PRESS RELEASE

Leeds based telco Northern Telecom has stepped in to rescue the business and assets of Toople Plc (and subsidiaries) in a deal with administrators FRP Recovery that closed on Friday..

Toople’s customer and reseller relationships (including customers of Toople and Direct Market Services Limited (DMSL)) will transition into the wider Northern Telecom group.

The transaction is the eighth for Northern Telecom in the last five years and secures provision of service for a range of small to medium sized business customers across the UK.

Toople PLC was listed on the London Stock Exchange in May 2016 and acquired DMSL in January 2020. Trading in shares was suspended on the 19th October. The deal sees the bulk of the assets and business of Toople return to private ownership.

Northern Telecom Group Operations Director Simon Rogers commented “The Toople business has underperformed over the last five years. A fundamentally flawed business model and questionable strategic decisions have masked what we believe to be a business with strong underlying financials. We’re delighted to welcome Toople customers into the wider group and we’re excited to enable the business to unleash its full potential”.

Northern Telecom Group Managing Director Jon Graves commented “We’re delighted to finalise another two acquisitions to supplement our growth this year. We look forward to supporting each customer with their IT & Telecoms requirements.”

Discover the north’s connected future. Join Total Telecom at Manchester Central on the 17 – 18 April 2023. totaltele.com/connectednorth

Related:
Connected North 2022 highlights video
Northern mayors talk levelling up frustration at Connected North

The post Northern Telecom acquires business and assets of Toople Plc & DMSL first appeared on Total Telecom.

Internet provider File Sanctuary has this week launched a new range of Black Friday sales across their range of Openreach based Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband packages, which broadly discounts the price across all their plans by £4 per month for the entire 12-month minimum contract term. Each package includes free installation or migration, unlimited usage, UK […]

Vodafone UK has this morning published their latest Q2 FY23 results, which reveals that their fixed broadband ISP base grew again to total 1.111 million customers (up sharply by 39k in the quarter vs 22k in Q1 FY23) and their mobile base also surged again to total 17.543 million (up by 321k vs 115k in […]

Openreach (BT) appears to have recently introduced an additional broadband availability checker to its website, which is designed to provide visitors with more details about the current and future coverage of their ADSL, FTTC and FTTP services. But it also gives you data on your estimated UK ISP speeds via their network. At present, if […]

News

The Commission has urged the European community to accelerate its implementation of EU 5G security guidelines, singling out Germany for special criticism over government inaction

Back in 2019, following the US banning Huawei 5G network equipment from its domestic networks, 5G network security rapidly become a political hot potato, with the Trump administation pushing the international community to implement bans of their own. Some countries, such UK, quickly followed suit in 2020, but others were more reticent to ban the Chinese vendor outright, preferring instead to bolster their individual security measures.

This led the European Commission to publish a 5G Security Toolbox in early 2020, with EU member states agreeing to implement a raft of security recommendations to mitigate the risk of so-called ‘high-risk’ vendors. This included technical security measures to identify vulnerable equipment, as well as policy suggestions around foreign direct investment, to shield critical national networks from falling under foreign influence.

By the end of 2020, periodical reports suggested that most member states were “well on track of implementing the recommended measures”, with the Commission suggesting that they should be complete implantation of the various measures by the second quarter of 2021.

Now, however, almost three years later, EU Commissioner Margrethe Vestager has chastised the broader EU community for failing to implement these security measures quickly enough.

“We are urging member states who have not yet imposed restrictions on high-risk suppliers to do that without delay, as a matter of urgency,” said Vestager. “A number of countries have passed legislation but they have not put it into effect […] Making it work is even better.”

One country notably singled out for individual criticism was Germany, with Vestager saying that the country had not done enough to tackle security concerns related to the 5G supply chain.

“It is not only Germany, but it is also Germany,” she said.

Historically, Vodafone Deutschland and Deutsche Telekom have been heavily reliant on Huawei for their mobile network equipment. This fact saw the country at the centre of the geopolitical tussle over Huawei in 2020, with the US government urging Berlin to ban the vendor, and the national telcos urging for restraint.

In the end, Germany declined to ban the Chinese vendor outright, but has introduced various additional security measures, including a new law last year allowing the government to intervene on mobile operators’ supply contracts where untrusted vendors were involved.

To date, however, these special powers have seen little usage.

Is the government doing enough to mitigate the threat of high-risk vendors in Germany? Find out from the experts at this year’s live Connected Germany event

Also in the news:
Remaining competitive in an evolving telco landscape
Wi-Fly: Could AFC improve rural connectivity?
BT warns of further job losses as soaring bills force bigger cost-cutting drive

The post Vestager: Restricting “high-risk” vendors a “matter of urgency” for EU first appeared on Total Telecom.

