Internet provider Voneus has just completed their first trial deployment of a new Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) broadband technology in a rural Hartlepool village – Dalton Piercy (County Durham, England), which they claim can offer gigabit broadband speeds to local homes and businesses. The village of Dalton Piercy is not a new location for Voneus […]

Prysmian UK, which specialises in the supply of fibre optic kit and cables, has teamed up with little-known ISP External Reality to trial their new pre-connectorised Compact Multifunction Joint (CMJ) closure on the rollout of a new Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network in rural Scotland. The new network build is currently taking place through the Altyre […]

News

Reports suggest that the companies withdrew their investment last year, with geopolitical tensions with the US proving insurmountable

According to a report from the Financial Times, China’s two largest mobile operators – China Mobile and China Telecom – have withdrawn their participation in the South East Asia-Middle East-West Europe 6 (Sea-Me-We 6) submarine cable project.

The Sea-Me-We 6 system was first announced last year, with the cable set to span some 19,200km linking Singapore to Marseille, France.

The latest in a series of Sea-Me-We cables, this new iteration is set to be built with 10 fibre pairs, with a total capacity of 126 Tbps, aiming to deliver robust connectivity across South Asia.

The system will reach 12 initial countries, with branches to further locations expected to be added later in the cable’s lifespan.

The project is backed by a consortium including major companies from all over the world, including Microsoft, Orange, Telecom Egypt, Telekom Malaysia, Telin, and all three of China’s major mobile operators: China Unicom, China Mobile, and China Telecom.

The entire project is estimated to cost around half a billion dollars, with China Mobile and China Telecom’s combined investment accounting for around 20% of that total.

The Sea-Me-We 6 system is expected to be ready for service in 2025.

The China Mobile and China Telecom appear to have withdrawn quietly last year, with sources suggesting that they cancelled their involvement after American firm SubCom was selected to build and deploy the cable over Hengtong Marine, China’s foremost fibre cable manufacturer.

China Unicom, the smallest of China’s three mobile operators, seemingly remains involved in the project.

While the loss of around 20% of the projects funding is surely painful for the rest of the consortium, an anonymous consortium member commented that the loss of the Chinese firms was “important but not critical”.

The withdrawal is seen by many as the latest evidence of the ongoing geopolitical conflict between the US and China, with the submarine cable industry having been increasingly pulled into the fray over the past three years.

Since 2020, the US has viewed subsea cable systems connecting the US to China and Hong Kong as potential threats to national security, having refused to permit their activation on numerous occasions.

Want to keep up with all of the latest submarine cable network news from around the world? Join the discussion at the live Submarine Networks EMEA conference

Also in the news:
Comcast signs deals worth $50m with State of Indiana for rural fibre expansion
Verizon records 5G upload speeds of over 1Gbps
Yorkshire Water partners with BT for smart water project

Press Release

CityFibre, the UK’s largest independent full fibre platform, has completed the primary-build of its full fibre network in Inverness. The new network is now ready for service to over 28,000 homes, representing over 90% of the city’s residential properties, as well as businesses, key public sector and community sites.  

Inverness is the fifth location (second in Scotland) in CityFibre’s nationwide rollout to reach the primary build complete stage, making it one of the best-connected locations in the UK. 

Construction began on the £24.5m project in 2019 and CityFibre has since laid over 400km of dense full fibre infrastructure across the city. While the primary build is complete, CityFibre’s work will continue to reach further areas including properties on private or unadopted roads, new build sites and business parks.  

Access to the network enables local communities to enjoy affordable, gigabit-capable, and reliable full fibre broadband from a range of internet service providers (ISPs) including Vodafone, TalkTalk, BrawBand, Zen, Brillband, Zybre and Giganet. All homes passed by the network can schedule a full fibre installation within five working days of placing an order or find out when their home has been made ready for service. 

CityFibre’s private investment in Inverness followed the award of a public sector contract via Capita, part of the Scotland-wide SWAN programme. The project has seen future-proof gigabit-capable full fibre rolled out to schools, libraries, offices, hospitals, health centres and university campuses. In total, over 150 public sector sites across Inverness, Fort William, Thurso and Wick have been connected. 

A recent report by the consultancy Hatch, commissioned by CityFibre, found Inverness stands to benefit from significant economic, social and environmental impacts from its new digital infrastructure platform, including over £100m in productivity and innovation gains alone. It also reported an expected £46m increase in the value of local homes as a result of the project, thanks to the availability of vastly improved internet speed and reliability. 

