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    UK’s CityFibre acquires Lit Fibre to extend footprint, explore ISP possibilities

    Annie Turner
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    UK’s CityFibre acquires Lit Fibre to extend footprint, explore ISP possibilities

    Lit is a vertically integrated altnet – both a network builder and ISP with a footprint of over 220,000 premises across more than 20 towns

    CityFibre, the UK’s largest independent, full-fibre broadband provider, has completed its acquisition of Lit Fibre from Newlight Partners. The share-based acquisition, announced two months ago, is intended to accelerate CityFibre’s nationwide roll out by up to 300,000 premises.

    CityFibre’s plan is to pass 8 million premises. Newlight Partners join CityFibre as minority shareholders.

    Lit is a vertically integrated altnet – both a network builder and ISP with a footprint of over 220,000 premises across more than 20 towns in Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, Hertfordshire, Worcestershire, Essex and Suffolk. It serves a subscriber base of about 10,000 retail customers.

    CityFibre has worked with Lit’s management team over the last two months to begin the integration of Lit’s 10Gbps XGS-PON network infrastructure into CityFibre’s wholesale network. They expect the integration to be completed later this year, enabling CityFibre’s ISP partners to access the same products, pricing and service experience across the extended footprint.

    As a wholesale-only operator, CityFibre will explore options for the Lit ISP after the integration.

    CityFibre intends to complete Lit’s work-in-progress deployment as well as most of its planned network implementations. In total, the network is expected to reach up to 300,000 premises by early 2025. Lit’s network is built exclusively using existing poles and ducts and so has “a highly attractive build cost per premises”. 

    Lit’s swift network integration will be prioritised: customers’ broadband services will not be affected by it. As a wholesale-only operator, CityFibre will explore options for the Lit ISP after the integration.

    The acquisition of Lit is the first of several deals CityFibre says it expects to close over the next two years. It follows CityFibre’s decision to pursue altnet acquisitions as a strategic growth driver towards and potentially beyond its 8 million premises target. It wants to cement its position as the UK’s third digital infrastructure platform of scale, behind BT and Virgin Media 02.

    Earlier this month, CityFibre reported its own customer connections exceeded 400,000, growing 77% year-on-year and with installations regularly exceeding 1,000 a day. Also, that quarterly revenues are increasing over 30% year-on-year, with a positive EBITDA performance for the first quarter of 2024. It continues to progress towards it 8 million premises passed target, with 6 million already built, in progress, acquired or underpinned by the government’s Project Gigabit contract awards.

    German regulator imposes new conditions on spectrum extensions 

    Simon Dux
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    German regulator imposes new conditions on spectrum extensions 

    BNetzA’s consultation shows it has listened to newcomer 1&1’s complaints around extending existing frequency usage rights for Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone and Telefónica

    German regulator, Bundesnetzagentur (BNetzA), published a new draft consultation on the extension of frequencies in the 800MHz, 1,800MHz and 2,600MHz ranges, which has added new remedies to overcome 1&1’s complaints that extending existing frequency usage rights for Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone and Telefónica was unfair.  

    Germany’s fourth mobile network 1&1 – since December – published a report in January, slamming BNetzA’s September consultation to consider extending existing licences, suggesting it amounted to “an action tantamount to subsidisation in the billions of euros of the three established network operators.” 

    In the new consultation, BNetzA is still minded to extend the licences by five years which it said would align the terms of these rights of use with rights of use that expire later. This will allow more frequencies to be allocated further, and it believes regulation-induced shortages will be avoided. “In addition, market developments can be included in a later procedure. This also applies to the fourth network operator 1&1. A larger procurement framework offers companies more opportunities to gain access to spectrum,” stated the regulator.  

    The frequency spectrum at 800MHz, 1,800MHz and 2,600MHz is to be made available for mobile communications at a later date, together with the rights of use from the 700MHz, 900MHz, 1,500MHz and 1,800MHz ranges, which expire in 2033. 

    Crucial concession to 1&1 

    However, this time the regulator said the extension will be linked to a commitment by Telefónica to continue the transfer of 2x10MHz mid-band spectrum to 1&1. In addition, the three incumbent network operators will be obliged to make at least 2x5MHz of their low-band (sub 1GHz) spectrum available to 1&1 for co-operative, joint use. The agency is calling for corresponding offers on fair terms. 

