Telehouse, a specialist in high connectivity hosting solutions in Europe, has signed a partnership with the operator Jaguar Network, a B2B subsidiary of the iliad Group, for the development of hosting activities in France in the latter's datacenter in Marseille.

Named "TH1 Marseille", this infrastructure will provide new neutral connectivity solutions to digital players, with the same know-how, the same proximity in support and the same excellence in service that have characterised Telehouse's activity for 30 years.

This agreement echoes the growth of Jaguar Network, of which Telehouse has been one of the historical partners by hosting it in its TH2 Paris datacenter. In return, Jaguar Network is now offering Telehouse a new opportunity to develop its offer on its historic campus in Marseille.

Their common ambition is to contribute to making the city one of the top 5 most connected cities in the world, and to reinforce the Paris / Marseille digital highway, in order to place France at the centre of international data exchanges. Marseille's dynamism is based on its submarine cable network linking Asia/Pacific to Europe with a Marseille/Frankfurt/Amsterdam axis.

In 2023, capacity will increase from 150 terabits to 720 terabits thanks to the 8,000 km Google Blue Raman cable (India, Saudi Arabia and Marseille, avoiding Egypt).

Thanks to Telehouse's historical know-how and Jaguar Network's local presence, customers will be able to benefit from all existing or future fibres.

 Read the article

Source : Datacenter Magazine

From January 2022, UK operator EE will reintroduce roaming charges in Europe. It is the first UK mobile operator to take this step, having previously said it would not reintroduce roaming charges.

It intends to charge its new UK customers extra to use their mobile phones in Europe. All new registrants, as well as users wishing to upgrade their plans from 7 July 2021, will have to pay £2 a day to use their plan in 47 European destinations.

The European Commission, meanwhile, proposed a few months ago to extend the abolition of roaming charges between different EU countries by 10 years. This measure, which has been in force since June 2017, was initially due to end in 2022. It concerns the 27 EU Member States, as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, but not the UK. Indeed, due to Brexit, it ceased to apply EU rules on 1 January.

According to a Eurobarometer survey, half of Europeans with a mobile phone have travelled to another EU country in the last two years. In the summer of 2019, data roaming usage increased 17-fold compared to the summer of 2016, the summer before roaming charges were abolished.

Back in January, EE, O2, Three and Vodafone said they had no plans to reintroduce roaming charges, even if the Brexit gave them the opportunity to do so. EE now justifies that reintroducing these charges will "support investment in our UK-based customer service, and in our leading UK network". The additional charges will not apply to UK users in the Republic of Ireland.

 Read the article

Source : ZDNet

According to French, German and Norwegian researchers, the GEA-1 and GEA-2 encryption algorithms used in mobile data networks in the 1990s and 2000s have been weakened, one of them from the outset. Based on 2G technology, they were intended to secure the General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) standard. Today, this network continues to be used for M2M systems or as a backup for data, SMS and mobile calls. Most of today's terminals are GPRS-enabled.

The aim of these two algorithms is to secure the transfer of data between phones and base stations in order to avoid the interception of communications. However, the experts found, for example, that GEA-1 did not encrypt in 64 bits as expected but only in 40 bits. With a lower security level, a computer network can more easily discover the key by brute force and read the streams.

To support this theory, specialists reverse engineered GEA-1 and GEA-2. By recreating the former, they found that their algorithm was more secure than the original version. Disregarding the notion of chance, they believe that this weakening of security was intended from the design of the algorithm.

These algorithms were developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) in 1998 by a dedicated working group. The European body admitted that GEA-1 contained a weakness. But it explained that it had been introduced to comply with export regulations which did not allow for stronger encryption. For GEA-2, the rules were relaxed at the time of its design, but the researchers were able to decrypt the traffic. They therefore recommend relying on the more robust GEA-3 and higher algorithm.

 Read the article

Source : Le Monde Informatique

SNCF Réseau's new subsidiary, Terralpha, has arrived to market the bandwidth offered by the more than 20,000 km of fibre that snake through mainland France under the train tracks. As the fibres are pulled from town to town, they do not suffer from the slowdowns caused by the connections that operators put on each branch line.

