The managed service via LEO is intended to improve operational efficiency for remote oil and gas customers, and the safety of their crew
Viasat, a satellite communications firm, announced its Energy Services division has launched a managed communications service for remote oil and gas customers. The division says the service expands the capacity and capabilities of its existing, enterprise-grade connectivity service.
The solution incorporates low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite capacity into Viasat Energy Services’ multi-orbit and terrestrial capacity. It is designed to deliver flexible capabilities that meet energy customers’ needs through a single managed service which is scheduled to go live in Q3 2024.
It is expected to appeal to oil and gas operators, drilling contractors and service companies by powering various applications. They include cloud-based computing and applications to improve operational efficiency, safety, crews’ welfare. Cybersecurity, and of course, AI, are built in, provided by Viasat’s machine learning platform, Intelie.
Lee Ahlstrom, President of Viasat Energy Services, said, “Serving customers exceptionally well is our North Star – no matter the underlying technology to get there. Our energy customers are looking to solve complex challenges and operate more safely, efficiently and sustainably. Our services are designed to make that happen.
“This enhanced hybrid network service offering will allow customers to improve operational efficiency and support their most advanced digital transformation efforts in the future.”
Turbulent times
Overall the parent company is experiencing some turbulence. It completed the acquisition of Inmarsat at the end of May 2023 and beat its sales and earnings forecast for the financial year that that closed at the end of March. Revenues rose 73% on the back of that acquisition but it continues to lose money and its share price plunged in Q4.
Over the last year, its stocks hit a high of $46.33 on 13 June 2023 and a low of $13.80 on 23 May this year. According to Invest Chronicle earlier this month, its market cap stands at $1.86 billion and it has a workforce of 7,500.
Fiscal 2025 is expected to have flat revenues as the multi-year transition phase of assimilating Inmarsat continues.
Poland has just committed PLN 3 billion (€692 million) to build a Cyber Shield as cyber-attacks escalate on the country
Polish operator Netia and Palo Alto Networks have established a collaboration aimed at providing what they claim will be the highest level of cybersecurity to companies and institutions operating in Poland. The first solution in the offering of advanced ICT solutions under the NetiaNext brand, which the operator offers in cooperation with Palo Alto Networks, is the Netia Managed Next Generation Firewall.
Netia is enhancing its competencies and solution offerings in cybersecurity with technologies from Palo Alto Networks, including AI, which it says will help protect the digital assets of even more companies and institutions in Poland.
The move comes as Poland faces increased cyber-attacks. Earlier this month, the government announced it will spend more than PLN 3 billion ($760 million) to boost cybersecurity, after state news agency PAP was hit by what authorities say was likely a Russian cyberattack. Reuters reported that the digitalisation minister Krzysztof Gawkowski said Poland is on the frontline of the cyber fight against Russia and has the most attacks. He added that Poland had blocked several cyber-attacks on critical infrastructure.
Netia CEO and president Andrzej Abramczuk (above, right) agreed Polish enterprises and institutions are among the most frequently attacked in the global cyberspace. “It can be expected that the intensifying hybrid warfare will exacerbate this phenomenon,” he said. “Netia, as one of the leading telecommunications operators and providers of advanced ICT solutions for the B2B sector, has been effectively responding to these challenges for many years.”
He added: “I am very pleased that our cybersecurity portfolio is expanding with solutions from Palo Alto Networks, another technological powerhouse with whom we have the honor of collaborating to benefit our customers.”
“The goal of our collaboration is to provide effective cybersecurity solutions that meet the challenges faced by Polish companies,” said Palo Alto Networks VP and MD Eastern Europe Wojciech Gołębiowski (above, left). “The support we offer stands out with advanced threat prevention mechanisms that can identify and neutralize even the most complex and hard-to-detect attacks in real-time. Our system integrates intrusion prevention, application control, and malware protection functions, allowing entrepreneurs to significantly increase the security of their networks and corporate devices.”
He added: “I am convinced that thanks to our cooperation, Netia’s customers will be able to more effectively protect their data and resources from modern cyberattacks.”
