Over the past week we’ve seen a feeding frenzy of UK news reports (here, here, here, here and here) that warn consumers against “turning off Wi-Fi at night” to save electricity, which is usually followed by claims that doing so could hamper the speed and stability of your broadband ISP connection. But this is not […]

STARTUP STORIES

We’ve met Net AI before but things have moved on for this startup spun out of the University of Edinburgh, including attending MWC earlier this year.

Tell us about your start up
Net AI is a network intelligence company whose mission is to develop a market-leading deep traffic analytics platform that can drastically reduce CAPEX/OPEX/TCO for mobile operators and enable new high-margin revenue streams.
Our customers are mobile network operators, telco OEMs, and professional services companies with a global presence.

What is your USP?
Net AI has developed a family of cloud-native software solutions that build on years of research at the intersection of mobile networking and artificial intelligence conducted at one of Europe’s leading computer science research centres, the School of Informatics at the University of Edinburgh.

Our key differentiator is a combination of a patent-pending stream decomposition and analytics framework and an AI-based prediction engine, which facilitates real-time and predictive insights into per-service network usage on a real-time basis, fuelling the automation of network and compute resource management. Our products are fully automated, scalable, encryption-agnostic, and deployable with emerging Open RAN and 5G architectures.

What is your relationship with the telecom sector?
We are engaging with 1) mobile network operators who seek to meet their customers’ demand in a cost-effective way using intelligent solutions; 2) cloud computing companies that recognise their customers face new challenges that can be tackled with AI solutions, but AI may not be their core business; and 3) system integrators that seek to understand what services are relevant where, how to automate operations, and how to mitigate high customer churn.

How have you got to your current stage of development?
We raised £750,000 pre-seed investment in October 2021, led by Techstart Ventures, with Nauta Capital, Creator Fund, Old College Capital, and Edinburgh Technology Fund also participating. We also received support through grants from Innovate UK and Scottish Enterprise, and we were part of the AI Post-covid Accelerator funded by the Scottish Funding Council and hosted by the Bayes Centre.

Why did you establish the business?
As networks are increasingly built-in software, we believe real-time and predictive traffic analytics can revolutionise the management and monetisation of mobile networks. In addition, AI-driven traffic insights can drastically improve energy efficiency of mobile infrastructure, which already contributes an important fraction of the global carbon emissions. Not least, we believe everyone should have equal job and education opportunities and affordable mobile connectivity can enable this, which is another reason for establishing our business.

I am an engineer by training and have been a faculty member at the University of Edinburgh for the past 9 years, where I have pioneered the use of deep learning for tackling challenging problems in the mobile networking space. This line of research can bring important commercial and societal benefits, and that’s why I decided to spin-out Net AI.

Who inspired you?
In similar measures: Nikola Tesla (pioneer of the alternating current electrical system and wireless communications), Robert Moog (inventor of the synthesiser), and Douglas Adams (author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy)

What does the future hold for your business?
We plan to take a share of the global network automation market, which is expected to exceed $28bn by 2028.

COMPANY CV
HEADQUARTERS: Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 8
LAST FUNDING TYPE: pre-seed
URL: https://netai.tech
FOUNDERS:
Paul Patras
Mark Chapman
Marco Fiore

Net AI will be in the Startup Village at Total Telecom Congress in London on the 1-2 November 2022. Meet them there by requesting your ticket

The post Startup Stories: The hitchhiker’s guide to mobile network management first appeared on Total Telecom.

PRESS RELEASE

EdgeConneX has announced the formation of a joint venture with Aboitiz InfraCapital (AIC), the infrastructure arm of the Aboitiz Group, one of the Philippines’ leading conglomerates, to address considerable and rising data usage in the Philippines. The joint venture will leverage Aboitiz’ century-long local market expertise and its groupwide land and power assets with EdgeConneX’ global data centre platform, build, and operational capabilities.

