Vodafone activates first OpenRAN site in UK

Vodafone activated an Open Radio Access Network (OpenRAN) 4G site Powys, Wales - the first OpenRAN site to enter commercial service in the UK.

OpenRAN provides mobile network operators with greater flexibility in choosing infrastructure equipment providers.

Mavenir is supporting Vodafone with this deployment at the Royal Welsh Showground in Powys.

Scott Petty, CTO, Vodafone UK, said: “This is our first live OpenRAN site in the UK, and that’s an important milestone. This new approach has the ability to make us less dependent on current larger technology suppliers, and find ways to reduce the cost of rolling out mobile coverage. OpenRAN can also help close the digital divide between urban and rural Britain.”

Matt Warman, Digital Infrastructure Minister, said: “OpenRAN gives mobile companies the flexibility to use multiple suppliers in their 4G and 5G networks. This is vital to help the market grow, build resilience and give people fast, reliable and secure internet connections wherever they live and work.

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UK spectrum auction set for January 2021

Ofcom confirmed plans to auction 5G spectrum in January 2021. The auction will increase the total amount of spectrum available for mobile in the UK by nearly a fifth (18%).

Some mobile operators had argued for the spectrum to be allocated through an administrative process, instead of an open auction, in light of the coronavirus. However, Ofcom concludes that an open auction will be a more efficient means to make the spectrum available to mobile users without unnecessary delay.

Philip Marnick, Ofcom’s Spectrum Group Director, said: “Demand for getting online on the move is soaring, and the pandemic has only increased the importance of mobile services to people and businesses. Releasing these airwaves promptly will bring a much-needed capacity boost, helping mobile customers get a better service.”

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Community Fibre to invest up to £400 million across London

Community Fibre Limited, which offers full-fibre residential and business broadband in London, announced plans to invest up to £400 million in an accelerated expansion of full-fibre broadband to one million households and businesses across London

Community Fibre also confirmed that funds advised by Warburg Pincus LLC and DTCP will acquire a majority stake in the company. Existing investors include Amber Infrastructure and RPMI Railpen. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Graeme Oxby, CEO of Community Fibre, said: "This is an exciting deal for Community Fibre. Having Warburg Pincus and DTCP on board is a tremendous endorsement for our business. In a post COVID-19 world, digital connectivity will be more crucial than ever. With further new investment, we can work faster than ever to deliver 100% full-fibre broadband to social housing residents and to local communities and their businesses across London."

On completion of the transaction, expected within a few weeks, Olaf Swantee will join Community Fibre as Executive Chairman. Olaf was formerly CEO of Sunrise Communications, the second largest telecoms provider in Switzerland and CEO of EE.

Olaf Swantee, Incoming Executive Chairman at Community Fibre, said: “I am excited to be joining a business in a sector that I am passionate about, where there is a clear vision and purpose. Working alongside blue chip investors such as Warburg Pincus, DTCP, Amber Infrastructure, and RPMI Railpen, will also open up new and exciting growth opportunities.”

https://communityfibre.co.uk/

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SPIE and University of Glasgow announce quantum photonics program

SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, and the University of Glasgow announced the establishment of the SPIE Early Career Researcher Accelerator Fund in Quantum Photonics.

A $500,000 gift from the SPIE Endowment Matching Program will be matched 100% by the University. The program will support a diverse group of graduate students working in the field of quantum photonics and will be managed by Professor Daniele Faccio, Royal Academy of Engineering Chair in Emerging Technologies, and Kelvin Chair of Natural Philosophy Professor Miles Padgett.

The fund will create two new programs at the University: an annual SPIE Early Career Researcher in Quantum Photonics Scholarship will be awarded to an outstanding University of Glasgow graduate student who is in the process of completing their studies. In addition, the SPIE Global Early Career Research program will support outgoing and incoming placements at and from the University as part of its ongoing collaboration with leading quantum-photonics research groups across the globe. Each year, the program will pair several University early-career researchers with counterparts from outside laboratories for six-month-long shared projects.

“We are delighted to be participating in these exciting endeavors with the University of Glasgow,” said SPIE President John Greivenkamp. “The interactive placements will offer transformative opportunities the university’s academic and industry-based researchers, and, together with the annual scholarship, will develop well-prepared, knowledgeable early-career researchers who will drive the future of the quantum industry.”

