T-Mobile US is experimenting with fiber broadband by launching a symmetrical gigabit fiber service in New York City. The service is offered for a fixed monthly fee, but the prices have not yet been announced. This service, which offers 940Mbps upload and download rates as well as a WiFi 6 router, is now being tested in selected Manhattan apartment buildings. The company is undertaking a very restricted trial with a third-party supplier to offer residential internet using fiber-optic lines from that partner rather than deploying its own lines. T-Mobile did not reveal the identity of its local partner. The decision to collaborate with a local broadband provider is consistent with T-Mobile’s well-known practice of leasing rather than constructing fiber for its cell sites. Because T-Mobile is not installing new fiber connections but rather utilizing those that are already in place, initial expenses are kept low, and T-Mobile is…
Telecom Italia (TIM) has inked a deal with the Italian branch of Xavier Niel’s Iliad to co-invest in TIM’s last-mile grid firm FiberCop in order to accelerate the deployment of fiber broadband lines in Italy. Under the terms of the agreement with TIM, Iliad will co-invest in FiberCop to assist in the development of the network that connects street cabinets to people’s houses. Iliad will receive access to Telecom Italia’s core fiber network, allowing it to provide ultrafast fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) connections to clients. According to TIM, the agreement validated FiberCop’s investment strategy, which aims to link 75 percent of Italy’s so-called grey and black zones, including cities and industrial districts, with FTTH connections at speeds of more than 1 gigabyte per second by 2025. The agreement’s financial terms were not disclosed. According to analysts, the FiberCop agreement might help TIM counter some of the heightened competitive pressure…
Spain’s leading telecommunications group, Telefónica, has announced the sale of a controlling stake in its fiber network in Colombia to a global investment company KKR. With the sale of this majority stake, the telecommunications company expects to reduce its debt by $169 million. As part of the agreement, KKR will hold 60% of the shares in the new Colombian fiber company, and Telefónica will retain the remaining 40% and contribute its existing fiber assets in the country. The new company will start operating with a fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network, covering 1.2 million locations in 50 cities and municipalities and serving 380,000 customers by the end of the first quarter 2022. In three years, their goal is to reach 4.3 million sites in almost 90 cities. The deal between Telefónica and KKR values the new company at $500 million. This entity will be the first independent Colombian open access wholesale…
BT, the UK’s largest telecoms and network provider, has launched hollow core fiber trials at the BT Labs in Adastral Park, Ipswich, in a joint venture with Lumenisity, the University of Southampton’s spin-off company and Mavenir, the Open Radio Access Network (O- RAN) mobile carrier. The research is being carried out at BT’s research and engineering facilities, with the researchers using a 10-kilometer-long hollow-core fiber cable made by Lumenisity. This state-of-the-art network cable has a hollow, air-filled center that extends through the entirety of the cable. The hollow core fiber will be tested for a myriad of applications, such as the possible benefits to 5G networks and highly secure communications such as Quantum Key Distribution (QKD). Reducing the latency of hollow fiber light could provide immense benefits, including high-frequency trading and reduced mobile network costs. This joint venture has revealed that the usage of hollow core fiber can…
SSE Enterprise Telecoms, a UK-wide high capacity network and connectivity provider, has announced a new critical network contract with Jisc, a digital technology supplier for the education and research sector in the UK. The agreement includes the launch of the Janet South network and an extension of the UK Backbone network partnership, providing data-intensive research centres access to significant bandwidth and speeds of up to 100 Gbps. Colin Sempill, Managing Director, SSE Enterprise Telecoms, said: “Through utilising our expansive network and industry expertise, Jisc has been able to provide vital connectivity to some of the UK’s most critical education and research facilities. Thanks to our high capacity, low latency services these institutions can collaborate across the UK and the globe.” “We’re very excited to announce the launch of the Janet South Network partnership and further extension of the UK backbone network, which will keep vital institutions producing ground-breaking…
ZTE Corporation and Intel have jointly launched the Light Cloud platform for access networks at the 5G Summit being held at Mobile World Congress 2019 in Barcelona. The Light Cloud solution is based on Intel’s innovative Edge products, impeccably integrated into ZTE’s flagship optical fiber access platform, Titan, thus merging Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC) and Network function virtualization (NFVI). The solution employs lightweight blade servers equipped with Intel Xeon D processors. When embedded in an OLT or BRAS device, the blade servers transform it into lightweight cloud infrastructure, thus reducing high capital costs and making a positive environmental impact. The infrastructure opens up computing and storage possibilities based on telecom access equipment, and allows the deployment and distribution of application-sensitive services. The access layer with cloud features is supported by built-in blade servers, and facilitates the ability to offer a wide range of cloud applications and services, including…
Samsung Electronics has announced that it will provide live streaming of the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2019 on the expo’s official media channel ‘Mobile World Live TV’ using its 5G network, thus demonstrating real-world use of its 5G technology. MWC, the world’s largest mobile show, starts next week in Barcelona, and Samsung is going to display a number of devices and new technologies at the event. According to the company, its 5G solutions comprise a radio access unit (5G Radio) and a 5G router (CPE), and will broadcast the content shot by the High Definition Television Video (HDTV) camera at the booth of Mobile World Live TV, located in Broadcast Village, Gran Via. The cutting-edge solution is effective in overcoming the physical limitations of a fiber-based network and will replace the former fiber-based backhaul. The super-fast 5G mobile network is perfectly suited for transmitting large data packets such as…
China Telecom (China Telecommunication Corporation) and HGC (formerly Hutchinson Global Communication) will be working together in building a carrier-to-carrier fiber optic connection on the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge. HGC, founded in 1992 under British ruling, is the leader in fixed-line operators. It also has an extensive number of infrastructures outside of Hong Kong. It is also one of Hong Kong’s main Wi-Fi provider with 29,000 hotspots. It is now owned by I Square Capital, under Asia Cube Global’s infrastructure. On the other hand, China Telecom is the most important state-owned telecommunication company in China. It manages the third largest broadband network in the world. Their internet offers has 160 million subscribers, and the customers’ number of their mobile service is 260 million. This Bridge connects Zhuhai, up north Macau, Macau itself and Hong Kong. It is set to open for vehicles on July 1rst 2018. It will also be used for…
U Mobile has partnered with Telekom Malaysia to accelerate 5G deployment using TM’s extensive fiber network. With Huawei and ZTE as key tech partners, U Mobile aims for rapid nationwide coverage, focusing on high demand areas while maintaining a wholesale access deal with DNB.
Verizon has received FCC approval for a $20 billion acquisition of Frontier Communications, expanding its fiber network to reach more homes nationwide. In exchange, Verizon agreed to eliminate all diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, reflecting broader industry and political shifts away from such programs.