Original article Total Telecom:Read More

News

The Japanese conglomerate has invested $15 million in US-based startup Sceye, which plans to build airships carrying radio communication equipment

Today, SoftBak has announced ambitious plans to begin offering pre-commercial High Altitude Platform Station (HAPS) services in Japan in 2026 through a new partnership with US startup Sceye.

HAPS is an emerging form of non-terrestrial communication, using unmanned vehicles flying in the stratosphere to deliver connectivity to those on the ground below.

Sceye’s solutions takes the form of a large silver airship filled with helium. This unmanned platform can remain in position for long periods of time, delivering connectivity as well as climate data.The company has reportedly completed over 20 successful test flights in collaboration with various private businesses, as well as with the US government.

The deal will see SoftBank take a $15 million stake in Sceye, resulting in the startup being valued at roughly $580 million.

SoftBank has long been a major proponent of HAPS for years, beginning its own HAPS project in 2017. The most notable result of this research has been the creation of Sunglider, the world’s largest solar-powered, uncrewed aircraft system, developed in partnership with AeroVironment. Sunglider performed its first test flight last year.

SoftBank has also previously explored alternative inflatable HAPS devices, with their subsidiary HAPS Mobile having been one of the major backers of Alphabet’s doomed Project Loon. The project was ultimately closed down in 2021, with the path to commercialisation having proved more difficult and expensive than anticipated.

Today, SoftBank says it hopes to use a combination of both lighter-than-air (LTA) HAPS, like Sceye’s balloon, and heavier-than-air (HTA) solutions, like Sunglider, to provide reliable connectivity for drones and UAVs, as well as for disaster relief.

“As a global pioneer, SoftBank has been developing HAPS-based services since 2017. In addition to our research and development for HTA-type HAPS, I’m extremely pleased we’ll be launching LTA-type HAPS pre-commercial services in 2026 through our new partnership with Sceye,” said Junichi Miyakawa, President & CEO, SoftBank. “The stratospheric-based, wide area telecommunications of HAPS will play a key role in expanding network area coverage to areas that are difficult to reach with existing mobile network infrastructure, and it will also provide a means of restoring communications when large-scale disasters strike.”

HAPS have many attractive features for telecoms operators. Like satellites, they offer broad coverage of areas typically hard to reach with terrestrial connectivity. However, unlike satellites, HAPS operate far closer to the end customer, making it easier to offer higher quality connectivity with lower latency. They can also typically be deployed at relatively short notice, making them an excellent way solution for boosting connectivity when terrestrial networks are damaged or overwhelmed, such as during natural disasters.

But despite these many prospective benefits, commercial use cases for HAPS have been few and far between. These projects face a myriad of regulatory and technical challenges, from energy storage to performance during poor weather.

Nonetheless, numerous major operators continue to explore this space, including NTT Docomo, BT, Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone, Telefonica and Orange.

Also in the news:
SWR deploys Europe’s first ’Rail-5G’ Wi-Fi  
BT accelerates fibre rollout amid cost cuts
AT&T agrees $5.75 billion deal for Lumen’s consumer fibre asset

Original article Total Telecom:Read More

HANOVER, Md. / MADRID, Spain – June 25, 2025 – Telxius, a leading global connectivity provider, and Ciena (NYSE: CIEN) recently completed a key milestone and industry first—a 1.3 Tb/s single wavelength transmission carried out across Telxius’ 6,600km Marea submarine cable between Virginia Beach, Virginia, and Bilbao, Spain.

Powered by Ciena’s WaveLogic 6 Extreme (WL6e) technology, the companies also achieved the highest-ever spectral-efficiency transmission across the Atlantic, reaching a record-setting 7.0bits/s/Hz.

“We are committed to continually upgrading our network with new and enhanced systems to better support our customers,” said Carlos Dasi, CTIO, Telxius. “With advancements like Ciena’s WaveLogic 6 Extreme, deploying more capacity in the most efficient way possible is now a reality. This latest milestone demonstrates our ability to deliver that capacity across even the vastest of distances in today’s bandwidth-hungry digital economy.”

“This achievement with Telxius is the latest in a series of Ciena industry-firsts in coherent optics,” said Thomas Soerensen, Vice President, Global Submarine Solutions, Ciena. “WL6e will help Telxius provide high-capacity, diverse, and low-latency routes across the Atlantic, and will enable it to stay ahead of the evolving needs of its customers as demand for AI, content, video, and cloud applications continues to grow.”

