Insight

Amid the increasing network complexities driven by the growing usage of Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications, telecom solutions provider Huawei, in partnership with telecom operators is intensifying efforts to commercially deploy AI across their networks

The operators are leveraging 5G-Advanced (5G-A) technology capabilities and AI applications to make the telecom networks intelligent, energy efficient, automated, secure, and adaptive, thus boosting productivity and saving costs.  

“Our goal is to bring AI to networks. To achieve this, we will, for our part, shift from a solution provider to a co-builder of intelligent networks,” said Eric Zhao, Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Huawei Wireless Solution at the MWC Shanghai 2024 for the 5G-A & AI Roundtable on June 25.  

This is significant as with the advent of 5G, 5G-advanced technologies and AI in everything, data traffic has been increasing widely, thereby requiring intelligent networks for traffic management. In fact, predictive network maintenance and reduced downtime, along with real-time analytics, are also the need of the hour for telcos to improve end-user experience. 

5G-A or 5.5G, is an upgrade to 5G technology, with improved speeds, latency, capacity, and energy efficiency. Lately, China has been leading in testing and deployment of 5G-A networks and operators are looking to commercially deploy the network in 2024.  

Boosting Network Performance with RAN Intelligent Agent 

Huawei, which has been leading the charge in works around 5G-A, says AI to 5G-A networks will prove effective in boosting network productivity. The company has built Radio Access Network (RAN) Intelligent Agent that provides copilots or virtual assistants to support role-based chatbots and agents to support scenario-based solution automation in telecom networks. RAN is one of the key domains of telecom networks. It uses radio frequency to connect mobile devices with the core network.   

“We believe that the co-growth of RAN Intelligent Agent and networks will create more extensive business value, transform networks more rapidly, and lead our industry into a new era of intelligence,” said Zhao. In the first phase of deployment of RAN Intelligent Agent, the company looks to cover 1,000 site engineers and 10,000 sites across Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Bangkok, Jinan, and Shenzhen, and more cities within a half year. 

One of the use cases of RAN Intelligent Agent pertains to fruit farmers, who can show their consumers the quality of fruits through live streaming on 5G-A. For a high-definition live streaming experience, uplink is important, and Huawei solutions in telecom networks ensure that in real time. 

Similarly, for automated network operations and maintenance (O&M), Huawei believes that the RAN Intelligent Agent can operate stably for thousands of hours, maximizing performance automatically while keeping energy consumption as low as possible. 

“In future, telecom networks will be able to resolve issues automatically. With copilot and intelligent agents we intend to improve O&M and network efficiency for telcos,” Zhao said.  

Chinese Telcos: Effectively Leveraging AI To Acquire New Capabilities  

China Unicom, one of the major telecom operators, is looking to leverage the Open Gateway framework for AI integration into networks. Open Gateway is a framework by GSMA (Global System for Mobile Communications Association) that consists of common network APIs (Application Programming Interface) designed to provide universal access to operator networks for developers.  

This helps developers and cloud providers deploy services rapidly across operator networks via single access points to the world’s largest connectivity platform. 

“China Unicom deeply integrates open models with its commercial services to display the business value of network capabilities,” said Yang Jianjian of China Unicom at the 5G-A& AI Roundtable. The company is open to new partnerships to increase the adoption of AI in networks. 

The company is also leveraging its network capability openness platform, which aggregates capabilities such as resources, data, AI, fault identification, instructions, and cloud communications and integrates operational services.  

China Mobile also echoed the views on deploying AI into the networks, as it is through AI that the potential of technologies like 5G-A can be maximized. The company is trying to be a comprehensive solution provider by integrating AI and connectivity.  

“We don’t have to wait until 6G to have coordination of services and network. Now is the time to combine 5G-A and AI,” said Deng Wei, Head of Wireless and Device Research Center at China Mobile. Wei emphasized intent-driven communication with 5G-A networks, wherein AI can be leveraged to improve the effectiveness of data transfers. 

