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    Beware the seven deadliest customer experiences – Foundever

    Nick Booth
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    Beware the seven deadliest customer experiences – Foundever

    Repetition, ratings and rude robots

    You can tell a CEO who’s spent too much time ‘in the cloud’. They believe their own customer satisfaction surveys. Either that or they are deliberately gas-lighting us. To improve customer experience, Mobile Europe sought simple ‘people pleasing’ advice for telcos from people who really know the customer. In the first of an occasional series, Maria Harju, Foundever’s Chief Revenue Officer for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, describes The Seven Deadliest Customer Experiences and how mobile network operators can avoid them.

    Repetition.

    Repeating your story to multiple people is enough to make 57% of Europeans hang up. Yes, some problems demand escalation, but if you’re moving your customer across an omnichannel platform it’s omni stupid not to move the information from channel to channel too. A CX should systematically do that. This averts another massive frustration, disregard for the customer’s history. How can you pretend to care about the customer experience when you show you are demonstrably oblivious to it? All the information across all channels is captured and should be correctly stored and retrieved so that your agents can do their best jobs.

    Rate your experience.

    OK, we need performance feedback, but customers are suffering from survey overload. Every trip to the toilet now involves an invitation to rate the experience. There are better ways to learn how customers feel about service and how they perceive your brand. Speech and text analytics are instant, less obtrusive and more accurate.

    Chatnots.

    If you don’t acknowledge your chatbot’s limitations, you’re setting your brand up for a CX failure. If your customer knows it’s an automated system, they’ll treat it as such and adjust their expectations accordingly. But when the bot goes beyond its domain intelligence it must hand off to a live representative and pass on the information shared up to that point.

    Chats …. with delayed response. 
    Chat’s rationale is about immediacy and accuracy but long wait times and vague unfocused responses will demolish that advantage. Immediate contextual support can help a customer take action or make a decision. Avoid the temptation to set high chat concurrency targets for agents. The more conversations they handle the less likely they are to resolve complex issues or satisfy each customer. Use your best pre-scripted responses in early conversational stages so that agents have more time to find a resolution. Cross train your CX staff so that they can work across channels based on peaks in demand.

    Undervaluing CX

    If each interaction doesn’t meet expectations it will damage your brand. So stress its value in your proposition. A superior customer experience should be reflected in the price of a product or service. If you’re cheap very hard to hold on to customers, especially in the current economic environment. Here is the value of CX. Three in four consumers will walk after a single disappointing customer experience, yet 42% would pay more for an identical product or service if it were supported by a superior CX. Being in the latter camp starts with understanding who your customers are, their wants, needs and expectations.

    Treating vocal interaction like a necessary evil.

    Test yourself before you test their patience. Voice is about people not managing processes, so IVR should solve customers’ problems, not stress test their patience and short-term memory on the altar of your management processes, said Harju. Most consumers are frustrated by complicated menus then agitated by the agent that takes over. A happy resolution is an uphill battle. An IVR should minimise menu options, as part of the identification or authentication process so that more of the conversation is focused on the customer and their issue, and use it to coach the customer. Rather than playing a message saying the call is important, a message asking if a person has the reference number or other relevant information to hand is going to make everyone’s life easier.

    Network resilience is fundamental to Ukraine’s fight for survival

    Michelle Donegan
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    Network resilience is fundamental to Ukraine’s fight for survival

    Kyivstar’s CEO and CTO talk about the power of grit and operators pulling together

    In a small, quiet meeting room on the sidelines of Mobile World Congress with executives from Ukraine’s largest operator Kyivstar, the discussion was in stark contrast to what was going on at the show. While other European operators talked about fair-share politics and future immersive experiences, Kyivstar provided an update on how it has kept people safe and its network up and running after one year of war. 

    Oleksandr Komarov, Chief Executive of Kyivstar, acknowledged having a somewhat “alien” feeling here as the operator has “very different challenges and priorities” compared to the rest of the industry.

    In an interview with Mobile Europe, Komarov and Volodymyr Lutchenko, Chief Technology Officer at Kyivstar, shared how network resilience challenges have changed dramatically over the last year and how people have pulled together to preserve communications services. (Also see Telecoms in time of war)

    National roaming

    Cooperation among the country’s three operators – Kyivstar, Vodafone Ukraine, and Lifecell – has been “essential” for overall network resilience, and they have been “exchanging capacity and providing equipment to one another,” said Komarov.

    Indeed, one of the first and most important steps the operators took after Russia invaded a year ago was to implement national roaming, so that if network services are down on one network, users are automatically switched to another. National roaming is unusual and difficult, but the Ukrainian operators were able to launch it in about three weeks with support from the national regulator.

    The service is “working well to keep services going,” said Lutchenko. When the country suffered power blackouts in November last year, he said more than 2 million people per day used the national roaming service.

