Altnets embarking on network expansion programmes quickly run into trouble when confronted with high rise flats and mixed-use residential and commercial buildings in Britain.

Gaps in data around the classification and characteristics of these types of buildings prevents the smooth running of operational rollouts, or targeted sales and marketing strategies from reaching the different occupiers inside.

Problems such as not knowing how much cable or pipework is required for a job, not knowing what tools need to be on-site, or not knowing what type of staffing expertise will be needed to work on a specific type of building mount up.

Or having no idea who owns the piece of land around a building that must be accessed or dug up for work to be able to start.

Without the correct data or insight for complex buildings, overcoming these issues becomes time-consuming, resource heavy and results in missing out on prospects to competitors, or the full extent of business opportunities for a building going undetected.

Similar issues can affect altnets when they tackle complex sites such as schools, hospitals and factories.

Complex Building Intelligence

Ordnance Survey (OS) has unveiled a major step forward for dealing with this problem by compiling a concept called Complex Building Intelligence for its partner channel* to deliver.

Introduced at the Connected Britain event in September 2023 to a significant buzz among players in the altnet industry, Complex Building Intelligence allows users to identify and classify multi-dwelling units through a location analytics service.

The analytics pulls data from multiple sources into one new single layer, combining OS’s addressing, topographic and building height data with HM Land Registry** and Royal Mail PAF data.

Attributes such as building geometry (e.g size and shape), building height, functional use of buildings (e.g retail or education), key infrastructure sites (e.g hospitals), Unique Property Reference Numbers*** and tenure data for England and Wales (e.g registered owner or leaseholders) for complex buildings, are all available in one place.

The full analytics service contains 7.2 million addresses shown within 1.2m buildings around Britain.

The solution incorporates HMLR Title Number data and information about land ownership. For altnets, this streamlines the wayleave consent process when installing telecoms equipment on private land. It also means altnets are no longer forced to licence HMLR and OS data separately when seeking correct land ownership data for sites.

OS’s Strategic Product Manager Richard Crump said: “We have observed the challenges surrounding complex building that telecoms providers face for some time.

“Having listened and had conversations about these difficulties with many voices in the industry, OS has gone away and developed a solution for its partners that provides a single source of truth in one place.

“Complex Building Intelligence basically removes all the complexity of data management – whether that’s collating the data or querying it.

“It’s a simple, easy-to-use analytics service, kept up to date by experts, that’s ready to load into anyone’s network planning or GIS software.

“It enables better planning and cost efficiencies because users can identify complex properties ahead of time, particularly when organising attending premises for works.

“Having that data at a click of a button reduces the time needed for planning which means quicker roll out, improved customer service and an advantage over competitors.”

OS support

Richard added: “OS provides the expertise to help support the OS partner channel use Complex Buildings Intelligence. We help the telecoms industry easily identify buildings with multiple residential units, or mixed use residential and commercial buildings. We can help pinpoint commercial use buildings with multiple tenants and identify important land ownership information from HMLR.

“We can also help identify building heights where additional equipment for working at heights may be needed.

“The service takes from OS’s National Geographic Database, the advantage being that complex buildings with extensions or separate structures can be dissolved into a single shape.

“Plus, the data involved is updated quarterly so everyone in the industry is kept informed as new developments come on the system.”

More information about Complex Building Intelligence is available here.

Notes for editors

*OS Channel Partners leverage their expertise, so their customers benefit from premium OS data sets through their bespoke solutions and services. This expands the reach of OS and its customer base and it brings with it a sector expertise and market knowledge.

**HM Land Registry data available comes from the HLMR National Polygon Service and Corporate Ownership.

***Unique Property Reference Numbers serve as a unique identifier for an addressable location, whether that’s a building, bus stop or post box — think of it as a national insurance number or car registration plate for a location.

The latest data from UK-leading fraud prevention service, Cifas, shows a sharp rise in criminals targeting the telecoms sector to carry out facility takeover fraud.

More than 374,000 cases were filed to the National Fraud Database (NFD) in 2023, and of this, cases of facility takeover fraud – where a criminal utilises compromised personal data to hijack an existing account or product – increased by 13%. This was primarily attributed to a 59% rise in filings from the telecoms sector, which now accounts for 2 in 5 of all facility takeover cases.

