Angry residents living on Griffiths Drive in Southport (England) have used their cars to block access to the street in an effort to prevent Openreach from deploying poles. The new infrastructure is necessary in order for the operator to deploy their Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) based gigabit broadband ISP network. In the UK, it’s fairly normal for […]

Broadband ISP and mobile giant VMO2 (Virgin Media and O2) has today published their Q4 2023 results, which suggests that their full fibre (FTTP) coverage via nexfibre has grown to add another c.299,000 premises (up from 251k in Q3) and Virgin’s fixed broadband base slowed its growth to 5,717,600 (up by 9.5k in Q4 vs […]

Viewpoint

The recent anti-dumping measures against the fiber optic cable exporters may delay the fiber deployment in the region even as data consumption continues to rise and businesses must accelerate digitalization to remain competitive

Key takeaways:

Fiber deployment is crucial for Europe to address the growing data demand by enabling it to provide high-quality and affordable broadband connectivity.
The imposition of antidumping measures by the EU against exporters negatively impacts the cost economics of fiber deployment and may lead to delays in building Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) infrastructure in the region.
The import of optical fiber cables has played a critical role in providing cost-effective and quality connectivity solutions to EU citizens.

The telecommunication networks in Europe are witnessing a consistent increase in data consumption. A recent report forecasts that Europe’s mobile data consumption per user will grow five times from 15 GB per month in 2022 to 75 GB per month by 2030, indicating an annual growth rate of 25%. On the other hand, the fixed data consumption per household will increase from 225 GB per month in 2022 to 900 GB per month by 2030, an annual growth rate of 20%. [1]

The ever-increasing popularity of video-based content, along with the use of social networks, are the key reasons for the growing data consumption in the region. This consumption is only likely to increase with the emergence of high-definition 4K and 8K videos, high-definition video and the growing use of Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) based use cases. In addition, the Artificial Intelligence (AI)-generated content and the increased use of short-form video on social networks is only going to fuel the data consumption.

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic widened the gap between the connected and unconnected as people used the digital infrastructure to execute their professional and personal tasks. It was no longer enough to be just connected as high-speed quality digital infrastructure became the differentiating factor. Efficient digital infrastructure emerged as a crucial factor during the pandemic. The countries/regions with superior digital infrastructure were able to better respond to the pandemic while others struggled to maintain economic continuity.

As the digital economy continues to become all-pervasive, the state of the digital infrastructure is becoming an important differentiating factor for the economic growth of a nation. It forms the bedrock of the digital transformation of the industries. It is not possible to take advantage of digital transformation for businesses from different industry verticals without investing in digital infrastructure. In addition, high-quality and, more importantly, accessible digital infrastructure is crucial for ensuring widespread digital connectivity, fostering inclusive growth and accelerating economic growth

Growing relevance of affordable fiber deployment in Europe

Fiber deployment is critical for the service providers to not just address the ever-increasing data consumption but to build a formidable foundation of the digital economy for years to come. A critical aspect of fiber, when compared with legacy broadband technologies, is that it offers a considerable price advantage without compromising on quality. This makes it central to ensuring inclusive growth.

The deployment of fiber is also vital for meeting sustainability targets. Fiber-based networks are known to consume less electricity than legacy technologies. This is crucial for Europe as electricity costs have skyrocketed post Ukraine-Russia war.

Just like how railways emerged as vehicles of economic growth in the last century, fiber deployment is known to provide an unprecedented boost to economic and social growth. Optical fiber cables offer unmatched resilience, capacity and cost economics when compared to copper or microwave.

European Union (EU) Commission is well aware of the vast benefits of fiber deployment, and this is the prime reason why it introduced the Gigabit Society Policy in 2016 to stimulate capacity networks required for a burgeoning digital economy. The strategy is focused on three pillars of 5G coverage in all urban areas, access to 1Gbps for all socio-economic drivers and access to 100Mbps for all households. [2]

The European Union is striving to meet the connectivity goals for the year 2025. These include providing all European households with 100 Mbps networks, with the flexibility to upgrade to even higher speeds, as and when required. Additionally, ensuring gigabit connectivity for all socio-economic entities such as schools, universities, research centers, transport hubs, hospitals, public administrations, and digital technology-dependent enterprises.