“We’re pleased and proud to be establishing the Early Career Researcher Accelerator Fund in Quantum Photonics thanks to SPIE’s generous gift, which we’re very happy to match with our own funding,” said Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli, principal and vice-chancellor of the University of Glasgow:. “The University’s quantum photonics expertise is world-leading, and our researchers have found ways to see through walls, capture images at a trillion frames per second, and take the very first pictures of quantum entanglement in action. This additional funding will help the University train a new generation of graduate students to make valuable contributions to academia and industry and inspire them to make their own amazing research breakthroughs.”

https://www.spie.org/news/spie-and-university-of-glasgow-announce-one-million-dollar-quantum-photonics-program-

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Graphcore debuts 2nd gen AI processor, blade and data center fabric

Graphcore, a start-up based in the UK, introduced its second-generation Intelligence Processing Unit (IPU) platform with greater processing power, more memory and built-in scalability for handling extremely large Machine Intelligence workloads.

The IPU-Machine M2000 is a plug-and-play Machine Intelligence compute blade that delivers one PetaFlop of Machine Intelligence compute and includes integrated networking technology. Each blade is powered by four of Graphcore' new 7nm Colossus Mk2 GC200 IPU processors. Each chip contains more than 59.4 billion transistors on a single 823sqmm die. TSMC is Graphcore fab partner. Each IPU has 900MB of ultra-high-speed SRAM In-Processor Memory.

Multiple blades can work in unison in massive datacenter-scale systems of up to 64,000 IPUs - an "IPU-POD" that a maximum configuration would represent 16 ExaFlops of Machine Intelligence compute power.

Graphcore has developed its own low-latency IPU-Fabric technology to connects IPUs across the entire datacenter. A dedicated IPU-Gateway chip delivers 2.8 Tbps of bandwidth for each IPU-Machine M2000. The overall bandwidth grows to many Petabits/sec when multiple IPU-Machine M2000 systems are connected together.

https://www.graphcore.ai/posts/introducing-second-generation-ipu-systems-for-ai-at-scale

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UK confirms ban on Huawei in 5G and broadband infrastructure

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has deciced to ban the purchase of Huawei equipment in 5G infrastructure in the UK after December 2020 and that already deployed equipment must be removed by 2027. The decision follows a technical review by the National Cyber Security Centre in response to U.S. sanctions against Huawei, and strengthens the previous partial-ban announced in January.

The NCSC reasoned that due to the U.S. sanctions, Huawei will need to reconfigure its supply chain and that security confidence could not be established with this unknown factor. The government is urging all UK operators to stop buying Huawei equipment immediately ahead of the legal ban at the end of the year.

For the UK's fixed access networks, where Huawei has been a supplier since 2005, the government isd advising full fibre operators to transition away from purchasing new Huawei equipment. A technical consultation will determine the transition timetable, but this period is expected to last no longer than two years.

Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden states: "5G will be transformative for our country, but only if we have confidence in the security and resilience of the infrastructure it is built upon. Following US sanctions against Huawei and updated technical advice from our cyber experts, the government has decided it is necessary to ban Huawei from our 5G networks. No new kit is to be added from January 2021, and UK 5G networks will be Huawei free by the end of 2027. This decisive move provides the industry with the clarity and certainty it needs to get on with delivering 5G across the UK. By the time of the next election we will have implemented in law an irreversible path for the complete removal of Huawei equipment from our 5G networks."

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/huawei-to-be-removed-from-uk-5g-networks-by-2027

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Crosslake Fibre plans high-capacity cable across English Channel

Crosslake Fibre an international network provider and developer of unique subsea and terrestrial fibre networks, announced plans for a high-fibre count cable across the English Channel.

The non-repeatered, CrossChannel Fibre cable, which will connect Slough, United Kingdom and Paris, will contain 96 fibre pairs, each providing over 20 Tbps.  The system is expected be ready for service in the fall of 2021.

Crosslake Fibre has engaged EGS, a leading global provider of marine surveys and services, to undertake the marine and burial surveys for the project. Crosslake Fibre has placed the marine survey contract into force and survey activities have commenced.