The exclusive partnership focuses on building a network of hyperscale data centres across the Philippines. The first two data centres focus on the Manila metro area, with a connectivity-focused facility adjacent to the local internet exchange (IX) and a secondary hyperscale campus facility also located in the greater Manila area. The partnership will look to tap AIC’s land bank of 1,400 hectares of prime industrial real estate and AboitizPower’s diversified renewable energy capacity, which the company aims to triple by 2030.

“There is great excitement about the partnership and the incredible market opportunity the partnership enables,” commented Cosette V. Canilao, Aboitiz InfraCapital President and CEO. “The Philippines is underserved and seeing high domestic data demand growth relative to Southeast Asia. Our market size, favorable demographics, and proliferation of subsea cables make the Philippines an ideal destination for data centre investments. We also have access to prime real estate in both city centres, such as Manila, as well as emerging economic hubs like Batangas. We’re thrilled to have a premier global data centre partner in EdgeConneX.”

“In AIC, we have the ideal partner in the Philippines,” said Randy Brouckman, CEO of EdgeConneX. “They possess the local assets and expertise required to build out critical digital infrastructure that can best support our customers across the entire country. We look forward to investing in the digital economy of the Philippines and meeting our customers’ needs throughout the region. They complement our capabilities required to successfully capture this market opportunity.”

“Asia is a major focus area of investment and growth for EQT and EdgeConneX,” stated Jan Vesely, Partner at EQT Partners. “The data usage in Asia is expected to grow exponentially over the coming years, meaning that the underlying digital infrastructure must scale-up to meet increasing demand, thus creating compelling opportunities for investments. Whether through M&A or joint ventures such as this one with Aboitiz, we look to continue steadily building out the EdgeConneX global platform in Asia in collaboration with leading local partners.”

“The Philippines has consistently flown under the radar until just the last few years,” stated Jabez Tan, Head of Research, Structure Research. “The conditions are ripe for colocation providers to jump in and win business. In the last 12-18 months, data centre operators, real estate developers, and investors have circled the market in anticipation of the expected demand. And the underdeveloped competitive landscape leaves the door open for tremendous opportunities and long-term growth potential.”

Interested in this story? You might enjoy the Playing the data game sessions at Total Telecom Congress – Find out more here

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The post Philippines is ripe for data centre investments first appeared on Total Telecom.

PRESS RELEASE

Acromove, provider of the world’s first cloud computing solution designed specifically for the Edge, announced that George Koronias, one of Europe’s most successful leaders in the telecommunications and high technology sectors, has joined Acromove’s board of directors (BoD).

Recognizing that the future is wireless, George was a pioneer in Greece laying the foundation for mobile telephony. George was CEO of Vodafone Greece from 1992 until 2008, from its founding stages to its IPO, later serving as the company’s Chairman of the Board. He is a recognized authority on high-growth companies in emerging markets. An electronic engineer by training with postgraduate studies in Aerospace systems, he has held leadership positions in aerospace, defense, and information technology. In the past, he co-founded Meazon where he also served as the company’s executive chairman. Currently, he serves as chairman of the board at Excelon Financial Services and until recently a partner and chairman of the board at Inaccess UK.

“We are incredibly honored and excited to welcome George Koronias to Acromove as a board member and investor,” said Artemios Achillopoulos, Founder & CEO of Acromove. “His experience, perspective and in-depth knowledge of the telecommunications market will be a huge asset as we continue our efforts to ignite the Edge revolution.”

“Acromove has a strong vision and plans for the future of Edge computing. I am thrilled to join the company as a board member and help to guide it to the next level,” said George Koronias.

