News

The South Korean mobile giant says it envisions its ‘Ifland’ platform as the first step in creating a “global AI metaverse”

SK Telecom (SKT) first introduced their metaverse platform Iflad in South Korea back in 2021, saying that it would serve as a new social media platform through which customers to could interact with each other and access unique content.

Since then, the company has struck numerous deals with numerous telcos and other related companies around the world, including the likes of Deutsche Telekom, NTT DOCOMO, e&, and Singtel, to help introduce Ifland to a more global audience.

By Q3 2022, the company said it had 12.8 million users on the platform, though its continued growth is hard to measure, with specific updates around usership being notably absent.

But while the buzz around the term ‘metaverse’ has died down substantially in the last two years, the South Korean mobile operator’s commitment to Ifland appears to remain resolute, with multiple updates related to the project released last week.

Firstly, the platform’s international reach continues to grow. SKT said last week that it had signed a new deal with Malaysia’s biggest telco, CelcomDigi Berhad, and Cherry, a Philippine IoT platform company, to help expand the platform’s access in both of these Southeast Asian markets.

The move, the company says, will allow Celcom and Cherry to launch locally optimised Ifland platforms, working with SKT to develop and promote specialised, market-specific content.

Initial partnership discussions had been underway with the companies since November last year.

“Malaysia and the Philippines are one of the important markets for Ifland’s global expansion,” said Yang Maeng-seok, head of metaverse operations at SKT, “Through cooperation with local publishers and the introduction of AI, we will be reborn as a ‘global AI metaverse.’”

This new focus on combining Ifland with AI should come as no surprise. SKT has made its intention to transform from a telco to a fully-fledged AI company very clear, tripling its investment in the technology over the next five years in an attempt to generate RW25 trillion ($18.5 billion) in AI revenue by 2028.

As far as Ifland is concerned, the company plans to add AI functions to its ‘E-Friend’ service within the year, including a ‘social AI agent’ that Ifland users can interact with inside the metaverse, and a ‘3D AI studio’ that uses generative AI to generate personalised items and spaces within Ifland.

The platform is also being optimised for new languages, with Malay, Indonesian, Hindi, and Spanish set to be added in the first half of this year.

Finally, in related news, today has seen the launch of a new single ‘Halla’ by multinational girl group “Triple iz”, a K-pop group formed specifically due to their popularity among Ifland users. According to SKT, the ‘fan-made’ group has been specifically influenced by Ifland users, who have had weekly meetings since February to guide the production process, including the selection of fan club names and musical direction.

The exact impact of the song’s launch on Ifland, however, appears somewhat muted by the fact that it is also launching simultaneously on 216 global music channels – it even has a music video, which does not appear to feature Ifland at all.

Ultimately, while the international hype around the metaverse has reduced substantially in recent years – largely subsumed by AI – SKT still has high hopes for Ifland in the global market, albeit the company’s content creation seems to remain largely centred around its home market.

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

Also in the news:
Digi Spain sells 6m FTTH accesses to Onivia
Vodafone’s 5G standalone network now connects around half the German population
Broadband poles no problem for Brits says new study

The new generation of alternative gigabit-capable broadband ISP networks (AltNets) has helped to bring a huge amount of additional competition into the wider UK market. But one area where some of them fall down is in their use of technologies like CGNAT (IP address sharing) and the lack of IPv6 support.

Now, it’s fair to say that many ordinary consumers probably won’t care too much about things like this. But for IT people, as well as online gamers and those with particular security requirements, the approach an ISP takes to the use of Carrier Grade Network Address Translation (CGN), and any related support for the Internet Protocol v6 (IPv6) addressing standard, can make all the difference.

First, a little explainer. Everybody needs an Internet Protocol (IP) address to go online and your ISP is responsible for assigning one to your connection (it’s the internet equivalent of a phone number). Most ISPs tend to use Dynamic IP addresses for domestic connectivity, which changes each time your broadband link is disconnected and isn’t shared with other subscribers (at least not at the same time you’re using it).

Some providers will also allow you to take a Static IP (Fixed IP) address, which remains the same no matter how many times you switch the connection on and off, albeit usually at an extra cost. However, the shift from the old IPv4 system, which has long since run out of spare addresses (buying IPv4’s now on the market is an expensive business), means that in order to add new connections some ISPs have had to adopt CGN.

