Author: Rob Pritchard

CommunityFibre’s Challenges – A Warning Sign for UK Fiber Altnets

by Rob Pritchard, posted in Communicate, Network
R. Pritchard

Summary Bullets:

• CommunityFibre is switching its focus from building out its fiber network to loading it through intensified customer acquisition.

• There is simply not enough room for so many alternative fiber providers in the UK. There are two options: consolidate or find a defensible niche.

ISP CommunityFibre’s London (England) network covers 1.3 million properties and has over 200,000 residential and business customers. Alongside its fully owned Box Broadband unit (which targets Surrey and West Sussex, England), the company has been rolling out its own dedicated full-fiber network (FTTH) and has a stated aim to pass 2.2 million premises by the end of 2024. Now, despite apparently having strong funding, CommunityFibre has become the latest UK fiber altnet to make redundancies and suspend ongoing network rollout (out of a total 788 employees at end-2022, 380 were in engineering and operations and 148 in sales and marketing).

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Vodafone Exits Spain – Scale or Fail in Europe?

by Rob Pritchard, posted in Communicate, Internet of Things, Mobilize, Secure
R. Pritchard

Summary Bullets:

• Vodafone Spain, with 2022 revenues down 6.5% year-on-year to EUR3.9 billion, is to be sold to Zegona for up to EUR5 billion.

• Disposal is symptomatic of ‘scale or fail’ among established operators where cashflow and profits are squeezed, but substantial investment in fiber and 5G is required.

Vodafone has agreed to sell its Spanish business for up to EUR5 billion (at least EUR4.1 billion in cash and up to EUR900 million in redeemable preference shares) to Zegona Communications, a company that looks to acquire telecoms and assets and turn them around commercially. The deal is expected to close in H1 2024.

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BT Says it Means Business

by Rob Pritchard, posted in Cloud Enable, Communicate, Network, Secure
R. Pritchard

Summary Bullets:

• BT Business continues the integration process of former UK and global enterprise divisions, focused on a smooth transition for customers while delivering benefits of consolidation.

• Key areas of interest included digitalization, the Cloud Fabric multi-cloud service, BT’s focus on the SMB market, customer portals, fleet ESIM solutions, AI, and environmental issues.

The BT Focus analyst event highlighted how BT Business is progressing during challenging times as telcos face the challenges of rolling out fiber and 5G while in a constant state of flux in a rapidly evolving technology market. BT is looking to digitalization for operational efficiency and customer empowerment, which reduces costs (e.g., using the same platforms across all segments, tailored to their specific needs, and approximately halving the overall portfolio).

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Colt Brings AI and ESG to the Fore as it Hints at Further Developments

by Rob Pritchard, posted in Cloud Enable, Communicate, Secure
R. Pritchard

Summary Bullets:

• Despite inevitably addressing AI, Colt highlighted the importance of scale, security, and sustainability – data sovereignty and protection in particular – at its 2023 Analyst Relations event.

• Networking topics covered intent-based networking – software-defined and on demand – orchestration platforms and the importance of the customer experience and managing complexity.

Colt’s annual Analyst Relations event kicked off with the inevitable discussion about artificial intelligence (AI) both at a broader level and as a technology that is being used in networks and in supporting customers. The discussion then moved on to current challenges such as the importance of scale, security, and sustainability. Part of this was focused on geopolitics and the growing importance of data sovereignty, with enterprises needing to know what data they have, where it resides, and how it is being moved around.

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ESG Watch: Virgin Media O2 Business Launches New ESG Tools for Large SD-WAN and Mobile Customers

by Rob Pritchard, posted in Communicate, Network, Secure
R. Pritchard

Summary Bullets:

• Virgin Media O2 Business’ carbon calculator aims to provide trustworthy information to business customers on emissions related to their services, forming a basis for an annual carbon footprint report.

• The Virgin Media O2 Business Tech Donation Programme focuses on digital inclusion, enabling enterprises to offer free refurbished smartphones, mobile data, texts and calls to 11 to 16-year-olds and people over 65.

In common with almost all telecoms services providers, Virgin Media O2 Business is looking to enable and improve reporting on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for its SD-WAN and mobile business customers in the UK. Its carbon calculator aims to help customers realize their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) strategies as they strive to meet the needs of customers, regulators, investors, and talent.

