CallTower, a global leader in delivering unified communications, contact centre, and collaboration solutions, including Microsoft Teams, Webex by Cisco, and Zoom, announced today they are partnering with Tollring to deliver advanced call analytics on Microsoft Teams with Analytics 365. This cutting-edge solution, designed specifically for Microsoft Teams, revolutionises the way organisations harness call data insights to enhance team performance, improve customer engagement and maximise revenue.

Incorporating Analytics 365 Call Analytics into an organisation’s communication strategy can significantly increase sales and drive customer satisfaction levels. By understanding call queues and unreturned or missed call metrics, users can highlight missed revenue opportunities and drive improvements in customer experience. This integrated Microsoft Teams application is purpose-built to help organisations of all sizes manage customer facing teams and build lasting customer relationships. By monitoring call activity, staffing levels and performance, organisations can use intuitive dashboard views and create wallboards to improve performance and meet customer expectations.

Key features of Analytics 365 Call Analytics include:

Real-time Data Insights: Gain instant access to valuable analytics on communication activities.
Performance Tracking: Monitor and measure performance metrics to improve staffing levels, productivity and operational efficiency.
Customisable Wallboards: Generate tailored wallboards to monitor call queues and ensure service level targets are met to suit specific business needs and goals.
In-Depth Reporting: Drill down to the detail and share findings to ensure comprehensive analysis of communications activity and ongoing improvements
Predictive Analysis: Analyse and anticipate trends to make informed decisions

With Analytics 365 Call Analytics, organisations can unlock the full potential of their communication data, driving growth, innovation, and competitive advantage.

“We are excited to deliver Analytics 365 Call Analytics as part of our larger Microsoft Teams suite,” said William Rubio, CRO of CallTower. ” The analytics offered by Analytics 365 showcase our dedication to providing cutting-edge technology that empowers businesses to excel in today’s challenging business environment.”

Tony Martino, CEO of Tollring, adds “Tollring is delighted to partner with CallTower to deliver Analytics 365 globally through their channels. Coupling Operator Connect with analytics is a powerful combination, both adding value and differentiation to MSP propositions whilst significantly impacting customer experience across their customers.”

About CallTower

Transforming how we connect across the globe! Dive into the future of global communication with CallTower, where the forefront of innovation meets the vast expanse of connectivity. CallTower is revolutionising communications through cutting-edge technology.  CallTower delivers seamless MS Teams, Zoom, and Webex voice solutions elevated by the integration of AI technology, comprehensive contact centre solutions and one-click failover, marking a significant milestone in the communication landscape.

Since its establishment in 2002, CallTower has evolved into a global cloud-based, enterprise-class cloud communications (unified communications, contact centre and collaboration) solutions provider, catering to the needs of expanding businesses globally. CallTower offers and supports cutting-edge solutions such as Operator Connect for Microsoft® Teams, MS Teams Direct Routing, GCC High Teams Direct Routing, Microsoft® 365, Cisco® Webex Calling / UCM, Cisco® CCP, Zoom Phone, Zoom (BYOB), and a range of contact centre options, including Five9 for business customers.

For more information about CallTower and its award-winning services, please contact marketing@calltower.com

About Tollring www.Tollring.com

Tollring is a market leading software developer providing data visualisation and business intelligence tools that help manage, understand, and control a wide array of communications information, resources and assets.   

With offices in the UK, the USA, India, and Australia, Tollring specialises in global cloud communication software services, encompassing customer experience analytics, call recording and business intelligence solutions. Its innovative solutions are developed in-house and distributed via an extensive channel partner network to over 20,000 businesses globally.   

As organisations increasingly rely on Microsoft Teams for their internal and external communications, Tollring delivers the benefits of deep insight into this environment. Whether the challenge is wellbeing, performance, or customer experience, Analytics 365 makes it easy for leaders across all business functions to drive improvements in customer and employee experience. 

Tollring takes pride its high levels of technical capability and strives to deliver outstanding support having been certified in quality standard ISO 9001 and ISO/IEC 27001 for Information Security Management. It is a Microsoft Gold Partner in application integration, data analytics, application development, cloud platforms and a Silver Partner in project and portfolio management. 

News

The strategic partnership is backed by the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, which hopes the deal will add value to the country’s aviation and tourism sectors

Today, Indonesian telecoms operator Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison has announced a new strategic partnership with Garuda Indonesia, the country’s national airline.

