The Fusion Fibre Group (formerly FACTCO), which is a rural ISP and UK full fibre network builder, has today announced that their new Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network in the North Yorkshire village of Escrick has finally begun to go live and connect its first customers. The local deployment, which has been funded out of the operator’s […]

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The operator says the bot can deliver ‘human-like interactions with customers’ and is able to handle sophisticated consumer requests

Today, Vodafone UK has become the first operator in the country to launch a large language model (LLM) chatbot, introducing the novel technology for its VOXI customers.

The chatbot, which has been developed in conjunction with Accenture UK, is built on ChatGPT architecture and will reportedly be used to deliver more nuanced customer service.

According to Vodafone, the new chatbot can successfully handle ‘sophisticated consumer requests’ delivered in naturalistic language. The example provided below shows the chatbot handling a relatively sophisticated request around pricing, which would typically be hard for a more generic chatbot to answer accurately.

“VOXI is using generative AI to fundamentally reinvent its business. The customer experience is only the start of how this technology can be adopted at scale across the organisation,” said Accenture UK’s Generative AI Lead, Mark Farbrace.

Vodafone also notes that the AI has been developed using an AI safety framework aimed at protecting customers and ensuring ‘the responsible and ethical deployment of AI technology’.

The chatbot will initially be trialled with a small number of customers, with a wider rollout expected to follow once any initial issues have been identified and corrected.

Chatbots are certainly nothing new for the telecoms industry, which has used them to various degrees of success for many years. GenAI-based chatbots, however, are potentially far more exciting, offering not only a more flexible and personable experience for the customer, but also the potential for individually personalised consumer offerings.

 

 

Is AI going to reshape what it means to be a telco in 2024? Join the discussion at Connected North 2024, live in Manchester

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The funding will go towards AI research aimed at tackling climate change, heathcare, and national security  

Jeremy Hunt, the UK Chancellor, has announced a substantial commitment to the UK’s AI sector in the Spring Budget announcement yesterday, pledging £100 million in funding to The Alan Turing Institute, the UK’s national institute for data science and AI. 

In a press release, the institute said the funding marks a “key milestone in the delivery of the Institute’s new strategy which sets out how it will use data science and AI to tackle some of the biggest issues facing society”. 

The injection of £100 million will come over the next five years from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) via the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).  

The Institute is predominantly government funded and is focussing on three areas when it comes to AI: environment and sustainability, health and defence, and national security, with the wider goal of being the “best place in the world for data science and AI research, collaboration, and business”. 

“The Alan Turing Institute is at the forefront of our national AI capability and has helped to cement the UK’s position as a leader in this transformative technology,” said UKRI Chief Executive Professor Dame Ottoline Leyser. 

“This new investment will ensure that the Turing can continue to explore the frontiers of AI, working across the research and innovation system to deliver the UK’s AI Strategy.” 

“Our purpose is to make great leaps in data science and artificial intelligence to change the world for the better and this £100 million investment will allow us to chart a new path over the next five years, working with our partners across the ecosystem to uncover solutions to society’s greatest challenges,” confirmed Dr Jean Innes, Chief Executive of The Alan Turing Institute. 

The UK government is currently heavily investing in AI.  

Back in October, the Prime Minister UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced that taxpayer spending on AI chips and supercomputers is set to increase to £400 million as part of efforts to make the UK a global leader in cutting edge technology.  

In a recent Global AI Index created by UK news source Tortoise, the UK was ranked fourth out of 62 countries, behind US, China and Singapore. 

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The stake was sold to US investment firm GQG Partners, leaving  Singtel with a roughly 29% stake in Bharti Airtel, India’s second-largest operator

This week, Singtel has announced it has sold a 0.8% stake in Indian telecoms operator Bharti Airtel to GQG Partners for roughly $711 million.

The move marks the latest step in the company’s gradual divestment in India’s second largest mobile operator, with Singtel having sold a 3.3% stake in the business for $1.9 billion back in 2022.

Singtel has undergone a strategic shift since 2021, aiming to raise capital to help fund a fundamental shift in the business from telco to techco, including scaling up the company’s data centre and IT services businesses.

“The group is now in an even stronger position to execute our disciplined capital approach of balancing investing for greater growth and delivering strong, sustainable returns,” said Singtel finance chief Arthur Lang in a statement.

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The UK broadband operator has announced that they have raised £147.5m to fund their fibre rollout, alongside sister company YouFibre 

In the process of the fundraising, Netomnia welcomed three new lenders—Barclays, Alpha Bank, and Nord/LB—in addition to their existing lenders. 