Managed firewall
The first joint solution from Palo Alto Networks offered by Netia to its customers is the Netia Managed Next Generation Firewall (Netia Managed NGFW). This service provides multi-layered protection of the client’s LAN resources and its users from internet threats. Protection is carried out through managed and monitored devices that Netia provides in a service model, installing them at the client’s site at the LAN network interface along with the provided internet access link.
The wide range of offered functions allows the protection scope to be adapted to any type of business activity. Among these, some of the variants include: Firewall, VPN, Application Control, IPS (Intrusion Prevention System), AntiVirus, AntiMalware, DNS/WWW Traffic Control, and SSL Inspection. The protection scope and security policy can be individually tailored to the needs of a given enterprise.
As part of the service subscription fee, Netia also provides management and constant proactive monitoring of the client’s security status, 24/7 technical support, and configuration tailored to individual requirements. Netia is also one of the larger cloud solution providers in Poland and owns five data centres located in Krakow, Warsaw, and nearby areas. It also offers a full range of cybersecurity solutions, including a Security Operation Centre.
Tim Cook updates the faithful at its annual bash for developers – what does it mean for telecoms? Is Apple really running behind the bus?
The launch of the iPhone had a profound effect on the telecoms industry. The combo of Apple’s devices and AI has generated huge amount of anticipation, criticism and speculation.
Apple is perceived to be playing catch up on AI, hence the CEO’s address at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2024 was much anticipated and somewhat unexpected. So the big news is a new, personalised AI system to be known as Apple Intelligence which is intended to make it easier for users to navigate Apple’s devices.
Apple’s own generative AI (GenAI) models – built and trained by Apple – got star billing under the umbrella of Apple Intelligence but new versions of the iPhone and Mac’s operating systems* will allow access to ChatGPT through an agreement with its developer OpenAI, acting as a gatekeeper, for when more smarts than Apple can offer is needed. Although, obviously, Apple didn’t put it quite like that.
So ChatGPT can be added to other tools too, such as for text and content generation which no doubt will make for ever more intrusive illiterate and biased suggestions. Expect the test version in autumn.
What does it mean to me?
The telecoms lobby lost no time in figuring out what the announcements mean for the sector – in short, a lot more traffic and processing power.
Jurgen Hatheier, International CTO at Ciena commented, “We have seen millions of users gravitating to ChatGPT since its release but only approximately 14% are using it regularly. Providing easy access to AI assistants is a vital step in creating broader adoption. Google recently replaced its traditional assistant on its phones with Google Gemini, while Apple has taken a different approach by bringing ChatGPT to its handsets.
“This move will also bring massive demand to communication service provider networks and AI inference sites, be it on device, on-premise, at the network edge or in a metro data centre. As a result, service providers are investing to upgrade and fortify their networks and connect the data centre sites that process all of this data, to ensure users can experience a reliable and positive AI experience.”
Cool reception
CEO Tim Cook, promised that Apple Intelligence will raise products “to new heights” as he opened proceedings at WWDC at HQ in Cupertino, California. Irritated shareholders who have seen Apple overtaken by overtaken by arch-rival Microsoft then chipmaker NVIDIA as the world’s most valuable company earlier this year weren’t impressed. Apple’s share price fell almost 2% on Monday.
[UPDATE: Right after publication of this post, Apple’s shares hit a record high and push the company’s market cap up past $3 trillion again]
Clearly Apple’s premise that the first wave of GenAI was all about navigating the wider world, but it is perfectly placed to use GenAI to understand individuals – aka Apple users in an unprecedented way – is not gaining traction.
Meanwhile Elon Musk has threatened to ban iPhones from his companies over data security concerns, claiming that Apple would have no control over what happens to users’ data once it passed into OpenAI’s hands.
Power is nothing without control
Apple prides itself on protecting its customers’ privacy (and its ecosystem) and was at pains to stress that some processing that involves Apple Intelligence will be done on the device itself. Bigger tasks, requiring more processing power, will be carried out in the cloud on servers owned and controlled by Apple. Furthermore, no data will be stored there.
Also, before any of that off-device processing happens involving ChatGPT, Siri will prompt the user first, not move to the cloud automatically.
