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Total Telecom
Daily telecommunications news for global communications professionals.
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Covid crisis spurs acceleration of 5G plans in Pakistan
One of the themes we have seen time and time again with the coronavirus is the importance and acceleration of digitalisation. With so many movement restrictions in place, the digital economy has grown substantially in markets all over the world, heightening the need for high quality connectivity. Pakistan is an excellent example in this regard… -
Tele2 targets sustainability with new strategy
With each passing year, telcos are becoming more and more aware of their responsibility towards creating a sustainable business that is beneficial not only for their financial bottom line, but also for the planet, for society and, ultimately, the future. For Sweden’s Tele2, sustainability has been a major goal for many years. In April 2020, the company reached an impressive milestone… -
Ofcom delays spectrum auction due to Covid
In a brief statement today, UK regulator Ofcom noted that it would be postponing the planned spectrum auction, moving the event to an unspecified date in March. The spectrum available is in the 700 MHz and 3.6–3.8 GHz bands, with the auction increasing the total spectrum available for UK operators by almost a fifth (18%)… -
Ireland's National Broadband Plan successfully connects first premises
NBI’s team has scaled operations to work across all 26 counties and currently has construction, the final phase of delivering the network, underway for 19,237 premises in townlands across Cork, Cavan, Galway and Limerick. The initial premises across these counties will be able to start placing orders through their chosen Retail Service Provider from the 25th January, with approximately 20% of premises being businesses and farms, who will also have access speeds of 1 Gigabit per second (Gbps) from day one. NBI expects the number of premises under construction to be in excess of 130,000 by the end of the year, with approximately 70,000 premises available for connection at prices similar to those available in urban areas… -
What are UK operators doing to support their customers during the COVID-19 pandemic?
The UK is heading into lockdown once again, with pressure building on the operators to deliver quality connectivity and support their customers during this difficult time January 22nd Research from Assemblyshows that UK operators have spent around £940 million on supporting the public throughout the coronavirus pandemic January 18th Hyperoptic is offering free broadband packages for families to help facilitate home education January 15th EE extends its unlimited data offer for NHS staff, as well as a 20% discount on their bill. Community Fibre are offering 1-year full-fibre broadband for free to vulnerable London households to help with homeschooling January 14th Vodafone offering free and discounted access to online learning resources, including Azoomee, MarcoPolo World School, SchoolOnline.co.uk, and New Skills Academy. January 12th Virgin Media have announced a wave of customer support measures, including: making some pay and on-demand services available at no extra cost; zero rating the Oak National Academy learning resources website; providing 20GB of additional mobile data per month for families facing financial difficulties; and free data, minutes, and texts for vulnerable customers. January 8th BT has announced its ‘Lockdown Learning’ support scheme for kids and families that have limited access to the internet, offering free mobile data, WiFi vouchers, and zero-rating a number of education websites. January 6th Vodafone is making business broadband free for 12 months on a 36-month plan available to all small businesses (1-50 employees) until February 28th January 5th Three, Smarty, Virgin Mobile, EE, Tesco Mobile and Sky Mobile are partnering with the Department for Education so that children without internet access can request free, additional data through their school and the DFE’s Get Help with Technology programme. Unlimited data will be applied until the end of the school year in July. Vodafone is providing 350,000 free data SIMS from via its schools.connected campaign December 20th The government has delivered 560,000 connected devices to schoolchildren in 2020. They are targeting a further million devices by Easter. November 18th Vodafone is giving 250,000 children free data SIMs so that they can continue their education throughout lockdown …