Press Release

The ‘Intelligent Drones for Port and Highways Technology’ (InDePTH) project, which is part of the ‘Future Flight Challenge Phase 3’ programme, has received government backing, thanks to major new funding available via research agency UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) to help achieve an ambitious vision for the UK’s future drone economy.

As part of the project, BT, Associated British Ports (ABP), Kier Highways, Connected Places Catapult, RoboK and Herotech8 are all working together to build and test the use of drones to carry out automatic ‘beyond visual line of sight’ (BVLOS) missions to monitor and control critical national infrastructure such as highways and ports. Specifically, the project will demonstrate value in three use case areas for ports and highways, including landside port operations and management, marine operations and highway safety and defect inspections.

The ambition for the project is to create efficient, low-carbon, cost-effective solutions for infrastructure management with Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) and practically showcase opportunities for ports and highways to use ‘drones as a service’. Using AI and data analytics, the project will develop the InDePTH platform offering seamless integration from UAS imagery, through operational systems, to actionable insights.

A key aim of the project is to enable near real-time data transfer from capture to insight generation. By doing this, the data gathered by UAS becomes a greater asset to a wider number of end users. Close collaboration between the two end users ABP and Kier will engage different industries with very similar requirements, sharing best practices and physical demonstrations.

Digital twins of Ports and Highways will be built and used with real-time data from drones to give a rich picture of current operations, incidents and asset condition. AI will be applied to analyse drone imagery in several use cases, including maritime infrastructure inspection, reactive ad-hoc flights to quickly identify hazards both on land and over water and inspection and auto-classification of safety critical highway defects such as potholes.

John Davies, Chief Researcher, BT commented: “As the UK’s leading communications provider we are constantly looking to find new, exciting ways to use technology to improve solutions, processes and networks and better serve our customers, across many industry verticals. As a network leader we’re delighted to be working with partners in this project to combine our skills, knowledge and expertise, to develop cutting edge drone-based solutions. Working collaboratively, we can realise the true potential of drone technologies and develop the innovative new use cases that can add value to ports and highways and many other industries. Together we are taking a leading role in demonstrating the positive impact drones can have on the economy – specifically helping businesses to become more efficient and supporting the path to net zero.”

Want to learn more about the latest exciting tests and trials taking place in the UK telecoms industry? Join us in April for our upcoming Connected North conference, bringing together the industry’s leading experts and national stakeholders

Also in the news:
Remaining competitive in an evolving telco landscape
Wi-Fly: Could AFC improve rural connectivity?
BT warns of further job losses as soaring bills force bigger cost-cutting drive

The post UKRI selects BT consortium for intelligent drone project first appeared on Total Telecom.

News

The 1,700km cable system is set to connect Galway, Ireland, with Thorlakshofn, Iceland, just south of Reykjavík

This week, Icelandic international carrier Farice has announced the deployment of their new IRIS cable, a system set to directly link Iceland to Ireland for the first time.

Back in 2019, government-run international carrier Farice identified Galway as an attractive landing site for an Iceland–Ireland submarine cable system, noting both its suitable beaches and close proximity to the heart of the city itself.

In 2021, they contracted cable specialist SubCom to manufacture and deploy the IRIS system, with work beginning earlier this year.

Now, the company reports that the cable system is fully deployed, bringing the project into its final phase of implementation.

“IRIS, a new submarine cable connecting Iceland and Ireland, is a major milestone in strengthening and securing Iceland‘s electronic communications with Ireland and other countries. Together with Iceland‘s green and renewable energy sources this new submarine cable makes Iceland a highly competitive option for data centers, cloud service providers and high performance computing,” said Iceland’s Minister of Universities, Industry and Innovation, Áslaug Arna Sigurbjörnsdóttir. “Connecting Iceland and Ireland brings on new opportunities for both countries for co-operation in the highly connected digital world.“

The IRIS system comprises six fibre pairs, each of which can deliver 18Tbps of capacity for a total of 108 Tbps. It will offer both Ireland and Iceland more diverse data routes to connect to Europe, as well as providing the additional capacity to cope with the rapidly growing data demand in both countries.

The cable will be complementary to Farice’s existing pair of submarine cable systems: the DANICE, which links southwest Iceland to western Denmark, and the FARICE-1, connecting northeast Iceland to the Faroe Islands and northern Scotland.

The Irish government have been particularly vocal about the positive impact that the IRIS system will have on the country, not only directly benefiting the local region but also to transform Ireland into a regional subsea connectivity hub.

