Also in today s EMEA regional roundup: Deutsche Telekom s Access 4.0 platform goes live; everyone loves Tim Höttges; CityFibre rolls into Sunderland; EE extends unlimited mobile data offer for NHS workers.
OneWeb, the satellite communications company jointly owned by the unlikely combo of the UK government and India s Bharti Gobal, has secured additional funding from SoftBank Group and Hughes Network Systems, bringing OneWeb s total funding to $1.4 billion. OneWeb was declared bankrupt in March 2020, but in July the British government and Bharti said they would each invest $500 million in the operator to build a satellite-based navigation system that can be used as an alternative to Galileo, a European Union project, following the UK s departure from the EU. (See Eurobites: OneWeb emerges from Chapter 11, hires new CEO and Bharti Global, British government consortium wins OneWeb bid.)
Digital infrastructure flourishes in 2020
Study from co-operative trade association for next-generation broadband services notes increased industry investment and roll-out growth, marking a significant year for network infrastructure
Share this item with your network: By Published: 24 Dec 2020 12:17
Despite Covid-19 and the economic downturn, private investment in the UK’s digital infrastructure sector has continued apace, which is doubly impressive given uncertainty over government funding for hard-to-reach areas, recent changes to the overall policy target and the continuing debate about Ofcom’s regulation of the market, says an end-of-year statement by the Independent Networks Co-operative Association (INCA).
INCA noted that growth in the independent network sector in 2020, represented by strong investment and a growing number of predicted and achieved fibre roll-outs in the UK, have acted as signals of the sector’s contribution towards a “Gigabit Britain” and
Digital infrastructure challengers flourish with sustained investment in 2020 RealWire
2020-12-23
Figures from Point Topic on industry investment and FTTH Council Europe on rollout growth mark significant year for sector
INCA membership grows as members target more rural and urban fibre rollouts
London, UK, 23 December 2020 – Despite Covid19 and the economic downturn private investment in the digital infrastructure sector has continued apace. This is doubly impressive given uncertainty over government funding for hard-to-reach areas, recent changes to the overall policy target and long-running debate about Ofcom’s regulation of the market.
A recent Point Topic report commissioned by INCA showed that investment announcements in the challenger networks have reached £7.7bn in the period to 2025 with another £1.2bn of investment announced since the report was published. This is in addition to investment announced by BT/Openreach and Virgin Media.
Energy Networks Association - the industry body representing all major energy network operators in the UK - has published a routemap outlining how they will align with net-zero and support the transition to green electricity, heat, transport and industry.