Eurobites: UK and (non-EU) friends set up new telecom 'coalition'

The UK has signed up to a new telecom talking-shop, the Global Coalition on Telecommunications (GCOT), joining representatives from the US, Japanese, Australian and Canadian governments to promote diverse supply chains, secure standards and innovation in areas such as 6G and open RAN. Options for joint-funded larger-scale projects involving all five countries will be considered. GCOT's steering group will meet twice a year, once in person and once virtually, to discuss cooperation on specific topics.

Following its own investigation into the UK's public cloud services market, communications regulator Ofcom has referred the market to the Competition and Markets Authority for a deeper probing. Ofcom says its study identified features that "make it more difficult for UK businesses to switch and use multiple cloud suppliers," adding that it was "particularly concerned" about Amazon and Microsoft's domination of the market. One particular worry is the impact of so-called "egress fees," which is what customers pay to transfer their data out of a cloud. In Ofcom's view, such fees can discourage customers from using services provided by more than one cloud provider or to switch to an alternative provider.

Orange is launching an XGS-PON-compatible router in France offering speeds of up to 5 Gbit/s downstream and 1 Gbit/s upstream for residential customers and 8 Gbit/s down and 2 Gbit/s up for businesses. The Livebox 7, as it is called, has been designed with eco-concerns in mind, coming with a 100% recycled and recyclable cover as well as a standby mode to reduce energy consumption. At the same time, Orange says it is extending the use of Wi-Fi 6E to the vast majority of its customers.

Safaricom estimates it sustained more than 1.2 million jobs and contributed KES909.5 billion (US$6.11 billion) into the Kenyan economy in the past financial year – which is 15 times greater than the operator's profit. Much of this stems from the value created for customers, agents and merchants through the use of the M-Pesa mobile money platform, which saw a 17% increase on 2022. The figures come in Safaricom's latest Sustainable Business Report.

UK altnet Hyperoptic has reached a new customer milestone, connecting more than 300,000 customers to its gigabit fiber network, a network that now passes more than 1.4 million homes. Hyperoptic is majority-owned by investment firm KKR, currently in the telecom news because of its involvement in the future of Telecom Italia's fixed-line infrastructure.

Ericsson and Virgin Media O2 have teamed up with the BBC Children in Need charity to bring HADO, described as an "augmented reality physical e-sport," to towns and cities across the UK as part of a fundraising effort. The game involves players on opposing teams wielding "virtual energy blasts and shields" on a real-world court using AR headsets and sensors, and will be powered by a 5G standalone mobile private network at the various venues.