Telecom news

• Messaging apps say UK Online Safety Bill will make things less safe

  18-04-2023 18:14
  The heads of a bunch of messaging apps, including WhatsApp and Signal, have written an open letter imploring the UK government to urgently rethink its proposed new internet law.
  Having stumbled through Parliament, the bill is set to be reviewed by the House of Lords tomorrow, which likely explains the timing of this letter, although it’s addressed to ‘anyone who cares about safety and privacy on the internet.’ The signatories represent the following companies: WhatsApp, Signal,
  
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• TfL pushing on with DLR extension to Thamesmead

  18-04-2023 17:30 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  A feasibility study that could see the DLR extended to Thamesmead is nearing completion and is looking likely to recommend the project. Transport for London (TfL) has previously been allocated £1.5 million in funding to study the proposals, which if built, would see the DLR extended from the Beckton branch across the river to Thamesmead via a new station at Beckton Riverside.
  Local area transport map (c) TfL
  The extension is considered essential to enable the construction of around 30,000
  
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• Telefónica CEO clumsily wades into AI panic

  18-04-2023 16:23
  José María Álvarez-Pallete has gone off on one about the dangers of AI, despite the telco industry’s prominent role in its promotion.
  In a blog post on Monday, the Telefónica chairman and CEO used Descartes’ famous saying “I think, therefore I am”, as a clarion call for the social sciences to weigh in on AI’s direction of travel.
  “Technology is already here but we must ensure it is not left on its own. The time has come for sociolog
  
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• TfL looking at scrapping the Day Travelcard

  18-04-2023 16:03 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Transport for London (TfL) is considering scrapping the Day Travelcard, and has opened a consultation into the proposals. The Day Travelcard isn’t that widely used by Londoners, as it’s a paper ticket aimed at visitors.Day Travelcards offer unlimited travel on TfL services and National Rail services within London, as well as one-third off River Services fares. At the moment, when travelling from outside London, customers can buy an “add-on” of a Day Travelcard to be inclu
  
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• T-Mobile batters rivals in US performance ranking

  18-04-2023 13:59
  T-Mobile US is crowing about being the leading mobile provider in the country and for once there’s more to its message than pure hype and marketing spin.
  It’s no exaggeration to say that T-Mobile wiped the floor with the competition in the latest iteration of Ookla’s quarterly market report that looks at mobile network speed, availability, performance and the like.
  The data shows that T-Mobile US comes out ahead of major rivals AT&T and Verizon in most categories in the Q1
  
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• US tops China in 5G race…sort of

  18-04-2023 13:35
  The US now leads the world on 5G deployments, new data published this week shows. But you could forgive the Chinese for feeling aggrieved by the metrics used.
  The data in question comes from test and measurement specialist Viavi Solutions, the headline findings in whose latest 5G rollout study include the fact that the US has now pulled ahead of China in terms of the number of cities with 5G deployed. Specifically, 5G networks were launched in more than 200 US cities since May last year, taking
  
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• The breakfast cereal metaverse may be the most baffling yet

  18-04-2023 13:33
  Nestlé is promising to take you ‘beyond the cereal bowl’ with a splurge of loosely defined metaverse, web3 and sustainability marketing concepts.
  We’re told The Nestlé Cereals Metaclub – brought to you by Cereal Partners Worldwide, the firm behind Cheerios – contains 10 virtual attractions hosted on metaverse platform Decentraland, and will include online challenges and NFTs ‘with real life rewards.’
  It’s being launched in partnership
  
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• Ericsson treads water in choppy Q1 seas as it relies ever more on India

  18-04-2023 13:08
  Growth remained elusive for Swedish kit vendor Ericsson in the first quarter of this year, while a geographic shift to India depressed margins.
  The top-line number was that overall sales were once more flat, year-on-year. The decline in US sales increased, as operators there dialled back their capex spend even more, but this was largely offset by India, where Ericsson has major deals with Jio and Bharti Airtel. However, this increasing reliance (no pun intended) on India had a negative effect on
  
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• One of Europe’s largest cranes used for Clapham Junction station upgrade

  18-04-2023 13:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Over the Easter break, one of Europe’s largest cranes was at work in Clapham Junction reaching over the railway tracks to help instal a new footbridge staircase.
  (c) Network Rail
  As part of a project to upgrade the Brighton Yard entrance to Clapham Junction station, they’ve been working on the footbridge as well, and it was decided that the existing stairs leading to platforms 13 and 14 needed to be made larger.
  The platforms are busy as that’s generally where the Brighton main
  
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• London’s Pocket Parks: Smithfield Rotunda Garden, EC1

  18-04-2023 08:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Sitting next to Smithfield meat market is a circular pocket park that was created to provide rest for the market workers. The space has been an open space forever, as it sits right in the middle of the old West Smithfield Market Place, which was later turned into the open-air meat market.However, there was growing pressure from the 1830s onwards to move the meat market out of London, and in 1860, it was decided that it was time to enclose the meat market into a building, which is the Smithfield
  
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• We need to do something about bunged-up Britain

  18-04-2023 05:00
  Businesses across the economy share the same complaint of process-heavy regulation preventing them from moving fast
  
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