“We are excited to launch this historic subsea project and deliver a new, much-needed connection across the English Channel connecting the critically important data hubs of Slough and Paris. This new fibre infrastructure has been optimized to create the shortest path between the two data hubs, providing users with an enhanced technical solution and materially lowering operating costs. With the continued increase in bandwidth demand further accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, subsea cables have never been more critical to the functioning of the backbone of the Internet,” comments Mike Cunningham, CEO for Crosslake Fibre. “The marine survey is an essential milestone in the development of subsea projects. That is why key partners such as EGS are important, as they have the expertise and knowledge to ensure a successful survey of the route and ultimately pave the way for an optimal deployment of the cable.”

In addition, Crosslake Fibre’s capital partner, Tiger Infrastructure Partners, has invested additional capital into the Crosslake platform to support the CrossChannel Fibre system and advance the growth and development of new projects.

Crosslake Fibre activates Toronto – New York network

Tuesday, October 22, 2019  Subsea  

Crosslake Fibre activated commercial services on the first submarine cable across Lake Ontario from Toronto, Canada to Buffalo, New York.

The diverse, ultra-low latency route connects Toronto’s largest carrier hotels, Equinix TR2 at 45 Parliament Street and 151 Front Street West, to Equinix NY4 in Secaucus, New Jersey with multiple extensions to various points-of-presence in both cities. Crosslake Fibre provides lit and dark fiber services interconnecting Toronto, Secaucus, NJ and Buffalo, NY using the route.

The historic cable traverses Lake Ontario from Toronto to New York State utilizing a specialized 192 fiber strand submarine cable that is 36 miles (58 km) in length.  Using current technology, the cable, which is less than 2 inches in diameter, can provide up to several thousand terabits per second of capacity throughput.

“The new network provides the lowest latency performance, physical geographic diversity, and ultra-high capacity throughput for customers,” states Mike Cunningham, CEO of Crosslake Fibre.  “This backbone Internet infrastructure benefits the financial markets, data centers, content delivery networks, the gaming eco-system, payment processing, and Internet download speeds, in addition to being a catalyst for economic development.”

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Vodafone UK powers on Standalone 5G at Coventry University

Vodafone UK has launched the first live Standalone 5G network in the UK at Coventry University. The Standalone 5G network will be used to trial virtual reality learning to support training for student nurses and allied health professionals.

Ericsson partnered with Qualcomm, MediaTek and OPPO to provide the network to Vodafone.

Ericsson 5G Radio Dot small cells have also been installed to provide speedy and high-capacity indoor coverage in the university’s Disruptive Media Learning Lab and National Transport Design Centre.

Arun Bansal, President and Head of Europe and Latin America, Ericsson, says: “Standalone networks are central to the promise of 5G to reimagine society, the economy and industries. We’re proud of what we’ve been able to achieve in partnership with Vodafone. This launch is another example of Ericsson’s 5G technology leadership.”

Professor John Latham CBE, Coventry University Vice-Chancellor, says: “This will help us continue to change and enhance the way students learn. Being the first university in the UK to have this next phase of 5G technology is the first step on our journey to creating a 5G campus.”

Scott Petty, Chief Technology Officer, Vodafone UK, says: “5G today is all about capacity and increased speeds. It’s giving people the best mobile experience ever, but it’s only the tip of the iceberg of what 5G can do.”

Vodafone’s announcement of the 5G Standalone network comes one year to the day after it launched commercial 5G in the UK.

Vodafone tests Metaswitch's 5G convergence Access Gateway Function

Wednesday, April 29, 2020  5G, Metaswitch, Vodafone  

Vodafone has successfully tested Metaswitch's Access Gateway Function (AGF) solution - the industry’s first implementation of the 5G Wireless Wireline Convergence (WWC) AGF standard. Metaswitch said its Access Gateway Function (AGF), which is part of its 5G Fusion Core, is a true cloud-native solution in which all functional elements, including User Plane Function (UPF) and Access Gateway Function (AGF), are deployed in containers and orchestrated...

