Alternative network and UK ISP G.Network, which is rolling out a MultiGigabit capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network across parts of London (here), has further discounted their top two “Gigafast” broadband (900Mbps average download) packages – with both now starting at just £30 per month.

The provider, which is estimated to be live across around 250,000 to 300,000 premises in London, currently has two Gigafast plans (Gigafast and Gigafast Extra). The regular Gigafast plan now costs just £30 per month on a 24-month term (£35 thereafter), which gives you speeds of 900Mbps (300Mbps upload), free installation, parental controls and a wireless router.

By comparison, Gigafast Extra costs £30 per month for the first 6 months, before rising to £40 per month for the remaining term and then £45 post-contract. But for that you get the addition of symmetric speeds, a fixed IP address, priority support and their Full-On WiFi (mesh signal extender) coverage commitment. But oddly G.Network seems to have removed their cheapest entry-level 150Mbps tier from view.

Kevin Murphy, CEO of G.Network, said: “The last thing Londoners want to think about when they’re enjoying the action this summer is their internet bill, and our £1 a day offer is taking that worry away. G.Network’s market-beating price tracks the prices of major providers (as defined by Ofcom) to provide consumers with better-than-market average prices – starting at £27 per month – which are independently verified by FDM.”

News 

The final panel on day one of Submarine Networks EMEA 2024 was titled Collaborating towards a greener future.

Moderated by John Wrottesley, Liaison Officer at the European Subsea Cables Association (ESCA) the panel was comprised of:

– Michael Clare, ICPC Marine Environmental Advisor & Senior Researcher at the National Oceanography Centre 

– Horst Brockmueller, Chief Executive Officer of Oceanic Environmental Cables  

– Merete Caubet, VP Bulk Fiber Networks at Bulk Infrastructure 

Both historically and in our current economy, we’ve been taking materials from the earth, making products with them and then discarding them. This process is linear and unsustainable. So, there’s a need to create a circular economy, a system where materials do not become waste and nature is regenerated. This is achieved through recycling, refurbishment and reusing. 

Since the first ever telecoms cable creation in the 1850s, around 3.5 million kilometres of cable has been laid under the sea, and presently, 1.6 million kilometres is currently in use. This means that around 1.9 million kilometres of out of service, but still on the sea floor. It would be ideal to remove and recycle the disused cable to be able to recycle it. Around 83% of carbon footprint of cable in its lifetime is done in the manufacturing. When they recover previously laid cable, they can recover around 63% of it. 

But the more new cables that are laid over old ones, the more difficult they will eventually be to remove.  

The subsea cable industry has a relatively minor environmental impact on the ocean. But nevertheless, there is a still a biodiversity crisis in our oceans which the industry does contribute to. Some forecasts predict that 40% of species are facing extinction by the end of the century. Part of this is to do with an unsustainable use of the sea floor. 

When we think about sustainability, there are some impacts that we cannot quantify, such as: what happens to the seabed in the long term if you disturb it by laying cable there? The industry must begin to think about how we value different aspects of the environment, even if we can’t quantify them currently. 

Something that needs to be developed, is to try to build an evidence base to help us understand more about processes, so the industry can make more evidence-based decisions. For example, is it necessary to recover the cable in the ground if doing so will cause extreme damage to the seabed and its inhabitants? For this, it is essential to have data from recovered cable systems and how the seabed reacts after a cable has bene recovered. These impacts are presumable much smaller than the installation impacts, but with the absence of any data, precautionary approaches are taken where the industry simply says, “we don’t know yet”. 

Can there be win-win situations both for corporations and nature? It’s a huge potential for the industry, there’s a chance here to create a full circle economy. The ability to reuse areas of sea floor that have already been disturbed, rather than disturb new areas, or adding sensors to disused cables for seismic activity sensing are all examples of these possibilities.  

The session concludes by emphasising that a cross sectoral approach is vital; it is not just subsea that are using the sea floor, industries like offshore wind farms do too. Harmonising those voices, and sharing data between industries will allow for a solution that will be essential for success. 

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

Network operator Freedom Fibre, which has so far built their gigabit-capable broadband (FTTP) ISP network to cover 300,000 UK premises (27th Mar 2024) – mostly in the North West of England, has confirmed to local residents in the Cheshire village of Hollins Green and Rixton that they’ve acquired the local full fibre network from CityFibre.

