Various telecoms operators around the world are increasing the salaries of engineers on the frontline helping to keep people connected.

One of the few silver linings of the COVID-19 pandemic is an increased appreciation of the people that really keep the world going. The likes of shopworkers and postal workers are often among the lowest paid, but our societies would collapse without them.

Engineers aren’t exactly the lowest paid, but they’re still essential. More than ever, people are relying on...

British cabinet minister Michael Gove has called 5G coronavirus conspiracy stories “dangerous nonsense” as vandals burn down mobile towers.

You’ve probably seen the claims by now. Only this morning, within minutes of opening Facebook, I scrolled upon the following mind-numbing post:

It seems lost on the creator that 3G...

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) has announced an open source programme, called the Open Distributed Infrastructure Management initiative that aims to streamline management of large-scale geographically distributed physical infrastructure deployments.

The Open Distributed Infrastructure Management helps telecom companies in resolving the complexity while deploying 5G networks across thousands of sites equipped with IT infrastructure from multiple vendors and different generations of technology. The...

Speedtest by Ookla has updated its report analysing the impact remote working is having on global networks.

Telecoms covered the initial release of Speedtest’s report towards the end of last month. At the time, a slight decrease in mean fixed and mobile broadband performance was observed across North American and European countries between March 16th-22nd.

Speedtest has now updated its statistics to account...

Huawei held a virtual press conference to launch its latest annual report amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The past year was always going to be a difficult one for Huawei due to the US applying sanctions and increasing pressure globally to ban the vendor’s equipment. A pandemic that’s led to broader market disruption has only amplified those struggles.

"2019 was an extraordinary year for Huawei," said Eric Xu, Huawei's Rotating Chairman. "Despite enormous outside pressure,...

Internet providers in the UK have agreed to a package of measures designed to help people isolate.

The British government struck a deal with BT/EE, Openreach, Virgin Media, Sky, TalkTalk, O2, Vodafone, Three, Hyperoptic, Gigaclear, and KCOM.

Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden said: “It’s fantastic to see mobile and broadband providers pulling together to do their bit for the national effort by helping customers, particularly the most vulnerable, who may be struggling with bills at this difficult...

OneWeb has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as it seeks a new buyer to continue its satellite internet ambitions.

The promising startup was forced into filing for bankruptcy after its attempts to get financing was unsuccessful.

OneWeb says it was “close” to receiving the crucial financing but the unexpected coronavirus pandemic resulted in the prospective deal being cut short amid market turbulence.

Chapter 11 bankruptcy allows OneWeb to keep its existing work going by allowing the startup to use...

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned ads from Three claiming it’s the only carrier to offer “real 5G” in the UK.

National advertising rules in the UK require claims of superiority over a competitor to be backed with clear evidence. 

Three has based its claim on the fact that it’s the only carrier in the UK to have a 100MHz contiguous block of spectrum.

Global 5G standards body the ITU states “true” 5G requires 100MHz of 5G spectrum so Three’s...

Nokia and Belgium’s Port of Zeebrugge have completed the first phase of its 5G-ready and industrial-grade private wireless network deployment.

By integrating the Nokia Digital Automation Cloud platform, Zeebrugge would be able to offer private wireless connectivity to over 100 endpoints across the entire port operations.

Zeebrugge would not only deliver a variety of new and...

Content delivery network Akamai has announced it will be throttling game downloads in order to reduce internet congestion.

With people told to stay in their homes to help “flatten the curve” of the coronavirus spread, games are a way to remain connected with friends and remember what life outside four walls looks like.

However, as you’d expect, billions of people downloading games and playing together online consumes a large chunk of bandwidth.

Akamai has set out in

Ookla Speedtest is reporting a noticeable degradation of internet speeds in the US and Europe amid the coronavirus outbreak.

The drop in speeds has been most noticeable over the past week as more countries increase their lockdown measures, including the UK’s announcement yesterday.

Broadband speeds

In the US, the mean broadband speed dropped from around 140Mbps starting the week of March 9th, to around 133Mbps in the...

The EU has asked Netflix to lower its video quality as more people use the service to bring some joy during their coronavirus lockdowns.

Netflix typically accounts for around 13 percent of global internet traffic and has required an increasing amount of bandwidth as the streaming giant releases an increasing library of 4K and HDR content.

Over concerns that an expected surge in Netflix traffic may cause networks to grind to a halt during a time they’re needed most, the EU has persuaded Netflix to reduce...

The FCC has waived rules preventing hospitals and schools from getting direct help from carriers for connectivity issues.

Specifically, the FCC has temporarily waived rules relating to its E-Rate and Rural Health Care programs. The initiatives provide subsidies to participating hospitals, schools, and libraries, but prohibits seeking assistance from service providers to prevent fraud and abuse.

During the global coronavirus pandemic, ensuring hospitals have adequate connectivity is paramount. Staff will need...

While 2019 was the year that fifth-generation (5G) wireless services were deployed across the globe, this is just the beginning of the new trend. So far, launches in North America, West Europe and the Middle East created a small base of 5G customers, however, the technology gained significant traction within the Far East and China markets.

As a result of strategic foresight by the government, the early launch and fast customer adoption in South Korea clearly drove their 5G deployment leadership. By the end of...

Nokia has added 5G and edge capabilities to its Worldwide IoT Network Grid (WING) managed service, which aims to help operators capture early IoT market share without investing in infrastructure.

The evolved form of the Nokia WING will allow operators to use new business models and foray into industries like critical public services, remote healthcare, connected cars, and real-time industrial monitoring and control.

SpaceX has launched 60 new Starlink broadband satellites aboard a Falcon 9 rocket.

The Falcon 9 launch took place at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida and transported the latest batch of satellites into low-orbit.

The booster used for the Falcon 9 has taken flight on four occasions in the past, twice in 2018 and twice last year. The most recent instance was in November 2019 for another Starlink mission.

SpaceX...

All of the UK's major mobile operators are reporting issues just as more people are asked to work from home.

The UK government has stepped up measures this week to help limit the spread of the COVID-19 virus and now wants any household in which anyone has displayed any flu-like symptoms to isolate for 14 days. Given we're in the season of standard colds and flus, that's a lot of households.

Fortunately, most modern businesses have now set up remote working practices. Anyone who feels well enough...

The FCC has granted T-Mobile additional spectrum to help cope with the extra demand caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

Reliable connectivity is more important than ever as people around the world are told to work from home where possible and self-isolate if they show any symptoms of the coronavirus.

T-Mobile will have access to more 600MHz spectrum for at least the next 60 days to meet internet access demand and help its network support things like remote working, healthcare, and education.

Neville Ray,...

When governments invest in new infrastructure, information technology (IT) is now a key component of their development plan. Very large municipal governments, in particular, are spending more on smart city projects that provide their citizens with many unique advantages.

Furthermore, the IT infrastructure advancement trend is gaining momentum across the globe, as established and emerging technology applications are adopted by the forward-thinking leaders.

Global spending on smart cities initiatives are...

British chancellor Rishi Sunak has pledged £5 billion for gigabit broadband in a "huge" Budget designed to boost the UK economy during global uncertainties.

The latest Budget is Sunak's first since being appointed chancellor earlier this year and the first since the UK left the EU. It was always going to garner a lot of attention, but more so amid the coronavirus outbreak and the subsequent impact it’s having on the global economy.

Andrew Duncan, Partner and UK Head, Infosys...