Rob Hamlin

We acknowledge BT's recent announcement to extend the switch-off deadlines from 2025 to 2027. While this move was not entirely unexpected, it remains frustrating for us and many other providers who have diligently worked to transition customers to replacement products and services in anticipation of the original 2025 deadline. As a business, we have consistently advocated for increased awareness of this transition, as the lack of communication with end users has led to significant confusion. Customers must receive clear messaging moving forward to fully understand the implications of the switch-off and the necessary steps to take. Despite the revised deadline, we remain steadfast in our commitment to the original timeline. Openreach will continue to raise prices, and we are urging businesses to move away from outdated services. Proactive communication is essential for a smooth and efficient transition. If you're in the dark about what the switch-off means for your business, get in touch. We're here to keep you informed. #bigswitchoff

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Bulk Broadband Contracts are the very reason there is more competition and more providers to choose from than ever before in our industry! However, well intended regulation could put a halt to this competition and the increasing provider choices we have to service residents! Come hear the discussion.

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More consolidation in the UK Fibre market with Netomnia and Brsk announcing a merger. Not a surprise given the amount of altnets in the market, and a trend that mirrors the MNO landscape of consolidation in order to pursue growth. Will be interesting to see what happens next. #connectivity #networks #merger #investment #innovation #mnos #fibre #business #enterprise #altnet #UK #fibre #property #realestate #growth #telecoms #telecommunications #technology

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Culprit no. 1: the new ECC, regulatory overreach that slowed Britain’s 5G roll-out to a crawl while the developed (and even some of the developing) world sprinted ahead. The U.S.: limited regulation, 95% 5G coverage across a country the size of a continent. The EU: slightly more regulation: 81% 5G coverage. The UK: dramatic regulatory overreach giving operators and infrastructure companies significant power to reduce rents without requiring that the resulting savings be used for network roll-outs: complete market collapse, 51% 5G coverage. Even Bulgaria, Costa Rica and the Philippines are doing better.

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Another excellent piece by Iain Morris at Light Reading, this time a recap of TM Forum’s Digital Transformation World Series along with a candid review of the industry’s challenges. Full article in the comments 👇 The telecom industry is grappling with significant challenges. The article quotes several important figures from the operator side, giving candid views on the financial challenges and innovation woes threatening the sector's stability. “The reality is that our return on investment, our growth, is not good enough, and we can't be happy with where we are as an industry at the moment," said Kim Andersen, the chief technology officer of Australia's Telstra, in a DTW call to arms. "We need to reinvent this industry and save this industry." An unusually candid view from the CTO of a major telco. Genuine product innovation is occurring all around the telcos and is difficult to watch. For me, real change will only be possible with a total upheaval of the industry’s culture. Which, unfortunately, is the hardest part to change. Therefore, the much-needed innovation is probably going to have to come from an outside disrupter. In the meantime I suggest the short term answer from the vast majority of telcos will likely be more consolidation and cost cutting….Sniff 🥲. #TelecomIndustry #DigitalTransformation #TMForum #Innovation #telecoms

