The ITS Technology Group, which operates 36 wholesale full fibre broadband and Ethernet networks (aka – “Faster Britain“) across urban parts of the UK for businesses and ISPs, has today announced that their new network across Manchester is now live and able to serve 10,500 businesses with access to gigabit-capable connectivity. The new network section […]

The UK Government has today announced their plan to open a new “state-of-the-art UK Telecommunications Lab” in Solihull (West Midlands), which will bring together broadband operators, suppliers and academics to research and test innovative new ways of boosting the security, resilience and speed of 5G and future 6G mobile networks. The lab, which will aim […]

NEWS

National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has awarded 23 new grants aimed at deploying broadband on tribal land and improving accessibility

Back in November 2021, President Joe Biden signed the far-reaching Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) into law, pledging to invest around $550 billion in federal funding to improve America’s physical and digital infrastructure, from roads to fibre networks.

Of this total, around $65 billion has been earmarked to help extend affordable, reliable, and high-speed internet access to everyone in America, with a particular focus on helping the most digitally underprivileged demographics in the country.

One such group, facing a disproportionate risk of digital exclusion – particularly in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic – are the Tribal communities within the US. While Federal Communications Commission data from 2019 showed that fixed broadband services were accessible for 95.6% of the US population, just 79.1% of people on Tribal lands had similar access. To make matters worse, only 46.5% of Tribal households with access to broadband services had adopted these services.

As a result, the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP) was set up in 2021, aiming to help improve not only the availability of broadband infrastructure in these communities, but also the digital skills to fully benefit from the technology.

The TBCP was backed by an initial allocation of $980 million from the Consolidated Appropriations Act 2021, which was signed into law the same year. The aforementioned IIJA, which was codified a few months later, allocated a further $2 billion to the TBCP, bringing the total available funds to almost $3 billion.

Since then, the NTIA has been gradually releasing the funds to Tribal communities and organisations, following an application process (which was, ironically, criticised for being inaccessible due to lack of broadband availability).

This week, the NTIA has announced its latest batch of grants as part of TBCP, awarding 23 grants worth over $601.6 million.

Communities and organisations in fifteen states will benefit from the grants: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin.

The largest grant, worth $52.5 million, was given to Calista Corporation, a Tribal organisation planning to help deploy fibre for 10 villages in Alaska.

“We are making an historic investment in Tribal communities to ensure reliable, affordable high-speed Internet for all,” explained Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. “These grants – made possible by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law – underscore President Biden’s commitment to closing the digital divide in the United States, especially within Tribal lands. Today’s awards will not only build high-speed Internet capacity within Tribal Nations, but also bring digital opportunities for good-paying jobs, education, and healthcare.”

These latest grants bring the total of allocated funds to roughly $1.35 billion, with additional grants to be announced on a rolling basis over the coming months.

To what extent are Tribal lands at risk of falling below the digital divide? Join the discussion live in Texas at the upcoming Connected America conference

Also in the news:
Understanding the telco’s role in the IoT market
Startup Stories: A new approach to telecoms consultancy
MTN Group joins the Telecom Infra Project’s Board of Directors

The post NTIA releases further $600m in grants for Tribal connectivity first appeared on Total Telecom.

VIDEO INTERVIEW

Fibre-based connectivity is transforming and enhancing the way we live, do business and interact.

Fibre roll-out needs to steadily advance at an increasingly fast pace for Europe’s gigabit society. STL’s customised optical solutions cater to high-bandwidth applications of telcos, cloud companies, citizen networks and large enterprises; all this while keeping sustainability at the core of its manufacturing and business practices.

Rahul Puri, Regional Sales Head – Europe, talks about the UK market, the demand for fibre in the UK, and the role STL is playing in truly connecting the UK

 

STL is one of the industry-leading integrators of digital networks that helps telcos, cloud companies, citizen networks and large enterprises deliver enhanced experiences to their customers. Read more or Contact us

The post STL connecting the UK through high-speed broadband first appeared on Total Telecom.

VIDEO INTERVIEW

Total Telecom met up with Adtran regional CTO Ronan Kelly to discuss how fast the UK fiber broadband market has grown with the mobilization of both large incumbents and the dozens of new entrants

How close is the UK to meeting its 2025 target for full-fibre broadband? Mr. Kelly notes how the UK fiber broadband market by being late adopter was fortuitous in one very important way and why he believes the UK’s broadband market is suddenly ahead of many other European countries.

He also outlines what UK operators need to be focusing on in 2023? What he thinks of the chase for the next speed tier to support higher monthly tariffs and ability to differentiate your brand? With the Adtran – ADVA merger completed this summer; the interview captures thoughts on the ADVA opportunity for fibre broadband providers by outlining the unique solutions ADVA will bring to the Adtran end to end fiber networking portfolio.

