New and existing customers of residential broadband ISP Virgin Media (VMO2), at least those covered by their new nexfibre based Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network expansion, can finally start to place an order for their new 2Gbps (200Mbps upload) package via the provider’s website. The service officially soft launched last week (here), but initially it was not […]

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Independent Network Cooperative Association (INCA) has set up the group, encouraging altnets to share physical infrastructure to ease and accelerate fibre deployment

Today, INCA has announced a new infrastructure sharing group (ISG) aimed at helping UK altnets share ducts for the rollout of full fibre.

Currently, Openreach is required to share access to its cable ducts and poles via a regulated Physical Infrastructure Access (PIA) product, as stipulated by Ofcom. This gives altnets looking to use Openreach’s infrastructure a very clear path to deployment.

However, in areas where Openreach PIA is not available, sharing duct infrastructure becomes a much more complicated process. While some regulation does exist to ease sharing between competing network players, altnets are typically wary of striking a commercial sharing agreements with competitors, having invested so much capex in deploying the infrastructure themselves.

Lacking these agreements, altnets are often forced to deploy their own additional ducts, driving up costs and causing additional disruption for the local population.

As a result, INCA says the formation of the ISG will serve to identify opportunities for infrastructure sharing between remembers and simplifying the agreement process.

More specifically, the group will explore:

opportunities for sharing between Altnets and third parties;
the possibilities of standardising commercial, technical and operational approaches to sharing;
the suitability of the existing Access to Infrastructure Regulations framework;
and the need for improved communication between all parties including local communities.

“The creation of the group has been well received by members, who are in agreement that sharing infrastructure should be prioritised when deploying networks, especially in areas where Openreach PIA is not available or at capacity,” explained Guy Miller, CEO of MS3 Networks and Chair of the Infrastructure Sharing Group. “As the CEO of a network builder focussed in an area where PIA is not widely available, we know better than most the challenge this brings to us and the communities in which we operate.”

With altnets currently struggling to recoup the costs of their expensive fibre rollouts, effective infrastructure will be vital to their ongoing survival.

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

News

A new letter from Ofcom, targeted at BT, Sky, TalkTalk, and Virgin Media O2 (VMO2), is pushing the operators to increase their efforts to make One Touch Switching (OTS) a reality

This week, Ofcom’s Director of Telecoms Consumer Protection Networks & Communications, Cristina Luna-Esteban, has sent a stern letter to UK ISPs, urging them to accelerate their implementation of OTS.

More specifically, the letter expresses continued dissatisfaction with BT, Sky, TalkTalk, and VMO2’s efforts to implement OTS, calling on them “with utmost urgency to finalise a launch date that is the earliest possible”.

“Ofcom is very concerned about the repeated delays and the length of time now being taken to finalise an agreed go-live date, which is preventing consumers from realising the benefits of easier and simpler switching,” read the letter from Luna-Esteban.

“Lindsey Fussell, Ofcom’s Group Director of Networks & Communications, has written to each of the four providers to set out our concerns, and to require them with utmost urgency to finalise a launch date that is the earliest possible implementation date for OTS. We are cognisant that the lack of clarity about the go live date is also creating uncertainty for industry.”

The concept of OTS – allowing customers to change ISP within a single day simply by contacting their new provider – has been a focus of Ofcom since 2021. Enabling OTS at a technical level is quite complex, hence Ofcom initially set a deadline of April 2023 to achieve this.

By the summer of 2022, ISPs had jointly established The One Touch Switching Company (TOTSCo) to facilitate collaboration towards this shared goal.

However, it quickly became apparent that the scale of the technical challenge was greater than feared. The April 2023 deadline was missed, with TOTSCo suggesting they needed another year (targeting March 2024) to complete the process. At the time, Ofcom stated their disappointment but took no further action.

Unfortunately, as the end of 2023 neared, TOTSCo released a statement arguing that they could no longer meet the revised deadline, though they did not go so far as to set a new one. This is the reason’s for today’s letter from Ofcom.

“Since TOTSCo’s announcement, there is still no clarity from industry on the OTS go live date, despite OTS being a regulatory requirement since April 2023. Ofcom is very concerned about the repeated delays and the length of time now being taken to finalise an agreed go-live date, which is preventing consumers from realising the benefits of easier and simpler switching,” said the letter.

While this situation is clearly frustrating Ofcom, there is still little sign that the regulator is looking to take a more leading role in proceedings. While the letter hints at “possible enforcement action”, which would presumably take the form of fines, Ofcom appears content to let the ISPs continue working to their own ambiguous schedule.

