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French households don’t use a quarter of their devices 

Simon Dux
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French households don’t use a quarter of their devices 

Despite this, only 13% of internet users thought that buying refurbished devices was a useful avenue for limiting ICT’s environmental footprint

The stuttering nature of device recycling was highlighted in a recent device ownership report carried out by French regulator Arcep with the Economic Council (CGE) and France’s National Agency for Territorial Cohesion (ANCT).  

The Digital Market Barometer report found that in 2023, French households owned an average of 10 digital devices, not all of which they use – for a total of around 300 million digital devices in Metropolitan France. Of all the devices found inside the home, a quarter are kept but never used, which means that around 70 million devices could be refurbished or recycled.  

Devices like smartphones, televisions, smart speakers, computers and so on – particularly during manufacture – account for the lion’s share of ICT’s environmental impact. The report stated that promoting the reuse of these devices is one of the levers that helps extend their lifespan, and thereby limit their environmental impact. In 2023, 21% of respondents reported owning a smartphone that they had bought either refurbished or second hand. This is especially common amongst the youngest users: up to a third of 18–24-year-olds.  

However, buying refurbished hardware is still insufficiently identified as a lever to reduce ICT’s environmental footprint, according to the report. When asked about what useful steps they were taking to limit the environmental footprint of their digital lifestyle, more than eight out of 10 internet users said they were performing at least one action to achieve that.  

Increasing the life of their devices (66%), and the number of devices they owned (49%), as well as the power they consume (77%), are among the most frequently cited actions. However, only 13% of internet users thought that buying refurbished devices was a useful avenue for limiting ICT’s environmental footprint.  

Almost half of rural connections are fibre  

While the percentage of the French population that owns a computer and/or a smartphone has plateaued at a high level (87%), more recent digital devices such as smart speakers continue to increase in popularity: 37% of respondents report owning at least one connected object (home automation, electronics, health, security) and 29% own a smart speaker. 

 The report found that users’ habits are changing in two ways: 80% of the population now use instant messaging services (up 1% YoY), and 60% regularly read their newspapers and magazines in digital format. Virtually all younger users have adopted these services, but they are also now catching on among older generations: close to 60% of people over 70 now surf the web on their mobile, compared to fewer than 20% in 2017. 

This growing adoption can be set against the increasingly widespread access to FTTP: 67% of fixed internet customers have a fibre plan. This percentage is growing in rural communities, where close to half of all internet subscribers now have this technology (48%, up 14% YoY). 

Three in four Romanians now connect via fibre 

Simon Dux
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Three in four Romanians now connect via fibre 

The country has hit five million fibre-to-the-premises connected internet users

Romanian regulator ANCOM has shed more light of the current health of the telecom sector in the country which shows that at the end of 2023, three out of four fixed internet connections were fibre only – 13% up on the previous year – while gigabit connections now exceeded two million. More than 80% of households are connected to the internet with a fixed line.  

Last week the regulator shared usage stats for the market, but the latest stats complete the picture of a market that has progressed well. Telecom sector revenues in 2023 were RON 16.9 billion (€3.4 billion). Fixed and mobile internet generated 37% of total revenues, mobile telephony 29%, TV retransmission 15%, fixed telephony 9%, and other types of networks/services 10%. The top three providers in revenue terms were: Orange Group (39%), RCS&RDS (26%) and Vodafone (24%)  

Fixed broadband growth 

After a 4% increase, the number of connections in 2023 exceeded 6.6 million, with 93% enabling speeds exceeding 100Mbps. 31% of connections (2 million connections, up 20%) allow speeds of at least 1 Gbps. Interestingly, the growth rate of the number of connections in rural areas (up 5%) exceeds that in urban areas (up 4%).  

The average monthly traffic reached 81 GB per inhabitant (up 17%) equivalent to 2.7GB/day. At national level, the penetration rate per 100 households is 80% (86% in urban areas and 72% in rural areas). By number of connections, the top 3 providers are: RCS&RDS (70%), Orange group (17%) and Vodafone (11%).  