Just to recap. The service in Hollins Green and Rixton was first announced in September 2020 by CityFibre’s FibreNation division (here), which only a few months earlier had been acquired from TalkTalk for £200m (here). Despite this, TalkTalk continued to act as the retail ISP for customers on the UltraFibreOptic (UFO) and FibreNation parts of their network (technically, FibreNation actually built the network before CF acquired them).

However, the local service made the news a couple of times last year after TalkTalk began to issue wrongful closure warnings to local customers (here and here), which caused plenty of confusion. At the time ISPreview was informed by a number of residents that CityFibre’s support agents were actively signalling that a future deal might see Freedom Fibre takeover the local network, but neither party would confirm that.

The latest change is that residents within the community have recently begun to be informed that Freedom Fibre has in fact acquired the local network.

Customer Statement from Freedom Fibre

Attention Hollins Green!

Did you know that Freedom Fibre have purchased the broadband network in the area, and we’re set to upgrade the network to the latest in full-fibre technology?

We know you probably have a lot of questions about why we’re doing this and what’s involved, so we’re hosting a drop-in session on the 4th of June at The Black Swan from 3pm-7pm.

Refreshments and Ice-cream will be provided, so pop by and chat all things full-fibre with the Freedom Fibre team.

The reference to adopting the “latest in full-fibre” technology probably reflects a shift from GPON to XGS-PON technology via a new vendor, as the platform that FibreNation deployed harnessed older hardware and some of that is also known to have involved kit from the now banned Huawei (it’s not clear if the latter is also applicable to Hollins Green).

The acquisition would make sense for Freedom Fibre because they’ve already been building in the area, although it’s less clear why CityFibre would choose to sell (we have asked for a comment) – particularly as the latter are actively trying to grow through consolidation and not shrink. But it’s possible that CityFibre may have found this approach to be both easier and cheaper than upgrading the network, at cost, themselves.

Alternative network operator and UK ISP Grain (Grain Connect), which has extended their gigabit-capable full fibre (FTTP) broadband network to cover 220,000 premises (RFS) and 30,000 customers, has revealed that they recently set a new personal record by getting a new customer connected within just 36 minutes.

According to the blurb, the Middlesbrough-based customer, Motunrayo Oyeleye, called Grain at 9.58am to place an order for a Full Fibre broadband service, and by 10.34am their engineer, Salman (pictured), arrived at the property and had completed the installation and the customer was connected to the internet just 36 minutes later.

The feat is fairly impressive, since it normally takes at least a few days, or possibly even weeks, to get a new full fibre connection installed to a property.

Grain CEO, Richard Cameron, said:

“Our customers are at the heart of everything we, so to know we have installed this customer in 36 minutes and delivered a great value contract with no price rises, is fantastic.

There is no better demonstration of the efficient connection process we have built here at Grain, which means that we can connect customers to our service in just minutes in this case.

I am extremely proud of the team for delivering this and for ensuring the efficiency of our processes, which allows us to always offer customers the lowest prices to their home.”

However, in fairness, we don’t know anything more about the context of this installation (e.g. was it for a new build house, where Grain already had some infrastructure?) or what Grain’s typical delivery times are for a new service. In that sense it would be interesting to know precisely what work was performed, since everything from drilling and screwing-in the new kit, to cleaning up, splicing and testing, usually takes a bit longer.

In any case, it’s still a fantastic time to be in and out of a customer’s home.

Barcelona, May 29, 2024 – In a significant move that promises to revolutionize the telecommunications and enterprise sectors, Italtel, a multinational ICT company and renowned system integrator, has announced a strategic partnership with Nearby Computing, a leader in edge-to-cloud automation and orchestration platforms. This collaboration is set to fast-track the adoption of 5G solutions, private networks and edge computing, marking a significant milestone in the industry.

Italtel, with its extensive expertise in integrating and managing complex network systems, has been at the forefront of technological innovation, delivering cutting-edge solutions to telcos and enterprises worldwide. Nearby Computing, on the other hand, has carved a niche for itself with its advanced edge-to-cloud automation and orchestration platform, enabling streamlined operations and enhanced efficiency.