CGNAT enables a single IP address to be shared between many users, and is thus seen by some ISPs as a useful solution for IPv4 shortages. But sharing IP addresses like this can also cause security and connectivity issues, which is something that more advanced users often prefer to avoid.

One way to reduce the negative impact from this is to ensure that the network supports the latest IPv6 addressing standard, but surprisingly there are still plenty of ISPs that have yet to properly adopt it. The reality is that some providers will need CGNAT until IPv6 has fully taken over, thus in the meantime more advanced users tend to look for ISPs that can mitigate this by both supporting IPv6 and offering Static IP addresses.

Surveying AltNets

The problem is that most AltNets, as well as ISP more generally, tend not to do a good job of communicating their use of CGNAT or IPv6 support. In addition, CGNAT support may vary between packages (e.g. you might see it on cheaper residential plans, but not necessary the business variants of those). This can make it very difficult for more advanced / experienced users to figure out whether the new networks are able to cater for their needs.

In recent years’ we’ve seen quite a few complaints about this and so we’ve today responded by surveying each provider to identify their level of support. In cases where we couldn’t find enough consumer feedback to verify the details, then we’ve manually contacted providers to ask three simple questions:

1. Do your consumer broadband packages all support IPv6?

2. Do you offer a Static IP option to customers, and how much does it cost?

3. Do your consumer packages use CGNAT?

Since manually surveying masses of AltNets would be far too laborious, we’ve instead opted to only focus on those with wider UK coverage (ideally in the tens of thousands of premises). We’ve also excluded any providers / networks where we had no solid or recent data on their coverage.

One catch here is that some operators are pure wholesale networks, which sometimes don’t operate their own optional retail provider, and in those cases we’ve opted to select two or more recognisable ISPs to represent them (note: IPv6 support is implemented at ISP level). Some of the ISPs we pick may be available via other networks too, but we try not to repeat the entries.

Survey Results

The outcome of our survey can be found below, with extra notes where relevant.

Pure Open Wholesale Networks with Multiple ISPs

CityFibre

TalkTalk
➤ IPv6 Support: No (TalkTalk claims their network supports it, but they haven’t enabled it)
➤ Static IP Available: No (only on business packages)
➤ CGNAT on Consumer Plans: No

Vodafone
➤ IPv6 Support: Yes
➤ Static IP Available: Yes (free – but you have to request it)
➤ CGNAT on Consumer Plans: No

Zen Internet
➤ IPv6 Support: Yes
➤ Static IP Available: Yes (free)
➤ CGNAT on Consumer Plans: No

iDNET
➤ IPv6 Support: Yes
➤ Static IP Available: Yes (often included by default)
➤ CGNAT on Consumer Plans: No

MS3

Octaplus
➤ IPv6 Support: Yes (deployment started in August 2023)
➤ Static IP Available: Yes (£5 a month)
➤ CGNAT on Consumer Plans: Yes

Direct Save Telecom
➤ IPv6 Support: No
➤ Static IP Available: ? (included on business plans)
➤ CGNAT on Consumer Plans: ?

Yayzi Broadband
➤ IPv6 Support: No (but in the process of being added)
➤ Static IP Available: Yes (£2 a month)
➤ CGNAT on Consumer Plans: Yes (they’re removing this as IPv6 gets implemented)

OFNL

Seethelight
➤ IPv6 Support: No
➤ Static IP Available: ? (included on business plans)
➤ CGNAT on Consumer Plans: ?

Direct Save Telecom
➤ IPv6 Support: No
➤ Static IP Available: ? (included on business plans)
➤ CGNAT on Consumer Plans: ?

Take note that the results for open wholesale networks that have their own primary ISP (e.g. FullFibre Limited and F&W Networks) can be found mixed in below with the more vertically integrated providers.

