Ericsson has found evidence of “corruption-related misconduct” in its Iraq operations and cannot rule out that payments were made to terror groups, including ISIS.

The Swedish telecoms giant says that it launched an internal investigation in 2019 following unusual expense claims dating back to 2018. Ericsson says that its investigation covered the period 2011-2019 and included the conduct of its employees, vendors, and suppliers in Iraq.

In a media statement, Ericsson said the investigation “identified evidence of corruption-related misconduct” including:

• Making a monetary donation without a clear beneficiary.
• Paying a supplier for work without a defined scope and documentation.
• Using suppliers to make cash payments.
• Funding inappropriate travel and expenses.
• Improper use of sales agents and consultants.

Ericsson says that it also found violations of the company’s internal financial controls; conflicts of interest; non-compliance with tax laws; and obstruction of the investigation.

Furthermore, the firm uncovered payment schemes and cash transactions that created the risk of money laundering and “identified payments to intermediaries and the use of alternate transport routes in connection with circumventing Iraqi Customs, at a time when terrorist organizations, including ISIS, controlled some transport routes.”

Ericsson could not identify that any of its employees were directly involved in financing terror organisations, but that does not rule out indirect payments after acknowledging potential money laundering and payments to intermediaries.

Read the full article here.

CTC Union, for which Fibre Technologies is a licensed UK distributor, has recently launched a new range of products.

CTC Union releases eight new Industrial L2 Ethernet switches with compact size (PoE and non-PoE) – IGS-402CS(-4PH), IFS-402CGS(-4PH), IGS-402CSW(-4PH), IFS-402CGSW(-4PH)

CTC Union launches new series of Optical Amplifiers Boosters.

CTC Union releases new CWDM Mux Demux Racks – WFS series and CMD series

Fibre Technologies has many years experience in the entire CTC Union range and are well positioned to advise on your requirements.

Infinera (NASDAQ: INFN) and Telia Carrier announced today the selection of Infinera’s ICE6 800G solution for Telia Carrier’s global network after completing a successful trial of the technology on Telia Carrier’s live number-one-ranked global network, AS1299. The decision to deploy Infinera’s ICE6 comes after a field validation trial on the 2,396-km link in the U.S. between Denver and Chicago. The trial was performed using Infinera’s innovative ICE6 technology over an existing third-party line system and demonstrated superior performance and improved network capacity.

The trial demonstrated that by leveraging Infinera’s ICE6 fifth-generation coherent technology, Telia Carrier was able to achieve transmission speeds of 600G and spectral efficiency of 5.33 bits/s/Hz, resulting in a fiber capacity increase of at least 50 percent compared to the previous generation of transponders. The success of the ICE6 trial highlights the tremendous value provided by Infinera’s innovative 800G solution, which integrates and performs seamlessly and effectively across third-party line systems in an open environment.

“As a pioneer in deployment of open optical line technologies across the globe, deploying ICE6 on our network will be yet another example of how open and disaggregated networking works and allows for greater efficiency and agility,” said Andrew Haynes, COO at Telia Carrier. “Innovative solutions like Infinera’s ICE6 demonstrate the ability to achieve vast improvement across our optical network, from high-performance, high-speed transmission capacity to increased cost-efficiencies. Deploying ICE6 will enable us to introduce best-in-class technologies and infrastructure capabilities for our customers.”

“Telia Carrier’s embracing of open optical networking enables them to always be able to take advantage of the best technologies to create differentiated value for their customers,” said Nick Walden, Senior Vice President, Worldwide Sales, Infinera. “In this case, they were able to leverage the industry-leading performance of Infinera’s ICE6 technology over their existing third-party line system to quickly and cost-effectively increase capacity and deliver new services to meet the ever-increasing connectivity needs of their global customers.”

Read the original press release here.

Thanks to Infinera’s ICE6 800G solution, the high-speed optical transmission demonstration spanned over 1,372 kilometers on Fastweb’s low-latency long-haul backbone network, setting a milestone for Italian long-distance data transmission.

Infinera (NASDAQ: INFN) and Fastweb, one of the main telecom providers in Italy, announced today the record-breaking single-wavelength service connectivity speed trial of 600 Gb/s across Fastweb’s network, including the Milan-Bari optical route spanning 1,372 kilometers, using Infinera’s fifth-generation ICE6 800G technology on the GX Series Compact Modular Platform. The programmable flexibility of Infinera’s ICE6 solution enabled Fastweb to increase network capacity by up to two times. This seamless network upgrade ensures Fastweb’s enterprise and service provider customers are equipped with reliable, ultra-high-speed capacity to meet increased growth in data traffic and bandwidth demands.

The demonstrated industry-leading performance, which will provide substantial network value, played a significant role in Fastweb’s selection of Infinera’s ICE6 solution to enhance its backbone network. With Infinera’s ICE6 800G solution, Fastweb is poised to increase its network capacity and launch new 400 Gigabit Ethernet services across its existing infrastructure. Infinera’s ICE6 solution features probabilistic constellation shaping and digital Nyquist subcarrier technology with dual-carrier super-channels, enabling successful transmission of 1.2 Tb/s signals on the Milan-Bari route. The combination of these technologies improves Fastweb’s spectral efficiency and boosts existing capacity on its current Infinera flexible-grid backbone network.

We recently worked with BMC TV to bring the Paralympic Games to the UK and recently published our case study on the project which you can read here.

Additionally, the project has been featured on the ADVA website as well. The full news item is available here.

Fibre Technologies has worked with ADVA for a number of years with them being one of our key technology partners. You can learn more about them here.

