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CAMARA publishes first major release of network APIs

Annie Turner
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CAMARA publishes first major release of network APIs

The community has committed to delivering an API release twice a year

CAMARA has launched what it calls its first major release of network APIs. The Meta-Release Fall24 contains 25 APIs across 13 sub projects “vetted for quality, consistency and stability through rigorous release management processes”

The community has committed to delivering updates twice a year to vetted APIs so that operators can plan deployments in their networks. Also, API users know to expect the “latest and most stable versions from their network operators and API providers”.

Rapid growth

The overarching network API project, CAMARA, launched in February 2022 with 22 partners under the Linux Foundation umbrella. By September 2023 is had evolved to a funded model, with 250 participating organisations and more than 750 contributors.

Since then the project has increased to more than 1,100 contributors from 396 organisations, and is working on more than 26 API families and sub-projects, which is growing all the time. 

The Meta-Release consists of 13 sub-projects which bring 25 APIs to the ecosystem. These APIs “represent a consistent set of aligned, quality APIs that have met rigorous release management and design guidelines,” according to the press statement. They form a foundation for the APIs’ ongoing development and production.

Arpit Joshipura, General Manager, Networking, Edge and IoT, at the Linux Foundation, noted, “CAMARA’s rapid growth is testament to the need for telco network APIs to become more open, more accessible and easier to monetize.

“The community’s first official, milestone release…enables active, open collaboration in the development and availability of more connected solutions. We encourage operators, cloud providers, application developers, hyperscalers and aggregators, and technology vendors to partner…CAMARA in making these solutions even more accessible.”

Security and interoperability

The Meta-Release comes with a Security and Interoperability Profile based on OAuth 2.0 and OpenID standards, “ensuring the secure, privacy-friendly and seamless access for developers to network information and capabilities,” the statement says. They can be found, along with the guidelines, API definitions and documentation are here.  

APIs included in the Meta release

Stable APIs with v1.0.0 versions – previous API versions were implemented by network operators – forLocation Verification, Number Verification, One-time Password SMS, Simple Edge Discovery, and SIM Swap.

New versions of APIs implemented by network operators with updates to Carrier Billing, Device Reachability Status, Device Roaming Status, Home Devices QoD, KYC [know your customer] Fill-In, KYC Match, Location Retrieval and Quality-on-Demand (with quality of service profiles).

Initial versions of new APIs that are ready for implementation by network operators includingCall Forwarding Signal, Carrier Billing Refund, Connectivity Insights (with application profiles), Population Density Data and QoD Provisioning.

New APIs to subscribe for event notifications in CloudEvents format covering Connectivity Insights Subscriptions, Device Reachability Status Subscriptions, Device Roaming Status Subscriptions, Geofencing Subscriptions and SIM Swap Subscriptions.

Nathan Rader, Board Chair of CAMARA and VP, Service and Capability Exposure at Deutsche Telekom, said, “This milestone is a significant step forward in our mission to enable seamless access to telecom network capabilities through open APIs.

“The global support we’ve received underscores the industry’s focus on [and] commitment to simplifying API availability across telecom networks and countries.”

New opportunities

Meta-Release Fall24 follows hard on the heels of the announcement of a commercial API-based venture announced last week by some of the world’s biggest network operator groups with Ericsson. That announcement said that the commercial venture had chosen CAMARA as “the Network API specification location”.

CAMARA acknowledged the established alignment with TM Forum’s work on APIs and the GSMA’s Open Gateway as “a critical success factor” in forming an open, global API ecosystem.

It also highlighted CAMARA’s fund is composed of 10 Premium sponsors (including Accenture, Deutsche Telekom, Ericsson, Microsoft, Nokia, Orange, Telefonica, Verizon, Vodafone and T-Mobile), plus seven General sponsors (AlphaZero, CableLabs, Centillion, Charter Communications, INVIA, Scenera, Shabodi), and one Associate sponsor (OpenID Foundation).

The CAMARA community is hosting a booth onsite at Open Source Summit EU, from16-19 September.

LINX extends Kenyan interconnect with PAIX Data Centres 

Simon Dux
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LINX extends Kenyan interconnect with PAIX Data Centres 

LINX Nairobi provides peering services and more utilising a neutral, multi-site interconnection fabric

The London Internet Exchange (LINX) announced it will be extending its African interconnection platform to PAIX Data Centres in Nairobi, following demand from the local networking community. Launched back in November 2023, the new Internet Exchange Point (IXP) has a “strong community” of local ISPs, global content networks and strategic partners already interconnected, and traffic is starting to build. 

“We didn’t expect to be expanding the LINX Nairobi network this soon, but we like to pride ourselves in our commitment to the local community,” said LINX CCO Jennifer Holmes. “They said, we listened. By expanding the peering opportunities to the customers at PAIX we are adding value to the entire LINX Nairobi community and prospective new local and global networks who we are in talks with.” 

