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NSC Global launches Next Day WAN installation running over 5G or LTE

Nick Booth
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NSC Global launches Next Day WAN installation running over 5G or LTE

Want instant network access for that new site? Need high speeds and even higher security? Should be there on Wansday

Last mile connectivity services company NSC Global has launched an instant WAN service created with cloud managed cellular comms, the Next Day WAN, which is designed to allow businesses to mobilise at the pace of viral panic.

The system uses 5G or 4G LTE to lay on high-speed broadband internet for businesses in less than 24 hours.

In the wake of the pandemic and other shifts in employment and cultural dynamics, increasing numbers of businesses need service providers to instantly equip teams in remote or temporary locations, according to NSC’s chief commercial officer Sascha Groeger. The connectivity aspect of this request is too much of a logistical challenge on its own. Once industrial strength corporate security is factored in, customers of mobile operators can expect to wait months while the supplier moves at glacial speed. 

“This has been a challenge for businesses due to long lead times for landline WAN or broadband circuit installations from last mile carriers,” said Groeger.

Telcos go slow

NSC Global claims it helps customers to scale their network accordingly with the Next Day WAN, which is globally available and suits both temporary and permanent use cases. It claims it can cater for any eventuality. Demand is strong in smaller locations with a lower bandwidth demand – like retail sites whose existence is particularly perilous thanks to the unpredictable nature of enforced lockdowns. 

The benefit that NSC Global offers to mobile operators is that it frees them from the constraint of working to a rigid timeline and infrastructure for circuit installations, which is not a telco’s strong point. With delivery partners like NSC Global mobile operators can give organisations flexible, secure WAN services at a lower cost of production, it claims.

Using reliable enterprise-grade connections, customers can confidently maintain secure access to their back-end systems – keeping corporate data protected. Spare devices and SIMs are staged and set up at NSC Global’s logistics hubs so that they can be deployed, shipped out and turned up at speed. 

The announcement follows the recent launch of three mobile connectivity services Anytime, Anywhere, YouCPE and Cableless Enterprise.

Ghana’s Afriwave Telecom joins Smart Africa Alliance’s single market mission

Nick Booth
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Ghana’s Afriwave Telecom joins Smart Africa Alliance’s single market mission

The ultimate goal is a pan African common market – single digital alliance of 32 nations will be the enabler

Ghanian mobile operator Afriwave Telecom has joined the Smart Africa Alliance project to unite Africa into a single digital market, reports AfricaTech.

Smart Africa is an alliance of 32 African countries, international organisations and global private sector players which aims to define Africa’s digital agenda.

The alliance needs Africa’s respective heads of state to commit to the socio-economic pact in order to usher Africa into the knowledge economy through affordable comms and computing. The vision is to create a single digital market in Africa by 2030, as a precursor to the creation of a pan-african common market.

Afriwave is the first wholly owned Ghanaian company to join the Alliance and its membership and experience could inspire other African operators. It creates a blueprint for a national and regional Interconnect Clearinghouse across Africa, according to Lacina Koné, CEO of the Smart Africa Secretariat.

AT could involve four MNOs

Afriwave Telecom (AT) is the first and the only licensed Interconnect Clearinghouse (ICH) Operator in Ghana and currently provides these services to four licensed mobile network operators, MTN, Vodafone, AirtelTigo and Glo Mobile, in Ghana.

AT also provides international telecommunications interconnect clearinghouse (ICH) services to international wholesale carriers who route international telecom traffic into Ghana. The operations of ICH have brought several benefits to the Ghanaian telecom sector, according to AT’s deputy CEO Francis Poku, so AT is seeking to extend its services to other parts of Africa and collaborate with other stakeholders with similar ambitions. 

“We are looking forward to collaborating with other interconnect clearinghouse operators in Africa as we contribute towards the One Africa Network objectives of Smart Africa,” said Poku.

Deutsche Telecom primed to launch Standalone 5G in four German cities

Nick Booth
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Deutsche Telecom primed to launch Standalone 5G in four German cities

German operator’s 5G network will cover 90 per cent by Christmas – blends frequencies for urban and rural coverage

German telco Deutsche Telekom (DT) claims it now reaches 85 per cent of the German population with a 5G network comprising 55,000 base stations the nation. According to a press release it will cover 90% of the population by Christmas. Meanwhile, Vodafone Germany claims to be equipping Munich with 5G standalone technology as it tests the latest mobility options, reports Telecompaper.