 

To learn more about Adtran end-to-end fibre networking solutions please click here.

The post What UK fibre operators need to be focusing on. It isn’t what you think. first appeared on Total Telecom.

Gigabit broadband ISP YouFibre, which until now has been closely wedded to Netomnia’s ongoing project to build a Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network to cover 1 million UK premises by the end of 2023, has today announced the unexpected extension of their service to include CityFibre’s network in Middlesbrough (North Yorkshire). According to the announcement, the partnership […]

STARTUP STORY

We were delighted to meet FlexiFone, the bootstrapped Brighton based startup specifically targeting the needs of Generation Z mobile users with a fully eSIM powered MVNO

Tell us about your start up
FlexiFone is Europe’s first multi-network MVNO targeted towards Gen Z mobile users. Being a multi-network MVNO, our customers can choose a mobile plan from a carrier with the best coverage in their area. By subscribing to a FlexiPlan not only get a mobile plan with access to EE, O2 and Three’s network, but also over 50% discounts on subscriptions to dozens of apps like Netflix, Disney+, VPNs, and more!
It’s “Revolut for your mobile plan”.

What is your USP?
FlexiFone is a 100% digital MVNO powered by eSIMs, with no physical presence. By reducing overhead costs on logistics, inventory, and through digital on-boarding plus a remote team based in Asia, we pass on the savings directly to our customers offering affordable value for money bundles. You don’t have to wait for your SIM card to arrive over post unlike other MNOs, your eSIM QR code and setup guide is sent on your email immediately after payment.

Traditional mobile network operators work on a very capital-intensive distribution model, where they have physical stores and inventory in order to sell a mobile plan plus a handset on a 12 to 24 month contract. Due to this, the end customer pays a higher price for the same service due to in-efficiencies in their distribution model.

What is your relationship with the telecom sector?
We partner with MNOs including EE, O2 and Three through aggregators (MVNAs), to provide our plans to end customers.

How have you got to your current stage of development?
FlexiFone started as a concept which was brainstormed during an assignment in the University of Sussex, and fast forward a lot of hustling, we are now at the pilot-test stage. We’re currently bootstrapped, and would be raising funds before our grand public launch Q1 of 2023.

Why did you establish the business?
Sarthak Sethi says, I worked for business incubator based in Dubai and London, and supporting entrepreneurs in launching and scaling online businesses was my role for the last two years, and it was always in my mind to build a product that solves a real-world problem.

While conducting research on the state of the telecom sector in the UK, I identified that there are in-efficiencies in the distribution model being utilized by traditional MNOs that lead to expensive mobile bills for end users, and I decided to build Europe’s first asset-light, 100% digital and affordable mobile network.

Who is your mentor?
My mentor is my uncle Mr. Bhushan Sethi, who currently works as the VP of Product (IoT) in Vodafone-Idea Group, and has been in the telecom industry for over two decades. He was able to provide me with insights about the industry such as customer acquisition strategy, plan pricing model, and licensing, which today has enabled me in taking this product from an idea to an MVP.

What does the future hold for your business?
Globally, the MVNO market size is going to reach USD$123 Billion by 2028, so it’s a market with huge potential. As we progress onto eSIMs, we will see more ‘neo-telecos’, which would basically be mobile network operators following the Revolut / Monzo model. We’ve already seen in the US that the latest iPhone 14 only supports eSIMs and soon other manufacturers will follow.

COMPANY CV
HEADQUARTERS: Brighton, United Kingdom
NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 3
LAST FUNDING TYPE: Bootstrapped
URL: www.flexifone.co.uk
FOUNDER: Sarthak Sethi

If you are interested to know more about FlexiFone, you’ll find them in the Startup Village at Total Telecom Congress – in London on the 1-2 November 2022. To come along, register at www.totaltele.com/congress

RELATED CONTENT: more interviews and Startup Stories are in the interview section of the Total Telecom website

The post Startup stories: the benefit of a multi-network MVNO for Gen Z customers first appeared on Total Telecom.

News

The London-based altnet says the funds will be used to complete the next phase of their rollout, which aims to reach 2.2 million premises by 2024

The ongoing economic crisis in the UK appears to have failed to put the brakes on the flow of capital into the UK fibre market, with Community Fibre this week announcing they have signed a new finance facility worth £985 million.

The new funding comprises £685 million in committed facilities with a further £300 million uncommitted accordion (i.e., optional extension). The identities of the new financiers were not revealed.

