Following a strategic partnership with Megaport, nLighten’s customers will be able to easily migrate their workloads to and from a wide choice of public and private cloud services, enabling efficient and cost-effective hybrid IT environments. This will add to the the colocation, connectivity and onsite services already provided.   

As a vendor-neutral digital infrastructure platform, nLighten is committed to providing customers with diverse cloud on-ramp options and is actively pursuing new partnerships to broaden its market reach and provide maximum customer choice.

“We are delighted to have Megaport as a partner,” says Joacim van Collenburg, VP Enabling Services of nLighten. “This initiative underscores nLighten’s commitment to supporting our customers’ IT needs every step of the way, in this case by leveraging Megaport’s scalable and cost-effective infrastructure to simplify cloud connectivity at two of our key edge data centre locations. We are continuously looking to enhance our digital services portfolio across the expanding nLighten footprint of 34 edge data centres, to make the use of transformative cloud technologies and Tech applications like Artificial Intelligence even more accessible to our customers.”

“Our partnership with nLighten reflects a shared commitment to redefining how businesses connect and thrive,” said Michael Reid, CEO of Megaport. “We’re thrilled to expand our footprint together and can’t wait to see how this partnership will empower each of our customers to innovate faster.”

Megaport’s integration at nLighten’s data centres in Antibes and Milton Keynes is nearing completion, and both sites are now available for pre-order.

News 

Ericsson has announced a partnership with IBM UK to deliver a new communications network for emergency services in the UK  

The Emergency Services Network (ESN) aims to enhance the technology and data accessibility available to over 300,000 frontline responders, including police, fire, and ambulance services. 

The ESN will replace the current Airwave system, providing faster and more secure communication for voice, video, and data. Emergency responders will be able to share real-time data, location reports, and imagery during critical operations, supporting coordinated efforts in rescue and response scenarios. 

Ericsson will provide core network infrastructure and mission-critical expertise, while IBM, as the User Services supplier, will oversee the design, build, and integration of the ESN platform. This includes deploying a dual 4G/5G standalone mobile core network and ensuring the system complies with 3GPP standards for mission-critical services. 

The project, led by the Home Office, is part of the UK government’s wider initiative to improve public safety and streamline emergency response capabilities.  

The initial contract runs until December 2031, with an option to extend to 2033. Similar systems have already been implemented in countries like the US, Canada, and South Korea, which have provided a blueprint for the UK’s rollout. 

“Working with our ecosystem partners, we will deliver mission-critical services for first responders to enhance safety in our communities across Great Britain,” said Rahul Kalia, Managing Partner at IBM UK and Ireland. 

“We look forward to working with the Government to deliver this in a timely and cost-effective manner,” he continued. 

“Leveraging our global expertise in telecommunications and mission-critical networks, we are proud to contribute to the creation of a next-generation Emergency Services Network that will redefine global standards for emergency response systems. This cutting-edge technology will enhance the efficiency and safety of our emergency responders, enabling them to work more effectively and ultimately, save lives,” said Katherine Ainley CEO of Ericsson UK & Ireland in a press release. 

The announcement follows BT’s recent £1.29 billion contract with the Home Office to provide mobile services for the ESN. BT has been a coordinator of the UK’s emergency connectivity since 1937 and has played a central role in the ESN’s development through its EE mobile network. Since 2015, BT has upgraded over 19,500 4G sites, expanded rural coverage, and developed a dedicated core network to ensure emergency services have priority access during crises. 

The ESN project has faced significant delays; having been originally scheduled for completion in 2019, the target is now to have the ESN fully operational by 2029. This prolonged timeline has led to billions of pounds in additional costs, including maintaining the Airwave system while the new network is developed. 

Join the conversation around the UK’s connectivity scene at this year’s Connected Britain, 24-25 September in London. Get discounted tickets here! 

Also in the news:
Cellnex mulls Swiss tower sale 
Sparkle signs deal to recycle 22,000km of submarine cable
Adani Group’s ‘foray into industrial 5G’ is a complete failure

16 JANUARY 2025 – High-speed broadband provider LightSpeed has joined forces with Neos Networks, one of the UK’s foremost business connectivity providers, to expand its fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) and wholesale services. This collaboration highlights LightSpeed’s commitment to delivering Gigabit broadband to underserved communities while bolstering its network infrastructure.

LightSpeed sets high standards for Ethernet performance with its existing 10Gbps XGS-PON technology, ensuring high bandwidth and capacity services are available across its network. Greater availability of these services is now being developed utilising Neos Networks’ extensive UK-wide network, providing its wholesale customers greater access and choice when purchasing connectivity.