Allan McEwan, Area Manager at CityFibre, said: “Our rollout in Inverness marks an exciting step forward for digital connectivity across the city. With the UK’s finest full fibre network under its streets, residents, businesses and the city as a whole will reap the benefits for generations to come. We want to thank the local community and key partners, including the Highland Council, for their support as we have completed the rollout. 

“Inverness is a city filled with opportunity and ambition, which is why it has always been such an important build for us. Full fibre is vital for the UK’s long-term growth, and we look forward to building on our previous success powering the city’s future economic development.” 

Drew Hendry, MP for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey, said: “The transformation of Inverness into a full fibre city is a hugely welcome step towards ensuring the Highlands thrive today and tomorrow, with a successful Inverness City at its heart. This commercial investment from CityFibre has been instrumental in sparking competition, encouraging wider investment and ensuring broadband users across the region get a better deal when it comes to their connectivity at home.  

“This is a major boost for residents, businesses and services alike, and we look forward to harnessing the power of full fibre to drive growth and inclusion across the region.” 

Cllr Ken Gowans, Chair of the Economy & Infrastructure Committee at The Highland Council, said: “CityFibre’s rollout of full fibre across Inverness marks the beginning of a new and prosperous digital era for the city. Digital infrastructure has become the cornerstone of modern day-life, and we are delighted with how the technology is already improving their professional and personal lives.  

“The completion of the private network across the city follows the successful rollout of the public network last year. With many key buildings being brought onto the network during the Covid-19 pandemic, it has proven to be an invaluable resource for the city, and we are excited to see the completed project continue to build on this success.” 

Are the UK’s fibre network operators rolling out infrastructure quickly enough to meet government targets? Join the ecosystem in discussion at this year’s Connected North conference live in Manchester

Also in the news:
Comcast signs deals worth $50m with State of Indiana for rural fibre expansion
Verizon records 5G upload speeds of over 1Gbps
Yorkshire Water partners with BT for smart water project

CityFibre has today announced that the primary build of their £24.5 million project to deploy a new 1Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP network across the city of Inverness in Scotland has completed. Some 90% of local homes and businesses are now covered (28,000 premises). The announcement states that the build cost £24.5m and started […]

New customers of BT’s fastest Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) based home broadband packages may like to know that the ISP has launched several significant discounts, which drop their Full Fibre 500Mbps plan to just £30.99 and the 900Mbps tier to just £40.99 per month for the first 24-months of service. But there’s more. Customers who take the […]

Credible sources have informed ISPreview.co.uk that ISP Sky Broadband’s annual UK price hikes (here) may also be followed by some changes that could degrade both the “Speed Guarantee” they attach to packages, and the WiFi guarantee that comes attached to their optional ‘Broadband Boost‘ add-on. At present, customers who take one of Sky Broadband’s packages […]

News

With most broadband providers set implement inflation-linked mid-contract price jumps, the regulator is set to investigate whether their customers are being sufficiently informed

Last month, following the publication of Office of National Statistics inflation data, most of the UK’s mobile and broadband operators confirmed that they would, as feared, be increasing their contract prices in line with inflation.

Customers can expect to be hit by an average mid-contract price hike of around 14.4%, most of which will come into effect between March and April this year.

But the question is, do customers know this increase is coming?

The legality of mid-contract price hikes is well established in consumer law, but how these increases are communicated to customers is highly varied. Some communication services providers (CSPs) include planned price increases in the fine print of the contracts themselves, while others typically give customers 30 days’ notice of any incoming increase to their bills.

But at a time when the cost-of-living crisis is piling pressure on consumers, Ofcom is keen to be especially vigilant to ensure customers know what they are getting into when they sign a connectivity contract.

In December last year, the regulator launched an industry-wide enforcement programme, seeking to ensure CSPs are making the pricing terms in their contracts both prominent and transparent.

The programme was built on the results of a preliminary investigation into the matter, which found that that around one in three customers did not realise their CSP could legally increase the price of their contract, with far fewer understanding how these increases would be calculated.

Now, Ofcom has announced that they will take this investigation process one step further, launching an official review into whether customers are given “sufficient certainty and clarity about what they can expect to pay”.

“Customers need certainty and clarity about what they will pay over the course of their contract. But inflation-linked price rises can be unclear and unpredictable. So we’re concerned that providers are making it difficult for customers to know what to expect,” said Cristina Luna-Esteban, Ofcom’s Director of Telecoms Consumer Protection. “We’re taking a thorough look at these types of contract terms, to understand fully the extent to which customers truly know what they’re signing up to, and whether tougher protections are needed.”

The review will particularly explore the ways in which inflation and percentage-linked price rises are communicated to customers.