DT uses the 3.6 GHz frequency, emanating from 22,400 antennae, to cover 60 cities, ranging from Augsburg, through Hamburg and Nuremberg down to Wolfsburg.

In the past analysts have criticised European spectrum strategies and warned that mobile operators would be left behind. 

Deutsche Telekom currently uses two frequencies from its spectrum options for 5G. The high 3.6 GHz frequency yields the fastest download speeds but this has to be broadened with the longer-wave 2.1 GHz frequency for the less densely populated areas. Consequently DT has added operational sites in cities already covered with 5G coverage on the 3.6 GHz frequency. Combining frequency bands is the best way to give the customers the highest highest added value, said DT CTO Walter Goldenits, “Rural or urban. It’s all about speed and latency.”

DT expects to launch its Standalone 5G (SA) network in Germany on a use case basis, as long as there are sufficient numbers of devices, Goldenits wrote in his DT blog.

CTO shares secret of 5G

“If the right use case presents itself in 2021, then 5G Standalone will come in 2021. Otherwise we will jump in 2022 at the latest. We are ready now and look forward to the arrival of the first applications and devices so we can start with them,” Goldenits said.

DT has four stand-alone sites in operation and is ‘very satisfied’ with the tests, according to Goldenits. “This technology will unleash the full potential of virtual and augmented reality, mobile gaming and industrial networking,” said Goldenits.

However, some hurdles stand in the way before the switchover is complete and some further development needs to be carried out. The elusive ‘added value’ can’t be uncovered without high-speed coverage over as large an area as possible, Goldenits said.

 

EU Court of Justice tells European telecoms regulators to revise Net Neutrality

Nick Booth
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EU Court of Justice tells European telecoms regulators to revise Net Neutrality

Reviews and revisions must be in place by September 30th – for public debriefing in October

Berec, the assembly of EU telecom regulators, announced it will review its guidelines for net neutrality following the recent ruling by the EU Court of Justice, reports Telecompaper.

National regulators of mobile operators across Europe will discuss the ruling at their next meeting 30 September and present their conclusions at a public debriefing in October. 

Berec is charged with implementing the EU’s net neutrality regulation and has regularly issued guidelines to help national regulators enforce the measures. However, since Berec’s last update of the guidelines in June 2020, the EU court has issued two rulings on zero-rated data offers, findings that are often incompatible with the regulation. 

The EU Court of Justice ruled that popular zero-rated data tariffs had violated the EU’s net neutrality regulations as they discriminate over how different internet services are treated.

Mobile apps shouldn’t discriminate

With Zero-rated plans customer can use certain mobile apps without the traffic counting towards their standard data allowance. This means some services benefit from unlimited data, without any extra charges for excess traffic. This is an option offered by Vodafone and DT on video, music and social media apps. The legality was challenged by the German regulator Bundesnetzagentur and German consumer group VZBW.

The EU court reasoned that the zero rating meant there are limitations on how customers could consume internet services. Vodafone does not allow zero-rated data for the apps when roaming in the rest of the EU or when tethering with another device, while DT restricts the speed of all video services for Stream On users, even those not covered by the zero rating.

Such limitations on bandwidth, tethering or roaming violate the EU’s open internet regulation. A regulatory decision on zero-rating and net neutrality ended with Vodafone and DT being ordered to allow the offers to apply for EU roaming and end speed restrictions. In a decision in September 2020, the court found that offers distinguishing between different types of internet traffic for purely commercial reasons violated the open internet rules. 

UK’s MEF Registry launches in Ireland and Singapore as SMS fraud fight goes global

Nick Booth
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UK’s MEF Registry launches in Ireland and Singapore as SMS fraud fight goes global

SMS Protection Registry blocks mobile messaging con-tricks such as Smishing and Spoofing

A new anti-fraud weapon invented by the UK’s Mobile Ecosystem Forum (MEF) has been launched in Ireland and Singapore. 

The MEF claims its Registry service can help mobile operators across the world to neutralise the impact of fraud over SMS, notably scams known as Smishing, which is phishing on mobiles, and Spoofing.

The Ireland SMS SenderID Protection Registry is being launched with the support of all three mobile network operators, nine merchants, three major Government agencies, banks, retailers and utilities.

