Mobile network analyst firm Streetwave and train operator c2c have today published the results of a new real-world benchmark, which examined the mobile network (2G to 5G) performance of EE (BT), O2 (Virgin Media), Vodafone and Three UK across the Essex Thameside Railway route. Overall, EE customers get the best experience. c2c operates the Essex […]

Rural broadband ISP Alncom have this morning announced that the Government’s Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme (GBVS) has approved a new project, which will see them extend their gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network further into the north of Alnwick area in Northumberland (England). The provider is currently aiming to build their full fibre network to cover 50,000 […]

The Government has today announced that the first of 86 new state aid supported 4G mobile masts in rural parts of Wales have been upgraded and switched-on. The work forms part of the £1bn industry-led Shared Rural Network project (i.e. extending 4G mobile / broadband cover to 95% of the UK by the end of […]

News 

The trial will boost mobile capacity in dense urban areas 

British broadband and mobile operator Virgin Media O2 (VMO2) has announced its latest initiative – the Smart Pole Trial, in collaboration with shareholder Liberty Global.  

As part of the trial, VMO2 has erected 4G and 5G smart poles on their existing fibre network to help boost mobile network coverage and capacity. 

The poles are smaller than normal mobile masts and can be set up quickly and without regulatory hurdles such as planning permission. As VMO2 have approximately 25,000 street cabinet dotted across the UK, the trial allows for a wide scale rollout that would speed up network build, reduce costs and de-risk upgrade programmes.  

The company also claim that in a UK first, the electricity “is supplied by Virgin Media’s fibre network rather than a traditional power supply through innovative ‘digital electricity’ technology, which transmits power from on-street cabinets in the local area along fibre optic cables”. 

There is also the possibility that in the future, the smart poles could power smart city solutions and electric vehicle chargers using the company’s existing network. 

“As we continue investing to upgrade and expand our network, we’re always looking for new ways to work smarter and deliver more for our customers,” said Chief Technology Officer Jeanie York in a press release.  

“The ability to use our existing national fixed network to backhaul and power small cells could be transformational – helping us save time and money, open up new revenue streams, support smart city technology and fully leverage the benefits of our scaled converged network,” she continued. 

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

Also in the news:
BT wins £26m contract to connect UK schools
Apple fined €1.8bn by European Commission over Spotify row
Japan to reduce regulatory pressure on incumbent NTT 

News

The move is the latest step towards Vodafone’s “reshaped European footprint” 

Swisscom has announced a binding deal to acquire Vodafone’s Italian business unit for €8 billion (£6.8bn). 

After the deal’s completion, Swisscom will merge Vodafone’s Italian unit with Fastweb, Swisscom’s Italian subsidiary to create Italy’s second-largest fixed-line broadband operator behind Telecom Italia (TIM). This, they said, will create around €600 million in savings through increased scale and a more efficient cost structure. As part of the transaction, Vodafone will provide some service to Swisscom for the next five years. 

“The industrial logic of this merger is very strong,” said Swisscom’s CEO Christoph Aeschlimann in a press release. “Fastweb and Vodafone Italia are an ideal fit to create high added value for all stakeholders,” he continued. The deal will allow Swisscom to reinforce its Italian operations, a market it has been operating in since 2007 through Fastweb. 

For some time, Vodafone has been reshaping its operations globally. In October last year, the company sold 100% of its Spanish unit to Zegona Communications for €5 billion, and are currently in proceedings to merge business with Three in the UK. 

“Today, I am announcing the third and final step in the reshaping of our European operations,” said Vodafone’s CEO Margherita Della Valle in a company announcement. “Going forward, our businesses will be operating in growing telco markets – where we hold strong positions – enabling us to deliver predictable, stronger growth in Europe.” Additionally, the company’s announcement stated that it also intends to focus on its B2B sector, which it says is its “biggest opportunity”, to focus on  

Vodafone also stated that from 1st April this year, it will move most of its central operations to a a fully commercial model, allowing them to respond quickly and flexibly to demand changes. 

The deal is subject to standard regulatory approval, and is expected to close in the first quarter of next year. Also on this date, the company will be reorganised into five business divisions: Germany; European Markets; Africa; Vodafone Business; and Vodafone Investments. A personnel change will be implemented to reflect this, including Philippe Rogge stepping down as Vodafone Germany CEO. The full staff changes can be found here. 

