News

written by Nicole Lumley, Editor at MOVE

Dublin City Council, Ireland, alongside Virgin Media Business, is installing Wi-Fi 6 Access Points that are compliant with TIP OpenWifi as a trial of open, disaggregated solutions for potential use in the city’s public Wi-Fi network

TIP OpenWiFi is compliant with the technical requirements of the European Commission’s WiFi4EU initiative, the benchmark for public Wi-Fi deployments in Europe, said the company. 

“A smart city is built around collaboration and openness. We are delighted to be trialing Wi-Fi options that are built with an open-source architecture that enables multi-vendor interoperability,” said Jamie Cudden. Smart City Program Manager, Dublin City Council. 

Wifi4EU is a project that promotes free access to WiFi connectivity for citizens in public spaces including parks, squares, public buildings, libraries, health centers and museums in municipalities throughout Europe.  

The municipalities will receive a voucher that pays for the network including maintenance of the equipment to offer free and high-quality Wi-Fi connectivity for at least three years.  

“Virgin Media is recognized for providing ‘clever tech’ with ultrafast speeds and ultra-reliability. We’re industry leaders offering our customers the latest technology and it just made sense to trial Dublin City Council’s Wi-Fi network using TIP OpenWiFi standards as part of our innovation partnership with the council,” said Noel O Reilly, Business Products and Solutions Manager, Virgin Media Business. 

Dublin City Council will be using TIP OpenWiFi- compliant products and software including a cloud-based controller from NetExperience and access points from Edgecore and HFCL.  

TIP OpenWiFi is an open source-based Wi-Fi architecture that enables multi-vendor, interoperable Wi-Fi networks. This will enable both companies to mix and match additional access points and controllers.  

This article was originally published on Movemnt.net.

Also in the news:
SKT takes its Ifland metaverse platform global
CMA probes Apple and Google over browser “duopoly”
Vodacom launches National Relay Service to boost digital inclusion

The post Dublin City Council partners with Virgin Media to install Wi-Fi 6 Access Points first appeared on Total Telecom.

The plight of residents and businesses around the remote rural community of Uig on the west coast of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides (Scotland), which was left without access to 4G for calls and mobile broadband after a fault impacted EE UK’s local mast, has reached the Scottish Parliament. According to the Scottish Sun, around […]

Broadband ISP and full fibre network builder Ogi has today announced that they’ve begun a new pilot programme with schools in Wales, which is initially investing £10,000 to help local schools in the country bring STEM subjects (i.e. science, technology, engineering and mathematics) to life for pupils in years 5-9. At present Ogi, which is […]

Press Release

SK Telecom (SKT) today announced that its metaverse platform ‘ifland’ simultaneously launched in 49 countries and regions throughout the world

With the global launch of ifland, SKT will actively utilize K-pop content, develop attractive content with overseas partners, and strengthen communication features to shape ifland into a global leading social metaverse platform.

The global version of ifland supports English, Chinese (Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese) and Japanese, and is available for both Android and iOS smartphone users. The existing ifland app will be upgraded to the new global version. For instance, the app will automatically activate in the Korean mode when accessed from Korea, and the global mode when accessed from overseas countries.

Under the slogan, “The New Way of Socializing,” ifland will deliver a differentiated communication experience within the metaverse.

SKT will effectively expand ifland’s global reach through partnerships with major telecommunications companies in each continent. The company is working with e& (formerly known as Etisalat Group) in the Middle East, Africa and Asia, and Singtel in South East Asia.

On November 18, 2022, SKT signed a memorandum of understanding with NTT Docomo, the largest mobile operator in Japan, to cooperate in areas of content, technology and service to further advance their metaverse services. Partnership discussions with other telecommunications companies are also underway.

Together with its overseas partners, SKT plans to develop specialized features tailored to each different region. They will also promote various metaverse-related events and business cooperation, including joint production of popular local content.

Moreover, SKT plans to offer content targeting the “MZ generation (Millennials and Generation Z)” through partnerships with diverse players including overseas universities and international brands.

Early this month, SKT signed a memorandum of understanding with Thailand’s Bansomdejchaopraya Rajabhat University (BSRU) and Korea’s Dong-ah Institute of Media and Arts (DIMA) – which is providing a variety of programs including ‘Teen Teen Audition’ in ifland since the beginning of this year – to create a global metaverse campus. SKT will actively support BSRU and DIMA to overcome the limitations stemming from the physical distance between the two schools through ifland.

In addition, the company is working with Birger Christensen, a Copenhagen-based fashion company with over 150 years of history, to launch digital skins for avatars in ifland within this year to enable the MZ generation to better express themselves.

SKT has also updated key features of ifland. The company opened a global lounge within ifland to help those new to the metaverse to experience the new world with greater ease, and introduced avatars of many different colors.

In addition, to facilitate communication between hosts and participants of gatherings in ifland, SKT applied features like ‘one-on-one direct messaging’ and ‘3D speech bubble.’ ‘Live voting’ feature was also introduced to check the opinions of participants in real time, and ‘ifme motion sharing’ feature was adopted to apply the user’s facial expressions to his/her avatar.