The Registry is also launching in Singapore as The Singapore SMS SenderID Protection Registry.  MEF claims there is strong interest from operators across the globe and predicts new registries will soon follow.

Millions of faked SMS messages are sent by fraudsters trying to steal passwords every day, said Dario Betti, CEO of the UK based Mobile Ecosystem Forum. The collective efforts of the British mobile industry helped MEF create a way to block them: a registry for SMS short-code names.

Where there’s a brand there’s a scam

The security service stops fraudsters from impersonating a brand in their message header, by checking whether the sender using that sender ID is authorised by the merchant/brand. If not, messages from this route are blocked as fraudulent, ensuring SMS remains a trusted communication channel for brands and consumers alike.

Sender IDs set up by fraudsters made up of misspellings and special characters aimed at impersonating a merchant or brand are also blocked via a ‘denied list’ circulated to messaging partners.

Text messaging scams, which trick consumers into sending money or sharing their account details with fraudsters, are known as ‘Smishing’ (or phishing by SMS). Criminals send bogus texts which appear to come from a trusted sender.

The Registry was developed and piloted in the UK where it’s used by major banks and Government brands whose veracity is protected by the 352 trusted SenderIDs that are currently registered to.

Fraudsters exploited Covid crisis

Over 1500 unauthorised variants on well-known brands, which could be used to convince the targets marked out for a confidence trick, have been added to a list of blocked IDs. Maintenance of the list is a constant work in progress as part of the SMS fraud busting service run by The Registry.

Over 300 senderIDs have been created in the wake of the Government’s Coronavirus campaign, which created an opportunity for fraudsters to exploit.

In the UK government agencies, including HMRC and DVLA, are participating in this ecosystem wide anti-fraud system. The service is supported by the main UK mobile operators BT/EE, O2, Three and Vodafone. It also has the support of messaging providers including BT’s Smart Messaging Business, Commify, Dynamic Mobile Billing, Firetext, Fonix Mobile, IMImobile, Infobip/OpenMarket, mGage, Reach-Interactive, Sinch, TeleSign, Twilio and Vonage.

Software République calls for creative ideas in Mobility 4.0 Challenge 

Nick Booth
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Software République calls for creative ideas in Mobility 4.0 Challenge 

Best new transport ideas will be developed, mentored and maybe even launched by likes of Orange, Thales and Atos

Six French companies have formed an entente of enterprise, the Software Republique, with a shared mission to unearth new ideas and invention. ‘European sovereignty’ and Europe’s ability to exploit new tech and disruptive services are at stake, they say, and our creative energy must be mobilised. Their latest initiative is a competition to find new creative ideas for mobility. The winners will be mentored for development and possibly even mobilised. according to the organisers.

The founder members of the Republique – Atos, Dassault Systèmes, Orange, Renault Group, STMicroelectronics and Thales – launched their first open innovation challenge, The Mobility 4.0 Challenge, on September 6 and invitations are open until October 13th.

Mobilisez vos inventeurs

The competition is a call to arms for inventive ideas from anyone who can become an actor of ‘new european mobility’. It is primarily addressed at conventional members of the mobile operator supply chain, such as SMEs, research institutes and academics. But entries from start ups and entrepreneurs are also welcome.

Candidates must submit project ideas for sustainable and intelligent mobility based on data provided by the six major mobile industry players of the Software République.

The six vendors have all pledged to assist those who qualify, through the competition, for technical assistance in the form of data, technical tools, hardware and software prototyping platforms, knowledge and expertise. 

Mobility is the brother of invention

Candidates will work on one of the five themes, using data provided by the members of the Software République. There are four specific suggestions for innovation: The User Experience of Electric Vehicles, Multimodal Accessibility, Intelligent Transport and Cybersecurity. A fifth category is for ‘open ideas’.

Selected candidates will have access to data necessary for their project and will be supported by experts from the six companies to help them formulate their value proposition and develop prototypes of their idea. The eventual winners will be integrated into and incubated by the Software République, with privileged access to R&D facilities. Winners will enjoy industrial opportunities, media exposure at an internationally renowned technology exhibition and space in one of partner’s campuses.