    When the war started, the government also issued additional frequencies free of charge to the operators to give them extra network capacity. Meanwhile, equipment suppliers and local businesses have also rallied to help keep the networks going.

    Komarov cited an example where Ericsson stepped up to support a “very big ambitious project to roll out a national core site in the western part of Ukraine … to mitigate the risks related to the potential loss” of other sites, he said. In peace time, such a project would take 12 to 18 months. But with everyone cooperating, he said they started the project at the start of 2022 and it was completed in early May, taking less than five months for a major deployment.

    Moving targets for resilience

    As the months of war have dragged on, the network resilience challenges have changed. In the first few months, Lutchenko said Kyivstar was engaged in “urgent activities” to keep the network going when the infrastructure was physically damaged by rockets, bombs, mines, and tanks, because the biggest problem is that it is often too dangerous to get to the sites to repair damages.

    “[The sites] could be in occupied territory or on the front line. The area could be under fire or the fields can be mined so that without supervision from the military, you cannot get there … That’s why your network should be very reliable and still work with multiple damages like ours,” said Lutchenko.

    Later in the summer, the resiliency work shifted to “stabilisation” projects. By September, Kyivstar’s network performance KPIs remarkably were “almost on a pre-war level.” Apart from occupied areas where Kyivstar had no access to sites, “the network was really good,” he said. 

    Attacks on energy pose new threats

    The communications resiliency landscape changed in October when Russia started attacking the country’s energy infrastructure. Lutchenko said the challenge is now “really huge” and the “new reality.” In late October, about 20% of Kyivstar’s base stations were affected by power outages. Lutchenko said the worst day was November 24, 2022, when 65% of Kyivstar’s network was without electricity.

    In response, Kyivstar has strengthened energy resilience by adding longer-life backup batteries and diesel-powered generators.

    Here again, cooperation has been vital. In Kyivstar has “crowd-sourced” access to power generators from local businesses, such as a petrol station located near one of the operator’s cell sites. “We asked businesses and invited people to help us with keeping the network up and running,” said Lutchenko, and now more than 600 sites are connected to diesel generators.

    But this is one area where Komarov feels help from the government has been “limited”. Of Kyivstar’s 1500 generators, he said about 40 were provided by the government and the rest were either procured by the operator or acquired from third parties that have “extra power capacity on hand located nearby our sites.” Kyivstar said it has invested around US$5 million just on generators and diesel fuel. 

    Fighting on two fronts

    Kyivstar’s network is under threat from cyberattacks as well as physical attacks. “The Russians want to destroy us not only physically, but virtually as well, so that means we have to fight on two front lines,” said Lutchenko.

    The operator took measures to protect its network by relocating certain equipment away from areas that were likely to come under Russian control. Komarov explained that in occupied territories there was a cyber defense effort underway to ensure that despite not having control of all its network, the operator was not “vulnerable to extra threats.”

    “We streamlined the architecture of our core infrastructure to minimise the number of potential vulnerabilities,” he said. In Kherson, for example, Kyivstar had “just a media gateway and RAN network” and this “decreased the risk of penetration,” he said.

    Restoring liberated areas

    As territories are liberated, Kyivstar works on repairing the destruction to its network. Lutchenko said that about 18% to 20% of the telecom infrastructure in formerly occupied regions is “totally destroyed,” meaning “there is nothing from an equipment or infrastructure point of view.” About 30% to 35% is “heavily damaged” and about 40% has “minor damages.” Kyivstar says it can repair nearly 90% of the network in those areas.

    “We’re waiting for our military to liberate more territory and we are ready to restore everything,” said Lutchenko.

    Losing more than infrastructure

    Kyvistar is worried about losing more county’s critical communications infrastructure: it is also working to keep its 3,800 employees and their families safe. In the initial months of the war, the operator provided instructions for where people could go for safety and converted regional offices into temporary homes with showers and washing machines for displaced families.   

    Around 140 Kyivstar employees have been drafted into the army and thousands volunteer to help the army in various roles. The operator has lost three of its employees in the war and two are missing.

    Kyivstar relies on maintenance and construction suppliers, but their situation is “very much worse” because they cannot protect employees “with the same efficiency as Kyivstar” due to its critical infrastructure status, explained Komarov.

    Lutchenko joined Kyivstar in November 2021 and has been in the telecom industry in Ukraine for more than 25 years. “I don’t think anyone can plan for stuff like this. The most important thing is we have the greatest team in the world.”

    Asked how the war has affected the operator’s business, Komarov said the operator was “in the green” and there is “extremely high pressure on our networks.”

    “But let’s face it, it’s less about business and much more about survival,” he said.