Networks with a Primary ISP (often vertically integrated)

Airband
➤ IPv6 Support: Yes
➤ Static IP Available: Yes (£10 a month)
➤ CGNAT on Consumer Plans: Yes

B4RN

➤ IPv6 Support: Yes
➤ Static IP Available: All packages get IPv4 host reservation on the global address, and they also offer IPv6 unicast and prefix delegation address reservation
➤ CGNAT on Consumer Plans: No

BeFibre (FullFibre Ltd. and Digital Infrastructure)

➤ IPv6 Support: No (but told it’s on roadmap for 2024 sometime)
➤ Static IP Available: Yes (£4 a month)
➤ CGNAT on Consumer Plans: Yes (but if customers want a standard dynamic IP, they can “request that free of charge“)

Brsk

➤ IPv6 Support: Yes
➤ Static IP Available: Yes (£5 a month)
➤ CGNAT on Consumer Plans: Yes

CommunityFibre

➤ IPv6 Support: Yes
➤ Static IP Available: No (but you can get one on their business plans)
➤ CGNAT on Consumer Plans: Yes

County Broadband

➤ IPv6 Support: ?
➤ Static IP Available: Yes (£5 a month)
➤ CGNAT on Consumer Plans: ?

Exascale

➤ IPv6 Support: No (but planned as part of core upgrade in 2024)
➤ Static IP Available: Yes (£6 a month)
➤ CGNAT on Consumer Plans: No (“we’re dead against this“)

Ecom

➤ IPv6 Support: No (but due soon on Ecom Fibre)
➤ Static IP Available: Yes (£5 a month or free on biz plans)
➤ CGNAT on Consumer Plans: No

Fibrus

➤ IPv6 Support: No (IPv4 by default, but network may be IPv6 capable)
➤ Static IP Available: Yes (£6 a month)
➤ CGNAT on Consumer Plans: Yes

FibreNest

➤ IPv6 Support: Yes
➤ Static IP Available: Yes (£5 a month)
➤ CGNAT on Consumer Plans: Yes

NOTE: Some customers report that FibreNest could not supply them with a static IP, despite it being advertised.

Freedom Fibre (TalkTalk)

➤ IPv6 Support: No (TalkTalk claims their network supports it, but they haven’t enabled it)
➤ Static IP Available: No (only on business packages)
➤ CGNAT on Consumer Plans: No

G.Network

➤ IPv6 Support: No
➤ Static IP Available: Yes (£4.80 a month)
➤ CGNAT on Consumer Plans: Yes

Gigaclear

➤ IPv6 Support: No (they have tentative plans to deploy it)
➤ Static IP Available: Yes (£2 a month)
➤ CGNAT on Consumer Plans: No (but CGNAT may be coming)

GoFibre

➤ IPv6 Support: No (but “available to new GoFibre customers in the early part of 2024“)
➤ Static IP Available: ? – Unclear as ISP currently working on changes to related product/prices
➤ CGNAT on Consumer Plans: Yes (on standard non-IPv6 products)

Grain

➤ IPv6 Support: No (they claim it’s coming)
➤ Static IP Available: Yes (£5 per month)
➤ CGNAT on Consumer Plans:Yes

Hyperoptic

➤ IPv6 Support: No (technically their network does support IPv6, but there seem to be some issues with older kit)
➤ Static IP Available: Yes (£5 per month)
➤ CGNAT on Consumer Plans: Yes

Hey! Broadband (F&W Networks)

➤ IPv6 Support: No
➤ Static IP Available: Yes (£5 per month)
➤ CGNAT on Consumer Plans: Yes

Cuckoo (Fern Trading – Jurassic Fibre, Swish Fibre, Giganet and All Points Fibre)

➤ IPv6 Support: No
➤ Static IP Available: Yes (£1 per month)
➤ CGNAT on Consumer Plans: ?

NOTE: At the time of writting the networks for Jurassic Fibre, Swish Fibre and Giganet are all in the process of being consolidated, with Cuckoo taking on the consumer retail side. Due to this it’s become a bit tricky to know what the final service options and capabilities are going to look like by the end of 2024.