Intent-driven communication involves leveraging AI to deliver a personalized experience to users by understanding their preferences and needs. “AI is helping to improve energy savings. Platforms can make predictions and also conduct analysis,” Wei said. 

According to Shaun Collins, Executive Chairman of CCS Insight, telecom operators require 5G Standalone as a foundational technology network to benefit from AI and 5G-A. “5G networks need to be even more responsive with better latencies, be more reliable and faster,” said Collins.  

Further, he said using AI would also make private networks easier to manage, thereby boosting the enterprise take-up of AI applications. Across China, there are 27,900 private networks that are deployed. According to CCS Insight, operators will face an enormous compute challenge and opportunity with over 4-8 billion parameters operational on devices. 

Press Release

[Copenhagen, Denmark, June 19, 2024] The Autonomous Networks Summit was held during DTW 2024. Distinguished guests, including executives and representatives from China Mobile, TM Forum, Vodafone, Telefonica, Huawei, Ericsson, and AsiaInfo, as well as Professor Joseph Sifakis, the winner of the 2007 Turing Award, delivered speeches and engaged in discussions about the Level 4 development path. During the summit, industry partners jointly released the Autonomous Networks Level 4 industry blueprint: high-value scenarios. 

This report introduces the Autonomous Networks (AN) Level 4 industry blueprint, which includes the vision and objectives, value scenarios, technology architecture, and evolution path. It serves as a valuable reference for communications service providers (CSPs) looking to plan and deploy AN Level 4. TM Forum has selected 15 high-value scenarios based on service and operations value and technology maturity for CSPs to prioritize when implementing Level 4. Additionally, TM Forum has proposed the integration of AI and GenAI into the three-layer AN architecture to develop role-specific copilots and scenario-specific agents. Furthermore, TM Forum has defined the overall AN Level 4 evolution plan. The plan focuses on achieving single-domain closed-loop autonomy in maintenance and optimization scenarios in phase 1. In phase 2, the plan focuses on implementing end-to-end closed-loop autonomy in complex scenarios. 

During the event themed ‘L4 is Coming’, a diverse group of guests shared their thoughts on Level 4 high-value scenarios, key challenges, solutions, and practical experiences. The discussions centered around the journey towards achieving Level 4. 

In the welcome speech, Nik Willetts, TM Forum CEO, said, “ As one of TM Forum Missions, Autonomous Networks not only improve the O&M efficiency and user experience, but also enables operators to efficiently innovate new services and products, and unlock the new revenue opportunities.” 

Dr Li Huidi, Vice President of China Mobile, emphasized in his speech that “As 5G, AI and other technologies quickly develop, we are writing a new chapter of history. To achieve AN Level 4, we propose the following suggestions. First, we must seize the opportunities for innovation and encourage various organizations to collaborate on the development of an AN standards system. Second, we must advance industry collaboration and develop a new ecosystem for converged development. Then, we must widely promote international collaboration based on the concept of mutual benefits.” 

“Autonomous Networks are an advanced integration of AI and networks, and Highly Autonomous Networks need to be achieved phase by phase. We must integrate an AI agent architecture to networks, while ensuring trustworthy systems and network group intelligence.” said Professor Joseph Sifakis, while presenting his solutions to AN L4+ technical challenges. 

As a representative of leading vendors, Dang Wenshuan, Huawei’s Chief Strategy Architect, stated, “Autonomous Networks are currently witnessing tremendous progress. We suggest that the industry take Level 4 as a new starting point and adhere to five principles, which are single-domain autonomy, cross-domain collaboration, value-driven, visualization, and productization. We should develop scenario-specific AI agents and role-specific copilot apps as products and professional services to achieve a quantum leap to Autonomous Networks Level 4.” 