“PAIX Data Centres is fully committed to the development of Kenya’s digital infrastructure, with support for all the latest AI hardware and software. PAIX Data Centres is invested in by Africa50, a private equity fund in which the Republic of Kenya is a shareholder,” said PAIX CEO and founder Wouter van Hulten. “We are building and operating the infrastructure to enable Africa’s digital economy, with local data centres, local teams, and world class operations, all essential ingredients for the developments that lie ahead.” 

“With our cloud- and carrier-neutral facility located in the centre of the business district, we host communities of interest for the financial and content industries, so that includes financial services, advertising, broadcasting, and entertainment companies,” added PAIX DC sales manager Emmanuel Makina. “Further, the PAIX facility is a natural communications hub for Nairobi: in a very central location in Upper Hill, and next to Britam Tower where our customers can colocate their antennas for wireless connectivity to all parts of the city.” 

Early demand 

The team at LINX have spent a lot of time with the local engineering community and following interest from key networks located at PAIX it was decided that the infrastructure needed to grow – only nine months after launch. 

PAIX Nairobi NBO-1 is located at the Britam Tower in Upper Hill, Nairobi, the central business district and a known key financial hub for East and Central Africa. Networks located at the PAIX facility in Nairobi are a single cross connect away from peering opportunities with any network present at LINX Nairobi, from global content networks like Meta to local ISPs such as ICON Fiber, Mtaani Telecom, Mymanga Networks and PepeaNet. 

LINX Nairobi has a fully interconnected and dual fibre infrastructure between the data centre sites. The addition of PAIX will enhance the LINX fabric to a 4-site interconnection hub and is planned to go live in the coming weeks. 

Connecting the continent  

In 2023, the African IXP Association (Af-IX) counted 53 active IXPs located in 47 cities across 36 countries on the continent, according to Ecofin. According to their report: “Africa still struggles to make the Internet accessible, despite its 53 exchange points located in 36 countries” – published in January 2024 by Ecofin Pro –  IXPs are today one of the major assets essential to the success of African ambitions to offer high-speed, high-quality Internet at low prices to populations who wish to benefit from the dividends of the digital economy. 

The rate of Internet usage in Africa has more than doubled in ten years, according to data from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Between 2013 and 2023, it increased from 16% to 37%. 

WEBINAR RECORDING: Transforming Networks and Services with Cloud Native and AI Technologies

Annie Turner
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WEBINAR RECORDING: Transforming Networks and Services with Cloud Native and AI Technologies

Recording of a Mobile Europe webinar from 12th September 2024

With:

  • Paulino Corrêa – Chief Network Officer (CNO) at Vodafone Portugal, as well as Head of TV Technology at Vodafone Networks
  • João Antunes – Head of Autonomous Networks Offer at Celfocus
  • Patrick Kelly – Founder & Principal Analyst at Appledore Research
  • Moderated by: Annie Turner, Editor at Mobile Europe

Sponsored by Celfocus – find out more a www.celfocus.com

CMA launches provisional merger findings, ball is back in 3 and Vodafone’s court

Annie Turner
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CMA launches provisional merger findings, ball is back in 3 and Vodafone’s court

Kester Mann: “The next three months may prove to be the most pivotal in the history of the UK telecoms sector”

No-one will be surprised to hear that the in-depth investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has provisionally found competition concerns over Vodafone’s planned merger with Three in the UK.

The investigation, led by an independent inquiry group, provisionally concluded that the merger would lead to price increases for tens of millions of mobile customers or customers would be offered less in their contracts, such as smaller amounts of data per month.

Apparently the CMA has particular concerns that these outcomes would “negatively affect those customers least able to afford mobile services as well as those who might have to pay more for improvements in network quality they do not value”.

The CMA has also provisionally found that the merger would negatively impact wholesale telecoms customers – MVNOs like Lyca Mobile, Sky Mobile and Lebara – which run on operators’ networks. The merger would reduce the number of network operators from four to three making it more difficult for MVNOs to secure competitive terms, restricting their ability to offer the best deals to retail customers.

Network quality not a valid argument

The CMA has also found that integrating Vodafone and Three’s networks could improve the quality of mobile networks and advance 5G networks and services, as claimed by Vodafone and Three. But the “considers that these claims are overstated, and that the merged firm would not necessarily have the incentive to follow through on its proposed investment programme after the merger”.

As a result, the CMA has provisionally concluded that the merger would lead to a substantial lessening of competition in the UK – in both retail and wholesale mobile markets.

The CMA will now consult on its provisional findings. It will also consult on potential solutions to its competition concerns, including the options set out in its remedies notice.

These include legally binding investment commitments overseen by the sector regulator, and measures to protect both retail customers and customers in the wholesale market. The CMA will retain the option to prohibit the merger should it conclude that other remedy options will not address its competition concerns effectively.

Margherita Della Valle, Vodafone’s Chief Executive, said: “Our merger is a catalyst for change. It’s

time to take off the handbrake on the country’s connectivity and build the world-class

infrastructure the country deserves. We are offering a self-funded plan to propel economic growth

and address the UK’s digital divide.