The LightSpeed Group operates through two entities: LightSpeed Networks, which builds and manages the infrastructure for its retail and growing wholesale services, and LightSpeed Broadband, which provides Gigabit-speed connectivity directly to homes and businesses across the Midlands and East of England.

Neos Networks is providing LightSpeed with high-performance connectivity solutions, including dark fibre, 100Gbps and 10Gbps optical links, and backhaul services. This partnership enables LightSpeed Networks to expand into new regions like North Staffordshire and connect to critical data centres in London, Manchester, and Birmingham. As a result, LightSpeed can offer bespoke wholesale services and managed solutions to other service providers, delivering alternatives to incumbent providers.

Additionally, Neos Networks supports LightSpeed Broadband’s ability to deliver FTTH services to a broader customer base. By quickly and efficiently extending connectivity into new areas, LightSpeed Broadband can bolster pre-sales, street cabinet deployments, and customer sign-ups, accelerating its rollout of high-speed broadband.

This partnership represents an important step in both LightSpeed and Neos Networks’ missions to bridge the digital divide, offering gigabit broadband to communities in need and cementing their positions as key players in the UK’s connectivity markets.

“Partnering with Neos Networks allows us to bring faster, more reliable connectivity to homes and businesses in the East Midlands and beyond,” said Chris Tagg, Chief Technology and Information Officer at The LightSpeed Group. “This collaboration equips us with the flexibility and scalability to expand rapidly into new markets while staying true to our commitment to exceptional service delivery – especially in areas where traditional options like Openreach are unavailable.”

“Our collaboration with LightSpeed is a prime example of how advanced network infrastructure can support providers in reaching underserved areas,” said Lee Myall, CEO at Neos Networks. “By delivering tailored connectivity solutions, we’re enabling LightSpeed to expand their footprint and bring high-quality broadband to more communities and businesses.”

ENDS

About Neos Networks 

Neos Networks has the UK’s largest business-dedicated network. With over 600 points of presence and 90 data centres nationwide, Neos provides high capacity critical connectivity for businesses, from telecoms and energy to banking and emergency services.

Agile and customer-focused with almost limitless scale, Neos enables emerging technologies like AI, 5G and IoT, making connectivity work for Britain. 

For more information please visit: https://neosnetworks.com

About LightSpeed

LightSpeed is an independent, full fibre broadband network that offers industry-leading speeds of up to 2,000 Mbps. As the East and West Midlands’ leading and most trusted broadband provider, it’s bringing the power of Gigabit to parts of the UK that other providers have overlooked, with plans to connect 150,000 new premises in these regions and a target of 400,000 total homes & businesses by 2027.   

Backed by investment partner Kompass Kapital, the brand is focused on building a portfolio of value-added services powered by its ultra-fast broadband, designed to enhance customers’ in-home experiences, from security to smart home technologies.   

For more information please visit: www.lightspeed.co.uk

News 

Cellnex acquired a 72% stake in the company in 2017 for €430 million 

Spanish TowerCo Cellnex is considering the sale of its Swiss subsidiary, according to a report from Spanish newspaper Expansion, which cited unnamed sources. 

The report says US investment bank JP Morgan has been selected as an advisor for the potential sale of its stake. According to the unnamed sources, the company’s Swiss tower business could be worth up to €1.5 billion, with Cellnex’s 72% stake worth approximately €1.1 billion.  

The remaining 28% of the business is owned by Swiss Life Asset Managers.  

The unit owns and operates around 6,000 mobile tower sites across Switzerland, making it the largest independent tower operator in the country. 

Cellnex has undergone a major shift in focus since 2022, after a period of intense mergers and acquisitions left the company with a debt pile of €17.2 billion. Since then, it has sold off various business units in order to ‘focus on core markets and divest from non-core business lines’. 

In March last year, Cellnex sold its Irish unit to Phoenix Tower International for €1 billion, a market Cellnex has been operating in since 2019. The deal is expected to close later this quarter. 

Cellnex CEO Marco Patuano summarised the transaction as “one further step within the company’s ‘Next Chapter’, in line with our strategy, to achieve the goal of consolidating, simplifying our corporate structure and focusing our efforts in the existing growth opportunities in the main markets in which we operate,”. 

This week, the company has also announced the launch of a share buyback programme of up to €800 million.  

“The program aims to benefit from current share price levels and reduce the Company’s share capital by cancelling these shares, subject to approval by the General Shareholders’ Meeting,” the company confirmed this morning. 