Reaching Level 4 will be a gradual and long-term process that requires step-by-step and phase-by-phase implementation. The Level 4 industry blueprint is anticipated to serve as a valuable guide for the industry as it progresses towards Level 4. All industry stakeholders are dedicated to working together to drive the transformation of the telecom industry towards Highly Autonomous Networks. 

About Autonomous Networks Summit 

Autonomous Networks (AN) was jointly proposed by TM Forum and industry partners, including carriers and vendors in 2019, aiming to make services quicker, cheaper and simpler to deploy and manage. After five years of development, AN has achieved remarkable milestones in industry consensus, standardization and practical implementation. Autonomous Networks Summit is a communication platform for industry leaders to share their practices, thoughts, and viewpoints around AN and discuss how to collaborate to advance AN development. 

Mobile network operator Vodafone has today announced that they will donate “up to” 75,000 free mobile data (broadband) and calling SIMs, as part of this year’s Wimbledon Championships (tennis), to help both digitally excluded people and sports clubs to cross the digital divide.

The reason why the figure is being expressed as “up to” is because the number of mobile SIMs that Vodafone chooses to donate will, for some reason of marketing, be based on the fastest serves recorded by IBM during Wimbledon. This will be done by multiplying the final MPH (Miles Per Hour) number by 14 – the number of days the event runs.

Based on the fastest serves recorded by IBM during last year’s Wimbledon, this could mean 71,148 donations provided to people, businesses, and communities without access to digital connectivity. On the other hand, they could have just skipped the gimmicks and handed out 75,000 SIMs. But perhaps that was just a bit too easy for Vodafone’s marketing department.

The initiative comes as research by Vodafone claims that 43% of Brits admit they’d find it difficult to identify opportunities to get involved in sports without digital connectivity, while 33% would struggle to do so for their children. Furthermore, 31% say they use digital connectivity to find out information about local sports clubs, book themselves into classes or sessions (27%) and to get hold of required kit and equipment (18%).

Over a quarter (26%) rely on the internet to connect with other people, such as other parents, who are involved in local sports clubs, while 12% use it to book their children into sports classes. In fact, 63% of new sports club sign-ups – for adults and parents doing so for their children – are all done online.

Nicki Lyons, Chief Corporate Affairs and Sustainability Officer at Vodafone UK, said:

“As the Official Connectivity Partner to The Championships, we recognise that the digital divide extends to the world of sport. Many individuals, communities and businesses lack the necessary connectivity to fully participate in and enjoy sports activities. This divide poses a barrier to accessing training resources, engaging with sports communities, and even promoting local clubs effectively.

Our everyone.connected initiative is designed to help address these challenges. By providing essential digital resources and support, we aim to empower sports enthusiasts and the organisers of grassroots clubs and businesses – who are often volunteers – to ensure that more people in sport can benefit from the opportunities that connectivity brings.”

The Connect Better challenge is part of Vodafone’s everyone.connected programme, which ultimately aims to help 4 million people and businesses to cross the digital divide by the end of 2025 (they’ve already distributed over 2.2m SIMs). The SIMs they supply typically come with 40GB of mobile broadband data every month, as well as unlimited texts and calls. But the free period only lasts for 6 months.

Rural-focused broadband ISP and alternative UK network builder Wessex Internet, which is deploying a gigabit speed full fibre (FTTP) service across parts of Dorset, Wiltshire, Hampshire and Somerset in England, has opened a new base in Codford to help supply their ever expanding rollout efforts in Wiltshire.

The civil engineering yard will employ at least 15 people, including ploughing and drilling teams who will build the fibre cable network, engineers who are qualified to work with overhead and underground cables, surveyors, and planners. It is positioned conveniently close to the main junction of the A303 and A36, making the location accessible to workers from across the region.

The new yard joins existing bases near to Yeovil in Somerset and Ringwood in Hampshire, and the company’s HQ near Blandford Forum in Dorset. The new staff are needed to help Wessex Internet deliver on their recently secured £18.8m (state aid) Project Gigabit roll-out contract for “around” 14,500 additional hard-to-reach premises across rural parts of South Wiltshire (here).

