Johannesburg, South Africa, 13 January 2025 – CMC Networks has appointed Paolo Gambini as its new Chief Revenue Officer (CRO). Gambini joins CMC Networks from his prior role as Head of Enterprise Sales at Arelion, where he spent over five years leading global sales initiatives. He brings more than 25 years of telecommunications experience and expertise to CMC Networks to continue to drive revenue growth, strengthen customer relationships, and support requirements across Africa and the Middle East.

Gambini has a proven track record in international sales, business development, marketing, network design and more, providing a multifaceted skillset to expand upon CMC Networks’ success. The appointment marks a key step in the company’s roadmap and mission to ensure businesses and users can benefit from world-leading technologies, no matter where they operate.

“Big things are happening at CMC Networks, and I’m thrilled to join at such an exciting time,” said Paolo Gambini, CRO at CMC Networks. “I’m looking forward to working with the team to support the company’s strategic goals and drive the next phase of growth, cementing CMC Networks as the go-to provider for business connectivity in the MEA region.”

Paolo’s extensive career also includes over a decade at Tiscali International Network/Inteliquent, where he held the senior roles of VP Product Marketing & Development and Sales & Marketing Director, as well as Chief Technical Officer at Tiscali Spain. With a deep understanding of the technical, operational and commercial aspects of the telecommunications landscape, he is uniquely positioned to accelerate CMC Networks’ growth goals and customer engagement.

“We are delighted to have Paolo on board as our new CRO. His extensive experience and innovative mindset are invaluable as we continue to drive innovation and solidify CMC’s position as the leading player in Africa and Middle East,” said Marisa Trisolino, CEO at CMC Networks. “We are dedicated to making it as simple as possible for our customers to do business and grow in these regions, without connectivity headaches or market complications. I’m looking forward to working with Paolo to strengthen and refine our approach even further, with our customers at the core.”

CMC Networks specialises in delivering high-performance connectivity solutions that empower businesses to thrive in some of the world’s most complex markets. It has the largest pan-African network servicing 51 out of 54 countries in Africa and 11 countries in the Middle East.

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About CMC Networks

CMC Networks is a Tier 1 service provider that enables and accelerates digital transformation in the most challenging markets in the world. Headquartered in South Africa and providing services for over 30 years.

CMC provides data communications to Carriers, Governments, Multinationals, and various non-profit organisations, operating more than 110 Service Locations providing a cost-effective, scalable and resilient network. CMC Networks has the largest pan-African network servicing 51 out of 54 countries in Africa and 11 countries in the Middle East, plus regional hubs in key interconnect locations across Europe, the Americas, and Asia Pacific.

https://www.cmcnetworks.com/

News

The patents relate to an “ocean towing type cutting device” that can be used to severe cable on the seabed

On Friday, a report from Newsweek shared the news that Chinese engineers had logged multiple patents for anchor-like devices specifically designed to sever submarine cables.

The report highlighted a 2020 patent filed by engineers at China’s Lishui University that said it had built a more simplified and cost-effective method for cutting cables on the sea floor.

“With the development of science and technology, more and more submarine cables and communication cables are laid on the seabed of all parts of the world and the cables need to be cut off in some emergency situations,” the Lishui University authors wrote in their patent application. “The traditional cutting method needs first to detect the position of the cables, then excavate and salvage them for cutting. This process is complex, a lot of expensive equipment is needed, and the cost is too high. There is a need for a fast, low-cost cutting apparatus for submarine cables to accomplish this task.”

The solution itself was based upon a 2009 patent from the State Oceanic Administration of China (SOA) that featured an “ocean towing type cutting device”.

In their 2009 patent, the SOA engineers explained the rationale behind developing such a device was as a method for the destruction of illegal cables in Chinese waters.

Submarine cables critical infrastructure and their destruction can cause major connectivity disruption on a national scale. This is particularly exacerbated in cases where there are few or even no alternative cables available to carry data, leaving areas completely cut off from the internet or reliant on emergency backups like satellite.

The elephant in the room here, of course, is the extent to which Chinese ships have been involved in numerous submarine cable breaks in recent years – accidental or otherwise.