Keep up to date with the latest international telecoms news by subscribing to the Total Telecom newsletter 

Also in the news:
Adani Group’s ‘foray into industrial 5G’ is a complete failure
Sparkle signs deal to recycle 22,000km of submarine cable
Nokia bags deal to connect new offshore wind farms

Security and VPN researchers Simon Migliano and Mathy Vanhoef have published a new report today that warns “over 4 million internet hosts“, including VPN servers and private home broadband routers, were found to be vulnerable to being hijacked to perform anonymous attacks and provide access to their private networks – thanks to “new vulnerabilities in multiple tunneling protocols“.

The vulnerabilities (CVE-2024-7595, CVE-2025-23018/23019 and CVE-2024-7596), which relates to how internet hosts may accept tunnelling packets without verifying the sender’s identity, are said to impact various tunnelling protocols (an essential backbone to the internet), such as IPIP/IP6IP6, GRE/GRE6, 4in6 and 6in4.

Scans suggest that as many as 4.26 million hosts could have been affected, including VPN servers, ISP home routers, core internet routers, mobile network gateways and nodes, and even CDN nodes (incl. Meta and Tencent). In addition, over 11,000 Autonomous Systems (AS) are also on the list – the most affected were Softbank, Eircom, Telmex, and China Mobile (“almost 40% of vulnerable AS fail to filter spoofing hosts“).

The full report on Top10VPN notes that affected hosts accept unauthenticated tunnelling traffic from any source, which “means they can be abused as one-way proxies to perform a range of anonymous attacks” and may potentially even be abused to “gain access to victims’ private networks“.

Interestingly, over 17% of all vulnerable hosts (726,194) were said to have stemmed from a “misconfiguration” in French ISP Free’s home routers, which meant that routers with hostname *.fbxo.proxad.net accepted unauthenticated plaintext 6in4 tunneling packets traffic from any source.

“This flaw allows attackers to abuse Free customers’ vulnerable home routers to spoof IPv6 source addresses and to perform DoS attacks,” as well as to potentially gain access to the customer’s private home network (this was not tested for ethical reasons), said Simon Migliano. The ISP has since secured the affected routers.

Attack Details

The lack of built-in authentication makes it trivial to inject traffic into the vulnerable protocols’ tunnels.

An attacker simply needs to send a packet encapsulated using one of the affected protocols with two IP headers.

The outer header contains the attacker’s source IP with the vulnerable host’s IP as the destination.

The inner header’s source IP is that of the vulnerable host IP rather than the attacker. The destination IP is that of the target of the anonymous attack.

When the vulnerable host receives this malicious packet, it automatically strips the outer IP header and forwards the inner packet to its destination.

As the source IP on this inner packet is that of the vulnerable but trusted host, it slips past any network filters.

This transmission of spoofed traffic renders the vulnerable host a one-way proxy.

If the vulnerable host is able to spoof IPs due to poor filtering on the part of its AS, then this allows the attacker to use any IP address as the source IP of the inner packet.

This prevents a backtrace to identify the source of an attack and secure it, which means that a spoofing-capable vulnerable host can potentially be abused indefinitely.

Prof. Vanhoef and Beitis discovered that it was possible to abuse a vulnerable host in new ways, outlined below.

Spoofing-capable hosts can also be abused to perform traditional attacks, such as DNS spoofing, traditional amplification DoS attacks, off-path TCP hijacking, SYN floods, certain WiFi attacks and so on.

The report states that only accepting tunneling packets from trusted sources would, in theory, prevent attacks, although spoofing such a source would still sidestep this defense. “The only foolproof defense is to use a more secure set of protocols to provide authentication and encryption, i.e. IPsec or WireGuard,” said Simon. As usual, the vulnerabilities identified in this report have already been reported to the appropriate organisations and patched prior to publication.

News

The new partnership with Oceanic Environmental Cables (OEC) save more than 35,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalents (CO₂e) from reusing the cable materials

The new deal will see OEC acquire and recover over 22,000km of Sparkle’s unused submarine cables from the Mediterranean seabed. From there, the cables will be delivered to OEC’s partners where they will be dismantled and analysed, with recovered materials repurposed or remanufactured.

Recovered materials include optical fibre, copper, steel, aluminum, and various plastics used to protect the cables.

“We are proud to be among the first global operators to undertake such an innovative initiative, promoting circular economy practices and reducing environmental impact”, said Enrico Bagnasco, CEO of Sparkle. “The collaboration with OEC represents a concrete step toward a more sustainable future, where resources from the past can be recovered and transformed into opportunities for the present and the future.”

