Industry Voices

With US operator AT&T shutting off its 3G networks earlier in the year, the process of 2G / 3G sunset has officially started. We are seeing many operators and governments determining that it is time to migrate away from older 2G and 3G networks, with the spectrum re-allocated for the faster and more efficient 4G and 5G technologies.

Now more than ever, fierce competition means that entities such as web hosting companies need to offer a reliable, high-latency and secure service. NTT believes it has just the right established expertise, network and services to support the evolution of growing businesses in that sector like 3W Infra.

Francesco Votta, senior product manager for 5G roaming enablement at Deutsche Telekom Global Carrier, talks to Capacity about roaming advances in IoT made possible by 5G technology, including the benefits and challenges of low-latency roaming.

Bridget Woods, principal of wholesale commercial and propositions planning at BT, outlines three factors telcos must face to achieve true diversity and inclusion.

Via subsea cables stretching all the way across the Atlantic, Telxius connects up Europe and the Americas, boosting the company’s ability to meet today’s growing needs for IP, capacity and colocation around the world. Mario Martín, CEO at Telxius, talks about how the company’s continually developing proposition has opened up further options for Europe in the past few years.

Entrepreneur David McCourt has envisioned and delivered some of the world's largest open-access fibre networks. Now, as chairman of National Broadband Ireland, he tells Capacity Magazine why it's time for tech innovation to accelerate so operators can embrace the open-access model, and talks of his plans to export this expertise to the rest of the world.

Recognising the growing demand for value-added services, Türk Telekom International (TTI) has been moving to create a richer suite of offerings for the enterprise market. CEO Şükrü Kutlu talks of the latest developments and the current status of the AMEER2 cable in which TTI is involved.

Virtualisation, 5G and other new technologies have changed the shape of the carrier network in the past few years. Jeff Hulse, vice president of North America sales at Verizon Partner Solutions (VPS), discusses how finding the right mix and customer-centric strategy can help enable a smooth transition from legacy technologies.

Further spurred by the advent of 5G, the age of IoT is truly upon us. Patrick Sullivan, AVP for international sales at Verizon Partner Solutions, talks about how the market is taking shape and about the platforms that are developing to support this increasingly vast ecosystem.

UK fibre connectivity provider Neos Networks has launched a new managed internet access service for businesses. Mike Mitchell, the company's sales director for wholesale partners, explains how this combines with the firm's network expansion across the country to create a compelling proposition.

Kalaam Group CEO, Veer Passi talks about strategic vision and developments of Kalaam Carrier Solutions, a strong unified brand with combined wholesale strength of Kalaam, Tawasul & Zajil Telecom.

Chris Wood, Group CEO of WIOCC, talks about how the company has been a key catalyst for internet growth in Africa in recent years.

The media and events sector has specific requirements for high-quality, resilient data transport. Retelit has the coverage, means and know-how to provide this, writes Diego Teot, the company’s head of the International Business Unit.

Today’s evolving demands in the wholesale industry call for more agility from wholesale carriers to respond to changing needs. At Orange International Carriers, CEO Emmanuel Rochas details how the company is putting a focus on innovation and automation to stay ahead of the curve.

The industry has seen some big changes since the onset of the pandemic. Michael Wheeler, executive vice president of the Global IP Network (GIN) division at NTT, discusses how his team has gone about handling the challenges experienced during this period and rapid digital transformation to set itself up for the future.

Spain-based wholesale operator Aire Networks is working hard to strengthen Iberia's strategic connectivity, as well as bringing its data centres and edge capabilities to lesser-served areas across its home market. Zigor Gaubeca, the company's director of engineering and technology, explains how.

As a global wholesale systems integrator, Odine sees itself as a trusted partner, supporting companies’ digitalisation initiatives so they can take full advantage of new revenue opportunities. CEO Alper Tunga Burak gives the lowdown on the firm’s strategy.

The data centre market is booming. Massive growth in FLAP-D and emerging markets such as Warsaw, Milan and Madrid requires a substantially larger workforce, however, currently only 4% of data centre employees are women. Onboarding a more diverse workforce presents unrivalled opportunities for data centre growth.

The Iberian Peninsula is growing as a communications and cloud hub, bolstered by the submarine cable systems recently landing and being deployed in the region. Peng Yan, chief commercial officer at Spanish wholesale provider Axent, explains how the company’s gas-grid-based network provides diversity and resilience for players attracted by the fresh opportunities in the area.

Global Wholesale Connect is the new name of Capacity Media's invaluable Global Wholesale Directory.

Marcus Bagnall, telecoms and technology partner, and Ben Towell, paralegal, of Wiggin LLP, investigate the growing role of blockchain in telecoms network infrastructure.

Florent Bervas, an ICT specialist with Télécoms Sans Frontières, talks about the NGO’s work after the 2020 Beirut port explosions

David Williams, founder, chairman and CEO of Arqit, examines the reality of 5G’s vulnerabilities and how telcos can protect against them

5G is being deployed and taken up in many parts of the world, but there is much room to maximise the user experience. Zhang Jiong, marketing director for radio-access-network products at ZTE, explains how its Radio Composer can optimise network resources to improve things for both operators and users.

Everybody's talking about digital transformation – but what's the best way for carriers to help their customers realise that vision? Dawane Young, executive director of marketing at Verizon Partner Solutions, explains how networks and services can be combined with end-to-end security in a more integrated way to make that vision a reality.

Today's rapidly growing data-driven world is creating new opportunities for those with a laser-guided focus on delivering pure subsea capacity services, as the lines between the wholesale and enterprise segments blur. Chris Bayly, CCO at Aqua Comms, explains what this means for the subsea market.

Cairo, August 22, 2022: Telecom Egypt, Egypt’s first integrated telecom operator and one of the largest subsea cables operators in the region, announces the signature of a strategic collaboration agreement with Orange Jordan, the leading operator of integrated communications services and one of Orange Group’s subsidiaries, to create a highly reliable terrestrial system connecting Iraq to Europe through Jordanian and Egyptian territories.

Though 5G deployments are very much the flavour of today, some are already looking forward to the types of technology to deploy to support the next generations of mobile technology. Alex Wang, managing director for radio-access-network solutions at ZTE, explains how reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) technology provides one answer for 5G-Advanced and 6G.

In the past, ease of use and security may have sometimes been viewed as a trade-off, but recent trends make it more important than ever to change this thinking. Niklas Bergvall, head of mobile identity solutions at HGC Global Communications, talks about this transition and how the tools of today mean product managers don’t have to compromise on one or the other.

DE-CIX provides premium interconnection services, and operates carrier and data-centre-neutral internet exchanges in Europe, the Middle East, North America and Asia. The company delivers state-of-the-art technology and services to meet the growing interconnection needs of its customers. Its interconnection services are accessible from more than 600 data centres in 100 countries – an ecosystem spanning seas, oceans and continents.