Interestingly, the global face of GenAI and CEO of OpenAI, Sam Altman, was present at the announcement but he wasn’t invited to do a double-hander on stage with Tim. Apple was emphasised that OpenAI will just be one of several AI firms that Apple will partner.
How long Apple can maintain the level of control that it is promising now on third-party GenAI remains to be seen. Whether its perceived failure to develop and train its own sufficiently good models does long term, serious damage remains to be seen.
It has survived one near death experience and if you want proof a tech giant can reinvent itself, Microsoft, the former PC software firm that almost missed the internet, is a stunning example.
*Oh yes, I almost forgot. ChatGPT will be integral to new versions of Apple’s operating system – iOS 18 for iPhones and iPads, and macOS Sequoia. Only more powerful devices will be able to run the features, such as the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max that have the A17 Pro chip. Only laptops and tablets that run on the M series of chips will be able to use Apple Intelligence.
Vendor says the Network Exposure Platform (NEP) represents the “first implementation of GSMA Operator Platform”
Nokia’s Network Exposure Platform is claimed to be the first implementation of the GSMA Operator Platform, The GSMA’s blueprint defines a common platform for exposing operators’ services and capabilities to customers and developers. The ethos is “connect once, connect to many models”.
The first phase of the platform focuses on edge. Future phases will cover capabilities like connectivity, slicing and internet protocol communications (IPComms).
Nokia’s NEP is designed for deployment with service providers’ networks and will support Linux Foundation’s CAMARA APIs, TM Forum’s Open APIs, edge-based and other APIs to connect networks securely to the digital, B2B ecosystem. Operators can use the platform to create new APIs and add to existing ones.
Nokia NEP complements and can be integrated with Nokia’s Network as Code platform with developer portal. This, it says, aligns with the GSMA Open Gateway aggregator concept, providing a cloud-based platform to connect and monetise service providers’ networks with application developers around the world.
The NEP expands and is designed to work closely with Nokia’s Network Exposure Function (NEF), another solution related to API exposure which is based on 3GPP specifications. NEF provides a process for interfacing with well-defined functions in the core network.
It also enables API mashups, that is, combine multiple APIs from different core functions into new simplified APIs, which are easier to integrate with partners’ and customers’ channels.
Existing NEF customers can upgrade to a combined NEF and NEP solution to simplify their API ecosystem.
More federated approach
Amy Cameron, Research Director at STL Partners, said,“Standardisation of APIs and aggregation across telcos will be crucial to scaling the network API opportunity”. She added that as well as developing their own direct models to monetise APIs, telcos must work towards a more federated approach with their peers and technology partners/aggregators as this stance will “drive initial developer engagement and adoption of network APIs.
Cameron continued, “Nokia NEP can help telcos achieve this with tools to organise, control, and secure the way their networks integrate to developer ecosystems and platforms, ensuring choice and flexibility for customers in creating new network exposure use cases.”
Shkumbin Hamiti, Head of Network Monetization Platform, Cloud and Network Services at Nokia, said,“Exposing and simplifying access to 5G and 4G network capabilities for channels connecting developers requires a sustained and collaborative effort by all industry players on a variety of technical fronts.
“Nokia NEP is another meaningful part in that work of enabling operators to organize, control, and secure the way their networks integrate into developer ecosystems and platforms; and driving choice and flexibility for creating new use cases and value for the end customers.”
“From inventory and AIOps to digital channels, billing, customer care and SLA compliance [it] will revolutionize how satellite communications services are delivered and monetized”
Netcracker Technology launched its Digital Satellite Solution, which it says is a blueprint for multi-orbit IT and claims it “radically transforms how satellite operators manage, optimize and monetize their business”.
According to the company, the new solution enables operators to guarantee the best service quality at any time and “expand their business with any offer to any customer worldwide”.
The rapidly growing number of low Earth orbit (LEO) and geostationary (GEO) satellites, and the emergence of direct-to-device (D2D) technology, present many new opportunities for telcos. They include to” deliver affordable communications to remote locations; close gaps in mobile coverage; and equip industries with mission-critical communications.
