London focused UK ISP CommunityFibre, which has already covered 500,000 premises in the city with their Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network, has followed Hyperoptic’s plan to cover 90% of Islington with full fibre (here) by announcing that they’ll do 100%. In short, locals will have plenty of options. The partnership with Islington Council will see CommunityFibre […]

PRESS RELEASE

Based on analysis of live data from nearly 3,000 Internet Service Providers (ISPs) around the world, RouteThis, a global leader in remote Wi-Fi network diagnostics and troubleshooting for ISPs and smart home brands, today revealed that Internet users in North America are facing significant connectivity issues despite increases in connection speeds. Although upstream speeds have risen 51% and downstream speeds have risen 125%, pandemic-related behavioral shifts and device upgrades have increased demand on home Wi-Fi environments.

“Every new device added to a home network comes with new requirements and increases the opportunity for a poor subscriber experience,” says Jason Moore, CEO of RouteThis, “North America’s home networks host the highest median number of devices (nine), and with more than six or seven devices, it’s likely at least one will suffer from a bad connection. Today, that is a common number because people have so many smart devices ranging from doorbells to electric car charging stations in their homes.”

Up to half an ISP’s support engagements can be traced back to problems with the home Wi-Fi setup, rather than with the lines or equipment itself, so ISPs can dramatically improve customer satisfaction while reducing costs by diagnosing and resolving these problems more efficiently. RouteThis data shows that roughly 25% of diagnostic scans reveal a less congested Wi-Fi channel available, while 30% indicate an underlying problem of signal strength, even with no issues with the home Internet connection.

“One of the biggest challenges that ISPs face is supporting their customers with these types of issues on top of the diverse set of CPEs,” Moore says. “North American ISPs have by and large put fantastic CPEs into their customer homes, but challenges remain around educating customers on Wi-Fi, and this remains one of the biggest drivers of expensive support calls and unnecessary technician visits.”

Related content: WIFI 6, 5G, AND TACKLING THE DIGITAL DIVIDE

The post Customers need educating to get the best from Wi-Fi first appeared on Total Telecom.

STARTUP STORIES

We meet the Birmingham based startup who have developed sound classification algorithms to detect a wide range of sounds to improve healthy, safety, security and comfort.

Tell us about your start up
Innovation Factory has developed cutting-edge technology an acoustic camera sensor that is able to detect and analyse, traffic movements, direction, noise monitoring and vehicular emissions using spatiotemporal context (Traffic EAR). The fusion sensors are using highly innovative AI algorithms to predict future traffic counts, noise levels and vehicle emissions, the novel approach uses acoustic analysis to analyse the external noise of the vehicle, the engine noise signature whether it is petrol or diesel, size of the vehicle (car, van, bus, or lorry) speed and the acceleration of the vehicles.

The aim is to help local authorities to understand the main cause of traffic, noise, and emissions within the city and to help them to plan for the future and take alternative action to reduce the impact of vehicle emissions on air quality.

We believe what we have developed is attractive and promising as we are using novel approaches to tackle big problems, using acoustic data analysis on top of that its low-cost sensors that can be powered by batteries to ensure easy installation.

We collaborated with Councils such as Sandwell council in the West Midlands, railway operator companies like HS2, LNER and London Midlands, motorway operator and management like National Highways, Costain and Kier.

What is your USP?
Our solution uses a non-intrusive sensor to understand the main cause of traffic, noise, and vehicle emissions. It can detect and analyse vehicle emissions and predict traffic based on spatial temporal contexts.

What is your relationship with the telecom sector?
They would be a partner as we use 5G communication protocol.

How have you got to your current stage of development?
We have won Innovate UK smart grant funding last year.

Why did you establish the business?
Innovation Factory developed an on-speech sound detection platform to detect and analyse a wide range of sounds, then we expanded the platform to tackle the traffic noise, and emissions.

What inspired you?
The use of AI can enhance our safety security and comfort and the business need in this market.