Previous data showed identity fraud was the favoured tactic for criminals when fraudulently obtaining mobile phones and products. However, while this type of fraud still accounts for 64% of all cases recorded to the NFD, 2023’s figures reveal that criminals prefer to impersonate telecoms customers and abuse their personal data for their own nefarious purposes.

Additionally, mobile users aged 61 and over were most at risk of being defrauded, accounting for nearly one in four (27%) of all facility takeover cases last year.

Duncan McLellan, Senior Intelligence Analyst at Cifas, said: “The data shows how quickly criminals are prepared to adapt their methods to exploit innocent people. By impersonating network operators, often via carefully devised scripts, their aim is to build trust and collect personal information before using it fraudulently to reap ill-gotten gains.

“When reports suggest there are now more mobile phones in the world than people, the telecoms industry remains a lucrative market to exploit. That’s why sharing fraud data and intelligence remains critical if we’re to put a stop to organised crime and the wider impact it has on society.”

Hamish MacLeod, Chief Executive of Mobile UK, said: “Mobile UK calls on all mobile consumers to remain vigilant. Fraudsters are an ongoing problem faced by all UK phone networks, but we hope that by sharing tips and guidance it may help prevent mobile network consumers falling victim.

“Protecting customers from fraudulent mobile scams is and remains a top priority for all operators and they continue to invest in new measures to help monitor and protect them.”

Andy Mayo, Head of Fraud at Sky UK, added: “The nature and appeal of mobile devices means that fraudsters are constantly evolving tactics to get their hands on the latest handsets. We are regularly updating our defences to stop as much fraud as possible, but there are important steps that all consumers can take to help keep themselves protected too.”

Seven ways mobile users can protect themselves from facility takeover

Never divulge personal information or hand over any bank details.
Don’t feel rushed/pressured into a decision you might regret later.
If you do sense something isn’t right, hang up and call the company they claim to be from to check if it is a scam or not.
Check your credit file and bank account regularly.
Report any fraud to Action Fraud here or call: 0300 123 2040.
Read the latest advice from the ‘Stop! Think Fraud’ campaign.
Protect your identity through Cifas’ Protective Registration service which costs £30 for two years’ cover.

In 2023, Cifas member organisations prevented more than £1.8bn of fraud losses. See more data in the 2024 Cifas Fraudscape report.

MADRID, Spain, July 18 2024 – Telxius, a leading global connectivity provider, is scaling its core and edge network infrastructure to 400G with a Converged Optical Routing Architecture (CORA) provided by Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR), a leader in secure AI-Native Networks. This will enable a simplified network capacity expansion and efficient delivery of enhanced connectivity to metro networks and data center interconnects (DCI). It provides connectivity across distances of around 100 km to points of presence (PoPs) across Telxius’ global footprint in Spain, the Americas, and wider Europe.

Telxius connects millions of customers globally, providing a wide range of capacity, colocation and security services, as well as direct internet connectivity through its Tier-1 IP network. Its extensive ecosystem combines fiber optic submarine cables and terrestrial backhauls together spanning 100,000+ km, almost 100 PoPs in 17 countries, plus 27 data centers. Telxius seamlessly connects customers with ultra-high capacity, low latency and resilient networking.

Telxius will migrate some of its key architecture to Juniper’s CORA and PTX Series Packet Transport Routers to deliver a network that offers robust power and space savings superior performance and automated operations. This will free up a substantial amount of reserved bandwidth and allow for flexible extension to 400G capacity. The project will create enhanced connectivity for Telxius’ customers and create a more sustainable architecture by optimizing network scalability and bandwidth efficiency.

The solution leverages leading edge technology with the use of an IP over Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (IPoDWDM) solution. This maximizes routing platform capacity, scales up link bandwidth, and can reach more network locations and customers whilst removing the need to manage and maintain external DWDM equipment.

Using Juniper’s CORA, Telxius will simplify the network architecture by consolidating previously siloed IP and optical network layers into a unified system leveraging IPoDWDM. Once the project is complete, Telxius expects to increase network reliability for its customers, simplify network operations and substantially reduce power consumption.