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

Also in the news:
BT wins £26m contract to connect UK schools
Apple fined €1.8bn by European Commission over Spotify row
Japan to reduce regulatory pressure on incumbent NTT

The UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has responded to a call by East Riding Council for them to conduct an “emergency review” of the situation around poles and KCOM’s infrastructure sharing in Hull. But the regulator says its powers to stop such works are limited and that no rival had raised a formal dispute about KCOM, […]

Broadband and mobile operator Virgin Media (O2) have today hailed the results of a new trial – delivered in collaboration with shareholder Liberty Global, which is said to have “successfully” deployed 4G and 5G “smart poles” on top of its existing fibre broadband cabinets in the UK to help boost mobile network coverage and capacity. […]

Good news. Broadband ISP Airband, which previously aimed to cover 400,000 UK premises in rural areas via a mix of fixed wireless access (FWA) and full fibre (FTTP) networks by 2026, has today announced that they’ve secured additional investment from abrdn to “accelerate rural broadband expansion” across West of England. The operator, which recently came […]

The UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has today concluded its investigation into Openreach’s Quality of Service (i.e. minimum standards for repairs and new line provision) targets, which found that they “failed to meet, by narrow margins,” 3 out of 35 of the QoS standards in the leased lines (Ethernet) and local wholesale broadband markets. As an […]

Insight

At MWC this year, Eric Zhao, the Vice President and CMO of Huawei Wireless Solution led a media discussion on 5.5G, sharing his insights on Huawei’s 5.5G development and innovation competitiveness

There is a general consensus, says Zhao that the 5.5G will begin commercial deployment in 2024. This is based on the progress in standard, spectrum, terminals and key technologies. 5.5G standard will be frozen, the spectrum is available, the terminals are mature, and the key technologies have been verified. Zhao notes that in Huawei’s opinion, 6G is still in the early research stage, and 5.5G technology is highly homologous to 6G. The deployment of 5.5G is also preparing for the evolution of 6G.

Zooming in closer to the standard, in 2021, 3GPP set R18, R19, and R20 as 5.5G standards. In particular, Release 18 will be frozen in the first half of 2024. R18 will improve spectrum efficiency, enhance XR capabilities. R19/R20 to follow will expand new capabilities, such as intelligence, energy saving, high-precision positioning.

Spectrum is vital for the achievement of the 10Gbps experience for 5.5G. Large bandwidth spectrums are the basis for 5.5G network capabilities, and millimetre wave and the upcoming U6GHz are important new frequencies, that can achieve a 10Gbps experience.

Operators worldwide are also actively verifying 5.5G technology and networking, and the Middle East is leading the way. “Key operators have achieved premium experience rate of 10Gbps, and are moving towards commercial 5.5G, especially for the FWA business,” said Zhao.

“In Europe, operators are also verifying 5.5G technology and exploring new business models, such as speed and experience-based pricing to achieve better business results. In China, operators are accelerating 5.5G technology verification and actively promoting application innovation, such as Redcap, V2X. 5.5G is expected to be commercial deployment in 2024,” he continued.

Huawei released a series of 5.5G products and solutions to support operators through this evolution. The products are designed and produced based off the concepts of Native 10 Gbps, Native Green, and Native Intelligence, which help to improve spectrum efficiency, energy efficiency, operation and maintenance efficiency.

The first of these were TDD products. In the current 5.5G era, operators will generally obtain more than one TDD large-bandwidth spectrum, including C-band, millimetre wave, and the upcoming 6GHz spectrum, but unlocking the value of this spectrum is the key to achieve 10 Gbps. Huawei’s unique ELAA technology (Extremely Large Antenna Array) is the key to solve it.

In terms of FDD, Huawei has recently launched the industry’s only triple-band Massive-MIMO and triple-band 8T RRU, which achieves three-band integration through GHz-level ultra-large bandwidth. Together with FDD Beamforming technology, this hugely improves FDD spectral efficiency and energy efficiency.

One of the most important topics in this field is energy saving, because 5.5G will introduce more services and frequency bands. The traffic volume as well as average power consumption will increase. Low power consumption equipment be the basis for adequate evidence saving.

Both the hardware and the software must be adapted to deliver upgraded efficiency. For example, sleeping during idle hours and waking up on demand are the keys to energy saving. Huawei provides advanced sleep technology during idle periods. In super-deep dormancy mode, the power consumption of the GigaGreen series is less than 10 watts. Additionally, it can be quickly woken up based on traffic detection. Also, energy savings can be achieved through millisecond-level shutdowns without compromising traffic operations. China Mobile has tested Huawei’s solutions on commercial networks, and their results show that energy savings per day were around 40% without affecting network KPIs and user experience.

Intelligence can be used here to further increase energy efficiency. By incorporating Huawei’s IntelligentRAN, which introduces the communication model at the cloud layer and the digital twin system at the network layer, customers can flexibly input scenarios and goals, such as high priority for daytime experience or high priority for night-time energy saving, to optimize the service experiences and network energy efficiency.

In his closing address, Eric Zhao concluded that “with all elements for 5.5G getting ready, we believe that this year, 2024, is the first year of 5.5G commercial deployment. Huawei provide innovative GigaGreen and IntelligentRAN solutions to help operators evolve to 5.5G smoothly and efficiently. Let us look forward and embrace 5.5G era, start a new wireless journey together!”