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An update from the Telecom Infra Project (TIP)

Thursday, February 27, 2020  TIP  

To mark its fourth anniversary, the Telecom Infra Project (TIP) provided the following update on its activities: 1. Global expansion of TIP activities, progressing solutions such as OpenRAN, Disaggregated Cell Site Gateways (DCSG) and Cassini into a growing number of deployments and field trials. Specifically, Vodafone has now launched trials in Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of the Congo as anticipated, and is progressing with trials in...

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Vodafone to deactivate Huawei from its mobile core

Wednesday, February 05, 2020  Vodafone  

Vodafone will remove Huawei equipment from the core of its mobile networks across Europe. Following the release of its quarterly financial report, Nick Read, Vodafone's Chief Executive, said the cost of deactivating the Huawei gear will amount to EUR 200 million over 5 years. The company's UK operations are already compliant with the government's recently imposed 35% cap of infrastructure sourced from "high-risk vendors." For the quarter ended...

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Vodafone supports 5G 0-RAN as its restructures tower business

Monday, January 13, 2020  Vodafone  

by Benedict Chua Vodafone confirmed further activation of its 5G network in the UK, including in Belfast, Edinburgh and Leeds, plus the towns of Cheadle, Rochdale and Stockport in and around Greater Manchester. Vodafone is also now offering  5G roaming in five locations in the Republic of Ireland. 5G roaming already covers Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK as part of Vodafone’s 5G roll-out. Vodafone is the first UK company to introduce 5G...

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Global Environmental Monitoring and Measurement in Scotland

The network of 25 sensors will be installed in primary and secondary schools across Glasgow, Scotland to collect real-time information on emissions of CO2 and various noxious gases in the city’s air. The trial is part of the Global Environmental Monitoring and Measurement (GEMM) initiative, a collaboration between the University of Strathclyde; Stanford, the University of California at Berkeley, The Optical Society (OSA), the American Geophysical Union (AGU), the Met Office, and the National Physical Laboratory, UK.

“This project will deliver the type of data necessary to drive efforts in Glasgow and other cities to reduce emissions and greenhouse gases,” said Elizabeth Rogan, CEO, The Optical Society (OSA). “The GEMM initiative is developing measurement technologies to improve climate change models and inform decision-making in both the public and private sector.”

Professor Allister Ferguson, University of Strathclyde and co-lead of the project said, “As the climate changes rapidly, public and private decision-makers around the world are facing an ever-increasing need for more accurate environmental data, improved measurements, and forecasting models to predict the future course of the environment and, where possible, develop strategies to adapt to or mitigate these environmental and climate-change caused disruptions.

Co-lead Dr. Thomas Baer, Director of Stanford Photonics Research Center at Stanford University, USA and a Visiting Professor at Strathclyde said, “While efforts to reduce GHG emissions have made great strides, particularly when it comes to electricity generation, heating and transport remain two challenging areas. Being able to monitor in real-time the GHG emissions caused predominately by traffic, policymakers will be able to make informed decisions and see near-immediate results.”

https://www.osa.org/en-us/about_osa/newsroom/news_releases/2020/scientists_install_sensors_in_glasgow_scotland_sch/

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Huawei moves forward with Optoelectronics Centre in Cambridge, UK

Huawei confirmed plans to invest £1 billion in the first phase a new Optoelectornics RD & manufacturing centre in Cambridge, UK.

In 2018, Huawei acquired 500 acres of land at the former Spicers paper mill, located to the west of Sawston. The site includes over 50 acres of brownfield land.

This next phase of the project includes construction of 50,000 square meters of facilities across nine acres of land and will directly create around 400 local jobs.

Once fully operational, Huawei said this new facility will become the international headquarters of its optoelectronics business. The facility will ocus on the research, development, and manufacturing of optical devices and modules.

"The UK is home to a vibrant and open market, as well as some of the best talent the world has to offer," said Victor Zhang, Vice President of Huawei. "It's the perfect location for this integrated innovation campus. Through close collaboration with research institutes, universities, and local industry, we want to advance optical communications technology for the industry as a whole, while doing our part to support the UK's broader Industrial Strategy. Ultimately, we want to help enshrine the UK's leading position in optoelectronics and promote UK tech on a global scale.