“Great network connectivity is a critical enabler of so many elements of our daily life and is central

to the future prospects of so many sectors. Businesses large and small are dependent on it and it

enables new industries – like AI – to thrive. It facilitates a step change in productivity and care

across the public sector, and it lies at the heart of every nation’s future prosperity.”

Transforming the UK’s telecoms infrastructure is vitally important for businesses, the

What the inquiry group says

Stuart McIntosh, chair of the inquiry group leading the investigation, said, “We’ve taken a thorough, considered approach to investigating this merger, weighing up the investment the companies say they will make in enhancing network quality and boosting 5G connectivity against the significant costs to customers and rival virtual networks.

We will now consider how Vodafone and Three might address our concerns about the likely impact of the merger on retail and wholesale customers while securing the potential longer-term benefits of the merger, including by guaranteeing future network investments.

The CMA welcomes responses to its provisional findings by 04 October 2024 and its notice of possible remedies by 27 September 2024. They will be considered ahead of the CMA issuing its final report, which is due by 7 December 2024. 

Still everything to play for

Kester Mann, Director, Consumer and Connectivity, CCS Insight, comments, “At first glance, the CMA’s concerns make for uncomfortable reading for Vodafone and Three as they battle for approval for their crucial merger. However, many of [them] had been outlined previously, notably the potential for higher prices and likely impact on the wholesale market. The main knockback to the merging parties is that the CMA considers claims of superior network quality post integration to be ‘overstated’.”

He continues, “The CMA offers a potential path to approval through a range of remedies. Crucially, it appears willing to consider ‘behavioural remedies’ such as enhanced network access for virtual providers or safeguards for retail customers. This is significant as many had feared that more onerous ‘structural remedies’ – such as selling assets or supporting a new entrant – would be required.

“In this sense, Vodafone and Three should be encouraged by the tone of the CMA’s report which appears more open to the merger than I was expecting.”

Mann concludes, “The ball is now firmly back in the court of Vodafone and Three. They need to quickly assess these proposals and make further suggestions ahead of a final deadline in early December. The next three months may prove to be the most pivotal in the history of the UK telecoms sector.

“I retain my view that approving the merger would be the best outcome for the future of the UK mobile industry. A combined Vodafone and Three can make more efficient investments and push BT and Virgin Media O2 to raise their game too, boosting the market’s long-term connectivity credentials.”

World-class infrastructure

Margherita Della Valle, Vodafone’s Chief Executive, said in response to the CMA’s preliminary findings, “Our merger is a catalyst for change. It’s time to take off the handbrake on the country’s connectivity and build the world-class infrastructure the country deserves. We are offering a self-funded plan to propel economic growth and address the UK’s digital divide.

“Great network connectivity is a critical enabler of so many elements of our daily life and is central to the future prospects of so many sectors. Businesses large and small are dependent on it and it enables new industries – like AI – to thrive. It facilitates a step change in productivity and care across the public sector, and it lies at the heart of every nation’s future prosperity.”

Transforming the UK’s telecoms infrastructure is vitally important for businesses, the public sector, the UK’s technological advancement, and the government’s stated mission to kickstart economic growth.”

More information can be found on the Vodafone / CK Hutchison JV case page and on the detailed guidance page.

Leading telcos form global API company with Ericsson 

Simon Dux
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Leading telcos form global API company with Ericsson 

América Móvil, AT&T, Bharti Airtel, Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Reliance Jio, Singtel, Telefónica, Telstra, T-Mobile, Verizon and Vodafone join Ericsson to sell network software tools 

Global headliners América Móvil, AT&T, Bharti Airtel, Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Reliance Jio, Singtel, Telefónica, Telstra, T-Mobile, Verizon and Vodafone, together with Ericsson have come together to form Live Aid for network APIs. The global telecom companies will form a new joint-venture company “to accelerate adoption and innovation of network APIs” and basically try to work out how to monetise them.  

Ericsson will hold 50% of the equity in the new venture while the telco partners will hold 50%. The Swedish vendor’s involvement is unsurprisingly given its $6.2 billion bet on Vonage in 2021, which has since it write down around $4 billion since. Vonage is already working with several of the telcos in the new group but to create an ecosystem APIs are going to need to integrate across many hundreds of telcos.  

A new Bridge to Paragon? 

The members hope this will catalyse API development spurring new ways to charge for network-based services. Given the size of the telcos involved, this is the most serious attempt to make APIs work to date. For example, Singtel’s involvement is smart given that telco’s work with the Bridge Alliance to create an API Exchange (BAEx) which has now been joined by a 13 operators including Airtel, AIS, China Unicom, CSL, CTM, Globe, Maxis, Mobifone, Optus, Singtel, SK Telecom, Taiwan Mobile and Telkomsel.  

Underlying (BAEx) is Singtel’s Paragon orchestration platform, and the exchange builds on the GSMA’s Open Gateway initiative and Project CAMARA. AEx) is already offering Silent Network Authentication APIs such as Number Verify and SIM Swap and has plans to introduce more APIs like eKYC (electronic know your customer) and QoD (Quality-of-service on Demand).  