In 2023, the trailing anchor of the Chinese ship Newnew Polar Bear damaged the Balticconnector natural gas pipeline, as well as the EE-S1 submarine telecoms cable. A Chinese investigation confirmed the ship was responsible in 2024, but claimed the damage was accidental rather than deliberate sabotage.

A similar investigation was launched the following year after the Chinese freighter Yi Peng 3 was linked to the damage sustained by two submarine cables, one linking Finland and Germany and the other connecting Sweden to Lithuania. The governments of both Germany and Finland said they feared deliberate sabotage and described the event as an act of ‘hybrid warfare by malicious actors’.

Even more recently – earlier this month, in fact – the Trans-Pacific Express Cable System, which directly connects Taiwan to the U.S. East Coast, Japan, South Korea, and China, was damaged by a Cameroon-flagged freighter named Shunxing39.

“This is another case of a very worrying global trend of sabotage against subsea cables,” said a senior Taiwanese national security official. “The ships that are involved in these incidents are typically rundown vessels that have little above-the-board business. This one, too, is in very bad shape. It is similar to the ships that are part of Russia’s ‘shadow fleet.’”

China’s Jie Jang Trading, which owns the vessel, has denied accusations that the ship had damaged the cable.

As an island, Taiwan is particularly vulnerable to submarine cable disruption. The country’s government claims that ‘accidental’ submarine cable cuts are part of China’s ‘Grey Zone activities’ in the waters around Taiwan, aimed at deliberately destabilising the country without provoking direct conflict.

The fact that Chinese engineers appear to be working on technology specifically designed to destroy subsea cable infrastructure should do little to dispel these misgivings.

Join the submarine network industry in discussion at Submarine Networks EMEA, the world’s largest subsea 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

Network analyst firm Streetwave has today shared the results from a new survey they conducted, which examined the coverage and performance of 4G and 5G mobile (broadband) networks for people travelling on a train from Manchester (Piccadilly) in England to Cardiff (Central) in Wales. Overall, Vodafone came top.

The railway route involved in this study connects Manchester and Cardiff via Crewe, Shrewsbury, Hereford and Newport. According to the ORR – 51.5 million passenger journeys take place annually in stations along this route. Streetwave is understood to have taken their portable data collection equipment onboard for just one of these trips, thus the results below should be considered very anecdotal, albeit still interesting.

In addition, multiple train companies operate the Manchester to Cardiff route, including Transport for Wales (TfW), CrossCountry, Avanti West Coast, and Great Western Railway (GWR). But the study only involved a TfW train that left Manchester Piccadilly at 12:30pm on 02/01/2025 (this was a British Rail Class 197 train full of passengers).

All four of the UK’s mobile operators were measured and their ‘Essential Coverage‘ scores across the journey were as follows. Take note that Streetwave defines Essential Coverage as being reflective of locations where the network provides users with connectivity of above 1Mbps download speeds, 0.5Mbps upload, and below 100ms (milliseconds) of latency (i.e. covering or allowing only the most basic of use cases / needs).

Essential Coverage Achieved on the Route
1. Vodafone – 57%
2. EE – 48%
3. Three UK – 37%
4. O2 – 34%

Put another way, the company’s simulated passenger on each network spent the following amount of time without a dependable internet connection on the 3-hour 13-minute journey: Vodafone – 83 minutes, EE – 100 minutes, Three UK – 123 minutes and O2 – 127 minutes. Clearly there’s room for improvement, although it would have been useful to know which specific parts of the route suffered the poorest patches of connectivity.

“With the UK Government prioritising economic growth – improving connectivity along railway lines should be a strategic move to prevent the working population from spending hundreds of millions of hours each year trapped in Faraday cages without reliable internet access,” said George Gibson, Streetwave’s Co-Founder & Partnership Director.

London-based broadband ISP Pulse Fibre, which specialises in building “full fibre” (FTTP) connections into UK new build home developments and MDUs (here), has signed a new partnership that will enable their network to expand across new developments being built alongside multi-utility provider Entity Connect in the South East of England.

The initial focus will be on delivering full fibre connectivity to the Farriers Green development in Rainham, Kent. This is a residential development with 46 units and will be the first project to benefit from this partnership, although others are expected to follow. Through Entity Connects multi-utility platform and Pulse Fibre’s full fibre technology, every home at Farriers Green will enjoy symmetric broadband speeds from day one.