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O2 UK deploys additional 5G RAN gear from Ericsson

O2 UK has selected Ericsson to deploy its 5G radio access network (RAN) in additional areas across the UK, upgrading the existing 2G/3G/4G sites as part of a substantial network modernization program. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Following the launch of O2’s 5G commercial network in October last year, the extended partnership with Ericsson includes hardware, software and service upgrades in the West of the UK, bringing greater coverage, voice and data capacity. The contract covers new multiband and wide-band 5G radios as well as new 5G-optimized basebands to build sustainable sites in preparation for future increases in 5G coverage and capacity.

Brendan O’Reilly, CTO, O2, says: “We are pleased to be moving forward with Ericsson as one of our primary vendors for our 5G rollout. Telecommunications has never been more important in keeping the country connected, and we look forward to bringing the enhanced capabilities of 5G to our customers.”

Arun Bansal, President of Europe and Latin America, Ericsson, said: “5G will be crucial for the UK’s economic recovery and underpin its digital future. We are committed to ensuring that the UK achieves its gigabit connectivity targets so that enterprises and society at large benefit from high quality connectivity. We are delighted to be continuing our long-term partnership with O2 with this 5G network evolution.

Liberty's Virgin Media to merge with Telefónica's O2

Thursday, May 07, 2020  Mergers And Acquisitions, O2, Service Providers, Telefonica, UK, Virgin  

Liberty Global plc and Telefónica SA will merge their operating businesses in the U.K. to form a 50:50 joint venture focused on broadband + mobile + video + entertainment consumer services. O2 is the largest mobile platform in the UK, while Virgin Media claims to be the nation's fastest broadband network.

The "fully-converged" JV is also expected to become a leading challenger in the B2B space as the combination will accelerate the adoption of converged fixed-mobile services to Virgin Media’s and O2’s existing business customers.

The JV will have an approximate annual turnover of £11 billion, and 46 million mobile, home, and business connections.

The companies cite significant operating benefits for the JV, with estimated run-rate cost, CAPEX and revenue synergies of £540 million on an annual basis by the fifth full year post closing, equivalent to a net present value of approximately £6.2 billion post tax and net of integration costs, as well as significant synergies from the accelerated usage of existing tax assets. The vast majority of the benefits relate to demonstrable cost and CAPEX synergies, with an annual run-rate of approximately £430 million out of which approximately 80% are expected to be achieved by the third full year after the closing.

CAPEX synergies:

• Use of existing infrastructure to provide services for each entity’s customers at lower cost compared to standalone / wholesale capabilities;
• Migration of Virgin Media mobile traffic to Telefonica UK’s network;
• Combination of regional and national network infrastructures and IT systems;
• Reduction in combined marketing expenditures;
• Potential to reduce general and administration costs; and 
• Site rationalization

O2 activates 5G across London and Slough with Nokia

Thursday, October 24, 2019    

O2 activated its 5G network in London and Slough.

Nokia serves as the sole RAN provider to O2 across London.

Nokia said it is working with O2 to execute its intelligence-led rollout strategy, which prioritizes connecting transport hubs, key business areas, and entertainment and sports venues to ensure superior customer experience for local and international visitors.

Brendan O’Reilly, O2’s Chief Technology Officer, said: “As we roll out 5G, our intelligence-led strategy is driven by data and insight to identify where customers will benefit from 5G the most – Nokia is helping us to deliver that in one of the most high-density subscriber areas in the world. The transformational power of 5G yields huge potential for businesses and consumers alike, allowing them to get a head start on competitors.”

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Huawei launches advertising campaign in UK

Huawei launched a major advertising campaign in the UK to respond to the rising calls by British politicians to ban it from a meaningful role in the nation's 5G and gigabit fiber projects.

Huawei Vice President Victor Zhang said: “Huawei grew up in the UK.  We’ve been here for 20 years and were integral in building the 3G and 4G networks we all use every day. Today’s letter underlines Huawei’s ongoing commitment to improving connectivity for everyone in the UK. As a private company, 100% owned by employees, our priority has been to help mobile and broadband companies build a better connected UK. Britain needs the best possible technologies, more choice, innovation and more suppliers, all of which means more secure and more resilient networks. This is fundamental to achieving the government’s Gigabit broadband target by 2025. This is our commitment to the UK.”