The contract will expand the provider’s existing network in the Wylye Valley area – going across the Salisbury Plain, connecting villages surrounding Amesbury to the east and going as far north as Chisbury and Little Bedwyn. Construction of that network is due to start in September 2024 and the first properties are planned to be connected by the end of 2024.

Ed Carter, Wiltshire Project Manager for Wessex Internet, said:

“Since being awarded this contract in March, our teams have been working hard to plan the best way to bring ultrafast broadband to rural and presently underserved communities across South Wiltshire. This is a five-year project, so the roll-out will reach areas at different stages.

“However, we’ve now reached the exciting stage of being ready to start the network build in September, meaning we’re looking for colleagues to join our team at a new base in Codford. We are looking for people with a background in utilities, construction, telecoms, agriculture, or the military. Our innovative approach to building in the countryside requires people who know how to develop understanding with local communities and landowners, and who show respect and care for the landscape in which they work.

“In return, we offer excellent pay and benefits for the right candidates, which over recent months has attracted many people to join Wessex Internet from utility companies and careers in agriculture. Unlike many jobs in the sector, we provide generous paid holiday, sick leave and family leave, private medical insurance and life assurance, and perks including tax-free schemes to buy tech gadgets and bicycles.”

The company has already rolled out its infrastructure to more than 3,000 properties in Wiltshire in areas such as East Knoyle and West Knoyle, Donhead St Andrew, Fisherton De La Mere and Corton. The operator’s existing UK network footprint is currently said to cover “tens of thousands of homes” (some of this may include their old fixed wireless network too), while their business plan targets an “additional” 150,000 premises by 2027 through a combination of subsidised and unsubsidised capital investment.

Prices for their full fibre packages start at £29 per month for a 100Mbps (15Mbps upload) tier on a 12-month term, but this only comes with a meagre 100GB data allowance (£44 for unlimited), and you’ll have to pay £49 (one-off) for activation. By comparison, their top unlimited usage plan will give 900Mbps (450Mbps upload) for £79 per month.

Several credible sources have now informed ISPreview that two well established alternative network providers – County Broadband and Truespeed, both of which have been rolling out gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) lines across remote rural parts of England for several years, are allegedly preparing to announce a merger agreement.

At present Truespeed, which is mostly focused upon serving rural premises in parts of Devon, Wiltshire and Somerset, has already covered over 100,000 premises RFS (up from 75k in May 2023) and they’re home to over 21,000 customers. The operator originally held an “ambitious” overall target of reaching 500,000 properties by the end of 2026, but that may have taken a backseat after last year’s job losses and build slowdown (here).

Meanwhile, County Broadband has been busy rolling out their own FTTP network across rural parts of Cambridgeshire, Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk in England (i.e. they’ve been building to over 250 villages, but we haven’t had any detail on premises passed or customer totals). The operator once held a similar ambition of reaching 500,000 premises by the end of 2027, but that too suffered a setback last year after they confirmed redundancies (here).

Both network operators are thus known to have been under many of the same strains as other players in the wider UK market, which typically stems from issues related to rising build costs, high interest rates (i.e. harder to secure fresh investment) and the difficulties of growing consumer take-up in such a competitive market. The situation has already resulted in a fair bit of consolidation among rival networks, with more expected to follow.

Suffice to say that we’ve long been hearing industry whispers that Truespeed and County Broadband would be the next to merge, although the volume has recently increased, with several credible sources now indicating to ISPreview that a formal agreement may have been reached. This is certainly plausible since both operators lack any physical network overlaps with each other and share the same investment partner in Aviva.

Back in April 2024 we asked the operators about this and both declined to comment. We did the same against last week and the response was the same. But the difference today is that we’ve now got enough credible sources, all saying the same thing, to be able to report the news with some confidence.