What does the future hold for your business?
To become a leader in acoustic sensors to enhance our safety security and comfort.

COMPANY CV
HEADQUARTERS: Birmingham, UK
NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 8
LAST FUNDING TYPE: Innovate UK grant
URL https://innovfactory.com/
FOUNDER: Anwar Almojarkesh

You can meet Innovation Factory in the Startup Village at the Total Telecom Congress on the 1-2 November 2022 in London. To get your ticket to attend or to find out about showcasing your startup visit totaltele.com/congress

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The post Startup Stories: it’s a noisy life first appeared on Total Telecom.

Press release

Rakuten Mobile, the world’s first end-to-end fully virtualized 4G and 5G commercial mobile network, will rapidly expand coverage with plans to deploy Symware™ multipurpose edge appliances across 23,000 new sites in just 10 months.

Earlier this week, Rakuten Symphony announced general availability for its Symware™ next-generation distributed unit (DU) product with plans to deploy 30,000 units across Rakuten Mobile’s network in Japan. The rollout targets installation across 23,000 new sites in just 10 months and will support continued subscriber coverage expansion efforts for the world’s largest open mobile network. Rakuten Mobile expects to reduce data center and associated operational costs by as much as half due to simplified data center installation and increased power efficiency.

Phase 1 was announced in late 2021 in collaboration with Intel – a leader in network and cloud technologies – to build the next-generation distributed unit (NGDU). This device features zero touch provisioning, Multi-RAT Support (radio access technology), and IP65 Ruggedized DU, supporting 4G and 5G radio cell site coverage for mass scale deployment.

In the second phase of the rollout, the Symware device is expected to deliver high cost-efficiency via a zero data center footprint and elimination of associated rent overhead in deployment in Rakuten Mobile’s network infrastructure. Underscoring its ability to deliver in demanding environments at scale, the device will be rapidly deployed across more than 13,000 new 5G sites and 10,000 new 4G sites in Japan.

“We announced our intention to change the industry benchmark for Next Generation Distributed Unit design last year at Mobile World Congress Los Angeles. I am more than happy now to announce the global rollout of the Symware NGDU, redefining speed and total cost of ownership for large-scale network expansions,” said Tareq Amin, Chief Executive Officer of Rakuten Symphony. “The revolutionary hardware design supported by the software-based network and full Symworld operational platform will deliver transformational results for Rakuten Mobile and telecom operators around the world.”

The Symware device is based on the Intel Xeon D processor, a workload optimized system-on-chip built for space and power constrained environments. With built-in AI, security, advanced I/O and ethernet alongside dense compute, it delivers high data throughput for Symware open RAN workloads. In addition, it uses the Intel vRAN Accelerator ACC100 adapter, Intel Ethernet Controller E810, and Intel’s FlexRAN reference software to deliver a robust, performant open RAN solution.

“Communications service providers are transforming their networks worldwide with the move to fully programmable, open platforms to gain increased flexibility and agility,” said Dan Rodriguez, Intel corporate vice president and general manager, Network and Edge Solutions Group. “Our collaboration with Rakuten Symphony has shown the industry how it’s possible to deliver the performance and cost savings for at-scale deployments when you combine software-based platforms with an innovative design, and an as-a-service business model.”

The business goal is to radically change the total cost of ownership through two “as-a-Service” business models.

The Symware™ device is sold as a service with the standard model comprising lifecycle management of hardware components, allowing customers to lifecycle manage customized software choices and operations. Symware™ Plus includes lifecycle management of all software using the Symworld platform for automation.

The Symworld™ platform helps telecom operators scale faster as the cloud sets the pace for speed, innovation, and network expectations. It supports a full range of cloud-native OSS products (Intelligent Operations) that help greenfield and brownfield service providers plan, build, and operate a mobile network at a significantly lower cost than traditional approaches. The platform enables enable zero-touch provisioning at scale, shortening site commissioning times from weeks to minutes for rapid network builds at 40% lower capital cost. Operators are able to run networks at 30% lower operating costs and accelerate new feature introductions by 10-15x. Protection and transparency are assured via security embedded at every layer.