Netomnia says that the financial backing will propel the company’s to become a leading fibre provider in the UK, known for its swift network deployment, innovation, and efficient capital utilisation.  

Having recently surpassed 850,000 premises with fibre-to-the-home, Netomnia and YouFibre boast a combined customer base of 80,000. 

“We are very pleased to welcome three new lenders to Netomnia and YouFibre with support from our existing lenders,” said Jeremy Chelot, CEO at Netomnia and YouFibre. “This backing demonstrates the strength of Netomnia’s deployment plans in the market and we’re delighted they have chosen to support the continued acceleration of our businesses.” 

“Our success is a testament to the dedication and hard work of our team, as well as the unwavering support of our investors and partners. With this latest round of funding, we are well-positioned to accelerate our network deployment efforts and continue delivering best-in-class internet services and customer experience.” 

Discover Netomnia’s UK network rollout plan here. 

Join us at next month this year’s Connected North event – 22-23 April in Manchester – get your tickets now! 

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A group of full fibre broadband operators, which are being led by alternative network providers Ogi and Vorboss, have today called on the UK Government and Ofcom to urgently help tackle a recent rise in attacks – often committed by criminal gangs and vandals – against vital national telecoms infrastructure and the engineers who build […]

Abingdon-based broadband provider Gigaclear, which has so far deployed their gigabit speed full fibre (FTTP) network to cover 500,000 rural premises (430k RFS) in 26 counties of England, yesterday saw the surprise termination of both their CEO, Gareth Williams, and CFO, Ian Wade, as Directors. But there was also a new appointment. Gigaclear, which is […]

Broadband ISP Virgin Media UK (VMO2) has today announced that more than 14,000 additional homes and businesses in the Derbyshire (England) town and civil parish of Alfreton can now access their new 2Gbps speed Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network, which was made possible by nexfibre’s supporting network expansion. Alfreton is only the latest in a long list […]

Press Release

Verizon has announced that Verizon Innovative Learning, the company’s award-winning education initiative focused on supporting digital equity and inclusion for students nationwide, has reached seven million students with digital skills training.

According to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), there are still nearly 17 million school children in the U.S. that lack internet access at home. That’s why, over a decade ago, Verizon Innovative Learning was launched to address barriers to digital inclusion in Title I schools. With leading education partners, we empower students with new ways of learning through extensive support for educators, technology-integrated curriculum, emerging technologies including 5G, and free internet access. We have expanded access to our education programs to all nationwide through free immersive applications for any device, microcredential-aligned professional development, and tech-focused learning resources.

This effort is part of Citizen Verizon, the company’s responsible business plan for economic, environmental and social advancement, which uses leading-edge technology to help drive social impact and create lasting change across communities. This extended reach of the flagship program brings Verizon one step closer to the company’s goal of reaching 10 million youth with digital skills training by 2030.

“For over 11 years, it has been our commitment to ensure students are provided equal access to digital technology and next-gen tools. Without this access, millions of young people risk being left out of the digital economy, and the world will be deprived of the economic, social and environmental benefits of a diverse tech workforce,” said Rose Stuckey Kirk, Chief Corporate Social Responsibility Officer at Verizon. “Reaching 7 million students is a monumental milestone toward this goal. We are, of course, keeping the momentum going so that millions more students can have access to next-gen technologies to unlock educational and career opportunities.”

Bringing Digital Learning Skills to Classrooms in Need

This year, Verizon is continuing to expand its Verizon Innovative Learning Schools program, in partnership with Digital Promise, and will welcome 34 new Title I schools from 13 school districts to its 11th cohort for the upcoming 2024-2025 school year.

These additions include expanding partnerships with returning school districts, such as Miami-Dade County Public Schools (FL), Kansas City Public Schools (MO) and Norwalk Public Schools (CT). The Verizon Innovative Learning Schools program is also excited to welcome 10 new school districts, including two new cities, such as Whitehall City School District in Columbus, Ohio, and the Albuquerque School of Excellence in New Mexico. The addition of these schools brings the program’s reach to 626 middle and high schools nationwide.

Participating schools in the transformative Verizon Innovative Learning program receive free tablets or laptop devices with up to a four-year Verizon data plan for every student and teacher. Teachers gain access to extensive professional development that supports powerful teaching and learning with technology in and out of the classroom. In addition, these schools receive a subsidy for a full-time technology coach to support teachers in effectively integrating technology into learning.

