In our weekly news round-up, we look at a new collaboration between SK Telecom and Singtel, Digi Spain’s MNO ambitions, and what the new UK government is thinking about 5G and AI.
A week in telecoms: SKT and Singtel partner, Digi advances in Spain
SK Telecom and Singtel partner, fueled by AI and with an eye to 6G
Regional heavyweights SK Telecom (SKT) and Singtel announced a broad collaboration to develop what they described as next-generation telco technology and solutions, as they look ahead to 6G.
The partners said they will explore the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and orchestration tools, “and deepen the domain knowledge of network virtualization and other technologies” that they see as central to “laying the necessary building blocks for progressing to 6G.”
They also plan to put together a joint white paper on their advancements in areas such as virtualisation, slicing and network evolution “that can help other telcos globally to capitalise on the capabilities of 5G and to prepare for 6G.”
Also mentioned was work on “edge-AI infrastructure,” which they note “reduces the computational burden concentrated on the cloud through edge computing and performs AI inference” by combining AI solutions.
“This initiative is expected to not only enhance connectivity but also provide customers with unique AI service offerings and enable the operators to restore services faster, thus improving the customer experience,” the operators added.
Of course, they haven’t finished with 5G yet – far from it. As noted by Anna Yip, Deputy CEO and CEO Business Development at Singtel Singapore, “we’re keen to capitalise on the myriad of capabilities this technology has to offer, especially in the areas of network slicing and with the inclusion of AI.”
In summary, the telcos plan to collaborate on developing more network slicing capabilities, developing a fully disaggregated mobile network, creating joint telco APIs, building more efficient orchestration platforms, and exploring automation and AI for the 6G era.
SKT and Singtel are also founding members of the Global Telco AI Alliance with Deutsche Telekom, e&, and SoftBank that aims to develop telco-focused large language models (LLM).
New UK government puts focus on 5G and AI
The Labour party led by Sir Keir Starmer swept to power in the UK last week, bringing with it a new manifesto that includes mention of 5G, as well as AI and data centers.
Indeed, the manifesto thunders that Britain’s communication network is “vital,” but says investment in 5G is falling behind other countries and the rollout of gigabit broadband has been slow.
“Labour will make a renewed push to fulfil the ambition of full gigabit and national 5G coverage by 2030,” it added, pointing to previous government targets for nationwide next-gen network coverage.
According to the April 2024 Connected Nations update from Ofcom, total 5G geographic coverage by at least one operator (out of BT/EE, Three UK, Virgin Media O2 and Vodafone UK) was just 39%, compared to 82% for 4G coverage. Total full fiber coverage was at 61%.
AI was mentioned a number of times, and the aim is also to remove “planning barriers” to ease the construction of new datacenters. Labour further plans to introduce binding regulation on the “handful of companies developing the most powerful AI models.”
At the same time, it notes that regulators are currently “ill-equipped to deal with the dramatic development of new technologies, which often cut across traditional industries and sectors.” Labour therefore aims to create a new Regulatory Innovation Office to “help regulators update regulation, speed up approval timelines, and co-ordinate issues that span existing boundaries.”
Telenor Cyberdefence buys Combitech AS
Telenor last month announced plans to establish a new cyber security company to meet the increasing demand from businesses to help them counter the growing threat of cyber attacks.
The new company, named Telenor Cyberdefence, has now just made its first acquisition, snapping up Combitech AS in order to build up its offer of cybersecurity solutions to private and public businesses in Norway.
Dan Ouchterlony, Head of Telenor Amp, which oversees Telenor Cyberdefence, noted that the acquisition demonstrates the unit’s “big ambitions” and said there is “more in the pipeline.”
“We have ambitions to become a leading partner for cybersecurity solutions in the business market in the Nordics. The acquisition of Combitech AS is an important step to achieve this goal,” he added.
Combitech AS is the Norwegian business of the Swedish security company Combitech AB, which in turn is owned by the defence and security group Saab. Combitech AS has offices in Oslo and just over 20 employees.