About Acromove

Today there is an explosion of data in every business that is being amplified by IoT sensors everywhere and that requires advanced applications driven by AI/ML to provide results in real time using 5G networks. The current centralized cloud IT infrastructure cannot handle these problems giving rise to what is called Edge computing. Until now Edge computing has involved modifying existing centralized data center solutions, but this has proven to be inadequate – too expensive and too cumbersome to deploy. Acromove is architecting, building, and deploying a new generation of Edge computing solutions that were purpose built from the ground up for the Edge problems. This enables Acromove to deliver new levels of performance at a much lower price. Acromove is providing these novel solutions in the same business model as the cloud – the customer does not have to plan, own, manage or maintain any of the technology. Customers can rent as much or as little Edge computing as they need at any time. Whether it is a public telecommunications carrier, a retail store chain, a factory moving to Industry 4.0 or a smart city architect, Acromove has a solution for any Edge Cloud need. Acromove was founded by Evangelos Achillopoulos and Artemios Achillopoulos in 2014 in Athens, Greece. The company relocated its headquarters to the United States in 2017 and maintains its engineering center in Athens. For more information, visit www.acromove.com.

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The post George Koronias joins Acromove’s board of directors first appeared on Total Telecom.

Press release

GSMA has released its 2022 Mobile Economy Report for Europe.

Mobile technologies and services contributed Eur757 billion to European GDP in 2021, but Europe’s ambitious Digital Decade goals remain threatened by slower 5G rollout compared to competitor markets, a new report by the GSMA revealed today.

The 2022 Mobile Economy Report Europe shows that at the end of June 2022, 108 operators in 34 markets across Europe had launched commercial 5G services, with consumer take-up continuing to grow steadily, now reaching 6% of the mobile customer base. Norway leads in adoption of the technology, with 16% now using 5G, but positive momentum is also evident in Switzerland (14%), Finland (13%), the UK (11%) and Germany (10%).

However, tough market conditions are leaving Europe trailing its global peers. The report predicts that by 2025, the average adoption of 5G across Europe will hit 44%, with the UK and Germany expected to have the highest 5G adoption rates in Europe at 61% and 59% respectively. However, that rapid growth is outpaced by other world economies, with South Korea expected to hit 73% in the same time period, whilst Japan and the US are likely to achieve 68% adoption.

The pace of 5G coverage expansion across Europe will be a key factor in the transition from 4G to 5G, an important step towards the achievement of Europe’s Digital Decade goals. Although 5G network coverage in Europe will rise to 70% in 2025 (from 47% in 2021), nearly a third of the population will remain without 5G coverage. This compares to 2% or less in South Korea and the US.

Meeting Digital Decade Goals

In 2021, the European Commission (EC) set out its vision for Europe’s digital transformation by 2030 in the Digital Decade framework. The strategy promised to deliver tangible benefits for EU economies through the development of digital skills, digital transformation of business, sustainable digital infrastructures and the digitalisation of public services.

As economies digitalise, the lynchpin to ensuring success is the acceleration of 5G in Europe for traditional industry and manufacturing to remain competitive. To meet the EC’s 2030 goals, it is vital for policymakers to create the right conditions for private infrastructure investment, network modernisation and digital innovation.

Daniel Pataki, GSMA Vice President for Policy & Regulation, and Head of Europe, said: “Europe is adopting 5G faster than ever before, but greater focus on creating the right market conditions for infrastructure investment is needed to keep pace with other world markets. This should include the implementation of the principle of fair contribution to network costs”.

Industry Impact

The report also examines how European operators are progressing with the rollout of stand-alone (SA) 5G networks, noting that 5G SA services in Europe are now available in Finland, Germany and Italy. Further deployments are expected in the next few years. The added functionality enabled by 5G SA is key to delivering on the 5G promise of fully supporting advanced 5G use cases.

European operators are also at the forefront of cutting-edge, energy-efficient technologies and the use of renewables, with many already reaching 100% renewable electricity use across their footprints, powering their network infrastructure, data centres and other sites.

The post GSMA report demonstrates policy action is needed for EU to achieve digital decade goals first appeared on Total Telecom.