By year-end 2026, Gartner predicts that 70% of large enterprises will have a documented strategy for edge computing, compared to fewer than 10% in 2023.

With a shared commitment to innovation, Italtel and Nearby Computing aim to empower businesses to embrace digital transformation, streamlining operations and fostering agility through advanced technological solutions. By harnessing the power of 5G and edge computing, the partnership will enable businesses to automate processes, enhance efficiency, and unlock new growth opportunities. Italtel already has a 5G MPN Lab in Madrid (on premise and cloud) and a Telco Edge Computing Lab, both orchestrated by NearbyOne.

“This partnership is a game-changer for the industry,” said Felix Luna, CEO of Italtel Spain. “By joining forces with Nearby Computing, we are not only enhancing our capabilities but also accelerating the delivery of next-generation 5G and edge computing solutions, use cases and business applications to our customers. This is about pushing the boundaries of what’s possible and enabling a new era of digital transformation.”

Josep Martí, CEO of Nearby Computing, echoed these sentiments, stating, “We are thrilled to partner with Italtel, a company that shares our vision for the future of telecommunications. Together, we are set to redefine the landscape of 5G and edge computing, empowering businesses to harness the full potential of these transformative technologies.”

This partnership is a significant milestone for the industry, promising to deliver innovative solutions that accelerate digital transformation, automate business processes, and propel enterprises and telcos into a new era of technological excellence.

WALTHAM, MA — May 29, 2024 — Netcracker Technology announced today that Hawaiian Telcom will utilize Netcracker Digital BSS, along with Support & Managed Services, as part of a broad digital transformation program to improve the customer experience, decrease manual business processes and provide greater integration for an in-house order entry system.

Headquartered in Honolulu, Hawai‘i, Hawaiian Telcom delivers communications solutions – including high-speed Internet, video, voice, data network and security, along with managed and cloud services – to residential, business and wholesale customers over its statewide fiber network.

Hawaiian Telcom will deploy a number of Netcracker products to create a next-generation platform for order management, including Customer Order Management, Product Catalog, Service Inventory, Service Catalog and Service Order Management. The resulting implementation will help automate the operator’s order management process, improve monitoring functions and reduce order fulfillment times.

“As we expand our future-proof fiber network across the state, increasing access to gigabit Internet service, it’s critical that we deliver a seamless customer experience, starting with the ordering process,” said Michele Lehmkuhl, Vice President of Consumer Strategy & Sales for Hawaiian Telcom. “We are pleased to continue our digital transformation with Netcracker to elevate our order lifecycle and ultimately, our customer support.”

“We look forward to partnering with Hawaiian Telcom and helping the company maximize its investments in fiber by improving the experience at every stage of the customer journey,” said Rohit Aggarwal, GM at Netcracker. “We are proud to be part of this digital transformation initiative and look forward to what our companies can achieve together.”

About Netcracker Technology

Rapid digitization is disrupting the status quo of today’s communications markets. Constantly evolving customer needs and behaviors require service providers to adapt quickly and diversify their businesses to deliver the outcomes that their customers expect. Building digital ecosystems, anticipating customer requirements and delivering a digital-first experience are essential for service providers to accelerate innovation, expand into new markets and become the disruptors in the 5G era.

Netcracker Technology, a wholly-owned subsidiary of NEC Corporation, has the expertise, culture and resources to help service providers around the world transform their businesses to thrive in a digital economy. Our innovative solutions – including our flagship cloud-native Netcracker Digital Platform – value-driven services and unbroken delivery track record of three decades help service providers to achieve their digital transformation goals, drive the telco to techco evolution within their organizations and realize business growth and profitability. For more information, visit www.netcracker.com.

Media Contact

Anita Karvé
Netcracker Technology
MediaGroup@Netcracker.com   

Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 29, May 2024 – Ezditek, an innovator in data center and digital infrastructure services in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), has appointed Stuart Manby as Chief Sales Officer to position Ezditek for long-term growth on-the-ground across the KSA. Its core values are focused on delivering innovation and sustainability in KSA’s data center market. Ezditek is part of Ezdihar Holding Company, a multi-billion conglomerate with divisions focused on construction, real estate and digital infrastructure. 