In addition, this fibre network provides a national alternative to the network of the four major operators. The 2,000 alternative operators will now be able to interconnect a head office in Lille with its branch in Marseille, without having to wait for weeks for authorisation, without having to pay the high price imposed by their national competitor. And, above all, with better latency.

These more than 20,000 kilometres of fibre were already available for hire. But it was a case-by-case process: Since SNCF Réseau only provides 100 Gbit/s links, it was up to its customer to install a router at each end to carry its traffic. And apart from the major operators, no one knew how to install a router on these fibres.

To connect, Terralpha chose to partner with the Telehouse chain of colocation data centres. "Our strategy is to be present in the telecom marketplaces. That is to say, in the rooms reserved for the interconnections of operators in the data centres. The most important ones are on the TH2 campus of Telehouse in Paris, which brings together 300 telecom operators," argues Gabriel Chenevoy, Terralpha's CEO.

Especially since TH2 has a state-of-the-art computer system that monitors the 50,000 fibres running through its operator rooms one by one. The curvature and path of each fibre would be carefully studied.

Apart from Orange and SFR, Bouygues Telecom and Iliad are also starting to sell bandwidth on their national networks to alternative operators. Kosc was previously the only independent infrastructure operator through which local providers could offer national connectivity to their customers. It is therefore the one that Terralpha is now competing with. After financial setbacks, Kosc was finally bought out a year ago by Altitude Infrastructure, an ex-alternative operator that has refocused its activity on fibre installation.

Although Altitude Infrastructure enjoys a good image with local authorities, its challenge remains to link together fibre segments scattered over the territory. This is where Terralpha claims to have a head start.

 Read the article

Source : Le Mag IT

The Internet services of 500 customers, including banks and airlines, were inaccessible for several hours due to a breakdown at Akamai. This was not a cyber attack but a technical problem. The problems were caused by a mishandling of Akamai's DdoS protection service.

Among the customers affected are three major Australian banks: Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Westpac and ANZ. Australia Post was also affected, as was the airline Virgin Australia.

The latest major internet outage occurred last week and was caused by CDN Fastly. Many people were affected by the outage, including Europe.

 Read the article

Source : Kulture Geek

Many territories still do not have access to a fast and efficient Internet connection in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and elsewhere in France. This is why the State and Arcep have developed the New Mobile Deal in order to address this problem by standardising mobile Internet coverage at national level.

Although the State is the initiator of this project, it is the mobile operators who manage it directly. Free, Bouygues Telecom, Orange and SFR are therefore responsible for the investment in the design of these new networks. Even though there are no subsidies, the State is in fact piloting this bold project and sharing its objectives with the operators, who must align themselves with it.

According to the State services, in collaboration with the local authorities, 509 areas are deemed to be priorities in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. 64 new additional sites are to be equipped in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region following the publication of the latest order on 9 April.

However, due to the region's many mountainous areas, installing the equipment necessary for the network to spread properly is much more difficult. This explains why the region has so many areas without access to a good Internet connection and why it needs special attention.

However, the health crisis makes this project much more difficult to implement and there are many delays.

 Read the article

Source : ECOMNEWS

According to the latest figures published by the Agence nationale des fréquences (ANFR), France now has 25,105 authorised 5G sites, of which 14,284 have been declared technically operational by operators.

Up 3.7% over one month, the increase in the number of 5G sites owes much to the legacy of past networks - and especially 4G. The ANFR points out that "almost all of these 5G installations have been authorised on existing sites already used by 2G, 3G or 4G technologies" and that only two mobile sites in France host only 5G.

According to operator statements, 56.9% of the 25,105 5G sites authorised at the end of May are technically operational. The main trends of the deployment carried out in a scattered manner by the operators to date are now emerging.

Free confirms its attraction for the 700 MHz band for accelerated coverage of the territory. 16,683 5G sites are counted in this frequency band, of which 9,584 are declared technically operational.

Bouygues Telecom, Orange and SFR have adopted similar tactics. The three operators rely on the 2.1 GHz band, which is already used for 4G. At the end of May, they had 8,376 authorised 5G sites in this band, with 3,973 declared technically operational.

However, operators are not forgetting about the "queen band" of 5G, the 3.5 GHz band, as they seem determined to move on to this specific 5G band.

The ANFR counted 8,550 authorised 5G sites in this band at the end of May, of which 3,973 were declared technically operational. This bodes well for the further deployment of the new generation of mobile technology.

