The Digital Digest

In this episode of the Digital Digest, we roundup the biggest stories of the week from BT's next-gen optical fibre trials to the £1 billion plan to connect rural England.

Bringing us the biggest headlines of the week, Natalie gives a progress update on American Tower's Telxius Towers acquisition and explains what BT has been up to in its next-gen fibre optic trials. Also in telecoms, Natalie talks about Airtel Tanzania's tower sale and the Arctic cable that has been put on ice.

Alan explains why two rural English counties are getting a £1 billion fibre boost and gives an update on Telia Company's divestment of Telia Carrier. While in Ethiopia, MTNis considering a second shot at an operating licence in the country.

And in the world of data centres, Natalie covers the news that Silicon Valley is to get a new, $142 million, sustainable data centre, while in cloud AWSis opening a new region in the UAE; Clouderahas gone private; and cloud adoption can add $414 billion to enterprise profits.

To keep up with the latest telecoms and data centres news, Capacitymedia.comcarries details of the Datacloud Awards 2021 and the first ITW webinar for 2021. you can also find the latest magazines and special reports online, as well as the nomination portals for the 20 Women to Watch and the GCAs 2021.

Season 2, episode 18 is presented by deputy editor Melanie Mingas, and features editor-at-large Alan Burkitt-Gray and senior reporter Natalie Bannerman.

In this episode of the Digital Digest, we roundup the biggest stories of the week from merger approvals to attending business events during a pandemic.

Natalie brings us the breaking news on the O2/Virgin merger, explaining how and why the CMA made its decision. Elsewhere in telecoms, Jio is launching two new subsea cables; Arc and BSO have interconnected their networks for on-demand connectivity; and gaming is on track to become a $6 billion opportunity in the Middle East.

Alan brings us a Hollywood-inspired explainer on AT&T's about-turnon content and why former activist investor, Elliott Management, could now be smiling. Following news this week from NEC and Rakutenwe catch up on the latest open RAN developments and, after a survey quantifies private network deployments, Alan explains why manufacturing and mining are driving the demand for private networks.

In the world of data centres, Natalie talks new builds, acquisitions and micro edge following the news this week on Microsoft's $500 million Chicago build and DCI's $54 million Adelaide project. Also in data centres, Digital Colony has acquired Landmark Dividend in a $972 million deal and Schneider Electricsays it's all about the micro edge in Europe.

Joining the conversation for our anniversary episode we welcome Capacity VIP Carl Roberts, partner at Hadaara Consulting, and head judge at the 2021 Global Carrier Awards. Carl has been on the ground at Capacity Middle Eastthis week and so reports back on the return to physical events, while also introducing the Global Carrier Awards 2021. Carl talks about the categories and judging process, and shares his nomination tips for this year's entrants.

Don't forget to catch up with the April/May issue of Capacity magazine and  sign up to our newsletters.

Season 2, episode 17 is presented by deputy editor Melanie Mingas, and features editor-at-large Alan Burkitt-Gray, senior reporter Natalie Bannerman and special guest Carl Roberts.

In this episode of the Digital Digest, we roundup the biggest stories of the week from merger approvals to attending business events during a pandemic.

Natalie brings us the breaking news on the O2/Virgin merger, explaining how and why the CMA made its decision. Elsewhere in telecoms, Jio is launching two new subsea cables; Arc and BSO have interconnected their networks for on-demand connectivity; and gaming is on track to become a $6 billion opportunity in the Middle East.

Alan brings us a Hollywood-inspired explainer on AT&T's about-turn on content and why former activist investor, Elliott Management, could now be smiling. Following news this week from NEC and Rakuten we catch up on the latest open RAN developments and, after a survey quantifies private network deployments, Alan explains why manufacturing and mining are driving the demand for private networks.

In the world of data centres, Natalie talks new builds, acquisitions and micro edge following the news this week on Microsoft's$500 million Chicago build and DCI's$54 million Adelaide project. Also in data centres, Digital Colony has acquired Landmark Dividend in a $972 million deal and Schneider Electric says it's all about the micro edge in Europe.

Joining the conversation for our anniversary episode we welcome Capacity VIP Carl Roberts, partner at Hadaara Consulting, and head judge at the 2021 Global Carrier Awards. Carl has been on the ground at Capacity Middle East this week and so reports back on the return to physical events, while also introducing the Global Carrier Awards 2021. Carl talks about the categories and judging process, and shares his nomination tips for this year's entrants.

Don't forget to catch up with the April/May issue of Capacity magazine and  sign up to our newsletters.

Season 2, episode 17 is presented by deputy editor Melanie Mingas, and features editor-at-large Alan Burkitt-Gray, senior reporter Natalie Bannerman and special guest Carl Roberts.

In this episode of the Digital Digest we roundup the biggest stories of the week from AI in Malasia to social scores in China – as well as everything in between.

Natalie covers the news that Aqua Comms, Telia Carrier and Ciena have successfully trialled a new, 400GbE POP to POP Trans-Atlantic Service, demonstrating that their traffic can be passed across their respective transmission networks.