Thomas Kronen, CEO of Telenor Cyberdefence, said Combitech AS has a “strong security environment with solid expertise and long traditions, and with its strategy, service portfolio and customer base, it is a perfect match for Telenor Cyberdefence. Through this acquisition, we add valuable expertise in addition to expanding our current customer base, which gives us a solid foundation to look at further investment.”
Telenor joins other operators that have set up separate cyber security businesses, such as Orange. Orange Cyberdefense is active at international level and forms a key part of the group’s B2B arm, Orange Business.
Vodafone fails in Portugal expansion efforts
Vodafone Portugal’s plan to buy smaller rival Nowo Communications was dealt a blow by the Autoridade da Concorrência (Portuguese Competition Authority or AdC), which has ruled that the takeover will not be permitted.
Explaining its decision, AdC said Nowo “exerts considerable competitive pressure on the other market operators,” which already show a “degree of coordinated behavior,” and said the merger would “lead to significant price increases” while enhancing Vodafone’s market power.
The regulator said Vodafone had submitted a total of four “commitment packages” to address the AdC’s competition concerns.
The fourth package included two commitments: selling the radio spectrum usage rights to new entrant Digi Portugal; and providing Digi with a wholesale offer on Vodafone’s fiber optic network.
However, AdC noted that Digi is already planning to enter the Portuguese market with the launch of its own services later in 2024, and is not dependent on a Vodafone wholesale deal.
The decision represents something of a setback for Vodafone Group, which has been seeking alternative solutions for markets where its local operations have been underperforming because of competitive pressures.
While the group has chosen to exit Italy and Spain, and form a joint venture with Three in the UK, it decided to bulk up its business in Portugal, enabling it to better compete with larger rivals Altice Portugal (MEO) and NOS.
Meanwhile, it was also reported that stc Group and Patrick Drahi have ended talks over a potential sale of Altice Portugal to the Saudi Arabia-based operator.
The news came as Altice’s MEO embarked on a RAN modernization and upgrade program spanning 2G, 4G and 5G using equipment from Nokia.
Digi Spain signs national roaming and RAN sharing deals with Telefónica
Digi took a big step towards realizing its ambition to become the fourth mobile network operator in Spain.
Digi Spain, which currently operates as mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), signed new national roaming and RAN sharing agreements with Telefónica for a period of 16 years, effective from January 1, 2025.
The agreements replace an existing MVNO deal between Digi and Telefónica and will also see them share spectrum in the 3.5GHz band.
Digi said the new agreements, combined with the recent purchase of spectrum licenses within the context of the Orange Spain and Masmovil merger, will enable it to “execute an efficient and timely transition of its mobile telephony business in Spain” from an MVNO to an MNO and to roll out its own mobile network.
Telefónica in turn retains a longstanding wholesale partner and said it has ensured a “long-term revenue stream in line with the existing one.”
In order to gain EU regulatory approval for their merger in Spain, Orange and MasMovil committed to sell 60 GHz of spectrum held by MasMovil to Digi in the 1,800MHz, 2,100MHz and 3.5GHz bands to allow Digi Spain to build its own mobile network.
In addition, Digi had secured the option to enter into a national roaming agreement with the newly formed MasOrange. However, it has clearly opted to stick with its current wholesale partner, Telefónica, for its future wholesale and national roaming needs.
Digi Spain also signed a new fixed broadband bitstream wholesale agreement with Telefónica for a period of 10 years, with the possibility for a further extension.
The Spanish mobile services market has been completely transformed in a relatively short period of time. Not only have Orange and MasMovil merged into MasOrange, ushering in Digi as a fourth MNO, but Vodafone has also exited the market by selling its Spanish operations to Zegona Communications.
Also noted…
Advanced Micro is to acquire Finnish artificial intelligence startup Silo AI for about $665 million.
Vodafone announced that SuperTOBi, its new customer-focused generative AI-driven virtual assistant, is being rolled out across Europe.