The plan outlines the objective of providing uninterrupted 5G coverage in all urban areas and major terrestrial transport routes to facilitate connectivity for both individuals and objects. Furthermore, the EU aims to ensure access to mobile data connectivity in all areas where people live, work, travel, and gather, emphasizing comprehensive coverage across various settings.

EU’s goal for Europe is to be the most connected continent by 2030. It has also come up with a Digital Decade program, which seeks to provide high-speed internet coverage by 2025 and gigabit connectivity by 2030. [3]

Even as Europe’s digital infrastructure continues to grow, it still has a lot of ground to cover. Only 59% of rural households had access to a broadband connection of 30Mbps. In addition, the coverage of households with high capacity networks reached only 20% of the total households and only 18% were covered by Fiber to the Premises. This prevents the rural communities from accessing growth opportunities, thus hampering their growth. It also puts them in a disadvantageous position by not allowing them to access online learning and telemedicine, among other services. [4]

Recent anti-dumping investigation initiated on OFC Imported by EU

In this context, the potential issue of imposition of antidumping measures by the EU against exporters may be counterproductive. This not only impacts the cost economics of the fiber deployment in the region but will also have repercussions on the deployment of 5G and Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) infrastructure in Europe. The import of optical fiber cables has played a crucial role in providing cost-effective connectivity solutions to EU citizens.

Any potential antidumping measures taken by the EU Commission may end up increasing the cost of broadband services for the end user, thus failing the very purpose of deploying fiber-based infrastructure in the first place. The increased cost may prevent the customers from benefiting from the transformative impact of fiber connectivity and thus may end up widening the digital divide.

Policy decisions, like a potential imposition of anti-dumping duty on optic fiber manufacturers imported by the EU, can have a far-reaching impact on the timelines as well as the quality of optic fiber networks being set up in the region. Fiber-based digital infrastructure is critical to not only address the growing data demands of the region but also to build a robust digital ecosystem, stimulating innovation and ensuring inclusive growth. Hence, a broader outlook by the EU may benefit the region and have far-reaching positive consequences while achieving the objectives of the policy.

[1] https://www.adlittle.com/en/insights/report/evolution-data-growth-europe

[2] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52016DC0587&from=de

[3] https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/connectivity

[4] https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/connectivity-european-gigabit-society-brochure

Rural broadband ISP and network builder GoFibre (BorderLink), which is deploying a 10Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network around parts of the North of England and Scottish Borders, has expanded the availability of their existing £50k GoFurther charity fund to Aberdeenshire and Angus. The GoFurther Fund was first launched last year, although its availability was initially […]

Some 235 premises in the village of Charlton can finally access gigabit broadband speeds after the Worcestershire County Council (WCC) in England committed £62k towards Openreach’s (BT) project to build a new Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network in the area, which helped to “top up” with funding provided via the UK’s previous gigabit voucher scheme (RGC). The […]

Benchmarking firm nPerf has today published the results from their annual 2024 crowdsourced study into UK mobile broadband (4G, 5G) performance, which once again sees Three UK being named as the country’s best and fastest operator for mobile internet performance. The runner-up was once again EE (BT), followed by Vodafone and then O2 (VMO2) The […]

Spotlight Series

The world faces major changes in 2024. What’s going to happen? How might this impact your plans? And how might your brain be tricking you?

This article analyses what predictions on AI, US Elections, and Climate Change tell us about how we might navigate our fears, uncertainties and hopes, and plan for the year ahead.

Introduction

At the start of every year, our inboxes and social media feeds are full of predictions. Some are good, some less so.

I confess, as former Research Director of STL I was sometimes guilty of being one of those propagating such predictions. To be fair, that is part of the job – helping clients look ahead and make decisions to shape their futures.