The deal itself is alleged to have been reached a while ago, although working out the formal details of such things can take a bit of time and question marks remain over what this deal will mean for their future plans.

Mobile network operator O2 (Virgin Media / VMO2) has reported that they’ve “completed the first phase” of the £1bn industry-led Shared Rural Network (SRN) rollout, which was achieved by expanding their 4G (mobile broadband) coverage to a total of 227 rural communities in “partial not-spot areas” across the UK.

The SRN – supported by £501m of public funding and £532m from operators – involves both the reciprocal sharing of existing masts in certain areas and the demand-led building and sharing of new masts in others between the operators, which aims to extend geographic 4G coverage (aggregate) to 95% of the UK by the end of 2025 (or 84% when only considering the areas where you’ll be able to take 4G from all providers).

The SRN includes several targets, but the first one involves the delivery of industry funded coverage improvements for Partial Not-Spot (PNS) areas (i.e. areas that receive coverage from at least one operator, but not all), which needed to be achieved by June 2024. At this point, 4G (mobile broadband) must cover 88% of the UK’s landmass.

Rival operator EE (BT) became the first provider to report having achieved the PNS target in January 2024 (here), nearly half a year ahead of schedule, and it now appears as if O2 has recently gone full throttle to deliver on their own side of the SRN build commitment in time for the deadline. The progress is important, particularly given the concerns about long delays by the National Audit Office (here) and Public Accounts Committee (here).

Overall, O2 claims to have now built “more shared sites than any other operator” to improve mobile coverage in 227 partial not-spot areas across the UK. The Glencoe Mountain Resort (Scotland’s oldest ski centre) became the 227th site to benefit from improved 4G coverage, which also has the distinction of being the “highest mobile mast in the UK“, standing some 1,108 metres above sea level.

Jeanie York, CTO of VMO2, said:

“We are absolutely committed to bringing reliable mobile connectivity to more rural communities and have now completed the first phase of our SRN rollout. Our 227th site at Glencoe is now the highest mast in the UK and one of the most impressive to date, standing over a kilometre above sea level and providing connectivity to the nearby ski resort. This work is vital in tackling the urban-rural digital divide that exists in the UK.”

However, the official announcement makes no mention of the 88% coverage figure, which forms a key part of the PNS target. We are currently seeking clarification from VMO2 as regards to whether or not they’ve now hit this figure, as it’s also possible that achieving such a level may yet be contingent upon the other operators (i.e. Vodafone and / or Three UK) delivering on their PNS build (i.e. if their rivals are still heavily delayed, then O2 will still be below 88%).

At the end of the day it’s Ofcom’s responsibility to take a view on whether the Phase One (PNS) licence obligations have been met or not. The regulator is due to run a progress assessment this summer and will then reach a conclusion by the early autumn, which should give us a clear idea of how much progress has been made and where the operators have fallen short.

In addition, BT has just reached a crucial mast sharing agreement with Vodafone and O2 (here), which could enable rival operators to catch-up.

Merseyside-based ISP BeFibre, which harnesses FullFibre Ltd’s national full fibre (FTTP) broadband network, has today increased their out-of-contract prices by £5 per month across the board. But the good news is that there’s no change for new offer customers, who will still enjoy the same first 12 or 24-month term discounts as existed before.

The change means that somebody who, for example, takes out their entry-level 150Mbps (symmetric speed) package on a 24-month term with free installation will continue to pay the same offer price of £19 per month until the end of that term. But after that the price will now rise to £30 per month instead of £25 as it was before.

The network, which as of May 2024 could be reached by about 339,000 premises (RFS) across England (here), can be found in parts of Derbyshire, Essex, Gloucestershire, Greater Manchester, Herefordshire, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Merseyside, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Shropshire, South Yorkshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire.

Openreach (BT) has begun the process of toughening up their stance on compliance with their “whereabouts” rules. This could see them taking further contractual action against alternative UK broadband networks (altnets) that struggle to reach the necessary 90% performance threshold, which might eventually include restrictions on network access.