“We’re excited to work with Entity Connect and bring unrivalled connectivity to new residents,” said Nathan Davis, Head of Development at Pulse Fibre. “Our full fibre infrastructure ensures that developments are equipped with fast and reliable broadband, from day one.”

News

The list sanctions companies assessed as posing a potential threat to US national security or operating adversely to US foreign policy interests

On January 6, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) announced the latest wave of companies to be added the so-called ‘Entity List’.

US companies seeking to export to companies on the Entity List must first receive a specific. licence to do-so from the US government, most of which are reviewed with the ‘presumption of denial’.

This latest update saw BIS revise the Export Administration Regulations to include 13 new entities: 11 from China, 1 from Myanmar, and 1 from Pakistan. The list of companies added can be found here, while the full ‘Entity List’ can be accessed here.

The companies added are, for the most part, unsurprising. Chinese companies have made up the lion’s share of entrants to the Entity List for many years now – a symptom of the deeper of the technological tensions between the country and successive US governments. Here, the majority of the Chinese entrants are tech firms accused of supporting the Chinese military, alongside a handful of research institutes designated as working on ‘hypersonic weapons’.

The sole Pakistani entrant, Emerging Future Solutions Private Limited, was similarly added based on military connections adverse to US interests, including supporting Pakistan’s ballistic missile research efforts.

But perhaps the most interesting of the new additions is Myanmar’s Mytel, which has been accused of helping the ruling military junta prepetrate human rights abuses by assisting with surveillance and financial support.

Mytel was founded as a joint venture between the Burmese military and Vietnamese telco Viettel (itself owned by Vietnam’s Ministry of National Defence) in 2016.

The company’s military links have been a source of controversy since the company’s inception, with Mytel having been accused of corruption, cronyism, and carrying out government disinformation campaigns.

The company initially faced a broad wave of economic sanctions from various Western countries following the military coup in 2021, but the US was notably absent. Since then, the company has been accused of further misdeeds, including using Mytel SIMs to track soldiers’ movements and conversations, aiming to root out defectors.

However, exactly how effective these new sanctions from the US will be remains to be seen. The efficacy of the Entity List has been repeatedly called into question, with detractors arguing that many licences were still being issued. In 2023, for example, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul notably complained that BIS had approved more than $23 billion in tech licences to blacklisted companies in just a three month period in Jan–March 2022.

Keep up to date with all the latest global telecoms news with the Total Telecom newsletter

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

News

Here’s a look at the five biggest stories over the last week from our sister publication, Broadband Communities

Data center construction, booming in cities like Phoenix, is fueling demand for dark fiber in major American markets. That, plus Broadband Communities sits down with Steve Smith, the CRO of a rural ISP, to discuss how rural ISPs can endure in a changing marketplace.

Data center construction fuels dark fiber demand in major markets
Booming data center construction continues to drive demand for dark fiber in major markets like Phoenix, Arizona.

PODCAST: ISP executive discusses how rural American ISPs can endure
The marketplace is changing fast. But is there still a role for the rural ISP in tomorrow’s digital infrastructure? We’re joined by Steve Smith, the CRO of LiveOak Fiber, to discuss. 

IQ Fiber completes acquisition of Maryland ISP
Backed by SDC Capital Partners, IQ Fiber called the news a significant accomplishment as the company continues its upward trajectory.

ISP awarded BEAD funds for Louisiana broadband work
A Louisiana-based internet service provider has awarded Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program funds to reach underserved locations. 

Vertical Bridge, Verizon finalize $3.3 billion tower deal
Vertical Bridge says a $3.3 billion deal involving thousands of towers across the United States has been finalized.
 

Network operator nexfibre, which is working alongside UK ISP partner Virgin Media to deploy a new 10Gbps full fibre broadband (FTTP) network across over 5 million premises (2m have already been built), has today set out its list of recommendations for Ofcom to consider adopting as part of their forthcoming Telecoms Access Review 2026 (TAR).