 Read the article

Source : ZDnet

The broadband and ultra-broadband market observatory for the first quarter has just been published by Arcep. The regulator notes that "the number of very high-speed subscriptions rose by 1.1 million, i.e. a growth rate of 170% compared to the first quarter of 2020".

This means that "the number of very high-speed subscriptions has reached 15.7 million, and now represents more than half (51%) of the total number of Internet subscriptions in France (+9 points in one year) and 53% of the number of premises eligible for very high-speed access, up 6 points in one year".

The figures for fibre rollouts are also upbeat: "Public Initiative Networks have achieved their best deployment quarter ever and are outpacing private operator rollouts in AMII zones. The overall pace of deployment remains high in the first quarter of 2021, with 1.5 million FTTH lines".

 Read the article

Source : Next Inpact

For about seven hours on the evening of 2 June, the numbers for the Samu (15), the police (17), the fire brigade (18) and the single European emergency number (112) were virtually inaccessible. Orange, through its CEO Stéphane Richard, had then presented "its deepest apologies". Then, early this morning, on 4 June, the historical operator announced that it had launched an "in-depth" internal investigation.

This announcement preceded the meeting of the interministerial crisis unit. "Things are back in order" and "the situation is back under control as I speak", declared Jean Castex at around 9am, at the end of this meeting which he chaired.

"We deplore the victims who may have been caused by this serious incident", confirmed the Prime Minister.

The head of government insisted that "it will be necessary to establish very clearly the cause of the events that occurred and above all the means to ensure that they do not happen again."

For the time being, Orange has already launched an in-depth internal investigation. The telephone operator's general inspectorate "will have to carry out the necessary investigations to identify the precise causes of this incident and issue recommendations to draw all the necessary lessons", Orange said.

Conclusions are expected within seven days. "In connection with the interministerial crisis unit, we set up yesterday evening a dedicated unit to resolve any local malfunctions that might appear," added the telephone operator, while "disturbances" still remained on 3 June "in a random manner".

When asked about the origin of this breakdown, Stéphane Richard already ruled out the hypothesis of a cyber attack. This incident is "more likely" due to "a software failure in (the) critical network equipment", i.e. the platforms responsible for routing calls.

 Read the article

Source : Les Echos

Bouygues Telecom Entreprises OnCloud is a new independent structure that benefits from its own infrastructure and Nerim's decade of experience, specialising in hosting and cloud computing.

"For the past two years, dozens of employees have been designing new infrastructures and offers based on our customers' real needs. What Bouygues Telecom Entreprises OnCloud offers today is unique on the market, both in terms of the quality of the advice it provides and its technical and commercial agility," explains François Treuil, Director of Bouygues Telecom Entreprises.

Bouygues Telecom Entreprises OnCloud is an operator, integrator and host all rolled into one and aims to establish itself as a pure player in the cloud. Its ambition is to be rapidly recognised as a trusted cloud, according to the new name given by the French government as part of the National Cloud Strategy. However, this recognition requires SecNumCloud certification issued by the ANSSI. This is a complex, restrictive and costly process that will take several months, if not years.

A new player that wants to reach out to a wide range of customers, including SMEs and SMIs, public authorities and large groups. The operator wants to offer public IaaS cloud services as well as help companies build their own private clouds.

However, the field is already crowded with American hyperscalers (AWS, Azure, GCP, OCI, IBM Cloud, etc.), small local hosting companies and OVHcloud and 3DS Outscale, which are already SecNumCloud certified. Not forgetting Scaleway and the still nascent Bleu (the result of a joint venture between Capgemini and Orange). And not to mention the Gaia-X initiative, which should also enable other European operators to establish themselves more strongly in France. The competition is going to be tough...

 Read the article

Source : Informatique News

In early June, AOTA, the Association of Alternative Telecommunications Operators, called on the government to "address the transition to IPv6 and the preservation of the competitive balance".

The Directorate General for Enterprise (DGE) has just replied: "the transition to this new communication protocol now appears to be a major challenge for competitiveness and innovation". However, it states that "the government's capacity to act in this area is limited by the lack of a legislative basis to regulate this type of resource, as IP addresses are managed at the international level by ICANN and allocated directly at the European level by the European Internet registry, the Amsterdam-based RIPE NCC".