ADVA wins major German innovation award with its quantum-safe encryption technology.

News summary:

• ADVA’s encryption engine ensures future-proof security for post-quantum threats
• It delivers full transparency, removes certification complexity and guarantees rapid time to market
• Crypto module developed and engineered in Meiningen, Germany

ADVA (FSE: ADV) today announced that it has won one of Germany’s most renowned innovation prizes for its quantum-safe encryption technology. The accolade recognizes the value of ADVA’s highly secure crypto module, which integrates all essential security functions and provides comprehensive protection for sensitive data on the move. It offers the best available network protection even against the threat of quantum computer attacks. By simplifying the certification and regulatory approval of ADVA’s encryption technology, it also accelerates time to market for customers offering highly secure services. The Innovation Award Thuringia is one of Germany’s most respected awards for technology development.

Read the full story here.

An international team of scientists has produced the most detailed three-dimensional map of the Universe yet.

Within seven months, their Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) has broken all 3D galaxy survey records.

A component built by Durham University increases the telescope’s field of view using 5,000 optical fibres.

Prof Carlos Frenk from its Institute for Computational Cosmology said DESI’s data would “help uncover some of the most intimate secrets of the cosmos”.

He said: “This will help us to search for clues about the nature of dark energy.

“We will also learn more about the dark matter and the role it plays in how galaxies like the Milky Way form and how the universe is evolving.”

international team of scientists has produced the most detailed three-dimensional map of the Universe yet.

Within seven months, their Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) has broken all 3D galaxy survey records.

A component built by Durham University increases the telescope’s field of view using 5,000 optical fibres.

Prof Carlos Frenk from its Institute for Computational Cosmology said DESI’s data would “help uncover some of the most intimate secrets of the cosmos”.

He said: “This will help us to search for clues about the nature of dark energy.

“We will also learn more about the dark matter and the role it plays in how galaxies like the Milky Way form and how the universe is evolving.”

The fibre-optic system splits light from galaxies, stars and a bright variety of galaxy known as quasars into narrow bands of colour.

This reveals their chemical make-up, how far away they are and how fast they are travelling, allowing researchers to gauge how much and how fast the universe has expanded.

The final 3D map will give scientists a better understanding of dark energy, which accounts for 70% of the universe and drives expansion. 

DESI is producing data relating to 11 billion years ago which can shed light on the early universe.

Victoria Fawcett, a PhD researcher at Durham University’s Centre for Extragalactic Astronomy, said DESI was obtaining much fainter and redder objects than previously discovered. 

“We’re finding quite a lot of exotic systems including large samples of rare objects that we just haven’t been able to study in detail before,” she said

Scientists are also using the data to understand the behaviour of medium-sized black holes in small galaxies. 

DESI has already catalogued more than 7.5 million galaxies and is expected to have added another 27.5 million by the end of its run in 2026.

The collaboration is managed by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in the USA.

Originally reported here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-59974215

Eight million UK homes now have access to full-fibre broadband, a record rise of three million since last year. 

But fewer than a quarter of those have chosen to upgrade to a full-fibre package, regulator Ofcom’s annual Connected Nations report says.

Many could upgrade without paying more than they currently did, Ofcom said.

The number of upgrades was rising, with 750,000 homes moving to full-fibre services in 2021, but the rapid rollout meant take-up was likely to lag behind.

Read the full story

Altice UK increased its stake in BT to 18%, up from the 12.1%‑stake Patrick Drahi’s business acquired earlier in the year.

In a note to the London Stock Exchange, Altice UK confirmed it was not currently interested in a takeover bid in BT despite the increase in shareholding. The company “does not intend to make an offer”, the statement read.

Billionaire businessmen and serial deal‑maker Drahi underlined “dialogue” with BT’s management, with the Financial Times reporting that Drahi notified new Chairman Adam Crozier of Altice UK’s increased position last night, after the market closed.

Read the full story here.

Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory Department of Outdoor Advertisement and Signage said it had discovered over a thousand towers that had been erected in Abuja without permission from local authorities

Authorities in Nigeria’s capital city, Abuja, have announced that they have discovered around 1,300 mobile masts and towers operating illegally within the Federal Capital Territory. 

All of these towers have been erected without first obtaining permission from the relevant local authorities and will subsequently face appraisal and potentially decommissioning. 

“In fact, recently, without mentioning the company, we have to bring down 126 illegal towers without documentation for them,” explained Dr Babagana Adam, Director of DOAS. “So, we have to regularise them and where they don’t meet with the regulations, we have to decommission to the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC).” 

This find is not of insignificant magnitude, given that, at the start of the year, Nigeria as a whole had just 53,460 mobile towers deployed nationwide. Regadless of the total number of illegal towers throughout Nigeria, this finding alone would suggest that a significant number of Nigerian’s currently receive mobile connectivity via illegal infrastructure. 

Of course, installing telecoms towers illegally, without acquiring the prerequisite permissions, is nothing new for the telecoms industry. Indeed, telecoms operators often complain about the difficulties associated with gaining permission to deploy infrastructure, whether that is gaining access to multi-dwelling units for the deployment of fibre or rooftops for 5G small cells, so it should come as little surprise that in less well regulated, developing markets, infrastructure is deployed illegally. 

In fact, many of these installations go entirely unremarked upon for numerous years, often only being discovered when routine surveys are being carried out. This was the case in New Dehli, India, back in September, when 1,200 illegal towers were identified by a routine survey, leading to major fines being applied not only to the telecoms company or the contractor, but also the owner of the property.