Interview

We spoke to Three UK’s Core Network Director, Hrvoje Jerkovic, about the makings of a modern telco and the impact of disruptive new technologies in the telecoms industry

Can you tell us about your role at Three UK?

Currently I am working as Core Network Director in Three UK. Within my role I work with my team on a design, testing and delivery of all core network and services projects and deliverables.

This is an engaging and challenging role yet gives me the opportunity to bring innovative products to our users and customers. What can be more inspiring than seeing your project go live and be used.  Especially, when the team of experts have knowledge and experience to create and deliver planned objectives.

My team is driven by innovation and by providing inclusive environment. Having access to opportunities and resources motivates them to deliver our goals.

What does it mean to be a modern telco according to Three UK? 

It means that we are providing the best available service for each of our customers, which drives us to be as innovative as we possibly can. Whether this is pure connectivity or any services on top of it, that’s what a modern telco is. But to achieve this level, it is crucial to deploy modern, state of the art and reliable technologies. At Three UK we have a fully virtualised and geographically distributed core n with all the services included. This approach provides numerous benefits including easy to scale upgrades, moving traffic closer to the customer to reduce latency and higher levels of redundancy. At the centre of modern telecoms is the user’s future needs, which should be anticipated and enabled in advance.

As the Core Network Director for Three UK what is the most prominent challenge you face?

There are several technological disruptors. Migration to the pure cloud with cloud-native functions is going to be challenging. Especially for legacy functions, which are still and will be needed for providing services. Operating that cloud with all the upgrades and changes in the network will require more and more automation, which still needs a lot of control. And then we come to AI. It is inevitable that AI will be a key component of each technology in the near (should I say today) future. It will be, for sure, a differentiator not only to control and reduce operating costs but also to provide competitive advantage for the operators that aim to be the leaders in their markets.

You recently took part on a panel session at Total Telecom Congress on the topic of XaaS and exploring cloud-based products and services. To your mind, what is the key opportunity for telcos to tap into the XaaS?

From a technology point of view there is huge debate if off prem hyperscale based public cloud is the right way to go. There are many pros and cons. We must consider the need to evaluate it on a function-by-function model. Certain functions require extremely low latency and migrating them from on prem to off prem solutions might have an impact. On the other hand, cloud infra is hyperscaler’s core business and it will be difficult to build capabilities that are comparable with hyperscalers. Energy prices as a significant part of OPEX should be addressed as well, and in today’s business it cannot be excluded. Chipset shortage, hardware delivery times should also be looked at as a significant impact. And we shouldn’t forget the regulatory conditions which need to be accomplished before any migration happens.

What were you most excited to discuss at Total Telecom Congress?

Seeing some interesting deployment experiences was great. But seeing plans and roadmaps in the telco industry, from both operators, and vendors even more so. After the covid period, meeting in person, discussing and sharing thoughts, insights and trends was a real delight.

The post AI, Automation, and building a modern core network first appeared on Total Telecom.

The latest Q2 FY23 results to September 2022 have today been released by the BT Group, which saw the coverage of Openreach’s Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP network reach 8.76 million premises (up by 805k in the quarter vs 763k last quarter). Meanwhile, EE’s 5G customers topped 8.157 million (up from 7.74m). Easily the biggest news […]

Interview

Antonella Faniuolo, Head of Network Planning, Demand, Delivery and Transformation at Vodafone shares her insights into Vodafone’s transformation story from Telco to TechCo.

Can you tell us about your role at Vodafone?  

I lead Vodafone’s Network Planning, Demand, Delivery & Transformation team at a European level. We are responsible for translating Vodafone’s overall network strategy into actionable market plans to meet our commercial ambition across 12 European markets. In short, we look at the big picture and make sure that can be delivered at network level. 

What does it mean to be a modern telco according to Vodafone?  

At Vodafone we are currently undergoing a transformation to diversify from our traditional position as purely a telco and transform into a Tech Comms company. At the heart of that strategy, we are bringing teams and markets together to create One Technology team to better enable us to leverage our geographical scale. We are also investing in technologies beyond what would be considered the norm for the telecoms industry. 