The jury will comprise members of the Software République, namely:

Sophie Proust, EVP Group Chief Technology Officer, Atos Group
Laurence Montanari, VP Transportation & Mobility Industry, Dassault Systèmes
Frédéric Vacher, Head of Innovation 3DEXPERIENCE Lab, Dassault Systèmes
Jean-Marc Lafond, IoT portfolio Director, Orange Innovation
Luc Julia, Scientific Director, Renault Group
Gilles Le Borgne, EVP Engineering, Renault Group
Frédérique Le Grevès, Executive Vice President, France Public Affairs, STMicroelectronics & President and CEO, STMicroelectronics France
Stéphane Royer, Group Chief Data Officer, Thales

Participants have until October 13, 2021 to apply. 

Deutsche Telekom sells T-Mobile Netherlands for €5.1 billion to private equity

Nick Booth
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Deutsche Telekom sells T-Mobile Netherlands for €5.1 billion to private equity

Deutsche Telekom has divested itself of Dutch asset – also equity swaps with Softbank

T-Mobile Netherlands, currently a distant third among Dutch mobile operators, has been sold by owner Deutsche Telekom (DT) for €5.1 billion euros (£4.38 billion).

The new owner is a consortium of the private equity houses Apax and Warburg Pincus, reports Reuters.

In July it was reported that the DT operator group was working with Morgan Stanley to find a buyer for around €4.5 billion. As information was sent to potential bidders,  it emerged that DT needs funding for a multi-billion euro fibre infrastructure building programme in Germany. DT is already seeking investment from a third party or parties. It also needs funding to capitalise on its option to increase its holding in T-Mobile US –  to more than 50% from 43%.

DT group’s debt is €130 billion

Deutsche Telekom bought a controlling interest in the Dutch business from Sweden’s Tele2 in 2018. However, T-Mobile Netherlands was ranked third on the Dutch mobile operator’s market, a long way behind leaders KPN and Vodafone Ziggo. Analysts says it was never considered as one of DT’s strategically important assets.

According to Reuters there had been speculation about a possible sale in recent weeks and India’s Reliance Industries had emerged at one stage as a contender.

Meanwhile Japanese technology and investment company SoftBank Group has taken an equity share swap with Deutsche Telekom AG, giving it 225 million new shares in the German telecom company in exchange for 45 million T-Mobile US shares it held, reports Market Watch, which says that DT intends to acquire another 20 million T-Mobile US shares from SoftBank.

With a 4.5 per cent stake in DT Softbank is now its second-largest private shareholder and intends to have board representation.

Under the strategic partnership, SoftBank portfolio companies will gain access to Deutsche Telekom’s customers across Europe and in the US.

 

Veon sells Russian mobile towers to Service-Telecom for €816 million

Nick Booth
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Veon sells Russian mobile towers to Service-Telecom for €816 million

Strategic Russian service partner snaps up 15,400 mobile towers for 47 billion rubles and continuing service agreement

Dutch telco Veon has agreed to sell its 15,400 mobile towers to Service-Telecom in Russia for €816 million.

Service-Telecom will buy a 100% share in Veon’s National Tower Company, financed by a 47 billion ruble (€542 million) loan from Gazprombank. The deal is subject to approval and should close by the end of 2021.

Veon’s portfolio of towers in nine regional markets is one of the industry’s largest. Its strategy is to move its global estate of 50,000 wireless towers into separate business units over the course of 2021. This deal releases the capital to, as CEO Kaan Terzioğlu put it, “deleverage Veon’s balance sheet and invest in critical aspects of active network and digital opportunities while achieving more financial flexibility.” 

In June Veon acquired a majority stake in OTM, a Russian technology platform for the automation and planning of online advertising purchases.

The mast purchaser Service-Telecom (ST) is a longtime partner of PJSC VimpelCom, a wholly owned subsidiary of Veon. As part of the agreement ST will provide PJSC VimpelCom with mast services under a long-term agreement, for an initial period of eight years and with extensions of eight years thereafter at PJSC VimpelCom’s discretion.

ST invested daily in 4G to stop defections

The two companies will also begin a new “build-to-suit” programme covering up to 5,000 mast sites by 2029. The master agreement provides a framework for a long-term partnership with Service-Telecom to pursue investments in network roll-out and upgrade, and share the benefits from potential future infrastructure market consolidation in Russia. The agreement also provides Beeline, Veon’s mobile brand in Russia, with service commitments and protections enabling Beeline to focus on new initiatives and improve the quality of mobile services for its customers.

According to Light Reading, Veon established separate pre-wrapped legal entities for its mobile tower businesses in Russia and Pakistan. Now it aims to do the same for its towers in Ukraine and Bangladesh.

