Local government digital leaders across England, Scotland, and Wales continue to prioritize gigabit broadband rollout, viewing it as essential for connectivity improvements, despite differing opinions on 5G and a lagging focus on environmental sustainability. This was highlighted in a recent survey conducted by FarrPoint, a UK-based connectivity consultancy, which released its findings from a December 2023 study involving councils from various regions.
In an effort to bridge the digital divide in south and east London, the ‘Sub-regional Digital Infrastructure Strategy’ has been proposed. Over 156,000 premises in these areas lack comprehensive digital coverage, creating what is known as a ‘not spot.’ The strategy seeks to rectify this through interactive tools, infrastructure rollouts, and increased commercial investment, in a bid to transform London’s digital landscape.
Despite Europe’s stride towards a digitally advanced future, the current uptake of 5G stands at only 2.5%. This stands in stark contrast to how tech giants like North America, China, Japan, and South Korea are faring. While European market figures on Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) appears promising, various challenges, including recent antidumping measures, have stymied progress and exacerbated the digital divide.
ITS has launched the enticing Faster Britain bus initiative, a design tour autour du pays to spread the word about their newly unveiled full-fibre network. The double-decker bus will serve not only as advertisement but a consumer engagement podium, hosting training events at over 70 networks, engaging directly with tech enthusiasts and initiating digital inclusion programs.
CMC Networks (“CMC”) a leading provider of global telecommunications services and ConnectiviTree (Europe) AG (“ConnectiviTree”), a trailblazer in digital infrastructure solutions, are proud to announce they have signed a Co-Operation Agreement. This transformative partnership brings together ConnectiviTree’s innovative technology and RootNet network and CMC Networks’ extensive reach to revolutionize the landscape of global connectivity.
In an exciting partnership, DZS and Andorix are commanding a digital transformation by converting landmark buildings across North America into fiber-based smart-buildings. By integrating DZS’s FiberLAN technology and Andorix’s PON service, they’ve not only availed historical sites to meet today’s digital demands but also brought considerable operational and capital savings.
Iridium, taking the telecommunications industry by storm, aims to connect satellites directly to devices such as smartphones and automobiles through their Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite infrastructure tightly woven on 5G. The key feature here is connecting ordinary smartphones straight to satellite connectivity.
Lucent W1, a new mixed-use development behind the world-famous Piccadilly Lights, is working with Freshwave so its tenants and visitors will enjoy in-building connectivity from all four mobile network operators (MNOs). Connectivity infrastructure-as-a-service provider Freshwave is deploying the 4G distributed antenna system (DAS) as an ongoing managed service.
Hyundai Motor and Kia are revolutionizing the amalgamation of mobility and living spaces by proposing the consolidation of home and car services. Assisting in this groundbreaking initiative is Samsung Electronics, providing the potential to transform our relationship between home and car via ‘Car-to-Home’ and ‘Home-to-Car’ services. This change promises remote control over various appliances through voice commands, as well as the ability to monitor and manipulate vehicle functions from home.
In a bid to promote digital inclusion and ease the financial burden on its customers, Virgin Media O2, the UK’s second-largest telecoms operator, has taken significant steps to raise awareness of social tariffs. The company, with a customer base of 5 million broadband and TV users, is now including information on its Essential Broadband and Essential Broadband Plus tariffs in the monthly bills of all its customers.
