A new Opinium survey of 2,000 UK adults, which was commissioned by Uswitch during October 2022, has unsurprisingly found that 81% of respondents think mid-contract price increases by broadband ISPs and mobile operators are “unfair” and 80% want more providers to offer fixed price contracts. The UK communications regular, Ofcom, recently warned that providers should […]

Ambition North Wales, which is a partnership comprising the six Local Authorities in the region and several Universities, has worked with UK consultancy firm FarrPoint to conduct a survey that measured 4G mobile (mobile broadband) coverage across the region’s main transport routes. Suffice to say, there are some problem areas. The survey follows a 2021 […]

Openreach (BT) has today announced the launch of an unusual supermarket style offer for UK ISPs that make use of their Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) and other fibre-based broadband products, which involves selling their 10Gbps Cablelinks on a “Buy Three Get One Free” basis at wholesale. The Cablelink (Ethernet) solutions are how Openreach provide data capacity for […]

UK ISP Andrews & Arnold (AAISP) has today soft launched their first Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) based broadband packages over Cityfibre’s network, which marks the first time that they’ve offered products on an alternative platform to Openreach’s national infrastructure. In case anybody has been living under a rock for the past few years. Cityfibre is a large […]

NEWS

The Lebanese telecoms group has been unveiled as the buyer of MTN’s Afghan unit, three months after the deal was struck

MTN Group has announced that the buyer of their Afghanistan unit is M1 New Ventures, with deal being valued at $35 million.

MTN announced it would be exiting the Middle East back in 2020, saying that the company would focus instead on its core markets in Africa. Since then, the operator group has gradually withdrawn from its holdings in the region, including Syria and Yemen last year.

Selling its Afghanistan business proved more difficult, with potential buyers wary of becoming involved in a country currently undergoing major upheaval, including a new government led by the Taliban.

However, a deal was finally announced back in August, with the buyer left unnamed.

That the buyer should now be revealed to be M1 Group should not come as much of a surprise. Historically, M1 has shown little reticence for working in country’s dominated by authoritarian regimes; indeed, M1 recently agreed to buy Telenor’s beleaguered Myanmar unit, which was under major pressure to impose service blackouts by the military junta.

For MTN, the sale of its Afghanistan unit will be the penultimate step its Middle Eastern exodus, with the Group still holding a 49% stake in the Iranian operator, Irancell.

After some speculation as to the unit’s future, earlier this year MTN Group CEO Ralph Mupita described Irancell as the company’s most stable investment in the Middle East, saying the company would not be looking to divest of its stake.

Whether this will remain Mupita’s stance on the matter for long, however, remains to be seen. Ongoing protests in Iran, trigged by the killing of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini for wearing an ‘improper’ hijab back in September, have greatly destabilised the country and its economy.

With the government already responding to these protests by demanding internet blackout and widespread restrictions on social media, MTN’s future with Irancell could soon be up for debate once more.

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 MTN finally offloads Afghan unit to M1 first appeared on Total Telecom.

NEWS

In a town hall meeting this morning, SK Telecom (SKT)’s CEO, Ryu Young-sang told employees that AI will be integral to the company’s growth, targeting a market capitalisation of roughly $28.46 billion by 2026

In the telecoms industry’s never-ending quest for improved efficiency and new revenue streams, AI capabilities and integration are quickly emerging as major catalysts for telco transformation.

For SKT, however, it appears that AI is becoming more than just a useful tool in the telco’s arsenal, but rather the mainstay of their business strategy.

This morning, celebrating the one-year anniversary of having taken up the mantle of CEO, SKT’s Ryu Young-sang told employees of his desire to turn the company into a world-leader in AI, going far beyond the scope of a traditional telco.

“We will leap into SKT’s version of a distinguished AI company that combines AI with connective technologies based on our main business of telecommunications,” said Ryu.

Ryu said that the company would seek out new investment and M&A opportunities in the AI space, aiming build on their existing AI capabilities to launch new products and services to consumers and enterprises. In the short term, this includes the launch of an AI-incorporated media player to manage SKT’s various TV and IP-based media assets, as well as enhancing the company’s mobile virtual assistant, A., which was launched earlier this year.

According to Ryu, this new focus would help the company achieve a market capitalisation of roughly $28.46 billion by 2026, almost four times that of its existing market cap of around $8.1 billion.

It should be noted, however, that AI is not the only area in which SKT is doubling its efforts, as the company continues to evolve beyond the bounds of a traditional telco.

Eschewing the partnership-based strategy adopted by most telcos when it comes to consumer content, SKT has instead been pushing for more direct control over its content offerings. In recent months, the company has increased investments in content creation, investing directly into numerous production studios, as well as further developing its metaverse platform, Ifland, even signing a deal with Deutsche Telekom to offer it in Germany.

In fact, just a few weeks ago, SKT announced a new agreement with e& (formerly Etisalat), aiming for SKT to develop metaverse service that directly fits the need of e&’s Middle Eastern customers.

