The UK faces a digital exclusion dilemma, with lack of strategy and leadership leaving millions potentially unconnected. Baroness Stowell highlights the imperative of bridging this gap for global competitiveness. However, the effectiveness of suggested solutions remains debatable, and conversations around online safety further complicate the situation. With potential threats to end-to-end encryption, a revised approach to digital skills may be necessary.
Global telecom giant Veon commits $600 million to boost Ukraine’s infrastructure, focusing on 4G mobile and fiber development, while inviting other institutions to join the initiative. Kyivstar, Veon’s subsidiary, aims for 98% 4G coverage in three years, with potential 5G advancements.
UK’s latest telecommunications initiatives involve satellite broadband for remote Scottish regions, collaborating with Australia on telecoms diversification, and implementing advanced digital infrastructure such as smart lampposts, showcasing its commitment to becoming a global industry leader.
ITU’s ambitious fundraising initiative aims to connect least developed countries, targeting $100 billion by 2026. Managed by Partner2Connect, the project addresses the growing digital divide, as well as gender disparities in internet access, to promote global digital transformation.
The Vodafone Foundation has announced an investment of €20 million to fund digital skills and education initiatives across Europe and the UK. It is expected that by 2025, the programs sponsored by this investment will reach 16 million learners. The programs run in partnership with charities and NGOs, and will allow people to develop their knowledge and skills in using digital technologies. The €20 million investment is said to be spread over the next five years. The program aims to reach millions of primary and secondary school learners, those who are not students, employed or in training, and the elderly. This announcement happened to coincide with International Education Day. According to Vodafone, countries such as Albania, the Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Turkey and the UK will receive funding for advancing digital skills. Nick Read, CEO Vodafone Group, said: “Vodafone…
DIDWW, the cloud telephony platform focused on providing virtual phone numbers on a global basis, has recently been assigned a new international shared country code by the ITU (International Telecommunication Union). This organization is the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies, and is responsible for implementing technical standards that ensure the seamless interconnection of networks. In the past, the company highlighted the vulnerabilities and shortfalls of the current number portability procedures and how it was possible that a subscriber could lose their phone number. This problem has become critical due to the fact that phone numbers are increasingly used as a supposedly secure means of identification and authentication in our journey towards full digital transformation. As per DIDWW’s official announcement, the company strongly subscribes to the ITU’s philosophy that the phone number is an asset that must be owned by the end-user, and the company…
The global telecom giants are increasingly acknowledging the benefits of blockchain technology. Telefonica, a Spanish multinational telecommunications company, has signed a partnership with IBM, a leader in open-source blockchain solutions, to employ IBM blockchain technology for superior administration of international call traffic. Telefonica expects that the usage of the cloud-based IBM Blockchain Platform will help to improve the traceability of international call data, such as the origin of the call, its destination and duration. They will be able to detect fraud and address other challenges caused by the use of different networks and operators when routing international calls. Operators will have permissioned access to a decentralized platform, and perform real-time tracing of calls to achieve accurate billing processes. “This project is one of our first initiatives to secure real benefits from the adoption of blockchain in our core business. We believe that the new paradigm of process decentralization…
The secretary-general of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Zhao Houlin, explained at a press conference in Geneva, Switzerland, that infrastructure, investment, innovation and inclusion, or the “4 I’s”. Those pillars for information and communication technology (ICT) will be an obligation to reach the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), especially for the next ten years. Infrastructure are essential to hold any economy based on communication and high tech. The future of digital economy in sustainable cities, will largely be based on the capacity to construct strong equipments for those infrastructures, not only to connect people but also objects. Strong investments are fundamental for the development of ICT. In order to see progress on SDG, innovation in the domain of finance will be needed and a mix between public and private investors is one of the solutions. Opportunity is only possible with innovation, thus small companies that base their growth and survival…
Opengear, part of Digi International, has recently secured SOC 2 Type 2 and ISO 27001 certifications, reinforcing its position as a leader in providing secure VoIP solutions. These certifications signify Opengear’s commitment to optimal security protocols, ensuring robust management of network infrastructure even during critical outages. Enhance your VoIP strategy with certified reliability.
Europe’s satellite connectivity push is becoming a VoIP and telecom strategy issue as leaders demand digital sovereignty, 3GPP standards and secure spectrum access. From space-based 5G to emergency alerts and IoT networks, operators see satellite communications shaping resilient voice, broadband and critical infrastructure across Europe’s next-generation communications market and growth