Manby will play a leading role in Ezditek’s growth strategy to provide world-class data center solutions and establish the KSA as an international destination for digital innovation and transformation. He has more than 25 years’ experience in the data center market with roles at EDGNEX Data Centres by Damac, Global Switch, Ark Data Centres and Digital Realty. His strong technical and commercial background will help him excel as Chief Sales Officer of Ezditek, as it prepares for exciting expansion plans that encompass Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) policies, and digital innovation. 

“Stuart has a proven history of accelerating business growth and executing on strategic goals in the data center market. He is a strong leader who combines understanding of global digital infrastructure demands and local market requirements. It is great to have Stuart on board as we help to position the KSA as a global leader in digital innovation and provide a foundation as a global digital hub,” said Ibrahim Almulhim, CEO at Ezditek. “Ezditek is accelerating its growth as we deliver on our vision for innovation and sustainability in the data center market. We’re excited to welcome Stuart to the team and work together to shape the future of KSA’s data center market.” 

Ezditek plans to deliver high-capacity infrastructure across nine data centers in Riyadh, Jeddah, and Dammam by 2030. Its carrier neutral data center hubs are designed to support the Kingdom’s Saudi Vision 2030 roadmap for economic diversification, global engagement, and enhanced quality of life. 

“I’m excited to be joining an organization with a clear strategy for delivering high-quality data centers and digital infrastructure that meets local and global demands. Ezditek has a unique vision for the market and empowers its people to innovate and share new ideas. This is an excellent next step in my career with a company that is thinking differently about data center design, build and operations,” said Stuart Manby, Chief Sales Officer at Ezditek. “Ezditek’s core values of sustainability and innovation directly align with my own views on the future of our industry. We have an opportunity to push MENA’s data center market forward and support Saudi Vision 2030.” 

Manby has spent two decades defining and executing sales strategies for global data center organizations that drive long-term growth. He has a strong focus on disrupting the global data center market and supporting the development of new digital hubs in local markets.  

About Ezditek 

Ezditek has established itself as a leading player in the technology market. The company is dedicated to leveraging the latest technologies and fostering innovation to play a significant role in the Kingdom’s ambitious vision for 2030 and the corresponding technological advancements. 

ezditek.com   

Raxio Data Centres, the leading data centre operator with the widest footprint of carrier-neutral facilities in Africa, has announced the opening of Raxio Mozambique (Raxio MZ1). As the country’s first Tier III Uptime Certified data centre, Raxio MZ1 will be foundational in supporting the country’s growing digital economy and in helping meet the Government’s digital transformation agenda. It is also the latest in a series of data centre launches, as Raxio continues to build a pan-African digital backbone across the continent.

“We are proud to be opening Mozambique’s first Tier III, hyper-scale ready data centre and are excited to be a critical cornerstone in supporting the growth of the country’s evolving digital economy, helping to accelerate the adoption for digital tools and services across industries,” said Robert Mullins, CEO of Raxio Group. “The flagship Raxio MZ1 facility is a hub of connectivity and digital exchange, with eight of the country’s top telecom operators and connectivity providers already signed up. Delivering this exceptional facility is testament of our capabilities and of our commitment to provide our customers in Mozambique with the world-class infrastructure their businesses require.”

Raxio MZ1 is located in Beluluane Industrial Park (MozParks), on the outskirts of Maputo, the Mozambique capital. It meets both primary and disaster recovery needs of its customers, and benefits from the Park’s robust power and connectivity infrastructure, ensuring a stable and highly connected operating environment for the facility. With Maputo situated on the East African coast of the Indian Ocean, Raxio MZ1 is strategically located near three subsea cable landings, including the recent, high capacity 2Africa cable. This offers excellent international connectivity and provides an ideal redundant route for the broader Southern African market.

“With this launch, Mozambique is finally set to benefit from having its own world-class data centre facility and Raxio’s dedicated operational experience to support the country’s continued development in this digital age,” commented Emidio Amadebai, Raxio’s General Manager in Mozambique. “Mozambique’s location positions Raxio MZ1 ideally to accommodate the needs of both local customers and the those in the wider Southern African region.”