Serious hurdles
But there are serious hurdles to clear. For instance, the constellations’ business and operational environments were not designed for dynamic operations across space and Earth, integration with telcos’ 4G/5G and fixed networks, or a global customer base with digitalisation at the top of the agenda.
Netcracker’s solution incorporates an operations environment with real-time service inventory and topology, multi-domain service orchestration, dynamic management of SLAs and AI-enabled assurance. The intent is to guarantee optimal service quality across space and terrestrial networks at all times.
The BSS provides configure, price, quote functionality, omnichannel support for customers including self-service, a unified product catalogue, flexible charging and billing schemes, and partner management to accommodate any type of customer or partner regardless of their location.
Cloud-native foundations
Netcracker Digital Satellite Solution is cloud-native with security practices built into all parts of it to protect sensitive data. An API Management Platform is also integral and supports MEF’s Lifecyle Orchestration (LSO) and TM Forum’s Open APIs to simplify integration with other parties. This includes enablilng them to offer Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) to enterprise and wholesale customers.
Grant Lenahan, Partner and Principal Analyst at Appledore Research, comments, “Netcracker has undertaken the significant investment to understand, model, engineer and implement an entirely new solution stretching from inventory and AIOps to digital channels, billing, customer care and SLA compliance, which will revolutionize how satellite communications services are delivered and monetized around the world.”
Changing telecom landscape
Andy Hicks, Senior Principal Analyst at GlobalData, added, “Recent developments in satellite technology are changing the telecom landscape by providing advanced communications, including in the air, at sea and in vast parts of the planet not currently covered by 5G or fibre.
“Netcracker Digital Satellite Solution is designed to address the…complexities of these highly dynamic and multi-domain services through an innovative IT environment for multi-orbit satellites that will help operators deliver the best service to their customers.”
“We have been working very closely with our satellite operator customers for some time,” said Bob Titus, CTO at Netcracker. “Our solution enables satellite providers to rapidly bring new offers to market and transforms how they engage with their customers and partners while delivering the best service quality.”
It has announced a slew of contracts and collaborations in recent months and is scoring highly in analysts’ reports – it is time for another go at an IPO?
Although Mavenir is considerably smaller than many of its rivals it never lacked ambition and looks to be doing something very right in a tough market. It describes itself as “the cloud-native network infrastructure provider building the future of networks” and seems to be on a roll.
It has the funding…
Mavenir is receiving the backing to achieve its ambitions: at the end of May, announced an injection of up to $75 million (€69.73 million) from an unspecified, existing investor to help it cement that statement.
In May last year its biggest investor, Siris Capital Group, was at the head of a $100 million funding round. Mavenir raised another $155 million in October 2022. It backed away from an initial public offering (IPO) in 2020, during the pandemic, and remains in private hands but is thought to bring in revenues of more than $0.5 billion annually.
Orders so far this year
Earlier this month, Mavenir, Qualcomm and Echostar successfully demonstrated the reduced capability (RedCap) 5G capabilities of its Open virtualized Radio Access Network (Open vRAN) solution on the Boost Mobile Network in the US. RedCap solutions are designed to provide coverage using low power, thereby reducing connectivity costs for use cases that do not neeed full broadband capabilities.
The plan is for the companies jointly to architect Mavenir’s technology to streamline the development, testing, integration, and application of cloud-native solutions and AWS’ attributes “to create a new telco-grade deployment model that is set to transform how operators launch 5G, IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem), RAN and future network technologies.”
In February, at Mobile World Congress, it signed a contract with solutions by stc to launch the first commercial Open RAN in Saudi Arabia this year. Mavenir had already deployed Open RAN 4G/5G NSA infrastructure in partnership with solutions by stc.
In the same month, Mavenir announced it is “in the advanced commercial phase of an Open RAN network pilot deployment for Vodafone Idea Limited (Vi). The deployment now underway, which commenced in September 2023, covers key launch sites and is currently carrying live commercial traffic ahead of a planned large-scale deployment. The pilot marks the first O-RAN-compliant deployment into Vodafone Idea’s network.”
