UK telecoms sector agrees to help customers in need The UK government and operators have approved a new deal to help customers who are struggling to pay their broadband and mobile bills. Andrew Glover, chair of the Internet Service Providers’ Association (ISPA), stated, “The telecoms sector knows that people are facing real challenges with the cost-of-living crisis. Our members are determined to do what they can to help their customers through this period and, together with the government, we will work to raise greater awareness of the support available.” Among other measures, telcos have agreed to allow vulnerable customers to switch to cheaper tariffs without charge or penalty, or adjust their plans to make payments more manageable. Read more at https://tinyurl.com/msjxsp2f Sinch achieves HIPAA compliance for its voice, fax and UCaaS services Sinch has announced that it has successfully achieved third-party validation of its compliance with the Health Insurance Portability…
The GSMA has released a whitepaper that specifies 10 key performance indicators (KPIs) for mobile carriers in the areas of environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG). The GSMA estimates that roughly 600 distinct ESG reporting standards are presently in use across the mobile sector. This diversity not only makes assessing the level of success on an industrial scale challenging, but it also puts a great load on operators, who often invest significant time and effort in data gathering and detailing progress, only to generate a report with little value. The KPIs are divided into four groups, with the GSMA explaining why these divisions were made: Environment – Reporting against environmental KPIs can aid internal decision-making, such as how to develop decarbonization policies and deploy cash to increase energy efficiency. Emissions, energy and waste reduction are the KPIs in this area. Digital Inclusion – Tracking success against…
One of the most important lessons society has learned from being stranded at home and unable to travel during a pandemic, is that once carbon emissions fall, the benefits materialize remarkably quickly. What have telecommunications providers learned during this time? That due to the staggering demand for digital communications at this time, the global telecom infrastructure has been forced to consume more energy than ever before, increasing the carbon footprint.
As part of its search for new technological and research collaborations, Viasat Inc., a global leader in satellite communications, has joined the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus’s Space Cluster. Viasat is proving its willingness to play an active part in the UK’s space ecosystem by building a new office at the Harwell Campus, while also providing its expertise in space-based broadband communications to the Harwell community. Harwell is home to the UK’s largest concentration of space knowledge, with over 1,400 people working across over 100 private and public sector enterprises, including the UK Space Agency and the European Space Agency. The space sector, according to Harwell, provides £5.7 billion annually to the UK economy. The Harwell Space Cluster, according to Viasat, is generally recognized as a critical aspect of the UK’s space sector, bringing together innovative enterprises from throughout the UK and the European Union. Viasat hopes to…
Ericsson has ceased operations in Russia in order to comply with international sanctions imposed in the weeks following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Nokia, too, has announced its intention to abandon the Russian market, having already ceased supplies and begun to relocate R&D out of the country. However, Nokia intends to continue supporting the maintenance of current equipment on humanitarian grounds. Over the years, Ericsson has collaborated with a number of Russian mobile providers. The company recently formed a strategic relationship with MTS to create private 5G networks, as well as the testing and implementing next-generation technology with the operator. Ericsson has said that it will indefinitely cease relevant operations with Russian clients. The vendor also stated that it is in discussions with customers and partners, and that staff in Russia have been placed on paid leave. In Russia, Ericsson employs around 600 people. In a stock market notification…
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has named Kaspersky Lab, a Moscow-based cybersecurity business and developer of popular antivirus software, as one of the organizations posing an unacceptable danger to US national security. Kaspersky is the first Russian company to be added to the list, which is currently dominated by Chinese telecoms companies. The FCC has now released its most recent list of untrustworthy vendors, which includes, for the first time, a non-Chinese company: Kaspersky. Kaspersky joins Huawei Technologies, ZTE Corporation, Hytera, Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Company, Dahua Technology Company, China Telecom (Americas) and China Mobile International USA on the list. Once a company has been included on the list, it is illegal for that organization to use federal subsidies, which are distributed through the FCC’s $8 billion yearly Universal Service Fund, or to buy any of its products or services. Domestic consumers, with the exception of government employees,…
Telecom Italia (TIM) said it will begin official discussions with KKR nearly four months after the US investment firm made a non-binding offer of $11.8 billion for the business. TIM said it has invited its CEO and chairman to speak with KKR to learn more about its prospective proposal after an almost six-hour board meeting on Sunday. TIM noted in a statement that its board of directors had directed CEO PietroLabriola and chairman Salvatore Rossi to conduct formal conversations with KKR in addition to those already held by its advisers in order to maximize shareholder value in respect to other potential interested parties. The release went on to say that the goal was to get information on the financial and industrial appeal and execution of KKR’s offer, as well as to define the length and breadth of the applicable confirmatory due diligence sought by the fund prior to a…
GoTo Connect, a unified communication solutions provider that delivers configurable, scalable, all-in-one cloud phone and meeting systems with everything companies need to connect from anywhere, has teamed up with CallRevu, an industry leader in automobile call monitoring and analytics. CallRevu can now gather high-quality call data and precise telephony information through its interface with GoTo Connect, allowing for better conversational analysis. These advanced call analytics provide a deeper understanding of the customer’s interaction with the dealer, which is a highly useful strategic resource. The CallRevu and GoTo Connect integration offers retailers access to their phone systems from any device, allowing them to manage their phone systems digitally and deliver a consistent user experience. The digital phone solution gives dealerships more control over phone management and improved accessibility. Jack Holcomb, General Manager, New Smryna Chevrolet Chrysler Jeep Dodge, commented: “Since moving to CallRevu and GTC, we have witnessed…
Telenor Norway, Telenor’s fully owned largest Norwegian supplier of telecommunications and digital services, has revealed its partnership with Infosys, a multinational information technology company that provides next-generation business consulting, information technology and outsourcing services. The main focus of this initiative is to rapidly transform Telenor’s finance and supply chain operational processes. To assist the transition from a traditional ERP system and improve company agility and operational efficiency, Infosys created a standardized Oracle Cloud enterprise resource planning solution. This product includes modules such as Record to Report (R2R), Acquire to Retire (A2R), Procure to Pay (P2P) and Order to Cash (O2C), and was deployed in ten Telenor businesses in a record time of nine months. Infosys was chosen for the ERP transition because of the company’s innovative and standardized services, reusable assets, qualified employees, and the capacity to deploy quickly. The newly implemented ERP platform will help Telenor Norway…
We utilize Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, on a daily basis, but like many advancements, this technology began somewhere and with someone. We are very pleased to introduce you to a woman whose extraordinary talents and forward-looking invention continue to impact our ever-changing world of technology – Dr. Marian Croak, the inventor of VoIP. In honor of women’s accomplishments in technology and business, today we are focusing on this exceptional person. Who is Dr.Marian Croak? Marian Croak is hardly a household name, despite having accomplished so much and driving innovation ahead for the benefit of so many. Dr. Marian Rogers Croak is the Vice President of Engineering at Google and former Senior Vice President of Research and Development at AT&T. Marian is a soft-spoken woman who describes herself as a non-talker, yet her actions shouted volumes in favor of Internet Protocol (IP) as the future of communications. In her…