Mobile network operator giffgaff has launched a special autumn promotion that adds an extra 15GB of free data for the first six months of service to their existing 25GB SIM Only mobile plan (total of 40GB) for just £10 a month on an 18-month term. All plans also come with unlimited UK calls and texts. […]

Interview

On Day One of this year’s Connected Britain conference, we had the pleasure of speaking with Jamie Hayes, Managing Director of Fiber and Streetscape at Boldyn Networks, one of the world’s largest neutral host providers

We discussed the state of the connectivity landscape in the UK from a neutral host perspective, and the most important things that Boldyn Networks look for in the areas they work in: political leadership, advance supply, and demand. 

“Its great to see all the suppliers here, it’s a thriving ecosystem of startups through to large companies,” said Jamie,  

“An event like this [Connected Britain], a concentration of demand is vital for the places that we want to go to.” 

We also discussed the company’s work with the London boroughs, helping the city to access gigabit fibre and making the London underground safer through connectivity. 

Ending on the topic of local authorities and connectivity, Jamie noted: “we’d like to see more emphasis on connectivity, because it seems to have a real close correlation to many deprivation indexes like health, wealth, income, and inward investment.” 

You can watch the full interview below:

Want to keep up to date with the latest developments in the world of telecoms? Subscriber to receive Total Telecom’s daily newsletter here     

Also in the news:
Stonepeak buys minority stake in Cellnex Nordics
Ericsson: We’re “exploding with use cases” for private 5G
Telefonica Germany partners with Skylo for satellite-supported IoT

News 

The newly formed entity is ‘strategically positioned to be a global leader in space communications’, according to the two companies 

Satellite operators Eutelsat communications and OneWeb have this week announced the completion of their $3.4 billion merger, following a Eutelsat shareholder meeting. 

The two companies have combined to form Eutelsat Group, which will be headquartered in Paris. OneWeb will become a subsidiary of the Group, operating as Eutelsat OneWeb, with its operations remaining in London. 

The merger will see OneWeb’s constellation of low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites added to Eutelsat’s geostationary orbit (GEO) satellites, creating the “only GEO–LEO operator in satellite communications that can offer a ubiquitous connectivity service,” according to Eutelsat CEO Eva Berneke 

“This is an historic moment for the satellite industry. We are bringing together two businesses that are at the forefront of delivering integrated, seamless and reliable connectivity to customers worldwide,” said Dominique D’Hinnin, Chairman of the Board of Directors in a statement. 

“This exciting combination will be transformative for communities and businesses worldwide, utilising the unique blend of GEO and LEO technologies,” said Bharti Airtel’s Sunil Bharti Mittal, Vice-President of the Board of Directors. 

“Closing the digital divide is a critical mission for Eutelsat Group and the combination of these two businesses, which have each pursued this goal separately, accelerates our progress,”said Sunil Bharti Mittal Co-Chair of the Board of Directors. 

The UK government owns a minority stake in OneWeb, following a rescue deal in 2020 that prevented the firm’s collapse. According to a statement released last year after the Memorandum of Understanding between the two firms, the UK government will retain this special share in OneWeb and a number of exclusive rights. 

Upon the news, Eutelsat shares rose 3.5%. 

Competition in the space communications industry is increasing steadily, with analysts at Morgan Stanley estimating that the industry could be worth more than $1 trillion by 2040, up from a $550 billion today, as the industry becomes increasingly lucrative.  

Indeed, this is not the only major satellite merger we have seen this year, with global communications firm Viasat buying the UK’s Inmarsat for $6.2 billion back in May. 

“Satellite communications is a hugely significant and strategic global market for the U.K. space sector, now poised for an exciting next phase,” said George Freeman MP, the UK’s Minister of State at the Department of Science, Innovation & Technology. 

Mergers such as these could be set to provide significant competition for Elon Musk’s LEO constellation Starlink, which has quickly established itself as one of the world leading satellite internet providers. 

Want to keep up to date with the latest developments in the world of telecoms? Subscriber to receive Total Telecom’s daily newsletter here    

Also in the news:
Stonepeak buys minority stake in Cellnex Nordics
Telefonica Germany partners with Skylo for satellite-supported IoT
Ofcom unveils plan for mmWave spectrum auction 

News 

Reports emerged in July this year that Cellnex were considering selling a minority stake in its Nordic operations 

Investment company Stonepeak has acquired a 49% stake in Cellnex Nordics, which is comprised of Cellnex Sweden and Cellnex Denmark, in a €730 million deal. 

Cellnex will retain a 51% stake, continuing to run the day-to-day  operations of the Nordic division. Across both Denmark and Sweden, Cellnex has a network of 4,557 sites, and has commitments to build an additional 2,500. 

Cellnex will reportedly use the capital raised to reduce its debt, which stood at €17.1 billion at the end of last quarter. This strategy of cutting debt comes after years of rapid growth via various mergers and acquisitions, most notably the takeover of CK Hutchinson’s European towers in 2020, a deal worth around €10 billion. 

