News

The direct-to-device satellite telecoms operator now has deals in place with two of the US’s three major wireless carriers 

Last month, AST SpaceMobile agreed a new partnership with Verizon, promising to use its upcoming satellite network to deliver ubiquitous connectivity across the US. Now, weeks later, the company’s value continues to surge, with its share price rising 70% to its highest level since November 2022. 

Verizon is planning to invest $100 million in AST SpaceMobile so that it can provide satellite-based cellular service directly to Verizon customers using 850 MHz spectrum. This, the company says, will help provide service to customers in some of the most rural parts of the country, many of which currently have poor or even nonexistent mobile services. 

As per the agreement, $65 million of the investment will be commercial prepayments, and the remaining $35 million convertible notes. 

AST SpaceMobile CEO Abel Avellan said the deal will “essentially eliminating dead zones and empowering remote areas of the country with space-based connectivity.” 

“By entering into this agreement with AST, we will now be able to use our spectrum in conjunction with AST’s satellite network to provide essential connectivity in remote corners of the U.S. where cellular signals are unreachable through traditional land-based infrastructure,” said Srini Kalapala, SVP of Technology and Product Development at Verizon in a press release. 

Headquartered in Texas, AST SpaceMobile currently has agreements with more than 45 mobile network operators globally who collectively serve over 2.8 billion subscribers. 

One such operator is Verizon’s rival AT&T, whom AST SpaceMobile similarly. There were no financial details disclosed about the deal, which extends until 2030. The companies were previously working together under a Memorandum of Understanding. 

AST SpaceMobile was founded in 2017, and in the first quarter of this year, made a net loss of $39.8 million due to expenses such engineering and development costs, which were much higher than their revenue of $500,000. The company is currently still in the investment phase, seeking investment in order to launch the 243 satellites planned for the full constellation.  

The company’s first commercial satellite is expected to launch later this year, with roughly 100 needed to provide global coverage.  

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

Also in the news:
Microsoft pours $3.2 bn in Swedish cloud infrastructure
Zegona Communications completes Vodafone Spain acquisition
Verizon secures $2.7bn US navy contract 

Network access provider Openreach (BT) has extended their already nearly year-long trial of 2.5Gbps Optical Network Terminals (ONT) for installations of specified bandwidths on Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) based broadband ISP lines. The trial, which was due to end next month, will now run for another year.

Just to recap. ONTs (aka – Optical Network Unit) are usually installed inside your home (wall hung), near to where the fibre optic cable physically enters the property. The primary job of such kit is simply to take that optical signal and convert it into an electrical one, so you can connect it to a broadband router via a standard Local Area Network (Ethernet) port.

Openreach first began offering a 2.5Gbps (Gigabits per second) capable ONT in 2022 (here) – the Nokia G-010G-T and an ADTRAN SDX 611Q – alongside their 1Gbps+ FTTP broadband tiers (1.2Gbps and 1.8Gbps), which only recently became commercially available to the market after a very lengthy pilot phase.

However, the network operator has also been running a separate 12-month trial of the same hardware (here), which began on 1st July 2023 and specifically allowed ISPs to optionally specify that 2.5Gbps ONTs should be installed – by default – instead of the standard 1Gbps ONT for specified FTTP downstream bandwidths lower than 1Gbps (i.e. down to tiers as slow as 55Mbps).

The trial could be seen as a useful way of future proofing (within reason) new installations, thus avoiding situations where somebody might opt for a 1Gbps or slower tier and then later decide to upgrade (this would currently necessitate another engineer visit to install the 2.5Gbps ONT). In an ideal world, Openreach would already be doing this by default (they probably will at some point), but for now the trial gave the option to ISPs and for a small additional cost.

“The terms shall apply to [Communication Providers] that opt-in to the trial, and CPs will be charged an additional £10 per connection for the speed tiers they have selected. [Openreach] will rebate CPs participating in the trial £10 for each bandwidth upgrade from the selected speed tiers to bandwidths above 1Gb made within 24 months from the end of the trial, or from when a CP exits the trial if sooner. Rebates will not be made for box swaps,” said the original trial document.

The latest development is that this trial has just been extended, although the public briefing included no useful information. But we’ve since been informed that it will now run for another 12 months in order to allow time for new systems to be implemented.

An Openreach spokesperson told ISPreview:

“Getting it right first time, every time – with minimal effort needed from end customers – is what we’re always striving to achieve. After an initial trial period, we’ve learned that in order to offer a 2.5G ONT upgrade option, we’ll need to implement new systems which offer an even better service for industry, and therefore the end customer. We hope to complete that testing over the next 12 months.”