Mavenir’s Open RAN centralised and distributed units are deployed on Vi’s telco cloud which is built on Red Hat’s OpenShift. Vodafone Idea (Vi) might be enduring huge challenges and struggling financially, but it is still the third biggest network provider in the most populous country on Earth, India. As of the end of September 2023, it had a subscriber base of 219.8 million.
Mavenir’s success is recognised too. It cites high scores across diverse categories in recent reports published by reputable analyst houses and other sources. You have to wonder if this is the prelude to another go at an IPO. In the meantime, it makes interesting reading.
Omdia’s verdicts
For example, it achieved the top spot in the new Partner Ecosystem category in Omdia’s Market Landscape: RAN Vendors 2024 report. The category was added this year to reflect the importance of the ecosystem in Open RAN.
Omdia stated that Mavenir (which did not participate in the report last year), “has entered as a major challenger in 2024. Though smaller than many other vendors covered in this report, Mavenir has a competitive portfolio centred on O-RAN solutions and the richest partner ecosystem”. Samsung, Fujitsu, Nokia and Ericsson all trail Mavenir in this category.
In Omdia’s logo metrics – which monitor if a supplier has gained 5G business at the expense of rivals or won greenfield deals – Mavenir emerged in the top three, having gained 20 new ‘logos’, behind Ericsson and Nokia.
Further, highlighting the prevalence of 5G Non-Standalone, Omdia’s report notes, “Winning 5G contracts where a vendor did not already provide LTE is a strong endorsement of its solutions. This shows that an operator is willing to rips and replace an incumbent LTE vendor.”
Mavenir is also listed by Omdia as having the widest portfolio of O-RAN compliant radios, with Nokia, NEC and Samsung.
For the report, Omdia evaluated the business performance and portfolios of 11 RAN vendors, grouping them into three categories: leaders, major challengers, and emerging vendors.
STL Partners highlights partnerships
Next up, a just-published Executive Briefing from STL Partners, highlights the significance of partnerships between network solution vendors and hyperscale cloud providers (such as AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud) in delivering successful telco transformation at scale – creating the opportunity for both vendors and telcos to fundamentally reimagine established business relationships.
This report stresses Mavenir’s leadership in enabling any-cloud, network-critical Open RAN cloud deployments for telecoms operators a commercial reality. Mavenir leads the charts on cloud-enabled CNFs, ahead of Ericsson, Nokia and Samsung.
ABI Research choosing the right RAN vendor
And ABI Research’s report in April on Selecting the right Open RAN vendor for 5G Mobile Networks gave Mavenir the top individual score in every category: end-to-end hardware and software platforms; sticking to industry standards; and collaborating with major telcos to accelerate the adoption of Open RAN worldwide. Mavenir was also identified as a leading implementer based on pilots and partnerships with operators, cloud providers and chipset vendors, noting its expanding geographical coverage.
The energy distributor and telecom operator is building on its recent Telia Danmark acquisition as it seeks to boost bundling
Norlys announced it intends to acquire energy and water utility EWII’s fibre network, which includes approximately 135,000 addresses. Norlys is wasting no time in its efforts to become a national converged telecoms and energy provider: in April, Norlys acquired Telia Danmark and entered the mobile market.
EWII’s network is in the country’s Triangle Region which encompasses seven municipalities on the Jutland peninsula and the island of Funen, namely Billund, Fredericia, Haderslev, Kolding, Middelfart, Vejen and Vejle.
The transaction is contingent upon approval from Norlys’ board of representatives and the Danish competition authorities. As a result of the sale, EWII concludes a “significant chapter” in its history and now shifts focus to the development of new infrastructure.
Next logical step
“We have now deployed fibre across our entire ownership geography, thus completing our mission in fibre. The divestment is, therefore, a logical next step. Being a customer-owned company, Norlys share our values, and this makes Norlys a natural new owner,” said EWII Group CEO Lars Bonderup Bjørn.
“It was particularly important for me to ensure a bright future for the employees at EWII Fibernet, and I am pleased that they will continue securely under the new ownership,” he added. Upon completion of the transaction, Norlys will take over 48 employees currently working at EWII Fibernet.
