WCA January 2017

Wire & Cable ASIA – January/February 2017

www.read-wca.com

Telecom

news

access to its Openreach network.

This has allowed John Lewis

Broadband, SSE, the Post Office and

others to all offer broadband. Like

them, wrote Ms McGoogan, Amazon

has no plans to build its own network

but could utilise the access to existing

infrastructure.

Elsewhere in telecom . . .

The Dutch Senate on 12

October

passed the revised Net Neutrality

Law as part of an amendment to

the country’s Telecommunications

Act. The strict new law seeks

to ensure that telecoms and

Internet service providers (ISPs)

do not favour one Internet app or

service over another. Opponents,

however, assert that the legislation

is overly severe and is out of line

with the European Union’s own

open Internet standards.

Afke Schaart, vice president Europe

at the GSMA, said: “We are greatly

disappointed with the outcome of

today’s vote. We believe that the

Dutch Net Neutrality Law goes

far beyond the intent of the EU

regulation. We therefore call on the

European Commission to ensure

the harmonised implementation

of Europe’s Open Internet rules.”

According to the London-based

GSMA, which represents the

interests of mobile operators

worldwide, the tighter laws in

the Netherlands will “hinder

development of innovative services

and consumer choice.”

Finland’s Nokia and Chicago-

based USA Cellular have collabora-

ted to test 5G fixed wireless in

North America and showcase

ultra-high speed, next-generation

networks in both indoor and

outdoor environments. As reported

by Nokia (12

October), the testing

used 28GHz spectrum through

an experimental licence from

the US Federal Communications

Commission (FCC) and Nokia’s

5G-ready AirScale radio platform

to stream six simultaneous 4K ultra

high-definition videos.

The two sets of tests were

conducted at USA Cellular’s

technology centre in Schaumburg,

Illinois. According to Nokia, in both

environments the tests delivered

speeds of 5Gbps and ultra-low

latency under two milliseconds

(ms) over the 5G wireless link. The

companies said they plan further

network testing and collaboration

towards the development of 5G

standards; and, in Nokia’s case,

demonstrate

commitment

to playing a leading role in the

realisation of 5G in North America.

“The Mobile Economy – Middle

East and North Africa 2016,”

from the GSMA, reports that

mobile broadband networks will

account for 61 per cent of mobile

connections by 2020, up from 41

per cent today, across the diverse

Middle East and North Africa

(MENA) region. The London-based

organisation for mobile operators

found that, as of mid-2016, there

were 339 million unique mobile

subscribers across the region’s 25

markets – a total expected to rise

to 385 million by 2020.

At the same point, the number

of smartphone connections had

more than doubled over the

previous three years to reach 263

million, accounting for 42 per cent

of total connections and forecast

to reach 467 million by 2020.

According to Mats Granryd, the

GSMA director general, operator

investment in mobile technology

is playing a crucial role across

the Middle East and North

Africa, helping to connect the

unconnected in emerging markets

and

introducing

innovative

services in more developed

countries.

According to the GSMA report,

published on 17

October, the

mobile industry in 2015 contributed

more than $150 billion to the MENA

regional economy, or four per cent

of its GDP, forecast to increase to

almost $200 billion by 2020.

The industry supported the

local economy with more than

a million jobs in 2015, including

employment in the ecosystem and

indirect support from economic

activity

generated

the

sector. The mobile industry also

contributed $15 billion to public

funding in the form of general

taxation.

The Local Government Association

has called on the British govern-

ment to include a social tariff in

its universal service obligation for

broadband.

According to an LGA report

published on 20

October, the

subsidy would give low-income

families a basic service of at

least 10Mbps. The LGA did not

make any suggestion as to price

but commended to providers an

existing affordable telephone-

and-broadband service from BT,

on offer to people who receive

income support. Councillor Mark

Hawthorne, chairman of the LGA’s

People and Places Board, said:

“Many government services are

going digital by default, and we

need to be able to ensure that the

most vulnerable and least well-off

can afford to use them.”

According to research from

Ericsson’s ConsumerLab, viewing

on mobile and portable screens is

moving ever closer to parity with

fixed-TV viewing. At MIPCOM, the

TV-centred trade show held 17

to 20

October in Cannes, France,

Ericsson’s Anders Erlandsson,

senior advisor, consumer insights,

said that “[we are] clearly heading

towards a 50:50 split.”

The latest consumer-preference

study from the Swedish telecom

equipment maker indicates that

the ratio between viewing on

fixed screens and on mobile

screens is close to 60:40 for

2016, compared to almost 70:30

in 2010. Of 100,000 people polled

worldwide by Ericcson, one in

three respondents aged 16-24

said that a portable screen is