Rural broadband ISP Gigaclear, which has already extended their gigabit speed Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network to cover 500,000 premises (RFS) in England (inc. 100,000 customers), has launched their new “Summer Savings” and discounted the price of their top 500Mbps and 900Mbps tiers to just £25 and £29 a month, respectively.

The promotion is due to run until the 2nd July 2024 for the 500Mbps package and 31st July for their top 900Mbps tier. New customers who take up this offer will get the discounted rate for their first 18-months of service, as well as free installation and an included router. But after this period the 500Mbps package will return to its standard post-contract price of £54, while their 900Mbps plan becomes a whopping £82 per month.

The provider is principally owned by major investor Infracapital, together with Equitix and Railpen. The company previously had investment commitments estimated to be worth up to around £1.1bn (here), although at the end of last year they also secured a new £1.5bn debt facility (here) and recently won the £16.6m Project Gigabit rollout contract for East Gloucestershire (here), as well as the contracts for North and South Oxfordshire (here).

Infracapital also owns or has stakes in WightFibre, Neos Networks, Fibrus and Ogi.

News

The investment will support the planned commercial launch of AALTO’s High Altitude Platform Station, Zephyr, in 2026

This week, a consortium including two Japanese banks, mobile operator NTT DOCOMO, and non-terrestrial network (NTN) specialist Space Compass Corporation, have announced an investment of $100 million into HAPS developer AALTO.

The investment, the companies say, will help support the industrial ad commercial roadmap for delivering AALTO’s services to customers, including a commercial launch in 2026.

AALTO, a division of aviation giant Airbus until being spun off at the start of last year, has been working on its HAPS technology, dubbed Zephyr, since 2001. The solution is essentially a large solar-powered stratospheric glider that can be equipped with mobile network technology, allowing connectivity, including 5G, to be rapidly delivered to remote locations.

In addition to telecommunications equipment, Zephyr can also carry other payloads, including imaging technology, such as Airbus’s Strat-Observer solution, allowing “a range of monitoring, tracking, sensing, and detection” capabilities.

Zephyr’s current record for continuous flight is 64 days, but the company hopes that this can be extended to over 200 days in future.

Combining all these features makes Zephyr ideal for rapid response scenarios, such as natural disasters.

“This is a landmark investment for AALTO. It is the natural next step in the roadmap of the Company’s targeted entry-into-service in 2026, as we industrialise and commercialise our technology. With world leaders in aviation and connectivity as shareholders, AALTO now has the combination of technological expertise and global reach to capitalise on the growth opportunities in substantial total addressable markets across connectivity and earth observation,” said AALTO CEO Samer Halawi.

“This investment comes as AALTO moves into its next phase of development. This includes launching several customer missions over the coming year, establishing launch and landing sites for Zephyr, and advancing our certification process. We are excited to forge a new frontier in sustainable connectivity and earth observation from the stratosphere, while generating significant value for all our stakeholders.”

The investment by the Japanese consortium will be made by their purpose-built investment vehicle, HAPS JAPAN Corporation.

The deal builds on a longstanding relationship between AALTO, NTT DOCOMO, and Space Compass, which first agreed to explore collaboration possibilities back in 2022.

Space Compass itself is a joint venture between NTT and SKY Perfect JSAT, focussing on developing a Space Integrated Computing Network. Part of this process includes the development of direct-to-device mobile services using HAPS, for which it is once again partnered with NTT DOCOMO, NTT, and SKY Perfect JSAT.

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

Also in the news:
Microsoft pours $3.2 bn in Swedish cloud infrastructure
Zegona Communications completes Vodafone Spain acquisition
Verizon secures $2.7bn US navy contractv

Broadband provider MTH Networks has today become the latest retail ISP to confirm that they’ve jumped onto Freedom Fibre‘s growing gigabit-capable broadband (FTTP) network, which has so far covered over 300,000 premises (27th Mar 2024) across the United Kingdom – mostly in the North West of England.

The internet provider, which also sells packages via a several other alternative networks (e.g. MS3 and OFNL), are offering a range of Freedom Fibre based packages that start at £29.40 per month for 150Mbps (symmetric) on a 24-month term (currently discounted to £22.05 per month) and go up to just £34.20 for 1000Mbps (discounted to £25.65!). The discount reflects the average monthly price when their 6 months free service offer is applied.

In addition, we’ve noticed that a previously unfamiliar ISP name – Beebu – has also joined the operator’s growing Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network. But the details at the bottom of Beebu’s website appear to incorrectly state that: “Beebu Telecom Limited is registered in England & Wales at: 1 Barnes Wallis Road, Fareham, Hampshire, UK PO15 5UA. Company no. 08043921.”

