To the edge: how AI is revolutionising the way we network
Viewpoint This article was written by Matt Rees, Chief Technology & Operating Officer at Neos Networks Matt Rees, Chief Technology & Operating Officer at Neos Networks No one needs to be reminded of the dominance of AI and its impact on every aspect of our lives. For telecoms, AI is also fueling another, distinct revolution that is fundamentally changing how networks operate. The ever-growing demand for generative AI (GenAI) is driving the rise of ‘edge computing’, with edge data...
Vodafone kick-starts £430 million share buyback scheme
News The news comes after the successful sale of Vodafone Spain to Zegona Communications for €5 billion Vodafone has announced that its share buyback programme has begun. Run by Goldman Sachs, the programme will continue until 29 November. The scheme was authorised at the company AGM last week. “The sole purpose of the programme is to reduce share capital,” confirmed the company in a London Stock Exchange filing. Back in March, the company confirmed that it would return £2 billion to...
World Broadband Lines Top 1.45bn as UK Full Fibre Grows 7.2% in Q1 2024
The latest research from Point Topic has revealed that global fixed broadband lines grew by 1.22% (17.55 million) in Q1 2024 (down from 1.6% in Q3 2023) to end the quarter on a total of 1.45 billion connections. But the subscriber growth rate of “full fibre” (FTTP/B) networks in the UK jumped to 7.2% (up from 1.5% in Q3). The largest regional broadband market of East Asia has continued to maintain the lion’s share of net additions of fixed broadband subscribers at 50.20% in Q1 2024, which is...
NOW TV Broadband Launch Sky UK Powered 300Mbps Full Fibre Plan
People looking to join Sky’s sibling NOW Broadband ISP sub-brand, which is better known for its NOW TV streaming service, may like to know that they will today launch an additional 300Mbps full fibre (FTTP) package via Openreach’s national network. Previously their fastest package topped out at 100Mbps. The move is another continuation of the strategy that we first saw in February 2024 (here), when NOW TV introduced their first Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) package (100Mbps “Powered by Sky“)...
Google Search is an illegal monopoly, US court rules
News The court ruling reflects the US government’s increasing scrutiny of Big Tech companies’ market power US federal judge Amit P. Mehta has ruled that Google, owned by Alphabet, has maintained an illegal monopoly over online searches and search-related advertising. Back in 2020, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) sued Google, accusing it of maintaining illegal monopolies through anticompetitive contracts, exclusionary practices, and the preferential treatment of its own services. It...
Lumen lights up as AI boom delivers $5bn uplift
News The network operator says it has secured $5 billion-worth of deals from cloud and tech companies seeking connectivity for their AI data centres As the demand for generative AI services soars, global tech giants are racing to deploy the crucial data centres that underpin the new technology. The scale of their investment has been monumental; according to a report from GlobalData, investment by the data centre investment by the big five – Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, Alphabet (Google), and Apple...
Deutsche Telekom and Volkswagen leveraging 5G to manage automotive terminal
News The 5G network support Volkswagen Group’s automotive terminal at the port of Emden, covering a logistics area the size of over 100 football fields Deutsche Telekom, Volkswagen Group Logistics, the Bremen Institute for Production and Logistics (BIBA), and software expert Unikie have collaborated on a project to increase efficiency at Volkswagen’s automotive terminal in Emden. The port of Emden is the largest automotive terminal in Germany, where more than 1 million vehicles are...
Landowners Score Key Win in Battle Over UK Mobile Cell Sites and Rents
A new ruling by the Scottish Lands Tribunal, which could have significant industry-wide ramifications, has re-opened the contentious issue of land ownership and rent reductions on UK mobile masts (inc. rooftop sites), such as those that may occur when mobile or wireless broadband operators attempt to renew an existing lease at a much lower rent. Digital infrastructure builders and landowners rarely seem to see eye to eye. In the now distant past, it was often landowners that would extract...
ISPA Unveil First Finalists for 2024 UK ISP Internet Industry Awards
The UK Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA) has just published the first of two shortlists of finalists for their 2024 annual industry awards event, which sees 37 organisations (broadband ISPs, network builders etc.) being nominated across 11 categories, with a shortlist for a further 7 categories due to be announced later in the year. Just to recap. The winners of last year’s event were unveiled back in November 2023 (here), which among other things saw several broadband ISPs taking...
Lightning Fibre Seek Code Powers to Continue UK FTTP Broadband Build
Eastbourne-based alternative UK broadband ISP Lightning Fibre, which fell into administration earlier this year and ended up being acquired by existing backer Foresight Group via a new company called LF Holdco2 Ltd (here), are now seeking Code Powers from Ofcom for the new holding company in order to continue their full fibre build. Applications for Code Powers are typically sought to help speed-up deployments of new fibre and cut costs, not least by reducing the number of licences needed for...