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Sell Connectivity Not Communications for UK PSTN Switch-off

by Rob Pritchard, posted in Network

R. Pritchard

Summary Bullets:
• UK PSTN switch-off in December 2025 presents a significant revenue and market share gain opportunity for telecoms service providers.
• BT has started rolling out Digital Voice on a region by region basis and many smaller businesses may not realize how it might affect them.

As mandated by Ofcom and the Government, the UK’s analog network (PSTN) is set to be ‘switched off’ in December 2025, meaning that all fixed connectivity will be carried over IP networks. BT has conducted successful pilots in Salisbury (Wiltshire) and Mildenhall (Suffolk), and now plans to roll the new platform out on a region by region basis, starting with the East Midlands in July 2023, Yorkshire and Humber in August, and other regions going forward until the summer of 2024:

1) Autumn 2023: North West and London
2) Spring 2024: West Midlands, South East; Wales; and East Anglia
3) Summer 2024: North East; Scotland; and South West

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The Only Way Is Upp for Virgin Media O2

by Rob Pritchard, posted in Communicate, Network
R. Pritchard

Summary Bullets:

• Virgin Media O2 acquired broadband provider Upp as part of a forced sale on security grounds by LetterOne, a company backed by a Russian oligarch.

• UK broadband consolidation is set to continue as the market evolves to three national players and a set of geographical niche local fiber providers.

Virgin Media O2 has signed an all-cash deal (reported to be in the “high tens of millions of pounds”) to purchase UK fiber company Upp (formerly FibreMe and backed by investment company LetterOne) and integrate it with Virgin Media O2’s existing network. However, the acquisition will ultimately be funded by nexfibre through a back-to-back agreement to buy Upp’s network assets. Nexfibre is a network joint venture owned by Liberty Global, Telefónica, and InfraVia Capital Partners. Nextfibre is investing GBP4.5 billion to pass five million UK homes and businesses with fiber by 2026, with the option of extending to a total of seven million beyond then.

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Acquisitions Play a Key Role for European Telco Challengers

by Rob Pritchard, posted in Communicate, IT Leader, Network, Secure
R. Pritchard

Summary Bullets:

• Gamma has acquired cybersecurity company Satisnet to strengthen its value-added services portfolio for enterprise customers across its UK and continental European markets.

• As connectivity commoditizes, service providers have to decide whether to pursue a low-price strategy or grow their portfolio incrementally to address enterprises’ evolving needs.

Gamma started life in 2002 as a UK wholesale line reseller and has evolved from providing calls and lines from a substantial network of channel partners to a wider range of ‘enabling services’ such as broadband, Ethernet, and mobile as well as increasingly toward ‘strategic services’ that offer greater value-add for customers. These now include a significant base of Microsoft Teams deployments, the Gamma Horizon Collaborate cloud UC&C service, managed network services, and security solutions.

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UK Telco Jobs Vanish as the Market Evolves

by Rob Pritchard, posted in Cloud Enable, Communicate, Network
R. Pritchard

Summary Bullets:

• Leading UK infrastructure-based telco service providers have announced up to 70,000 job cuts in the coming years, driven by efficiency initiatives and technology.

• Job losses are always regrettable, but improvements in service levels and the enablement of consumer and business innovations have been remarkable since BT’s privatization.

Virgin Media O2 has released its latest financial results, which include the elimination of 2,000 jobs (nearly 10% of its workforce of 18,700). This comes as the company has recently shed fixed and broadband lines due to the challenging UK economic situation.

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UK Fiber Ending in Tears?

by Rob Pritchard, posted in Communicate, Network, Secure
R. Pritchard

Summary Bullets:

• BT CEO’s comments about competitors’ fiber rollouts as “ending in tears” was a faux pas, even if accurately reflecting the market is overdue for consolidation.

• Multiple fiber providers are shedding engineers. Market sharks will be circling to acquire fiber assets as competition takes its toll on an oversupplied supply side.

The injudicious, but possibly accurate in many cases, comment by BT CEO Philip Jansen that Openreach’s broadband network rollout had turned into an “unstoppable machine” and that competitors’ efforts “would end in tears” was not seen as his best commentary to date. In an interview with the Financial Times in February 2023, he says, “There is only going to be one national network. Why do you need to have multiple providers?”

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