KCOM

➤ IPv6 Support: No (although their network is technically IPv6-ready, but not enabled on consumer plans)
➤ Static IP Available: Yes  (included by default)
➤ CGNAT on Consumer Plans: No

Lit Fibre

➤ IPv6 Support: Yes (/62)
➤ Static IP Available: Yes  (£5 per month)
➤ CGNAT on Consumer Plans: Yes

Lightning Fibre

➤ IPv6 Support: No (we’re told it’s on the roadmap for sometime in 2024)
➤ Static IP Available: Yes (£10 a month, but due to be cut to £5 – free for biz users)
➤ CGNAT on Consumer Plans: No

Lightspeed Broadband

➤ IPv6 Support: ?
➤ Static IP Available: No
➤ CGNAT on Consumer Plans: Yes

LilaConnect (VX FIBER , Freedom Fibre)

➤ IPv6 Support: No
➤ Static IP Available: Yes (£6 a month – or included on their ‘Gamer’ package)
➤ CGNAT on Consumer Plans: Yes

NOTE: We had to get some extra clarification on this one, since ‘Static IP’ above has a different meaning with Lila. “We unfortunately do not offer a strictly Static IP at this time, we do offer Public IP’s that are delivered dynamically, however unless a change is forced (on our system) the IP does not change, so it acts as a Static.” So if you pay £6 extra for one, you’re actually getting a Public IP that rarely changes.

Netomnia (YouFibre)
➤ IPv6 Support: Yes, but only in some areas (being deployed)
➤ Static IP Available: Yes (£5 per month)
➤ CGNAT on Consumer Plans: Yes

Ogi
➤ IPv6 Support: Yes – partial (full native IPv6 being deploying during H1 2024)
➤ Static IP Available: No (but their IPv4s are quite sticky)
➤ CGNAT on Consumer Plans: Yes and No (didn’t use CGNAT when asked, but was due to be added by end of 2023)

NOTE: Ogi said that, once CGNAT is deployed, they will be able to optionally put customers back on an IPv4 address (we assume a static one) if they have problems that cannot be resolved. But the roll-out of native IPv6 should help to placate a lot of this.

Pine Media

➤ IPv6 Support: Yes and No (can only get IPv6 on request, but plan is to roll it out generally in 2024)
➤ Static IP Available: Yes (£2 a month)
➤ CGNAT on Consumer Plans: Yes

Quickline

➤ IPv6 Support: No
➤ Static IP Available: Yes (included by default, but £5 a month on wireless plans)
➤ CGNAT on Consumer Plans: No

Truespeed

➤ IPv6 Support: No
➤ Static IP Available: ? (£ a month)
➤ CGNAT on Consumer Plans: ?

Trooli

➤ IPv6 Support: No
➤ Static IP Available: ? (£ a month)
➤ CGNAT on Consumer Plans: ?

Toob

➤ IPv6 Support: Yes
➤ Static IP Available: Yes (£8 a month!)
➤ CGNAT on Consumer Plans: Yes

Wessex Internet

➤ IPv6 Support: Yes
➤ Static IP Available: ? (£ a month)
➤ CGNAT on Consumer Plans: ?

WightFibre

➤ IPv6 Support: Yes
➤ Static IP Available: Yes (£? a month)
➤ CGNAT on Consumer Plans: ?

Wildanet

➤ IPv6 Support: Yes (Dual Stack via a 6 to 4 Tunnel, if you use their Adtran router)
➤ Static IP Available: Yes (£5 a month)
➤ CGNAT on Consumer Plans: Yes

Zzoomm

➤ IPv6 Support: Yes
➤ Static IP Available: Yes (£10 a month)
➤ CGNAT on Consumer Plans: No

Please note that the above details were gathered gradually over three months between late 2023 and early 2024. As a result, it’s entirely possible that some of the information may have changed since we last checked, and we also weren’t able to fill in all the blanks (not everybody responded). Suffice to say, we’d very much appreciate it if the providers and our readers could help by informing us if any of this information needs updating.

The rural south Shropshire (England) village of Ditton Priors, which is home to over 800 people, can now access a gigabit-capable broadband network after a combination of Project Gigabit vouchers, council support and work by ISP Kloud9 enabled the roll-out of a new full fibre (FTTP) network to take place.

Residents in the local community could previously only access Openreach’s ageing Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC / VDSL2) network, often at speeds of greater than 24Mbps, but the new Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network pushes that into the 1000Mbps territory.

According to Business Insider, Kloud9 only started work on the build in August 2023 and has now completed the roll-out for local homes and businesses. The provider also completed similarly small FTTP build projects in Cleehill and Cressage, and is said to be working on four more builds in the area.