Raxio Mozambique is fully equipped with industry-best cooling technology, security standards, AC/DC power compatibility and redundancy in an “always-on” uptime environment. Customers will be able to cross-connect with local and international carriers and other customers in specially designed meet-me rooms. Co-locating in Raxio’s facility allows customers to benefit from a “shared infrastructure” model, and substantially reduce their operational and capital costs while improving application performance and flexibility. Combined with investments in terrestrial infrastructure, Raxio Mozambique will facilitate internet traffic amongst content providers locally, attract regional and international service and content providers, and make the internet experience faster, more resilient, and more affordable for all digital users in the region and Mozambique.

Sustainability built-in

Over 80 percent of Mozambique’s electricity is produced from renewables, one of the highest in Africa. In keeping with Raxio’s commitment to sustainability, a high proportion of Raxio MZ1’s power will come from renewable sources, comprising a combination of hydro-generated grid power and local solar supply.

As with all its data centres, Raxio Mozambique was built with sustainability practices from its energy-efficient design and environmentally conscious processes. The facility is equipped with cutting-edge technologies that not only ensure maximum operational effectiveness but also deliver environmental efficiencies. Raxio’s design and equipment choices are adapted to local environmental and climatic conditions, allowing Raxio’s facility in Mozambique to reach Power Usage Efficiency (PUE) ratios unrivalled on the African continent.

Pan African digital backbone

Raxio continues to see strong momentum behind the roll-out of its pan-African digital backbone. Its Uganda data centre opened in late 2021, followed by Raxio Ethiopia earlier this year. 2024 will see the Mozambique launch quickly followed by launches in Côte d’Ivoire and DRC in Q3 2024, and Angola before the end of the year, bringing the total live facilities to six.

“2024 is a huge year for Raxio and in many ways the culmination of multi-year effort. Our unmatched capability is due to a unique combination of secure financing, in-house technical and project delivery expertise, and the ability to pull together contractors, building teams and so much more,” adds Robert Mullins. “As we continue to deliver on our promise to build a network of interconnected data centres, running world-class infrastructure, across underserved markets in Africa, we are convinced that the continent has an important role to play in the deployment of global AI capabilities as these are rolled out. We are excited to be a part of this future.”

Rome/Tunis, 28 May 2024

Sparkle, the first international service provider in Italy and among the top global operators, has signed an agreement with Tunisie Telecom, the incumbent telecom operator in Tunisia, to provide International IP Transit service leveraging on a new route from Sicily to Milan.

A pioneer in the telecommunications sector in Tunisia, the global and convergent national operator Tunisie Telecom offers a wide range of services in the field of fixed and mobile telecommunications, data center, cloud, IoT and managed security to more than 6 million subscribers which include enterprises and individuals.

Under the agreement, Sparkle will provide high-speed international Internet connectivity at its Point of Presence (PoP) in Milan as well as dedicated capacity on Sparkle’s new state-of-the-art submarine cable in the Tyrrhenian Sea from Palermo to Milan. 

Tunisie Telecom is thus the first Tunisian operator to have a completely new, high-performance active route to Europe guaranteeing to the country full diversification, with better performance and the lowest latency compared to the existing infrastructures. The new route also responds to the fast-growing demand of advanced internet services and digital content in Tunisia, providing a best-in-class data experience to Tunisie Telecom’s consumers and businesses.

The deal strengthens the historical partnership between the two operators and provides the Tunisian market with top quality and fully diversified Internet solutions with the lowest latency.

About Sparkle

Sparkle is TIM Group’s Global Operator, first international service provider in Italy and among the top worldwide, offering a full range of infrastructure and global connectivity services – capacity, IP, SD-WAN, colocation, IoT connectivity, roaming and voice – to national and international Carriers, OTTs, ISPs, Media/Content Providers, and multinational enterprises. A major player in the submarine cable industry, Sparkle owns and manages a network of more than 600,000 km of fiber spanning from Europe to Africa and the Middle East, the Americas and Asia. Its sales force is active worldwide and distributed over 33 countries.

Find out more about Sparkle following its X and LinkedIn profiles or visiting the website tisparkle.com

About Tunisie Telecom

Tunisie Telecom is the fully integrated telecom services operator in Tunisia, with leading market positions across all segments with over 6 million customers and an employee base of c. 5,800. Tunisie Telecom offers the largest mobile coverage in the country, owns and operates a nationwide fixed and fiber network infrastructure. This is complemented by an extensive submarine cable network allowing for direct and fully redundant connectivity with Europe, Africa and Asia. Tunisie Telecom’s service offering ranges from 4G mobile broadband to Fiber-To-The-Home and Fiber-To-The-Building as well as cloud and IP-MPLS solutions for enterprises.