Mobile internet with 5G growth 

The total number of active connections increased slightly to 21.5 million, of which 17 million used 4G and/or 5G. The number of connections using 5G tripled compared to the end of 2022, reaching 2.3 million. According to ANCOM, 20.4 million connections are used for both telephony and mobile internet, and 1.1 million are used for data only.  

The average monthly traffic was almost 11 GB per inhabitant (up 32%). In terms of active connections, the top three providers are: Orange group (37%), RCS&RDS (27%) and Vodafone (23%). 

There are now 23.6 million active mobile SIM cards, two-thirds of which are subscription-based. Compared to the end of 2022, the number of subscription SIM cards saw an increase of 7%, while the number of “active” prepaid SIM cards decreased by 11%. 

The total voice traffic decreased by 6% to 60 billion minutes, while the average mobile phone traffic per inhabitant was 4 hours and 22 minutes/month and 16 SMS/month. According to the number of active SIM cards, Orange Group had a market share of 35%, Vodafone 28% and RCS&RDS 24%. 

Operators doing well in TV bundles  

Ancom said the number of TV subscribers remained flat at 7.8 million. Users are switching more to cable retransmission services (up 4% to 6.8 million subscribers) over satellite/DTH services (down 22% to a total of 0.9 million). According to the total number of subscribers at the end of 2023, RCS&RDS had a market share of 73%, Orange group 14% and Vodafone 10%. 

Meeting stricter mobile requirements for location in emergencies

Annie Turner
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Meeting stricter mobile requirements for location in emergencies

Partner content: Delivering timely, high-quality location information to Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) is critical to emergency services’ mission of saving lives

Caller location regulations advance those interests while balancing them alongside practical considerations for mobile network operators’ (MNOs) implementing successively more sophisticated positioning technologies.

In 2022, the European Emergency Number Association (EENA), in line with the European Parliament’s Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/444, recommended a “horizontal accuracy estimate of 50m for 80% of all mobile-originated emergency communications.” With the passing of the March 5, 2024 deadline for EU member states to report on the criteria they have adopted in response to the regulation, the focus now shifts to monitoring and enforcement.

As an EENA advisory member since 2011, SS8 has long been engaged with MNOs all over the world as they work to address shortcomings in location information while streamlining compliance. SS8’s platform provides the reliable, high-accuracy location information to meet current and forthcoming regulations effectively and efficiently.

SS8’s LocationWise extracts network-based location data and combines it with handset-derived positioning information. This is the explicit approach recommended by the EU regulation, which states, “The mix of these technologies ensures that even where a handset-derived caller location solution fails to make the caller location information available to the most appropriate PSAP, emergency services can rely on network-based location to usefully come to the end-user’s assistance.”

Inherent limitations of common location methods

Substantial variations exist among regulatory frameworks and MNO location capabilities worldwide. In the EU, legislation in place since 2002 requires cell-level network accuracy or its equivalent. However, this often returns a position within a cell sector of 5km or more. Together with inconsistent implementation across jurisdictions and MNOs, this inherent imprecision results in lost time and wasted resources as first responders search for callers across large areas.

Advanced Mobile Location (AML) uses the computing capabilities of smartphones to improve on cell-level network location. This cost-effective approach, instantiated in the phone OS, uses technologies like GPS, Wi-Fi, and network cell location to provide the best information available, via SMS or HTTPS, to the closest PSAP.

Unfortunately, AML also has significant limitations, leading to an average 40% failure rate that can reach 66% or higher. The technology is limited to smartphones, which have a market penetration of about 85% or so. It is also subject to variations in handset capabilities and settings, as well as potentially out-of-date reference data for Wi-Fi networks and cells. It functions only for active emergency calls initiated by the end user. Moreover, the approach depends on mechanisms provided and maintained by mobile OS providers, and no practical audit trail exists. Monitoring and measurement of success depends on expensive, time-consuming approaches such as drive testing.