“Ireland is at the forefront of this digital development and is pursuing a strategy to be a gateway to Europe for all internet traffic. The IRIS subsea cable is a remarkable project which ensures we now have direct links from Ireland to Iceland and further diversifies the connectivity links across Ireland,” said Eamon Ryan, Ireland’s Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications. “This has extensive positive implications for Galway and the West, potentially opening up the entire region for new investment. And it highlights the West as a key destination for Europe’s internet connectivity infrastructure which is likely to attract future investments.”

“Today is a landmark in the history of Irish communications. Ireland is now open for business to further subsea cables,” said Minister of State Ossian Smyth.

The IRIS system is expected to be ready for service in Q1 of next year.

How is the European submarine cable industry evolved over the past year? Find out from the experts at the upcoming Submarine Networks EMEA event

Also in the news:
Remaining competitive in an evolving telco landscape
Wi-Fly: Could AFC improve rural connectivity?
BT warns of further job losses as soaring bills force bigger cost-cutting drive

The post IRIS cable set to link Iceland and Ireland first appeared on Total Telecom.

Belfast-based UK ISP Fibrus, which is building a new Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network across Northern Ireland and Northern England, has today launch a new range of packages targeted at small and medium-sized enterprises – all include a pledge NOT charge a connection fee or be subject to annual CPI price increases. The new Fibrus business […]

INTERVIEW

Local Authorities in the UK play a pivotal role in delivering the government’s target, and promise, to get Britain ‘ubiquitously’ connected by 2030. In order to achieve this, forward-thinking Local Authorities are looking for sources of information and/or blueprints to help, and support them, achieve this task successfully and efficiently. In Sweden, Local Authorities have been instrumental in delivering the third-highest FTTH/ B penetration rating in Europe (64.4%). This is thanks to the use of the innovative Open Access Model. This model encourages and increases take-up – especially when financing is still challenging for operators – as it allows multiple ISPs to use the network to deliver services. Ultimately, it opens up access to whole areas and ensures that no communities are left behind.

Why is this so important? Economic uncertainty and the cost-of-living is laying bare the true reality, and impact of, digital exclusion and digital poverty across the country. It is an issue that must be addressed to enable every citizen to flourish and ensure that no one is left behind. Unfortunately, if it’s perceived that a certain geographical demographic won’t subscribe to the service, understandably, network builders can be reluctant to deploy to that area. This might make ‘business sense’ in the current land-grab race in the UK. Still, for those communities being excluded, who, of course, in many cases, are the ones that need the connectivity most – for levelling up employment opportunities and access to funded services – this is disastrous. But herein lies the usefulness of consolidation, a natural and healthy part of market development. One collective race, amongst providers will offer a greater role for wholesale in the future and an increase in fibre competition that only secures a greater choice of options for consumers. And that’s something all providers should want.

Want to hear more about it? Check out our interview with VX Fiber‘s Chairman, Mikael Sandberg on open access networks, tackling the digital divide, as well as the inevitable future of consolidation.

To find out more about how VX Fiber and its Open Access Model is helping Local Authorities in their mission to get Britain Connected, visit: https://vxfiber.com/

 

The post Local Authorities, tackling the deepening digital divide, and the question of investment: A tell-all with VX Fiber’s Mikael Sandberg first appeared on Total Telecom.

News

On Friday, Orange launched 5G in Botswana – the Group’s first commercial 5G launch in Africa.

In a briefing last week, Orange Botswana’s CEO, Nene Maiga, outlined details of the launch announcing that 30% of the population would be covered with 5G available in 2 major cities including Gaborone and Francistown. Further cities will be covered by the network in due course.

Orange is planning launches in approximately 6 additional countries in the MEA region in 2023. Regulatory agreements are currently be negotiated in Jordan, which is likely to be the next launch, followed by the Ivory Coast. Then, subject to agreeing the regulatory conditions, Senegal should follow.

According to Jerôme Henique, CEO of Orange Middle East and Africa, the Group sees 5G as an opportunity to complete their broadband portfolio in Africa. The limited availability and cost of 5G handsets is still a barrier to uptake of 5G in the continent, however Orange’s regional strategy will see the Group focus on connectivity for households through their 5G fixed broadband offering.

Offers will be available for residential customers, small and medium enterprises. The fixed offers are available from15Mbps for Prepaid and from 20Mbps for Postpaid with a monthly rental from BWP 699 (€53 per month).

Orange is also exploring the development of 5G use cases for enterprise customers in Africa with a particular focus on the mining industry and ports. Orange believes that the network of 5G labs, which the Group is opening in key locations in the MEA region, is a strong differentiator for Orange 5G. Henique said that the labs would be open to startups to develop new use cases which would prove beneficial for the local the local entrepreneur ecosystem.

 

 

The post Orange launches 5G in Botswana first appeared on Total Telecom.