Community Fibre says that the new funds will be used to expand its fibre-to-the-premise (FTTP) rollout to 2.2 million London homes by 2024.

“We are delighted that lenders have seen the impact of our ever-increasing network and the level of customer interest in faster, more reliable and more affordable broadband access,” said Graeme Oxby, CEO of Community Fibre. “In a time of money worries for many families, Community Fibre has been able to deliver a better service for a lower price. We will now be able to accelerate our network roll out and bring these benefits to a much larger number of customers.”

The network builder last received funding back in 2020, when private equity firm Warburg Pincus and investment management group DTCP contributed a combined £400 million. At the time, Community Fibre was aiming to pass one million homes by 2023 – a target that it seems likely miss, having currently only passed around 675,000 homes, according to the company press release this week.

Indeed, this means that reaching the company’s new target of 2.2 million by 2024 will be no small feat, suggesting the company aims to triple its existing fibre footprint in just over a year.

Community Fibre’s rollout has been accelerating in recent months, having passed an additional 175,000 homes in the past four months alone, but the company’s rollout pace will have to increase significantly to meet this ambitious target.

Also in the news:
Understanding the telco’s role in the IoT market
Startup Stories: A new approach to telecoms consultancy
MTN Group joins the Telecom Infra Project’s Board of Directors

The post Community Fibre secures almost £1bn in fresh fibre funding first appeared on Total Telecom.

INTERVIEW 

DURING CONNECTED BRITAIN 2022, WE SPOKE TO ANDY MARR, DIRECTOR CONSULTING SERVICES – SPACE, DEFENCE & INTELLIGENCE AND ALAN NUNN, CONSULTING DIRECTOR (TELECOM SUBJECT MATTER EXPERT) AT CGI TO GET THEIR VIEWS ON THE OPPORTUNITIES CREATED BY HYBRID AND 5G NETWORKS.

While 5G networks are rolling out fast, there will inevitably be hard to cover areas. Join CGI’s Andy Marr, Director Consulting Services for Space, Defence and Intelligence, and Communications Subject Matter Expert, Alan Nunn, as they discuss the opportunities for innovation that are created by hybrid satellite, terrestrial 5G networks and private 5G networks.

Find out how CGI’s innovative approaches using Hybrid 5G and Low Earth Orbit Satellite networks can be used to improve coverage on trains, giving users services they need while on the move.

Indoors, 5G coverage challenges can be addressed with private networks, which can provide high capacity and low latency coverage, giving opportunities to deliver more efficient and flexible operations in factory and logistics environments.

5G and private networks also enable the benefits of collaboration within the Metaverse. Learn how CGI used this emerging technology to develop a solution to a specific problem encountered in the pandemic: how to successfully onboard staff who may not be able to meet their team in person.

If you’d like to find out more about CGI, please visit our website cgi.com/uk or our dedicated Connected Britain Content Hub.

Alternatively, get in touch at enquiry.uk@cgi.com, quoting “Connected Britain”.

The post Innovation in Action: Delivering better indoor and outdoor coverage with Hybrid and 5G networks first appeared on Total Telecom.

INTERVIEW

WHEN TALKING WITH FREEDOM FIBRE’S CFO DARREN WOODS, ONE THING BECOMES ABUNDANTLY CLEAR; THE FUTURE IS FIBRE.

Though the company is relatively new on the scene, Freedom Fibre is quickly establishing themselves as a key player in the next generation of FTTP providers, with an experienced team that have been in the sector for many years. While other alt-net companies are often focused on exchanging small, high-density areas, Freedom Fibre believes the difference is in their mission to build to full exchange boundaries, replacing the copper networks with full fibre and ensuring that even the most rural areas of Britain have access to gigabit internet. This mission has seen at least 97% of the exchange boundary in their completed build areas now supporting the full fibre network, allowing local and national ISPs to switch from copper and provide their customers with full fibre broadband services.

While ensuring connectivity for everyone is an important goal, lightning-fast broadband isn’t the only advantage. The arrival of Freedom Fibre and other alt-net companies signals the end of a previously monopolized industry, which – alongside approx. £5 billion of government investment coming into the sector – creates a competitive market that benefits the consumer and their pockets. Full fibre also uses an estimated 80% less energy than the standard copper networks, providing significant environmental benefits. Although there are still challenges associated with supporting the country’s speedy move off the current copper system, Freedom Fibre is confident that with a focus on building to exchange boundaries, they can create a network for the future and provide even the most rural villages with a resilient, stable, and lightning-fast network.

To find out more about Freedom Fibre, please visit https://www.freedomfibre.com

The post Building to Exchange Boundaries: The Importance of Replacing Copper Networks with Full Fibre first appeared on Total Telecom.