BROWSING: UK

Private network spectrum strategy, Part 1: Ofcom in the U.K.

Around the world, regulators are exploring various strategies to spectrum management that makes room for private network allocations. At the recent Private Networks European Forum virtual event, representatives from regulatory agencies in the U.K. (Ofcom), Sweden (PTS) and Germany (Federal Network Agency, or BNetzA)...

Spectrum, systems, slicing – five key challenges to bring private 5G to the masses

A session at Private Networks European Forum (PNEF) last month considered the challenges, and broader cultural shift, to bring ‘private 5G to the masses’. Koen Mioulet, secretary at the European Users Wireless Enterprise Network Association (EUWENA), and Maria Cuevas, networks research director at UK-based...

Rakuten plans Open RAN lab in UK

Funded by the Japanese government, Rakuten’s new lab should be open in March 2023 Rakuten Mobile and Rakuten Symphony UK announced Monday plans to open what they’re calling an Open RAN Customer Experience Center in the U.K. It’s coming to Rakuten Symphony’s offices by March 2023, and...

‘All eyes were on Germany; now they’re now on the US’ – a picture of private 5G at large

Note, this is a revised version of the intro/outro statements at Private Networks European Forum earlier this month, presented then as a way to invite conversation about the state of ‘things’ in Europe, and re-presented now as a think-piece for the same. It considers...

‘Human glue’ and ‘humility to learn’ – 10 lessons in private 5G (#1-3, on people)

This is a fairly straight writeup of a summary report / blog from UK5G, the government-backed innovation network dedicated to industrial 5G in the UK, from a couple of weeks back, about findings from the UK’s grand £200 million trials and testbeds (5GTT) scheme...

Operators upended by hard graft of private 5G – a classic IoT tale, stuck on repeat

A new summary report / blog from UK5G, the government-backed innovation network dedicated to industrial 5G in the UK, makes for good reading. It concludes, ultimately, that industrial 5G is the same as industrial IoT – that it is a discipline that is massive...

Cellnex bolsters vertical and horizontal reach with acquisition of UK DAS firm HiBW

The UK division of Spain-based tower company Cellnex has acquired indoor cellular connectivity provider Herbert In-Building Wireless (HiBW) for an undisclosed fee. The deal will see the creation of a new Cellnex business unit, called Cellnex UK In-Building Solutions (CUKIS), which will be led...

Europe on fire – an €8.5bn problem with a €900k solution (the case for IoT in wildfires)

Some of the most interesting IoT use cases on the conference circuit in the past months have been about wildfire monitoring. Through the heat of summer, as parts of Europe burned, smart people from clever companies took to the stage at various events to...

BT trials 5G private network at 2022 Commonwealth Games

The 2022 Commonwealth Games, an international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, was held in Birmingham, England. This year’s event featured more than 5,000 athletes from 72 nations, 19 different sports and a private network provided by BT. Partnering with the...

The trouble with private 5G for Industry 4.0 | Part 3 – the spectrum

This is article is taken from a recent editorial report on Industrial 5G Innovation – From Setting Standard to Becoming Standard; the previous instalment in this serialised version of the report is available here. Subsequent instalments are listed below (linking either to the original...

Vodafone UK, Virgin Media O2 enable 4G coverage in London Underground

In 2021, BAI Communications won a contract to deploy a 4G network in the London Underground by the end of 2024 Vodafone UK and Virgin Media O2 will use a neutral host mobile network on the London Underground rail system to provide 4G coverage to...

Between the lines, Vodafone study asks how to sell to SMEs just trying to “stay afloat”

Whatever Vodafone’s intention when polling 1,000 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK, and whatever its conclusion from their responses, one thing is also clear: business is hard in this economic climate. What also seems apparent, reading between the lines of Vodafone’s enterprise...

BT to invest £100m to put UK enterprises in ‘digital fast lane’ and ‘soup-up security’

UK telecoms group BT has revealed a ‘charter’ to invest almost £100 million over the next three years in its new Division X digital change unit, which is at the heart of its broader strategy to establish itself as a ‘tech-co’ (“not a telco”),...

‘Out with the old, in with the new:’ Three UK’s 5G overtakes 3G for first time

Three says that usage of its 5G network has surged by an astonishing 385% since 2020 According to a new report released by UK operator Three, more users in the region are using its 5G services than its 3G services for the first time. The...

Telefónica Tech buys UK analytics firm and Microsoft favourite Incremental for £175m

Telefónica Tech, the digital change unit of Spain-based operator Telefónica, has acquired UK-based digital transformation and data analytics company Incremental for £175 million. Incremental, a major Microsoft partner in the UK, will be integrated into Telefónica Tech business in the UK and Ireland. In the...

BAM Nuttal switches on first private 5G network for UK construction industry

UK-based civil engineering company BAM Nuttal has switched on a private 5G network to provide connectivity for construction services at a 55,00 square-metre site in the Shetland Islands in the UK, where it has been contracted by Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) as...

Basingstoke Council in UK hands Cellnex 10-year deal to build private 5G city network

Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council in the UK has handed a 10-year contract to Spain-based Cellnex, owner of Finnish private networking specialist Edzcom, to build a private 5G network to support local businesses. The deal covers the design and build of a 5G core...

Vodafone supplies 2G stolen-vehicle tracking to Volvo cars in the UK

The UK division of car brand Volvo has selected a 2G-based stolen vehicle tracking solution from Vodafone. The new solution provides vehicle tracking and recovery via Vodafone’s network of ‘secure operating centres’ (SOCs). The SOC function is available 24/7, and works in partnership with...

Private 5G will be ‘standard network’ for 90% of enterprises in top private 5G markets

Over 80 percent of (more than four in five) chief information officers and “senior leaders” plan to deploy private 5G networks within the next 24 months. So says a new survey of 200-odd “top executives” by global business solutions provider NTT. Their motivation to...

Landis+Gyr buys meter maker Luna, as part of busy spree in AMI and EV sectors

Landis+Gyr has acquired Turkey-based smart meter maker Luna Elektrik Elektronik for a “high double digit million dollar fee”, it said. It is the latest in a string of deals for the Swiss energy management company in 2021, in both the smart metering and electric...

Everynet and American Tower set sights on nationwide LoRaWAN in Spain

Netherlands-based LoRaWAN operator Everynet has partnered with tower company AT España, a subsidiary of American Tower, to expand its public network footprint in Spain. Through last year, Everynet deployed LoRaWAN networks in Madrid and Barcelona. It is working “synergically” with AT España, it said,...

Vodafone urges UK to bundle 5G and IoT targets and incentives into net zero strategy

Vodafone has urged the UK government to write targets and incentives for 5G and IoT adoption into its forthcoming net-zero strategy blueprints, due to be published later this year. The UK-headquartered operator said the UK government should create a regulatory and policy framework that...

5G could add £6.3bn to UK manufacturing sector by 2030, says Vodafone

Adoption of 5G could add £6.3 billion to the value of the UK manufacturing industry by 2030, according to a new report from Vodafone. Investment in 5G in manufacturing could increase growth in the sector across the country, especially in the UK industrial heartlands...

‘The right tool for the right job’ – Vodafone doubles NB-IoT cell sites in the UK

Vodafone UK has restated its commitment to NB-IoT and doubled the number of sites in its narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) network to meet increasing demand for IoT services, it says. The firm claims its NB-IoT network in the UK now covers 98 percent of the...