• Ericsson to integrate MasOrange networks
• Opensignal measures mobile’s ‘consistent quality’
• Telus readies the quantum network

In today’s industry news roundup: MasOrange selects Ericsson to integrate its 5G networks in Spain; Deutsche Telekom demonstrates “consistent quality” in Opensignal study; Telus will test advanced quantum technologies on its fibre network; and much more!

Spanish operator MasOrange has agreed a five-year deal with Ericsson to integrate Orange Spain’s and MasMovil’s existing networks to create what they say will be an “Open RAN-ready” future network. The work will run in parallel with the deployment of an Ericsson-delivered 5G standalone (5G SA) network in rural areas of Spain. MasOrange says it will enhance its network capabilities using Ericsson Radio System products and core solutions, including the latest massive MIMO antenna-integrated radios and RAN compute solutions. The project will also include network optimisation and densification. “This collaboration with Ericsson represents a decisive moment not only for MasOrange but also for European telecommunications industry as a whole and for the Spanish market, as we lead the development of Open RAN and we lay the foundation for an open and programmable mobile infrastructure that will drive technological advances and sustainable growth,” said Meinrad Spenger, chief executive officer of MasOrange. There are no details of actual Open RAN compliant equipment, although the announcement stated that the new solutions are “designed for an increasingly open architecture”. Jenny Lindqvist, senior vice president and head of market area for Europe and Latin America at Ericsson, added: “Our vision for the industry is based on open and programmable networks with capabilities that are exposed through network APIs and leveraged by an ecosystem of developers – driving rapid innovation and growth.”

Usually, research reports on quality of service across mobile networks focus exclusively on speed, so it makes a change when one comes along that analyses the consistency of mobile experience in areas such as voice, video calls and social media usage. That’s what Opensignal, the independent research company specialising in "quantifying the mobile-network experience” has done in its newly published Analyzing the consistency of mobile experience across European operator groups. The report claims to be the first to examine the subject across operator groups in western and central Europe on the basis of consistent quality (CQ) parameters. Opensignal says this metric is crucial in assessing whether networks can reliably support common mobile tasks at a CQ level because it measures when and why networks fail to meet the levels of expected performance of the everyday tasks that are actually better determinants of user perception of performance than that based on an exclusive concentration on speed. The report examines in detail the performance of six operator groups in terms of the consistent subscriber experience and how their performance has changed year on year. In alphabetical order the European operators with the highest consistent quality scores within each operator group are: 1) The A1 Group – A1 (Bulgaria); 2) the Deutsche Telekom Group – T-Mobile (Czechia); the Orange Group – Orange (Slovakia); the PPF Group – Yettel (Bulgaria); the United Group – Telemach (Croatia) and Telemach (Slovenia), both of which came in with identical scores and, finally, the Vodafone Group – Vodafone (Netherlands). Overall Deutsche Telekom (DT) European operators do extremely well across their home markets, with 7 out of 10 operators in first place where CQ is concerned. Meanwhile, half of A1 Group’s operators, which operates across Austria and several Central European countries, came first in their respective markets either outright or jointly. A1 (Bulgaria) came in with the highest CQ score across the group at 86.2%, but A1 Austria scored 85.6%, so not very much difference overall. The results for the United Group closely mirrored those achieved by A1, while Vodafone Group rose in the rankings year on year with four out of 10 improving their placing compared to their rivals. Others maintained their places from June to August 2023. That’s the upside. However, three out of five of the PPF Group operators went down a tier of the ranks, while the remaining two maintained their existing places. The Opensignal report emphasises that several factors clearly differentiate Europe from other regions in that the EU is a patchwork of small to medium-sized countries by population, all of which have their own regulatory frameworks and differing access to spectrum. This makes life difficult for an operator to engineer economies of scale. Thus, operator groups, which typically work across multiple markets are “often concentrated in a specific part of Europe” and that “can somewhat alleviate this problem”. Operator groups also vary widely in how much central control and influence a “headquarters” office may have over its satellite organisations. What’s more, Orange and Vodafone present themselves to all their customers regardless of location as a single brand while others maintain a range of different brands and identities. The six operator groups examined in the report have a combined market share of 46% as calculated across the European markets where one or more of the groups are present. Opensignal combined different experience indicators, such as download speed, upload speed, latency, jitter, packet discard, and time to first byte to calculate CQ, and evaluated against thresholds recommended by other, more demanding applications used for a range of common tasks.

The quantum news keeps on coming. Today, Canadian operator Telus announced a collaboration with local company Photonic to accelerate the development of next-generation quantum communications in the country. Telus will provide Photonic with dedicated access to a 30km dedicated fibre-optic network in British Columbia, enabling the testing of quantum technologies and emerging solutions, such as quantum key distribution. The network has been configured to test increasingly complex quantum networking for ultra-secure, tamper-evident transfer of information over long distances. It is also connected to Telus’ national infrastructure, offering potential for broader, nationwide testing. “We believe quantum computing is the next frontier in digital communications and I’m excited to see breakthroughs and innovations from Photonic,” said Nazim Benhadid, chief technology officer at Telus. “By building the quantum infrastructure today, we are helping unlock economic potential and empower industries to innovate and compete globally.” Dr Stephanie Simmons, founder and chief quantum officer at Photonic, added that: “This collaboration allows us to move from the lab into real-world applications, showcasing the compatibility of our technology with existing infrastructure. It marks a significant step forward in building the foundation for a quantum-ready future.” Read more