Complementing AML with Sub-Cell network location

International standards organizations such as 3GPP and ETSI have issued specifications that enable all mobile networks to provide sub-cell measurement for high-accuracy location. To improve on cell-level location, signal timing information from the serving cell can be used to estimate the distance of a device from the tower, narrowing the possible location area significantly. To refine the location further, geo-multilateration and related techniques based on timing and signal strength information can calculate intersections among the coverage areas of multiple cells in range of the device.

Industry best practices – including the EENA HELP 112 initiative – call for AML and sub-cell location to be used in tandem. This complementary architecture builds on the fact that AML is already widely deployed and adds sub-cell location as a well-established, standards-based evolution of that approach. In this way, high-accuracy, sub-cell network location can validate AML information, as well as offer as safety net when AML fails or provides poor-quality data. Because they do not depend on mobile OS makers, sub-cell approaches are not subject to discontinued vendor support and can be cross-checked against historical network data.

SS8’s LocationWise offers a highly accurate, reliable, and real-time location solution the combines sub-cell network location with device-based positioning. It requires no bespoke hardware and integrates easily into existing networks on bare-metal servers, VMs, or containerized cloud platforms. It provides robust auditability and uses standardized 3GPP and ETSI interfaces that have been defined since the early 2000s, allowing for a vendor-agnostic solution that supports all mobile network generations.

Emergency caller legislation continues to drive improved location capabilities and consistent service, defining more stringent accuracy and reliability requirements. As technologies evolve, MNOs must use these regulatory mandates as guidelines to deploy new solutions that improve emergency response all over the world.

About the author, Stuart Walsh

Stuart Walsh is a consultative technical sales leader with over 30 years of experience helping customers deliver solutions for success. As a technical leader in the Location division of SS8 Networks, Stuart is passionate about introducing next generation solutions and services to network operators and enterprises and driving business growth. Stuart also has a depth of experience in voice and data applications for both Enterprise and Service Provider customers.

You can learn more about Stuart on his LinkedIn profile here.

Deutsche Telekom wins Meta IP transit case 

Simon Dux
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Deutsche Telekom wins Meta IP transit case 

Meta wanted to convert an IP transit agreement with Telekom to free peering and continued to send traffic to the telco’s network after contract termination

The Cologne Regional Court has upheld a lawsuit from Deutsche Telekom (DT) over an IP transit dispute with Meta, ordering the social media company to pay around €20 million. The long running dispute follows the termination of the original IP transit arrangement between the parties. Meta thought it was paying too much – around €5.8 million annually and reportedly requested a 40% discount. Telekom countered with a 16% reduction. After intense negotiations, Meta decided to terminate. 

Although the telco acknowledged the termination, it kept the ports open “for the benefit of consumers and society in general” as it looked to establish a new agreement, as reported in detail at golem.de. As Meta continued to send its traffic to Telekom’s network on the basis of settlement-free peering, the telco ultimately sued the social network. 

Contradiction

This was heard in Bonn Regional Court which referred the case to the Cologne Regional Court in a detailed decision [in German]. The Cologne court agreed with Telekom. From the court’s point of view, it was irrelevant “whether the interconnection represents ‘peering’ and not ‘transit’ from a technical point of view.” In any case, “the data was sent in the same way as before the termination”.  

The Court ruled that Meta implicitly concluded an agreement with DT by continuing to send its traffic following the communication of new conditions by DT. The Court added that Meta cannot subsequently declare the termination on the one hand and continue to use the service on the other. Such a termination would contradict actual behaviour, it concluded. The court’s decision has been posted on LinkedIn.  

Is it IP transit or is it peering? 

Naturally many observers are rushing to the conclusion that the Cologne decision marks some sort of turning point in the long-running debate over whether US technology companies should be sharing the costs associated with European network infrastructure. ETNO had the decisions as first story in its latest newsletter for example.  

Meta’s decision to continue sending traffic “settlement-free” almost feels like the company was willing to set some precedents on this very point. For example, in the Bonn legal proceedings, Meta argued that Telekom holds exclusive control over connecting its customers through the networks it operates.