Meanwhile, Softbank has backed Axiata's AI and data analytics unit and Helios Towers has acquired Omantel's towers for $575 million. Taking a look at the dark side of big data, Natalie also explains China's social credit system and its impact on net neutrality.

Alan explains why US government contracts will soon start flooding in for OneWeb, while in the world of Open RAN, NGMN and The Linux Foundationare setting out their priorities for 5G and 6G, and Millicom has started the shift to Open RAN for its mobile networks in Latin America.

Joining this week's conversation, we also speak with special guest Phillip Marangella, CMO for EdgeConneX, who talks about the launch of AdaniConnex and the growth of edge.

To keep up on all the latest on telecoms and tech, you can visit Capacitymedia.com, sign up to all our newsletters and also read the latest magazine.

Also online you can register to attend the 2021, virtual Datacloud Global Congress and Awards, which kicks off from 1 June.Season 2, episode 16 is presented by deputy editor Melanie Mingas and features editor-at-large Alan Burkitt-Gray, senior reporter Natalie Bannerman and special guest Phillip Marangella, CMO for EdgeConneX.

Season 2, episode 15 is presented by deputy editor Melanie Mingas, and features editor-at-large Alan Burkitt-Gray, senior reporter Natalie Bannerman and special guest Simon Ford, AVP for the EMEA region at CyrusOne.

In this episode of the Digital Digest, we roundup the biggest stories of the week from OTT partnerships to satellites and subsea cables.

In telecoms, Natalie covers the news that AWS has secured a public cloud contract with the a leading OTT and in Alaska, Quintillion is connecting its Arctic ground station to Equinix’s Seattle data centre.

Elsewhere, BT's mobile subsidiary, EE, has launched new 5G spectrum and Aryaka has acquired SASE provider Secucloud.

Alan explains why the successful bidders for Ethiopia’s telecoms licences will not be restricted to using Ethio Telecom's infrastructure – and why there could be lessons to learn from Myanmar. While in satellites, OneWebis in ‘advanced’ talks with its next big investor and Starlink has received 500,000 pre-orders, according to Elon.

In the world of data centres, Natalie brings us the latest on Green Mountain's new land parcel in Norway and American Tower's Atlanta extension. Over at Ascenty, data centres across Latam are now connected to Seaborn's network; EdgeConneX is expanding across six US cities; and two new pieces of research have found cloud infrastructure spendis increasing by 35% a year.

Joining this week's conversation, we also welcome Simon Ford, AVP for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at CyrusOne. Simon explains why we're at the start of a revolution and how it links to data centre capacity, carbon neutrality and the rise of the data centre REIT.

In this episode of the Digital Digest, we roundup the biggest stories of the week, and from Chanel vs Huawei to DCs for Bees, it's been a surreal seven days.

In the world of data centres, Natalie brings us the news that Bulk Data Centers has a new EVP and IPI Partners has raised $3.8 billion for re-investment. On project news Microsoftis to develop its first data centre in Malaysia – which it said will create more than19,000 jobs – and Teslais building its own data centre in China.

On the satellite front, Alan brings us the story behind OneWeb'snext launch – scheduled for 26 April – and explores why Amazon’s order to ULA doesn't have a delivery date. Meanwhile, Natalie has the story behind SES's MoU with the government of Kazakhstan.

In the telecoms roundup, we hear all about the subsea system connecting Brazil and Argentina while Chile's internet connectivity has increased 62%. And flying the flag for women in telecoms – as well as International Girls in ICT Day –  Globe has appointed its first female CCO. Other high-profile female appointments of the week included those of Annette Murphy, Kris Schaffer and Dawn Jones.

Also in telecoms, in the UK this week the Telecoms Diversification Taskforce has published its report while Meng Wanzhou has received some good news from the courts.

This week also marked Earth Day 2021, in the spirit of which Alan talks about the societal goals being explored by NGMN around 6G and the targets driving Deutsche Telekom's green cloud project.

Season 2, episode 14 is presented by deputy editor Melanie Mingas, and features editor-at-large Alan Burkitt-Gray and senior reporter Natalie Bannerman.

In this episode of the Digital Digest, we roundup the biggest stories of the week from the Virgin/O2 deal to Chicago University's quantum plans.

Natalie covers the news that South Africa's MTN is reportedly eying up a valuation of more than $5 billion for its mobile money business while in Egypt, a US$35 billion rural fibre project has launched with a target to connect 58% of the population. Elsewhere, Orange Polska has formed a jointly owned fibre company with APG, the Dutch pension investment company and in the UK, the Competition and Markets Authority has rubber stamped the merger of O2 and Virgin.

Alan brings us the latest on Meng Wanzhou's extradition case and explains why the University of Chicago – which is already planning to build a quantum internet – has launched a programme to fund quantum technology start-ups. Meanwhile, in Kazakhstan, a new satellite centre of excellence is being developed in association with UK/Indian operator OneWeb.

In data centres, Natalie explains the story behind Google's cloud region in Poland and Tencent's first data centre in Indonesia. In other news, Johnson Controls to acquire Silent-Aire for $870m, Nokia is supporting China Mobile's nation-wide public cloud roll out, and PDG has revealed plans for a $1 billion data centre expansion.