The collaboration will see Garuda explore the use of various new digital technologies with help from Indosat, aiming to “enhance operational quality, optimize ancillary revenue, and personalize passenger experiences”. Initial benefits for Garuda will include “the optimization of flight services through digitalization across various operational touchpoints” as well as the creation of a “increasingly seamless travel planning for passengers”, according to the partners.

Specifics about the technologies being implemented were not revealed.

“Armed with the latest technological innovations developed by Indosat, we are committed to supporting the growth of every industry sector,” said Indosat’s CEO Vikram Sinha in a statement today. “We appreciate the support of the Indonesian Government in our shared vision to enhance Indonesia’s global reputation. This strategic partnership is crucial for leveraging technology to transform Indonesia’s aviation and tourism sectors, improving experiences, and fostering inclusive growth. This aligns with Indosat’s larger purpose of empowering every Indonesian.”

The move is backed by the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, which sees the partnership as a vector for growing and improving the country’s aviation and tourist industries.

“This partnership marks a significant moment for Indonesia’s aviation and tourism sectors. By leveraging cutting-edge technology, Indonesia will not only elevate the tourist experience but also create new economic opportunities that will drive sustainable growth,” said Sandiaga Uno, Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy of the Republic of Indonesia. “This collaboration sets a global standard for technology integration in aviation and tourism, positioning Indonesia as a premier destination on the world stage.”

For Indosat, the partnership mark’s another step in the company’s transformation from a telco to an integrated techco. Since the Indosat’s merger with $6 billion CK Hutchison at the start of 2022, the company has lent heavily on new technologies – most notably AI – in an attempt to break into vertical industries, from aviation to agriculture, and generate new revenue streams.

“If you look at the telco space, the industry is growing four or five per cent. But if you look at the digital economy, the industry is growing 18 per cent. This is where we want to play,” Sinha told the media in a briefing last year.

This month has already been busy one in regards to new service offerings from Indosat, with the company having announcing a new suite of AI solutions for the oil and gas industry, as well as a new enterprise solution, Indosat Smart Internet, in collaboration with Cisco.

Keep up to date with all of the latest telecoms news from around the world with Total Telecom’s daily newsletter

Also in the news:
Power play: Thailand’s biggest telco to merge with energy giant
Germany implements long-awaited Huawei ban
Telecom Egypt readies for country’s first 5G services

Macquarie-backed network operator and UK ISP KCOM, which is building a gigabit broadband network across East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire in England, has revealed that they’ve now expanded their full fibre (FTTP) service into the previously unannounced villages of Scotter and Brayton.

Both of the new locations are extensions of the operator’s existing build and spotted by some of our readers. For example, Scotter is home to over 3,000 people and sits right below KCOM’s existing deployment in Messingham, while Brayton is home to over 5,300 people and sits immediately next to their larger build in Selby.

However, while the deployment into Scotter makes a lot of sense because it has practically no pre-existing FTTP coverage, Brayton is another matter because the village is already being served by fibre from both Openreach and Gigaclear (i.e. an unusual pick for such a small area, increasing the risk for KCOM).

Customers in the area can expect to pay from £19.99 per month (usually £44.99) for a 100Mbps (30Mbps upload) service on a 24-month term, which rises to £39.99 per month (usually £69.99) for their top 900Mbps plan. Prices increase every March 2025 by CPI + 3.9%, although this policy will soon change as a result of Ofcom’s recent ruling.

Press Release

The new submarine cable system will use Sparkle’s scalable infrastructure thus gaining immediate access to the most important Internet Exchange points in Europe

Sparkle, the first international service provider in Italy and among the top global operators, has signed an agreement with Unitirreno – a partnership between Unidata, Italian TLC operator and ISP, and industry experts – for the landing of its new subsea cable system in Sparkle’s Genoa Landing Platform.

The Unitirreno Submarine Cable System will cross the Tyrrhenian Sea from Genoa to Mazara del Vallo (Sicily) with branches to Olbia (Sardinia), Rome and more in the future. Designed with an “open cable system” architecture and with a total capacity of 480 Tbps (Terabits per second), the cable will cover around 1,030km and is currently expected to be ready for service by Q2 of 2025.

Under the agreement, Unitirreno will use Sparkle’s Genoa Landing Platform, a scalable infrastructure designed to offer a turnkey, highly resilient and secure submarine cable landing on the Western European coastline. Through this infrastructure, already used by the BlueMed and BlueRaman systems, Unitirreno will reach the Genoa Digital Hub in Lagaccio, an open and neutral colocation facility and interconnection point with other submarine cables and European terrestrial networks, as well as Internet Exchange Points like Ge-DIX which is already operational in the facility.