Julie Bushell, Kloud9’s Community Engagement Manager, said:

“Gigabit broadband has become a necessity rather than a luxury. Rural villages like Ditton Priors are in real danger of being left in the broadband dark ages. It was a pleasure to work so closely with the community.”

Customers of the new service can expect to pay from £29.99 per month (plus a £20 one-off installation fee) for symmetric speeds of 100Mbps on a 12-month term, which rises to just £44.99 for their top 900Mbps tier.

In a victory for some full fibre ISPs. The government’s Building Digital UK (BDUK) agency appears to have reversed an earlier decision, which removed gigabit broadband voucher eligibility for some properties (UPRNs) that had previously received public subsidy through the earlier Superfast (24-30Mbps+) scheme, when delivering fixed wireless access (FWA) networks.

The related Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme (GBVS) previously allowed those building newer 1000Mbps+ capable networks to deploy, using vouchers, across some locations, such as remote rural areas that may have previously received a subsidised upgrade to an FWA network under the old superfast broadband programme (unless of course the FWA network could now also deliver gigabit speeds).

However, much as we reported at the start of this year (here), some ISPs like Technological, which had been rolling out a gigabit-capable FTTP network to several rural communities in the Mid Devon and West Somerset (England) areas, began noticing a problem during August 2023 where certain previously eligible premises (mostly those that had in the past received a subsidised “superfast” FWA build) were now being marked as ineligible for gigabit vouchers.

At the time, BDUK said this was merely because they were prioritising other premises that have not had access to higher speeds as a result of recent FWA builds under the Superfast programme. The agency said that such premises would still be in-scope for Project Gigabit, should they continue to have access to speeds below 1Gbps before the programme is complete. But BDUK did agree to review the decision, improve communication and to investigate whether previous subsidised FWA builds in such areas were delivering on their speed promises.

What’s changed?

The good news for some network operators is that BDUK now appears to be in the process of reversing the aforementioned position, which one BDUK official is said to have described as being an “anomaly“.

Following a review of last year’s decision, BDUK has now informed suppliers that it will again open eligibility to gigabit vouchers where the Superfast scheme build phase is complete, including where FWA has been delivered and where voucher requests meet all other eligibility criteria.

Jim Weir, Technical Director of Technological Services, told ISPreview:

“I am delighted that our extensive representations to BDUK have obtained this result for the local communities patiently waiting for improvement to their broadband options. We are already actively extending our Exmoor network and connecting these rural properties to our Full Fibre service, with many more remote communities now within reach.”

BDUK are currently in the process of amending their voucher eligibility engine to reflect this decision, although it hopefully should not take too long before those changes go live on their funding platform.

NEWS 

Onivia was established in 2019 as Spain’s first independent wholesale fibre network operator 

Digi Spain has announced that is has sold 6 million fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) accesses to wholesale fibre provider Onivia for €750 million. 

This acquisition marks a significant expansion for Onivia, which is owned by a consortium comprised of Macquarie Capital, Abrdn, and Arjun Infrastructure Partners, increasing the network operator’s FTTH coverage to approximately 10 million Spanish households, over a third of the market. 

Digi Spain’s network currently serves around 4.25 million homes, with plans for further expansion to cover an additional 1.75 million homes over the next three years. This expansion initiative is projected to extend the network’s reach to a total of 6 million homes, spanning across twelve provinces in key regions including Madrid, Segovia, Avila, Castilla-La Mancha, Comunidad Valenciana, and Murcia.  

As part of the agreement, Onivia has secured the option to acquire any future fibre rollouts from DIGI within these provinces. 

Digi Spain will retain access to the FTTH network as an anchor tenant and will continue to serve its current customer base.  Simultaneously, the network will be opened up to all other Onivia ISP customers, allowing for increased competition in the market.  

“With this acquisition, Onivia confirms its position as largest neutral and independent player, enhancing the value-added proposal for our telco customers, increasing coverage, and offering latest XGS-PON technology,” said Onivia’s CEO Jose Antonio Vázquez Blanco in a press release. 

The transaction is still subject to standard regulatory approval, which includes Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) clearances in Spain and European Commission merger control. 

