This week we look at the arrival of MasOrange in Spain, the continuing need for PTT services, efforts to tackle video and gaming lag, and UK-US collaboration on AI.
A week in telecoms: MasOrange is unveiled and T-Mobile US launches 5G PTT
Mergerwatch: MasOrange is unveiled; UK merger referred for in-depth probe
Orange Group and Masmovil confirmed that their new 50:50 joint venture is named MasOrange and presented a new logo, web site and management team during staff and press events this week.
The newly independent entity now starts the process of melding together two formerly separate operations, with decisions to be made about which sub-brands to keep and whether or not any employees are to be let go.
MasOrange's CEO, Meinrad Spenger, told the media that there are no plans for a collective redundancy process, but suggested that some incentives could be on the table such as early retirement.
In addition, the JV has several brands owing to the acquisitive history of Masmovil. As things stand, the national brands are Orange, Yoigo, Jazztel, Masmovil, Simyo, Pepephone, Lebara, Lyca and Llamaya. The regional brands are Euskaltel, R, Telecable, Guuk and Embou.
MasOrange aims to invest around €4 billion in the next three years with a focus on increasing its 5G coverage to above 90% of the population, and passing up to six million additional homes and more than 1,700 new municipalities with its fiber network
Over in the UK, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) confirmed that the proposed merger of Vodafone UK and Three UK has now been formally referred for a phase two investigation.
The two operators had been given until April 2 to convince the CMA that a more in-depth probe would not be required. The in-depth probe runs from April 4 to September 18 2024. A four-person inquiry group has been appointed, headed by Stuart McIntosh as Inquiry Chair.
Huawei reports strong growth in 2023 despite challenges
It was something of an understatement when Ken Hu, Huawei’s Rotating Chairman, commented that the China-based vendor has “been through a lot over the past few years.” Like its domestic peers, Huawei has faced pressure around the globe because of fears about the security of 5G networks, among other factors.
Despite the challenges, “we’ve managed to grow,” said Hu. “The trust and support of our customers, partners, and friends around the world is what helped us keep going, keep surviving, and keep growing.”
Indeed, Huawei was able to report that its net profit in 2023 grew by 144.5% year on year to CNY86.9 billion ($12.2 billion). Total revenue increased 9.63% to CNY704.2 billion, said to have been its fastest growth in four years.
“A new journey awaits us in 2024,” Hu added. “We will create greater value for our customers and society by driving open innovation, building thriving ecosystems, and succeeding through quality.”
Meanwhile, in accordance with Huawei’s rotating chairman system, Xu Zhijun (Eric Xu) will assume the position of Rotating and Acting Chairman of Huawei from April 1 to September 30, 2024. During this term, Xu will serve as the vendor’s top leader, and head the board of directors and its executive committee.
T-Mobile US launches PTT service
T-Mobile US entered the field of 5G push-to-talk (PTT) services with the launch of T-Mobile Mission Critical Push-to-Talk (MCPTT), described as a new addition to the T-Mobile Direct Connect product portfolio and integrated with Motorola Solutions’ Critical Connect service.
The move means that T-Mobile will compete with AT&T’s FirstNet PTT and Verizon’s Frontline services targeted at first responders, government workers and other professionals operating in the field.
T-Mobile MCPTT is purpose-built for rugged devices but is also available as an app for smartphones and tablets. The service will be available in April.
The operator particularly highlighted that the new 5G PTT system only takes an afternoon to create a hundreds of user profiles, as opposed to a few days.
Vodafone tests latency-busting technology from Nokia
Vodafone has been testing technology developed by Nokia Bell Labs that is designed to help eliminate latency headaches with gaming and video services.
Low Latency, Low Loss, Scalable throughput (L4S) technology aims to tackle queuing delays, “which are a significant source of peak latency on the internet and the scourge of most serious gamers,” Vodafone observed.
In the tests, the two companies said they were able to reduce the response times or latency on a fiber connection from 550 milliseconds to 12 milliseconds whilst maintaining fast speeds. The latency reduced to only 1.05 milliseconds (0.00105 seconds) when an ethernet cable was used in place of Wi-Fi.
Vodafone and Nokia hailed the test as the first of its kind as it used all elements of a fiber broadband network. In detail, L4S was run over a passive optical network built with Nokia technology. It consisted of a broadband network gateway (BNG), a PON optical line terminal (OLT), multiple PON optical network terminals (ONTs) and Wi-Fi access points.
Gavin Young, Head of Fixed Access Centre of Excellence at Vodafone, described L4S as “an exciting technology with huge potential to achieve this goal, as well as deliver a more interactive and tactile internet experience for our customers.”
UK and US sign AI safety pact
The UK and US governments announced the signing of an MoU on artificial intelligence (AI) safety and confirmed their intention to “work together toward the safe, secure, and trustworthy development and use of advanced AI.”
While AI has been around for decades, it has leapt into the mainstream in the past two years thanks to ChatGPT from OpenAI and the arrival of generative AI, accompanied by growing concerns about the potential negative consequences of the technology.
The two governments have also created respective AI Safety Institutes and will “continue to identify and develop new opportunities for collaboration, on an ongoing basis, with a view to increasing alignment over time.”
According to the US Department of Commerce, the MoU was signed by US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and UK Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan.
Raimondo described AI as “the defining technology of our generation” and said the two governments aim to tackle the concerns head on. “Because of our collaboration, our institutes will gain a better understanding of AI systems, conduct more robust evaluations, and issue more rigorous guidance,” she said.
The move follows last year’s AI Safety Summit in Bletchley Park, UK. Raimondo also insisted that a global approach to AI is required, as “unsafe AI developed in one country can pose risks to the entire world.”
“We anticipate that in the weeks and months ahead, more partnerships will help create a global network of AI safety, built through numerous linkages between government-backed scientific institutions that are doing research on and developing standards and guidelines for the safe development and implementation of advanced AI systems,” she said.
Also noted…
AT&T confirmed a data breach that concerned 7.6m current and about 65.4 million former account holders.
Telia confirmed it has completed the sale of its Danish unit to Norlys.
Chilean operator WOM filed for bankruptcy.