    “We are open to a co-operative solution. It is important that we can utilise a sufficiently large amount of frequency at market conditions in order to adequately supply our more than 12 million customers,” said 1&1 CEO Ralph Dommermuth (above). “Only then can we fully leverage the advantages of our innovative Open RAN technology and ensure the competitiveness of our daily expanding 5G network.” 

    The regulator said that if 1&1 Mobilfunk is not granted national roaming by a nationwide network operator from 2026 onwards, it reserves the right to order national roaming. 

    Rural emphasis  

    Like its September consultation BNetzA has added several conditions to stimulate rural rollouts. Each of the three incumbent mobile network operators is to have at least: 

    > from 2030, 99.5 percent of the licensed area provided with 50Mbps  

    > from 2029, 99 percent of households in municipalities in rural areas provided with 100Mbps in each federal state 

    > from 2029 all federal highways provided with 100Mbps, 

    > from 2029 all state roads as well as inland waterways provided with 50Mbps 

    > from 2030 district roads provided with 50Mbps 

    Regarding gigabit coverage along railway lines, the BNetzA considers: “a joint approach to the expansion of public mobile communications and the new railway radio to be expedient. To this end, mobile phone and rail network operators are to be obliged to cooperate.” 

    “Our primary goals are to improve the supply for all consumers and to further promote competition. The extension of frequencies is to be linked to ambitious coverage requirements,” said BNetzA president Klaus Müller. “A specific coverage requirement for rural areas and a land requirement can promote equivalent living conditions in urban and rural areas.” 

    He added: “We want to further strengthen competition in the mobile communications market. To this end, the extension is to be combined with special regulations for the fourth network operator and a negotiation requirement for service providers.” 

    Comments on the draft consultation can be submitted until 8 July 2024. 

    Microsoft and Amazon to invest billions in cloud, AI in France 

    Simon Dux
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    Microsoft and Amazon to invest billions in cloud, AI in France 

    Hyperscalers commit to splash the cash on cloud and AI infrastructure at the annual “Choose France” summit

    Microsoft said it will invest €4 billion in cloud and AI infrastructure, AI skilling, and French tech acceleration, aiming to train one million people and support 2,500 AI startups by 2027. The announcement came as President Macron hosted business leaders for the annual “Choose France” summit at Versailles Palace.  

    The announcement follows the news over the weekend that Amazon would invest €1.2 billion to boost its logistics as well as AWS cloud infrastructure in France, home of AI startup Mistral AI.  

    The man with the biggest wallet in Microsoft, vice chair & president Brad Smith (above, right) said the investment was the company’s largest in France in Microsoft’s history.  

    Microsoft will invest €4bn to expand its next generation Cloud and AI infrastructure in France and bringing up to 25,000 advanced GPUs to the country by end of 2025. The company will expand its data centre footprint across existing sites in Paris and Marseille regions and will also invest in planning a new data centre campus in the Grand Est Region, in Mulhouse Alsace Agglomération. Microsoft’s Cloud and AI infrastructure in France will operate under the company’s recently published AI Access Principles. 

    These investments will help to meet the growing demand for efficient, scalable and sustainable AI specific compute power and the needs of private and public organisations, according to the company. Microsoft’s computational infrastructure and AI platform services will enable organisations to develop, deploy, and use proprietary and open-source AI models and applications. It will also make Microsoft’s own AI-infused services like Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Dynamics more broadly and locally accessible to French customers. 

    Microsoft said it would couple its capital investment by investing in renewable energy and is now pursuing its first renewable energy contracts in France. The company has executed its first PPA this month and it expects to have approximately 100MW of new renewable energy projects online in France by the end of 2024.  

    Training commitment 

    Microsoft will support skilling for 1 million people to help the country embrace the new AI era, with a specific focus on job seekers, students, SMBs and professionals. Microsoft and its partners – government institutions, training services partners, non-profit organisations, universities and higher-education organization – will launch new training programmes focused on building AI fluency for everyone, developing AI technical skills, supporting AI business transformation and “promoting safe and responsible AI development”.  