Just to give this the necessary context. Openreach’s regulated Physical Infrastructure Access (PIA) product, which enables rivals to run their own fibre optic broadband cables over or through Openreach’s existing poles and cable ducts, includes a “mandatory requirement” for related contractors to record their “whereabouts” when working on or in their network.

Openreach does this out of a concern that a company which is surveying or installing new cables using their network could accidentally damage other cables (either Openreach’s or an altnet’s), thus they need information which helps them to resolve the knock-on issues from that damage quickly. Basically, who is working on their network and when they’re working is important from a service quality, safety and public liability perspective.

Such a record typically includes the name of the contractor on site, their contact number, details of the activity being undertaken (e.g. overhead survey), date and time attending site (this can be up to 7 days in advance from the day of submission), postcode, street name and, if available, the street works permit or notice number.

Openreach’s Whereabouts Description

The recording of your contractor whereabouts when working on or in our network is important and necessary to enable us to ensure the integrity of our network and quickly identify if unauthorised personnel are accessing it e.g. in the case of cable theft.

This will also enable audits to take place and it will provide an audit trail for both you and us should any damage or highway breach occur. The completion of Whereabouts also enables us to check and complete checks to confirm that the contractor’s operatives are accredited for the work they are undertaking and they must have their identification at all times.

This is an important process, albeit perhaps one that often seems to be much more about assigning responsibility and related record keeping than network attack or cable theft prevention (i.e. criminals aren’t going to fill in a form to make your life as an operator any easier) – see our earlier summary. In addition, it’s not usually the engineers themselves that submit the whereabouts details, unless the altnet has bespoke tooling for interfacing with Openreach’s map tool.

Last year saw CityFibre being singled out as one altnet that was struggling the most with compliance, which suggested that around half of the jobs they had completed by the end of October 2023 had no whereabouts information (here). CF later informed ISPreview that their compliance against closed jobs (NOIs / Notice of Intent) was 54%, but this kind of figure does come with other caveats.

Altnets are typically only required to complete whereabouts information when accessing the network on a main (Primary) NOI. If that company is installing in more than one duct in the same area using PIA, further whereabouts information is not required because the equipment is all installed at the same time (i.e. it makes little sense to record four visits when only one has happened).

However, because a user of PIA records only one visit, the Openreach systems show one visit yet may show more than one piece of infrastructure installed – giving an incorrect impression that there is a significant non-compliance. Openreach did acknowledge this issue at the time. CityFibre also suggested that its own calculations were averaging over 71% compliance in 2023 (the OTA is said to have suggested that anything over 70% is good), although Openreach’s rules seek 90%.

A CityFibre spokesperson told ISPreview in Jan 2024:

“BT Openreach’s whereabouts report, from which this data is sourced, is fundamentally flawed as it significantly under-reports compliance. We have shared this concern with Openreach as we believe our compliance to be over 70%, a level the OTA have suggested should be considered ‘good’.”

In any case, Openreach has been working with their PIA partners (altnets) for quite some time to find solutions to issues of low compliance, which is a tedious area because altnets often perceive Openreach’s own position – acting as both a supplier and competitor to them – as being potentially conflicted (here). But ultimately it is a commercial decision for Openreach to decide how it enforces the contracts they have with other operators (any competition issues that might arise from this would be a matter for Ofcom).

What’s new?

The latest change is that Openreach recently began informally contacting altnets that are still below the agreed 90% threshold for whereabouts compliance in the hope of understanding what they’re doing to improve that. The focus, for now, seems to be on taking a more co-operative approach. But if compliance remains below 90% by September 2024 then they will issue a formal request for an improvement plan from related providers.

The target seems to be to get providers above the 90% threshold by the very end of 2024 and, if that doesn’t happen, then Openreach would reserve the right to take further contractual action (if it’s needed). But the network operator is understood to be minded against an enforcement approach (with good reason – see below) and, in any case, they haven’t yet decided on precisely how they might enforce it.