The company claimed that instead of freely exchanging data with Meta in a peering like arrangement, Telekom insisted on paid agreements, exploiting its control to charge fees. However, the Cologne Regional Court disagreed, viewing Telekom and Meta as mutually dependent. It concluded that Meta’s influence balances Telekom’s dominance, preventing any abuse of power. 

Next steps 

Meta reacted to the judgment by suggesting it still considers Telekom’s claims to be unfounded and the company is said to be examining all legal options. Meta is expected to appeal, which could take the case to the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court and possibly later to the Federal Court of Justice – meaning the final decision may take years.  

So, while many will call this a renewal of the “fair share” debate, the inevitable conclusion is more nuanced. Looking at it from its most narrow viewpoint, it is a contract dispute. From a wider perspective, it isn’t expected that Telekom will herald the decision as the final answer on “fair share” but will instead continue to push for a regulatory resolution suggesting the market alone won’t be able to solve this broader issue.  

As reported by golem.de, a Telekom spokeswoman now told the dpa news agency: “It shows that network operators in Europe are allowed to demand payment from large Internet companies for data transport.” She added it cannot be the case: “that European network operators will always have to go to court in the future to enforce payment for a valuable service.” 

Virgin Media O2 Business gets busy in public

Annie Turner
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Virgin Media O2 Business gets busy in public

Signs MoU with Crown Commercial Services, teams up with Accenture for private 5G opps and launches Care-ready Connectivity suite for UK healthcare ops

As BT Business continues to struggle, the UK’s second biggest converged operator is stepping up the pressure. May has been a busy month for Virgin Media O2 Business. This week it signed a new, three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Crown Commercial Service (CCS) to support ongoing digitisation efforts within the UK Government and public sector. 

CCS was set up by the Conservative Government a decade ago to help the public sector “achieve maximum commercial value when procuring common goods and services”. It claims that commercial benefits have increased from £606 million in 2017/18 to £3.8 billion in 2023/24.*

The new agreement apparently “will generate competitive discounts” and “accelerate digital collaboration, promising enhanced value for taxpayers and streamlined procurement processes”. This will be achieved in part by public sector entities – from central government to local authorities – having access to a suite of connectivity solutions.

They will include fixed connectivity, mobile shared data bundles, IP telephony, professional services, equipment and devices, and software-defined network functions.

Key role in public

Martin McFadyen, Director of Public Sector at Virgin Media O2 Business said, “There is a key role for Virgin Media O2 Business in supporting the public sector to get the most from telecoms technology and connecting communities across the nation. This partnership will also boost efforts to tackle digital literacy, helping people tap into the benefits of connectivity in their daily lives.”

Dr Philip Orumwense, Commercial Director and Chief Procurement Officer for Technology at Crown Commercial Services said, “This new MoU uses the buying power that CCS has to deliver cost effective and soundly procured connectivity solutions from Virgin Media O2 Business. There will also be additional benefits for customers through increased social value and L&D [learning and development] opportunities.”

Private 5G opps

Earlier this month, Virgin Media O2 announced a partnership with Accenture to “enhance private 5G Solutions for UK businesses”. This market sector is expected to be worth £528 million by 2030, an amount extrapolated from research by STL partners by the operator.

5G applications on offer by the partners, across multiple industry segments, includes computer vision AI to for quality control and monitoring equipment to meet factory floor compliance requirements. Other applications could be managing queues to improve customer experiences.

The solutions are built on Accenture’s Edge Orchestration Platform and will incorporate edge computing, data and AI, and embedded cybersecurity. The partners will initially target the construction, transportation and logistics, manufacturing, utilities, warehousing and sports venue sectors.

Liberty Global, the joint owner of Virgin Media O2 alongside Telefónica, is also exploring opportunities for these solutions in markets outside the UK. The collaboration will scale up in the coming months as joint customer implementations are deployed.

5G and other opps in healthcare

Virgin Media O2 Business has already had experience in deploying 5G in the UK’s National Health Service (NHS). In summer 2022 it helped activate the UK’s first 5G-connected hospital, the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust.