Financial details of the deal were not revealed.

There are currently over 500 active submarine communications cables around the world, spanning roughly 1.4 million kilometres. To repeat an oft-quoted figure, these cable systems carry over 95% of the world’s data traffic, making them an integral part of the global internet.

These cables, however, have a limited lifespan, typically around 25 years; more modern systems are often slightly more durable but may still be retired before their expiration date due to being made redundant by new systems.

After decommissioning, the now unused subsea cables typically remain on the seabed, often for many years or even indefinitely, waiting to be recycled or repurposed for new routes.

For example, the SEA-ME-WE 3 submarine cable system – for many years the longest submarine cable in the world – was retired in December last year, after 25 years in service.

(For those curious, the longest cable system today is the 2Africa system, which circles the African continent and spans over 45,000km.)

Combined, this myriad of forgotten cables represent a huge amount of valuable raw materials currently being wasted, which is where OEC sees an opportunity not only for profit but for a significant environmental impact.

”We are thrilled to partner with Sparkle on this important initiative. By retrieving and recycling these redundant cables, we are not only reducing the congestion and waste on the Mediterranean seabed but also reducing the need for virgin materials in manufacturing. This process significantly lowers carbon emissions and embodies the principles of a circular economy,” said Horst Brockmueller, CEO of OEC.

Is the submarine cable industry doing enough to promote a more sustainable future? Join the industry in discussion at Submarine Networks EMEA, the world’s largest submarine cable conference

Also in the news:
VEON and Starlink to launch Direct-to-Cell Satellite connectivity in Ukraine
Swisscom completes acquisition of Vodafone Italia
Equinix to buy BT’s Irish data centre business for €59m

Eastbourne-based alternative network operator and UK ISP Lightning Fibre, which is building a new Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network across parts of Sussex and Kent in England, has today announced a package refresh for the New Year that delivers some speed boosts and pricing changes.

In terms of what’s changing. The entry level package has been doubled from 150Mbps (symmetric) to 300Mbps for £28 per month to pitch the company head-to-head with its mainstream competitors (i.e. Sky Broadband, TalkTalk and EE), who are charging £28 for a 150Mbps package. The company has also recently reduced its 2Gbps package from £99 per month to £59 per month (a £100 one off set up fee applies).

Furthermore, a price match is now in place for any valid full fibre broadband offer (new customers only), which means the local AltNet pledges they “won’t be beaten on price by any operator”. The company has also decided against introducing annual, mid-contract price rises, unlike the majority of its larger competitors who increase prices each April.

In a self-run survey of its customers (date and sample size unknown), Lightning Fibre claims 86% said their prices were now “about right“.

Rob Reaks, CCO of Lightning Fibre, said:

“We do review things from time to time, but it’s clear that annual mid term price rises are very unpopular with consumers, and often cited as a reason why people switch from a mainstream ISP to us. In a Lightning Fibre survey, 59.8% said that annual price rises are ‘unfair’. So, we’re sticking to the fair, transparent pricing we’ve used since our launch in 2018.”

The alternative network, which has built to a number of locations like Eastbourne, Brighton and Hove, Worthing, Lancing, Hastings and St Leonards, Heathfield, Hellingly and Broad Oak, Hailsham and Polegate, originally planned to cover 140,000 premises with their gigabit-capable network. But it remains unclear how many premises they’ve reached, and they’ve since had to slow their network build due to various challenges (here and here).

The UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has today proposed to make it quicker for people to access Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) providers, which are third-party ombudsman schemes that help consumers to resolve complaints with their phone providers, broadband ISPs and mobile operators.

The regulator currently requires that all telecoms service providers – those offering services to consumers and small businesses – must be members of an approved ADR scheme (there are two of these – CISAS (CEDR) and the Communications Ombudsman). The schemes are free for consumers to access and designed to supplement (not replace) your provider’s own internal complaint procedure(s), although ISPs often have to pay sizeable costs (hundreds of pounds) regardless of whether they win or lose a case.

The ADR process is usually seen as a last line of defence for consumers and thus such schemes are generally only used after a dispute has gone unresolved for 8 weeks, or earlier with the agreement of their provider (i.e. the “Deadlock Letter” stage). See our ISP Complaints and Advice section for more information.

However, Ofcom have been reviewing the current ADR process since November 2023 (here), and as part of that they’ve today identified some room for improvement. Between January 2022 and 2024, a significant majority (79%) of complaints received by the main providers were found to have been resolved in less than a week, with 94% within six weeks. This is good, but not for everybody.