This year I thought I would try something different. I identified a handful of major themes that will impact our lives and businesses, and asked other people to make predictions on related measurable outcomes which would happen in 2024. I called this the “Festive Forecast 2024”, and while your festive feelings may be long forgotten, the questions and answers are still highly relevant.

Here is a quick preview of three of the questions and how an initial tranche of thirty-two people has answered them so far*. You can still add your own views by taking part here. It is anonymous, and I will share the results with you.

The questions cover AI, Climate, US elections, Interest Rates, Consumer Confidence and MWC. This article gives a preview of early results on the first three – and what I think they might mean.

The Biggest Uncertainty: Biden vs Trump

The outcome of the US election will be influential for all manner of decisions and industry conditions. US foreign, economic, and industrial policy, internal market conditions, etc. will all impact the global market for telecoms and connected technologies in different ways.

This question shows the biggest spread of opinions so far. The split predicting Republican vs Democrat is 50/50, and there is still high uncertainty about who will be the candidate for each party.

Source: Connective Insight Survey (early preview)

I’d say that the spread reflects a realistically high level of uncertainty. A lot can happen in the months leading to the vote – and who knows what afterwards, based on the last US election.

So what? If you are planning, you should look at different scenarios on the US election, particularly for late 2024 and into 2025 and onwards.

You might think you know who will win – but you don’t. You might have a strong hope or fear or what seems like a gut feeling, and it might even turn out to be right. But this is your mind playing a trick on you – it’s your innate human preference to feel certain that’s cornering you into an irrational delusion that you know what will happen (I will explain how this works later in this article).

Polls may change – and who knows what else will happen – so it’s worth having a plan A and a plan B on any related issues and decisions.

The Biggest Fear: Climate Change

For the survey, I chose an ongoing measure of the average surface temperature of the world’s oceans. It’s measured daily by satellites, and you can follow it here.

From the chart below (showing the current position and the options I gave), the trend looks like it is getting worse. Temperatures may be rising even faster than anyone thought – look at the black (2024) and orange (2023) lines in the chart below: they are significantly outside the bounds of the last forty years.

Source: https://climatereanalyzer.org/clim/sst_daily/

The respondents to the survey so far seem to agree, as only a minority chose one of the blue options where things would improve on the climate front.

 

Source: Connective Insight Survey (early preview)

Could the idea that the climate situation is getting worse be an irrational delusion? Of course it could, but I think the situation is different to the US election.

First, there is a long-term pattern of physical measurements over forty or so years (rather than poll trends registering non-binding viewpoints, for example). These recent measurements are significantly and consistently outside of this long-term pattern, and Reuters reports that the last 12 months has already seen global warming exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Second, in the US election, it is feasible to imagine all kinds of dynamics that could sway the outcome. There are court cases and primaries to contest, decisions, and speeches to make, and doubtless new stories to break. In the climate cycle, the only foreseeable mechanism that could temporarily boost sea surface temperatures is that of El Nino (a cyclical warming of part of the ocean that happens every 2-7 years that is currently underway). This is possible, yet El Ninos have happened over the last 40 years, and none has taken global averages so far outside band of averages.

So what? Managing resources better is a priority for everyone, but when it comes to sustainability it can be challenging, because there are things many of us would rather do (e.g. build infrastructure and economies, eat meat, go on holiday flights, etc.) that we probably now need to do either less or in a different way to reduce our footprint.

Most people now believe that climate change is a reality, and that some changes in how we live must happen (think of the shifts to green energy, electric cars, etc.).

However given the pace and scale of change we can see today, we also need to act even faster to mitigate the challenges created by those known changes as best we can. It is unlikely that climate change will reverse soon, so we need to plan for a “base case” world where weather is even more volatile, sea-levels may rise faster, and agriculture and wellbeing are even more threatened by the climate.

There’s a strong argument to factor in even more volatile and violent weather in 2024, as the current warming including El Nino takes place – maybe think of this as “base case +”.

Beyond that, I recommend that planners should consider a “worst case” climate scenario on the basis that there might be an unexpected non-linearity – a “tipping point” where something in the world’s climate systems changes (or has changed) faster than anyone hoped.

