A week in telecoms: Airtel, Globe, Telefónica and Dish

Welcome to the Inform weekly news round-up, where we take a look at a selection of recent CSP news and how it impacts the wider industry.

Airtel launches India’s first 5G FWA service

Hailed as one of the first major use cases for 5G networks, 5G fixed wireless access (FWA) services are now coming to India following a launch by Bharti Airtel, although only initially in Delhi and Mumbai. The operator said a pan-India rollout of the Airtel Xstream AirFiber service is “planned soon.”

Airtel noted that with fiber to the home connecting only 34 million homes in India, “a very large number of customers struggle for fiber access.” The operator aims to address the problem of last mile connectivity in rural and urban India “where access to fiber infrastructure is a challenge.”

Xstream AirFiber is described as a plug-and-play device with Wi-Fi 6 technology that will offer wide indoor coverage and can simultaneously connect up to 64 devices.

5G FWA services are proliferating around the globe as operators seek to provide an alternative to fiber in hard-to-reach locations.

According to a June update by the Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA), 249 operators had announced their intention to launch 5G FWA by the end of April, and 103 are now marketing 5G FWA services to homes or businesses.

The GSA added that there are more operators marketing FWA services in Europe than any other region, particularly in the 27 countries that make up the EU, which has 38 commercially launched 5G FWA networks.

Rakuten’s Tareq Amin steps down

The open RAN world was left reeling by the news that one of its biggest proponents has stepped down to focus on his family. Tareq Amin, familiar to many on the telecoms event circuit, has resigned from his posts as CEO of Rakuten Mobile and Rakuten Symphony.

Amin certainly left an impression, bringing a hugely disruptive approach to how mobile networks are built with his vision of a fully virtualized and open network. He also spearheaded the globalization of this approach through Rakuten Symphony.

Rakuten Symphony has since announced it appointed Rakuten Group Chairman and CEO Mickey Mikitani as its Representative Director, Chairman and CEO, and Sharad Sriwastawa as its new Representative Director and Acting President to lead the company and advance its commercial interests. Sriwastawa already held the role of CTO of Rakuten Mobile.

In other telecoms executive news, the founding CEO of Kenyan operator Safaricom has also finally cut his links with the company. According to reports, Safaricom Michael Joseph resigned as a director of the board with effect from August 1.

Joseph has served in various capacities within Safaricom since 2000 including as General Manager, CEO (twice), Director as well as Chairman of the Board. Peter Ndegwa is the current CEO of the operator.

Globe and HPE team up on private 5G SA

Globe Telecom claimed a first for the Philippines after it showcased a private 5G standalone (SA) network in partnership with Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE).

Based on technology from HPE’s Athonet, the network plans to offer an alternative or complementary solution to Wi-Fi and public mobile technologies for enterprises.

Yoke Kong Seow, Chief Technical Advisor at Globe, noted that 5G “offers a lot of surprising use cases. Exploring it and doing customer pilot deployment will bring meaningful results and opportunities. This successful demonstration of the first private 5G SA network heralds another innovation for our enterprise customers to experience.”

The Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) noted that several organizations are testing, piloting or deploying 5G SA technologies for private networks. As of May 2023, it had collated information about 505 organizations known to be using 5G networks for private mobile network pilots or deployments. Of those, 66 (just over 13%) are known to be working with 5G SA.

Meanwhile, at least 36 operators in 25 countries and territories are now understood to have launched or deployed public 5G SA networks, according to the GSA. Some 115 operators in 52  countries and territories worldwide have been investing in public 5G SA networks in the form of trials, planned or actual deployments.

Looking at the private wireless market from a vendor perspective, a recent report from Dell’Oro Group estimates that private 5G RAN revenues are projected to exceed $1 billion by 2027. It noted that 5G is still dominating in China, while LTE prevails outside of China. Leading vendors are Huawei, Nokia, Ericsson and Samsung, although Huawei is mainly active in China.

Telefónica Global Solutions partners with Starlink

Telefónica continued to build its space ambitions by signing a deal with SpaceX’s Starlink to become its worldwide partner, through its global business division Telefónica Global Solutions (TGS).

TGS said it will be able to complement its existing offering by integrating Starlink’s enterprise solutions (fixed or mobile) into its global portfolio. Starlink launched its enterprise solutions in early 2023.

Telefónica began offering Starlink services in Mexico in June 2023, and is now extending the offering to five other key markets: Chile, Colombia, Peru, Brazil, and Spain.

Julio Beamonte, CEO of TGS, noted that the satellite industry “is undergoing an unprecedent revolution.”

“Satellite enables connectivity projects to be executed very quickly and efficiently. At Telefónica Global Solutions, we have been offering added value satellite solutions for many years and with this partnership, we start working hand in hand with Starlink Enterprise to offer new generation solutions to our customers,” he said.

Telefónica and Spanish satellite company Sateliot also recently claimed an industry first by extending 5G connectivity to space, in a test overseen by the European Space Agency (ESA).

A recent report from MTN Consulting highlighted that satellite operators provide enormous opportunities and benefits for CSPs.

Arun Menon, Principal Analyst at MTN Consulting, noted that the potential offerings of satellite operators, particularly direct-to-device and IoT, “allow telcos to optimize their infrastructure investments (capex and opex) for deployments in areas with limited coverage or cellular dead zones. Another plus for telcos is the enhanced customer experience supplemented by a network providing ubiquitous coverage.”

Dish remerges with EchoStar

On the topic of CSP and satellite collaborations, broadband services provider Dish Network said it would merge with satellite operator EchoStar, a company it spun off in 2008.

According to the statement, “the transaction combines Dish Network’s satellite technology, streaming services and nationwide 5G network with EchoStar's premier satellite communications solutions, creating a global leader in terrestrial and non-terrestrial wireless connectivity.”

Dish — which owns Boost Mobile, Ting, Republic Wireless and Gen Mobile — has been looking to expand beyond satellite TV into the mobile communications market, with its Dish Wireless business. Dish said its 5G network now covers more than 70% of the U.S.

EchoStar CEO Hamid Akhavan will serve as President and CEO of the combined company and Charles Ergen will be Executive Chairman.

According to Akhavan, the combined company “will offer a broad suite of robust connectivity services, using a superior portfolio of technology, spectrum, engineering, manufacturing and network management expertise. Dish shares our customer-first culture, and together we will be well positioned to further scale and accelerate our strategy.”