Financial Times
United Kingdom draws up 3-year plan to remove Huawei from 5G networks
The United Kingdom government is drawing up plans to force a full phase out of Huawei from Britain’s 5G networks within three years. Government officials want to ensure that the UK’s telecoms networks — including 5G mobile phone infrastructure — do not contain equipment from the Chinese company beyond 2023 because they believe this could compromise national security. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson in Jan granted the Chinese telecommunications equipment maker a limited role in supplying kit for the UK’s 5G networks, while capping Huawei’s market share to 35 percent.
Editorial: Time to close the digital divide (Financial Times)
Submitted by benton on Fri, 05/22/2020 - 06:43Opinion: Big Tech is emerging from the crisis stronger than ever (Financial Times)
Submitted by benton on Fri, 05/22/2020 - 06:43South Africa’s digital health travails provide useful lessons (Financial Times)
Submitted by benton on Mon, 05/18/2020 - 12:16Africa races to fill telecoms ‘not spots’
The economics of rolling out connections to the most rural parts of Africa presents a hefty challenge for the hopes of many in the telemedicine world. Data compiled by M-Lab, an open source project backed by Google and various universities, shows that Madagascar is the only African country with broadband speeds anywhere close to those available in Europe and Asia, as a submarine cable lands on the island. Most other African nations rely on 3G and 4G signals, or long-distance WiFi technology Wi-Max.
From Fahrenheit 451 to “censortech” (Financial Times)
Submitted by benton on Tue, 05/12/2020 - 10:53Liberty Global and Telefónica agree £31bn deal to merge UK groups O2 and Virgin Media
Liberty Global and Telefónica have struck a landmark deal to combine their British operations O2 and Virgin Media in a £31.4bn agreement that will reshape the UK’s telecoms market. Under the terms of the agreement, the companies will have equal ownership of O2 and Virgin Media and have built-in mechanisms for a potential float of the combined business in three years.
Crisis requires co-ordinated digital response
The challenges we face demand an unprecedented alliance between business and government. Broadband is needed everywhere to support vulnerable populations. What’s happening in Seattle (WA), the first US city affected by the coronavirus outbreak, provides a glimpse. A public-private alliance of the region’s largest employers, Challenge Seattle, became the town square for sharing data and best practices, managing the crisis and planning our return to work.