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Zayo gains UK government procurement status

Zayo has been placed on two of the UK Government’s key procurement mechanisms for the provision of fiber connectivity.

Zayo said these placements enable it to provide design, installation, testing and fiber installation for organisations across the UK public sector.

Derek Gillespie, Zayo’s global chief revenue officer, said, “I’m delighted that Zayo has been named as an approved supplier for the UK public sector. We have extensive experience in providing fiber connectivity to government and education across the United States, and we look forward to putting this expertise to work for more of the UK’s Public Sector.”

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Nokia to supply fiber solutions to Openreach

Nokia will supply its fiber solutions to Openreach to help meet its target of bringing ultra-fast and reliable broadband access to 20 million homes across the UK by the mid-to-late 2020s.

Nokia will provide GPON and XGS-PON technologies to expand Openreach’s fiber-rich network to reach 4.5 million premises by the end of March 2021. The solution, which includes the 7360 ISAM FX, Nokia 7362 ISAM DF and Nokia ISAM ONTs, is capable of delivering up to 10Gbps symmetrical broadband speeds in the future and supports a smooth evolution from current traditional deployments to virtualized access-network control and management (SDAN – Software Defined Access Networking) by software upgrade. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Nokia described the agreement as a key milestone in its extensive partnership with Openreach to deliver multi-Gigabit, next generation PON connectivity to customers and builds on an extensive end-to-end network framework that has been established over the past years. This includes G.fast technology which currently allows Openreach to offer 100s of Mbps to homes in areas where fiber is not available yet.

Clive Selley, CEO of Openreach, said: “We’re accelerating our full fibre build to deliver an ultrafast, ultra-reliable and futureproof broadband network throughout the UK. This new digital platform will help our economy to bounce back more quickly from the Covid-19 pandemic – enabling people to continue work from home, and millions of businesses to operate seamlessly online for decades to come.  Right now, we’re making the new network available to around 32,000 homes and businesses every week, and Nokia’s innovative solutions are helping us to build it better, broader and faster. Our partnership with Nokia will be critical in helping us to upgrade the nation and hit our target of reaching four and a half million premises by the end of March 2021.”

Peter Bell, Network Technologies Director, Openreach CTIO said: “Nokia is already making a major contribution to Openreach’s Fibre-to-the-Premises rollout, including in the build of our first fully fibred city, Salisbury. We’re confident that Nokia will continue to be a strong partner in helping us meet our ambition throughout the UK.”

Sandra Motley, President of Fixed Networks at Nokia said: “Ensuring everybody has access to broadband services is critical, especially during unprecedented times like these where it has become the lifeline to millions working, handling healthcare and learning from home.  Our fiber solutions will help Openreach bring enhanced ultra-broadband services to millions of new customers across the UK today while our 10G PON technology will help to futureproof their network against whatever may come next.”

Openreach picks ADTRAN's OLTs and Cloud Platform

Thursday, May 14, 2020  ADTRAN, Openreach, UK  

Openreach, the wholesale infrastructure arm of BT, has selected ADTRAN’s SDX Series of OLTs and Mosaic Cloud Platform to help it achieve its ambition of making gigabit and multi-gigabit services available to 20 million homes across the UK by the mid-to-late 2020s with its Full Fibre network.

ADTRAN said its SDX platform will enable Openreach to economically scale its GPON and XGS-PON network with a level of flexibility that could not be realized with traditional access solutions.

Peter Bell, Network Technologies Director, Openreach said: “We’re already making our new ultrafast, ultra-reliable broadband network available to around 32,000 UK homes and businesses every week – and we’re on track to reach our target of reaching four and a half million premises with ‘Full Fibre’ by the end of March 2021.”

“But we don’t want to stop there. Our new network will support the UK’s economy for decades to come and help it bounce back from the COVID-19 pandemic, so we’ll be accelerating our Full Fibre build throughout the year. ADTRAN’s solutions will play a key role in helping us achieve that as we’re continually searching for innovative technologies that can help us build the network better, broader and faster for our customers.”

More than 600 retail carriers across the United Kingdom rely on Openreach to deliver the wholesale capacity to support a broad portfolio of services to enterprise, small-to-medium businesses and residential customers.