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FULL FIBRE WACKY RACES 2 What does the future hold for UK full fibre? I asked the LINX 122 audience. Check out this video to see what they said: https://lnkd.in/e9bQYa72 Building on my Full Fibre Wacky Races presentation at #ConnectedNorth in April 2024, this updated and extended presentation on 28 May 2024 at the London Internet Exchange (LINX) covered more ground and included 2 more audience questions.   I went into more detail on the market penetration needed to make an Alt-Net business stack up, more detail on Virgin Media O2 & nexfibre, addressing the question of whether these two companies are effectively 2 parts of one organisation, and more detail about the government’s £5bn Building Digital UK (BDUK) / Project Gigabit fund.   The audience view on the number of scale full fibre infrastructure players in 2030 was consistent with the audience view at Connected North, with 4-6 being the most popular answer; however, the view on whether niche rural players will survive long-term was quite different, with many more people at LINX thinking that these niche players have a long-term future. I hope they’re right!   My first additional audience question was “do you think BDUK is a waste of taxpayer’s money?”, building on my interview with Jeremy Chelot (https://lnkd.in/ex9sGVJ6). A resounding “yes” from the audience. And my second additional question was “do you think Large Language Models (LLMs) like OpenAI’s GPT-4 are the early signs of true machine intelligence, or just dumb algorithms that happen to be exceptionally good at predicting the next word?” The overwhelming audience view was that they are just dumb algorithms, but I disagree!   I mention/include quite a few other industry players and people in my presentation, including Clive Selley, Greg Mesch, Lutz Schüler, Rajiv Datta, Matthew Hare, Openreach, CityFibre, Lit Fibre, Hyperoptic, Fibrus, Gigaclear, Community Fibre Limited, toob, Zzoomm, Netomnia, Brsk, Upp, Fibrus, Quickline Communications Limited, Wildanet, Wessex Internet, Freedom Fibre, Connexin, Connect Fibre, FullFibre Limited, GoFibre, Voneus, and of course Zen Internet. Hope you enjoy watching & find it informative. #FullFibre #broadband #gigabit #bcorp #linx122

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Great News! Vodafone’s 5G Ultra network, the UK’s first 5G Standalone mobile network for SME & Enterprise customers has now gone live. What is 5G Ultra? 5G Ultra will add 5G Standalone connectivity to the existing 5G network customers already enjoy, giving an even more reliable experience. Vodafone’s network switches seamlessly between 4G, 5G or 5G Ultra to give customers the most reliable connectivity experience available from Vodafone. 5G Standalone is the fully upgraded 5G network. Whereas the existing 5G service offered by telecoms companies relies partly on 4G technology (which is why it is known as 5G Non-standalone). Vodafone’s 5G Standalone has every element fully upgraded and future proofed, connecting the 5G radio network directly to Vodafone's new 5G core network. How does it benefit customers? 5G Ultra comes with all the speed and power of regular 5G, plus*:    Greater coverage – Up to 1 million more customers in the UK are able to connect to Vodafone’s 5G network compared to Vodafone’s 5G Non-standalone network. * Capacity – 5G Ultra connects up to one million devices per km2, helping you make a call or use your data even when it’s busy – on station platforms, in stadiums, and at festivals. * Up to 25% longer battery life – helps prevent the challenge of running out of battery, with up to three hours of improved battery performance. * Latency – With as little as 1 millisecond latency (vs. 50ms for 4G), 5G Ultra can deliver instant connectivity that lets you do what you do in real-time. * *Subject to compatible device and coverage. For more information, visit https://lnkd.in/evNcpJj

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Driving penetration is now the number one focus for the Altnets in the UK. The average consumer take-up across altnet networks is currently at 16%, half that of Openreach at 32%, despite the collective footprint of challengers now equalling that of the incumbent. We explore why this is and what needs to change to address it. I'm very happy to talk to anyone with a view on the situation and ways it can be addressed. In Part two (watch this space) we will provide valuble insights and actionable recommendations to drive penetration from some of the very best practice.

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An insightful blog by Aerial Direct regarding the evolution of 1G to 5G. Have a read! #5g #telecoms #aerialdirect

