AT&T and AST SpaceMobile ink direct-to-device satellite deal
News The partners claim the deal paves the way for the elimination of not-spots across the US This week, AT&T and AST SpaceMobile have signed a definitive commercial deal to work together in bringing direct-to-mobile satellite communication to AT&T customers. The agreement, which builds on a previous Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2018, extends until 2030 As part of the MoU, AT&T will invest $500,000 into the satellite firm, with AT&T’s Head of Network, Chris Sambar,...
Virgin Media O2 reaches major milestone with 150 Shared Rural Network sites deployed
Press Release Virgin Media O2 has hit another significant milestone in its work to deliver the Shared Rural Network (SRN) after rolling out reliable 4G coverage to 150 rural communities The remote Isle of Eigg became the 150th site delivered by Virgin Media O2, a landmark welcomed by Julia Lopez, Minister of state for Data and Digital Infrastructure The operator’s rapid SRN rollout continues, with dozens more sites set to go live in the coming weeks Virgin Media O2 has reached a major...
Global communications networks weather strong solar storm
News Solar storms last week had the telecommunications industry on edge, but discernable impacts have been minimal. By: Brad Randall, Broadband Communities A solar storm over the weekend that provided spectacular viewing of auroral displays as far south as Florida has had only minor impacts on the telecommunications industry. The event, which caused National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s Space Weather Prediction Center to issue geomagnetic storm watches and warnings, was the...
The Dutch Subsea Cable Coalition: A central point of contact for cable landings in the Netherlands
Contributed Article The Netherlands is known as an important digital hub. There is a very high density of datacenters, a strong digital economy, and an excellent digital infrastructure, both by sea and by land to the European hinterland. To emphasise and strengthen this position as a digital hub, the Dutch Subsea Cable Coalition* was founded in early 2023 Unique support for landing sea cables in the Netherlands The coalition is a unique public-private partnership with partners from the...
BT to Close Enniskillen Contact Centre with Loss of 300 Jobs
Telecoms and broadband giant BT has announced that, as part of their ongoing UK programme to modernise and consolidate the number of offices they have, they’ve decided to close their Enniskillen Contact Centre in Northern Ireland. The move is expected to result in the loss of around 300 jobs from the site. The Broadmeadow Place site is now expected to be formally closed by the end of October 2024. Some staff members may be able to move to a different site, although for many others this is...
Community Fibre Offers Free 50Mbps Broadband to Eligible Londoners
Network builder and UK ISP CommunityFibre, which runs a 10Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network across London, as well as parts of Surrey and West Sussex, has today joined forces with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to provide “free access to 100% full fibre broadband” to eligible Londoners struggling to get online. The new initiative, which is supported by Jobcentre Plus, will see those eligible for the service receive 12-months of free full fibre broadband at speeds of...
BT Group Grows FTTP to 13.81m UK Premises as Openreach Picked for Project Gigabit
The latest BT Group H2 FY24 results to March 2024 have revealed that Openreach’s full fibre (FTTP) broadband ISP network added 1 million premises to their coverage in the quarter (up from 950k last quarter) and now covers 13.812m premises, while EE’s 5G mobile covers 75% of the population (up from 72% in H1) and Openreach has been named “preferred bidder” for Type C Project Gigabit contracts. The group’s retail divisions – including BT, EE and Plusnet – don’t publish full customer figures for...
Axiata and Sinar Mas discuss $3.45bn Indonesian merger
News The combination would reduce the number of mobile players in the market from four to three, creating an entity with roughly 100 million subscribers Indonesian telco Axiata and conglomerate Sinar Mas have entered discussions to discuss a potential merger of their Indonesian telecommunications operations. According to a stock exchange filing, the two companies have signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding to “mutually explore the proposed merger of XL Axiata and Smartfren.” ...
KKR preparing to soothe EU regulatory concerns over TIM’s NetCo
News A report suggests that the US-investment firm is preparing to file a number of concessions aimed at accelerating the approval process According to anonymous sources speaking to Bloomberg, KKR is preparing to present a raft of remedies to the European Commission in order to gain approval for its €22 billion acquisition of Telecom Italia (TIM)’s fixed network assets (NetCo). Exactly what these remedies are is unclear, but it is likely to include promises not to hike wholesale prices,...
LATAM Telecommunications and Puerto Rico Telephone Company will each pay a $1 million civil penalty and enter into a compliance plan.
Press Release News provided by: FCC Office of Media Relations This piece was originally published by our sister company Broadband Communities The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau today resolved two investigations into the América Móvil Submarine Cable System, which connects the United States to two additional cable landing stations located in Colombia and Costa Rica, respectively, without the Committee for the Assessment of Foreign Participation in the United States Telecommunications Services...