News

Optus had suggested to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) that they would make a better sharing partner for TPG

Back in February, TPG and Telstra struck a major network sharing agreement, set to provide both parties with key mobile assets they are currently missing; Telstra will allow TPG access to roughly 3,700 of its mobile towers in various parts of the country, with TPG in turn allowing Telstra to share 4G and 5G spectrum.

The operators heralded the deal as a boon for customers, with Telstra able to provide its customers with greater speeds and capacity, while expanding TPG’s 4G coverage from 96% to 98.8% of the country.

Not all of the market agreed, however, with the duo’s local rival Optus arguing that the move disincentivise them to invest in the more rural parts of Australia.

“This arrangement is not a sharing arrangement,” said Optus CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin earlier this summer. “It is an arrangement where TPG withdraws from rural Australia and gets access to a network owned and operated by Telstra, paying Telstra for every customer it onboards to Telstra’s network.”

Optus countered by proposing to the ACCC that they should be the preferred partner a potential network sharing agreement with TPG, suggesting that this would provide better value for customer and maintain market competition.

Last month, Optus said that a network sharing deal with TPG was a “real commercial likelihood” if the ACCC were to reject the TPG–Telstra deal.

The ACCC regulator has proved relatively receptive to these arguments, leading TPG and Telstra to propose some concessions in earlier this month – most notably reducing the length of the sharing deal from ten years to eight.

This week, however, TPG has kyboshed the suggests of teaming up with Optus instead, saying in a letter to the ACCC that Optus was simply outcompeted by Telstra in this regard and was now seeking to force a less favourable deal upon TPG.

“Now, having had the benefit of seeing the proposed transaction and its terms, Optus wishes to use the authorisation process to remove Telstra as a competitor in relation to network sharing and leave it free to impose a less attractive, alternative transaction on TPG,” read the letter, which noted that Optus had been in the process of formulating its own network sharing proposal with TPG when the Telstra deal was announced.

“In light of the above evidence, it would be a perverse outcome and dangerous precedent for a competitor in the position of Optus to ultimately be successful in having the ACCC reject an otherwise pro-competitive transaction by threatening to withdraw their investment in the face of increased competition.”

A decision by the ACCC is expected to be made by the end of the year.

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IRIS cable set to link Iceland and Ireland

The post TPG rejects suggestion of network sharing deal with Optus first appeared on Total Telecom.

The Full Fibre Northern Ireland (FFNI) Consortium, which is made up of 10 councils outside Belfast and the Business Services Organisation (BSO), has confirmed the completion of their project to rollout a new full fibre broadband network to connect 887 public sector sites. The network itself was built by UK ISP Fibrus. Overall, the project, […]

Network builder F&W Networks – supported by UK ISP Hey!Broadband – has today signed a 1-year supply deal with equipment distributor Cable & Things worth £1.3 million, which will provide the operator with underground and PIA ultralightweight overhead fibre optic cables, distribution and joint boxes etc. The Hammersmith-based F&W, which holds an aspiration to cover […]

The UK Government’s latest Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, has today used his Autumn Statement 2022 to, among other things, allay fears that he might cut funding for major national gigabit broadband and mobile infrastructure projects by committing to ensure that such projects remain “funded as promised“. The Chancellor further emphasised that, despite the current climate, the […]

News 

According to Finance Minister Ahmed Shide, the Ethiopian government is once again opening its doors to the international telecoms community in the search for a third national operator

This week, Ethiopian media sources report that the government is resuming its hunt for a third national telecoms operator, as well as a buyer for a 40% stake in state-owned telco Ethio Telecom.

The move comes as part of the long-awaited liberalisation of the country’s telecoms sector, a process that has been making stuttering progress since its inception by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed back in 2020.

At the time, Ethio Telecom represented one of the last remaining telecoms monopolies in the world, making Ethiopia – with its population of over 110 million – a highly enticing market for foreign telcos.

After delays related to the coronavirus and the ongoing civil war in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region, the liberalisation process was started last year with two new national telecoms licences being made available at auction.

In May 2021, the first of the new telco licences was won by a Safaricom-led consortium, having placed a bid of roughly $850 million, The second licence, however, went unsold, with the regulator deeming MTN’s $600 million bid too low.

The search for a second new operator was initially resumed in September 2021, but the tender process was later suspended in December, with the government citing the unfavourable global economic situation.

Alongside the introduction of new operators, the Ethiopian government also announced in 2021 that it would sell a 40% stake in Ethio Telecom, with the process initiated in June.

By March 2022, however, this too was suspended, with the global economy once again listed as a key factor, though the ongoing Tigray War was likely a greater consideration.

Two weeks ago, however, the Ethiopian government and Tigray People’s Liberation Front signed a truce, with Abiy reiterating just yesterday his intention “to implement honestly” the terms of the ceasefire agreement.

It would seem that this forecasted national stability has been enough to once again get the wheels turning on the telecoms liberalisation process, with Finance Minister Ahmed Shide announcing that the country is once again looking for bidders for the second telco licence and the 40% stake in Ethio Telecom.