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Colt appoints Keri Gilder as CEO

Colt Technology Services appointed Keri Gilder as its new CEO, replacing Carl Grivner, who after five years with Colt, has decided to step down.

“Colt has always been determined to be ahead of the curve. It’s why we invested in high bandwidth connectivity, blockchain and APIs, even before we saw customer demand for these innovative solutions. It has been a privilege to lead an organisation during such a transformation, and it’s been an honour to have the backing of the Board, my team and the wider organisation as we pushed ahead with doing some things that haven’t been done before. I am proud to be a Coltie, and I can’t wait to see where Keri takes the business – it’s in incredibly capable hands," stated Carl Grivner.

Gilder has served as Colt's Chief Commercial Officer since joining the organisation in November 2018. Before joining Colt, Keri held several leadership roles at Ciena but was most recently its Vice President and General Manager EMEA, responsible for guiding Ciena’s EMEA service provider and enterprise customers, as well as partners.

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Telefónica UK migrates TDM to Ciena 6500 Packet Transport

Telefónica UK will migrate its legacy Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) infrastructure to a next-generation Adaptive IP network powered by Ciena's 6500 Packet Transport System (PTS).

Ciena said its 6500 PTS will allow Telefónica UK to continue supporting remaining TDM customers while also addressing new, high-growth applications across a single, converged packet-based transport network.
In addition, Ciena’s Manage, Control and Plan (MCP) domain controller will give Telefónica UK real-time visibility into its network to proactively identify and prevent potential issues.

“Providing reliable and seemingly endless bandwidth should not be hindered by the cost and complexity of managing legacy TDM networks. Our solution streamlines the migration process and also homogenizes Telefónica UK’s legacy services and its network approach to deliver 5G and IoT services,” states Rodolfo Vigliano, Senior Managing Director of Sales, Ciena.

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Openreach picks ADTRAN's OLTs and Cloud Platform

Openreach, the wholesale infrastructure arm of BT, has selected ADTRAN’s SDX Series of OLTs and Mosaic Cloud Platform to help it achieve its ambition of making gigabit and multi-gigabit services available to 20 million homes across the UK by the mid-to-late 2020s with its Full Fibre network.

ADTRAN said its SDX platform will enable Openreach to economically scale its GPON and XGS-PON network with a level of flexibility that could not be realized with traditional access solutions.

Peter Bell, Network Technologies Director, Openreach said: “We’re already making our new ultrafast, ultra-reliable broadband network available to around 32,000 UK homes and businesses every week – and we’re on track to reach our target of reaching four and a half million premises with ‘Full Fibre’ by the end of March 2021.”

“But we don’t want to stop there. Our new network will support the UK’s economy for decades to come and help it bounce back from the COVID-19 pandemic, so we’ll be accelerating our Full Fibre build throughout the year. ADTRAN’s solutions will play a key role in helping us achieve that as we’re continually searching for innovative technologies that can help us build the network better, broader and faster for our customers.”

More than 600 retail carriers across the United Kingdom rely on Openreach to deliver the wholesale capacity to support a broad portfolio of services to enterprise, small-to-medium businesses and residential customers.

“ADTRAN is thrilled to be part of Openreach’s plan to upgrade the UK’s broadband infrastructure and the selection is a proof point that ADTRAN’s open, disaggregated approach to service creation and delivery is a blueprint for the telecommunications industry,” said Dan Whalen, ADTRAN’s Chief Product Officer. “Given the breadth of Openreach’s Full Fibre network, having the ability to deliver GPON and XGS-PON services from the same OLT port streamlines service delivery and reduces the complexity of network design. We make it possible for any service provider, based anywhere in the country, to have the service options they require to fit their customer’s needs.”

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Liberty's Virgin Media to merge with Telefónica's O2

Liberty Global plc and Telefónica SA will merge their operating businesses in the U.K. to form a 50:50 joint venture focused on broadband + mobile + video + entertainment consumer services. O2 is the largest mobile platform in the UK, while Virgin Media claims to be the nation's fastest broadband network.

The "fully-converged" JV is also expected to become a leading challenger in the B2B space as the combination will accelerate the adoption of converged fixed-mobile services to Virgin Media’s and O2’s existing business customers.