Just to recap. Back in 2022 Telefónica, Liberty Global and InfraVia Capital Partners setup nexfibre as a new £4.5bn joint venture (here), which aims to deploy an open access (wholesale) full fibre network to reach “up to” 7 million UK homes (starting with 5m by 2026) in areas NOT served by Virgin Media’s own network of 16m+ premises. The funding reflects £3.3bn of fully underwritten financing and up to £1.4bn in equity commitments.

Suffice to say that they have a big interest in the regulator’s imminent Telecoms Access Review 2026 (TAR) – a wide-ranging market study, which is typically only conducted every 5-years and will usually look to make changes that “promote competition and investment” in gigabit broadband and business connectivity. But such things are always easier said than done, with vested interests frequently clashing.

So far, we’ve already seen various alternative network (altnet) providers (here) and even Openreach (here) setting out what changes they think Ofcom’s TAR should make. But today it was nexfibre’s turn, with the operator setting out a series of recommendations under their new ‘UK Fibre: A Fork In the Road‘ (PDF) report, which they see as being necessary to help “maintain a regulatory environment that best supports investment in fixed telecoms networks and sustainable infrastructure competition in the UK“.

“The full fibre market is highly fragmented, characterised by a large number of sub-scale operators with low customer and revenue numbers, which combined with financing pressures has seen network roll out slow dramatically this year,” said the report, before setting out its list of the “regulatory conditions” needed for the “full fibre market to flourish and for infrastructure roll out to continue at pace“.

Nexfibre Calls on Ofcom to Address the Following Issues:

1. Maintain regulation on the dominant operator: the dominant operator’s significant market power requires continued regulation to support the development of sustainable, long-term competition.

2. Address anti-competitive behaviour: Introduce a new margin squeeze test (Economic Replicability Test) to prevent harmful pricing schemes and ensure fair competition.

3. Improve PIA regulation: Address transparency and cost-sharing issues in the regulation of BT Openreach’s PIA infrastructure charges to support investment.

4. Assess copper switch-off impact: Ensure appropriate regulation for BT Openreach’s copper to fibre network migration to promote competition.

5. Take a pragmatic view of network numbers and consolidation: Focus on supporting long term sustainable competition at a national scale through consolidation.

Many of nexfibre’s points above align with those of other altnets, particularly around fears related to the possibility of future FTTP price cuts from Openreach (i.e. making it even harder for rivals to grow and attract fresh investment) and of Ofcom potentially softening the incumbent’s regulation as rising competition has naturally weakened Openreach’s impact over the wider market. The latter also feeds into nexfibre’s call for improvements in PIA regulation, which relates to the product that allows rivals to run fibre via Openreach’s existing cable ducts and poles.

On copper switch off, nexfibre are not referencing the ongoing PSTN/WLR to digital phone migrations, but rather Openreach’s future move to close thousands of old telephone exchanges (mostly occurring after 2030) and migrating related customers from copper to full fibre lines (something that is already occurring, albeit more organically). Nexfibre wants to ensure that rivals aren’t unfairly penalised by this process and that Ofcom conducts a deeper assessment of the approach being taken.

However, despite echoing many of the same points of view as other altnets, nexfibre remains quick to highlight how “a large number of sub scale altnets … are now in a moment of real difficulty” (i.e. due to issues with rising build costs, high interest rates and thus difficulties being able to access fresh investment).

Certainly, we have seen plenty of altnets suffering build pauses, slowdowns and job losses, although there’s no guarantee that some of this won’t impact nexfibre further down the line too. The wholesale model they’ve adopted currently only works with Virgin Media (anchor tenant), which over the past year has had its own difficulties with adding new broadband customers, and it remains to be seen how effective they will be when more ISPs are added.

Giles Rowbotham, General Counsel and Chief Development Officer of nexfibre, said:

“The UK has made terrific progress in expanding full fibre broadband in recent years, thanks in part to the conditions created by the last Ofcom review, including PIA sharing. However, this progress is fragile. The current market structure is unsustainable and the Ofcom review comes at a pivotal moment for this country’s digital infrastructure market. Roll out progress in recent years has been driven partly by the emergence of a large number of sub scale altnets, many of whom are now in a moment of real difficulty, with restricted access to new capital and higher financing costs.