For Vodafone, a modern telco is one that retains the connectivity proposition at the core of the business but offers a range of products and services above and beyond while operating with the agility and borderless mindset of a technology company. The objective is to offer value to our customers beyond what we traditionally offer. 

As the Head of Network Planning, Demand, Delivery & Transformation for Europe. What is the main challenge you face right now?  

We are transitioning to a new way of working that is build once and deploy many. Digital transformation programmes like this do not happen overnight; telecoms operators are complex organisations. This programme will have huge benefits for the business, leveraging our scale across multiple European markets and removing duplication of effort. As well as organisational, this is a cultural transformation, which is challenging, but hugely rewarding, allowing us to fully leverage our international pool of talent. 

You joined a panel at Total Telecom Congress on Open RAN and the future of 5G. From your perspective, what key challenges still need to be addressed for telcos to make the most Open RAN? 

At Vodafone, we view OpenRAN as a catalyst for change. We are asking our team to think differently as to how you build and manage networks, but also addressing common challenges. And by building a network with interoperability embedded at the foundation, we are creating the opportunity to work with new suppliers that may not be in the traditional telecoms ecosystem. These programmes are supported in parallel by two R&D labs opened over the last twelve months in Newbury and Malaga. 

The integration of these new companies, and adapting to new ways of working is incredibly challenging, but also perhaps the most exciting element of OpenRAN.  Bringing in new people, new ideas and more innovation can only be beneficial to the telecoms industry. 

Another significant challenge for OpenRAN is incentivising this nascent ecosystem. At Vodafone, we have made a commitment to transform 30% of mobile sites across Europe to OpenRAN technology by 2030. 

This is a significant commitment by Vodafone, and we look forward to seeing others in the industry make similar plans. The growth and maturity of the OpenRAN ecosystem will accelerate when there is incentive. A commitment of 30% of our European network provides a commercial target for OpenRAN companies to invest in themselves and to attract external investment in their operations.  

If others in the industry can provide the same incentive, the OpenRAN industry will go from strength to strength. 

Why do you attend events like Total Telecom Congress?  

After a few years of very limited in person events – I’m still really enjoying the opportunity to get out and meet old and new colleagues from across the industry. It really is the best way to get a sense of new developments in the sector.  

Total Telecom Congress took place in London this week. Next year’s edition will be moving to Amsterdam and will be held on 21st and 22nd November. Keep up to date with what’s happening via the event website.

The post How can Open RAN be a catalyst for change? first appeared on Total Telecom.

Press release

GBI diversifies North Route through Iraq, enhancing Smart Network to provide lower latency and support greater services

Global cloud, connectivity and content enabler Gulf Bridge International (GBI) has this week announced an update to the North Route of its subsea cable meshed Smart Network, improving route diversification and enhancing the resilience of internet connectivity to and from the region. 

The North Route, which now also connects the Gulf to Europe through Iraq, will leverage a wider range of terrestrial networks established by GBI and its partners. By circumventing the Arab peninsula completely, it shortens latency significantly – with latency between Europe and the Gulf data centres reduced by 40ms. Furthermore, adding diversification to existing North Route paths through Iran provides redundancy which means users remain connected in the case of outage. This is vital in ensuring the continuation of mission-critical operations.   

The enhancing of the North Route increases the overall resilience of GBI’s Smart Network. This also includes the South Route, which connects the Gulf to Europe via the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean.  

The move is a welcome development for telecommunications, cloud, gaming, and internet service providers (ISPs) in the Gulf region as data demands on data cables reach an all-time high with mission-critical applications require expanding bandwidth, and new low latency-dependent technologies such as 5G, IoT and AI move into the mainstream. It will also help the region prepare to meet the surge in internet traffic anticipated around the World Cup 2022 in Qatar which will kick-off in November.  

Commenting on the announcement, Brendan Press, CCO of GBI, said: “It’s an adage old as time: don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Companies must shift away from over-reliance on the same cable routes as that can produce bottlenecks and potential outages. They must work with providers that can provide diversification and, therefore, assurance that connectivity will always be available whatever the situation.   

