Industry News

The European Commission wants the whole bloc to harmonise around a single device interface and has decided it should be USB-C. While it would undoubtedly be handy not have to keep multiple types of charger leads, it’s not obvious why the situation is any of the EC’s business. “Years of working with industry on a

Rumours that video streaming provider DAZN will acquire BT Sport are gathering pace, with the latest reports claiming an agreement could come in a matter of weeks. DAZN’s name has been in the frame since the UK incumbent announced that it was seeking a buyer for its sports business back in April and there have

US ‘cell-tower-in-space’ company Lynk offers a different take on satellite connectivity and has now gone commercial. Lynk uses LEO satellites, just like Starlink and OneWeb, but the difference is that it establishes a direct connection straight to devices, as opposed to using a terrestrial hub. It does this through some proprietary technology that makes the

Gigabit speed broadband is now available to just over half of UK and homes and businesses, according to new figures shared by the government on Tuesday. More than 15 million properties, or 50.2%, can access a broadband connection capable of download speeds of 1 Gbps, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) announced,

The FP5 is surprisingly one better than the FP4, which in this case means greater power efficiency and new, built-in security. When Nokia unveiled the FP4 platform four years ago it did so amid great fanfare, positioning its in-house silicon as a major advantage over its rivals. In the intervening time Nokia has made some

The Telecoms.com Podcast: 6G, OpenRAN and big tech – Telecoms.com https://telecoms.com/wp-content/themes/telecoms.com/assets/images/dummy/tcoms-logo.png The Telecoms.com Podcast: 6G, OpenRAN and big tech No guest this week which just means more stream-of-consciousness dribble from the regulars. They start by discussing Huawei’s decision to publish a book on 6G and what the underlying message may be. They move on to

Telecoms.com periodically invites expert third parties to share their views on the industry’s most pressing issues. In this piece Martin Taylor, Deputy CEO at Content Guru, explores best practice in the use of artificial intelligence in the contact centre environment. Contact centre technology has been transformed by an accelerating focus on innovation, with (artificial intelligence)

Vodafone Spain is cutting around 12% of its workforce, shedding staff that do not fit with its digital transformation push. The telco announced that it is beginning a process that will see it shed up to 515 jobs. Its statement is worded in such a way as to imply that the move is linked to

The UK, US and Australia have formed a new defence pact apparently designed to counter China in the Asia Pacific region. It’s called AUKUS to incorporate abbreviations of the three country names in a vaguely pronounceable way. The initial focus of it is to help the Aussies to build a nuclear-powered submarine fleet, but it

Liberty Latin America has agreed to acquire America Movil’s operations in Panama for US$200 million, boosting its existing presence in the country. The deal was brokered via Cable & Wireless Panama, part of the Liberty Latin America group. It will provide the telco with improved mobile coverage in a market which it describes as an

Indosat Ooredoo and H3i are merging to form an Indonesian mega-operator valued at $6 billion. Parent companies Ooredoo Group and CK Hutchison Holdings say their respective businesses are ‘highly complementary’, which stands to reason as they’re both Indonesian operators. Inevitably they think its great news for shareholders, punters and the country. They seem to think

Full fibre will reach close to 200 million premises across core European markets in the next five years, according to new figures shared by the FTTH Council Europe this week. Fibre-to-the-home or building (FTTH/B) will pass 197 million premises in the EU27+UK by 2026, the firm predicts, using data from IDATE. That’s a hefty increase

Apple and Google forced to delete Russian opposition app ahead of election – Telecoms.com https://telecoms.com/wp-content/themes/telecoms.com/assets/images/dummy/tcoms-logo.png An app created by Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny has been removed from the Apple and Google apps stores after they were threatened by the government. While there seems to be little public comment on the matter from either of

BT has switched on the first of its new generation of street hubs in London, which essentially offer free connectivity in exchange for advertising. The first Street Hub 2.0 unit has gone live on Notting Hill Gate, in the London Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It’s the first of a planned 300 such hubs scheduled

CityFibre gets £825 million more investment – Telecoms.com https://telecoms.com/wp-content/themes/telecoms.com/assets/images/dummy/tcoms-logo.png Disruptive UK fibre player CityFibre has managed to raise another massive chunk of change in its bid to take on the incumbents. Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala and investment fund Interogo are between them chucking £825 million into the pot. Furthermore, perhaps on the back

