Wholesale and Capacity

Ofcom, the UK’s telecom watchdog, has announced that it will make the lower 6GHz band available for Wi-Fi use as well as other radio LAN tech.

The Maldives’ incumbent telecoms operator, Dhivehi Raajjeyge Gulhun (Dhiraagu), has revealed its plans to expand its fiber broadband and IPTV services to one of its inhabited islands, Maavah.

Infinera announced that Orange deployed spectrum capacity with Infinera’s submarine solution on its MainOne submarine cable, a new network built to provide large-scale international capacity to support the development of a digital ecosystem in West Africa. Built upon Infinera’s fourth-generation Infinite Capacity Engine (ICE4) on the XTS-3600 platform, Orange was able to significantly increase its regional capacity as well as improve the resilience of its submarine cables to provide its customers with enhanced connectivity and access to affordable new services.

The Réseaux IP Européens Network Coordination Centre (RIPE NCC) and the Communication & Information Technologies Commission (CITC), the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to work towards a stable and innovative Internet in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the Middle East Region.

Despite the disruption in demand for data center equipment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic this year, data center capital expenditure (capex) will grow at a 6% CAGR to reach just over $200 billion over the next five years.

Telecom Review, the leading global telecoms news platform, held a virtual panel on 21 July, attended by 346 participants, to discuss the latest and most pressing issues in the wholesale and capacity space. Telecom Review mobilized an impressively unique panel with representatives from Etisalat, MTN GlobalConnect, PCCW Global, Tata Communications, SES, Orange and GBI.

Dutch Telco KPN has announced that it plans to launch commercial 5G mobile network services on 28 July, ensuring more than 90% 5G coverage in the Netherlands’ top five cities.

TIM and Ardian, a leading global private investment company, have reached an agreement for a consortium of institutional investors led by Ardian to invest in a newly formed holding company in which will be transferred a 30.2% share of the co-controlling stake in Infrastrutture Wireless Italiane SpA ("INWIT"), currently held by TIM. 

Slovenian operator, Telekom Slovenije, has launched the country’s first 5G network commercially.

Nkom, Norway’s National Communications Authority, has launched a consultation on allocating 5G-suitable frequencies on 2.6GHz and 3.6GHz bands.