“This project is a fantastic step forward to bring added scalability and capacity to the Telxius network through 400G coherent pluggable optics, meeting our customers’ needs in today’s ever-growing digital economy. Telxius is at the forefront of innovation, ensuring reduced power consumption and a simplified network architecture to provide a better experience for our customers. We anticipate a number of vendor-agnostic solutions that could support this architecture, and we are excited to collaborate with Juniper to build a solid foundation for further network expansion,” said Carlos Dasi, CTO, Telxius.

“400G optics are a highly reliable solution to further enhance Telxius’ infrastructure to enable the best experience for customers. Telxius is leading the way for network innovation with the deployment of Juniper’s PTX and CORA and Juniper is proud to enable this network transformation. Juniper’s optics solutions provide a simplified integration with Juniper infrastructure that allows the customer to scale up and scale out their network in line with their business goals. Built to last, this network transformation will extend Telxius’ network longevity to future-proof the business,” said Julius Francis, Senior Director of Product Marketing, Juniper Networks.

About Telxius

As the world’s needs for uninterrupted global interconnectivity continue to rise, we are preparing the road ahead. Telxius is a leading global connectivity provider that combines subsea and terrestrial networks with data centers worldwide. Its extensive ecosystem includes eight next-generation fiber optic submarine cables and terrestrial backhauls together spanning 100,000+ km, almost 100 PoPs in 17 countries, plus 25 landing stations. Telxius provides a wide range of capacity, colocation and security services, as well as direct internet connectivity through its Tier-1 IP network. With ultra-high capacity, low latency and resilient networking, Telxius seamlessly connects customers across the Americas, Europe and beyond. For more information about Telxius visit www.telxius.com.

Telxius Corporate Comms contact:

comunicacion@telxius.com

About Juniper Networks

Juniper Networks believes that connectivity is not the same as experiencing a great connection. Juniper’s AI-Native Networking Platform is built from the ground up to leverage AI to deliver exceptional, highly secure and sustainable user experiences from the edge to the data center and cloud. Additional information can be found at Juniper Networks (www.juniper.net) or connect with Juniper on X (Twitter), LinkedIn, and Facebook.

Juniper Networks, the Juniper Networks logo, Juniper, Junos, and other trademarks listed here are registered trademarks of Juniper Networks, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Media Relations

Chloe Brown

Juniper Networks

chloeb@juniper.net

+44 (0) 7903746867

News

Sources suggest the US wireless giant is looking to offload between 5,000 and 6,000 mobile towers

This week, reports from Bloomberg suggest that Verizon is exploring the potential sale of up to 6,000 of its telecoms towers situated across the US.

While discussions are still in the early stages and potential suits have not been named, the anonymous sources suggest that the deal could be worth up to $3 billion.

The divestment should not come as a huge surprise. This decade has seen many of the world’s largest telcos divest of or spin off their tower portfolios, including the likes of Vodafone (Vantage Towers), Telefonica (Telxius), and Orange (Totem). More recently, Austria’s A1 has announced it will spin off its tower unit, while Greece’s OTE looks likely to follow suit.

Towers are typically seen as low-risk, long-term investments by the investor community, with both indendent infrastructure companies and private equity showing a strong appetite for the towers in recent years. For the operators, on the other hand, sales or spin offs offer an excellent opportunity to monetise their passive assets. At a time when operators are still spending heavily on rolling out fibre and 5G networks, this cash injection often comes as a much-needed boost.

In the US, however, much of this divestment already took place around 20 years ago, subsequently leading to the rise of a cadre of independent tower giants such as American Tower, Crown Castle, and SBA Communications, which now own and lease access to the majority of the US’s tower infrastructure.

The most recent tower divestments from Verizon themselves came in 2015, when the company sold 11,000 towers to American Tower for $6 billion.

AT&T had similarly sold 9,700 towers to Crown Castle in 2013 for $4.8 billion.

