NEXST #1 - 19

Uztelecom stops developing ADSL network

Uztelecom - Uzbekistan national operator – will stop developing its ADSL network. Instead, the company will be focusing on developing its FTTx network and plans to deploy more than 220,000 km of fibre-optic lines. Olimzhon Umarov, first deputy minister in the Ministry of ICT, has stated that 1.5 million new broadband ports will be installed across the country within the next few years.

JAC sustainability performance award for Slatina plant

Prysmian Group’s plant in Slatina, Romania, has received special recognition from JAC (Joint Audit Cooperation) for its high sustainability performance. The audit and assessment process, carried out through plant visits and interviews with management and plant workers, judged the performance of the Corporate Social Responsibility policies adopted as excellent, with an overall score of 96.9 out of 100 and an ‘A’ rating. The Slatina plant stood out, in several areas. And received a 100% score in Disciplinary Practices. JAC also highlighted the quality and effectiveness of the plant management system.

“This important award confirms Prysmian Group’s commitment to promoting initiatives and projects that aim to create value for all stakeholders, particularly the communities and territories in which we operate,” stated Andrea Pirondini, Chief Operating Officer of Prysmian Group.

Eutelsat and Masmovil to deliver 50Mb/s satellite broadband Spain

Spain’s fourth largest telecommunications operator MASMOVIL Group has signed an agreement with Eutelsat subsidiary, Eurobroadband Infrastructure to distribute broadband services to Spain’s underconnected areas via the KA-SAT satellite. MASMOVIL Group CEO Meinrad Spenger said: “This new initiative represents a significant step towards bringing Internet broadband to the entire Spanish population, regardless of the technology.”

Bad broadband discourages moving to UK countryside

A new report from uSwitch states that the greatest fear among people considering moving to rural areas is slow or unreliable broadband. When asked about relocating, 58% of 2,008 UK adults surveyed said poor broadband coverage was a concern, closely followed by worries about mobile coverage (55%). “Whether you live in the city or the country, good connectivity is something everyone relies on and should expect”, said Ernest Doku, broadband and mobile expert with uSwitch. “It certainly shouldn’t be allowed to deter anyone from relocating to their next home – wherever that may be.”

Singtel launches ultrafast gaming broadband

Singapore Telecommunications Limited, or SIngtel, the largest mobile network operator in Singapore, has introduced an ultrafast broadband service specifically for online gaming. This is bundled exclusively with the Razer Sila gaming router, which features bandwidth prioritisation with Multi-Channel ZeroWait DFS, enabling an incredibly fast and reliable wireless gaming performance. The 1+1 Gbps Fibre Pro Gamer Bundle comes with a subscription to WTFast Gamer Private Network service, allowing gamers to automatically link to the fastest gaming servers.

Prysmian Group continues to lead in sustainability

Thanks to positive results achieved in 2017, the Group has confirmed its position in the main international sustainability indices and assessments, including FTSE4Good, Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) and CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project).

Over the past year, emissions of ozone-depleting substances decreased by 5% in 2017 (649 Kton compared to 684 Kton in 2016). Prysmian’s sustainability-related activities included continuing research into submarine cables that can be installed at depths up to 3,000 metres, development of technology for eliminating lead from energy cables and 525 kV HVDC cable systems with P-Laser technology, which allows for the creation of recyclable and eco-sustainable cables. Within Telecom, FlexTube cable set another industry record with 3,456 fibres, reducing the impact of civil engineering works during installation.

Interactive Netflix: the future of TV?

The Black Mirror episode ‘Bandersnatch’, which premiered last December, allowed viewers to choose their own storyline, with five possible endings. Viewing can take anything from forty minutes to several hours. This required some technological innovation, reworking the underlying streaming engine and Netflix’s app, which had to be able to pre-cache potential choices. This could herald a whole new way of interacting with stories, unimaginable with linear TV. To ensure the required levels of bandwidth and low latency, this type of content is often cached on ‘edge’ servers, closer to less densely networked areas, that require high-speed fibre connections.

Helping UK gamers find the right fibre

For gamers, high speeds and low latency are an absolute necessity. After all, this can make the difference between you or your team making it to the next level or attaining a new hi-score. However, different types of gamers have very different needs. In online multiplayer gaming, for example, packet loss, latency, and jitter performance are essential, whereas some games running on home computers require fast downloads of huge files. cable.co.uk have taken up the challenge to find the best-performing providers. Find the winners here.

Samsung introduces robot healthcare assistant

At the recent CES Consumer Technology show in Las Vegas, Samsung introduced Bot Care. This friendly-looking robotic healthcare assistant can provide health information, give medication, check vitals such as blood pressure and heart rate, monitor sleep cycles, call emergency services and more. Although Bot Care isn’t on the market yet, it offers a glimpse of a future in which connected devices can provide the elderly and chronically ill better care at a lower cost in their familiar environment. The need to stream large volumes of data, often in real time, make bandwidth and low latency very important to the success of connected healthcare.

Can AI improve workplace behaviour?

According to Julia Shaw, researcher at the department of psychology at University College London and co-founder of memory science and artificial intelligence start-up Spot, AI will be increasingly used by companies to spot bias and halt discrimination at work. By scanning text for keywords, for example, or by monitoring speech during meetings, analysing other collected data, and providing a safe way to anonymously report issues. Using AI as an interview tool can be especially beneficial in overcoming the difficulties and emotional aspects of relating a disturbing event, she says, which improves the accuracy of record. In this way, AI could empower organisations to build a more inclusive, respectful work environment.

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