To celebrate the global launch of ifland, SKT will be showcasing a wide variety of live K-pop content every week. Original metaverse K-pop content titled “The Fan Live Talkon” will target K-pop fans overseas, with over 50% of content provided in English. Every week, ifland will offer live content related to K-pop – e.g. auditions for K-pop trainees and nurturing of K-pop idols – for global fans to enjoy.

Within this year, through ifland’s SNS account, SKT plans to hold events to give out diverse artists’ goods and gifts to overseas users who participate in the meet-ups of K-pop content.

Meanwhile, ifland has surpassed 12.8 million of cumulative users as of October 2022, which represents a four-fold increase compared to 3 million early this year thanks to differentiated content offerings like original metaverse content.

“Since its launch in Korea in July 2021, ifland has grown rapidly to become the best social metaverse in Korea by attracting users of diverse age groups as well as many different organizations,” said Yang Maeng-seok, Head of Metaverse Office at SKT. “Now, we will go beyond Korea to expand our reach in the global market to take customers metaverse experience to the next level.”

Ifland will be available in: Argentina, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, Denmark, Deutschland, Finland, France, Ghana, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Macau, Malaysia, Mexico, Myanmar, New Zealand, Norway, Palau, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Rwanda, Singapore, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, the Dominican Republic, the Netherlands, the Philippines, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States, Tunisia, Turkey, and Vietnam.

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UKRI selects BT consortium for intelligent drone project
IRIS cable set to link Iceland and Ireland

The post SKT takes its Ifland metaverse platform global first appeared on Total Telecom.

A new National Connectivity Alliance (the NCA) has been launch today, which for the first time brings together UK telecommunications providers (mobile and broadband), infrastructure providers, landowners and their professional advisers. The goal is to collaborate on areas of mutual interest and that may boost the rollout of new networks. At this point it’s probably […]

News

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is pressing ahead with a full investigation into the tech giant’s dominance in the mobile browser market

This week, the CMA has announced that it has launched a full market investigation into the market dominance of Apple and Google’s respective mobile browsers, saying they “exercise a stranglehold” over the mobile software ecosystem.

The CMA first launched a consultation back in June, the results of which show a “substantial support” for a deeper investigation into Apple and Googles’ policies regarding their mobile browsers.

According to the CMA, 97% of all mobile web traffic in the UK is facilitated by either Apple’s Safari browser or Google’s Google Chrome.

“Apple and Google have an effective duopoly on mobile ecosystems that allows them to exercise a stranglehold over operating systems, app stores and web browsers on mobile devices,” wrote the CMA in a press release.

The CMA fears that this dominance not only stifles competition in the mobile browser market itself and disincentivises the tech giants to invest in their browsers, but also directly impacts web developers through restrictions the two companies impose.

“Many UK businesses and web developers tell us they feel that they are being held back by restrictions set by Apple and Google,” said Sarah Cardell, interim chief executive of the CMA. “We plan to investigate whether the concerns we have heard are justified and, if so, identify steps to improve competition and innovation in these sectors.”

The investigation will also focus on these browsers’ relationships to cloud gaming, with the CMA suggesting that Apple restricts customer access to cloud gaming applications through its app store.

Both Apple and Google, naturally, argue that the current market dynamics are functional and promote competition. In particular, Google was quick to pin much of the CMA’s regulatory concern on Apple, given the latter’s ban on alternative browsers on iOS and restrictions on cloud gaming in the App Store.

The news of this probe comes at a time when both Google and Apple are facing increasing pressure from EU regulatory bodies, with antitrust bodies already separately investigating both companies.

Also in the news:
Vestager: Restricting “high-risk” vendors a “matter of urgency” for EU
UKRI selects BT consortium for intelligent drone project
IRIS cable set to link Iceland and Ireland

The post CMA probes Apple and Google over browser “duopoly”   first appeared on Total Telecom.

Rural broadband ISP Gigaclear, which has already covered 360,000 premises (up from 300,000 in May 2022) across rural parts of England with their Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network, has today announced that they’ve expanded into Derbyshire and aim to cover a total of more than 25,000 premises in the county. The first 9,000 homes to benefit from […]

Consumer and wholesale broadband provider TalkTalk has today announced that they’ve agreed a new “strategic partnership” with Telecom Acquisitions Ltd, which manages a multitude of broadband ISP brands and products (e.g. Home Telecom, Fleur Telecom, Hive Telecom and Eclipse Broadband). The announcement states that the new partnership is designed to deliver the growth of TAL […]

Network builder and UK ISP Upp has today confirmed that they’ve started rolling out their new gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network to 35,000 premises (homes and business) across the Norfolk town of King’s Lynn. But we’ve also managed to pull the full rollout plan (so far) from their website. Upp – supported by funding from […]

Budget UK ISP Plusnet, which is part of the BT Group, appears to have now officially stopped taking on new SME (small and medium-sized) business customers. A message on their website confirms that the products are “no longer available” and instead directs new customers to take up packages directly with BT. Regular readers may recall […]