“By diversifying our North Route so that it now also passes through Iraq, we are providing that assurance. When you consider that we also have our South Route that runs through Egypt, we can confidently say our Smart Network is playing a critical role in keeping the world connected and is helping to propel the region into a global connectivity hub.” 

To keep up to date with the latest developments from the global subsea cable market, join us in London for Submarine Networks EMEA 2023 on 31st May and 1st June.

The post Gulf Bridge International diversifies North Route through Iraq first appeared on Total Telecom.

INTERVIEW

We recently had the pleasure of catching up with Jubin Molai, LoRaWAN Ambassador Germany, LoRa Alliance & Product Manager IoT, UPLINK Network ahead of our upcoming event Connected Germany which is being held in Mainz on December 6-7 2022.

1. Can you introduce yourself and your role?

My name is Jubin and I am an enthusiast about a new connectivity standard which will be as ubiquitous in a few years as Bluethooth or WiFi is nowadays. It´s called LoRaWAN.

As the LoRaWAN Ambassador of Germany, my intention is to make LoRaWAN accessible for everyone or in fact “every thing” – since we are moving into the Internet of Things through LoRaWAN – in an easy and quick way. You can imagine that LoRaWAN is giving a voice to objects which otherwise won´t be heard. For example, a garbage can that tells you how full it is. Those objects or things will become online and form a new Internet, the Internet of Things or “IoT” in short.

2. What projects have the LoRa Alliance been working on within Germany?

The projects of the LoRa Alliance are actually the ones carried out by its members, but also non-members who use LoRaWAN as the “backbone-connectivity” in their IoT projects. Therefore, the LoRa Alliance and LoRaWAN are in a mutual relation.

LoRaWAN is the abbreviation of Long Range Wide Area Network and is a low power wireless network protocol that is supported by the LoRa Alliance which is an open, non-profit association of device makers, solution providers, system integrators and network operators, delivering interoperability needed to scale IoT across the globe.

There are many LoRaWAN projects already implemented in Germany; for instance within Smart City initiatives  like the monitoring of fill levels of garbage cans or containers or the monitoring of public parking lots. Also, enterprises are interested in IoT solutions such as asset tracking which is becoming highly cost-efficient through LoRaWAN.

Nevertheless, most LoRaWAN-projects in Germany are still in a Proof-of-Concept phase and literally waiting to move forward and to scale. One of the reasons why scalability of those projects wasn’t possible in the past is reliable, redundant and nationwide LoRaWAN coverage. Luckily, this problem has been solved today through the decentralization of LoRaWAN infrastructure.

3. What have been the biggest innovations within enterprise connectivity in the German market over the last 12 months?

Most probably, the biggest innovation and most disruptive way to provide enterprise connectivity, and LoRaWAN connectivity in particular, was the introduction of a blockchain which runs on a new consensus protocol with an innovative proof, called Proof-of-Coverage, and which is less energy hungry as compared to other consensus protocols or blockchains.

It´ s the Helium blockchain which injects decentralization into an industry currently controlled by monopolies. The result is that wireless network coverage via LoRaWAN becomes a commodity, fueled by competition, available anywhere in the world, at a fraction of current costs. Nowadays, Helium is not only the first decentralized wireless network of its kind but also the largest wireless network ever built.

4.What are you most looking forward to at Connected Germany?

I am looking forward to open discussions and inspirational talks with like minded people, because I think the name of the event should be the intention of every participant as well: Connecting Germany. In my view, for a connected Germany, we should cooperate on the infrastructure level of connectivity and can compete on the use case level. Therefore, enabling connectivity through decentralization seems to be an effective way to build telecommunication networks of the future, which we all can take part in.

You can hear from Jubin and the rest of our amazing speaker line-up at this year’s Connected Germany – follow the link to secure your place!

The post Making LoRaWAN accessible for “every thing” first appeared on Total Telecom.