How is the American connectivity landscape changing in 2024? Join the discussion at Connected America live in Texas

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Australian Government and AWS Collaborate to Strengthen country’s Cybersecurity
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Vodafone Invests £120m in AI Chatbot ‘SuperTOBi’

News 

The speech is the first delivered under the new Labour government  

At the state opening of parliament yesterday, the new government set out its agenda for its tenure ahead. At the centre of the event was a speech from the King, written by the new government, which outlines the government’s agenda and proposed policies for the coming parliamentary session.  

Of the 40 bills mentioned in the speech, there were three of relevance to the telco sector: 

The ‘Cyber Security and Resilience Bill’ aims to address the increasing number of cyber threats that the country faces. To prevent cyberattacks, such as the recent cyberattack on London hospitals, this new bill will strengthen the country’s cyber defences, ensure essential cyber safety measures are being implemented fully, and mandating increased incident reporting. 

The ‘Digital Information and Smart Data Bill’ will enable new uses of data to be developed and deployed safely, as well as improving data sharing standards. The bill builds on the news government’s commitment to better serve the British public through science and technology. The bill, the government says, will result in more and better digital public services. 

The ‘Planning and Infrastructure Bill’, according to the King, “will get Britain building, including through planning reform, as they [the government] seek to accelerate the delivery of high-quality infrastructure and housing. They will also pursue sustainable growth by encouraging investment in industry, skills and new technologies.” The planning system will face reform at local level, which will increase the speeds of infrastructure builds. 

The ongoing Project Gigabit, the UK government initiative aimed at providing high-speed, reliable broadband internet to areas that are currently underserved or lack adequate connectivity, was not mentioned directly, and instead was granted a few lines in the party manifesto. The project currently aims to deliver gigabit-capable broadband to at last 85% of UK premises by 2025 and the whole of the UK (roughly 99%) by 2030. 

In the Labour party’s manifesto, published on 13 June, the party blamed the Conservative government for underfunding digital infrastructure, leaving the UK lagging behind its international peers.  

“Under the Conservatives, investment in 5G is falling behind other countries and the rollout of gigabit broadband has been slow. Labour will make a renewed push to fulfil the ambition of full gigabit and national 5G coverage by 2030.” 

It is worth noting here that the King’s speech made no specific mention of the new AI laws the Labour government is expected to introduce, saying only that the government will “seek to establish the appropriate legislation to place requirements on those working to develop the most powerful artificial intelligence models”. 

Join the conversation around the UK’s connectivity landscape at this year’s Connected Britain, 11-12 September in London. Get tickets here! 

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

Network benchmarking firm Opensignal has today published the results of a new study that explored the differences in broadband reliability between urban and rural areas across 18 countries. The study reveals that, among other things, the Nordics, the United Kingdom and Canada all score highly for connection reliability.

Opensignal typically leverages crowdsourced data collected via end-users on their benchmarking app and services. In this case they also harnessed their new Broadband Reliability Experience metric, which uses a 100-1000 point scale to measure broadband experience in a typical household where multiple devices are used simultaneously (i.e. how well a household’s internet copes with real-world scenarios, with multiple users).

For example, one of their metrics for this identified that 25Mbps “was the right downlink threshold to define a connection as reliable“, but they also looked at the entire user experience – from establishing a connection to successfully completing tasks like streaming video, browsing the web, and scrolling through social media. It then captures the end-to-end reliability experience by analysing the two most popular internet protocols – TCP (transmission control protocol) and UDP (user datagram protocol).

Overall, the study found that Sweden, Norway, United Kingdom, Canada, Japan and the United States all made it into the Higher Reliability (overall score above 650) category at the top of the table, while India, Colombia, Mexico, the Philippines, and Indonesia were all at the bottom with Lower Reliability (under 500).

The study also found that the Broadband Reliability Experience is, on average, 23% higher in urban areas than in rural areas across all markets analysed. There are a few reasons for this. But this isn’t too surprising, as urban areas typically benefit from a more competitive choice of often faster broadband ISPs and networks, while rural areas usually see less choice and are frequently among the last to benefit from network upgrades.

For example, Ofcom’s 2023 Connected Nations report noted that “superfast broadband” (30Mbps+) coverage remains at 97% (29.1m premises) across the UK, but this falls to 88% in rural areas (up from 86% last year). Similarly, gigabit-capable broadband stood at 78%, but that fell to 45% in rural areas.