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Private Mobile Networks June 2024 Summary ˚✧ GSA analysis of the private mobile networks market in 1Q24 reveals continued traction for these networks. The total number of GSA customer references deploying private mobile networks to 1Q24 is 1,427, switching on at least one network. Net additions in the quarter were 43 customer references, up from 1,384 in 4Q23. ˚✧ There are now 78 countries around the world with at least one private mobile network, with Papua New Guinea adding its first networks. ˚✧ In terms of industries, public venues and other neutral hosts saw the highest growth of the top 15 sectors from 4Q23, up 16%. Hospitals also grew by more than 10%. ˚✧ Of the top 10 reporting countries, Belgium and the Netherlands reported growth of over 10% from 4Q23, up 14% and 11% respectively. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ˚✧ The Page 7 chart shows the percentage distribution of private mobile network technology used across various industries, with a focus on #LTE, #5G, and other technologies. The sectors where 5G is particularly favored (shown in red) can be identified by the proportion of the red bar in comparison to the blue (LTE) and gray (Other) bars. Here are the sectors where 5G is prominently used: ✮ Manufacturing, process- 5G usage is very high, nearly dominating the sector. ✮ Smart cities -5G usage is significant, showing a strong preference for this technology. ✮ Logistics and warehousing- A considerable portion of the technology used is 5G, indicating a preference for it. ✮ Hospitals- 5G is heavily utilized, nearly matching or surpassing LTE usage. ✮ Education- 5G usage is substantial, showing a preference alongside LTE. ✮ Financial services including banks-5G is significantly used, showing a strong preference. ✮ Retail-There is a significant use of 5G technology. ✮ Public protection and disaster relief -5G is notably used, indicating a preference in this sector. ✮ Public venues and other neutral hosts (permanent)- 5G is heavily utilized, indicating a strong preference. Here are the countries with the highest adoption of private 5G networks: ✮ USA, China, Taiwan, South Korea, Germany, United Kingdom, Japan, Spain, Finland, Netherlands. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ What are your thoughts?🧐 Follow us on Kaneshwaran Govindasamy & Global 5G Evolution PLEASE CHECKOUT THE ON GROUND DEPLOYEMENT SITUATION AT THIS MONTH'S #5G CONFERENCE, XCHANGING IDEAS #50 Global 5G Evolution Click comment box. #subscribe our #youtube channel #privatenetwork #privatemobile #private5G

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Another example, this time in the UK, of MNOs looking to innovative approaches to help improve mobile coverage.   Virgin Media O2 are working with STARLINK to help with the backhaul requirements of deploying masts in areas that cannot be reached by fibre – a great method for improving signal at a more affordable cost.   This is a great example of satellite and mobile acting in concert to mutual benefit, as I have said before it is not likely that satellite communications will replace mobile networks, this is the most likely outcome – a win-win for all.   #connectivity #networks #investment #innovation #mnos #satellites #2g #3g #4g #5g #business #enterprise #scotland #UK #growth #mobile #mobilenetworks #telecoms #telecommunications #sharedruralnetwork #rural #ruralcoverage #srn   https://lnkd.in/eJ_rK7-v

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Interesting article by Mike Dano about mobile voice. But wow. 15 years after I started running “Future of Voice” workshops & advising on voice applications “beyond the call”, parts of the mobile industry are finally starting to wake up to the idea that there could be options beyond basic telephony. ☎️ But these use-cases are still the same old “session” and call-centric ideas. And they’re stuck in the trap of thinking that IMS is a platform. They’re blending dead-end phone calls with undead zombie RCS 🤦🏻‍♂️ As a reminder, IMS was already obsolete in 2006 and yet here we are, nearly 20 years later, still trying to pretend it’s a suitable basis for voice innovation… just because operators were forced to deploy it to support the deeply-flawed VoLTE. 📞 Meanwhile the real world of value in voice communications has bypassed telcos. Look at the world of non-call voice, from chatbots & smart speakers, to in-game voice chat and even podcasts. There are no 5G microphones at 5G conferences, for instance. 🎤 I’ll have to do a deep dive on this at some point, but I’ll note that the GSMA “5G New Calling” paper doesn’t once mention the words “acoustic”, “echo” or “noise”. This should give a warning of how much they understand the broader world of audio communications and human voice experience. A further warning of irrelevance should be its use of the term “OTT” and its insistence on the 140 year model of a “call”. 🔊 (Edit: a historical note that in the 1890s, it was already possible to get one-way "streaming music" via phone networks, aka The Theatrophone. No, it wasn't monetised by telecom operators, beyond the user paying for a phone call as access) #5G #standards #VoLTE #GSMA #RCS #mobile