    The company will expand its “A Vous l’IA” initiative, launched in March 2024, and partner with France Travail to train job seekers with the skills they need to use AI technologies. The programme, accessible through the Emploi Store, will enable job seekers to learn the core concepts of artificial intelligence and generative AI functionality and how to apply it in their job search. Microsoft is also partnering with Kokoroe, a French Ed-Tech company specialized in micro-learning to build this new exclusive content, based on short and easy-to-consume modules, with no technical background required – accessible on the “A Vous l’IA” platform.  

    The company is partnering with higher-education organisations, such as Skema Business School, Rennes School of Business, EDHEC and Efrei, to provide students with the right skillset. To upskill AI professionals Microsoft is collaborating with its professional network of selected Training Services partners, in France – Cellenza Training, ENI, Fastlane, IB Cegos and Skillsoft Global Knowledge, to accelerate the readiness of French organisations through dedicated activations online and in Microsoft Experiences Labs in the regions.  

    More inclusive programmes 

    Microsoft is also launching a pioneering module with Simplon – plus extend joint programmes for 3 further years – aiming at training developers of all backgrounds to better use GenAI, select models and deploy them with state-of-the-art tools, ensuring proficiency across platforms. Microsoft and Simplon will first accelerate on “GenIAles”, their three-day in-person workshop aiming at supporting women’s access to digital tech job roles. They will also keep growing their network of Microsoft AI Schools by Simplon across the country, an initiative launched in 2018 to train jobseekers to become AI developers, a newly recognised job by France Competences in 2020. 

    Finally, Microsoft will set the pace in accelerating AI startups, aiming to engage over 2,500 startups by 2027 through its new flagship programme: Microsoft GenAI Studio. This initiative is designed with a comprehensive package of AI expertise, cloud credits, and support activities, including collaboration with customers and partners. 

    Microsoft GenAI Studio will first translate into a tailored 4-month programme at STATION F that will be run twice a year over three years, aiming at accelerating the adoption of AI by select French startups with technical workshops and technical, access to AI experts at Microsoft and among the programme’s partners. During the programme, the selected startups will also have access to Microsoft’s collaborative workspaces at Station F. Each batch will welcome 15 startups. The first batch will begin next September. 

    “This major investment demonstrates a steadfast commitment to supporting digital innovation and economic growth in France,” said Smith. “We are building state-of-the-art Cloud and AI infrastructure, training people with AI skills, and supporting French startups as they use our technology with confidence to grow in a fair and responsible way.” 

    Amazon to add 3,000 jobs in France 

    While Amazon’s announcement was more about its logistics operations the company’s investment includes increased Amazon Web Services cloud infrastructure in the Paris area to support France’s generative AI endeavours and logistics infrastructure in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes to increase delivery speeds and improve sustainable deliveries for customers. 

    The 3000-staff increase is in addition to the 2,000 new permanent jobs already announced for 2024 and takes Amazon to more than 22,000 permanent employees in its offices, across Amazon Web Services’ (AWS) infrastructure in France and in more than 35 logistics sites across the country. 

    The investment in AWS cloud infrastructure aims to meet the escalating demand for AWS services in France, driven by the immense potential of cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI). According to a report by Strand Partners commissioned by AWS, the number of French companies adopting AI increased by 35% between 2022 and 2023, from 20% to 27%. If France maintains this pace of AI adoption, it could bring €99 billion in additional gross value added (GVA) to the French economy by 2030, according to the commissioned report. 

     “Companies across industries recognize AI’s immense benefits for unlocking growth and boosting productivity,” said VP AWS France & Southern Europe Julien Groues. “With this commitment to expand our cloud capacity, we are empowering organizations in France to fully harness the potential of transformative AI technologies to spur innovation, enhance competitiveness, and create new business value.”  

    This investment by AWS is part of a €6 billion, 15-year investment plan for the period 2017-2031 to develop its cloud infrastructure in France. An AWS economic impact study estimates that this investment plan will contribute €16.8 billion to France’s GDP over this period, while supporting an average of 5,271 full-time jobs annually in the local supply chain. 

    AWS said it also offers several education, training, and certification programmes to help people in France develop their digital skills and use cloud technologies. AWS has trained more than 900,000 people in the EU, and more than 200,000 people in France, in cloud skills since 2017, as part of its commitment to provide free cloud skills training to 29 million people by 2025.  

    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.

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