Alternative network provider Truespeed, which is deploying a new gigabit speed Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network across rural parts of South West England, has today appointed Lisa Harrington to be a Non-Executive Director and to help the company accelerate its rollout of ultrafast broadband. Lisa’s previous experience includes 10 years at BT in a range of senior […]

Linksys has today announced that they’ve started offering a suite of WiFi 6 products to broadband ISPs in the UK, including routers and mesh systems. The provider has traditionally targeted the country’s consumer and business market at retail, but due to “strong demand” they’re now also partnering with full fibre altnets. Over the past few […]

We’ve had it confirmed from various credible sources that Openreach (BT) are planning to launch a new pilot in the near future, which will enable UK ISPs to test faster broadband tiers on the operator’s Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network. Download speeds faster than 1Gbps are expected, and a new ONT will also be involved. Openreach’s national […]

Buckingham-based Village Networks, which operates a number of Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) and full fibre (FTTP) broadband networks across parts of Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Hertfordshire and the Thames Valley, has announced that they’ve acquired Hampshire’s Viridian Communications, better known as ISP Gigabeam. Founded in 2002, Village Networks is a small alternative network that has been around […]

Property management firm Tower Hamlets Homes (THH), which looks after social housing across the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, has launched a new scheme that will offer a “limited number of free internet connections” for 12 months to residents (this will include free a router and installation). The announcement doesn’t state how many of these […]

Contributed Article

By NetPMD

Network design projects can be complex and time-consuming, making it difficult for in-house teams to complete them in a timely manner. Outsourcing can help to improve time to value by allowing companies to access the resources and expertise of experienced network designers. However, within what is still a burgeoning industry it can be difficult to find design teams with extensive experience in designing, planning and rolling out fibre networks.  

In recent years NetPMD has worked on several high-profile fibre network design projects in the United States. The learnings from these extensive projects have been invaluable and they are now helping companies in the EMEA to benefit from their experience. 

NetPMD’s projects within the United States have been across entire cities and regions. Patrik Lowenborg, VP of Network Design said, “Each project has taught us something new about the process of designing fibre optic networks. We’ve also had the chance to work with a variety of third-party suppliers, construction companies and ISPs, which has given us a better understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of different software solutions.” 

He continues “We have used a variety of different software tool out there in the market in order to solve different design opportunities. Fully automated Software isn’t the final answer, as problems exist across the industry as a whole with data quality and accuracy. Therefore the need for human interaction and design experience to interpret how best to use these tools, is key. We’ve also found that the planning stage is probably the most underrated activity in the project lifecycle. Following many successful projects, this experience and learning has enabled us to apply how to best use these tools to deliver the outcomes we need for quality work, thus saving time, increasing output and adding more value to our clients”.  

For example, when working on the City of Pittsburg fibre network design, the challenging geography threw up several challenges to the project. These included multiple risks from natural hazards including earthquakes, landslides, wildfires and floods.  

Similarly, when working on Simi Valley in California, the team needed to consider that the network would be rolled out within a valley between two hilly and mountainous areas of brush covered wildlands with similar natural hazards including wildfires, earthquakes, and floods.  

NetPMD have created a culture where staff are empowered to be curious and bring new ideas to the design table. Through testing various ways of working and “breaking” a few eggs over the years on their US based projects they have  honed their fibre design and implementation service into a a tried  and tested modular approach. 

Undertaking more and more projects in the UK, the NetPMD team, after experimenting with all the technology across the industry, they are now making their partnerships with software programs such as Comsof, IQGeo and Digpro to be more inclusive as part of a lifecycle of services.  

Patrik continues, “Our US experiences have taught us a lot about the fibre optic design process. We know what to look for and what to avoid, and we can offer our clients a much higher level of service as a result. Most of these problems and indeed solutions are a global and so learnings can be applied to any given market across the world”.  

By outsourcing some or all of their network design projects and activities, companies can benefit from the experience and knowledge of external providers whilst also freeing up internal resources. But the key is engaging with those who have extensive case studies to back up their claims. 

Want to learn more? NetPMD will be exhibiting at Connected Britain 2022. Join them and over 3,000 telecoms attendees next week live in London

Also in the news:
UK telcos to face stricter cybersecurity obligations under new govt rules
Jio prepares to plough $25bn into 5G
VMO2 activates first open RAN sites in live network

The post How experience helps in reducing time to value in Fibre Network projects  first appeared on Total Telecom.

News

The consortium, led by SK Telecom (SKT), has partnered with the local government of Jeju, aiming to begin commercial pilot flights in 2025

Today, a South Korean consortium headed by mobile operator SKT has announced a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Jeju Special Self-Governing Province as it builds towards the launching the country’s first urban air mobility (UAM) services.

The resort island of Jeju is one of South Korea’s leading domestic tourist attractions, reportedly attracting a record 6.8 million tourists during the first half of 2022. As such, SKT and its partners believe the island is the perfect location to begin testing its UAM capabilities, envisaging a future where airborne taxis ferry visitors across the Island.

“We will turn Jeju Island, an eco-friendly tourist attraction, into the main game changer for the future mobility service by growing the region into an innovative base for UAMs,” said SK Telecom CEO Ryu Young-sang.

The consortium itself, known as the K-UAM Dream Team Consortium, was formed earlier this year and includes defence and IT specialist Hanwha Systems, the Korea Meteorological Institute, and Korea Airports Corporation (KAC), the national airport authority, alongside SKT.

The partners intend to launch a commercial pilot project in 2025, with Jeju’s local government agreeing to oversee and support the project.