The 5G Automotive Association (5GAA) concluded its latest event last week in Berlin with the first ever demonstration of 5G-V2X direct technology. Cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) technologies are designed to help achieve what the 5GAA calls “vision zero” for all road users. Currently, C-V2X uses the mobile network to exchange information about road users and vehicles, extending a vehicle’s “field of vision” further down the road. The next iteration, called 5G-V2X and standardised in 3GPP Rel-16, combines cellular with direct communications for even faster response times. It is particularly useful in covering blind spots, where a vehicle’s in-built sensors may be obstructed (for example, by another vehicle), ensuring that possible safety situations are quickly identified. “In Germany and across Europe, the ecosystem is ready to leverage the tens of millions of vehicles already connected via mobile networks and is now geared for the second-generation technology with 5G-V2X including direct communications,” said 5GAA chairman Christoph Voigt. 5G-V2X Direct is expected to be mass-deployed in commercial vehicle models as early as 2026. 

In the US, the telecoms regulator, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), has issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that will require all mobile wireless service providers to unlock handsets 60 days after a subscriber’s handset is activated. The locking of phones by service providers is a very sore point in America – and elsewhere around the globe – but the practice seems to be particularly pernicious in the US. The NPRM was approved by all five of the agency’s commissioners, an unusual event itself in these pungently partisan days, and gives some indication of the depth of feeling that the subject arouses. The US service providers and network operators have a grace period within which they can register objections to the proposal with the FCC and have been quick to do so. And some have had the brass-neck to claim that if the rulemaking notice is ratified it will be the subscribers who will suffer because prices are sure to go up! As reported by the Ars Technica website, the FCC’s NPRM will “require all mobile wireless service providers to unlock handsets 60 days after a consumer’s handset is activated with the provider, unless within the 60-day period the service provider determines the handset was purchased through fraud.” T-Mobile and AT&T have come back to say the proposal should be voided because locking a handset to a carrier’s network is one of the reasons why service providers can “provide cheaper handsets” to customers. Really? Have you seen the price of US service tariffs? In a submission, T-Mobile, which locks handsets for a full year to ensure customers can’t churn to another network, opined, “If the commission mandates a uniform unlocking policy, it is consumers, not providers, who stand to lose the most,” adding that “consumers risk losing access to the benefits of free or heavily subsidised handsets because the proposal would force providers to reduce the line-up of their most compelling handset offers.” Not only that but, “a handset unlocking mandate would also leave providers little choice but to limit their handset offers to lower cost and often lesser performing handsets.” What sophistry. What corporate entitlement. What BS. In response, Jessica Rosenworcel, the chairperson of the FCC, said, “You bought your phone, you should be able to take it to any provider you want. Some providers already operate this way. Others do not. In fact, some have recently increased the time their customers must wait until they can unlock their device by as much as 100%.” T-Mobile also says that prepaid customers “would see subsidies reduced by 40% to 70% for both lower and higher-end devices.” That same service provider has recently increased the prices that subscribers to its so-called “lifetime price lock” plans have to pay. Meanwhile, AT&T has weighed in with the argument that if the NPRM is passed, it will “make handsets less affordable for consumers, especially those in low-income households” by disincentivising the financing of handsets on flexible terms. Not only that, but it would further “exacerbate handset arbitrage, fraud, and trafficking.” Still, Ma Bell could never be described as unreasonable. If the FCC ruling is passed, all it wants is for the contractual regime tying subscribers to it be maintained “to ensure that providers have at least 180 days to detect fraud before unlocking a device and include at least a 24-month period for providers to implement any new rules.” How’s that for being dragged kicking and screaming towards the notion of change? Verizon, the other major US mobile carrier, is already required automatically to unlock its phones after 60 days for both prepaid and postpaid subscribers. It doesn’t like it but has to do so under the terms of its spectrum licences. The net result is that Verizon is siding with the FCC and pushing for the commission to ensure that “device unlocking is truly automatic – that is, unlocked after the requisite time period [60 days] without any additional actions of the consumer” even if a handset is on a financing plan and has outstanding payments. Well, it would, wouldn’t it? AT&T and T-Mobile are not impressed.

Infosys Research says that while only 2% of surveyed enterprise customers are ready for AI, most companies expect productivity gains of between 10% and 40%. The Infosys Enterprise AI Readiness report includes insights from over 1,500 respondents around the world. It found that while executives envision AI as the next industrial revolution, many companies lack the foundational building blocks for successful enterprise AI adoption. The company measured “AI readiness” across five areas: talent, strategy, governance, data and technology. It discovered that the largest gaps lie in technology readiness, with only 9% of companies possessing the necessary AI capabilities, such as machine learning frameworks, prebuilt algorithms, and dynamic compute. “To become enterprise-wide, AI-ready and realise the promise of this technology, including GenAI, it is imperative to establish a robust and scalable foundation,” said Mohammed Rafee Tarafdar, chief technology officer of Infosys. “Data readiness, enterprise GenAI platform with responsible AI guardrails, and AI talent transformation are key to accelerate and democratise AI development. This must be complemented by an AI foundry and factory model for scaling AI initiatives across the enterprise.” Infosys suggests that enterprises need to develop a comprehensive AI strategy – one that aligns with business objectives, enhances revenue growth, and ensures desirable, feasible, and viable use cases.

– The staff, TelecomTV