In this case, pressures on world populations and resources will increase even faster than the current trend and strategic responses will be needed to deal with that.

Please note – I am not a climate scientist! I am just looking at a line on a chart that looks like it is behaving differently than it has in the past. Given that this relates to the surface temperature of the oceans – a major driver of climate, it seems quite significant. While I don’t fully understand its causes and consequences, it’s enough to worry me – and hence my efforts to draw attention to it.

The Biggest Hope: AI

Despite fears of the all-powerful general “terminator AI”, AI has significant near-term potential for achieving beneficial outcomes too. In telecoms, the most targeted areas are network automation and customer care. As a judge of the AI section of the GLOMOS this year, I was lucky enough to see a broad range of CSP applications put forward touching these and other areas, some of which are already operating at scale.

For the survey, I chose the value of a fund comprising selected AI investments as a measurable indicator of the fortunes of AI, and asked people to predict it’s value in a years’ time.

Source: https://www.google.com/finance/quote/AIQ:NASDAQ

Most people in the survey thought the value of such AI assets would continue to rise during 2024 but there was also a clear core of doubters (the dark blue block on the bar chart below) who think there is a bubble which will burst soon.

Source: Connective Insight Survey (early preview)

So what? I don’t see AI as a technology bubble that will suddenly ‘burst’, although hopefully the hype will calm down a little. Some of its applications will prove less valuable than others, but it is fundamentally a data-based technology that works through self-improvement. The initial data may itself need improvement – but if the potential value of that improvement is tangible then it is likely that someone will want to make it happen.

AI can also be used in applications ranging from purely analytical (e.g. “tell me something about this dataset”) through to highly automated situations (e.g. “based on all the data we can see, optimise this outcome”).

AI is not an approach that requires the majority of a given system or organisation to use it to be successful (like, say cloud-native). You may get significant advantages from very specific, point-based applications.

Think of the medical application of AI spotting cancers in X-Ray or MRI scans. It is only necessary for the process that analyses scans to use AI for there to be a benefit. The rest of the hospital can work by passing hand-written notes if necessary – although it would of course be better if it didn’t!

For AI, the ‘so what?’ is straightforward – you should be trying to work out in what practical ways you can apply or engage with AI in your role today. Don’t just bury your head in the sand to avoid the uncertainty! While the hype may calm down (and indeed, there could be a drop in AI stock valuations, of course), AI is not going to go away.

Can you tell the future?

We like to think we can predict the future, and in some ways we can.

You can be fairly sure that when you walk into the park, you’ll walk out the other side at a predictable time. What time you’ll get to work each day after you leave the park is a bit less certain. But whether you will still be at the same job in a years’ time is even less certain.

We all like to think we know what’s going to happen. It makes us feel more comfortable and able to concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other, rather than dwelling in existential dread or doubt. Nonetheless, this desire for certainty causes us some hidden problems.

Do you want to feel comfortable or make better decisions?

Studies of MRI scans have shown that the feeling of uncertainty (and other ‘social pains’) triggers neural responses in areas of your brain close to those that process physical pain.

Source: Your Brain at Work, David Rock https://davidrock.net/books/

This is a useful insight – uncertainty creates a feeling akin to “pain”. You may have experienced this in certain situations – e.g. waiting to discover the outcome of something important to you, such as getting test results, a new job offer, or closing an important deal.

I find this helpful because it shows that it is reasonable to think we will dodge uncertainty if we can in the same way we wouldn’t put our hands in a flame – we don’t like that feeling!

But the reality is that we cannot know everything. This leads to the underlying paradox that certainty is a comfortable illusion and uncertainty is an uncomfortable reality. It means we have an innate bias to try to find certainties when none exist, and this can lead us to make some irrational and unhelpful decisions.

So, what can you do? Thinking in terms of scenarios is a helpful way of dealing with this tension. Scenarios allow us to imagine different realities while maintaining an element of doubt as to what will transpire, and trying to imagine plans that allow us to cope in any eventuality.

What’s next?