SKT will provide the UAM connectivity platform for the pilot project, which it has been co-developing with US firm Joby Aviation since February this year.

Joby is currently developing its own electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) service that it hopes to launch in the US in 2024. The company’s eVTOL vehicle will reportedly have a range of 241km and will be able to reach speeds of up 322km/h.

KAC, meanwhile, will establish take-off ports for the air taxis and monitor them in the air using existing flight safety infrastructure. The exact location for the take-off and landing area (known as a ‘vertiport’) has yet to be identified.

Finally, Hanwha Systems will help develop, operate, and manage the air taxi itself, including helping the consortium to develop navigation and control solutions.

“The K-UAM Dream Team Consortium will do its best to lower the psychological hurdles for new transportation methods in Jeju, where tourism and cultural resources are concentrated, and to lead the future mobility paradigm,” added Hanwha Systems chief executive Seong-cheol Eo.

The K-UAM Dream Team Consortium is currently preparing to compete in the K-UAM Grand Challenge, a competition set up by the South Korean government to demonstrate the safety of UAM flight and find the country’s first official UAM operator.

Multiple rival consortiums have been formed to take part in the Challenge, with many of South Korea’s largest companies, such as car-maker Hyundai, Korean IT firm Kakao Group, and conglomerate Lotte Group, taking leading roles.

Indeed, two of these consortium’s also feature SKT’s direct competitors, KT and LG Uplus. KT announced in November last year that they had formed a partnership with Hyundai Motor Company, Hyundai Engineering & Construction Company, Incheon International Airport Corporation, and Korean Air to develop their own UAM capabilities. Likewise, LG Uplus announced earlier this year that it was teaming up with Kakao Mobility and GS Caltex for a similar UAM pilot in Busan, South Korea’s second largest city.

Much like drones, flying vehicles will need ubiquitous, low latency connectivity to function effectively and safely, hence it is hardly surprising that the nation’s largest mobile operators are set to play a central role in the development of commercial UAM services.

The South Korean government is set to announce the consortiums chosen to participate in the Challenge in November, with demonstrations by the entrants planned to take place in Seoul and Jeollanam-do province in 2023 and 2024.

 

What role to mobile players have to play in emerging markets like drone flight and UAM? Find out from the experts at this year’s live Total Telecom Congress

Also in the news:
UK telcos to face stricter cybersecurity obligations under new govt rules
Jio prepares to plough $25bn into 5G
VMO2 activates first open RAN sites in live network

The post SK Telecom consortium prepares air taxi pilot programme first appeared on Total Telecom.

Earlier this year giffgaff announced that, in order to help ease the burden of rising costs, they would freeze the prices on all of their UK tariffs for the rest of 2022. The good news is that they’ve now made the decision to extend this by freezing their UK prices until the end of 2023. […]

The ITS Technology Group (its.), which currently manages 36 wholesale full fibre broadband and Ethernet networks across urban parts of the United Kingdom for businesses and ISPs – under the “Faster Britain” branding, has adopted ADTRAN’s open and disaggregated 10Gbps fibre access platform to power its network. The operator, which is being supported by an […]

News

The platform will target large enterprises across the country, with a specific focus on manufacturing and the automotive industry

Today, Indian operator giant Bharti Airtel has announced that it is working alongside US cloud specialist IBM to deploy an Indian edge computing platform targeting enterprises across the country.

The platform will reportedly Airtel’s 120 data centres across 20 cities in India, aiming to help local businesses maximise the value of Airtel’s upcoming 5G network and edge computing.

“As India gears up to experience 5G, we see a massive opportunity to help businesses across industries transform how they deliver goods and services,” said Ganesh Lakshminarayanan, CEO-Enterprise, Airtel Business. “We have the largest network of edge data centers available in India under the Nxtra brand and we will leverage our work with IBM to help Indian businesses address their critical business needs with greater efficiency.”

The platform is deployed as a hybrid environment based on IBM Cloud Satellite and Red Hat OpenShift®, which will combine to improve business performance and customer experience by reducing latency without compromising data security.

Airtel’s initial targets for this platform are India’s largest enterprises, particularly in the manufacturing and automobile sectors, both of which stand to gain major efficiency benefits from shifting applications to the edge.

One of the company’s initial customers will be Maruti Suzuki, India’s largest domestic car manufacturer, who says it will use the platform to improve quality control and production efficiency.

“At Maruti Suzuki, we continuously strive to meet the highest quality standards by ensuring our processes and quality control are well above industry standards. Technology is a key enabler in this journey, helping boost quality, efficiency and deliver the next-gen user experience. We are excited to work with Airtel Business and IBM to set an even higher benchmark and explore the vast possibilities of deploying AI and analytics at the edge to augment the expertise of our workforce,” said Rajesh Uppal, Senior Executive Director, HR and IT, Maruti Suzuki.

The news comes shortly after the conclusion of India’s long-awaited 5G spectrum auction, with Airtel saying that they will launch 5G services commercially later this month. By December, the company aims to have coverage in key metropolitan areas, extending this coverage to all of ‘urban India’ by the end of 2023, according to CEO, Gopal Vittal.

“After that, we will expand rapidly to cover the entire country. We expect to cover urban India by the end of 2023,” said Vittal last week.

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Also in the news:
UK telcos to face stricter cybersecurity obligations under new govt rules
Jio prepares to plough $25bn into 5G
VMO2 activates first open RAN sites in live network

The post Airtel and IBM partner for Indian edge computing platform first appeared on Total Telecom.