By landing in Genoa, Unitirreno gains quick access to major European hubs without impacting the city and the environment and saving the cost, time and administrative complexities typically needed to set up a proprietary landing infrastructure.

“We are proud to have been chosen by Unitirreno as their landing partner on the Western European coast”, said Enrico Bagnasco, CEO of Sparkle. “This agreement further enriches the Ligurian digital ecosystem and confirms our Genoa Landing Platform as a reference alternative for more submarine cables seeking diversified entry into Europe.”

“We are very pleased with the agreement with Sparkle, which represents not only a guarantee in terms of reliability and security but also an opportunity to explore further collaborations in the future. We are convinced that this agreement will make a significant contribution to the development of an increasingly advanced interconnection system, improving the quality of services and paving the way for new innovations” said Renato Brunetti, President and CEO of Unidata.

The submarine cable industry is evolving rapidly. Join the ecosystem in discussion on key topics at Submarine Networks EMEA 2025

The UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has today announced a series of improvements to their spectrum sharing framework, which among other things will “significantly increase the availability of spectrum” to help improve the performance and business models of using this to foster new types of 4G, 5G, wireless broadband and mobile services etc.

The existing spectrum sharing framework was first introduced in 2019 (here) and paved the way for lots of smaller mobile and fixed wireless broadband networks to be created in order to deliver local coverage (via 4G, 5G and other wireless technologies), such as for industrial, farming or residential connectivity etc. The shared access licences initially covered spectrum in four specific bands – 1800MHz, 2300MHz, 3800 – 4200MHz and 24.25 – 26.5GHz (the latter was only available for indoor low power licences).

Since then Ofcom has seen growing interest in this form of access, with more than 1,500 licences now issued, and a number of other countries adopting similar approaches. Suffice to say that demand is only expected to grow and, as a result of that success, the regulator is now introducing changes to improve local spectrum availability – especially in the busiest bands (e.g. 3.8-4.2 GHz).

In addition, they’re also making more spectrum available by adding 2320-2340MHz to the framework, but “will not proceed” with their proposals to increase prices on our existing Shared Access products in 3.8-4.2 GHz.

Ofcom currently offers two primary types of Shared Access Licence (distinguished primarily by permitted power levels) to cater for different types of use, which we’ve summarised below.

Shared Access Licences

• Low power licence (per area licence): This allows users to deploy the required number of base stations in a circular area with a 50-metre radius without further authorisation from Ofcom. For large sites, people can apply for multiple licence areas to achieve the required coverage area.

• Medium power licence (per base station licence): Given the higher transmit power and larger potential interference area, this licence will be issued on a per base station basis and, generally, for deployments in rural areas only, where they are unlikely to constrain low power users.

The core changes being introduced by Ofcom have been summarised below.

Ofcom’s Spectrum Sharing Changes for 2024

To increase the availability of spectrum, and enable new use cases, we are taking the following steps:

• Updating our coordination approach to improve spectrum supply across the UK:

– In the 3.8-4.2 GHz band, we are taking steps to significantly reduce separation distances between Shared Access users. In combination with an updated approach to coordinating with UK Broadband, and new Building Entry Loss assumptions, this will increase access to the spectrum required to deliver innovative new services.

– Across all Shared Access bands, we are also improving users’ ability to access and share spectrum. We will now allow users to include antenna details in our coordination process to support more sharing, and free up applicants to make their own local coordination agreements.

• Liberalising our rules for sharing to support the development of new use cases.

We will increase by 3 dB the maximum power limit of our ‘Low Power’ product in 3.8-4.2 GHz, supporting wider coverage and lessening deployment challenges. We are also removing a requirement to maintain records for mobile terminals connected to Low Power indoor base stations in the 3.8-4.2 GHz band (the 4 ‘Terminal Registration Requirement (TRR)’), enabling more ‘neutral host’ style solutions.

• Making more spectrum available by adding 2320-2340 MHz to the framework.

This new spectrum will be available for Low Power indoor use only, reflecting the sharing arrangements we have provisionally agreed with the Ministry of Defence to protect its uses (subject to final steps in MOD’s due diligence process).

• Increasing responsiveness and predictability for many Shared Access applications.

A clear and simple ‘premises sterilisation test’ will streamline decisions for exception requests in 3.8-4.2 GHz and 1800 MHz (to authorise use of Medium Power in urban areas and non-standard antenna heights). We will also publish new spectrum availability maps to help users make more informed applications. Finally, we are continuing to work with our spectrum management system supplier to support online applications for Shared Access licences later this year.