It says that access to a private mobile network improved clinician workflow and made managing patients’ records more efficient, monitored smart medicine storage and integrated diverse, connected devices. Since then, the pioneering NHS Digital has been rolled back into the NHS proper.

Virgin Media O2 Business provides solutions to 110 NHS Trusts. Now it has launched a Care-ready Connectivity suite to help tackle what it describes as the digital divide across the NHS.

This phenomenon is explored in a report published to coincide with that launch, entitled, Bridging the digital gap in UK healthcare. Censuswide surveyed 1,046 senior decision makers in the UK’s public healthcare sector in January this year on behalf of the operator’s business unit.

The report anticipates that by 2030, some 4.5 million people – 8% of the population – will remain digitally excluded, meaning they won’t have access to digital services and care. 

Almost half (49%) of NHS staff cited funding as the biggest hurdle to digital equality in the survey carried out for the report. The same percentage recognises the urgent need to support patients with new digital tools. The cost of living crisis is making the situation worse.

Other major factors, in the respondents’ view is the need for staff training (47%), infrastructure limitations (43%), concerns about data security (43%), and resistance to change (41%). 

Fact finding to pave the way to sales

The solutions proposed by Virgin Media O2 Business to these issues in the guise of The Care-ready Connectivity suite are: to give NHS Trusts free Mobile Health Checks; and hold free Digital Explore Workshops.

The former aims to help senior decision makers review their mobile estate to ensure they are getting the most out of their infrastructure. The latter’s purpose is to help the Trusts “tackle digital inefficiency challenges”

Using these two means of fact finding, the plan is that industry experts at Virgin Media O2 Business can then create and share bespoke digital transformation roadmaps and communicate steps that can be taken to improve digital access for both staff and patients.  

Since launching Care-ready Connectivity, Virgin Media O2 Business has delivered four digital workshops. The Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is one of them and it has subsequently identified underlying connectivity solutions that could drive better patient care. 

Mike Bacon, Programme Director at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust said,“Reliable, safe and secure digital infrastructure is essential in providing high quality, integrated care across our hospitals, the city of Leeds and beyond.

“As we develop our plans to build a new hospital here in Leeds, it’s important to ensure our facilities are scalable and future-proofed for generations to come. Bringing together our project leadership team and knowledge experts from industry enabled the group to explore the art of the possible for digital healthcare.” 

Care-ready Connectivity will sit alongside Virgin Media O2 Business’ wider digital inclusion programmes – the Connect More programme and the Tech Donation programme.

Public and private in the NHS

“There’s an opportunity for both the public and private sector to work together to bring about a revolutionary step change in the mindset of healthcare provision. With our new offer, we aim to empower individual NHS Trusts and organisations to take control of their own digital journey,” said Mark Burton, Health & Social Care Lead, Virgin Media O2 Business.

“Our research shows that digital progress is varied across the UK, and so we in the private sector must step up and support the NHS to provide the best possible digital environment for staff and patients across the nation.” 

* Editor’s note: It is doubtful if most of those (including me) living in the UK would say there has been an improvement in public services in this time period – rather the reverse. The general perception is taxpayers pay more for much fewer and poorer services.

Sparkle trial secures international VPN with quantum encryption 

Annie Turner
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Sparkle trial secures international VPN with quantum encryption 

The international arm of Telecom Italia used the tech to secure an IPsec tunnel, which it claims is a first, between Italy and Germany

Sparkle and Arqit Quantum, which specialises in quantum encryption, say they have completed a proof of concept (PoC), the first such trial on an Internet Protocol secure (IPsec) tunnel.

The tunnel was between Italy and Germany and used Arqit’s Symmetric Key Agreement Platform. The test was supported by Telsy, TIM group’s cybersecurity unit.

The PoC integrated Arqit Quantum’s technology into Sparkle’s network using Symmetric Key Agreement (SKA) to secure data transmission across geographical borders.