However, at an extreme, it is possible that some altnets could face restrictions that might hamper their access to Openreach’s network in certain areas. But the risk for Openreach in doing this is that it could trigger a bigger clash, which might drag in Ofcom by becoming a competition issue (hence why strict enforcement is something best avoided).

Katie Milligan, Chief Commercial Officer at Openreach, said:

“We’re continuing to work closely with the industry, the OTA and Ofcom to make sure that any work happening on our network is recorded properly and completed safely and securely.”

At the same time, it’s VERY important to note that this isn’t merely one of those simplistic Openreach vs altnets style issues. In fact, quite a few altnets already achieve strong compliance with the whereabouts rules and a fair few of the complaints are often levelled by them against other altnets, which have poor compliance and thus cause problems for more than just Openreach (e.g. we do see a fair few gripes from other altnets about CityFibre).

So for now the approach is a softer one of encouragement and co-operation, which will hopefully find some fair and balanced solutions to improving compliance (Openreach may need to make some changes on their side too). But we’ll be keeping an eye out during early 2025 for what happens and if this effort fails to produce the desired outcome.

BT (EE) has confirmed to ISPreview that they’re in advanced talks over a new agreement with rivals, including at least O2 (Virgin Media) and Vodafone, that will give them the ability to access some of EE’s mobile masts in remote locations. The deal may help to improve 4G (mobile broadband) coverage in Partial Not-Spot areas and tackle delays.

The deal relates to the £1bn industry-led Shared Rural Network (SRN) project, which is supported by £501m of public funding and £532m from operators. The project involves both the reciprocal sharing of existing masts in certain areas and the demand-led building and sharing of new masts in others between O2 (Virgin Media), Vodafone, EE and Three UK. The goal is to extend geographic 4G coverage (aggregate) to 95% of the UK by the end of 2025 (or 84% when only considering the areas where you’ll be able to take 4G from all providers).

The SRN includes two key targets. The first involves the delivery of industry funded coverage improvements in Partial Not-Spot (PNS) areas (i.e. areas that receive coverage from at least one operator, but not all), which needs to be achieved by June 2024 – at this point 4G (mobile broadband) must cover 88% of the UK’s landmass. EE became the first operator to report having achieved the first target for PNS areas in early 2024.

The second target involves Total Not-Spot (TNS) areas by early 2027. Just to be clear, Ofcom’s licence obligations commit each individual operator to increase its 4G coverage to 88% of the UK’s landmass by June 2024 – rising to 90% by January 2027 – with these individual obligations supporting the overall target of 95% by December 2025.

However, both the National Audit Office (here) and Public Accounts Committee (here) have recently confirmed that Three UK, Vodafone and O2 were “each likely to miss their Ofcom licence obligation to provide 88% 4G coverage by June 2024” and had requested to “discuss an 18-month extension to the PNS element of the programme.” At present, the TNS target has not been impacted by this.

The government have naturally been putting pressure on the three operators to catch-up with EE. However, ultimately it will be Ofcom’s responsibility to take a view on whether the licence obligations have been met and what, if anything, they want to do about that. The regulator is due to run a progress assessment during the summer and will then reach a conclusion a couple of months later, during the early autumn.

Significance of the New Deal

In case anybody has forgotten, BT (EE) has historically put a significant amount of commercial investment into delivering the strongest level of geographic 4G network coverage, which is partly how they were able to achieve the PNS target ahead of schedule – as well as being roughly two years before their rivals now indicate they may be able to achieve the same target.

Back in early 2020, before the SRN deal was signed, Vodafone, Three and O2 did attempt to reach an infrastructure sharing deal with BT over several hundred of these sites (excluding the state aid supported ESN sites that can already be shared), but this did not succeed.