To find a solution, "the French authorities will propose to the Presidency of the Council of the European Union that it put the issue of the transition to IPv6 on the agenda of a working group of the Telecommunications and Information Society Council and that it refer the matter to the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) for its opinion".

Despite a "timid response", the AOTA welcomes the fact that the State is taking the issue seriously. The Chief Electoral Officer also points out that the Arcep can play a supporting role in facilitating the transition to IPv6, and that a "task force" will soon be set up by the Arcep on this subject".

 Read the article

Source : Next Inpact

Free had been involved for several years in co-financing the FTTH networks deployed by Orange and was challenging several terms of its contract with the incumbent operator. The Regulatory Authority had settled this dispute in Free's favour, but Orange had been challenging the legality of the dispute since then. The Paris Court of Appeal upheld Arcep's decision in an order dated 26th September 2019.

The planned renewal of the term and conditions of access to Orange's infrastructure was contested by Free. Arcep confirmed that they did not meet Free's needs for visibility and transparency and therefore imposed on Orange to grant a right of access for a defined period of time and at least 40 years. In its decision, the Court of Appeal confirmed that these conditions are "not sufficiently precise in view of Free's need for visibility over the effective duration of this right".

In addition, Arcep considered that it was justified and reasonable for Free to obtain information on the formation of access tariffs for Orange FTTH networks in less dense private initiative areas. This was also supported by the Court of Appeal, which stated that these tariffs were "directly linked to the financial terms of the bid, which it seeks to ensure is fair".

Finally, the Regulatory Authority considered that the incumbent operator should allow Free to connect mobile base stations in less dense areas of private initiative via the extra optical fibres of the FTTH network deployed by Orange and co-financed by Free. A point that has not been contested by Orange in its appeal.

In addition, the Paris Court of Appeal held that the decision did not affect business confidentiality and confirmed Arcep's analysis. And noting that the information that Orange must provide to Free pursuant to the decision "is characterized by a very high degree of aggregation, both geographically and by expense items".

 Read the article

Source : Le Monde Informatique

The wholesale-only operator Kosc is in the spotlight. Its president, Yann de Prince, confirmed that there are only a few weeks left to find a solution to his financial problems at his hearing in early October by the Senate.

"As the company had not yet reached operating balance, and could not therefore in principle convince the court of its ability to continue its activity, it was logical that we should proceed, not with a suspension of payment, but with outright liquidation," explained the director of the alternative wholesale operator.

"The process I have initiated gives the company a very short period of time, two months, to try to overcome its difficulties," he said. Yann de Prince mandated the Rothschild investment bank in early September to "find investors or any partner who could help save or take over the company".

"The outcome of the process initiated at the beginning of September is set for the end of October 2019. It may be extended for a further two months. Its main condition is the payment of the next salaries. This payment itself depends on a new commitment by shareholders or the lifting of SFR's seizures. If one or the other does not come true, we will probably no longer avoid the pitfall of liquidation," said Kosc's boss.

Facing serious cash flow problems, the operator has indeed seen its horizon darken considerably in recent weeks. The operator is uncertain following the Competition Authority's unfavourable decision concerning the takeover of Completel's DSL network, previously held by SFR, and the withdrawal of one of its major investors, Banque des territoires.

"Kosc is in a blocking situation at this time. On September 27, 2019, using the ADLC's decision as an instrument in the middle of a discussion process with creditors, SFR proceeded to a protective seizure of the company's accounts and all trade receivables. As a result, Kosc no longer has any liquidity. Bailiffs regularly come to our offices. From the end of October, it will face the problem of salary payments unless our shareholders intervene further," said Kosc's Director of Financial Control and Regulatory Affairs.

It is now time for an emergency. "Kosc's situation is now simple: either in the coming weeks, the shareholders will be sufficiently convinced and will decide to provide sufficient funds to allow the company to regain a certain margin of manoeuvre, necessary for the implementation of a sustainable solution, or the company will be liquidated or sold," explained its president.

Especially since OVH, one of its historical investors, could well play the role of the girl of the air since the telecom activities are no longer a priority for him.
But the operator has no shortage of contenders for its takeover. The operator's president thus stated "Despite a most unfavourable situation, despite the urgency with which these possible partners are asked to position themselves, sixteen[candidates] have already expressed themselves" by specifying that they are mainly industrial partners.