Initial findings from the probe are expected to be published later in the year.

Are operators doing enough to support their customers during the cost-of-living crisis? Join the discussion with the UK’s telecoms ecosystem at this year’s live Connected North event

Also in the news:
Comcast signs deals worth $50m with State of Indiana for rural fibre expansion
Verizon records 5G upload speeds of over 1Gbps
Yorkshire Water partners with BT for smart water project

Press Release

Samsung Electronics today announced the company has been selected by KDDI to provide its cloud-native 5G Standalone (SA) Core for the operator’s commercial network across Japan. Samsung’s 5G SA Core will deliver a range of advantages for KDDI’s network, including lower latency and high reliability as well as 5G-enhanced capabilities. This ushers in a new generation of services and applications available to KDDI’s consumers and enterprise customers.

Samsung’s 5G Core solution supports both 4G and 5G networks, offering seamless migration from 4G to 5G. The company’s 5G Core is also designed with critical features to ensure the stability and reliability of the network such as an overload control feature to counteract sudden traffic spikes as well as geo-redundancy support. For geographic redundant deployment, Samsung and KDDI are operating multiple cores in various locations, with each core dimensioned to pick up loads in case one of the active cores becomes unavailable due to traffic bursts or natural disasters.

“We strive to provide the best mobile experiences to our customers through network innovation and our advanced 5G SA network will offer immense capabilities,” said Toshikazu Yokai, Managing Executive Officer, General Manager of Mobile Network Technical Development Division at KDDI. “With Samsung’s 5G SA Core, we will offer unprecedented speed, instantaneous connectivity and high reliability which could bring numerous new experience value for consumers and enterprises. We look forward to continue advancing 5G networks to stay ahead of our customers’ needs.”

“KDDI has been at the forefront of opening up the next frontier of 5G services and we are proud to see our long-term collaboration deepen with new opportunities as we drive continuous innovation and realize technology vision together,” said Junehee Lee, Executive Vice President, Head of Global Sales & Marketing, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. “We look forward to continuing our collaboration with KDDI to reshape the 5G services landscape in Japan and achieving new 5G milestones.”

The standalone architecture will enable KDDI to create an independent 5G network, enabling lower latency capabilities that are essential to high-performance use cases such as smart factories, automated vehicles, cloud-based online gaming and multi-camera live streaming at sporting events.

Samsung’s 5G Core will also enable KDDI to optimize network slicing — a feature that requires a full 5G SA Core. Network slicing divides a single physical network infrastructure into multiple virtual slices, where each slice is dedicated for a specific user case or application. With this feature, a single network can dynamically support multiple 5G use cases and applications at once, accelerating the delivery of new services and meeting the tailored demands of enterprises and consumers. For instance, operators can create a low latency slice for automated vehicles, an IoT slice for smart factories and a high bandwidth slice for live video streaming — all within the same network.

With the deployment of 5G SA Core, Samsung is providing a wide portfolio of its 5G solutions to KDDI — ranging from RAN to Core. In their collaboration, Samsung has been providing its 5G network solutions which support the operator’s low-, mid- and mmWave spectrum bands — including Massive MIMO radios.

For more than a decade, the two companies have been working together, hitting major 5G networks milestones including KDDI’s selection of Samsung as a 5G network solutions provider and 5G network rollout on 700MHz. Recently, KDDI and Samsung announced the industry’s first demonstration of Service Level Agreements (SLA) assurance network slicing using a RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) on a live 5G SA network and the initiation of the commercial deployment of Open virtualized RAN (vRAN) sites in Osaka, which is also the world’s first commercial MU-MIMO implementation with O-RAN compliant multivendor interoperability.

Samsung has pioneered the successful delivery of 5G end-to-end solutions including chipsets, radios and core. Through ongoing research and development, Samsung drives the industry to advance 5G networks with its market-leading product portfolio from virtualized RAN and Core to private network solutions and AI-powered automation tools. The company is currently providing network solutions to mobile operators that deliver connectivity to hundreds of millions of users around the world.

Keep up to date with all the latest telecoms news with the Total Telecom newsletter

Also in the news:
Comcast signs deals worth $50m with State of Indiana for rural fibre expansion
Verizon records 5G upload speeds of over 1Gbps
Yorkshire Water partners with BT for smart water project

The Scottish Government has released a small update on the progress of their £600m Reaching 100% (R100) project with Openreach (BT). This confirms that a total of 16,600 rural properties have so far been covered by a fixed “superfast broadband” (30Mbps+) ISP network under the scheme (inc. 2,800 connections via R100 vouchers). At present more […]