The JV will have an approximate annual turnover of £11 billion, and 46 million mobile, home, and business connections.

The companies cite significant operating benefits for the JV, with estimated run-rate cost, CAPEX and revenue synergies of £540 million on an annual basis by the fifth full year post closing, equivalent to a net present value of approximately £6.2 billion post tax and net of integration costs, as well as significant synergies from the accelerated usage of existing tax assets. The vast majority of the benefits relate to demonstrable cost and CAPEX synergies, with an annual run-rate of approximately £430 million out of which approximately 80% are expected to be achieved by the third full year after the closing.

CAPEX synergies:

• Use of existing infrastructure to provide services for each entity’s customers at lower cost compared to standalone / wholesale capabilities;
• Migration of Virgin Media mobile traffic to Telefonica UK’s network;
• Combination of regional and national network infrastructures and IT systems;
• Reduction in combined marketing expenditures;
• Potential to reduce general and administration costs; and 
• Site rationalization

Telefónica's Chief Executive Officer, Jose Maria Alvarez-Pallete, said, “Combining O2’s number one mobile business with Virgin Media’s superfast broadband network and entertainment services will be a game-changer in the U.K., at a time when demand for connectivity has never been greater or more critical. We are creating a strong competitor with significant scale and financial strength to invest in UK digital infrastructure and give millions of consumer, business and public sector customers more choice and value.  This is a proud and exciting moment for our organisations, as we create a leading integrated communications provider in the U.K.”

Mike Fries, Chief Executive Officer of Liberty Global, said, “We couldn’t be more excited about this combination. Virgin Media has redefined broadband and entertainment in the U.K. with lightning fast speeds and the most innovative video platform. And O2 is widely recognized as the most reliable and admired mobile operator in the U.K., always putting the customer first. With Virgin Media and O2 together, the future of convergence is here today. We’ve seen the benefit of FMC first-hand in Belgium and the Netherlands. When the power of 5G meets 1 gig broadband, U.K. consumers and businesses will never look back. We’re committed to this market and are right behind the Government’s digital and connectivity goals.”

https://www.nationalconnectivitychampion.co.uk/

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Ofcom posts 5G EMF measurements to counter Covid 5G myth

Ofcom published test results showing that UK 5G continues to operate well within internationally-accepted safety levels.

The published results include electromagnetic field (EMF) measurements taken at 22 5G sites in 10 UK cities. The maximum measured at any mobile site was approximately 1.5% of the guidelines set by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP).

The highest level from 5G signals specifically was 0.039% of the maximum set out in the international guidelines.

The UK telecoms regulatory authority reminds the public that there is no scientific evidence to support the conspiracy theories linking the coronavirus to 5G and putting lives at risk.

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/about-ofcom/latest/features-and-news/clearing-up-myths-5g-and-coronavirus

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BT confirms Ericsson for 5G core

BT signed a deal to deploy Ericsson’s dual-mode 5G Core (Evolved Packet Core and 5G Core), a fully container-based, cloud native Mobile Packet Core for 4G, 5G Non-standalone and 5G Standalone services as a single fully integrated core. The solution, delivered on BT’s Network Cloud, will form a key component in BT’s move to a single converged IP network. It will incorporate network orchestration and automation, including continuous delivery and integration processes (CI/CD), and be integrated into BT’s existing customer experience management platforms using Ericsson Expert Analytics together with Ericsson’s built-in software probes. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Howard Watson, CTIO of BT, says: “Having evaluated different 5G Core vendors, we have selected Ericsson as the best option on the basis of both lab performance and future roadmap. We are looking forward to working together as we build out our converged 4G and 5G core network across the UK. An agile, cloud-native core infrastructure is at the heart of our ambition to enable the next generation of exciting 5G services for our customers and give the UK the world-class digital infrastructure it needs to win in the future global economy.”

Marielle Lindgren, Head of Ericsson UK and Ireland, says: “Ericsson and BT have a long history of working together and we are delighted to continue that relationship with this new dual-mode 5G Core deal. We, at Ericsson, have been in the UK for over a century and delivering the next generation of connectivity here is yet another proud part of our story”.

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