internet at the end of 2021 – an enormous number in anyone’s estimation, but still only slightly above half (55%) of the world’s population.

Putting it another way 3.2 billion people worldwide fall into the usage gap, they are covered by a mobile broadband network – which 95% of the worlds population now are – but other reasons prevent them from getting online.

This is the challenge for digital inclusion, addressing a raft of issues ranging from affordability (especially of handsets) and lack of literacy and digital skills through to safety and security concerns that are preventing people from getting online.

The issue is particularly acute in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) where mobile is frequently the main and sometimes only form of internet access.

GSMA Director General, Mats Granryd said “It’s time to make real strides on the journey to reach the 3.2 billion people who are not yet using mobile internet despite living within the footprint of mobile broadband networks. We call on governments and organisations worldwide to work alongside the mobile industry and make digital inclusion a genuine priority. Removing barriers to mobile internet adoption will boost economic recovery, improve social mobility and gender equality, and transform the lives of millions worldwide.”

There is without doubt a mountain still to climb, but despite this 2021 was notable as it marked the first time that half the population of low-middle income countries were seen using mobile internet.

Almost 300 million people came online in the past year with most of the new users of mobile internet emanating from low-middle income countries – home to 94% of the unconnected population – whilst the percentage of people outside the reach of mobile broadband networks fell from 19% in 2015 to 5% at the end of 2021. That 5% however means there are still 400 million people worldwide living in areas not covered by a mobile broadband network.

Delivering ubiquitous connectivity for the hardest-to-reach is the subject for a panel discussion at the Total Telecom Congress on the 1-2 November 2022. Join Anuradha Udunuwara from Sri Lanka Telecom, Chris Voudouris of Neos Networks, Dean Bubley founder of Disruptive Analysis, and Lucie Smith from MNO JV Digital Mobile Spectrum (DMSL) as they discuss rural connectivity challenges in both developed and developing markets, the technology mix and commercial considerations. Register at www.totaltele.com/congress

Related content:
Connecting America: I think of it as accommodating basic equity, not a digital divide, says AT&T’s Stankey
Bridging the North-South digital divide

 

The post The missing 3.2 billion… first appeared on Total Telecom.

The third Local Supplier contract under the UK Government’s £5bn Project Gigabit broadband rollout scheme – worth £7.3m – has today been awarded to rural ISP GoFibre (BorderLink), which will upgrade broadband for more than 3,750 hard-to-reach premises across North Northumberland (England). Project Gigabit aims to extend 1Gbps capable (download speeds) networks to reach at […]

Mobile operator and broadband ISP EE has today begun a new drive to become the “no.1 network for gaming in the UK” by launching a range of bundles for their 5G and full fibre (FTTP) customers, which match the latest PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch consoles to their various connectivity packages. However, the announcement, which […]

Consumer site Expert Reviews has today revealed the winners of their annual ‘Mobile Network Awards 2022’ event, which surveyed their readers in an effort to identify the top performing UK mobile operators across a range of different categories. This year saw Smarty being named as the best overall mobile operator. The results stemmed from a […]

The post How to monetise next-gen telco networks first appeared on Total Telecom.

Infracapital-backed ISP Ogi, which is currently investing £200m to deploy a new Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network across 150,000 premises in Wales by 2025, has expanded their existing civil engineering contract with Avonline Networks (M Group Services). The move will increase Avonline’s business for Ogi three-fold. The original £25m agreement between Ogi and Avonline, which was […]