Network operator Upp has announced that they’ve chosen Finnish telecoms firm Nokia to be the delivery partner for a huge chunk (c. 400,000 premises) of their project, which is working to rollout a new gigabit-capable full fibre broadband ISP network across the East of England. Upp – supported by investment from LetterOne – is investing […]

News

Iliad has signed a deal with Fastweb which will give the former access to its FTTH network on a wholesale basis.

Iliad, owned by French entrepreneur Xavier Niel, first entered the Italian fixed-broadband market in January this year. The group has already signed similar wholesale-access deals with FiberCop and Open Fiber. With the combination of these agreements iliad is targeting full coverage of 10 million houses in Italy by the start of 2023.

Fastweb celebrated the addition of another customer to its wholesale access portfolio, which it deems to be one of its fastest growing markets. By 2025, Fastweb estimates that its wholesale fibre network will cover over 14.5 million Italian homes.

Commenting on the announcement, Alberto Calcagno, CEO of Fastweb said: “With this agreement Fastweb strengthens its strategy of presence in the wholesale market of ultra-broadband connectivity. In addition to providing ultra-broadband services to families and businesses, we make our infrastructure of excellence available to other operators to accelerate the spread of ultra-broadband services in all areas of the country. We are proud that iliad, which recently launched its services in the fixed line segment, has decided to rely on our network and our technological know-how.”

Benedetto Levi, CEO of iliad added: “Our goal is to offer our users the best fiber connectivity service in ever larger areas of the country. The agreement with Fastweb is an important step in this direction, and we can only be very satisfied.”

 

The post Iliad and Fastweb sign wholesale FTTH agreement first appeared on Total Telecom.

Alternative network builder Netomnia – supported by broadband ISP YouFibre – has today announced that their gigabit speed Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP / XGS-PON) network has now covered a total of 265,000 premises (up from 210k in August) and become the “first alt-net with presence in all four countries in the United Kingdom.” The announcement largely reflects […]

Ofcom’s autumn 2022 report into fixed broadband and mobile coverage has found that “full fibre” (FTTP) now reaches 37% of the UK, while 20.2 million homes (68%) are within reach of a gigabit-capable network and 48-64% of premises can now get outdoor 5G coverage by at least one operator. The regulator’s latest report is based […]

NEWS

Investigation by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has found the proposed merger between California-based satellite operator Viasat and UK based Inmarsat would remove key competitor from the aviation market and may result in higher priced and lower quality on-board wi-fi for consumers.

The CMA started their investigation into the deal back in August, as reported by Total Telecom, after the companies suggesting their complementary assets that would be used to create a “high-capacity hybrid space and terrestrial network”.

The two companies agreed to merge in a $7.3 billion deal announced in November 2021, at a time when both companies were competing aggressively for new business opportunities, against each other and against emerging players like Starlink, OneWeb, and Telesat. One of the most competitive areas for Viasat and Inmarsat is the supply of onboard wi-fi for airline passengers – an area expected to see considerable growth in the near future. A recent study published by Global Industry Analysts Inc., (GIA) predicted the in-flight wi-fi market could be worth US$5.9 Billion by the 2026, up from an estimated US$3.8 Billion in 2022.

The CMA’s investigation found it is difficult for airlines to switch providers once they have installed a connectivity solution, and therefore the merged entity could effectively lock-out other potential competitors. The resulting loss of competition could ultimately affect cost, quality and availability of services for airline passengers.

Colin Raftery, CMA Senior Director, said “Ultimately, airlines could be faced with a worse deal because of this merger, which could have knock-on effects for UK consumers as in-flight connectivity becomes more widespread.”

Rajeev Suri, chief executive of Inmarsat argued that there is no lack of competition in the sector, and certainly it is a target market for the likes of Starlink, OneWeb and Telesat, commenting “Strong players are already offering in-flight connectivity and the new low-earth orbit players . . . are aggressively and successfully targeting aviation.”

The firms now have 5 working days to submit proposals to address the CMA’s competition concerns.

The post Sky high – CMA damning verdict on Viasat – Inmarsat merger first appeared on Total Telecom.