“It has been nearly 20 years since we first rolled out part of the fibre network. In 2019, we made a significant decision to consider access to the fibre network as a mandatory service, and therefore, to deploy fibre to everyone in the supply area,” said Bjørn. “This effort is now nearly complete, and I am proud that EWII, in line with our purpose statement, stands behind significant value creation for the Triangle Region.”
Hitting one million
With the acquisition of EWII’s fibre network, Norlys will now cover more than one million addresses with fibre. “It’s essential that we have the necessary scale to support the ongoing development of fibre infrastructure in Denmark, said Norlys Group CEO Niels Duedahl.
“That was one of the reasons why we brought in two external investors two years ago, who contribute with capital and valuable insights from other European markets. The purchase of EWII’s fibre network is part of a long-term growth plan and a perfect match for our existing business both commercially and geographically,” he added.
The EWII Group was the first to open its fibre network to all internet service providers offering customers more choices. Initially, the agreement will not affect EWII’s current fibre customers, and Norlys will ensure that customers in the Triangle Region continue to have “extensive options”.
“We believe our fibre network should be open to all service providers, as it provides customers with maximum choice and the most competitive offers,” said Norlys’s fibre business chief executive Carsten Bryder Thejls. “Therefore, customers in the Triangle Region will naturally also be able to choose from the ten internet and TV providers active on Norlys’s fibre network.”
The transaction is expected to be finalised by the end of 2024.
Better internet in Broadband Pool
Norlys said Denmark’s Broadband Pool has opened for applications for better internet, and this year even more people can get a share of the money. The Broadband Pool (Bredbåndspuljen) is a government initiative in Denmark aimed at improving broadband internet access in areas with poor or no broadband coverage. The pool provides funding to support the deployment of high-speed internet infrastructure, especially in rural and remote regions where market conditions alone may not incentivise private investments.
This year, the criteria for applying for the pool have changed, so that even more people can be considered for support. Therefore, applicants must only have access to internet speeds of less than 100Mbps download via fixed broadband and less than 600Mbps via mobile broadband to be eligible for a grant. Therefore, as many as 33,000 addresses can apply for the pool this year. This is about 6,000 more than last year.
Gulf region telcos are stepping up their consumer fibre game although the packages are not the cheapest
Several Middle Eastern operators in countries including Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, and the UAE, are increasingly deploying gigabit packages which has significantly boosted their speed rankings, according to Ookla’s Speedtest Global Index.
The UAE leads the Middle East in fixed broadband performance in Q1 2024, achieving a median download speed of 270.91Mbps – more than double its Q3 2022 figure – and an upload speed of 124.37Mbps. Meanwhile, Bahrain and Qatar saw significant improvements in download and upload speeds, while the median download speed in Jordan rose rapidly from a small base, surpassing Saudi Arabia by Q1 2024.
ISPs are addressing indoor performance bottlenecks with more modern consumer premises equipment. In addition, ISPs have started bundling Wi-Fi 6 compatible CPEs and deploying fibre-to-the-room (FTTR) for ubiquitous gigabit wireless access indoors. Over one-third of test samples in the Gulf region reported using Wi-Fi 4 to connect to the fixed CPE. More ISPs are now offering Wi-Fi 6 compatible CPEs and including additional mesh Wi-Fi nodes at no extra costs to improve indoor coverage and speed.
For the UAE, Ookla said the turning point came in Q4 2022 when ISPs lifted the minimum broadband package speed from 250Mbps to 500Mbps and offered aggressive discounts to encourage upselling to faster fibre packages. The median upload speed also saw notable improvement, reaching 124.37Mbps in March 2024.
Bahrain and Qatar also experienced significant and rapid rises in median download speeds, reaching 83.0Mbps and 135.34 Mbps, respectively. The ISPs in the two countries saw significant improvements in upload speeds, too. Users in Qatar saw the biggest jump in median upload speed, tripling from Q1 2022 to Q1 2024 to 115.74Mbps. In Bahrain, the median upload speed increased by more than 2.7x but remained the lowest of the group at 20.70Mbps.
In Bahrain, the telecoms regulator mandated ISPs to double the speed of entry-level fibre packages in April 2023 while maintaining the same wholesale prices. This immediately impacted the market, with median broadband download speeds jumping from 48.14Mbps in Q1 2023 to 70.17Mbps in Q2 2023 (over 40%).