However, company number 08043921 actually goes to AERIAL DIRECT LIMITED at the same address, while the correct company number for Beebu Telecom Limited appears to be 08635537. The Beebu website was previously used for a mobile service called Beebu Mobile, which has now vanished and been replaced by their full fibre focused broadband brand.

News

The investment is Microsoft’s largest-ever commitment to Sweden 

Microsoft has announced today that it will invest 33.7 billion Swedish crowns ($3.21 billion) to expand its cloud and AI operations in Sweden over the next two years. This will include the deployment of 20,000 advanced graphics processing units (GPUs) at its data centers in Sandviken, Gavle, and Staffanstorp to help meet the rapidly growing compute demand created by AI. 

Alongside this infrastructure deployment, the company plans to train 250,000 people – approximately 2.4% of Sweden’s population– in AI skills to help improve the country’s competitiveness in this domain. 

“This announcement goes beyond technology, it’s a commitment to ensuring broad access to the tools and skills needed for Sweden’s people and economy to thrive in the AI era,” Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith said in a statement. The company explained to Reuters that it is committed to increasing the adoption of AI in the Nordic region. 

Microsoft has been rapidly expanding its AI infrastructure deployments across the world, having announced billion-dollar investments in the UK, Germany, Spain, Japan, and more in recent months. These investments are driven by a boom in demand for new services related to generative AI, with further growth expected that would make existing data centre infrastructure inadequate.  

“You will see some other announcements, probably more in the fall,” said Microsoft CEO Brad Smith. 

According to Goldman Sachs, the AI boom will be a “near-$1 trillion opportunity” for the tech sector. 

“AI is a tech transformation that should be seen as a multiplier or catalyst … It is part of the strategy going forward when, after successfully fighting inflation, we enter a new phase, an investment phase,” said Ulf Kristersson, Prime Minister of Sweden in a statement. 

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

Also in the news:
Digi set to buy OTE’s Telekom Romania
Billionaire Xavier Neil ponders Millicom acquisition
EU-funded Global Gateways projects on show at Submarine Networks EMEA 2024  

News 

Discussions have been ongoing since September last year 

Vodafone Group has completed the sale of its Spanish business Vodafone Spain to Zegona Communications for €5 billion. 

As per the agreement, Vodafone will receive €4.1 billion in cash and €0.9 billion in redeemable preference shares.  

The newly acquired company will still use the Vodafone branding for up to ten years, according to a statement released by Vodafone in October. 

Proceedings began in September last year, and were confirmed by the two companies the following month.  

“The sale of Vodafone Spain is a key step in right-sizing our portfolio for growth and will enable us to focus our resources in markets with sustainable structures and sufficient local scale,” said Vodafone CEO Margherita Della Valle in a statement. 

“I would like to thank our entire team in Spain for their dedication to our customers and relentless determination to improve our organic performance. However, the market has been challenging with structurally low returns,” she continued. 

“We have now completed the acquisition of Vodafone Spain and look forward to transforming the business and returning it to growth,” said Eamonn O’Hare, Zegona’s Chairman and CEO in a statement released today.  

“I am pleased to welcome José Miguel García to lead Vodafone Spain as CEO, reuniting a team that has a proven track record of highly successful operational transformations in Spanish telecoms,” he continued. 

Vodafone will continue to have a small presence in the Spanish market through its innovation hub in Malaga. The R&D centre opened in 2022 and develops new solutions in areas such as the Internet of Things (IoT), edge computing, and Open RAN. 

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

Also in the news:
Digi set to buy OTE’s Telekom Romania
Billionaire Xavier Neil ponders Millicom acquisition
EU-funded Global Gateways projects on show at Submarine Networks EMEA 2024 

City-focused broadband ISP and alternative network provider Hyperoptic has revealed the appointment of four new key members to its leadership team. On top of that, they’ve also quietly confirmed that their gigabit full fibre (FTTP/B) network now covers “more than” 1.6 million UK homes (up from 1.4m in Oct 2023) across parts of 64 UK towns and cities.

The operator, which is home to a customer base of 300,000 (5th Oct 2023 – we haven’t had an updated figure since then) and has been targeting 500,000 for the near future, was previously known to be aiming to cover 2 million premises with their gigabit broadband network by some point in 2024 (the prior target was to hit this at the end of 2023).

However, Hyperoptic’s plans were tweaked during mid-2023, which occurred after they announced a number of redundancies and appeared to suffer a slowdown in their build due to the difficult economic climate (here). Since then the operator has reportedly been attempting to raise up to £500m of additional capital in order to continue their network expansion (here), but we’ve not heard anything new on that since earlier in the year (interest rates remain high, which may hamper such deals).