Joining this week's conversation, we also welcome Hannes Gredler and Richard Brandon, the founder/CTO and VP of marketing at RtBrick. Hannes and Richard talk about the history of the company, the need for disaggregated routing and and why there is Lego in their logo.

At Capacitymedia.com you can find details on the Power 100, Capacity Latam and Capacity Middle East, and you can also catch up with the latest edition of Capacity magazine.

Season 2, episode 13 is presented by deputy editor Melanie Mingas and features editor-at-large Alan Burkitt-Gray, senior reporter Natalie Bannerman, and special guests Hannes Gredler and Richard Brandon from RtBrick.

In the world of subsea, Natalie brings the latest developments on the IRIS cable connecting Iceland to Ireland, and an update from Telxius on the Marea and Dunant subsea cables.

Meanwhile, in the Netherlands, KKR and DTCP have entered into a wholesale fibre venture, with T-Mobile confirmed as the first anchor tenant, and in Afghanistan, Etisalatis getting into Open RAN.

Alan explains why Aqua Comms' new owner, Digital 9 Infrastructure, is in the market for small cell firms and data centres, and in Tanzania, plans are in motion to extend the national broadband backbone to Mozambique.

In the world of data centres, Bharti Airtel has commissioned a solar power plant for its facilities in three states, and Africa Data Centres and N+ONEhave good news for Africa's west coast.

Joining this week's conversation, we also welcome Emmanuel Jean, projects coordinator at Télécoms Sans Frontières. Emmanuel talks about TSF's work in eight different countries and explains the different approaches to connectivity being pursued across various humanitarian projects. To find out more about TSF's work, click here.

At Capacitymedia.com you can find details on the Power 100, Digital Infra Africa, and Capacity Latam and also catch up with the latest edition of Capacity magazine.

Season 2, episode 12 is presented by deputy editor Melanie Mingas and features editor-at-large Alan Burkitt-Gray, senior reporter Natalie Bannerman, and special guest Emmanuel Jean from Télécoms Sans Frontières

In this episode of the Digital Digest, we roundup the biggest stories of the week, from Biden's $100 billion broadband plan to edge tech deployments boosting sustainability.

Natalie covers the big investment news from President Biden and brings us a subsea update from Facebook and Google following news of the BiFrost and Echo cable projects. Meanwhile, eSIM installs are on track to top 3.4 billion by 2025 and GIC has taken a 2.5% stake in Cellnex worth $638 million.

On the financial front, Alan explains why Digital Colony has bought 4,200 towers in Indonesia and one industry veteran is planning to buy Aqua Comms – and others – after raising £300 million in an IPO. After taking a look at Huawei's financial results, Alan also explains how the firm's US ban affected its bottom line.

And bringing us the data centre roundup for the last time, Abigail talks edge and sustainability. She brings us the details on American Tower's new tenant-ready edge data centre in Pittsburgh and EdgeConneX's news from Spain. While in sustainability news, Vertiv and Green Mountain have deployed edge technology to boost their green credentials and STT GDC has made a pledge to be carbon neural by 2030.

Season 2, episode 12 is presented by deputy editor Melanie Mingas, and features editor-at-large Alan Burkitt-Gray, and senior reporters Abigail Opiah and Natalie Bannerman.

To read the latest copy of Capacity magazine click here and to nominate for the Power 100, click here. To find out more about ITW 2021, visit our latest announcement, here.

In this episode of the Digital Digest, we roundup the biggest stories of the week from OneWeb's aviation network to the "Swiss army knife of data centre campuses".

Natalie explains why Airtel Africa has become the latest telco to sell off its tower infrastructure, and over in the GCC Virgin Mobile Kuwait has become the country's first MVNO.

In subsea, Galapagos Cable Systems (GCS) and Xtera are to build a new system to the Galapagos Islands and Interxion has entered into an agreement with Telxius to enable direct interconnection for the Dunant subsea cable at Interxion Paris, France.

In data centres, Abigail covers the news that demand for facilities in Europe is on track to increase by a third this year, while over at AWS a new CEO has been named.

Abigail also shares the news that in Australia, Upcloudhas confirmed a new data centre in Sydney and in Nebraska, Facebook is expanding its Papillion facility.

Alan brings us the latest on how the pandemic is forcing change in the industry. This follows the news this week that international mobile money transactions have reached US$1 billion a month and home working is on track to continue for the foreseeable. While in China, the pandemic has pushed spending on cloud infrastructure to $5.8 billion.

And in preparation for the end of the pandemic – and the return of international travel –  OneWeb is moving into aviation networks.

Joining this week's conversation, former Terremark and CyrusOne executive Josh Snowhorn shares the details on Quantum Loophole. In the interview, Snowhorn explains the plans, the story behind the name, and why it is the "Swiss army knife" of data centre campuses.

To read the current edition of the magazine, click here, and to find out more about the Power 100, click here. 

This episode features Capacity deputy editor Melanie Mingas, editor-at-large Alan Burkitt-Gray, senior reporters Abigail Opiah and Natalie Bannerman, and special guest Josh Snowhorn.