10Gbps consumer packages
Qatar was the first country in the GCC to offer 10Gbps consumer broadband packages. However, Ooredoo and Vodafone maintained a relatively low download speed on entry-level tariffs at 100Mbps. This changed in June 2023, when they raised the minimum speed to 1 Gbps while offering discounts on more expensive fiber packages. These initiatives resulted in a step change in download speeds, increasing by 41% in Q1 2024 compared to Q2 2023.
In Jordan, the launch of wholesaler Fibertech in 2019 significantly boosted service competition and led to more accessible and affordable fiber services for consumers. Fibertech, set up as a joint venture between ISP Umniah and Jordan Electricity Company, covered 1.2 million households by July 2023 and planned to reach 1.4 million premises, 70% of Jordan’s households, by the end of that year.
Fibre pips DSL
Fibre overtook fixed wireless access (FWA) and ADSL connections in Q2 2021 and represented 56% of fixed broadband connections by the end of 2022. Fibre maintained its upward trajectory, capturing 64% of the market in 3Q 2023 with 513,744 active connections according to the last reported data from the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (TRC). Local ISPs have also been increasing the speed of entry-level plans and offering gigabit packages. For example, Orange Jordan introduced 2Gbps and 10Gbps plans in May 2023. This accelerated fiber take-up boosted the median speeds for both download and upload, reaching 130.41Mbps and 108.08Mbps, respectively, in Q1 2024. Notably, Jordan doubled its median upload speed in two years, narrowing the gap with its median download speed.
In Saudi Arabia, stc led the way by increasing the minimum download speed from 100 Mbps to 300Mbps in the summer of 2022. Mobily followed suit in 2023 by doubling the speed of its entry-level package and introducing a 1Gbps broadband plan during Q2 2023. Zain initially reserved higher download speeds (ranging from 200Mbps to 500Mbps) for customers on two-year contracts, while those on 12-month contracts received speeds between 100Mbps and 300Mbps.
However, in 2023, Zain merged its plans into a standard 18-month contract starting at 200Mbps, with 1Gbps at the high end. These initiatives began to impact the market in Q2 2023, when the median download speed surpassed 90Mbps for the first time, reaching 108.95Mbps by Q1 2024. Upload speeds also saw significant growth, rising to 53.75Mbps during this period.
Gigabit versus giganot
Ookla said that while the broadband infrastructure in some countries from the Middle East is gigabit internet-ready, the disparity in income and the high price of these packages hinder the adoption rate of high-speed broadband services. For example, a 1Gbps fibre line in Hong Kong or Singapore could cost as little as $30 per month, and a plan with a similar speed starts at $100 per month in Qatar, $150 in the UAE, $250 in Saudi Arabia, and $345 in Bahrain.
Partner content: Dense urban locations with multi-level parking garages or high-rise buildings need X,Y and Z axes to pinpoint locations when lives are at stake
Observers generally consider location intelligence in the context of latitude and longitude, placing a handset’s position on the surface of a globe or 2D map. To locate and track a vehicle or subject in open terrain, that information is generally sufficient, because even in a complex natural landscape, the handset can typically be assumed to be at ground level. That assumption becomes unsound, however, in dense urban locations where multi-level parking garages or high-rise buildings are prevalent.
Vertical position data is critical to locating subjects in such urban contexts. For emergency services, knowing which floor of a building to respond to in advance can easily save critical minutes compared to manually searching. Likewise, accurate investigation by law-enforcement agencies (LEAs) may require knowing which floors subjects are located on, such as to determine patterns of life based on meetings. In 5G networks, vertical position can be determined by a variety of techniques based on handset-based or network-based approaches, and capturing that information is an emerging imperative for comprehensive location intelligence.
Requirements for vertical location
Globally, regulatory frameworks are moving toward requiring mobile network operators (MNOs) to provide vertical location information to public safety answering points (PSAPs). In the US, for example, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) requires all nationwide MNOs to deploy dispatchable location or z-axis technology throughout their service areas by April 2025. Non-nationwide MNOs must do the same by April 2026. For the purposes of this requirement, “dispatchable location” refers to providing the PSAP with the validated street address of the emergency caller and the relevant suite, apartment number, or similar information (which requires vertical location data).