The survey asks three other questions about interest rates (will they go down, and if so, how much?), Consumer Confidence (will it recover to pre-conflict levels?), and MWC attendance – the nearest term predictable variable, and for me a useful barometer of industry sentiment.

You can of course still contribute to the survey here, and I hope to update you on the findings a couple of times in the year, and certainly in December 2024.

Good luck, and don’t be afraid to take a position! It’s often necessary, can be helpful, and it’s also OK to be wrong (let’s face it: it’s unavoidable!).

Just try to look out for your brain trying to trick you into irrational certainties.

*A note on the survey

The survey has only got thirty-two respondents so far, so it is not a huge study at this point. You might ask what you can learn from small groups, and I think the answer is “it depends”.

In this case, I am seeking to explore the spread of opinions on a range of topics to which no one can know the answer at this moment. I am not seeking to say “because of these results this is what will happen” or claim that these results are representative of the views of a wider group.

They are, however, the thoughts of a mix of well-informed professionals, most of whom I know. You might look at this group as being something like a mix of people who might be your colleagues.

The object of the exercise was to try to gauge sentiment – and to see who would be brave enough to take a view. Do have a go if you can – it takes about three minutes and it’s anonymous.

Try out your own predictions here

Andrew Collinson, MD, Connective Insight. Andrew helps clients bring it all together – helping to deliver big picture strategy and thought leadership, develop high value research, and take stakeholders with them. Previously he built and led the research business at STL Partners, and worked in variety of strategic, marketing and operational roles in telecoms and connected technologies. He’s chaired or facilitated over 50 events and curated the production of 700+ industry research reports.

Andrew: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewcollinson/

Connective Insight: https://www.connectiveinsight.com/

News

A new study from MedUX saw Berlin offer the highest quality of experience when it comes to 5G, with London the poorest performing city

This week, connectivity testing specialist MedUX has released its 2024 benchmarking report on 5G, having tested the technology across ten major European cities: Berlin, Barcelona, Paris, Lisbon, Milan, Porto, Rome, Madrid, Munich, and London.

Testing was conducted in Q2 and Q3 last year, with MedUX staff driving over 4,000km across the selected cities to get an accurate picture of their 5G connectivity.

The tests measured various different 5G metrics, including coverage, speed, and reliability.

Porto was shown to have the best 5Gcoverage at 90%, while Milan was named the most reliable city, with 99.91% successful internet sessions. The biggest winner, however, was Berlin, which led in terms of Data and OTT experiences (with a loading time of less than 1,550 milliseconds), as well as overall performance, where it scored 4.69 out of 5.

London, meanwhile, was ranked last for overall performance, with MedUX noting the city’s average user speed as being 143 Mbps, in stark contrast to the likes of Lisbon and Porto, which have speeds of 528 Mbps and 446 Mbps, respectively.

“The UK is struggling for several reasons,” Rafael Galarreta, chief marketing officer of MedUX, told CNBC in an interview. “The two most important dimensions in which the U.K. mobile networks are lagging behind is speed and accessibility, and network responsiveness.”

He added that the UK’s decision to remove Huawei from the country’s 5G networks could be a reason for the city’s poor performance.

“Delayed deployment has likely affected overall coverage, availability, and user experience, particularly considering that the Huawei ban came after the initial rollout had already commenced,” he said.

You can access the full report here.

Want to learn more about Germany’s 5G journey? Join the industry in discussion at this year’s live Connected Germany conference

Also in the news:
Bell Canada announces plans to cut almost 5,000 jobs
EE to invest £6 million in retail stores
Mexican president calls for dissolution of telecoms regulator

VIEWPOINT

A variety of product supply issues are having a marked effect on fibre rollouts in the UK. At the same time, there is a need to significantly reduce the time and cost involved in developing and deploying fibre networks… Aginode would like to share some insights into overcoming obstacles and ensuring continuity of the supply chain – and suggest where we can help.