Ciena’s WL6e is the industry’s first high-bandwidth coherent transceiver using state-of-the-art 3nm silicon to drive significant economic benefits for operators, including a 50% reduction in space and power per bit. Telxius plans to deploy WL6e in selected submarine systems across its vast network throughout this year and beyond.

Original article Total Telecom:Read More

Fort Lauderdale, FL, June 3rd, 2025— Beesion, the pioneer in BSS Low-Code software, announces the renewal of its agreement with On Net Fibra for the Beefiber BSS/OSS 360° platform. This extension highlights the trust On Net Fibra places in Beesion’s solutions and reflects a shared commitment to innovation and operational excellence.

Beefiber BSS/OSS 360° has supported On Net Fibra in enhancing its operational efficiency by addressing its unique needs and simplifying the management of complex processes. The platform’s customization capabilities have allowed for alignment with On Net Fibra’s specific requirements, ensuring smooth integration and consistent performance. This renewal also represents a continued collaboration to explore opportunities for further strengthening On Net Fibra’s technological architecture.

In a landscape where efficiency and reliability are paramount, On Net Fibra has leveraged Beefiber BSS/OSS 360° to enhance operations and deliver superior service. This contract renewal is a testament to the robust collaboration and mutual trust between our organizations, as we continue to support the industry with pioneering solutions.
 

About On Net Fibra

On Net Fibra is the largest provider of neutral fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) connectivity services in Colombia. Operating an open-access network, the company enables telecommunications operators to deliver high-performance internet services through its robust fiber optic infrastructure. Currently, On Net Fibra reaches over 4.6 million homes across 92 Colombian cities, benefiting approximately 13.5 million people. Its mission is to promote access to quality internet, driving opportunities, development, and progress nationwide.

Original article Total Telecom:Read More

Press Release

Commuters will soon be able to work seamlessly and stay connected with loved ones as the Transport Secretary lands a landmark deal to eliminate mobile blackspots on Britain’s busiest rail routes.

The breakthrough agreement will transform daily journeys for millions of passengers who currently face the frustration of dropped calls and interrupted streaming on key routes between London, Manchester, Newcastle and Cardiff.

The deal, named Project Reach and signed today (26 June 2025) between Network Rail, and telecoms companies, Neos Networks and Freshwave marks the end of passengers having to pause important work calls or cut short conversations with family members when trains enter notorious signal blackspots.

The project’s innovative commercial model brings together public and private sector investment and infrastructure and is expected to save taxpayers around £300 million while creating a high-performing digital connectivity backbone for businesses, supporting the UK’s digital ambitions.

Project Reach will initially see Neos Networks deploy 1,000 kilometres of ultra-fast fibre optic cable along the East Coast Main Line, parts of the West Coast Main Line and the Great Western Main Line, with ambition to expand beyond 5,000 kilometres in the near future.

In addition to this, Freshwave will tackle signal blackspots in 57 tunnels, covering almost 50 kilometres, including the 4-kilometre-long Chipping Sodbury tunnel near Bristol.

As part of the deal, mobile network operators will also invest in new 4G/5G infrastructure at 12 of the biggest Network Rail stations across the country including Birmingham New St, Bristol Temple Meads, Edinburgh Waverley, Euston, Glasgow Central, King’s Cross, Leeds, Liverpool Lime Street, Liverpool Street, Manchester Piccadilly, Paddington and Waterloo.

Heidi Alexander, Secretary of State for Transport, said:

“This is a game changer for passengers up and down the country and will revolutionise journeys from Paddington to Penzance and Edinburgh to Euston.

By boosting connectivity and tackling signal blackspots, we are also ensuring a more reliable and efficient service.

This means better journeys for passengers while supporting our broader Plan for Change goals of economic growth and digital innovation.”

This is a multi-year project with the first installation of mobile infrastructure expected to begin in 2026 and fully rolled out by 2028.

The enhanced network will also enable better monitoring of railway assets and facilitate new technologies that rely on improved connectivity, paving the way for more reliable train services and improved safety for railway workers.

Jeremy Westlake, Network Rail’s Chief Financial Officer, said:

“I’m delighted that we have now signed this innovative deal with our partners Neos Networks and Freshwave.

This investment model will deliver the necessary upgrades to our telecoms infrastructure faster whilst offering significant value-for-money for the taxpayer and stimulating wider economic benefits across the country.

As we move towards becoming a unified railway with the formation of Great British Railways, the enhanced telecoms infrastructure will play a key role in our ambition to provide a data-driven railway of the future, delivering better connectivity and a better, more reliable train service for our passengers.”