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

Also in the news:
FCC rejects SpaceX’s request for spectrum
Amazon invests $2.75 billion in AI startup Anthropic
T-Mobile gets green light to appeal class action lawsuit

Telecom26 and MiWire today announced they are trialling a new eSIM-based maritime connectivity service that will provide fast and reliable data at a reduced price for commercial vessels — particularly ferries — that often sail on the same routes.

Traditionally satellite has been the technology of choice for the commercial shipping industry. However, satellite connectivity has several limitations including:

High-cost, inflexible monthly usage plans
Significant gaps in coverage.

Telecom26 and MiWire both specialise in providing maritime connectivity. The two companies have collaborated to develop a maritime service that can access land-based cellular networks, which can reach up to 50km out to sea.

This new maritime service, based on eSIM, will always use the most cost-effective and strongest cellular connection for data which can take advantage of local rates – and will only switch to a more expensive satellite when the vessel gets too far from land.

Research conducted by MiWire reveals that, for most of their voyages, vessels tend to spend above 80% of time within sight of the shore and can therefore access land-based cellular networks.

At the heart of the new maritime service are Telecom26’s eSIMs which use a proprietary Local Profile Assistant on device (LPAd) technology. With the LPAd, eSIM profiles can be loaded onto a standard eUICC module, which is inserted into the standard SIM slot of MiWire’s existing routers, without any changes to their hardware stock.

MiWire routers have a database of the coastal coverage which is augmented with scans of the coast, identifying base stations – and the carrier to which they belong – so that they can use this information to select the best network to secure data connectivity.

The onboard antenna then precisely aligns with the optimal mobile base stations to receive the best radio signal. Telecom26 global network is the default profile with its eSIMs able to access cellular networks in more than 200 countries and territories.

The use of Telecom26’s LPAd technology enables:

Existing routers to be upgraded to support eSIM
eSIM profiles to be downloaded, enabled, disabled and deleted on MiWire’s routers
MiWire to remotely manage the connectivity rules and service levels available to individual eSIMs
MiWire’s routers select the appropriate eSIM profile for every location on the vessel’s journey – and support fallback logic, in the event that an eSIM provider suffers an outage

The GSMA’s “M2M eSIM” specification was designed to address large scale deployments of IoT/M2M devices. However, this standard was too costly and complex for medium- to small-scale M2M and router use cases – and did not offer the simplicity that is enabled with consumer eSIM propositions and enjoyed by mobile subscribers today.

Although the GSMA is developing a hybrid approach to resolve this problem, this will take time to be standardised and adopted in routers and modems. In the meantime, to address this deficit and to bring the convenience of eSIM tech to industrial and commercial devices today, Telecom26 has developed its own approach for routers – and will adjust to the GSMA’s standards once they are available.

David Fleischer, CEO of MiWire, said “Telecom26’s innovative and industry-leading LPAd technology is a game-changer for the maritime connectivity industry. Trials of our new service are consistently delivering fast, reliable and always-on coverage – and allows us to offer compelling price points to our customers. It will be launched commercially in the near future”.

Nicola Berardocco, CEO of Telecom26, said “Maritime connectivity is one of our core services with our customers able to use our global service which utilises the networks of hundreds of operators. Our collaboration with MiWire has produced the best data service available for commercial vessels – taking eSIM into the commercial arena”.

About Telecom26

We’re an independent, global mobile operator with our own network core and operational assets leveraging relationships with more than 650 mobile operators in 200+ countries and territories to secure unrivalled global coverage.

We offer a full range of telecom services and connectivity options including 5G, 2G, 3G and 4G, private networks, including offshore connectivity capabilities.

We specialise in providing connectivity for business travellers, enterprises, IoT and M2M.

Our customers include enterprises, OEMs and NGOs who want a single delivery partner, cross-border solutions and network coverage that is secure, resilient and can be tailored to meet specific and evolving needs.

Founded in Switzerland in 2012, Telecom26 is an Operator Member of the GSMA.

For more information, please visit 

www.telecom26.ch

https://www.linkedin.com/company/telecom26-ag/

Tweets by Telecom26_AG

News 

The news comes just days after the company won €1 billion from the Italian government in a legal battle 

Telecom Italia (TIM) has announced that it has signed a €1.5 billion bridge loan to strengthen its financial position ahead of the sale of its fixed network infrastructure business, NetCo, to KKR and the Italian government for up to €22 billion. 