Singtel also has a technology share agreement with SK Telecom and recently, the South Korean mobile leader signed a deal to collaborate with Korea Telecom and LG Uplus on APIs – so there is a real making an API movement in the works.  

Google in the house 

Vonage and Google Cloud will partner with the new company, providing access to their ecosystems of millions of developers as well as their partners. The new venture shareholders will bring funding and important assets, including Ericsson’s platform and network expertise, global telecom operator relationships, knowledge of the developer community and each telecom operator’s network APIs, expertise and marketing.

The newly formed company will combine network APIs globally, with a vision that new applications will work anywhere and, on any network, making it easier and quicker for developers to innovate. Google’s involvement is fascinating given that many of the telcos in the new alliance partnered AWS at MWC Barcelona in the hope of creating a new “go-to-market-channel for telcos” using APIs.  

The newly formed company will provide network APIs to a broad ecosystem of developer platforms, including hyperscalers, communications platform as a service (CPaaS) providers, system integrators and independent software vendors, based on existing industry-wide CAMARA APIs – the open-source project driven by the GSMA and the Linux Foundation. 

Additional telecom operators are encouraged to join the new company, further driving the industry and developer experience, and allowing all participants to tap into a “significant new revenue opportunity”, such as telecom operator Three Sweden (Hi3G Access) which is already in discussions. Closing of the transaction is expected in early 2025, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary conditions. The new venture’s platform and partner ecosystem will remain open and non-discriminatory to maximise value creation across the industry. 

What does the wider industry think?

Kester Mann, Director, Consumer and Connectivity at CCS Insight, commented, “Traditionally, telecom operators have largely failed to support developers by providing them with the right tools and opportunities to create new services. This was not such a problem in the 3G and 4G eras, as successful applications like Uber were developed without needing major support from telecom providers.

“With 5G however, a lack of tangible and attractive customer uses — particularly in consumer market — continues to restrict sector growth and unnerve investors seeking a more tangible path to return on investment. To overcome this, operators have been forced to adopt a fresh mind-set of collaboration, flexibility and openness.

“Today’s announcement is an important step in that direction by addressing one of the major challenges for developers seeking to engage with mobile operators – sector fragmentation. In the past, the telecom industry – with many competing players each deploying different strategies for their specific regions – has struggled to present a united and coherent front.”

Mann cautions, “Operators have a dubious track record in collaborating. However, driven by growing urgency to better monetise significant network investments, and now with involvement from major technology partners in the form of Ericsson and Google, there should be fresh optimism that the new company unveiled will enjoy more success than previous failed ventures.”

Telco executives applaud 

“This is a critical first step in our innovation journey to fully harness the power of our networks at scale, providing secure access to new on-demand network services and advanced network capabilities. By delivering a common and simple set of network APIs for developers globally, we can unleash this network value for businesses, large and small. This is a definitive gamechanger for businesses, opening up the possibility of a new wave of digital services,” said Orange CEO Christel Heydemann. 

“We are very excited to join Ericsson and other key players in our industry in this innovative global platform initiative that will benefit the digital ecosystem as a whole. New API solutions will establish exciting value-added offerings to our customers on the top of our networks’ infrastructure,” said AMX CEO Daniel Hajj. 

“At AT&T, we’ve been creating API tools to empower developers for well over a decade. Now, with a broad-based, interoperable API platform, we’re giving innovators a new global toolbox where the world’s best app developers can create exciting user experiences at scale. This high-performance mobile ecosystem will usher in a new era of greater possibility for customers and mobile users around the world,” said AT&T CTO Jeremy Legg. 

“Today marks a defining moment as the industry comes together to form a unified platform that will allow more developers and businesses to utilise our networks and explore API opportunities through open gateway principles,” said Bharti Airtel managing director and CEO Gopal Vittal. “This move will enhance network monetisation opportunities. Airtel is delighted to partner in this initiative that will help enable the telecom sector to drive growth and innovation across the ecosystem.” 

 “The new company accelerates our leading work with MagentaBusiness APIs to expose our network capabilities for customers and developers. We believe that this company will open up new monetisation opportunities for the industry,” said Deutsche Telekom CEO Tim Höttges. “We encourage and look forward to more telecom operators joining us to expand and develop this ecosystem.” 

“Today is a defining moment for the industry and milestone in our strategy to open up the network for increased monetisation opportunities,” said Ericsson president and CEO Börje Ekholm (above). “A global platform built on Ericsson’s deep technical capabilities and with a comprehensive ecosystem, that provides millions of developers with a single connection, will enable the telecom industry to invest deeper into the network API opportunity, driving growth and innovation for everyone.” 

“We spearheaded the transformation of both mobile and fixed home broadband by delivering affordable, high-quality broadband to everyone, across India. As we rapidly adopt an AI and API-driven technology ecosystem—by collaborating with global leaders, Jio is thrilled to offer a suite of innovative and transformative APIs to enterprises and developers worldwide,” said Reliance Jio president Mathew Oommen. “Together, we are not just building networks; we are laying the foundation for a smarter, more connected, and inclusive world in the AI era.” 