The regulator said they’re aiming to have implemented the “majority” of these changes by Q4 2024. In addition, Ofcom are also consulting on further proposals that build on this new coordination and sharing approach to offer even more flexibility and new opportunities in the future.

Ofcom’s Spectrum Sharing Proposals for the Future

Respondents to the consultation indicated a desire for additional flexibility to offer services beyond what we had proposed. In response we are proposing additional measures:

• Providing users with more freedom to operate at Medium Power in most urban areas (in the 1800 MHz and 3.8-4.2 GHz bands, and at heights up to 10m). Whilst we would retain the exceptions process to match demand and supply in the busy Greater London area, applicants for Medium Power in other urban areas would no longer need exceptions. As many exception requests are for Medium Power, this should streamline the application process for many users.

• Encouraging efficient use through a new price point for Medium Power deployments in urban areas that is twice the price of Low Power (i.e. moving to £160/10 MHz in 3.8-4.2 GHz, and to £160 for 2 x 3.3 MHz in the 1800 MHz band). This is to encourage users to use Low Power where this is sufficient for their needs.

• Enabling new business models by removing the Terminal Registration Requirement for mobile terminals connected to Low Power outdoor base stations in the 3.8-4.2 GHz band. This would build on our decision to remove this requirement indoors and support new ‘campus’ style networks and local mobile capacity enhancements.

The related consultation on today’s newest proposals will remain open for feedback until 18th September 2024 and Ofcom will then aim to publish their decisions “as soon as possible thereafter“.

Broadband ISP and UK mobile operator EE (BT) has today announced that customers of their pay TV service will be able to access discovery+’s extensive coverage of the Olympic Games Paris 24, regardless of what package they’re on and “at no extra cost” until 12th August.

EE TV’s discovery+ basic customers will thus gain access to discovery+ Standard at no extra cost for the aforementioned period, enabling them to stream every moment of the Games live. This means customers will be able to access the following features:

24/7 Coverage of the Olympic Games: Over 3,800 hours of live coverage and more than 55 live event feeds across all 19 days of competition 
Access to unlimited app content: EE TV customers will have full access to the discovery+ app, the streaming home of the Olympics and the only place in the UK where EE TV customers can watch every single moment of the Games live
Extra features to enjoy for the duration of Paris 24: Enjoy innovative discovery+ features including in-player timeline markers, identifying key in-event activity so viewers can directly navigate to a point in time and never miss a moment that matters and gold medal alerts, informing viewers of imminent unmissable medal moments

EE TV customers on Entertainment and Big Entertainment get discovery+ Basic with their TV package and will have access to discovery+ Standard at no extra cost. Customers on EE TV Sport, Big Sport and Full Works plans can also get discovery+ Premium, which also includes TNT Sports, with their TV package.

In addition, EE TV customers on discovery+ Basic will also get access to the Eurosport linear channels for this period, which will broadcast wall-to-wall action across every day of competition. Finally, customers can also enjoy the full experience on the EE TV App on Apple TV 4K, alongside EE’s own set-top box range – with multi-room option available at no extra charge. Customers will be able to watch live Olympic content on the EE TV app too.

Fixed wireless and UK broadband provider Connexin UK has signed a new deal that will see their Long Range Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN) being expanded to connect up to 900,000 of Northumbrian Water‘s smart meters across the North East, which is something they’ve already done in other parts of the country.

Fixed wireless LoRa networks harness only a small slice of lower frequency radio spectrum (usually in one of the sub-1GHz bands like 868MHz or 915MHz) in order to support relatively slow, but extremely low power, data connections. Such networks tend to run at sub-Megabit speeds (often under 0.05Mbps, but some variants can handle several Megabits), which makes them ideal for linking Internet of Things (IoT) style sensors.

Connexin has already supported a number of other advanced meter infrastructure (AMI) deployment projects, such as with Yorkshire Water. Not to mention their recent agreement with NWL to install over 1 million smart water meters across the South of England for Essex and Suffolk Water.

The latest agreement means that Connexin will provide connectivity to over 330,000 LoRaWAN-enabled water meters for Northumbrian Water by the end of 2029, with a forecast that rises to over 900,000 meters over the 15-year contract.

Gary Adams, Head of Smart Programme at Northumbrian Water, said:

“We are delighted to start our smart water partnership with Connexin in the North East of England to create a smarter, more connected, sustainable future. The new communications network will enable us to capture real-time data across the region and help us to identify and fix leaks faster than ever before, to reduce waste and safeguard our environment.”