To overcome these issues, we are urging Ofcom to prioritise measures that boost sustainable scaled competition on the one hand and do more to restrain anti-competitive activity from the dominant operator on the other. To ensure innovation and investment in digital infrastructure and drive fibre rollout progress, the UK needs a regulatory environment that balances the need for stable regulation with a pragmatic view of market consolidation and also takes a firm hand in restricting behaviour that stymies meaningful nationwide competition. This is essential not only for the growth of our digital economy and the future of the broadband market, but also to the government’s central mission of delivering higher economic growth, which will create opportunities for communities, people and businesses across the UK.

We look forward to continuing to collaborate with regulators and policymakers ahead of the upcoming Telecoms Access Review to ensure a digital infrastructure market that is competitive, resilient and delivers the economic growth the country needs.”

Breaking news.. more to follow..

The Institute of Customer Service (ICS) has today published their first biannual UK Customer Satisfaction Index for 2025 (January), which reveals that four mobile and broadband (telecoms) providers made it into their table of the country’s top 50 organisations – Tesco Mobile (16th), Utility Warehouse (28th), Sky Mobile (41st) and giffgaff (47th).

The research typically reflects the results from a large online survey of over 15,000 customers – balanced to be representative of the UK adult population, which asked each of them about their experiences across 278 different organisations (a total of 59,500 responses were gathered). This was then used to produce a score out of 100 for each organisation.

Overall, the “Telecommunications & Media” sector reported no change in its general ranking since the last report in July 2024, with average customer satisfaction holding at a score of 73.3 (although this is still 1.4 points lower than in January 2024).

At the same time, Tesco Mobile (scored 82.5) saw their ranking rise from 20th to 16th position over the same period, while Utility Warehouse (81.3) dropped from 23rd to 28th and giffgaff (80.1) similarly fell from 32nd to 47th. But on the flip side, we saw Sky Mobile (80.2) suddenly return to the table by jumping into 41st position. The performance gap between Sky and giffgaff is small because a lot of providers were tied in the 41st and 47th positions.

The report notes that “Telecommunications and Media” is the only sector in which the number of customers experiencing a problem with an organisation (18.9%) has not fallen compared to a year ago (when it was 18.7%). But we should point out that some highly rated telecoms providers didn’t receive enough feedback to be included into the top 50 table. For example, broadband ISP WightFibre has separately reported achieving a CSI score of 90.4, which is significantly higher than both the sector average of 73.3 and the UK all-sector average of 75.8.

Sadly, the full report doesn’t include scores for all the UK mobile and broadband providers surveyed, only those that ranked high enough to be listed in the top tables.

Some customers of Sky’s broadband-based Sky Stream TV devices (puck) have, over the past week, noticed the surprise addition of a new “TV Input” App that appears to activate the previously unused TV aerial port (tuner) on the back of the box – making it possible to add terrestrial Freeview channels via the old-fashioned method. But it may only be temporary.

Until now, the Sky Stream boxes have been purely focused upon the delivery of broadband based TV streaming (hence the name), which has allowed Sky’s customers to access the company’s vast array of TV content and channels without needing to hook-up either a satellite dish or TV aerial (i.e. it all comes via a WiFi or wired link to your broadband router).

In fact, the aerial port has remained deactivated in the UK and was largely believed to be a feature intended for customers in a different country. But all that changed last week after customers on Sky’s Community Forum began to notice the addition of a new “TV Input” App (note: Sky Glass TV’s already have a similar option).

The feature, as currently implemented, seems to be a bit unusual for Sky Stream because even the new App will become useless when your internet connection goes down, which removes its worth as a backup option during broadband outages (although Sky could change how it works in the future). Not to mention that most people will already be able to revert to their existing TV’s aerial and internal tuner during such connectivity outages.

The TV Input App also only picks up the digital channels (i.e. no data/streaming channels) and appears to be a largely isolated experienced on the device (i.e. it doesn’t integrate with the TV Guide or Home Screen etc.). Not to mention the lack of recording functionality (PVR) on the pucks with this App, which is another drawback.

However, not everybody can see the new App, and yesterday it disappeared again for many of those who found themselves able to access it. At present, it’s not known why the App appeared in the first place (error or early trial), although Sky’s support agents continue to state that the device doesn’t support such a feature. We’re currently asking Sky to clarify.