It should be noted that Ethiopia’s newest telco, now named Safaricom Ethiopia, has gone from strength to strength in the past months.

The company was officially launched last month, switching on its 2G, 3G, and 4G networks in 11 cities across the country, including the capital, Addis Ababa.

Safaricom is aiming to increase coverage 25 cities by April 2023, thereby meeting its licencing obligations of covering 25% of the country’s population by this deadline.

Uptake for the company’s mobile services has been rapid. Just a week ago, when discussing its H1 financial results, Safaricom said the company had reached 740,000 subscribers by the end of October, less than a month after launching commercial services.

Since then, the company appears to have gained a further 260,000 subscribers, announcing just yesterday that they had reached the major milestone of one million subscribers.

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 Ethiopian govt restarts telecoms liberalisation process first appeared on Total Telecom.

The Association of South Essex Local Authorities (ASELA), which is a partnership of seven neighbouring councils, has announced a new project that will aim to build a 10km long stretch of an “open access” full fibre broadband network between the Thurrock and Brentwood areas. The plan forms part of a partnership with the National Highways’ […]

Independent rural UK network builder and broadband ISP GoFibre, which is rolling out a new 10Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network across the North of England and Scottish Borders, has today announced that they’ve started to deploy across the Aberdeenshire towns of Portlethen and Newtonhill. At present the operator is currently being supported by funding of […]

Press release

Infinera (NASDAQ: INFN) announced this week that Gulf Bridge International (GBI) has deployed Infinera’s ICE6 800G optical engine across its submarine and terrestrial networks between the Middle East and Europe to increase capacity in preparation for the World Cup, which commences this Sunday. The upgrade to ICE6 doubles GBI’s network capacity and provides connections of up to 800G per wavelength. GBI was able to rapidly and seamlessly integrate this new technology over its existing third-party optical line system by leveraging open optical networking principles. The integration of this technology enables GBI to provide high-speed streaming of the World Cup and offer 400 GbE services to its customers.

Infinera’s ICE6-powered GX Series solution delivers the ultra-high capacity needed to meet increasing bandwidth demand to ensure that GBI’s customers enjoy a high-quality, uninterrupted game-day experience during the world’s largest football competition and beyond. With Infinera’s industry-leading optical engine, GBI can minimize the cost per bit of its submarine and terrestrial networks while also maximizing spectral efficiency and fiber capacity. This is achieved through unique features that include Nyquist subcarriers, forward error correction gain sharing, and photonic integrated circuit-based technology.

“Upgrading our networks with Infinera’s ICE6 solution was easy and seamless, allowing us to leverage our existing optical transport architecture while upgrading our network to meet today’s demand,” said Gavin Rea, Chief Technical Officer at GBI. “With the World Cup quickly approaching, it was critical for us to ensure our network had the terabits of capacity needed to give our customers reliable, high-speed service to deliver the best viewing experience. That’s exactly what we’ll be offering our customers across Europe and the Middle East this week thanks to Infinera.”

“Modernizing GBI’s submarine and terrestrial Smart Network with Infinera’s ICE6 solution is a significant step forward in ensuring GBI remains a leading service provider, offering differentiated services such as 400 GbE to its customers,” said Nick Walden, Senior Vice President, Worldwide Sales, Infinera. “GBI operates key routes throughout the Middle East and European markets, and we are pleased to equip them with the highest capacity and most innovative services available.”

About Gulf Bridge International (GBI)  

Founded in 2008, GBI is a global cloud, connectivity, and content enabler that owns and operates a smart and fully managed network. GBI’s multilayer terrestrial and subsea cable meshed network bridges the East to the West through the Middle East, empowers businesses, connects societies, and contributes to the region’s accelerated digital transformation. GBI is a carrier of choice for telecom operators, ISPs and governments throughout the Middle East, Europe and Asia offering capacity and a portfolio of wholesale and enterprise services. GBI’s value propositions and diverse offerings serve as a catalyst to growth, innovation and contribute to the economic development within the region and beyond. For more information visit: https://gbiinc.com/. You can find out more about GBI’s Smart Network here.

About Infinera

Infinera is a global supplier of innovative open optical networking solutions that enable carriers, cloud operators, governments, and enterprises to scale network bandwidth, accelerate service innovation, and automate network operations. Infinera solutions deliver industry-leading economics and performance in long-haul, submarine, data center interconnect, and metro transport applications. To learn more about Infinera, visit www.infinera.com, follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn, and subscribe for updates.

The post GBI deploys Infinera’s ICE6 800G optical engine to boost capacity ahead of the World Cup first appeared on Total Telecom.

The Independent Networks Co-operative Association (INCA) has announced the list of winners from their 2022 Gold Awards event, which aims to recognise and celebrate the best alternative broadband networks (altnets) and ISPs from across the United Kingdom. Some providers, such as B4RN, picked up several awards. As usual, the winners were all decided by a […]

Fibre optic builder and UK ISP B4RN (Broadband for the Rural North), which is rolling out a 10Gbps Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network across rural parts of England, has been fined £1,400 after an inspector identified a number of safety failings with their deployment in the small Eden Valley village of Kirkoswald (Cumbria). The provider, which […]