The new network will support Northumbrian Water to identify household and network leakage quickly and effectively, reducing the amount of water wasted across the region, and it will also provide households with remote access to hourly water meter readings. The agreement is the fourth major smart water meter contract win for Connexin after Yorkshire Water, Severn Trent Water and Essex and Suffolk Water.

News

Operators will begin shutting down the network technology from August 1

Singapore’s mobile operators have today confirmed that they will begin shutting down their 3G networks in the coming months.

M1 says that it will begin the switch off from the start of next month, while Singtel and StarHub say they will begin to discontinue 3G services from November.

This transition is slightly behind schedule. Last summer, all three operators issued a joint statement saying that they would switch off 3G services by July 31, 2024, saying at the time that there was roughly 100,000 3G subscribers that would need migrating to newer network technology.

M1 says that all its customers have now subscribed to 4G or 5G services, hence it is now able to proceed with the switch off. Singtel and StarHub, however, say that they need more time to migrate straggling customers onto the newer networks.

According to figures from Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority, fewer than 0.1% of mobile subscribers, or less than 9,000 lines, are still using 3G. These customers are currently being contacted by the operators, encouraging them to switch to a 4G-capable device.

Once the 3G networks are shut down, the spectrum previously used will be repurposed to bolster the operators’ 5G networks.

Keep up to date with all of the latest telecoms news from around the world with Total Telecom’s daily newsletter

Also in the news:
Power play: Thailand’s biggest telco to merge with energy giant
Germany implements long-awaited Huawei ban
Telecom Egypt readies for country’s first 5G services

The boss of UK ISP Andrews & Arnold (AAISP), Adrian Kennard, has written somewhat of a spicy open letter to Ofcom – highlighting both their concerns with the preparedness of the organisation (TOTSCo) overseeing development of the new broadband provider switching system and with the regulator’s own “lack of response” to this.

Just to recap. The industry-led One Touch Switching Company (TOTSCo) is responsible for implementing Ofcom’s now heavily delayed One Touch Switch (OTS) migration system for faster and simpler consumer broadband switching between ISPs on physically separate networks, which is currently due to go live on 12th September 2024 (here).

The OTS system was originally intended to go live in April 2023, but it’s since suffered several delays, which is something we’ve covered extensively several times before (here, here and here). Most of the blame for this was placed at the feet of the major providers, with Ofcom singling out BT, Sky Broadband, TalkTalk and Virgin Media (VMO2) for not being able to complete the necessary testing and trials before the revised go-live dates (here).

However, it’s not entirely fair to shift all the blame for this on to the shoulders of ISPs, since Ofcom largely seemed to step back and allow a now heavily fragmented and aggressively competitive industry to figure it out for themselves (a bit like trying to herd cats). Put another way, establishing more effective regulatory leadership earlier on in the process might have avoided all this, but we’ve covered that in previous articles.

The problem today relates to the challenge of getting the system being developed by TOTSCo ready in time. Suffice to say that if you’ve been following Adrian Kennard’s blogs on the subject, then you’ll know there are still a lot of bugs, issues with a lack of standardisation, questionable processes and other obstacles that could make it difficult for OTS to reach the current deadline.

At the same time, ISPs appear to be coming under increasing pressure from Ofcom to be ready in time, even though they are all now dependent upon TOTSCo getting their act together in order to do that. All of this recently boiled over into Adrian’s latest open letter.

Open Letter from A&A CEO to Ofcom

I am quite disappointed at the lack of response at all to this.

You sent us a letter, and I have replied by email, and letter.

I have not even had an acknowledgement of my email, nor letter.

I have serious concerns about the way TOTSCO are operating, and would be interested in engaging (constructively) with OFCOM on this.

I am seriously concerned at the whole way specification and testing is being done.

We have completed all testing at TOSTCO, but it was a total joke. ZERO testing against any reference system, nor against the specification, at any point. The only practical testing is pot luck against another CP that has not yet passed testing, and just hope one or the other pick up any issues.

Specifications which are unclear, incomplete, contradictory, and just plain wrong, now subject to a “change freeze” at the very time lots of CPs are trying to meet those specifications.

And the latest is a bulletin suggesting better handling of messages which basically changes the specification such that some CPs will not work properly with some other CPs, even after both passing all testing, and nobody will know until the 12st September.

If OFCOM are not interested in making this happen properly, then that is your choice, ultimately, but if that is the case have the guts to remove it from the GCs and give up on it.