A closer look at the main developments

A global shortage of fibre optic cables, components, and accessories is affecting shipments to Europe from China and India. Furthermore, long transit times and multiple handling points increase the risk to the FTTH product supply chain. Importing technology products often involves navigating complex customs regulations and compliance requirements and can be subject to anti-dumping legislation. An anti-dumping law is any domestic law designed to prevent a country’s trading partners from “dumping” goods into domestic markets at any price that is less than fair. That means goods could have additional costs applied to them by governments at any time as we have recently seen. Furthermore, geopolitical tensions and conflicts can severely disrupt supply chains.

The crisis in the Red Sea and Suez Canal is significantly impacting shipping and the delivery of goods to the UK. The situation, characterized by attacks on commercial shipping vessels has led to a marked decrease in shipping through the Red Sea as ships are forced to go around the cape. At the time of writing, 80% of shipping coming through the Suez Canal is being turned around. This has had a cascading effect on global trade, including the UK.

 Major consequences are the significant increase in shipping times and costs. Long-distance shipping can introduce real vulnerabilities. Extended transit times, caused by rerouting and global trade bottlenecks, can lead to significant delays in the delivery of FTTH products. This is affecting project timelines for broadband infrastructure deployment. At the moment there’s no clear indication of how long the current situation with Suez and China – and other mounting global tensions – will last. Once an issue settled, something else may crop up.

What should you expect from a supplier – and how we can help

Numerous issues can be avoided by not shipping materials from affected regions, and by avoiding the Suez Canal. Furthermore, supply chains need to be monitored and managed very closely. As a Western European manufacturer with ample experience in the UK and EU markets gives us distinct advantages in helping solve this.  We have EU based manufacturing plants such as Opticable (Belgium), Moenchengladbach (Germany), Fumay (Northern France), Lamia (Greece), and Nouaceur (Morocco) – meaning we are not dependent on shipping from overseas. Being able to deliver faster than other manufacturers/suppliers impacted by the situation helps safeguard your business planning, investments, and essential time-to-revenue.

 Today’s FTTH projects have more diverse product requirements than ever, due the enormous variety in technology choices, legacy installations, and business models. But if you want to get a non-standard product made in Asia, for example, shipping may take 3 or 4 months. However, we can manufacture and ship something bespoke in a couple of weeks. Shipping from Belgium is as fast as shipping within the UK.

Longer shipping routes not only increase fuel consumption but also raise environmental concerns. This might be particularly relevant for companies aiming to maintain sustainable supply chains and comply with CSRD (the new EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive). There’s obviously a huge carbon footprint benefit if distances to be travelled are shorter. What’s more, CSRD requires you to report and audit your whole supply chain. How many overseas suppliers – either private or state-owned – have a fully transparent supply chain and documentation to match? How many are easily accessible and can be visited rapidly and cost-effectively? The supply chain does not stop at the point where the distributor has sold you your goods. When CSRD supply chain audits take place, more is examined than your carbon footprint alone. With Aginode, you know you’re safe. Equality of working and anti-slavery practices, for example, are well-documented as part of our own supply chain processes.

If a distributor receives a shipment of faulty goods, you won’t want to receive replacement items from the same batch. If these goods came from far away, you’ll have to wait for a shipment of newly manufactured goods – which can take months. Time-saving options such as sending emergency replacements by air often wouldn’t be feasible. Should you need something sooner rather than later, we have a very quick turnaround in manufacturing. You raise a PO, and we can produce and send goods to the UK to meet your requirements.

Benefits of customer proximity

In FTTH projects, customer proximity is key. This makes it possible to better understand the specific needs, preferences, and challenges of each local market. This insight can guide the customization of products and solutions to meet the unique requirements of different regions, enhancing customer satisfaction and product relevance. It’s also possible to quickly adapt to changing market conditions, regulatory environments, and technological advancements, and offer quicker, more efficient support and maintenance services. Geographical proximity to the project site helps optimise the supply chain and reduce transportation times and costs, ensure timely delivery of equipment and materials, and minimise the risk of project delays.