For more information, please visit tunisietelecom.tn.

Media Contacts:

sparkle.communication@tisparkle.com

X: @TISparkle

News 

On day one of Submarine Networks EMEA in London, the first keynote panel of the day addressed the trends, opportunities, and challenges for the global subsea cable market

The panel, which was moderated by Gavin Tully – Managing Partner at Pioneer Consulting, was comprised of Artur Mendes, VP Sales at Angola Cables; Mei Han, Network Planning Manager at China Mobile International; Owen David Bryant, Head of Global Infrastructure at Vodafone; Keri Gilder, CEO of Colt Technology Services; and Tansy McCluskie, Network Investment at meta. 

The panel kicked off by discussing the factors that are driving the industry forward. 

One of the main factors is AI. It will help boom fibre builds, both subsea and terrestrial. We had a period of overbuilding, especially in FTTH and Europe, but now, the industry is in a period of consolidation. It is essential that businesses are predictable and have a business case to build in the right areas, to make sure the traffic will follow. A big change is that, hyperscalers own most of the routes, but recently private equity has also come in – so we are in a new investment phase. 

The process of diversifying the subsea cables was also touched on by the panel. It takes around 4-6 years to develop these cable systems. How do they encourage diversity? Mendes highlighted that the protection issue today is important than ever, especially in Africa, where there have been two huge cable outages already this year. Providing alternative routes, such as Google’s Africa to Australia cable announced last week, will be a solution. 

How might new drivers of demand (such as AI) alter the industry?  

AI is a buzzword in the wider telecoms industry at the moment, but it is important to the subsea cable industry too. A lot of it is just marketing. It’s unclear how much it will grow the network, but, what they expect to see, is more content being closer to the user, so the edge network as a percentage of the overall will grow. Then issues such as diversity, latency and availability will become more important as AI use expands. 

Is there a race between the hyperscalers to “win” AI? For meta specifically, the similar companies such as AWS and Microsoft compete in many ways (in recruiting the best talent, for example), but in the subsea industry they tend to work together much more. For example, the companies band together to lobby governments. 

Terrestrial AI, will bring 3 things (the 3ps): Predictability, Productivity and Power. For every 50 Chat GPT prompts, it requires around a pint of water to cool it, the data centre. So it makes sense that the data centres are being placed in extreme or remote areas. But if the enterprise traffic isn’t following that, then the business case does not work.

Regarding the role of governments in the industry, what is the balance of power in the industry?  

The panel discussed how we are on the edge of a big change in Europe, based on the European Commission policy that creates on digital single market. They think that this will enable one digital market with similar pricing etc, but the ones in the room today are building those systems, not the governments, so they hold the power in regards to infrastructure.  

But governmental regulations are an issue. Colt, for example, had to get regulatory approval in 34 countries when it acquired Lumen in November last year. Vodafone has a cable landing next week, which had regulatory issues in Ireland but they do not even land there. 

Some of the regulatory changes happen midway through a project, so you end up rerouting. This is a huge industry challenge. The regulators are large and cumbersome and they move too slowly. There is demand there for the cables, but the bodies are too slow for the speed they need to build at. 

Looking ahead to the future, what will be the most influential factor in the submarine industry in five years? 

Mei Han: Diversification of cables, which has especially been highlighted with the outages in Africa.

Artur: To be prepared for AI, and having the necessary investments and then return on those investments.  

Tansy: Education. Most people in the world have no idea where the internet comes from. If we go and educate people on where it comes from, it will be easier to progress. 

Owen: The dot com systems are nearly 20 years old, and they will start to be retired. Working on reusing them and relaying them will be a big factor. 

Keri: Extreme weather, it links to diversity. It will move enterprise industries as a whole out of markets. 

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

Also in the news:
UK government conditionally approves £15bn Vodafone–Three merger
Nokia and Vodafone trial Open RAN with Arm and HPE
T-Mobile and Verizon to buy US Cellular, reports say