In Russia, Beeline saw its total revenue increase by a yearly 6.2 per cent in the three months ending June 30, having invested heavily in 4G coverage. Prior to its 4G upgrade its Russian mobile customers were defecting en masse, with 4.5 million customers quit the company’s books between September 2017 and March 2020. It still had 50 million customers at the end of this year’s first quarter.

MTN Cameroon waiting two years on regulator approval for 5G tests

Nick Booth
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MTN Cameroon waiting two years on regulator approval for 5G tests

The glacial speed of a telecoms regulator still fretting over 2G could impede growth in Central African economy

South African mobile operator MTN reports that it has been frustrated in its ambitions for high-impact projects in central Africa’s Cameroon. The blockage is presented by the national Agence de Regulation des Telecommunications which is pondering the lack of coverage in other regions, reports Business in Cameroon. It argues that 5G may not be allowed until the digitally impoverished parts of the nation get an equitable scale of bandwidth, with some parts of Cameroon still on 2G coverage.  

“We requested a [5G] testing license two years ago. It’s still been assessed by the regulator,” a spokesman for subsidiary MGN Cameroon told Connecting Africa. 

MTN Cameroon is the country’s biggest operator with a 37 per cent market share at the end of June 2021 (says Omdia research). Orange Cameroon has 35.5 per cent and Nexttel 25.5 per cent. Camtel Cameroon has less than two per cent of the nation’s subscribers. 

Can 5G ever be rolled out equally?

At the last count there were 24 operators in 18 African countries testing or rolling out 5G, says the global mobile trade body the GSMA. 

In South Africa MTN is one of three operators using 5G, along with rivals Vodacom, and Rain. Telma launched a 5G service in Madagascar last year and Safaricom launched in Kenya in March 2021.

The MTN group has tested 5G in Nigeria and Uganda, while Gabon Telecom has tested in Gabon. In Mauritius, the regulator has granted 5G licenses to the country’s three telecom operators.

However, 5G subscriptions in sub-Saharan Africa were under one per cent at the end of 2020 according to Ericsson’s Mobility Report for June 2021. At the current rate, according to its predictions, 5G would comprise seven per cent of mobile subscriptions in the region come 2026.

Cameroon’s 5G is being delayed by a debate about the equality of access, according to Business in Cameroon (BIC).

While it will be profitable for MTN Cameroon to deploy 5G in Daoula and Yaounde, the two main telecom markets in the country, the government is concerned about an equitable development of its territory, said BIC. How could the government license MTN’s request while the 4G, 3G and 2G are not yet available all over the country, it asked.

UK operator O2 investigated by Serious Fraud Office over bribery allegations

Nick Booth
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UK operator O2 investigated by Serious Fraud Office over bribery allegations

Bombshell found buried in 136 page statement following merger with Virgin Media

UK mobile operator O2 is under investigation by Britain’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) in relation to bribery allegations. The alleged offences took place as it was consolidating its sales channels and deciding which third party retailers to retain, according to the Sunday Telegraph.

The revelation of “possible violations of anti-bribery laws and regulations,” only came to light when the £31bn merger between mobile operator O2 and broadband giant Virgin Media obligated the new VMO2 entity to publish a Condensed Consolidated Financial Statement for financial Q2 2021.

The statement, published in August, contains a secret buried within its 136 pages that was recently uncovered by the Sunday Telegraph.

Allegedly, rumours of a probe have circulated within the telecoms industry since O2’s 2017 management shake-up, says ISP Review. 

Cull in the sales channel

In the Sunday Telegraph report “industry sources” say the investigation relates to allegations that O2 executives were involved in the payment of kickbacks with customers. The 2017 management overhaul took place while mobile operators such as O2 began to redesign their sales channels, cutting ties and becoming less reliant on third-party retailers in favour of selling direct to customers.

Neither O2 nor Virgin Media have commented so far. The SFO has yet to issue a statement. 

In an entry headed Legal Proceedings, VMO2’s Financial Statement makes this declaration: 

“From time to time, we have become involved in litigation relating to claims arising out of our operations in the normal course of business….. O2 has been addressing a request for disclosure made by governmental authorities which is related to possible violations of anti-bribery laws and regulations……”

The report also suggests that rival operators, which faced similar decisions over which partners to continue with, could come under similar scrutiny by the SFO.

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