 That’s why we go above and beyond. Customers are always welcome to visit our factories and work with our engineers to customise products and tailor them to their needs. We operate in different countries and have had great historical successes with different approaches, so we can bring skills and knowledge from many different real-world projects, some of which are ahead of the curve compared to many UK builds. We can discuss different network build options openly, understand or predict issues and suggest new, smarter ways of working.

If you have questions or (urgent) issues, you definitely won’t want to speak to a third party who then must contact the manufacturer – possibly on another continent – and wait for a reply. Should there ever be an issue, you can get hold of us right away and we can be on site within 24 hours.  We have local facilities and service staff on the ground in different countries, so we can visit customer locations and projects, at any time, and offer tailor-made advice based on technology preferences and business cases.

Faster, more flexible deliveries with guaranteed quality and reliability

Being close to customers – figuratively and literally – is essential for FTTH equipment manufacturers suppliers and providers as it enhances understanding of local needs, improves service and support, optimizes supply chain operations, fosters strong relationships, and helps market agility and compliance with local regulations.

As a western European manufacturer, we can not only overcome many of the supply chain obstacles facing many of our international competitors, but also provide a customer focussed experience to ensure you get the right solutions tailored to your needs when you need them.

Author:

Mr. Barrie Powell – Senior sales manager Aginode UK

About the author:

Barrie Powell joined Aginode, formerly Nexans in 2015 as the Sales Manager for Telecoms Markets in the UK. He started in Telecoms in 1997 gaining experience in copper and optical solutions and holds a diploma in Telecommunications Infrastructure.

Today he continues his role as the Senior Sales Manager in the UK, supporting our continual growth plans.

To find out more about Aginode, please click here: www.aginode.net

Press Release

Isle of Skye became the 100th site to be delivered by Virgin Media O2 as part of the Shared Rural Network, with helicopters delivering 4G masts to remote sites on Scotland’s second largest island

Virgin Media O2 has hit a major milestone in the Shared Rural Network programme after upgrading or building 100 company-managed sites, providing residents, businesses and visitors in rural communities with faster and more reliable mobile coverage than ever before.

The milestone means Virgin Media O2 has gone further than any other operator to date to deliver new infrastructure as part of the SRN programme. These 100 sites are controlled by Virgin Media O2, but customers of Three and Vodafone are also benefitting from the operator’s extensive rollout. Taking into account the progress of Three and Vodafone, Virgin Media O2’s customers can now benefit from reliable 4G services at 146 rural locations.

Isle of Skye, the second-largest island in Scotland, became the 100th site to benefit from improved mobile connectivity after Virgin Media O2 used helicopters to deliver and install new 4G masts to the island.

The SRN is a £1billion joint initiative between mobile network operators and the UK Government to extend 4G connectivity to 95% of the UK’s landmass by the end of 2025.

Of the 100 rural sites that have been built or upgraded by Virgin Media O2 so far, 78 are in some of the most remote parts of Scotland, including Shetland, Ardross, and Argyll & Bute, while 19 are in rural parts of England, including parts of Yorkshire, Suffolk and Kent, and three are in Northern Ireland.

The upgrades provide customers with faster and more reliable mobile data and higher quality voice calls, transforming coverage in areas with previously patchy or slow services.

Jeanie York, Chief Technology Officer at Virgin Media O2, said: “We’re going to extreme lengths connecting the most remote corners of the UK to deliver our share of the Shared Rural Network.

“This investment is vital to ensure we provide fast and reliable coverage to all areas of the UK. With so much of our modern life taking place online, rural communities deserve the same standard of mobile connectivity as those in urban areas, and we’re proud to be stepping up and playing our part.

“The 100 sites we have delivered will mean that more residents, businesses and visitors in rural areas can benefit from better mobile coverage, with more locations to follow in the coming months. This work is vital in tackling the urban-rural digital divide that exists in the UK.”

Will 2024 be the year of altnet consolidation? Join the industry in discussion at this year’s Connected North conference live in Manchester

Also in the news:
Bell Canada announces plans to cut almost 5,000 jobs
EE to invest £6 million in retail stores
Mexican president calls for dissolution of telecoms regulator