How is the regulatory landscape changing in 2024? 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

The Independent Networks Co-operative Association (INCA), which represents some of the UK’s alternative broadband networks, has helped to setup a new Infrastructure Sharing Group (ISG) to ensure that the rollout of full fibre (FTTP) is “not held back by inconsistencies in the availability of Openreach physical infrastructure“. The idea of network operators sharing infrastructure is […]

The CEO of nexfibre, Rajiv Datta, has revealed in a new interview with the CEO of ISP Zen Internet, Richard Tang, that they intend to roll-out their full fibre (FTTP) broadband network to “more homes in 2024 than any [other] altnet” and will shortly pass 1 million homes. But Virgin Media (VMO2) remains their only […]

CityFibre has announced that they’ve completed the “primary build” of their new 10Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) based broadband ISP network in the East Midlands (England) town of Northampton. The network is now Ready for Service at over 87,700 premises – reflecting c.82% of local homes and businesses. The original build – said at the time […]

Altrincham-based alternative network provider F&W Networks, which is rolling out their new gigabit-capable full fibre (FTTP) broadband ISP network to various parts of England, has today announced that they’ve almost doubled their coverage over the past year to 410,000 premises RFS (up from 250k in Feb 2023). The operator, which previously aspired to cover 1 […]

To celebrate this remarkable accomplishment, Altnets will attend the prestigious awards ceremony on March 13th in St. Paul’s, London. A feature on the business will also be published in the EB100 digital guide and online directory, reaching an audience of over half a million individuals.

The Elite Business 100 (EB100) is considered Britain’s definitive and official list that is dedicated to honouring excellence within the SME community. The EB100 evaluation for each applicant is based on eight fundamental criteria inclusive of growth trajectory, future ambitions, innovation, and contributions to both their team and the broader community.
Altnets’ impressive performance across the criteria, including performance, year-on-year growth, innovation, and community contribution, has once again earned it a coveted spot in this prestigious league table.

“We are thrilled to receive this recognition for the second consecutive year,” said Sam Bangle, Co-founder of Altnets. “It’s a testament to the continued dedication and hard work of our team, as well as our commitment to providing exceptional service and products to our clients.”

Reflecting on the past year, it’s clear why Altnets has secured a 14-place increase in its ranking since this time last year. The business demonstrated impressive growth and adaptability, reaffirming its position as an expert in the telecoms sector. The infrastructure specialist has solidified numerous partnerships with leading manufacturers worldwide and formed alliances with key industry players. Notably, the Altnets team were recognised for their remarkable service in November 2023, after being awarded Best Customer Service at the Sussex Business Awards. Additionally, they were shortlisted for four other national awards within the past year, including Growth Business of the Year at the Lloyds Bank British Business Excellence Awards

“Altnets are innovators in the British SME community and deserve the spotlight shone on them from the Elite Business 100,” said Scott English, Brand Director of Elite Business. “This definitive league illustrates the crème de la crème of UK SMEs”.

This marks the competition’s second year and it witnessed a significant surge in the volume of applicants compared to 2023. Judges remarked on the impressive sales and growth statistics, community involvement, and the overall elevated quality of submissions this year.

This achievement reflects Altnets’ persistent dedication to the advancement of the telecommunications sector. Looking to the future, they strive to expand their range of products and explore new markets, to support thetelecoms industry and move towards full-fibre coverage for the nation. Within the constantly evolving landscape of telecom procurement, Altnets remains an expert and sets the benchmark for high-quality products, services, and customer support.

View Altnets’ website at https://www.altnets.co.uk/ and follow Altnets on LinkedIn for regular company and industry updates.
To view the official rankings, visit the EB100 website: https://elitebusinessmagazine.co.uk/eb100

Detroit, Michigan, 13 February 2024 – CELLSMART, the cellular intelligence division of SmartCIC, and Telecom Management Resources (TMR), a US-based bespoke solutions provider, have partnered with Abundant IoT, a nexgen technology company, to connect Internet of Things solutions with Fixed Wireless Access (FWA). CELLSMART will provide site-by-site cellular intelligence, on-the-ground engineers, and comprehensive end-to-end FWA solutions that support IoT rollouts. 

 

Through CELLSMART, Abundant IoT will offer its customers rapid access to the best possible cellular networks available in a given location with engineers ready to adapt solutions to local radio frequency environments. The result is high-performance, resilient, and secure networking delivered in days instead of months. CELLSMART’s comparative analysis of local cellular providers coupled with its global database of cellular performance data enables it to deliver world-class solutions optimised for local deployment scenarios.

 

“The intersection of FWA and IoT is transforming a growing number of industry verticals. Organisations are seeing that IoT can be rapidly deployed and scaled up with trusted connectivity. We’re excited to be working with Abundant IoT and enabling its customers to benefit from intelligence-driven FWA,” said Toby Forman, CEO at CELLSMART.  “Throughout 2024, we will be working closely with TMR and Abundant IoT to help more organisations benefit from FWA and move with greater agility to serve enterprise demands. We’re taking a disruptive approach to connectivity that benefits the entire ICT ecosystem.”