It is expected that the loan will reassure investors while the sale remains to be approved by regulators.  

In a short press release, the company confirmed that “the transaction is aimed at covering re-financing needs until the closing date of the NetCo transaction and it presents conditions in line with the market benchmarks.” 

The loan has a maturity of up to 18 months and was arranged with BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole CIB, Deutsche Bank, J.P. Morgan, Santander, and Unicredit as bookrunners. 

The sale of NetCo is the brainchild of TIM CEO Pietro Labriola, who says the move is necessary for TIM to reduce its debt pile of over €26 billion by €14 billion and therefore allow the company the financial flexibility it needs to compete in the market effectively. 

TIM’s largest shareholder, French media company Vivendi, however, has expressed its disapproval of the deal, saying that it greatly undervalues TIM’s fixed network assets. In a November press release, the company confirmed that it would “use any legal means necessary” to challenge the decision. 

This new tranche of funding comes in a week when TIM’s financial outlook was already looking up, having just  won a 15 year-long court battle with the Italian government over licensing fees it was ordered to pay in 1998, the year after the Italian telecoms sector was liberalised. The Rome Court of Appeal has ordered the Italian government to repay the €500 million fee, plus revaluation and accrued interest, which leaves the fee standing at €1 billion. 

The government is appealing the decision. 

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

Also in the news:
FCC rejects SpaceX’s request for spectrum
Amazon invests $2.75 billion in AI startup Anthropic
T-Mobile gets green light to appeal class action lawsuit

News

A new report from the Internet Services Providers’ Association (ISPA) shows 69% of Brits would accept new poles being installed in exchange for better broadband

There is no two ways about it: telephone poles can be an eyesore.

Local news outlets in the UK publish a near constant stream of Not in My Back Yard (NIMBY)-related stories, in which residents decry the deployment of ugly connectivity infrastructure near their picaresque homes.

But this week a new survey from ISPA suggests that these concerns may be overblown when looking at the UK at large, with results suggesting that almost 70% of people would accept a new telephone pole being erected in their street if it delivered better broadband.

The survey, which included 2,563 respondents, found that:

Three quarters (75%) of British adults surveyed accept having telephone poles in their street if they deliver great broadband
Almost 7 in 10 (69%) surveyed would accept a new telephone pole in their street today if it delivered better broadband to their house and community
Less than 1 in 5 (17%) Brits surveyed would not accept a new telephone pole in their street today if it delivered better broadband to their house and community

The survey also showed that poles are perhaps less of an eyesore than previously thought: 37% of respondents said they ‘rarely or never telecoms poles when out and about’, while 19% say they notice them “frequently or always”.

Another factor to consider here is that providing broadband infrastructure via overhead poles, while undoubtedly uglier than burying the cables underground, is a markedly cheaper way to deploy this infrastructure.

When the respondents were asked if they would be willing to pay extra in order to have the network deployed underground, 61% said they would not be willing to pay extra to this end. Of those who would pay extra (30%), the average additional contribution suggested was £179 – less than a tenth of how much it would actually cost to hide cables underground in someone’s street per household.

“Poles have always been a historic feature of the UK telecommunications network and the new data clearly shows that the vast majority of the UK population is fine with that,” said ISPA’s chairman Steve Leighton.

“Our members will avoid erecting new poles but that is not always possible, and in those cases our members try their best to accommodate local concerns, However, the data clearly shows that the public does not want to pay more to hide cables underground.”

“We will continue to engage proactively with the Government to ensure that local concerns are reflected appropriately but we need to avoid a situation where objections from a minority lead to higher prices for everybody,” he added.

Naturally, it is in the interest of ISPA’s members to promote telephone poles as method of deploying broadband given that it is both faster and cheaper than digging below ground, but the timing of this study is worth noting too.

Last month the UK government called on network operators to limit telegraph pole deployments wherever possible to reduce impact to communities. Given that the government also has lofty goals of making gigabit-capable broadband available to 85% of UK premises by the end of 2025, threatening to put formal limitations on deployment methods no doubt caused a stir within the country’s broadband community.