Among the remaining 700,000 complainants, a relatively small proportion (around 19%) were able to get their issue resolved or were referred to ADR by the end of the current 8-week deadline. “This suggests that a material number of consumers were left with their complaint – and any associated harm – unresolved for a further two weeks before being able to access ADR,” said Ofcom. The regulator is thus proposing, among other tweaks, to cut this wait period from 8 to 6 weeks.

Ofcom’s ADR Change Proposals

Consumer access to ADR

We are proposing to reduce the timeframe before consumers can access ADR from 8 weeks to 6 weeks. We think this change is necessary to ensure that the ADR regime remains effective and gives consumers prompt access to dispute resolution.

Re-approval of CO and CISAS

We propose to re-approve both CO and CISAS under the assessment criteria set out under the Act. We consider that the consumer research and case review, alongside information we have collected directly from the schemes, demonstrates they are working well and continue to meet the statutory assessment criteria.

While not a condition of re-approval, there are improvements we propose the schemes should implement. The schemes should introduce an improved review process to monitor the quality of decision letters to ensure they remain at a high standard. The schemes should provide more information on the ADR process on their websites, with appropriate guidance on the levels of compensation that would be appropriate to request to support consumers when they are submitting a claim.

Ofcom’s oversight of the schemes

Ofcom monitors the schemes’ operational performance primarily through a set of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) we set for the schemes, which we publish on our website on a quarterly basis. Setting effective KPIs helps build consumer confidence in the ADR process. Our assessment of the evidence suggests that, while the KPIs broadly cover the right areas, some of the KPIs are not set at the right level. Therefore, we propose to increase the targets while keeping them within the bounds of current performance. This will allow us to focus in more detail on performance and identify potential problems should they arise. It should also help the schemes to focus their resources most effectively on the areas that require improvement.

In terms of the KPIs mentioned above, Ofcom currently imposes the following KPIs on ADR providers:

• more than 80% of calls to be answered in less than two minutes;
• more than 90% of calls to be answered in less than five minutes;
• 100% of written correspondence to be replied to within ten days;
• more than 90% of case decisions to be issued within six weeks of the case being accepted; and
• less than 1% of case decisions to be issued later than eight weeks after the case has been accepted.

The regulator is now proposing to tweak these a bit. For example, they’ve proposed increasing the percentage of case decisions to be issued within 6 weeks to 95% to bring it more in line with the schemes’ performance in this area and their planned change to the timescale. But they’d maintain some of the other areas, like the “less than 1%” rule above. The finer details of all the KPIs are still subject to feedback and thus further change.

The consultation on these changes will run until 12th March 2025 and Ofcom then expects to publish their final decision during Summer 2025.

Broadband, phone and pay TV provider Virgin Media (O2) has notified its customers that their Community Forum platform will tomorrow – starting at around 10am – go through a “major upgrade“, which will see the ISP switch from using the older Khoros ‘Classic’ platform over to the modern ‘Aurora’ one.

The community, which will be offline for the duration of the upgrade process (it’s expected to return by the afternoon or late evening), should then return with a “different look and feel“. For those with an interest in this sort of thing, you can get a better idea of what changes this will introduce by visiting the Khoros website here and here.

News 

The joint venture will build up to 2,000 new base stations that will then be shared with other mobile operators in the country 

Vodacom and Orange have formed a new infrastructure joint venture aimed at improving mobile network coverage in rural areas of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The business will focus on building solar-powered mobile base stations in underserved regions, helping to extend mobile and financial services to up to 19 million people. 

Over the next six years, the companies plan to build up to 2,000 new base stations using 2G and 4G technology. The first phase will see the installation of 1,000 sites, with the possibility of an additional 1,000 depending on regulatory approval. 

The initiative is in line with the DRC’s National Digital Plan Horizon 2025, which aims to increase digital access and promote economic growth. The project will also support mobile money services and increase internet access in the country, where mobile internet penetration is currently at 32.3%. 

“With a footprint serving over 210 million customers across Africa, we have the opportunity to significantly contribute to the continent’s socio-economic development by building a digital society and fostering inclusivity for all,” said Shameel Joosub, CEO of Vodacom in a press release. 

“This aligns with our purpose to connect for a better future, and our partnership with Orange is a crucial step towards providing mobile coverage to people in previously underserved areas in the DRC,” he continued. 

Keep up to date with the latest international telecoms news by subscribing to the Total Telecom daily newsletter 

Also in the news:
Adani Group’s ‘foray into industrial 5G’ is total failure
Nokia bags deal to connect new offshore wind farms
Chinese engineers patenting submarine cable cutting tech