 

The post Rakuten Symphony Symware™ Phase Two Begins with Plans to Commercially Deploy 30,000 Units in Japan first appeared on Total Telecom.

Ofcom has revealed that 29% of UK households (8 million) – double last year’s 15% – are still having problems paying their phone, broadband and TV bills. In response, they’ve called on major ISPs to reconsider annual price hikes and ordered TalkTalk, Shell Energy, EE, Plusnet and Vodafone to introduce “social tariffs as soon as […]

The Comms Council UK, which is the body responsible for representing the United Kingdom’s Unified Communications (UC) and Voice-over-Internet-Protocol (VoIP) phone industry, has today revealed the winners of their 14th annual 2022 awards event. Entrants to all categories for the 2022 event were said to have been independently reviewed by several Comms Council UK judges […]

Broadband ISP and mobile operator Virgin Media (VMO2) has signed an extended contract with civil engineering firm Avonline Networks (M Group Services), which will see the firm’s engineers continue their relationship with Virgin by helping to extend their Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) infrastructure to 23 million UK premises by 2028. In case anybody has forgotten, Virgin Media […]

The second Local Supplier contract under the UK Government’s new £5bn Project Gigabit broadband scheme – worth £6.6m – has today been awarded to rural ISP GoFibre (BorderLink), which will upgrade broadband for more than 4,000 hard-to-reach Teesdale premises in Northern England. Project Gigabit aims to extend 1Gbps capable (download speed) networks to reach at […]

NEWS

Just weeks after the German Broadband Association (BREKO) revealed its Market Study 2022, the German market has seen a flurry of announcements about fibre rollout – even as some in the sector are expressing fears over consolidation.

Earlier this month, the BREKO report revealed that one in four German households is now connected to an optical fibre network but described the goal of reaching full coverage in Germany by 2030 as “fraught with risks”.

Report author Jens Böcker painted a positive picture saying “I am pleased to be able to present a positive assessment of the roll-out of fibre in Germany, whose progress is of utmost importance for the digitalisation and thus also for safeguarding the climate and the environment,” – but despite this progress Germany ranks third in Europe behind France and the UK in terms of progress in terms of fibre infrastructure.

The country’s Gigabit Strategy calls for all households –urban and rural – to be connected to fibre by 2030 with 50% achieving this milestone by 2025, but blockages to this currently include price increases, supply bottlenecks, and a shortage of skilled workers.

Despite all this there has been a raft of positive announcements in recent days including Liberty Networks Germany stating construction of a new full-fibre network starting in Rudersberg, a municipality in the Rems-Murr district of Baden-Württemberg. This initiative is a JV between Liberty Global Ventures and InfraVia Capital Partners and was described by newly appointed CEO, Dr. Christian Böing, as the first step on a “mission to roll out powerful full-fibre broadband in underserved regions of the country.”

Deutsche Glasfaser has also been busy announcing an agreement to build around 10,000 fibre-optic connections in sixteen districts around the city of Erfurt. Construction will start in January 2023 but only if marketing results in demand reaching a take-up quota of 33 percent. Competitor Deutsche GigaNetz is planning to expand its fibre optic network in other parts of the city, and plan to build in Zaberfeld, in Heilbronn in Baden-Wurttemberg – but again only if there is sufficient take-up.

Meanwhile German cable operator Tele Columbus is using its Pyur brand to connect around 6,200 housing cooperatives apartments in Luebbenau with fibre.

Demand is there with 26% of German households and businesses reported as having fibre connections in June 2022 but there is also great need for improvement. Deloitte’s Optical Fibre Study 2022 reported that three out of ten respondents encountering issues with the internet connection at least once a month.