    More techcos step up to support Ukraine

    Annie Turner
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    More techcos step up to support Ukraine

    Microsoft, VMware, Intel, AMD and OneWeb are the latest to stop trading with Russia – and some with Belarus too

    Last week Google blocked Russians’ access to Google Pay and Apple did likewise with its wallet product and product sales in Russia.

    Some have criticised Apple’s move, pointing out it could push people towards using Android phones made in China that are more susceptible to hacking and surveillance.

    However, Apple made the moves after a direct appeal to its CEO, Tim Cook, by the Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine Vice

    Now more big tech firms are following their lead.

    Microsoft has suspended all new sales of Microsoft products and services in Russia.

    The chips are down

    Chip giant Intel said in a statement that it, “condemns the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and we have suspended all shipments to customers in both Russia and Belarus.

    “Our thoughts are with everyone who has been impacted by this war, including the people of Ukraine and the surrounding countries and all those around the world with family, friends and loved ones in the region.”

    Another chip giant, AMD has also stopped shipments to Russia and Belarus.

    VMWare is suspending all its business activities in Russia and Belarus due to the unprovoked attack by Russia. It published a statement that read, “We stand with Ukraine, and we commend the bravery of the Ukrainian people. The human toll is devastating and like other global businesses, we are committed to supporting our Ukrainian team members, customers and partners.”

    It added, “We are also seeking to support non-Ukraine-based employees with family members located in Ukraine with information to access available resources. We continue to support our employees in Russia, as they are adversely impacted by the consequences of their government’s actions.

    “The suspension of operations includes suspension of all sales, support, and professional services in both countries in line with VMware’s commitment to comply with sanctions and restrictions.”

    The board of directors at satellite operator OneWeb has voted to suspend all launches from Baikonur, the Russian cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

    Social media battles

    Meanwhile social media sites are continuing their battle with Russian authorities, which are keen to control the flow of information and the narrative surrounding the war.

    Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have acted to prevent Russia’s state media making money from ads on their sites. In response, Moscow has said will restrict access to Facebook after its parent company Meta refused to stop fact-checking some Russian media companies’ output.

    TikTok has limited access to Russian state-controlled media accounts in the EU and Reddit has stopped users posting links to Russian state-sponsored media.

    Expect yet more big techcos to act soon.

    Avanti Communications launches LEO services in South Africa

    Annie Turner
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    Avanti Communications launches LEO services in South Africa

    This bolsters the firm’s multi-orbit capabilities and is a step towards the ambition of making Africa its primary market by 2027

    Avanti Communications, the multi-orbit satellite tech provider, is to launch low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite connectivity across South Africa. To achieve this, it has partnered Q-KON, a satellite engineering firm that operates in southern Africa, which will deliver connectivity from Eutelsat OneWeb.

    Avanti says the deal “significantly bolsters” its multi-orbit solution, enabling it to offer a combination of LEO and GEO services from now on.

    Avanti already has an on-the-ground presence in South Africa, with infrastructure in Johannesburg and more than a fifth of the company’s workforce operates in Africa. The company’s ambition is to make Africa its primary revenue source within the next two to three years.

    Strategic move

    Kyle Whitehill, CEO, Avanti Communications (pictured left, above), commented,“This is a strategically significant move for us in multi-orbit and we hope that this is the first of many LEO partnerships globally.

    “This hybrid model gives our customers in South Africa the assurance that all their unique problems can be solved through our services. This is particularly important for our enterprise customers in South Africa where the need for resilience is key.”

    Dr Dawie de Wet, CEO of Q-KON (pictured above right), added, “We are pleased to support Avanti with our Eutelsat OneWeb customer-centric services, made possible by our proven Smart Satellite Service technologies developed for our Twoobii GEO portfolio.

    “We also look forward to supporting Avanti with our end-to-end and turn-key project supply, delivery and support capabilities.”

    Starlink could reach $6.6bn revenue this year – Quilty Space 

    Simon Dux
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    Starlink could reach $6.6bn revenue this year – Quilty Space 

    Analysts bullish on Starlink’s revenue levels but the company’s cash burn is still a mystery

    Market research and consulting firm Quilty Space has forecast the LEOsat operator Starlink is on track to generate $6.6 billion in revenue for 2024, managing to outperform expectations despite initial scepticism. In a webinar on the operator [registration required], Quilty estimated Starlink had 2.7 million subscribers at the end of March 2024, up from two million in September 2023 when the operator last mast a statement.

    In context, it means Starlink’s subscriber base has surpassed that of established players like ViaSat and Hughes Network Systems, which have been the dominant consumer GEO satellite internet market companies for more than two decades. The two GEO operators achieved a peak combined subscriber base of 2.2 million subscribers in the first quarter of 2020 when Starlink was just starting out. The LEOsat operator achieved that number of subscribers within 36 months.

