fibre

Telekom Austria and KPN ink wholesale fibre deal across Europe

Operator groups Telekom Austria and KPN International have signed a wholesale partnership to create a fibre network spanning 35 countries. The deal encompasses the interconnection of Ethernet, IP VPN, Wavelength and IPT services to maximise traffic and establish an increased presence for both firms in Europe.

Tilgin scores Scandi FTTH order

Norwegian regional service provider Enivest has ordered fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) solutions from Swedish firm Tilgin to simplify the deployment and maintenance of FTTH connections for its subscribers.

Telenor to invest €500m in fibre broadband

Norway’s telecoms incumbent Telenor has committed itself to investing NOK 4bn (€500mn) in fibre-optic broadband services for businesses, citing the rise in enterprise demand for cloud and video services.

Hyperoptic secures £50m to roll out FTTH

UK fibre-to-the-home specialist Hyperoptic has closed a large round of funding worth £50m ($75m) to roll out FTTH connections to as many as ten cities around the country by the end of the year.

Ericsson to close down telecom cable business

Swedish infrastructure vendor Ericsson has announced it will close down its telecom cable manufacturing business. The news follows the sale of its power cable operation to Danish cable manufacturer NKT Cables for SEK250m ($38.4m) earlier this month.

EC’s super-fast broadband estimates challenged

Providing super-fast broadband to the whole of the European Union could be much less expensive than previously thought, according to UK research firm Point Topic, which estimates that the whole economic area could be served for €80bn – less than a third of the €270bn estimated by the European Commission in its Digital Agenda.

French president promises €20bn broadband pot

François Hollande, president of the French republic and co-prince of Andorra, has promised an investment plan worth €20bn for the development of ultra-high-speed broadband in France, financed through a mix of private enterprise and state funds.

Australian’s NBN Co “could offer fibre-on-demand”

Australia’s shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has won headlines again for his outspoken views on the country’s National Broadband Network, this time claiming that he believes Australians could be offered on-demand access to fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) connections as part of the nationwide rollout of fibre-to-the-node (FTTN).

Telefónica to invest more in fibre

Spanish telecoms giant Telefónica plans to invest more in its fibre broadband networks in major cities like Madrid and Barcelona this year, and also increase its fibre footprint in smaller cities like Bilbao and Seville.

China’s smart grids a big opportunity for PON tech

Smart grids based on passive optical networking (PON) technologies are set to provide a $1.5-2bn opportunity for fibre and FTTx component and infrastructure vendors targeting China, according to statistics released Wednesday.

Jersey Telecom looks locally for FTTH tech

JT Group, one of the major telecoms providers for the Channel Islands, has selected local supplier Genexis to provide the optical home gateways needed for its rollout of fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) connections to all 42,000 homes on Jersey.

Telecom Argentina planning major FTTH network

Italy’s Prysmian Group has won a contract with Telecom Argentina to supply and install an optical network that will provide the passive infrastructure for the first part of its new fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) network.

UK passes 2m super-fast broadband lines in service

The UK had passed the major milestone of 2mn active subscriptions to super-fast broadband services by the beginning of June, meaning that 10% of the country’s broadband lines are now capable of delivering speeds over 25 Mbps, according to a new report from UK research firm Point Topic.

UK government’s broadband strategy attacked by Lords’ report

The UK government is taking the wrong approach to delivering broadband across the UK, according to a report from a House of Lords committee. The report from the Select Committee on Communications claims that the governments current approach favours speed over coverage, and runs the risk that large parts of the UK run the will be left with inadequate connectivity.

Google’s Fiber City project goes live in Kansas City

Google has launched its long awaited Google Fiber project in Kansas City, offering a broadband service that it says is 100 times faster the average speed currently available in the US. It has also launched an interactive TV service dubbed Google Fiber TV.

Kroes’ plans to boost European fibre investment stirs controversy

The European Digital technology commissioner Neelie Kroes has outlined details of the policies she will put in place to ensure that investments continue to be made in broadband infrastructure in Europe. In her speech in Brussels Kroes said: “I want all industry players to receive the signal loud and clear – that they can invest profitably in the future connectivity of Europe, and compete on the basis of their investment.”

Verizon raises the broadband bar with 300Mbps fibre

Verizon, the US broadband service provider, has launched a new Fibre-to-the Premises package called FiOS Quantum that delivers download speeds of up to 300MBps and 65Mbps for uploads. The company said that the service is the fastest internet service currently available to residential customers in the US. By contrast, speeds from cable providers such as Comcast currently top out at 105Mbps.