“This unified platform and global eco-system will enable even more developers and businesses to leverage 5G quality networks to exploit API opportunities using GSMA’s open gateway principles,” said Singtel Group CEO Yuen Kuan Moon. “We look forward to helping even more enterprises and organisations in Asia to use network API solutions to drive growth and innovation through this timely collaboration.”         

“This collaboration will drive the GSMA Open Gateway initiative and provide customers with a consistent set of Camara APIs,” said Telefónica chairman and CEO José María Álvarez-Pallete. “Our belief is that this industry movement, which will be open to all networks, can set the stage for unprecedented innovation and value creation for the sector, by unlocking the potential of network capabilities.”  

“This new global venture will create an ecosystem that provides developers, partners and customers with access to programmable, advanced network capabilities that will unleash a new wave of innovation in digital services and further unlocks the benefits of our 5G network,” said Telstra CEO Vicki Brady. “We’ve been making good progress locally with Ericsson and other partners, and we look forward to further accelerating digital transformation for our Australian customers and bringing value and simplicity to application developers around the world.” 

“At T-Mobile, we’ve always been laser focused on championing change across the industry to create the best customer experiences, while fueling growth and innovation across the entire wireless ecosystem,” said T-Mobile president of technology Ulf Ewaldsson. “That level of transformation takes unprecedented collaboration and expertise. We are excited about the possibilities this venture will create for developers and wireless customers around the world.” 

“The depth and value of the services and data insights accessible through Verizon’s renowned 5G network are practically boundless,” said Verizon EVP and president, global network and technology Joe Russo. “Verizon has been at the forefront of developing various network APIs to assist developers in enhancing customer security, reducing pain points in customer interactions, and enabling the creation of novel experiences. This exciting collaboration with global partners will broaden the availability of these services and accelerate adoption of APIs worldwide.” 

“Network APIs are reshaping our industry. This pioneering partnership will enable businesses and developers to use the collective strength of our global networks to develop applications that drive growth, create jobs, and improve public services,” said Vodafone Group chief executive Margherita Della Valle. “Just as 4G and smartphones made apps integral to our everyday life, the power of our 5G network will stimulate the next wave of digital services.” 

“We understand the power of an open platform and ecosystem in driving innovation. We are proud to participate in this important partnership in the telco industry to create value for our global customers via network APIs – and ultimately deliver on the promise of the public cloud,” said Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian. 

“This groundbreaking, open industry collaboration effectively removes the single largest barrier for developers to leverage mobile networks to their full potential,” said Vonage CEO Niklas Heuveldop. “Developers across the world’s leading developer platforms will benefit from accessing advanced network capabilities in partner networks globally through common APIs, accelerating the digital transformation of businesses and the public sector.”  

“As one of the leading developer platforms, we look forward to engaging our developer community as we grow the network API business,” he added. 

Draghi’s merger remedies are radical – will the new Commission act on them?

Annie Turner
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Draghi’s merger remedies are radical – will the new Commission act on them?

Italy’s former Prime Minister is pushing for a major overhaul the EU’s approach to competition – will the new Commission support his remedies?

The paper published this week by Italy’s former Prime Minister and former Governor of the European Central Bank week is pushing for a major overhaul the EU’s approach to policing monopolies and mergers. In The Future of European Competitiveness, his criticism is scathing and his remedies radical.

The thrust of his arguments is:

  • Scale is key to being competitive and innovative
  • Allow companies to invest collaboratively with rivals
  • Tackle problems as they arise rather than trying to head everything off at the pass ­ so, for instance, police potentially troublesome mergers after the fact instead of spending an eternity trying to predict what effect their combined might could have
  • Look at the impact of consolidation across the EU rather than simply within one or a few countries – and telecoms gets a special mention here because it tends to be regulated on a market-by-market basis, but many telco groups needs to compete regionally and/or globally
  • Stop obsessing about potential impacts on consumer prices – it is not the only benchmark that matters, nor even the most important
  • Harmonise spectrum auctions, licensing rules and processes to help create scale.

Naturally not everyone is a fan of his proposals and some are thoroughly alarmed, never mind that the established thinking isn’t working.

Nor will it be a balm to those who oppose change that Draghi insists his recommendations do not necessitate rewriting the EU’s competition goals state-aid rules or those to control mergers.

Reading between the lines, it’s more about how they are interpreted and not starting out with a mindset that is agin consolidation on principle. For instance, to balance the potential of scale and innovation against a combined entity acquiring greater market power. Or as Draghi puts it, all that is needed is an overhaul the Commission’s own guidelines for how the rules are put into practice.

The blocked merged that is referenced most frequently in the debate is the proposed merger of two huge forces in the train industry, Germany’s Siemens and France’s Alstom. Their merged was blocked in 2019. The Financial Times [subscription needed] quotes an unnamed EU official pointing out that due to the deal being prevented, “We have not just one but two international champions” which sums up both the mentality and the problem.