Interestingly the study found that countries with the highest Broadband Reliability Experience scores are also those with limited infrastructure sharing but targeted subsidies for private rural investment. This suggests that encouraging wider infrastructure sharing in the UK might not be the magic fix that some politicians hope – there are complex reasons for this (details).

Finally, Colombia was found to be the country with the “widest disparity” between rural and urban areas for the broadband reliability experience, with a difference of 176 points in absolute terms (about 38% lower rural Broadband Reliability Experience than urban). This is partially due to geographical barriers (e.g. diverse and rugged terrain), which make it difficult and expensive to lay new broadband, power, backhaul capacity and other vital infrastructure.

London-focused UK business internet provider Vorboss, which has rolled out a 100Gbps capable full fibre network across the city centre, has today announced that they’ve appointed two new chiefs to their top leadership team – Jason O’Malley as Chief of Commercial Operations (CCO) and Malcolm Puddefoot joins as Chief Revenue Officer (CRO).

Just to recap. Vorboss has spent the past few years deploying 500km of their own dedicated point-to-point fibre optic cables across Central London (covering most of zones 1 and 2), which we’re told is enough to potentially connect all commercial buildings in the area to their direct internet access and Ethernet network. The operator has now switched to focus on growing their take-up.

The operator has now switched to focus on growing their take-up and hence the creation of two new commercial roles. Jason O’Malley joins as CCO, having previously been at Zayo and BT, while Malcolm Puddefoot joins as CRO, coming from Colt Technology. The appointments will ensure Vorboss can meet the growing demand for highly reliable, high-quality fibre from London’s businesses. Vorboss has invested £250 million into building its network in central London.

Jason will thus oversee the company’s commercial and marketing operations, while Malcolm will drive revenue performance and sales initiatives across direct, indirect and strategic partner sales channels.

Tim Creswick, CEO of Vorboss, said:

“We’re bringing in high quality industry leaders who will be instrumental in making our fibre network available to new partners and customers. Jason and Malcolm bring hugely valuable experience, but they both also know that things in our industry can be done differently, and better. They’re here at Vorboss to deliver a new way of connecting London’s business community.”

The UK telecoms and media regulator, Ofcom, has launched a new consultation that will update and extend their information gathering policy, which largely reflects the fact that they’ve gained new powers to extract information from companies and broadband providers etc. to support their work.

Ofcom’s existing policy on information gathering was published in March 2005, although they last consulted on changes in 2015, which led to significant adjustments in their practical processes including the establishment of the Information Registry, a dedicated team to deal with the coordination of our information gathering activities.

Since 2005, the regulator has also been given additional information gathering powers under legislation which requires them to publish a statement of general policy (including in relation to post and telecoms security). “We consider now is an appropriate time to update our policy to reflect our new processes and additional powers,” said Ofcom.

However, Ofcom aren’t required to publish a policy for all of their information gathering powers, and this new policy will thus not apply where they have separately set out how they intend to exercise their information gathering powers under another regime.

For example, the regulator has published separate guidance in relation to their information gathering powers under the Network and Information Systems Regulations 2018. In addition, they also intend to consult shortly on separate standalone guidance on how they will exercise their new information gathering powers under the Online Safety Act 2023.

What we are proposing – in brief

• To expand the general policy to cover additional information gathering powers we have acquired since 2005 under legislation which requires us to publish a statement of general policy (including in relation to post) and clarify the scope of the policy under other legislation.

• To update and clarify the text to reflect our experience of issuing statutory information notices in practice, having regard to the responses to our 2015 consultation.

• To provide further detail on how we will handle statutory information notices including:

o the role of the Information Registry and how it coordinates information gathering for Ofcom;
o where we may make use of information provided voluntarily;
o typical processes including the issuing of draft statutory information notices;
o use of information including disclosure and confidentiality;
o record retention and personal data; and
o information security.

• To clarify our approach to enforcement and what we expect from stakeholders when responding to a statutory information notice.

Ofcom are now seeking feedback on all this from stakeholders and they aim to publish an outcome by the end of 2024, assuming no problems arise.