However, many in the industry are concerned about the threat of consolidation. Soeren Wendler, the CEO of Deutsche GigaNetz, predicts that consolidation will occur as early as next year, but “interesting takeover candidates will only develop in seven to ten years”

Watch this space. There has never been a more interesting time to watch the German market, so make sure you join Total Telecom for Connected Germany on 6 – 7 December 2022 at Mainz Congress, Germany. To discover how to get involved visit www.totaltele.com/connectedgermany

 

RELATED CONTENT: GERMANY IS ON THE RIGHT PATH TO ACHIEVING IT’S FUTURE CONNECTIVITY GOALS

The post Fibre frustration in Germany first appeared on Total Telecom.

Press release

IFC Equity Investment in WIOCC Group to Support Africa’s Digital Infrastructure Expansion.

To improve access to quality broadband internet and data hosting services for homes and businesses in Africa, IFC today announced it is expanding its relationship with West Indian Ocean Cable Company Holding Ltd (WIOCC Group), a leading digital connectivity and infrastructure provider in Africa, with a $30 million equity investment. The new investment will support WIOCC Group’s continued rollout of terrestrial fiber-optic networks, investment in new subsea cables, and the launch of world-class, open-access core and edge data center infrastructure across the continent.

Digital infrastructure is the backbone of Africa’s internet economy. Ongoing investment in fiber optic networks and data centers will allow increased access to more affordable and higher-speed internet across the African continent, according to eConomy Africa 2020, a report by IFC and Google. This expanded access could yield significant economic gains: a 10 percent increase in mobile broadband penetration in Africa would yield a 2.5 percent increase in GDP per capita, notes a study by the International Telecommunication Union.

IFC’s digital infrastructure strategy in Africa is aimed at enabling reliable, and affordable connectivity. This includes investing in the growth of independent tower operators, data centers and broadband, as well as supporting mobile operators, with an emphasis on supporting expanded connectivity in fragile and conflict situations (FCS) and low-Income International Development Association countries (LIC-IDA).

In the past fiscal year (July 1, 2021–June 2022), 34 percent of IFC’s digital infrastructure investments were in FCS and IDA countries.

Over the last decade, IFC committed and mobilized more than $7 billion in digital infrastructure and services, with more than $2.5 billion between July 2020 and June 2022. In addition to providing financing, IFC supports investees to improve corporate governance and align environmental and social practices with IFC’s performance standards.

“At IFC, we recognize that there is a critical need for reliable digital infrastructure, which is fundamental to improving the quality of people’s lives and driving business growth,” said Mohamed Gouled, IFC Vice President of Industries, during a signing ceremony with WIOCC Group today in London. “In the past fiscal year, ending in June 2022, IFC invested $1.3 billion in digital infrastructure, with over half of those investments taking place in Africa’s telecommunications, media, and technology sector. Our partnership with WIOCC Group underscores IFC’s commitment to closing the digital divide in Africa.”

IFC’s equity investment builds on its previous financing to WIOCC Group, in the form of a $20 million loan issued in 2020 via IFC’s fast-track COVID-19 financing facility, a facility set up to help sustain economies and preserve jobs during the pandemic crisis.

“IFC is a true strategic partner that has been there for us since the start. IFC’s role as one of the founding lenders in 2007 was critical in enabling WIOCC Group to grow and thrive. This new investment supports our goal of establishing an integrated, open-access, core-to-edge cloud ecosystem throughout the African continent, underpinned by truly scalable, carrier-neutral, open access, shared infrastructure that delivers high-quality and affordable digital connectivity,” said Chris Wood, WIOCC Group Chief Executive Officer. “By decentralizing the cloud and enabling content delivery to the point of use, we are establishing the infrastructure required to expedite successful deployment and adoption of 5G, the Internet of Things and other key developments that will deliver economic growth throughout the 2020s.”

Featured image is WIOCC Group CEO Chris Wood (left) shaking hands with IFC Vice President of Industries Mohamed Gouled (right).

The post WIOCC Group secures $30 million equity investment from IFC to support Africa’s digital infrastructure expansion first appeared on Total Telecom.