However, it seemed the ISPA had anticipated this move by the government, conducting this survey back in February, likely to help convince the government that telegraph poles are less of a burden on communities than some complainants would have them believe.

Join the telecoms ecosystem in discussion at Connected North live in Manchester later this month!

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News

The telco has been hard at work upgrading its network to the new architecture since the start of the year 

This week, Vodafone Germany has announced its network construction update for the first quarter of this year. Within this time frame, Vodafone has made strides in bolstering mobile connectivity infrastructure across the country, completing over 1,200 construction projects.  

According to the company, this effort, which averaged 13 projects daily, underscores the company’s commitment to enhancing its LTE and 5G network capabilities. 

During this period, Vodafone commissioned 155 new base stations and upgraded almost 500 existing stations to 5G standalone (SA), which Vodafone calls 5G+. Nearly 170 measures were implemented to address LTE dead spots, ensuring more consistent coverage across the country. 

Deploying 5G SA constituted almost 40% of the total construction efforts. As a result, approximately half of Germany’s population now has access to Vodafone’s 5G+ network. 

Favourable weather conditions in March 2024 further expedited construction efforts, with over 550 locations seeing project completion. On average, three new mobile phone stations were activated daily during this period, contributing to the integration of 67 new locations into the Vodafone network. 

In related company news, last month Vodafone Germany announced that it will cut 2,000 jobs over the next two years as part wider company restructuring. It is hoped that the move will save the company €400 million. 

The cuts are part of cost-cutting measures announced by new Group CEO Margherita Della Valle in May last year, in which 11,000 jobs are expected to be cut globally over the next three years. 

 “Vodafone wants to make itself even simpler, faster, leaner and therefore more powerful in the next two years,” said Vodafone Germany CEO Philipp Roggein a speech to employees. 

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Press Release

AXIAN Telecom, one of the leading pan-African telecom groups, is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Vivek Badrinath to its Board of Directors as a Non-Executive Director (NED)

Before his new appointment, Mr. Badrinath spent three years at Vantage Towers AG where he was the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Management Board. He led the establishment of the towers company in 2020, facilitated its IPO in 2021, and eventually its sale to Private Equity in 2023. Under his leadership, Vantage Towers effectively managed 88,000 telecom towers across eight European countries.

Mr. Badrinath has held extensive leadership roles within the telecommunications sector. In 2016, he assumed the position of CEO of Africa Middle East Asia Pacific at Vodafone, joining their Executive Committee. In this capacity, he provided oversight to Vodafone’s operations across various regions including the Vodacom Group, India, Australia, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, and New Zealand. Additionally, he served as the Interim CEO of Vodafone Business during his tenure. Prior to his time at Vodafone, Mr. Badrinath held key positions at Orange, starting in 2004 as the CTO of Orange Mobile before advancing to the Group CTO. His journey at Orange culminated in his appointment as CEO of Orange Business Services and subsequently as Deputy CEO of Orange Group, where he spearheaded initiatives in Innovation, Marketing, and Technology.

He also served as the Deputy Chief Executive at the renowned international hospitality group Accor Hotels where he was responsible for overseeing marketing strategies, digital solutions, distribution channels, and information systems.

Hassanein Hiridjee, Chairman of the Board commented: “We are delighted to welcome Vivek Badrinath to the AXIAN Telecom Board. Badrinath’s leadership in managing telecom infrastructure and driving strategic growth aligns perfectly with AXIAN Telecom’s vision of responsible expansion across Africa. With his wealth of knowledge and commitment to excellence, we are confident that he will make significant contributions to our mission of enhancing connectivity and improving the lives of communities throughout the continent. On behalf of the Board, I extend our warmest welcome to Badrinath.”

 “I’m thrilled and deeply honored to become a part of AXIAN Telecom. Drawing from my experience and expertise in the telecommunications sector, I am looking forward to playing a pivotal role in driving AXIAN Telecom to new heights in Africa. I firmly believe that together, we can make a substantial and noteworthy impact across the continent,” said Mr. Badrinath about his appointment.

Mr Badrinath also previously served on many boards as a Non-Executive Director including Nokia, GSMA, Atos and Accor Group.

He is a recipient of the French Legion of Honor and the National Order of Merit.

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