The parties claim, “This marks the creation of a software quantum-safe Virtual Private Network (VPN), standing as a pivotal moment in network security”.

Being software based, the SKA Platform can scale across any telecom network, protecting data against the potential threat of decryption by quantum algorithms in the future.

Daniele Mancuso, Sparkle’s Chief Marketing & Product Management Officer, said, “The successful completion of the quantum-safe VPN PoC, preliminary to a large-scale commercial launch, anticipates the potential threat of quantum decryption and confirms our market leading commitment to continuously elevating the security and resilience of Sparkle’s infrastructure.”

David Williams, Arqit Founder, Chairman and CEO, added,“Sparkle’s establishment of the first quantum-safe VPN between Catania and Frankfurt signifies a key milestone in telecoms cybersecurity. By leveraging Arqit’s SKA Platform, Sparkle is pioneering a new era of secure communication, ensuring the resilience of critical networks against the looming threat of quantum adversaries.”  

Virgin Media O2 expands digitalisation programme for consumers

Annie Turner
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Virgin Media O2 expands digitalisation programme for consumers

UK’s second largest converged operator chooses Netcracker for digital BSS and OSS

The UK’s Virgin Media O2 has extended its partnership with Netcracker Technology to help with its ongoing modernisation. The operator is to deploy the Netcracker Digital Platform. It features end-to-end Digital BSS and Digital OSS functions such as Active Resource Inventory support converged services for consumers – that is, mobile, fixed line, broadband and content.

In 2022, Virgin Media O2 Business announced it would deploy Netcracker Revenue Management, part of the vendor’s Digital BSS. The aim was to consolidate the operator’s revenue management platform, such as centralising B2B billing.

Professional help and aims

In this new, much larger scale phase, Virgin Media O2 will also call on professional services offered by Netcracker, including managed services and application development.

The operator expects to reduce OpEx and time to market for new services. It also intends to consolidate, relying a single product catalogue and making its order-to-cash process more efficient by eliminating multiple systems for customer service agents.

The plan is for Virgin Media O2 to leverage a 360-degree view of customers across all channels to increase personalised interactions and offer better experience and a wider choice of services.

Sylvain Seignour, President of Netcracker said, “Netcracker is extremely proud to work closely with Virgin Media O2 on one of the most significant digital transformations in the world”.

Going Dutch

Earlier this year, Netcracker announced it is also working with Dutch operator Odido (formed from the merger of Tele2 Mobile and T-Mobile Netherlands). Netcracker is helping Odido modernise its IT stack, specifically the integration of multiple brands and streamlining operations.

Odido too opted for the Netcracker Digital BSS, for configure, price, quote (CPQ) and order management, enabling the operator to reduce reliance on complex legacy systems.

Lotta Gunnarsson, CIO at Odido commented, “While we make the journey towards becoming a techco, having a trusted partner at our side will make all the difference to our future success.”

Plusnet expands fibre footprint with Deutsche GigaNetz deal 

Simon Dux
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Plusnet expands fibre footprint with Deutsche GigaNetz deal 

In a fragmented fibre market in Germany, altnets are still moving fast to build their businesses and not always by overbuilding

Energie Baden-Württemberg owned telco Plusnet is expanding its nationwide fibre optic footprint in Germany through an agreement with Hamburg-based fibreco Deutsche GigaNetz. As a result of the deal, Plusnet will gain access to around 500,000 marketable fibre-optic connections in 11 federal states served by Deutsche GigaNetz for its own business customer portfolio. The deal means Cologne-based Plusnet will deliver its internet access, cloud telephony and networking services to more areas.  

“As an open access player, we are looking to collaborate with other infrastructure companies as part of our nationwide fibre optic strategy in order to gradually expand our marketable fibre optic network,” said Plusnet CEO Ulrich Hoffmann. “Through the agreement with Deutsche GigaNetz, we are taking the next step and helping to avoid uneconomical overbuilding and still create more competition.”  

