The quirkily named ISP I Need Broadband (INB), which began building their own gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network around early 2021 (called “I-Fibre“), has ended a long period of silence by confirming that their new infrastructure has been expanded to cover several new areas in Nottinghamshire. Back in 2021 we noted that INB was planning to expand […]

Hull-based full fibre network builder and ISP KCOM, which serves much of East Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire in England, has today announced plans to reach Net Zero carbon emissions by 2040 – some ten years ahead of the UK Government’s official target. The target of 2040, which is similar to the goal set by other […]

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The 12-week consultation could form the basis of legislation that would force major tech firms to subsidise telco infrastructure costs

Today, the European Commission has announced its latest steps towards making gigabit connectivity available to all citizens by 2030.

Included within these updates is the proposed introduction of a ‘Gigabit Infrastructure Act’, aimed to reduce the red tape and administrative costs associated with deploying gigabit-capable networks, as well as a draft of a Gigabit Recommendation, seeking to provide guidance to national regulators about when operators should be allowed to access their competitors networks.

But perhaps most important among these updates is the launch of a consultation on the future of the telecoms sector, seeking to “gather views on the changing technological and market landscape and how it may affect the sector for electronic communications”.

At the heart of this investigation is the so-called ‘fair share’ debate, asking whether Big Tech firms like Google and Meta should be forced to help subsidise the expensive roll out of telecoms infrastructure on which their businesses are so reliant.

Proponents of this idea, naturally, include the majority of European telecoms network operators, who point to a report from the European Telecommunications Network Operators’ Association (ETNO) that suggests that the top six tech giants generated over 55% of all telecom networks’ traffic.

As such, it should come as no surprise that ETNO has called the launch of the consultation “a positive and urgent step towards addressing major imbalances in the internet ecosystem to the benefit of European end-users”, while John Giusti, Chief Regulatory Officer at the GSMA, said in a statement that the “burden [of funding network infrastructure] should not fall entirely on the backs of European consumers and businesses”.

In a blog post yesterday, Telefonica’s Chief Public Policy, Competition & Regulatory Officer, Juan Montero Rodil, argued that the EU would not meet its digital and connectivity goals without financial support from Big Tech.

“The solution that we are proposing is rather simple: The EU must ensure LTOs [Large Traffic Originators] have an obligation to sit down, negotiate and reach fair agreements on a fair and proportionate price for the services provided,” he said. “Such legislation will enable network operators to further invest in digital infrastructure to help achieve the EU’s digital targets and will incentivise LTOs to deliver traffic in a more efficient way for the benefit of the ecosystem.”

Others, however, have been far less enthusiastic about this plan, suggesting that it will infringe on European net neutrality principles that ensures all internet traffic is treated indiscriminately. It has also been argued that such a levy will essentially allow operators to be paid twice for providing the single service – once by their subscribers and again by the tech firms.

“Europeans already pay telecom operators for internet access, they should not have to pay telcos a second time through pricier streaming and cloud services,” argued Christian Borggreen, CCIA Europe’s senior vice president.

Now, the Commission is seeking the opinions of the wider telecoms industry in the form of a questionnaire, the outline of which was leaked earlier this month.

The consultation period will remain open until May, after which the Commission will decide on its next steps, including whether to implement new legislation.

Keep up with all the latest international telecoms news with Total Telecom’s daily newsletter

Also in the news:
AT&T signs up to use Frontier’s fibre to connect mobile towers
UScellular urges customers to put down their phones in latest initiative
VMO2 and Vodafone give rural Scotland a 4G boost

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DISH Wireless have launched the first Samsung-supported sites for the DISH 5G network, with the delivery of 24,000 Open RAN-compliant radios and 5G virtualized RAN (vRAN) software solutions. The Seoul based vendor was selected by DISH Wireless back in May 2022 to facilitate DISH network deployment across the U.S.

The 2022 multi-year agreement moved from field tests to now deploying the first live Samsung sites within the DISH 5G network. The deployment of 5G solutions includes new dual-band and tri-band Open RAN-compliant radios developed specifically for this project.