Will the new Commission, shortly to be announced, be any more forward thinking?

And the winners are…?

The recently reappointed President of the European Commission, Ursula van der Leyen, will soon announce her 26 new Commissioners – the inauguration of the College of Commissioners’ takes place on 1 November. Margrethe Vestager spent a decade in charge of competition in the bloc, and oversaw what has been a financially ruinous decade for many of Europe’s telco groups. Will her successor bring any fresh thinking, or will van der Leyen’s appointments simply be rearranging the deckchairs?

So far there is no clear leader for the Competition brief, according to Politico. Some of the names that have been mentioned as possibilities include Latvia’s Valdis Dombrovskis, Spain’s Teresa Ribera and Austria’s Magnus Brunner.

Currently they are respectively: EVP, chairing the Commissioners’ Group on an Economy that Works for People; VP of the government of Spain and Minister for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge – and likely to be the only socialist with any real clout in the new Commission; and the Federal Minister of Finance of Austria since December 2021.

The question is will whoever the new Commission for competition turns out to be, will they have the imagination, guts and power to push through radical change around monopolies and enforcing fair competition within the Union, including and beyond in-country consolidation?

Whoever finds themselves in the hot seat might also discover they have an ally in France’s Thierry Breton, if, as predicted, he’s made EVP for Industry and Strategic Autonomy.

Airtel Business signs up extra capacity on Sparkle’s cables between India and Italy

Annie Turner
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Airtel Business signs up extra capacity on Sparkle’s cables between India and Italy

Through the agreement with Italy’s Sparkle, the Indian business is diversifying its global undersea network

Sparkle, the Italian, international infrastructure provider has signed an agreement with Airtel Business, part of India’s Bharti Airtel group.

The agreement will provide Airtel Business with additional capacity on a diversified, low latency route between Asia and Europe via Google’s Blue-Raman undersea infrastructure.

Airtel Business is one of India’s leading ICT service providers, with strategically located submarine cables, satellite networks and global networks spanning 400,000 km (including indefeasible rights of use) across 50 countries and five continents.

It has more than 1,200 partnerships with carriers globally to connect customers all over the world to hard-to-reach areas.

In India, Airtel Business offers solutions including secure connectivity, cloud and data centre services, cyber security, IoT and cloud-based communications to enterprises, governments, carriers, and small and medium businesses.

Under the agreement, Sparkle will provide capacity on the Blue & Raman Submarine Cable Systems which will connect India to Italy. With this additional capacity, Airtel will diversify its global network across multiple international submarine cable systems to serve the growing demand for data services in India and neighbouring countries. 

The two companies will also work together to develop new business opportunities and projects in the Indian sub-continent, leveraging their respective cable infrastructures.

Vani Venkatesh, CEO of Global Business at Airtel Business, said, “ This partnership will further diversify our network with large integrated capacities to meet the ever-growing connectivity needs and data demand of our customers.”

“We are very pleased with this agreement, based on the new solution provided by Blue & Raman, which supports the digital growth of the region and strengthens our historical partnership with Bharti Airtel”, added Enrico Bagnasco, CEO of Sparkle.

AWS commits another £8bn to UK infra over next 5 years

Annie Turner
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AWS commits another £8bn to UK infra over next 5 years

This brings the cloudco’s investment pledges in the UK to £11bn since 2020

Amazon Web Services (AWS) has announced a five-year plan to invest another £8 billion (€9.477 billion) to build and run data centres in the UK.

AWS claims this will contribute £14 billion to the country’s GDP over the five-year period and support about 14,000 jobs annually in local businesses, including jobs in the supply chain for its datacentres.

AWS invested £3 billion in datacentre infrastructure in the UK between 2020 and 2023, having launched its first AWS region in the country in 2016 – there are more than 30 such ‘regions’ across North America, Europe and Asia. UK expansions since 2016 have included three Availability Zones (AZ), two WaveLength Zones and two Edge Locations.

Rachel Reeves, the UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, said it “marked the start of an economic revival” and showed that Britain was “a place to do business”.

AWS explained it wanted to “support the transformation of the UK’s digital economy”.

According to survey of its customers, commissioned by AWS and carried out by Public First, 84% said their business had saved money as a result of investing in cloud infrastructure, with an average cost saving of 28% versus using on-premises infrastructure.

About two-thirds of respondents said they had also reduced energy consumption and improved sustainability as a result of using the cloud.

AWS said, “If the UK can help just half of small and medium businesses (SMBs) who aren’t currently Digital Leaders (see graph below, from AWS) to adopt technologies such as cloud computing and AI, this could create an estimated £38 billion in additional value for the UK economy over the next five years.

“These benefits would be spread across all nations and regions of the UK, creating, for example, an additional £2.5 billion in economic value in the West Midlands, and £3.9 billion in economic value in the North West, both over the next five years.”

According to research conducted by Gallup for AWS, 72% of businesses surveyed in the UK have a vacancy for workers with digital skills, but only 11% of UK workers possess advanced digital skills.