    ViaSat and Hughes’ subscriber totals decline by 30% since and Hughes’ owner Echostar is struggling with analysts predicting that filing for bankruptcy in the next four to six months is now “the most likely outcome” for the company, according to Via Satellite.

    And with $6.6 billion in estimated revenue, Starlink brings in more revenue than the proposed combination of SES and Intelsat, according to co-founder Chris Quilty. “What Starlink has achieved in the past three years is nothing short of mind-blowing,” he said. “For 2024, we’re forecasting revenues of about $6.6 billion – that would be up 80% over 2023. If you want to put that in context, SES and Intelsat announced they’re going to combine — they’ll have combined revenues of about $4.1 billion.”

    Quilty forecasts Starlink will reach $3.8 billion EBITDA in 2024 and estimates that the operator achieved EBITDA-capex breakeven during late 2023. The report expects that Starlink will post its first free cash flow positive year this year.

    Connecting the relatively connected

    Even with these numbers, it is difficult to gauge what sort of success Starlink has been to date. Early on in its life, Starlink was forecasting 20m users by 2022 but even passing one tenth of that has Quilty suggesting Starlink is heading from wide losses to profits during 2023 to 2024.

    “By targeting consumers first, primarily via a direct-to-consumer sales model, Starlink was able to scale at an unprecedented pace for a satellite operator. Starlink is now evolving and expanding its strategy for enterprise, mobility, and government end markets,” the report said. However, the relative cost of the terminals and service means the biggest success is coming from richer nations that can afford it rather than the unconnected world.

    Quilty reckons 95% of the 2.7 million global subscribers are consumers so there is space for Starlink to expand its enterprise focus – through telco partners in the main – and vertical sectors like aviation, maritime and first responders. Interestingly, the operator is seeing steady uptake in areas that aren’t regional or rural but on less well-connected urban fringes.

    “For the most part, Starlink is servicing consumers and middle- and upper-income countries, as well as premium end markets. This is not connecting the unconnected and that’s a gap that Starlink will probably not be serving in a substantial sort of way anytime in the near future,” said Quilty analyst Justin Cadman.

    Quilty also noted several large-population jurisdictions like India and Indonesia have banned Starlink so this could also boost subscriber numbers if said bans were dropped.

    What about cash burn?

    With Starlink, the numbers aren’t available so there is probably more guesswork going on when measuring the company’s health. However, it was well documented that when the operator launched, it was subsidising terminals to the tune of hundreds of dollars.

    Last month, Bloomberg reported [subscription] Starlink was still burning through more cash than it brings in, citing people familiar with the finances, potentially still losing “hundreds of dollars on each of the millions of ground terminals it ships.” The same people suggested parent SpaceX “often strips out the hefty cost of sending its satellites into space to make the non-public numbers look better to investors”, adding Starlink was ” not actually profitable based on an operational and ongoing basis.”

    Quilty is more comfortable with the terminal situation estimating that SpaceX is somewhere between breakeven and a modest gross margin when it comes to user terminals in the US and enterprise markets, but that is not the case for the rest of the world.

    “They’re now in the enviable position where with free cash flow positive results, they can start to experiment with other means of accelerating revenue growth through programs like incentives, rentals, and other types of equipment programs,” said Cadman. “But key takeaway — terminal subsidies no longer appear to be an issue for Starlink.” except for the fact that Starlink is now growing faster outside the US than inside.

    Airtel Africa to IPO mobile money unit in 2025 

    Simon Dux
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    Airtel Africa to IPO mobile money unit in 2025 

    The telco’s most profitable subsidiary, Airtel Money, will be listed either in the UAE, the UK, Europe or somewhere else…

    Airtel Africa CEO Olusegun Ogunsanya has announced plans to list the telco’s mobile money subsidiary on the stock market in 2025. Bloomberg suggested the unit could be valued at around $4bn. Speaking at the operator’s full year results, the chief executive – who has announced his ‘retirement’ for July – also hinted at the telco plans to enter more markets ahead of the IPO – the service is currently available in 14 markets in sub-Saharan Africa. 

    Airtel Money is the most profitable subsidiary of the operator listed in London and Lagos. Last week, Airtel Africa reported a loss of $89 million after suffering from the devaluation of the Nigerian naira, like every telco operating in that country. The Bharti Airtel-owned operator put the loss down to an “exceptional loss net of tax”.  

    In contrast, Airtel Money revenue grew by 32.8% in constant currency, with a continued strong performance in East Africa of 36% and Francophone Africa of 22.3%. Mobile money EBITDA margins of 52.1% increased 234bps in constant currency, supporting growth of 39%. Ogunsanya said mobile money subscriber growth of 20.7% reflected the telco’s continued investment into distribution to drive increased financial inclusion across its markets. Its mobile money customer base now serves 38 million customers, which represents 24.9% of the operator’s total customer base. 