Marc Rouanne, EVP and Chief Network Officer at DISH Wireless described Samsung as “a key player in the DISH Open RAN ecosystem” which has seen them work with a range of Open RAN vendors including AWS, Dell and VMware.

He further went on to say “Samsung’s 5G vRAN solutions and our shared innovation process allow DISH Wireless to continue the DISH 5G multi-vendor, open and interoperable cloud-native network buildout, as we progress to covering 70 percent of the U.S. population.”

Speaking on behalf of Samsung Electronics, Junehee Lee, Executive Vice President, Head of Global Sales & Marketing, Networks Business said “This milestone advances the wide-scale deployment of Samsung’s vRAN in the U.S. and we look forward to continuing our work with DISH Wireless to accelerate 5G expansion and lead the delivery of next-generation connectivity across the country.”

The potential for 5G in the U.S. will be discussed extensively at Connected America, March 28-29, 2023 in Dallas. To discover how you can participate, visit the website.

 

A new £2m Joint Venture involving broadband operator ITS Technology Group and DG Cities, an innovation company owned by the Royal Borough of Greenwich Council, has been established today to help commercialise a 21km long gigabit-capable full fibre network around the London borough of Greenwich – serving homes and businesses. As part of this project […]

Rural-focused network builder and ISP Quickline, which last week unveiled their 2023 rollout plan for reaching 96 locations (55,000 premises) across Yorkshire and Lincolnshire with their full fibre (FTTP) broadband network (here), has today revealed that engineers are starting work in South Ferriby, Tealby and North Willingham. The newly-recruited in-house infrastructure Build Team – comprising […]

Network operator CityFibre has announced that they’ve signed a key wayleave agreement (land / property access) with Silva homes, which will see them add another 5,000 homes to their full fibre (FTTP) network coverage in the Berkshire (England) town of Bracknell (they’re already investing £20m on a larger deployment there). The work will form part […]

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With the deal now rubberstamped by the European Commission, the operators hope to close the deal by September

This week, the European Commission has announced that it has given its approval for the creation of Vodafone and Altice’s new German broadband firm, FiberCo.

According to the Commission, the creation of FiberCo will not damage competition in the German fibre market, with the Commission noting “limited horizontal overlaps and vertical links between the companies’ activities in the relevant markets”.

The deal to create FiberCo was first announced back in October, with the companies committing to investing €7 billion in fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) deployments over the next six years.

In total, the FiberCo aims to cover seven million homes by 2029, with around 80% of the rollout focussed on upgrading housing associations that currently use Vodafone’s hybrid fibre coaxial (HFC) network to FTTH. The remaining 20% will target neighbouring homes outside of Vodafone’s current footprint.

Vodafone’s HFC network currently covers around 25 million premises in Germany.

According to Vodafone Deutschland CEO Philippe Rogge, the partners hope to bring FiberCo’s first customers online “before the end of this year”.

Previously, the companies have suggested that the deal will formally close before September this year.

How is the German fibre landscape evolving in 2023? Catch up with all of the year’s hottest topics in the telecoms industry at Connected Germany 2023

Also in the news:
AT&T signs up to use Frontier’s fibre to connect mobile towers
UScellular urges customers to put down their phones in latest initiative
VMO2 and Vodafone give rural Scotland a 4G boost

The latest Q4 2022 results from UK ISP and mobile operator VMO2 (Virgin Media and O2) has seen their broadband base reach 5.653m customers (up by 22.7k in Q4 vs 19.1k in Q3), while their gigabit coverage added another 188,000 premises in the quarter to total 16.14 million (54% of the UK). Now comes Nexfibre. […]

New data from caller ID verification firm Hiya, which also works with UK broadband ISP BT (EE) to help detect and block SPAM and fraud calls, has today claimed that 28% of non-contact calls in the United Kingdom were identified as spam in 2022. Plus, the UK also comes out as the worst in Europe […]