“Open Access is an important, strategic component in our corporate strategy to enable the highest possible utilisation while maintaining a variety of service providers on the networks we have built,” said Deutsche GigaNetz co-founder and managing director Soeren Wendler. “We are pleased to have Plusnet, an important partner with a focus on business customers, and to be able to provide fibre…as the infrastructure of the future to this target group.”  

Open access fibre to prevent overbuild 

Through the cooperation with Deutsche GigaNetz as well as agreements already made with other infrastructure partners such as Deutsche Telekom, Eurofiber and Glasfaser Nordwest, Plusnet said it has laid the basis for its own fibre optic network platform. In the future, the Cologne-based telco plans to use its Netbridge open access network to provide fibre optic networks from different providers nationwide into a virtual network and open it to all market participants via open access: an important lever for enabling local competition and sustainable business through efficient network utilisation in the fragmented fibre landscape in Germany – currently with around 170 network operators. 

A new study by DIALOG CONSULT and the VATM found that by mid 2024, 45.9 million households in Germany will have access to Gigabit connectivity mostly thanks to altnets but they want a more certain regulatory and political environment to protect their investment. 

Fourth-fifths (80%) of that increase is directly due to altnets that compete against the former incumbent, Deutsche Telekom (which uses the Telekom Deutschland brand within Germany). Altnets have a fibre take-up rate of 35.1% versus the Telekom Deutschland’s adoption rate of just 13% as it continues to sweat its vast copper assets. 

Since April 2021, Plusnet has been consistently pushing forward its own fibre optic strategy and the modernisation of its own communication network from copper to fibre. The telco is investing in the development of its own fibre optic infrastructure and is also expanding its marketable fibre optic network through collaborations, which it believes will help avoid market-destroying overbuilds.  

Pictured (from left to right): Soeren Wendler, co-founder and managing director of Deutsche GigaNetz, Ulrich Hoffmann CEO of Plusnet

PAIX Data Centres chooses Djibouti for carrier-neutral data centre 

Simon Dux
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PAIX Data Centres chooses Djibouti for carrier-neutral data centre 

The Internet traffic of Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia typically passes through Djibouti to reach the subsea cables traversing the Red Sea

Pan-African provider of cloud- and carrier-neutral colocation facilities, PAIX Data Centres, has announced a strategic joint venture with the Djibouti Sovereign Fund to construct a cloud and carrier-neutral data centre in Djibouti. PAIX already has facilities in Accra, Ghana, and Nairobi, Kenya, plus a number of other data centres in the pipeline.  

Ten undersea cables connect to Djibouti, with further cables under construction, making the data centre a key access point for PAIX and its customers that wish to serve emerging markets in the region. 

PAIX will purchase the land, buildings and data centre equipment. The facility will have about 50,000 square feet of net usable space and up to 5 MW of critical power. The first phase is expected to open in 2026. The new facility will serve as a strategic interconnection hub for ISPs, cloud providers, financial institutions, and enterprises.  

“PAIX’s investment in JIB1 positions it at the crossroads of connectivity between Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia,” said PAIX Data Centres CEO Wouter van Hulten. “The strong network hub that is created by the aggregation of multiple undersea cable landing points connecting to terrestrial cables makes Djibouti a highly attractive gateway.” 

He added: “We have received strong interest from our connectivity, CDN, social media, and cloud customers seeking to serve the emerging markets that can be accessed by these cables. We plan to develop thriving magnetic cloud and content hubs in Djibouti.” 

Raza Hasnani, managing director at investor Africa50 said: “We are excited to be supporting PAIX in its partnership with the Djibouti Sovereign Wealth Fund to develop this project, which will further enhance Djibouti’s positioning as a connectivity hub in Africa.” 

“As the heart of Africa’s digital economy, Djibouti plays a strategic role in facilitating connectivity between Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, PAIX Djibouti will serve as a catalyst for digital inclusion and economic development, empowering businesses to unlock new opportunities and realise their full potential in the digital age,” said Djibouti Sovereign Fund CEO Slim Feriani.  