“The sale of a stake in our Nordic business at an appropriate valuation marks another significant step forward in our goal to attain investment grade ratings,” said Marco Patuano, Cellnex CEO, in a press release. 

“We believe Cellnex Nordics, as the region’s leading independent tower company, is strategically well positioned to capture outsized organic and inorganic growth over the coming years,” said Cyrus Gentry, Stonepeak’s Managing Director. 

“We view partnering with Cellnex, with its consistent track record of financial performance, execution on built-to-suit delivery, and mergers and acquisitions, as a natural fit for Stonepeak’s Core infrastructure strategy”. 

The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to be completed by the first quarter of next year. 

Stonepeak have made a number of recent investments in the telecoms industry. Mosty recently, in August last year, the firm acquired 2,180 towers in the Philippines from Globe Telecom for $472 million. The company also acquired the Latin American business of Lumen Technologies for $2.7 billion last summer. 

Want to keep up to date with the latest developments in the world of telecoms? Subscriber to receive Total Telecom’s daily newsletter here     

Also in the news:
Ericsson: We’re “exploding with use cases” for private 5G
Telefonica Germany partners with Skylo for satellite-supported IoT
Ofcom unveils plan for mmWave spectrum auction 

Residents in the tiny rural Dorset community of North Bowood, near Bridport, have complained after a failure of Openreach’s local network left them without access to fast broadband connectivity for a whopping 10 long weeks, which the network access provider has struggled to repair due to unspecified safety considerations. The reports indicate that the community, […]

Broadband ISP FibreNest, which is the Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) operator for Persimmon Homes‘ new build UK housing sites, has ended their long-running price freeze by announcing price rises and a change to adopt annual increases. But it’s not all bad news, as they’re also boosting upload speeds for existing customers. In case anybody has forgotten, FibreNest […]

Altrincham-based F&W Networks, which has so far managed to extend their gigabit-capable full fibre (FTTP) broadband ISP network to cover 360,000 UK premises (up from 250k in Feb 2023), appears to have become the latest alternative network to scale-back some of their build plans and notify staff of future redundancies. The operator, which was aspiring […]

The Comms Council UK, which represents the United Kingdom’s national Unified Communications and Voice-over-Internet-Protocol (VoIP) phone industry, has today revealed the winners of their 15th annual 2023 awards event. Eli Katz, Chair of Comms Council UK Council, said: “It’s been another fantastic CCUK Awards ceremony, and the fact that we are now at our 15th […]

A new report from the Social Market Foundation (SMF), which is a British cross-party think-tank, has recommended that companies providing essentials (broadband, energy, water and transport) are made to offer Social Tariffs to vulnerable customers “in a consistent manner” in order to ensure all eligible users can benefit. At the time of writing, the report […]

News 

Skylo’s network can help with filling coverage gaps around the globe, complementing existing terrestrial networks 

Telefonica Germany has signed an agreement with Skylo Technologies, a US-based non-terrestrial network (NTN) service operator, to offer satellite-based Narrow Band IoT (NB-IoT) connectivity across the world, beginning with Europe and North America in the first quarter of next year.  

Skylo does not operate its own satellite network directly, but rather partners with existing satellite players, coordinating with its partners’ various constellations to provide NB-IoT connectivity. 

As part of the partnership, Telefonica Germany use integrated SIMs (iSIMs) built into IoT device’s radio chip, which in the future, will be able to switch seamlessly between Telefonica’s terrestrial network and Skylo’s satellite non-terrestrial networks service.“In removing the gap that previously existed between cellular and non-terrestrial connectivity, we’re opening up new possibilities for the IoT market and allowing previously untapped use cases to be realized in the commercial and consumer space,” said Prasanna Iyengar, Skylo’s Director of Product Management in a press release. 

“Our cooperation with Skylo is an important building block,” said Karsten Pradel, B2B Director at O2 Telefonica. 

“Together with Skylo, we can now offer our customers IoT networking solutions from a single source, even in remote areas. This hybrid satellite-based IoT connectivity service complements our portfolio and demonstrates how we are driving digitalisation and providing seamless connectivity to businesses worldwide.” 

The commercial launch of NB-IoT services supported by Skylo will begin in the coming months, with availability expanded to cover other continents in future. 

Telefonica is not the only German carrier to involve itself with Skylo. Earlier this year, Deutsche Telekom extended their existing partnership with Skylo to provide the satellite network for Deutsche Telekom’s converged cellular and satellite IoT connectivity offering.  

How is the German telecoms market evolving in 2023? Join the industry in discussion at this year’s Connected Germany conference live in Munich 

Also in the news:
Telekom Deutschland CFO Klaus Werner shifts to enterprise unit
Xavier Niel pledges €200m AI investment
Openreach CEO Clive Selley on the health of the UK broadband market