As traditional telco revenues continue to dry up around the world, SKT – and, indeed, the company’s South Korean rivals, LG U+ and KT – are heavily investing in new revue streams, especially products that can be exported to international markets.

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 SK Telecom seeks AI supremacy for future growth first appeared on Total Telecom.

Three UK appears to have shunned Ofcom’s recent pleas for broadband ISPs and mobile operators to consider whether “large price rises can be justified at time of exceptional financial hardship” (here). Instead, the operator has adopted the same CPI (inflation) linked policy of huge hikes on their Pay Monthly plans as other operators. First, a […]

Alternative UK broadband ISP Zzoomm has announced that they’re extending their existing build of a new gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network in the West Yorkshire (England) town of Hemsworth to include the neighbouring mining village of Kinsley. The build in Kinsley, which comes only days after Quickline announced that their alternative fibre-fed fixed wireless “ultrafast broadband” […]

The UK Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA) has today announced the shortlist of potential winners for the “Internet Hero” category of their 2022 internet industry awards event, which is due to take place on the 24th November 2022 at the Landmark Hotel in London. Last year’s event saw Helen Milner (OBE) of the Good Things […]

Interview

We spoke to Guillaume Boudin, CEO of Sofrecom, about the changing telecoms ecosystem and why unifying your team behind the company’s raison d’être is so important.

Can you tell us about Sofrecom and your role within the company?

Sofrecom is a consulting and engineering company focused principally on the telecoms market. We are accompany telcos in their business development and transformation, with a primary focus on Africa and Middle East.

Our main sites are in France, Tunisia, Morocco, and Dubai.

As a subsidiary of Orange Group, we are working, of course, with all Orange countries around the globe and also with other telcos, as long as they are not directly competing with Orange.

As CEO of Sofrecom, in very fast moving markets, I must ensure that we continue to meet our customers’ expectations and that we anticipate changes in the digital sector with the proper skills and expertise, the proper offers and organisation, and by capitalizing on our different assets globally.

From your perspective, how do telcos need to evolve to remain competitive in the modern connectivity ecosystem?

I will mention five key evolutions for telcos from which they can differentiate in very competitive environments. These five evolutions are: becoming more Green, more Agile , more Intelligent, more Innovative, and more Secure.

More Green: This is a key trend in all sectors. Green services and green providers will be more and more requested by customers, both for consumer and B2B markets. With the drastic increase of energy costs, programs to reduce networks’ energy consumption have already been set up everywhere.
More Agile: There should be more agility for network management thanks to network virtualisation and softwarisation, more agility for new services development through close interactions with customers, and more agility within the teams and organisations in very fast moving markets.
More Intelligent: With the roll-out of data ad AI use cases, we can improve customer experience, automate parts of operational activities, and help prevent negative network events, like outages and frauds.
More Innovative: Innovation being not only on technology and new services, but also on new business models in our rich and complex ecosytems.
More Secure: With more resilient infrastructures for networks and  data centres, and with stronger cyberdefense capabilities.

As Sofrecom, what are the key areas your company is assisting telcos with?

Sofrecom, as a consulting and engineering company focused principally on the telecom sector, can intervene on most of the above points. This includes helping telcos to define and roll-out action plans to reduce energy costs and their carbon footprint; implement agile and digital  models across organisations; design and migrate to new networks or IT infrastructures; identify and deploy data and AI use cases to improve customer experience or internal operational efficiency; analyse market evolutions to build new business models and launch new offers; and improve network coverage, quality of service, resiliency, and security.

You spoke on the Company Culture panel at Total Telecom Congress looking at a variety of subjects such as cultural transformation, diversity and inclusion, and building a successful working culture. What do you consider the key elements telcos must consider when trying to improve their company culture?

To improve company culture, we need first to be clear on the basis: what is the company’s raison d’être and the mission of the different teams?

We need to involve the teams in common goals where everyone is encouraged to take part. We need to ensure our staff continue to develop and at the same time attract new talent. We need to be clear on the values we want to promote and lead by exemple.

In very fast changing markets and complex environments, three values are very important for telcos but also for many other companies:

Team spirit, with the capacity to work transversally
Agility , with the capacity to adapt quickly
Diversity, with the capacity to have multiple different profiles and get the best from the teams

Regarding inclusion and going beyond company culture, I would even say that digital inclusion is part of a telco’s mission when providing communication services, internet access and mobile payment services.

For their incredible work on improving gender equality in thet telecoms sector, Sofrecom Tunisie was awarded the People & Culture Award at this year’s World Communication Awards.

To learn more about how your company can take part in the World Communication Awards 2023, celebrating 25 years of excellence in the telecoms industry, please contact Total Telecom MD Rob Chambers at rob.chambers@totaltele.com. 

The post Remaining competitive in an evolving telco landscape first appeared on Total Telecom.