    Importantly, mobile money saw the transaction value increase 38.2% in constant currency, with an annual transaction value of more than $112bn in reported currency. The chief executive added that increased transactions across the ecosystem reflected the enhanced range of offerings and increased customer adoption, supporting constant currency ARPU growth of 8.6%.  

    In the past year, Airtel has launched new international money transfer routes, as well as new loan products and continued to integrate more partners into its ecosystem.  It also continued to expand its exclusive distribution channel of AMBs and kiosks to ensure availability of services to customers, even in the rural areas. The number of kiosks and mini shops increased by 45% and Airtel Money branches by over 8.7%. The operator’s non-exclusive channel of mobile money agents expanded by 53%, following implementation of its new digital on-boarding journey.  

    As Ecofin points out, the second largest telecom operator in Africa had already announced in 2021 that it was considering a listing of its mobile money division within the next four years. This announcement was made following investments made by the American private equity fund TPG ($200 million) and the payment solutions giant MasterCard ($100 million) in Airtel Money. 

    Mobile money momentum 

    There is no denying mobile money’s impact on the African continent, where more often than not, it replaces non-existent bank infrastructure. A recent GSMA report suggests that despite the positive impact and growth in the past decade, the market is already showing some signs of maturing.  

    Globally, registered accounts grew to 1.75 billion in 2023, a 12% year-on-year increase. However, this is a lower annual growth rate than the 15% seen in 2022 and 19% seen in 2021. Monthly active accounts also grew at a slower year-on-year rate. By the end of 2023, there were around 435 million active mobile money accounts – a 9% annual rise, compared to 13% in 2022 and 15% in 2021. Sub-Saharan Africa is home to almost three-quarters of the world’s accounts and the GSMA suggests mobile money had increased gross domestic product in the region by more than $150 billion or 3.7% between 2013 and 2022. 

    In 2023, over a third of new registered and active 30-day accounts globally were from West Africa. This was more than any other region with Nigeria, Ghana and Senegal the main drivers of growth. West Africa’s vibrant mobile money ecosystem has developed differently from East Africa. For instance, West Africa has seen more non-mobile-network-operator (MNO)-led mobile money services emerge to compete with MNO-led providers. 

    Airtel’s data centre pause 

    Outside mobile money, Airtel quietly mentioned that its capex was broadly flat at $737m and was below the telco’s guidance largely due to “a deferral in data centre investments”. The acknowledgement is interesting given the operator launched its new data centre business Nxtra to great fanfare last December, promising to build one of the largest network of data centres in Africa with high-capacity data centres in major cities located strategically across Airtel Africa’s footprint, complementing its existing edge sites. 

    Government gives security green light to Three UK, Vodafone merger

    Annie Turner
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    Government gives security green light to Three UK, Vodafone merger

    This comes with some conditions – and it is still unclear whether the merger will be permitted by the Competition and Markets Authority

    The saga of the proposed merger of Vodafone UK and Three UK continues. The UK Cabinet Office announced the proposal passed a national security assessment by the government but imposed some conditions.

    A national security investigation is usual for any proposed changes of ownership to any organisation viewed as strategically important to the country, which includes communications infrastructure.

    Concerns about security were raised due to Three UK being an indirect but wholly owned subsidiary of the CK Hutchison Holdings, which is listed in Hong Kong. There are concerns in the UK and many other countries about the Chinese government using Chinese companies for espionage and other security risks. This had led to governmental bans on using Chinese vendors’ equipment in communications infrastructure.

    In January the UK government expressed concern that the 14.6% stake in Vodafone held by the self-styled global technology company e& could be a potential national security risk to the UK. e& had net profits of AED9 billion (€2.255 billion) in 2020. Its headquarters are in Abu Dhabi. The United Arab Emirates government has a 60% stake in the operator, the other 40% is publicly traded.

    Security by committee

    The UK government has investigated these potential risks and green light to the merger on the following terms. The combined entity must set up a national security committee to oversee any sensitive work and “topics relating to cyber, physical and personnel security”. The committee will be required to report to the government regularly.

    There are also conditions regarding the governance of the combined entity and there must be an independent review of its network migration plans.

    However, the merger is not a done deal. The companies are still waiting for a decision about whether their proposed merger can go ahead from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). It is expected to announce its decision after concluding its in-depth investigation in September.

    The investigation was launched after a preliminary assessment raised concerns the potential impacts of reducing competition in the UK. If allowed, the joint venture will reduce the number of mobile network operators from four to three. There are also possible ramifications for MVNOs as well as end users.

    Vodafone and Three argue that combining their businesses is essential to achieve the scale they need to make a return on network investment and assets.