Swisscom’s planned acquisition of Vodafone Italia faces next-stage scrutiny

Annie Turner
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Swisscom’s planned acquisition of Vodafone Italia faces next-stage scrutiny

Italy’s Competition Authority opens in-depth investigation, as expected, and Swisscom expects the deal to go through in the first quarter of next year

Italy’s Competition Authority (Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato) has opened an in-depth investigation (Phase II) to assess the acquisition of Vodafone Italia by Swisscom under the country’s merger rules.

Swisscom says that Phase II reviews “are not uncommon in the telecommunications sector” and that it “remains convinced that the transaction is pro-competitive”. The Swiss operator said in a statement, “We will continue to work closely and constructively with the Italian Competition Authority to secure a timely clearance.

“Swisscom will keep the market updated of any significant developments.”

Overall, completion of the Vodafone Italia transaction is on track. After the announcement of Swisscom’s plan to acquire Vodafone Italia on 15 March 2024, the Swiss operator secured the financing for the purchase price of €8 billion in May.

It has received unconditional approval from both the Presidency of the Council of Ministers in Italy (Golden Power legislation) and the Swiss Competition Commission.

The transaction is still subject to further regulatory approvals.

European telecoms: It’s not gone to plan – how much does it matter?

Annie Turner
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European telecoms: It’s not gone to plan – how much does it matter?

Ericsson’s Alvise Carlon argues that regulation can be fixed anytime the EU chooses and all is not lost on the tech front, even if it’s not what we thought would happen

Neither European politics nor its telecoms market are greatly encouraging at the moment. The latter is likely to be easier to fix than the former. In telecoms at least, solutions don’t seem any closer, although Mario Draghi’s new report has certainly provided food for thought this week. Alvise Carlon (pictured), Head of Cloud Software and Services for Europe and Latin America at Ericsson, suggests some ways forward in an extended interview. 

He started by saying, “We need to start acknowledging that Europe is lagging behind and we urgently need all the Europe policymakers to stay focused and prioritise innovation over regulation.

“At stake [is] the overall competitiveness and prosperity of Europe…we need to understand that high-performing telco infrastructure is a key enabler for the digitalisation of all other industries and the society. We cannot gain our technology leadership [or] achieve decarbonisation ambitions without a solid telco infrastructure.”

Areas where Europe lags

Where is Europe lagging on the telecoms front? Carlon says one example is that the overall European investment in digital infrastructure is less half what the US invests – the EU’s population in 2024 is about 449.2 million and the US’ about 345.4 million.

Another factor is that only about [correction from original which stated 19%] 27% of 4G sites have been upgraded with mid-band spectrum to boost throughput and capacity for consumers and enterprises in Europe. China and North America are above 30%, and South Korea up to about 80%.

A third indicator is the slow adoption by users of 5G Standalone (SA) which is mainly concentrated in India, China, the US and South Korea. There are “very tiny spots here and there in Europe,” Carlon says.

“It’s crystal clear that we have a gap versus the other continents and this gap, unfortunately, is becoming bigger and bigger.”

It will be interesting to see how BT’s 5G SA offer launched this month fares in 15 British cities. Particularly its tactic of promoting SA with fibre broadband/WiFi 7 as ubiquitous, fast connectivity works – even though speed is not necessarily the most important thing, as so many studies have shown. Coverage and reliability trump speed every time.

Then there is the issue of scale: “Our operators in Europe have an average of 4 million subscribers per country market, compared to 95 million in the US, 300 million in India or 400 million in China…scale is really very, very important…to be able to invest in innovation.”

Deutsche Telekom is the only European operator group to have crossed the threshold of €100 billion market capitalisation – and that has been propelled by its majority stake in T-Mobile US.

These factors have contributed to operators finding that all too often, the return on capital employed (ROCE) is lower than the cost of capital employed. The plea to the European Commission to allow in-country consolidation has been going on for year.

No in-country consolidation

It seems to fall on deaf ears. For instance, the Commission gave permission to Orange Spain to merge with MasMovil, on the proviso that the way was paved for another national competitor to maintain choice and keep prices down. This was Romania’s Digi, which already had a strong MVNO presence in Spain. (Interestingly, after allowing the merger of Sprint and T-Mobile, the US regulator insisted on the creation of a fourth national operator – in that case, DISH Network.)

National regulators and outright greed by governments have played their part too. Each European Union country is at liberty to allocate frequencies as it sees fit.  When handing out 5G licences, the Italian regulator took the opportunity to rake in more than €6 billion from the operators in spectrum licensing fees for the state and so did BNetzA, the German regulator.

Money that could have been spent on infrastructure, particularly given how laggardly Germany and Italy were at that point in the deployment of fibre broadband. Perhaps it’s not surprising that most of the German opcos lagged in their 5G build out commitments.

Alongside the auction, BNetzA also insisted on the creation of a new, national 5G-only competitor in the shape of 1&1. It also made spectrum available to enterprises, such as universities and industries, wanting to build their own, private 5G networks – potentially undermining one of the chief means of operators monetising 5G.