The positive news today is that the operator has announced several key hires to help “signify [our] commitment to continuous improvement and innovation“. Joining the company are Robert Osborne as Director of Enterprise Architecture, Robert Baynes as Technical Operations Director, Michele Hanson as Head of Security, and Mike Bywater as Software Development Director. This follows the appointment of Duncan Macdonald as Chief Technology & Innovation Officer (CTIO) in May 2023.

Duncan Macdonald, CTIO of Hyperoptic, told ISPreview:

“Hyperoptic’s world-class technology and innovation leadership team is setting the company up for the future. The expertise and experience that Robert Osborne, Robert Baynes, Michele Hanson, and Mike Bywater bring will play an important role in advancing our mission to be the UK’s most desired and loved broadband provider by driving digital transformation across the nation.”

As part of this the operator has also confirmed that they’re investing in artificial intelligence (AI) and IT transformation initiatives. No specifics were provided to help elaborate on this, although such changes are often aimed at improving existing customer service/support and lowering operating costs.

Speaking of that 1.6 million+ “homes” figure, it’s currently unclear whether this reflects properties that are all ‘Ready for Service’ (RFS). Independent data from Thinkbroadband, which was published in February 2024 (here), put Hyperoptic’s RFS figure at an estimated 1.1 million (vs the then official claim of 1.4m).

Alternative network operator Trooli, which was last year acquired by Agnar UK Infrastructure (here) and has so far extended their gigabit-capable full fibre (FTTP) network to cover 334,000 premises (RFS) across England and Scotland (here), has become the latest ISP to launch a 2Gbps (multi-gigabit) speed package.

Until recently, the fastest package listed on the main page of Trooli’s website was still their 900Mbps (symmetric speed) tier for £39.99 per month on a 24-month term, which includes a “free” router + installation and a promise of “no in-contract price rises“.

However, one of our readers (credits to Blake of Leaf Networks) recently spotted that they’ve added a 2Gbps (symmetric) package for just £49.99 per month, which seems to be a common top speed for a lot of other Altnet ISPs to adopt. The provider doesn’t appear to have sent out a widely distributed press release about this, but so far as we can tell the package was officially launched a few weeks ago during early May 2024.

Trooli’s Website Statement on 2Gbps

You’re probably used to seeing broadband packages categorised by speed, most commonly in the units of Gbps (Gigabits per second) or Mbps (Megabits per second). But do you know what this actually means? Both units explain the number of ‘bits’, small units of data, that can be transferred per second. Gbps means a billion bits per second, whilst Mbps means a million bits per second.

In 2023 the average speed of broadband in the UK was 0.073Gbps (73.21Mbps) but this is simply not enough for households that want to work, stream, browse, or game without interruption. Luckily, 2Gbps broadband (2000Mbps) is now available and is more than 27 times faster than the average UK broadband speed, allowing you to do more with your Wi-Fi, without frustrating buffering and freezing.

Budget UK ISP Plusnet, which is typically positioned as BT’s low-cost division for basic internet access services, has now confirmed that their own-brand of EE powered Pay Monthly SIM-Only Mobile plans will finally be closing “throughout” this month (June 2024). Customers must transfer before their accounts are closed to avoid losing their service and number.

In case anybody has forgotten. Plusnet stopped selling mobile plans to new customers at the end of March 2023 (here). The move formed part of the BT Group’s wider branding strategy and their work to turn EE – over time – into their “flagship brand for our consumer customers” (here). As a result of this, we’ve already seen Plusnet stop providing various other services too, such as TV content and landline phones.

However, at the time it wasn’t clear precisely when Plusnet Mobile would completely close their service, but a recent notice posted on the internet provider’s website has confirmed that the process begins this month (credits to insertfloppydiskhere for spotting via our forum).

The provider is understood to have been communicating their intention to close the service directly with customers since May 2023 and so hopefully most will have now switched away. But there are always some who can end up being caught out by such changes, and this often touches the most vulnerable of users. Hopefully Plusnet are mindful of that.

Plusnet Mobile Statement

From June 2024 we will be closing all Plusnet Mobile Services. We’ll confirm your cease data at least 30 days before your mobile account ceases. Once your account is ceased you won’t be able to make or receive calls (other than emergency 999 calls) send texts or use your data.

You’ll have 40 days from your cease date to move your service to another provider. After 40 days your account will automatically be closed. You will lose all of your services and it will not be possible to transfer your mobile number once your account is closed.

If you want to keep your mobile number when you switch, you’ll need to request a PAC code. Just text PAC to 65075. You’ll get your code in less than a minute and it’s valid for 30 days.

Naturally, the internet provider is currently promoting some “exclusive deals” via EE for those wishing to switch, but it’s worth remembering that those affected can switch to any mobile operator they like and don’t have to stay with the same network.