    Cameroon and Angola connect their cross-border networks to subsea cables 

    Simon Dux
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    Cameroon and Angola connect their cross-border networks to subsea cables 

    Camtel and Angola Cables act on their agreement to develop business opportunities in West Africa and the Atlantic region

    Angola Cables has partnered with Cameroon’s incumbent telecommunications operator, Camtel to expand digital and connectivity services in Cameroon and the West Africa region.The agreement follows an intent by both companies to develop business opportunities in West Africa to boost redundancy, network resilience and the quality of services (QoS) both nationally and internationally.  

    Taking advantage of the subsea cable connections of SACS, West Africa Cable System (WACS) and Monet within the backhaul network of Angola Cables – and the added connectivity provided by Camtel on the South Atlantic Inter Link (SAIL), the operator said businesses will have extended capacity options with a better traffic access to West Africa local and regional networks through Angola Cables and Camtel’s PoPs. 

    Camtel owns, and operates networks including: a national backbone fibre connectivity with the CEMAC region including Nigeria, Chad, Central Africa Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo, Gabon, and Equatorial Guinea through its multiple submarine cables (SAIL, WACS, SAT3 and NCSCS) landing at three stations with gateways, a Tier III designed data centre in Yaounde – Zamengoe, and three satellite ground stations. The operator is also working on the West to East Africa initiative – WE-Africa-NA – a high-speed digital corridor connecting the Gulf of Guinea to the Horn of Africa. 

    Transatlantic routes 

    In addition to its subsea connectivity Angola Cables also operates two data centres, AngoNAP Fortaleza Tier III (Brazil) and AngoNAP Luanda (Angola). The operator also manages PIX in Brazil and Angonix Angola – one of the largest Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) in Africa.  

    In January, Angola Cables announced plans to invest up to 400mn reais ($80m) to build a second data centre in Brazil’s Fortaleza, the state capital of Ceará. The operator has two submarine cables landing in the area: South Atlantic Cable System (SACS), launched in 2018, and Monet, activated in 2017 and operated in a consortium with Uruguay’s Antel, Brazilian Algar Telecom and Google.  

    SACS was built by NEC and connects Fortaleza to Angolan capital Luanda through a 6,200km sub-sea route. There, it interconnects with another Angola Cables submarine cable system, the WACS (West Africa Cable System), which links Angola with South Africa and the UK. Monet connects Fortaleza to the Brazilian city of Santos and to Miami, spanning more than 10,000km. 

    West Africa’s WACS cable system was repaired earlier this week after being damaged in a suspected undersea landslide that impacted four cables off the West coast of Africa earlier this year. The WACS cable is the third of the four impacted cables to be restored, with only one cable, MainOne, now awaiting repair. The outages have sent African operators scurrying to build further resilience in their routes. 

    “The partnership once the necessary due diligence has been completed, could transform internet connectivity and data transmission in West Africa,” said Fernando Fernandes, the Nigerian country manager of TelCables West Africa, a subsidiary of Angola Cables. “For users, it will help to secure connectivity, trade, boost economies and help expand as well as grow businesses across the region.” 

    “Our strategic intent is to build on the robust backhaul connectivity of the Angola Cables network, and the existing interconnections we have in place with other submarine cables connecting the region and the world, to provide flexible and secure value added services for our clients and businesses,” said Camtel CEO Judith Yah Sunday Epse Achidi. 

    UK fibre overbuild now reaches 7 million premises 

    Simon Dux
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    UK fibre overbuild now reaches 7 million premises 

    As BT’s Openreach accelerates its FTTP to 946k homes in Q1, fixed broadband overbuild in the UK is almost getting like Spain

    In its latest UK fixed broadband availability numbers, analysts Point Topic has found that two or more FTTP networks now covered 7m UK premises in Q1 2024. At the same time, 0.8m were covered by three or more fibre networks. The inevitable risk to altnet business models is palpable given that the incumbent Openreach has actually accelerated its full fibre rollout in Q1 hitting 946,000 additional FTTP premises, compared to 917,000 added in Q4 2023, which resulted in Point Topic’s total recorded Openreach FTTP footprint of 12.9 million premises, up 7.9% quarter-on-quarter. 

    A new report from strategic consultancy firm Eight Advisory highlights the problem for UK altnets which are shifting from building networks to filling them with end customers – otherwise known as penetration and expressed as a “take-up” percentage KPI. Growing penetration over time is a key contributor to achieving profitability. 

    Eight Advisory found that Altnet networks have, apart from CityFibre with TalkTalk and Vodafone and a couple of altnets which supply TalkTalk, been unable to break into this significant route to market. The result of this is that FTTP take-up of the different altnets in the UK market is on average 16% (roughly half of BT Openreach) with ranges from 5 to 30% based on network maturity. 