News

The Commission will close its four-year antitrust investigation into Apple’s mobile payment platform Apple Pay following the US tech giant’s decision to open up its tap-and-go payments tech to third parties

The European Commission (EC) has announced that it will close its investigation into anticompetitive practices related to Apple’s iPhone’s contactless payments policies.

The investigation was opened four years ago, when European regulators took issue with the fact that Apple would not allow third-parties access to the iPhone’s Near Field Communications (NFC) technology, in effect forcing customers to use Apple’s Apple Pay platform if they wated to make contactless payments.

The EC accused Apple of using its dominant market position to suppress competition – a charge that is all too familiar to Apple, who was simultaneously fighting numerous additional antitrust cases brought by the EC, including against iOS.

Apple fought against these accusations for almost four years, before presenting the EC with a number of concessions back in January. These concessions included a new set of application programming interfaces (APIs) that would allow approved developers to make use of the iPhone’s NFC capabilities.

Now, after testing these concessions and verifying with interested third parties, the EC says that it is happy the matter is resolved and so will close its investigation.

“The European Commission has made commitments offered by Apple legally binding under EU antitrust rules,” reads the official announcement. “The commitments address the Commission’s competition concerns relating to Apple’s refusal to grant rivals access to a standard technology used for contactless payments with iPhones in stores (‘Near-Field-Communication (NFC)’ or ‘tap and go’).”

“From now on, Apple can no longer use its control over the iPhone ecosystem to keep other mobile wallets out of the market,” explained Commissioner Margrethe Vestager. “Competing wallet developers, as well as consumers, will benefit from these changes, opening up innovation and choice, while keeping payments secure.”

These new policies apply to Apple devices registered within the European Economic Area, spanning 30 countries. They do not, however, resolve the issue in the USA, where NFC payments are part of a wider antitrust lawsuit currently being brought against Apple for monopolising the smartphone market.

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

Also in the news:
Australian Government and AWS Collaborate to Strengthen country’s Cybersecurity
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London focused broadband ISP G.Network, which has spent the past few years building a gigabit speed Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network across parts of the city centre (here), has completed the “first phase” of a new deployment with the Peabody Trust – extending their fibre optic service to more homes across Camden and Westminster.

The curiously named Peabody Trust is said to be one of the UK’s oldest not-for-profit housing association and their partnership with G.Network has, since the first installation in January 2024, enabled “hundreds of customers” to be covered by FTTP broadband – often without the need for multiple individual wayleave agreements (legal land/property access deals).

Residents living in Peabody homes have also been able to benefit from G.Network’s social tariff, Essential Fibre. The tariff provides eligible residents with access to 50Mbps full fibre broadband for just £15 a month, enabling G.Network to break down the digital divide and reduce social poverty by financially supporting Peabody residents.

The agreement with Peabody follows the announcement of a partnership with Islington Council and Greater London Authority (GLA) late last year, with the full fibre provider continuing to expand its network across the capital to “meet growing demand in 2024“. But at the same time G.Network are allegedly said to be exploring the potential of a future sale of their network (here).

Kevin Murphy, CEO of G.Network, said:

“G.Network is ambitious about improving connectivity across the capital, as it is an essential part of Londoner’s daily lives. Far too often customers are experiencing frustrating delays caused by the complexity of wayleave agreements. Reflecting on our partnership with Peabody allows us to recognise the importance of removing physical and social barriers to connectivity. We are delighted to have strategic partners like Peabody, onboard, enabling us to better connect Londoners by rolling our full-fibre network fairly and affordably across the boroughs”.

Residential customers of the service typically pay from £19 per month for a 150Mbps (50Mbps upload) service on a 24-month term with free installation (£24 thereafter), which rises to £30 for their top 900Mbps plan (£35 thereafter). Shorter 12 and 1 month contracts are also available, albeit at extra cost, and a symmetric speed 900Mbps plan also exists.

Today’s news follows shortly after the operator secured an additional investment of £85m from long term equity investor USS to support their “next phase of growth“ (here), which was on top of last year’s commitment by the same investor for “up to an additional” £150m (here).