India’s beleaguered operators are doubtless celebrating after the government approved a relief package that will essentially reduce their outgoings. The cabinet on Wednesday approved what it described as a number of structural and process reforms designed to protect growth and competition in the telecoms sector, as well as serving consumer interests and boosting employment. Put

Google lays some cable in Cornwall – Telecoms.com https://telecoms.com/wp-content/themes/telecoms.com/assets/images/dummy/tcoms-logo.png US internet giant Google has finished laying an undersea cable that runs from New York to Bude in Cornwall and Bilbao, Spain. The big moment was announced in a Google Cloud blog that features a somewhat redundant map of the North Atlantic with lines drawn from

Freedom Fibre, one of the new kids on the block in the UK full fibre market, has secured its second major equity injection to help it connect tens of thousands of homes over the coming year. The company, which began operations as recently as March this year, said the new capital injection will enable it

A report by the Wall Street Journal claims social media giant Facebook has a special programme that shields millions of VIP users from the company’s normal enforcement process. The WSJ seems to have got hold of a bunch of Facebook internal documents, some of which yielded this scoop. The report claims a programme known as

Telecoms.com periodically invites expert third parties to share their views on the industry’s most pressing issues. In this piece Gavin Hayhurst, Head of Product Marketing at TEOCO, discusses the challenges operators face when designing new 5G networks and how it is changing how the industry thinks about RAN planning. Network engineers around the world can agree

In the long-running case over Apple’s right to prevent iOS apps circumventing its payment system a judge has ruled the company is not a monopoly in this context, just. As ever with legal findings it’s all very complicated and arcane, but The Verge has done a good job of sifting through the legalese mess. Essentially

Pat Gelsinger, CEO of US chip giant Intel, sees massive growth in the automotive chip market and wants to invest heavily in Europe to meet it. The pronouncement came in a keynote Gelsinger delivered at the IAA Mobility trade show in Germany. His headline datapoint was a forecast that a fifth of the total bill

AT&T has struck a deal to use OneWeb satellite connectivity to serve business customers in remote locations. The announcement serves as a big vote of confidence for the UK-based satellite provider, which is currently working hard to launch satellites and build coverage, having been bailed out of bankruptcy less than a year ago. It is

UK mobile network operator Three has decided to abandon one of its major selling points by reintroducing charges for roaming. EE was the first UK MNO to seize the excuse offered by the completion of Brexit for charging its customers to use their data abroad. While we were still part of the EU charging a

Mobile operators need access to street furniture to roll out 5G networks and the UK government is parting with a small amount of cash to make life easier for them. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) on Thursday shared details of a £4 million project designed to increase usage of lamp posts,

Internet giant Facebook has teamed up with Ray-Ban to launch a pair of shades that not only hide your eyes but enable you to surreptitiously record video. Clumsily named Ray-Ban Stories, these smart glasses have a pair of 5MP cameras that, presumably, are there to help people tell ‘stories’. “You can easily record the world

American MNO US Cellular will roll out 5G standalone technology over the coming year, having selected vendor partner Nokia to provide the equipment and related services. But while the US’s (distant) fourth mobile network operator is pushing on with the deployment of its 5G core, questions remain over its future as a standalone company. Nokia

Almost a quarter of UK households now have access to full fibre broadband and Ofcom is pretty excited about that. The UK telecoms regulator’s latest ‘Connected Nations’ update puts full fibre coverage at 24%, with 6.9 million homes passed, as of May 2021. That’s an increase of three percentage points and 1 million homes since

Unperturbed by its questionable track record in the device market, Amazon has decided to launch an own-brand TV. Amazon likes to use the word ‘fire’ for its most risky hardware bets, famously stumbling in the smartphone market with the over-priced, under-featured paperweight back in 2014. There were also Fire branded tablets and a Fire set-top

Vodafone Idea remains touchingly optimistic that the Indian government will come through with a telecoms reform package to keep its business afloat. Himanshu Kapania, Chairman of the troubled Indian mobile operator, declared himself to be “hopeful” of government support in a letter to shareholders published this week. “Your Company believes the government recognizes the criticality