    Wholesale model isn’t healthy 

    The UK consumer broadband market is highly concentrated on five big ISPs, four of which buy wholesale broadband from Openreach. One of the issues identified by the consultancy is that the proliferation of multiple small networks makes it costly and complex for the larger ISPs to work with altnets. The much-anticipated consolidation and the integration of networks and IT systems may provide a clearer route for larger ISPs. 

    As a result they conclude that the combination of significant capital expenditure to build networks , highly competitive “overbuild” in specific geographical areas and low take-up in the UK is unlike other European countries – although Spain would beg to differ here. “The situation is unsustainable and will be resolved by M&A and restructuring,” said Eight Advisory.  

    Point Topic estimates the total Altnet combined footprint to be 11.5m premises so not far behind BT Openreach but with around half the penetration. CityFibre covers 3.2m homes and of the top five ISPs serves only Vodafone and TalkTalk which represents up to 25% of the total retail market (including altnets). 

    One light at the end of the tunnel will be the arrival of Virgin Media O2 in the wholesale market. The operator is not an open access network yet although it has announced plans to do so in 2025. This is a significant change from operating a closed cable network serving only Virgin Media retail. With a total of 4m full fibre homes to date and rapid growth Eight Advisory believes this could in time have quite a significant impact on the UK wholesale market, especially if some of the larger ISPs also join their network. 

    No stopping Openreach 

    In the meantime, with access to 80% of the consumer broadband market by base size compared to c25% of its next nearest competitor, Openreach leads with 32% average take-up across its network. Eight Advisory point out that BT also stated that its earliest FTTP cohorts are now at 50% penetration and rising, while newer cohorts are following a similar trend. It is likely that many other altnets will see a similar mixed take-up view across their footprint. 

    All upgrades, migrations, speed regrades, and new customers should end up on a fibre service. BT claim 62% migration of lines to FTTP within 3 years of the new network going live (a faster take-up rate than they expected) or 50% within just 20 months.  

    Contrast that with the longer established altnets which report average take-up across their networks of around 30% with fluctuations impacted by changes in rollout speed and some churn. “Hyperoptic and Gigaclear show that convincing people to move to a full fibre service takes a long time and consistent marketing effort,” states Eight Advisory. “As with the longer established altnets, in established footprint take-up can be much higher. In Stirling, CityFibre state their penetration has exceeded 23% and in Milton Keynes, its most mature network footprint, penetration has now passed 27%. As with any average, some areas will be lower.”  

    Helpfully, Eight Advisory will soon publish a Part 2 document on what altnets can do about the creeping doom some must be feeling.  

    Point Topic said Openreach full fibre now covers 40.3% of all UK premises, up from 37.4% three months earlier. In turn, the decline in the number of Openreach ADSL, FTTC and G.fast only premises has speeded up – their number went down by 944,000, compared to 915,000 in Q4 2023. Once again, the largest decline (-799,000 premises) was in FTTC only coverage, as this technology is being replaced by FTTP. Non-fibre platforms still covered 18.7 million premises in the UK, with this number having decreased by 4.8% in Q1 2024. 

    UK market has been transformed 

    According to Point Topic, at the end of Q1 2024, the overall FTTP coverage in the UK was 20.7m premises (64.7% of the UK total). This metric was up by 6.5% compared to Q4 2023. 

    In Q1 2024, the largest number of FTTP premises added was in Glasgow (+24.5k), Birmingham (+24k), Buckinghamshire (+20k), and Pembrokeshire (+20k). Among the FTTP altnets with at least 100,000 premises, Point Topic recorded the highest quarterly growth in premises passed FW Networks (+90%), Grain Connect (+59%) and nexfibre (+54%). Across the UK, 19% of premises still lacked gigabit access, down from 21% three months earlier. 

    Government plans to stop cryptocurrency mining in Norway

    Annie Turner
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    Government plans to stop cryptocurrency mining in Norway

    Ministers believe crypto-mining is not socially beneficial, regulated or green – and this is the first such step by a government in Europe

    Norway’s Digitisation Minister, Karianne Tung, and Energy Minister Terje Aasland are introducing a law that will regulate the data centre industry, making it the first country in Europe to pass such legislation.

    A report on the Norwegian news website VG explains the intention is to separate data centres that are “socially beneficial from climate-damaging crypto-mining projects”.

    The Ministers are aware that data centers are increasingly important to Norwegian infrastructure and digitalisation, but the government wants more control over them.

    The law will oblige data centres to submit information including identifying the person who is managing each centre and which services the centre offers. Minister Aasland said that this information should enable local politicians in municipalities to make better decisions about whether to allow data centres to set up in their areas.