 

Abundant IoT founders have 30 years of experience in the IT channel and offer IoT solutions with a focus on energy, connectivity, mobility and cloud services combined with devices. Its expertise in energy efficiency, distributed generation and supporting ESG strategies makes it a key solutions provider for underserved areas of the channel.

 

“CELLSMART has a unique offering that quickly adds value to our solutions portfolio. CELLSMART’s speed of deployment, adaptability and visibility into local RF environments give us a competitive advantage,” said Vince Bradley, CEO of Abundant IoT. “It has the fastest installation times in the world and has reduced our timelines from months to just days. As IoT and FWA adoption accelerates, we’re excited to grow our business by offering CELLSMART solutions.”

 

SmartCIC and CELLSMART signed an agreement with TMR in Q4 2023 to accelerate FWA adoption in North America. As CELLSMART’s master agent, TMR is responsible for growing FWA solutions that leverage CELLSMART’s cellular intelligence throughout North America. It offers a comparative analysis of local cellular providers and rankings based on cellular performance in a local area. In 2023, CELLSMART mapped 5G the same way Google mapped local streets and equipped cars with bespoke testing software, SIMs, and routers to test local wireless network performance across Europe, and North America.

 

“We’re excited to launch our first partnership since kicking off our relationship with CELLSMART in November 2023. There’s huge potential for FWA in North America and we’re seeing a growing number of service providers and enterprises look for FWA to solve their connectivity challenges. Working with Abundant IoT gives us a great opportunity to demonstrate the power of intelligence-driven cellular solutions in the IoT space. It is a great fit and the first of many milestones for our relationship with CELLSMART,” said Marc Metzger, CEO at TMR.

 

TMR will be announcing a growing number of CELLSMART FWA partnerships in North America throughout 2024.

 

About SmartCIC

 

Headquartered in France and with offices and facilities in 13 countries, SmartCIC delivers flexible and agile connectivity and field services solutions to international carriers and global enterprise in over 120 countries. Naturally a multi-lingual business the team currently speak 17 different languages in its day-day operations with customers and partners.

 

SmartCIC’s core values of flexibility and agility are driven by the team’s approach to solution orientated design. SmartCIC’s strategy is to deliver fully flexible solutions that meet the needs of demanding and evolving environments.

 

We help customers work smarter to achieve their objectives.

 

www.smartcic.com

 

About CELLSMART

 

CELLSMART is powered by SmartCIC and has been designed to enable enterprise customers to rapidly roll out cellular solutions and benefit from new intelligence-driven deployments. It provides the end-to-end planning, network selection, routing and backhaul solutions, equipment deployment, management, monitoring and support for enterprise fixed wireless networks.

 

CELLSMART’s solutions are built using leading technology partners and supported by over 25,000 engineers in 200 countries around the world.

 

www.cellsmart.io

 

For further information on CELLSMART or SmartCIC, please contact:

arwen@ilexcontent.com

 

About Abundant IoT

Abundant IoT is a provider of global technology services that focuses on transforming business ecosystems, offering the most complete IoT solution in the channel with a focus on Energy, Connectivity, Mobility and Cloud services combined with devices (ie- sensors). Sensor-based solutions are augmented with LoFi and significant energy efficiency implementation, otherwise known as eIoT.

 

Abundant IoT empowers, transforms, and supports organizations through a channel of independent Technology Advisor Partners. With hundreds of partnerships, access to over 1000 sensors, and over 25 years of experience in the industry, Abundant IoT is the leader in customizing the best emerging technology digital solutions for organizations through its channel of experts. Bundling custom solutions for the top industry verticals and targets, Abundant IoT provides solutions for underserved areas of the channel, enabling technology advisors to add new revenue streams and retain more customers.

 

As specialists in technology facility sourcing, Abundant IoT also offers a holistic ecosystem including decentralized storage which is helping the web 3.0 journey options for data center, storage and other enterprises.  Customers pay once regardless of the number of sites the data is replicated in and can also replicate the data anywhere in the world without headaches unlike traditional storage products.

 

About TMR

 

Telecom Management Resources (TMR) was formed in 2004 by a collection of former telecom industry professionals with one goal in mind, efficiency. With dedicated account teams and resources to handle each step of any telecom project with ease and professionalism, TMR provides support and resources to enterprise clients in a wide array of areas. From front-end planning and support to back-office management, TMR has the skills and specialists to augment IT resources in the areas needed most. Back in the early 2000’s, business telecom operated quite differently than it does today. TMR is here to help guide companies, and their IT departments, through that evolution. 

 

www.ask4tmr.com

SpaceX has announced that they will have to de-orbit (scrap) around a hundred of their older “early-version 1” Starlink ultrafast low-latency broadband satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) because of a design flaw, which might otherwise cause the space platforms to fail in orbit and become non-manoeuvrable. The operator’s constellation currently has around 5,438 LEO […]