Meanwhile, in some Asian countries, Carlon says, “These frequencies are given free of charge in some countries, provided that there is a commitment from the operators to provide certain coverage, even where there is not a solid business case, such as providing fixed wireless access in rural areas and so on.”

How can we fix it?

So in-country consolidation in Europe has seemed no nearer than it was, say, in 2016 when the Commission declined to approve O2 UK merging with 3 UK*, but a new Commission will come into power at the beginning of November, and there is widespread acknowledgement within the top echelons of the European Union that change is needed.

And that’s another point. These deliberations are so, so slow – Draghi is arguing for policing problems as they arise rather than blocking a combined entity accuruing greater market power. The glacial speed of deliberations regarding mergers – the UK the proposed merger of 3UK and Vodafone is still grinding on although the UK is now outside the EU – does adds to the uncertainty which has been a substantial factor in the delayed roll out of 5G SA networks. It is also suffering a hangover from the pandemic when telcos ‘overhired’ and are still saddled with inventory.

But also, it turns out that moving to 5G SA has been more difficult than was originally thought – cloud native is far from native to telcos. Added to which telcos’ idea of reliable and resilient networks is an order of magnitude beyond just about everyone else’s.

Then there’s the business case, which is a chicken and egg situation. You can’t offer 5G SA-based services – like super low latency and network slicing without deploying the tech and all too often proofs of concept don’t scale up. Also many are just not convinced by the business case.

For example, Dean Bubley is well-known voice in the industry who says he is a “Slicing Skeptic” on both commercial and technical grounds. In this detailed blog he describes “proper” network slicing (as defined by the 3GPP rather than a VLAN or any other variety) as “one of the worst strategic errors made by the mobile industry since the catastrophic choice of IMS for communications applications.”

He goes on to say that this led to “the fiascos” of voice over LTE (VoLTE – you’ll find an exploration of some of the issues from one of Mobile Europe’s panel sessions here) and RCS and, here’s the real kicker, “the loss of telcos in communications more broadly”.

Others suggest slicing might be a good wholesale, rather than retail option.

If you were to sum it up, arguably so many of the use cases we were all carried away with for 5G were a technology in search of justification. We sort of forgot that the point of 5G was to handle larger quantities of traffic more efficiently and cheaply in the blather about remote surgery and connected vehicles.

Certainly the old operator mantra of ‘If we build it they will come’ is stone dead. BT Group’ Chief Security and Networks Officer, Howard Watson, famously replied, “We are not doing that again,” when asked about a future network upgrade to 6G at MWC in 2023. In a recent interview, Radeep Sekhon, CTO of Indian operator Airtel stated, “I think 5G is the last ubiquitous G” and that “6G is better seen as [an] industrial G”.

Open RAN yet to break into a run

There is a similar story to that of the core at the other end of the network, the RAN, in terms of things not going to plan and delays. Again open RAN has proved trickier than expected. Recent research by Dell’Oro predicted that after a slow start, Europe is projected to account for 15 to 20% of worldwide open RAN revenues by 2028 and open RAN revenues globally will make up just 15-20% of the global RAN market by 2028.

Something else has become clear too. One of the foundational motivations for open RAN was to open up the market to more entrants and break the dominance of the ‘Big Three’ RAN equipment suppliers – Ericsson, Huawei and Nokia. The thinking was that more players in the disaggregated RAN ecosystem would foster greater innovation and drive down prices.

Tech progress

Stefan Pongratz, Vice President of RAN market research at the Dell’Oro Group, recently  noted, “Open RAN is happening, but this vision that Open RAN will significantly change the vendor dynamics is fading,”  upon publication of the new report.

Carlon points out that Ericsson has developed a cloud-native, dual-mode core platform that supports 4G and 5G, Standalone and Non-Standalone and in Europe and Latin America, we already have 28 mobile operators live on this platform. Its performance has proved to be “very solid” he says supporting more than 100 million subscribers in Latin America and Europe.

He says, “This cloud native software provides a lot of benefit for the operators. Higher resilience since you distribute the workload over multiple microservices. Higher scale scalability. You simplify the operation, because now we can upgrade the software in service – without removing traffic from the nodes. Most of all, the cloud-native architecture allows shorter the time to market…thanks to the cloud native architecture compared with traditional architecture.

Most importantly, he claims Ericsson also radically simplifies cloud infrastructure by deploying Kubernetes over the bare metal instead of virtual machines. Carlon says, “We created one cloud-native platform on bare metal on which we are deploying all the Ericsson cloud-native software, starting from the cloud RAN to the edge node to the main data centre in a much more efficient way.

We can provide to the operator with a TCO saving of at least 25% because the platform has fewer components, consumes less power and takes up less space in the data centre. Its overall lifecycle management is cheaper and simpler because it’s the same platform from the edge to the core, reusing the same R&D across all the network architecture.”

* Mind you, it did allow Three Italy and Wind to merge in Italy in 2016, with remedies, but that didn’t pan out well. According to this analysis from Lightreading, execution rather than consolidation per se was largely the problem.

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