    Minister Tung reportedly said, “The purpose is to regulate the industry in such a way that we can close the door on the projects we do not want,” adding “The government does not want such cryptocentres” because they are associated with large emissions of greenhouse gas and bring little social benefit. Also, while the industry is not regulated, but it should be possible control the data centres they rely on for mining.

    In 2023, the Norwegian newspaper Dagsavisen wrote that ‘crypto-processing centres in the north of the country use almost as much electricity as the famous Lofoten archipelago (pictured), also in the north.

    Tung said Norway needs data centres for digitalisation and data storage on Norwegian soil, particularly in the light of the current security situation. But insists the government needs more accurate information regarding the amount of cryptocurrency mining that takes place in Norway’s data centres.

    Automation in telco, media, and entertainment – Document by Red Hat

    admin
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    IoTco Pairpoint and Sensos run pilot to address supply chain fraud

    Annie Turner
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    IoTco Pairpoint and Sensos run pilot to address supply chain fraud

    Pairpoint is a global platform for the “Economy of Things (EoT)”, owned by Vodafone and Sumitomo – supply chain fraud is a growing problem

    Pairpoint is partnering Sensos, which was founded by Sony Semiconductors and specialises in solutions for supply chains, to combat the growing problem of supply chain fraud. Pairpoint is a global IoT platform – or as the marketing would have it, Economy of Things (EoT) platform – owned by Vodafone and Sumitomo Corporation.

    Sensos’ management solution working with Pairpoint’s EoT platform will enable logistics companies to track their goods securely at every stage of the supply chain.

    Pairpoint’s secure technology overlays Sensos’ real-time supply chain management solution through the Pairpoint-enabled iSIM and device agent software embedded into a smart label.

    Every logistical transaction, from port of departure to final deliveries – is then verifiable, transparent and resistant to tampering, helping to combat fraud and improve trust across the supply chain ecosystem.

    Goods are then authorised to make automated payments using blockchain technology and smart contract capabilities.

    The approach is designed to enhance security and reliability, as well as driving operational efficiency and cost savings for businesses across multiple industries.

    Unilog pilot

    The combined solution is being piloted in cooperation with the global logistics operator Unilog, part of the ICL Group, at several sites in US and Europe. It is automating logistic transactions, streamlining proof-of-delivery processes and facilitating asset sharing through smart contracts.

    Jorge Bento, CEO of Pairpoint, said, “There are billions of parcels and pallets operating across supply chains, and this partnership has huge potential to make them intelligent and equipped for e-commerce through globally connected cellular labels and the Pairpoint platform.”

    Aviv Castro, CEO of Sensos, said: “This collaboration represents a major step towards a more resilient and trustworthy supply chain ecosystem. By integrating Pairpoint’s blockchain technology with our AI-powered control tower, we are empowering businesses with unprecedented security over their supply chains, and by proxy granting them more business agility that translates into bottom line savings.”

    Telefonica Germany moving 5G subscribers onto AWS-based core this month

    Annie Turner
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    Telefonica Germany moving 5G subscribers onto AWS-based core this month

    It is the first time an established mobile operator has moved its core network to the public cloud – and a breakthrough for AWS in Europe

    Reuters reports that Telefonica Germany will move 1 million 5G customers onto AWS’ cloud later this month. It describes AWS’ action as “a bold move by the US online retailer to break into the global telecoms market”. No financial details about the arrangement have been disclosed.

    The report adds, “While some telecom networks have moved IT and other non-core operations to the public cloud, the move by the subsidiary of Spanish group Telefonica is a global first where an existing mobile operator is switching its core network to a public cloud”.

    Telefonica Germany has 45 million customers.

    Rao’s roadmap

    Mallik Rao, CTIO at Telefonica Germany (which operates under the O2 Telefonica brand), is quoted by Reuters saying, “I want to see it working for at least one to two quarters and have a roadmap to move at least 30-40% of my customer base by 2025-2026”.

    An interview with FutureNet World earlier this year shows how Rao has always seen cloud as the way to compete against the incumbent Deutsche Telekom and other rivals in Germany since he took up his post in 2019.

    AWS and O2 Telefonica did not disclose financial details of the deal. The move to public cloud is intended to reduce operating costs, make scaling easier and enable repairs and maintenance without disrupting services.

    Role for Nokia

    The US’ DISH Networks is unique in that it built its core mobile network from scratch on AWS in 2021. Nokia worked with DISH and AWS on that implementation, and will provide software to help Telefonica Germany with its core network deployment on AWS’ cloud.

    This is a salve for Nokia which lost out to Ericsson when AT&T awarded the Swedish vendor a contract worth up to $14 billion at the end of last year, replacing Nokia. Telefonica Germany originally worked with Ericsson and AWS before switching to Nokia to work with the cloudco.

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