Lee Myall, CEO of Neos Networks, said:

“Project Reach will support the upgrade of the UK’s connectivity infrastructure, creating new data superhighways that will drive the UK’s digital ambitions forward.”

Jacqueline Starr, Executive Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Rail Delivery Group, said:

“We know how much customers value good mobile connections when they travel and we’re delighted that a digitally connected railway will soon become a reality. Travelling by rail drives economic growth by connecting businesses and communities, improving productivity, and supporting the transition to net zero.

This vital upgrade to telecoms across the network will give everyone the opportunity to stay connected, wherever they’re headed.”

This partnership marks a major stride towards improved performance and better services for passengers as part of Great British Railways, as the Transport Secretary continues to deliver the government’s Plan for Change with a more connected, efficient, and passenger-focused railway fit for the future.

It also builds on £41 million confirmed in the government’s National Infrastructure Strategy to introduce low-earth-orbit satellite connectivity on all mainline trains, significantly improving both the availability and internet data connection speeds for wifi connected passengers.

How is the UK’s telecoms market changing in 2025? Join the industry in discussion at Connected Britain, the UK’s largest digital economy event

Also in the news:
SWR deploys Europe’s first ’Rail-5G’ Wi-Fi  
BT accelerates fibre rollout amid cost cuts
AT&T agrees $5.75 billion deal for Lumen’s consumer fibre asset

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Mobile operator Vodafone is working with the Photonics and Radiofrequency Research Lab at the University of Málaga (Spain) to develop a new computer chip design, which can help to direct a wireless mobile signal straight to a user’s smartphone using microwave photonics (i.e. optical beamforming to process, steer, and precisely focus mobile traffic).

At present, most mobile networks work by sending their signals to devices (Smartphones etc.) over wireless radio waves via a radio unit, such as a base station or small cell. The radio unit contains an electronic computer chip to help govern all this. But the researchers are now developing prototype silicon chip designs, based on microwave photonics technology, which uses light instead of electricity to control and direct a mobile signal.

Two prototypes are currently being developed by the team. The initial prototype involves a passive chip as part of the preliminary Proof-of-Concept (PoC) work. Subsequently, an enhanced active chip will be developed to replace the current beamforming component within a radio unit.

Vodafone claims that a future fully functional active and commercial ready optical beamforming chip could be capable of operating with up to 32 small radio antennas integrated into a single mast, with each antenna being individually controlled. “This configuration enables flexible and precise steering of the light beam to multiple users, improving performance and lowering energy consumption“, while still being very compact.

Vodafone Statement

This new process, known as advanced optical beamforming, takes advantage of light properties to process, steer, and precisely focus mobile traffic, such as video streaming sessions, to the user with pinpoint accuracy.

While some mobile masts are already equipped with beamforming technology to direct a signal towards a specific area instead of broadcasting it more broadly, the incorporation of photonics provides a significant advantage. It will provide a greater degree of accuracy, reducing signal loss and limiting interference from other frequencies.

Other benefits include improved energy efficiency and greater capacity to support many users without scrimping on the quality of service. A stronger, stable signal also means a device uses less power to stay connected, preserving battery life.

This collaboration is part of an associated project awarded to Vodafone under the European Commission’s Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEI) Programme, supported by the Spanish Ministry of Industry and Tourism. Microwave photonic technology is emerging at an ideal time to benefit next-generation 5G-Advanced and future software-driven 6G networks. It is also better equipped for handling higher radio frequencies compared with current electronic systems.

Assuming all goes well, then Vodafone plans to publish a blueprint for photonic radio unit chips for mobile base stations within the next 2 years. The main objective of all this is to offer customers “continuous streaming services without buffering, even in crowded areas” (e.g. shopping centres). But it could also help in various other low latency, high bandwidth industrial applications, such as direct-to-device satellite communication systems and advanced radars etc.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Network operator CityFibre, which has so far built their 5.5Gbps speed Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP network to cover 4.4 million UK premises (4.3m RFS), has today confirmed the completion of their “primary” £17 million build across Havant in Hampshire (England), which included Westbourne and other surrounding areas.

CityFibre originally started this deployment during May 2022 (here). The operator’s new network has since laid over 244km of dense full fibre and is now ready for service to over 22,000 homes, covering around 98% of local homes and most businesses in the area.

While the primary-build is now complete, CityFibre said they would continue to explore opportunities to connect more homes and businesses, including flats, new-build homes, business parks and homes on private roads.