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This is a great potential way to monetise 5G networks for MNOs – network slicing with different charging models depending on capacity used. @Vodafone trailed the approach at this year’s #Glastonbury Festival This sort of deployment of networks would allow much more flexibility for vendors as well as reducing the risk of fraudulent transactions costing business’ money. Also amazing is that according to Vodafone, 200,000 people attended this year’s festival, generating 225 TB of data across its network — a year-on-year increase of 33% - massive numbers! #connectivity #networks #investment #innovation #mnos #2g #3g #4g #5g #business #enterprise #UK #towers #masts #growth #mobile #mobilenetworks #telecoms #telecommunications #technology #slicing https://lnkd.in/eQdisy2f

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Latest #BTwatch Weekly Briefing: 📈 Openreach Fibre Build Director Georgia Grimes laid out the latest FTTP progress 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 The final Scottish 4G Infill mast was hooked up to EE’s network 🌧️ Openreach and nexfibre jointly dampened expectations of imminent 25G PON and 50G PON launches 🌐 Full briefing includes updates on ambitions to offload Irish business, confirmed legal panel, key new hires and partnerships, and much more... Read the full briefing: https://lnkd.in/eiQM7NYg ⚡ Weekly Briefings are new for 2024, crafted exclusively for those who need to be in the know by our authoritative editors and analysts. Subscribers get the full picture in one place online or by newsletter. Now available for Digital Infrawatch, Vodafonewatch, BTwatch, Deutsche Telekomwatch, Telefónicawatch. From TelcoTitans — #1 for EMEA Telco & Digital Infra Leaders. #TelcoTitans #Telecoms #BT BT Group #Openreach #EE #UK #Network #Fibre #ConnectedNorth #4G

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Thinking about switching broadband providers? Don't get caught by surprise hidden fees! We've all been there - you find a fantastic looking broadband deal, only to discover a hefty bill with a bunch of surprise charges. Let's break down some of the sneaky hidden costs some providers love to throw in (spoiler alert...we don't have any of them): 👉Installation Fee: This one might seem obvious, but some providers charge extra for getting you set up. 👉Activation Fee: Similar to the installation fee, but for... magically activating your connection? 👉Data Usage Fees: Think you have unlimited data? Think again! Some providers charge extra if you go over a certain limit. 👉Equipment Delivery Fees: Isn't that part of the whole "getting you connected" thing? Apparently not always! Here at Trooli, we're all about transparency! ✅ When you see a price, that's the price you pay. No hidden surprises, no unexpected mid-contract price hikes. Just awesome, reliable and ultrafast broadband at a great price. www.trooli.com #fttp #fibreoptic #fullfibre #fullfibrebroadband #internetserviceprovider

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Exciting Opportunities in Telecoms: Clear Pathways for Career Growth Communication is fundamental to our daily lives and essential for business growth, especially in today's world with increasingly dispersed workforces. The telecom industry is crucial in facilitating this connectivity. Historically, entry into the telecom sector has often been serendipitous, with many professionals finding their way by chance. However, it’s encouraging to see more defined pathways emerging for those interested in pursuing a career in this dynamic field. With significant developments like the upcoming PSTN switch-off in the UK, there's never been a more thrilling time to be part of the telecoms industry. These changes not only highlight the industry's evolution but also provide clearer routes for aspiring telecom professionals to join and thrive in this exciting sector. #Telecoms #CareerGrowth #Communication #IndustryTrends #PSTNSwitchOff

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Interesting to see Assembly Research's new report – The value of telecoms services internationally – published today. A few summary points worth calling out... • UK operators offer the greatest value for money when compared internationally. • The price of a typical bundle of telecoms services in the UK remains among the lowest in Europe. • The price of 5GB of mobile data in the UK is a third cheaper than it was in 2017. In the UK, the monthly price for 5GB of data (reflecting average usage) saw a small uplift – less than £1 – between 2021-2022. Nevertheless, this price has fallen by more than 33% over the study period, making the UK the second-cheapest among Assembly's comparator countries. You can read see the report here: https://lnkd.in/evTMRdYi

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It is great to see Zen's transparent approach to pricing becoming an industry rule. Too often customers are lured in with low introductory pricing only to find out the small print takes it away with inflation-linked mid-contract price hikes.

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