The Joint Committee on the controversial Draft Online Safety Bill (OSB), which was setup to help establish the regulatory framework to help Ofcom tackle “harmful” content online (e.g. hate speech, bullying, terrorism, conspiracy theories etc.), has today published its report. But the tougher rules and tighter offences may not all be workable. Much of the […]
Deutsche Glasfaser secures €5.75 billion in new financing
German fibre operator, Deutsche Glasfaser, has announced this week that it has received fresh investment to the tune of €5.75 billion from a consortium of banks and pension funds.
The deal comprises a €3 billion loan, a capex facility of €2.5 billion, and a revolving credit facility worth €250 million. As part of the agreement, Glasfaser can later expand the line of credit by a further &euro…
EE Comes Top Again of Umlauts 2021 UK Mobile Network Test
Mobile operator EE (BT) has once again come top in umlaut‘s latest annual 2021 UK Mobile Network Test, which used a range of different benchmarks to test 4G (voice and data / broadband) and 5G service performance across 19 cities, 46 towns and along 10,000km of major roads. But Vodafone weren’t far behind. Both of […]
BT Takeover Fears Mount as Altice UK Boost Stake to 18 Percent
Broadband giant BT, which has recently been busy boosting their defences against a possible takeover attempt by Patrick Drahi’s Altice UK, has today reported that the investor has raised their 12.1% stake in the operator (worth c.£2bn) to a total of 18%. The end of last week has fast become an important date in BT’s […]
Audit Office Casts Doubt Over Value of N.Ireland Broadband Contract
The Northern Ireland Audit Office (NIAO) has today raised concerns over the number of properties that will be covered by the £165m state aid supported Project Stratum rollout in Northern Ireland, which highlights that some premises may have been “commercially viable” for FTTP broadband delivery without subsidy. Under the contract, which was awarded last year, […]
Quickline Appoint New COO and CTO Ahead of UK Fibre Rollout
UK ISP Quickline, which aims to invest £500m on a major rollout of “ultrafast and gigabit-capable broadband” across rural parts of North England and beyond, has today announced that two industry veterans – Lee Allison and Ian Smith – will be appointed as their new Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Chief Technology Officer (CTO). The […]
Ofcom’s new spectrum licence fees draw the ire of MNOs
The story of 2,100 MHz spectrum in the UK dates back to 2000, when the spectrum was originally auctioned by Ofcom to help operators roll out 3G services. The auction raised an enormous £22.5 billion, with terms for the licences initially set to last for 20 years.
However, just one year later, the government directed Ofcom to alter these licences…
Airspan, Padtec and Trópico partner for 5G Open RAN Public and Private Networks
Airspan Networks Inc., a subsidiary of Airspan Networks Holdings Inc. (NYSE American: MIMO), Padtec S/A, a subsidiary of Padtec Holding (B3: PDTC3), and Trópico have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to offer 5G network solutions. The agreement is part of Padtec’s and Trópico’s strategy which focuses on entering the 5G market…
Russia's MTS buys computer vision specialist VisionLabs
MTS’s focus on AI has been growing in recent months. Back in September, the operator launched a $100 million venture fund to invest in AI start-ups, with up to $20 million going to each company. MTS also pledged to invest up to $100,000 in start-ups in its accelerator programme.
At the time, Alexey Posternak, CFO of MTS AI, said the investments would focus on start-ups working with language…
1&1 grabs German 5G deal with Vantage Towers
Back in 2019, Germany held its first 5G spectrum auction, an event noted for its high prices and, more importantly, the potential entrance of a fourth national mobile operator in the form of data centre specialist 1&1 Drillisch.
1&1, which has operated as a mobile virtual network operator for numerous years via a deal with Telefonica, spent €1.1 billion on spectrum at the auction, acquiring a 5MHz block in the 2GHz spectrum band and five blocks of 10MHz in the 3.6GHz band.
Since then, 1&1 has signed numerous deals to help lay the groundwork for the launch of its own open RAN…