Adrian Smith, Partnership Manager at CityFibre, said:

“The completion of our primary-build in Havant marks a significant step forward for the town, bringing access to some of
the fastest and most reliable broadband in the UK. This world-class digital infrastructure will transform the way people learn and connect with each other, and we’re excited to witness the positive impact on this community for years to come.”

Breaking news.. more to follow..

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Some customers of mobile operator Three UK (VodafoneThree) are this morning reporting yet another partial network outage, which appears to be preventing users from either making or receiving calls. The issue also appears to be disrupting access to Voicemail and extends to virtual operators too (e.g. iD Mobile, Smarty etc.).

The problem, which also appears to impact text messaging and follows after a similar incident at the start of this year (here), started at around 8am this morning and remains ongoing. Customers on Three UK that attempt to make a call will hear only silence and the call itself will not connect, but data (mobile broadband) connectivity does still function.

A spokesperson for Three UK said on social media: “We’re aware of an issue affecting voice services and are working hard to fix it. Data services are working normally. Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience caused.”

UPDATE 10:06am

According to our industry sources, 3UK has informed their partners that 27% of their user base are being impacted by the fault and there is currently no estimated time for a resolution. But Down Detector is now starting to show a mild drop-off in complaints.

UPDATE 11:37am

Three have said that they’ve continuing to investigate the cause and have informed partners that “there is currently congestion on network components“. The operator has also introduced some changes to reroute traffic and thus reduce congestion on the working components, but problems remain for many customers (e.g. Voicemail does now seem to work, but you have to wait a few seconds longer for it to redirect you).

The operator does say that data and SMS should both now be working (a few customers did have issues with these too) and the impact on emergency service calls continues to be assessed. But sadly they’ve not issued any new updates to consumers since earlier this morning.

UPDATE 12:23pm

A spokesperson for Three UK just posted another update, which doesn’t add much to the original one: “We’re aware of an issue affecting voice services and are working hard to fix it. Data services are working normally, so calls can be placed via third-party messaging apps. We’re really sorry for any inconvenience caused.”

UPDATE 12:54pm

According to our sources, Three UK say they’ve observed a 84.48% degradation to call set up success over the past 1 hour – impacting 3G, 4G Voice and VoWiFi (Voice over WiFi / WiFi Calling). Since the start of these problems, this is said to have caused an overall degradation of 75.80%.

However, Three UK now adds that their engineers believe they may have identified a component causing the issue and are presently working on a plan to isolate it and then shut it down.

UPDATE 4:04pm

We’ve had another update from Three UK.

A Spokesperson for Three UK said:

“We’re continuing to work on an issue affecting voice services which started earlier today. A small number of text messages are also being affected by the issue. Data services are working normally, so calls can be placed via third-party messaging apps.

We know how frustrating this is, and we’re so sorry for any inconvenience caused.”

According to ISPreview’s sources, Three UK have seen a small reduction in call failures since the previous changes. The operator is now planning to restart additional components over the next hour, which should improve the current level of network congestion and restore more voice and SMS services.

UPDATE 5pm

We’re hearing that about 20% of Three UK’s customers on 4G may not have working SMS (text messaging), but there is at least said to be no impact to Emergency SMS. ISPreview’s sources also indicate that customers should avoid restarting their Smartphones, since if they do, then they may struggle to reconnect to the network and be left with no service.

So far this is turning into one of the worst days of mobile calling disruption that Three UK and their customers have ever experienced.

UPDATE 9:58pm

Many customers have had their service restored, but there are still quite a few experiencing ongoing issues. Further work is due to take place overnight and into tomorrow morning in order to fully restore the remaining services.

A spokesperson for Three UK said: “Following an issue earlier today, Voice and SMS services are now returning to near-normal levels. Data services continue to work normally and we’re monitoring the network closely. We understand how disruptive this has been and sincerely apologise for today’s inconvenience.”

UPDATE 26th June 2025 @ 7:06am

No further updates have been issued since late last night, but it’s clear a small percentage of Three UK’s customers are still experiencing calling problems this morning. We expect this to rise as more people wake up.

UPDATE 26th June 2025 @ 8:24am

Apparently, Three UK are saying that call failure numbers have reduced to less than 1% this morning – caused by one specific network node, which is now in the process of being restarted. Everything should thus shortly return to normal, we hope.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Network operator CityFibre, which has already covered 4.3 million UK premises with their new 10Gbps capable full fibre broadband network, has today revealed that – for the 5th consecutive year – they’ve won the Gold Medal Award at this year’s annual Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) Awards 2025 event.