“Recognising Djibouti’s pivotal location in Africa’s communications landscape, we eagerly anticipate the benefits this partnership between PAIX Data Centres and Djibouti Sovereign Fund will bring to the region,” said AFR-IX telecom CEO Norman Albi. “ 

He added: “This development fills us with great enthusiasm as we anticipate leveraging the enhanced connectivity options facilitated by this state-of-the-art data centre. Here’s to the success of this collaborative endeavour.” 

Djibouti wants to be a digital hub 

Pretty much all of the cables landing in the country land at Djibouti Telecom’s cable landing stations which offers cable head access, cross connect and backhaul services to the Djibouti Data Center’s Tier 3 facility, which is practically next door to the Haramous international cable landing station in Djibouti City – with a fully redundant fibre ring interconnecting all Djibouti Telecom cable landing stations.  

All subsea fibre cable systems landing in Djibouti are connected to the DDC facility on diverse fibre paths. These include SMW3, EIG, EASSy, WIOCC, AAE1, SMW5, and YEMEN-Djibouti. 

“Over the past fifteen years, we have invested $200 million in twelve submarine cables, making our territory an exchange and rallying point between Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Africa, thereby reinforcing connectivity and interoperability between the regions,” Djibouti Telecom international business director Mohamed Ahmed Mohamed told African Business.

“To get to Europe, all the submarine cables pass through the Red Sea, and therefore potentially through our country. By setting up here, operators can easily switch cables and thus reach different parts of the planet. Today, Djibouti Telecom serves more than 50 telecoms operators with connections to over 90 countries,” he added. 

DT Global Carrier ramps up API and CPaaS push

Annie Turner
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DT Global Carrier ramps up API and CPaaS push

The division says Digital Services portfolio is unique in Europe, created to meet the needs of wholesale customers and their enterprise clients

Deutsche Telekom Global Carrier (DTGC) is launching a new portfolio within its Global Carrier Digital Services. It says the move is responding to the needs of its wholesale customers and their enterprise clients and the first such offer in Europe.

DTGC says the portfolio is accessed via a portal. It enables wholesalers to manage wholesale services for their customers and configure the ready-to-go white label section to suit their brands and needs.

The portfolio also enables wholesale customers to provide offers to their enterprise customers which gain access to services, “but also a branded experience”. Features include price management, enterprise billing enablement and invoice generation will be added.

New CPaaS service

One of the new digital services is the Communication Platform as a Service (CPaaS).
This cloud-based delivery model allows wholesalers to add real-time capabilities like messaging, voice and video to business applications through APIs.

One of DTGC’s main customers participating in this initial phase is virtualQ, a provider of call-back solutions and contact centre optimisation in Europe. It has been working with DTGC for a few months. Bundling DTGC’s secure telecom services with virtualQ’s algorithms to manage call volume management meets requirements is intended to meet the needs of companies with global operations.

Possible examples include health insurance companies, financial organisations, sensitive public institutions and other enterprise authorities.

This is the second strand of its DT’s API strategy. Last September, Deutsche Telekom announced it is to charge developers and business customers for the use of APIs on its mobile network in Germany. The APIs will allow the third parties to build apps and services, using information and functions from the network. The API portal will run on the Vonage platform, owned by Ericsson

A unique European offering

All services within Global Carrier Digital Services portfolio are deployed and operated from within the European Union, adhering “to the highest data protection and privacy standards”. This makes it suitable for wholesale customers in highly protected sectors such as healthcare and public sector administration.

DTGC provides dedicated support from first contact to development, deployment and subsequent operations, the operator says. All services are available immediately and the portfolio is to be continuously enhanced based on customers’ requirements.

Bertold Frech (pictured), VP International Strategy, Marketing & Steering at DTGC Carrier, stated, “We are keenly aware of the resource challenges our wholesale customer face on a daily basis, which was a main driver for setting up the new Global Carrier Digital Services portfolio.

“It offers current as well as many new digital services tailored to our customers’ specific needs, and also enables them to launch with almost zero integration requirements into their respective IT landscapes.”

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