At the time, EE’s rivals suggested that the operator was trying to charge 250% more than the existing commercial rate to access the sites. The suggestion was that this might have made it cheaper for Three UK, Vodafone and O2 to just build their own masts, which is partly what they ended up doing under the final SRN agreement.

However, recent pressure from the government, as well as concerns about PNS delays (Ofcom could impose fines for this, but they probably won’t), may be signalling a change in approach from the aforementioned players, with talk of a mast sharing agreement now being confirmed.

A BT Group Spokesperson told ISPreview:

“We’re proud to have delivered on our Shared Rural Network targets six months early and continue to work hard to expand EE coverage. We’ve been in discussions with a number of other mobile networks in recent months to share sites to support their own coverage efforts and we’ll continue to collaborate with them on the next phase of the project.”

The negotiations over site sharing are said to be part of BT Group’s recently formed Towers Division, which could make it easier for them to facilitate this kind of access. But at this stage the specifics of any agreement and how many masts it may involve are unclear, although it’s reasonable to assume that O2 and Vodafone will only be looking at strategic sites that can get them as close as possible – as quickly as possible – to that 88% (PNS target) figure.

Some news reports (Telegraph) have claimed that BT has already done a deal, which ISPreview understands from its sources is correct, although the operator does yet appear able to formally confirm that or the specifics of any agreements they have been discussing. But it does seem like this could certainly boost the 4G coverage for all those involved, which will naturally be of benefit to people living in such areas.

Insight 

On day two of this year’s Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Shanghai, we heard from Li Peng, Corporate Senior Vice President and President of ICT Sales & Service at Huawei, as he shared his insights on how AI can be used to help monetise the 5G experience

Providing differentiated and personalised offerings is essential to be able to monetise 5G properly, but this is the same with monetising any industry. Li highlights how we can draw useful insights from the aviation industry… 

Back in 1970, after the introduction of the Boeing 747, the aircrafts were now able to seat 350 passengers instead of the previous 150. However, this only led to a 22% increase in airline revenues, despite passenger capacity more than doubling. Li highlights how we can draw useful insights from the aviation industry, introducing business-class and first-class service for better growth. 

These notions can be applied to the 5G industry – “high-quality supply is a key driver and creator of new demand,” says Li. 

Since the 2G era, the mobile industry has made huge developments though innovation and continuous technological evolution in the 3G, 4G and 5G eras. 5G advanced can help meet consumer demand for improvement, but, says Li, “to realise the healthy and rapid growth of the mobile communications industry, we urgently need innovative supply to stimulate new and untapped demand of users.” 

“Therefore, business model innovation is particularly urgent,” he confirmed. 

Driving the innovation of 5G advanced technology and the network-cloud-AI synergy is essential here. Li presented the audience with some potential scenarios for this:

Creating different packages for different consumer preferences

Users have many different types of requirements for their individual network experience. For example, business travellers who prioritise download speed, live streamers focusing on upload speeds, and gamers who focus on latency. As 5G advanced improves bandwidth capability tenfold, these different customer experiences can be supported by the network. More personalised services to the individual will allow higher prices to be charged, and mean the customer is more likely to be retained. 

2. Monetisation through B2B scenarios

The faster upload and download speeds and low latency of 5G advanced mean that it can upgrade the 30,000 private networks that already exist. Using this example in the train industry, this results in additions such as AI vehicle detection applications being added. Therefore, more intelligent operation and maintenance of the entire train line can take place, improving overall efficiency by 30%.  These value-added scenarios for businesses can be packaged up and monetised. 

The session concludes by emphasising how carriers are able to provide differentiated experience services for users to be able to be fully monetise 5G advanced, and lead the industry in the development of mobile AI. The movement is taking off – over 60 carriers and partners have announced 5G advanced commercial plans, and over 30 have competed technical verification. 

“Huawei is willing to work with global carriers and partners to embrace 5G-A, accelerate capability convergence and model innovation, and stride to a new era of experience monetization,” concluded Li.