The RoSPA typically expects winners of this award to have achieved a very high level of performance, demonstrating well-developed occupational health and safety management systems and culture, outstanding control of risk and very low levels of error, harm and loss.

Gordon Gray, Senior SHE Business Partner at CityFibre, said: “At CityFibre, we’re proud to have achieved our fifth consecutive Gold Award — a true reflection of the dedication not only from our health and safety teams, but from everyone across our entire supply chain. Our work often places us at the heart of communities and in close contact with the public, presenting unique challenges in maintaining safety. It’s a responsibility we embrace fully, with the wellbeing of our people, partners, and the public remaining at the core of how we deliver our world-class fibre network.”

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Network access provider Openreach (BT) has published a new Suppliers Information Note (SIN) for their Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP lines, which provides an updated summary of all their old, existing and future Optical Network Terminal (ONT) modems that they’ve deployed or intent to deploy. Two new suppliers – Zyxel and Sercomm – are also mentioned.

The ONT or optical modem device is usually installed inside your home or office (wall hung), near to where the fibre optic cable physically enters your property, and its primary job is simply to take the optical signal and convert it into an electrical one that can be connected to your broadband router via a Local Area Network (Ethernet) port.

The standard ONT is usually a very small single port device, but Openreach also offer Multi-Port variants. Most of these have, thus far, been designed to cope with Openreach’s existing Gigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON) based network. But the new SIN 506B document lists newer models, which will also work alongside their latest 10Gbps capable XGS-PON technology (the ‘X’ stands for 10, the ‘G’ for Gigabits’ and the ‘S’ for Symmetric speed).

As we’ve previously reported (here), Openreach’s future XGS-PON trial appears to be gearing up to support symmetric speeds of up to 3.3Gbps (3,300Mbps), so it’s not surprising that they might need to support that with new ONTs from Nokia, Adtran, Sercomm (new supplier) and Zyxel (new supplier). But we should point out that most of the listed kit supports speeds of up to 1Gbps or 2.5Gbps (faster ONTs will come later). Check out the document for more details.

UPDATE 1:54pm

Thanks to one of our readers, nsmhd, for pointing out that the Nokia XS-010-X-Q and Adtran SDX-631 do support up to 10Gbps speeds. We didn’t spot that first time around because Openreach’s current document doesn’t include the full specifications for those two models.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Network benchmarking firm Opensignal has today published an updated study that compares Vodafone and Three UK’s mobile broadband performance in terms of 4G Download Speed and “Excellent Consistent Quality“, which is intended to help provide an indication for how the recently completed merger might impact things.

In case anybody has forgotten, the combined VodafoneThree network plans to invest £11bn to upgrade the UK’s 5G mobile infrastructure and coverage over the next 10-years (here, here and here). This aims, among other things, to reach 99.95% of the UK’s population with their 5G Standalone (5G SA) network by 2034.

The combined network will also be built at speed, with the 5G SA build plan being front-loaded so that, by the end of the third year, it will hit 90% population coverage from a current baseline of 47%. Around 71% of the UK population (circa 50 million) will have access to their fastest 5G speeds by the end of year one.

In addition, within another week or so, through the sharing of combined spectrum, some 7 million Three UK and SMARTY customers are also expected to receive an improvement in 4G data speeds (mobile broadband) of up to 20% (average). In the new analysis, Opensignal leverages crowdsourced data collected from users of the two networks to look at existing performance and speculate on how this might change in the future.

For example, the data reveals that, nationally, Three UK’s users already see faster 4G download speeds than those on Vodafone – scoring 30.1Mbps vs Vodafone’s 28.6Mbps. But Three UK’s users lag Vodafone and the national average on the consistency of their experience (Three scores just 68.6% for ‘Excellent Consistent Quality’, compared to 75.4% for Vodafone and 72.5% for the national average).

However, the introduction of roaming between the two networks, as well as the deployment of their combined spectrum holdings (pending divestments to O2) and VodafoneThree’s promised rapid roll-out of 5G SA access coverage could cause a massive shift in the future.

“Together, these changes could reshape the U.K.’s mobile market, shifting the balance of Opensignal’s experience awards. For example, EE has long dominated our national award tables due to its broad spectrum holdings. Similarly, Three-UK’s strong 5G speed performance stems from its large 3.4–3.8GHz holdings acquired in the UK Broadband Ltd deal,” said Opensignal.