Mandates for stricter mobile emergency location requirements are likewise emerging in the EU and other jurisdictions, as the network and handset technologies to support them advances. “Z-axis technology” as referred to in the FCC regulation must deliver vertical accuracy of plus or minus three meters for 80% of the population or 80% of the buildings that exceed three stories. Where possible, this information must include floor-level information. The corresponding accuracy requirement for horizontal (x/y) location is within 50 meters for 80% of emergency calls.
The FCC requires z-axis location data to be delivered to the PSAP as Height Above Ellipsoid (HAE), where “ellipsoid” refers to a standardized mathematical reference model of the Earth that smooths out geographical features to approximate its overall shape at sea level. HAE is the same measurement that is typically provided by GPS.
Calculating a caller’s vertical location
At the PSAP, HAE data provided by the communication service provider (CSP) is not directly usable. For responders to use this z-axis information to find emergency callers, they must translate the abstract HAE measurement into physical location information such as a floor number. Note that the smoothed out ellipsoid model does not correspond to true sea level, which varies by time and place because of tides, wind, gravitation, and other factors. Moreover, geographical features such as hills make “ground level” vary at different x/y locations, relative to the ellipsoid.
The relationship between HAE and the vertical location of an emergency caller’s handset can be determined using a global reference model of sea level heights (known as the “geoid”) at any precise latitude/longitude location. Subtracting the geoid height at the caller’s x/y location from the calculated HAE provides their “orthometric height,” or the distance above or below their location-specific sea level. That information can then be projected onto a 3D map of buildings and other features in an area that includes vertical information such as the height of each floor of every building to identify where ground level is, and accordingly, what floor the caller is on.
Implementation for emergency responders
Beyond regulatory mandates, identifying the vertical location of handsets is vital to taking full advantage of 5G networks, for both emergency response and law enforcement, as well as for commercial purposes. As authorities worldwide set requirements for MNOs to deliver increasingly accurate and comprehensive location data in all three dimensions, all those types of end users need to implement solutions to consume it and advance their respective missions.
Implementing 3D location intelligence based on HAE data requires sourcing 3D maps from providers who update them continually to ensure accurate results. The SS8 lawful intelligence platform can ingest and integrate those maps into its visualization tool and calculate vertical location information along with the handset’s latitude and longitude. The visualization therefore transforms the vertical-axis information from the format that MNOs are required to deliver it, into a human-usable form that is intuitive for PSAP operators, investigators, and others. That translation provides a three-dimensional description of the handset’s position in space, which is instrumental to comprehensive location of subjects, across use cases.
About the author
Michael Gebretsadik has worked in the telecommunication industry for the better part of two decades, in roles ranging from engineering to product management, and business development. He has been involved with location technology since 2003, when he joined SnapTrack (a Qualcomm subsidiary). Prior to joining SS8 in 2020, Michael was responsible for growing the global Location-Based Services business for Comtech Telecommunications through channel partners and IoT OEMs. You can learn more about Michael on his LinkedIn profile.
About SS8 Networks
As a leader in Lawful and Location Intelligence, SS8 helps make societies safer. Our commitment is to extract, analyze, and visualize the critical intelligence that gives law enforcement, intelligence agencies, and emergency services the real-time insights that help save lives. Our high performance, flexible, and future-proof solutions also enable mobile network operators to achieve regulatory compliance with minimum disruption, time, and cost. SS8 is trusted by the largest government agencies, communications providers, and systems integrators globally.
Intellego® XT monitoring and data analytics portfolio is optimized for Law Enforcement Agencies to capture, analyze, and visualize complex data sets for real-time investigative intelligence.
LocationWise delivers the highest audited network location accuracy worldwide, providing active and passive location intelligence for emergency services, law enforcement, and mobile network operators.
Xcipio® mediation platform meets the demands of lawful intercept in any network type and provides the ability to transcode (convert) between lawful intercept handover versions and standard families.