Extending Innovative Lessons to Teachers Nationwide

In addition to supporting Title I schools across the U.S. with access to technology and innovative learning programs, Verizon also provides educators nationwide with access to tools to help bring new ways of learning into their classrooms through Verizon Innovative Learning HQ. The free next-gen online K-12 education portal offers hundreds of free lessons across subjects ranging from supplemental turnkey lessons to yearlong courses and immersive learning experiences with augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR). The portal combines nearly a decade of experience working in STEM education through the award-winning Verizon Innovative Learning initiative with resources created in partnership with Discovery Education, McGraw Hill, Arizona State University, Digital Promise, and others at the forefront of innovation in education. This portal has helped to reach millions of new students, more than doubling Verizon Innovative Learning’s impact in the last year.

More than two dozen new courses and activities have been recently added to the platform for teachers to access for free. This includes Bridge to the Future, a virtual field trip experience from Discovery Education, which allows students to learn about Extended Reality (XR) and discover how this innovative technology impacts industries like entertainment, medicine and education.

Verizon Innovative Learning HQ also provides educators with extensive training and resources, which now includes over 50 professional development courses, many aligned with microcredentials, enabling them to learn new skills and feel confident integrating technology into the learning experience. New courses available now on the platform in partnership with NYC Media Lab include programming from museums and cultural institutions like the ‘Developing and Using Models Course’ by The Franklin Institute and ‘Using Visceral Science in Your Classroom’ by the Liberty Science Center. Educators can visit Verizon.com/Learning to sign up at no cost.

Citizen Verizon is the company’s responsible business plan for economic, environmental and social advancement. Citizen Verizon empowers Verizon to deliver on its mission to move the world forward through action by expanding digital access and resources, protecting the climate, and ensuring people have the skills needed for jobs of the future. Through Citizen Verizon, and the key pillars of Digital Inclusion, Climate Protection and Human Prosperity, the company’s responsible business goals include providing 10 million youths with digital skills training by 2030, supporting 1 million small businesses with resources to help them thrive in the digital economy by 2030, achieving net zero emissions in its operations by 2035, and preparing 500,000 individuals for jobs of the future by 2030. Learn more at CitizenVerizon.com.

Are US operators doing enough to counter the digital divide in towns and cities across the country? Join the discussion next week at Connected America, live in Dallas. Tickets available now!

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Cellnex revealed late last year that its Irish unit was likely to be sold 

Florida-based wireless infrastructure company Phoenix Tower International (PTI) has announced a deal with Cellnex to acquire 100% of the latter’s Irish business for €971 million. 

Cellnex has been operating in Ireland since 2019, when it when it acquired tower operator Cignal as part of an agreement with CK Hutchinson to acquire its infrastructure portfolio in six European countries (which included Ireland). Since then, the number of towers Cellnex owns and operates in Ireland has grown to around 1,900 sites all of which will now be handed over to PTI. 

“The sale of our business in Ireland – at an appropriate valuation– is one further step within the company’s ‘Next Chapter’, in line with our strategy, to achieve the goal of consolidating, simplifying our corporate structure and focusing our efforts in the existing growth opportunities in the main markets in which we operate,” said Cellnex CEO Marco Patuano in a press release. 

Cellnex is on a mission to get its finances in order after its major M&A activities in recent years have left it  with a debt of €17.2 billion. 

This new focus was one of the main topics at Cellnex’s Capital Markets day in London this week, outlining its plans for the year ahead as the company switches its focus towards capital preservation. The company unveiled four new strategic pillars for their future organic expansion: 

Simple: Cellnex will undertake a strategic portfolio review to focus on core markets and divest from non-core business lines.
Focused: Towers will remain at the core of the business, but Cellnex will invest in selected business lines – DAS (Distributed Antenna Systems), SCs (Small Cells) & RAN (Radio Access Network) as a service; and wholesale fibre, connectivity & housing services – aiming to grow these from 11% to 15% of total revenues by 2027.
Efficient: Cellnex will launch a comprehensive efficiency plan to improve the EBITDAaL margin by 500 basis points to 64% in 2027.
Responsible: Cellnex will continue to commit to its Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles within its strategic framework.

The full Capital Markets Day details can be found here. 

For PTI, on the other hand, appears to be on the opposite trajectory, with this purchase the latest in a number of moves in the European tower sector.  

Back in September, PTI announced the acquisition of 2,000 cell sites in urban France, now making it the largest market of the 21 in which PTI operates. In 2020, the PTI also struck a deal with Bouygues Telecom to build and operate 4,000 new tower sites in France over the next 12 years. 

The closing of the deal is subject to standards regulatory approvals. 

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
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Japan to reduce regulatory pressure on incumbent NTT