Some of us are trying to make it work and running in to a lot of problems. I have even set up a complete OTS testing platform, because TOTSCO don’t actually have one, and made it free to the many CPS using it now. This really should not have been necessary. It is the least I could do though.

When I say TOTSCO don’t have one, I mean it – their “simulator” generates a few fixed (and hence invalid) message responses only, and their production integration test (PIT) seemed to involve them hand crafting messages, one of which was invalid, even!

Hundreds of small CPs are, right now, trying to comply with this crazy system, and they really are struggling.

—
Adrian Kennard
Director
Andrews & Arnold Ltd

Naturally, we raised these concerns with both TOTSCo and the regulator. TOTSCo declined to comment but did inform us that they were currently reviewing the concerns raised by Adrian’s letter, while Ofcom say they have now responded to A&A and have offered a meeting to discuss the concerns.

A spokesperson for Ofcom told ISPreview:

“We have responded to A&A, offering a meeting to discuss their concerns.

One Touch Switch was one of the options put forward by industry to implement our new simpler switching rules, and TOTSCo was established by industry to help deliver the new process.

We are engaging regularly with industry and doing everything we can to support them in getting the new system up and running as quickly as possible.”

We should point out that some of the problems being raised by A&A are well known within the industry (i.e. it’s not solely an issue for one provider), although it’s rare that we get to hear about such things in public as they’re normally handled behind closed doors. On the other hand, there’s still time for a lot of bugs to be squashed before the deadline, with TOTSCo now entering the final ramp-up stage of trials before launch.

However, we wouldn’t be surprised to see a small additional delay creep in and that might even be for the best, particularly since launching the new system in an unfinished state may risk doing much more harm to consumers than good.

Mobile UK network analyst firm Streetwave has published the first results from their work with the Growing Mid Wales (GMW) programme, which uses bin lorries to map local network (4G, 5G etc.) coverage and broadband performance. Overall, none of the mobile operators provided “Good Coverage” across more than 50% of Powys’ road network, but EE does come top (49%).

The use of bin collections to map mobile coverage and data performance is one that has only recently started to become popular (here, here and here). In this setup, refuse collection vehicles are installed with four off-the-shelf Smartphones using software from Streetwave on top, which run continuous network tests (once every 20 metres in rural areas and 5m in urban areas) as the vehicles go about their routes.

The data this produces is typically much more accurate than the flaky estimates of mobile coverage that are so often produced by network operators and Ofcom, which is because bin lorries need to go down almost every single road in order to conduct their collections and do so on a weekly basis. Suffice to say that this makes them a uniquely useful resource for conducting this sort of study.

Streetwave itself typically deems an operator to have delivered “Good Coverage” where their network provides users with mobile broadband performance of at least 5Mbps download, 2Mbps upload, and below 40ms (milliseconds) latency. These are said to be speeds where “most ordinary use cases” including internet browsing, video streaming or conference calls can be performed.

The average level of “Good Coverage” across the operators in Powys was found to be just 40%. But Streetwave also identified “large areas affected by total not-spots” in the region. Across 20.4% of Powys, there was not a single operator who could deliver download speeds above 5Mbps. Likewise, across 35.9% of Powys, no operators could deliver upload speeds above 2Mbps.

Levels of Good Mobile Coverage in Powys (May 2024)

Mobile Operator
‘Good Coverage’ in Powys

1 – EE (BT)
49%

2 – Vodafone
46%

3 – O2 (Virgin Media)
39%

4 – Three UK
26%

In addition, the survey also identified areas that could deliver so-called “Essential Coverage“, which reflects locations able to deliver performance of at least 1Mbps download, 0.5Mbps upload speeds and below 100ms latency. The figures are naturally a bit higher here, although trying to use the modern internet at such speeds can be excruciating.

Levels of Essential Mobile Coverage in Powys (May 2024)

Mobile Operator
‘Essential Coverage’ in Powys

1 – EE (BT)
69%

2 – Vodafone
66%

3 – O2 (Virgin Media)
57%

4 – Three UK
53%

The results from this project will now be used by GMW to identify digitally excluded communities across Mid Wales and to potentially deliver targeted connectivity interventions to improve the situation. Results from Ceredigion will also be published soon.

Streetwave has so far conducted similar bin lorry-based surveys in 30 local authority areas during 2024 (many of these are ongoing) and they’re now in discussions with another 50 councils. In an ideal world, all of this data would need to be made available to consumers via a visual interactive map in order for it to be truly helpful, although a basic address checker is anticipated.