Business ISP Commsworld has provided UK alternative network provider FullFibre Limited with a capacity boost for their FTTP broadband rollout in Derbyshire by deploying a “100GB” (we think they mean 100Gb) connection between the Derby Exchange and Telehouse North Two (data centre) in London. FullFibre Limited, which is being backed by investment from Basalt, is […]

London-focused broadband ISP CommunityFibre (CF), which has already covered 675,000 premises with their 3Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network (aiming for 2.2 million by the end of 2024), has launched an early ‘Black Friday’ sale that reduces their 200Mbps and 500Mbps (symmetric) plans to half-price for 12-months. New customers can expect to receive a free installation […]

The wholesale division of ISP BT (BT Wholesale), which sells broadband and other services to a large number of UK providers, has announced that they’re going to make EE’s connectivity available to enterprises and resellers on a direct, wholesale basis for the first time, through their mobile SIMs. Due to be officially launched in “early […]

NEWS

After the hiatus caused by the pandemic the excitement caused by the return to the full black-tie gala evening was palpable, with senior executives from across the globe gathering at the Grand Connaught Rooms to see the winners named for the 24th annual World Communication Awards.

Those present included not only this years’ winners, but also representatives who in recent years have been forced by the pandemic to accept their trophies virtually, including the CEO of Macquarie Telecom, David Tudehope, WCA CEO of the Year in 2020, who handed over the winners trophy in the category this year.

The awards presentation was hosted by celebrity broadcaster, Nina Hossain, whilst the fantastic Mach sax LED saxophonist provided the entertainment.

THE WINNERS

B2B Service of the Year: KT AI Call Centre
Best Digital Transformation Programme: Orange International Carriers – Digital transformation programme
Best Network Transformation Initiative: The Collaborative Blockchain Industry Solution for Data Services Inventory Matching & Automated Settlement from Deutsche Telekom Global Carrier, Vodafone, Colt Technology Services, PCCW Global
Best Operator in an Emerging Market: Converge ICT Solutions Inc.
Best Wholesale Operator: Deutsche Telekom Global Carrier
The Crisis Response Award: Kyivstar

Highly commended: PLDT and Smart’s Crisis Leadership in Super Typhoon Rai

Customer Experience Award: Colt Technology Services
Operator of the Year: KT, DIGICO

Highly commended: PLDT and Smart

The Startup of the Year: LabLabee
People & Culture Award: Sofrecom Tunisie
The 5G Implementation Award: KT’s Ubiquitous 5G

Highly commended: China Unicom Global and Ericsson’s 5G Implementation for Australian Mobile Network Operators

The Access Innovation Award: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., Fibre to the Room (FTTR)
The Beyond Connectivity Award: Singtel’s 5G enterprise initiatives in Singapore – powered by Ericsson
The Cloud Native Award: Jio Platforms Ltd. (JPL)

Highly commended: Ericsson and TPG

The Cyber Security Award: Nokia, NetGuard Cybersecurity Dome
The IoT Innovation Awards: Bridge Alliance, Singtel, Ericsson, APAC Multi-Domestic Connectivity Solution for Automotives
The Platform Award: Rakuten Symphony, Symworld
The Social Contribution Award: Digicel Haiti Foundation: Educating a nation so no one gets left behind

Highly commended: PLDT and Smart: Championing Safety and Wellness in the Digital World
Catel, imowi

The Sustainability Award: Vertical Bridge

Highly commended: Orange Polska S.A.

The Woman in Telecoms Award: Converge ICT Solutions Inc., Maria Grace Y. Uy
The CEO of the Year: Guillaume Boutin – Proximus Group

Next year will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the World Communication Awards. If you would like to find out how you can get involved, contact Rob Chambers

The post Telecoms outstanding companies and individuals gather in London for the 2022 World Communication Awards first appeared on Total Telecom.

The latest Q3 2022 results from broadband ISP and mobile giant VMO2 (Virgin Media and O2) has seen their fixed broadband base reach 5.63m customers (up by 19.1k in Q3 vs 16k in Q2), while their gigabit network coverage added 115,000 premises (3 million delivered via Project Lightning) and 5G is available in over 800 […]