Bouygues Telecom and Iliad could be candidates for this takeover. This information should still be taken on a conditional basis, but it might seem plausible when both operators have views on this lucrative market.

 Read the article

Source : ZDNet

The government has announced new funding for public fibre optic networks. For the past two years, local authorities and fibre manufacturers have been calling for the reopening of the subsidy window for Public Initiative Networks. However, this will be done in a piecemeal fashion, with only €140 million allocated in 2020. A sum resulting from savings made on previously launched programmes, thanks to economies of scale on deployment work but also from the growing appetite of private investors for these highly profitable projects.

However, funds remain far from the estimated needs to complete, or almost complete, the deployment of optical fibre in some 25 departments by 2025. Among those who do not benefit from it, the National Federation of Licensing Authorities and Authorities. Jean-Luc Sallabery, in charge of the FNCCR's digital department, reacted and said that the envelope announced by the government was not "up to the challenge". Only a few days ago, the Federation demanded a contribution of one billion euros from the counter.

This should cover about 20% of the amount needed for the remaining 3 million fibre optic lines to be deployed. This is relatively small compared to the 36 million French premises, but "they are the most complicated, with a projected cost of 1,500 - 1,600 euros per take. That is a total cost of 4.5 to 5 billion euros," Jean-Luc Sallabery calculates. He thus regrets the "double penalty" imposed on the territories: deployments on private funds in AMEL, which he doubts will really be completed, and reduced funding for local authorities that have chosen to keep the RIP model.

Government arithmetic raises even more questions because it does not fit in with the dynamics of ongoing projects. Thus, if Avicca, the association of local authorities for Digital, is screaming "victory" following this announcement, it is in reality to better point out the efforts that will have to be made immediately. "It will be essential for parliamentarians to mobilize within the framework of the finance bill to enable all first applications, ready to be submitted, to be accompanied," she stressed. Estimated cost: an additional €322 million.

An additional envelope that MPs will have to unblock or risk attending a "clash of hands" between territories that, to launch their projects, will not have the time to wait for hypothetical savings, warns Ariel Turpin. The State intends to achieve these savings as they occur by recycling unused credits in order to raise the 4 to 500 million it considers necessary. This mechanism should enable the government to remain within the budget initially allocated to the France THD counter, i.e. 3.3 billion. But for its part, the association of local authorities for Digital continues to consider it undervalued in order to bring optical fibre to the whole territory.

On the other hand, for InfraNum it works. "I agree with the government's speech. There are savings being made in deployments, and the 3.3 billion envelope should indeed be enough to meet all the demands of local authorities," says Étienne Dugas, President of the Federation of Very High Speed Industrialists.

The relative modesty of the 140 million euros initially promised does not move him beyond measure. "It's not a money issue. For the remaining catches, all you have to do is launch them in a concession and the demand for subsidies will be almost nil," he says.

"What was important was to reopen the counter so that the files could be processed," concludes the InfraNum boss. In addition, we are satisfied with another announcement, namely the signature of the strategic contract for the digital infrastructure sector "by the end of the year".

 Read the article

Source : DegroupNews

In a report published with the European Agency for Cybersecurity on securing 5G networks, the European Commission warned EU Member States of the dangerousness of new wireless telecommunications technology. For the Commission, the deployment of 5G risks "creating a new security paradigm that requires a reassessment of the current policy and security framework applicable to the sector and its ecosystem and is essential for Member States to take the necessary mitigation measures".

In more detail, this report calls for a review of the current design of 3G and 4G networks and warns against the use of a single supplier, particularly those not based in the European Union, without however mentioning the name Huawei. "The increased role of software and services provided by third party providers in 5G networks leads to greater exposure to a number of vulnerabilities that may result from the risk profile of individual providers".

The European Commission also explains: "While 5G network technology and standards will also bring some security improvements over previous generations, several important challenges arise from new features of the network architecture and the wide range of services and applications that may in the future depend heavily on 5G networks. [...] Major security breaches, such as those resulting from poor software development processes among equipment suppliers, could facilitate the malicious insertion of intentional backdoors into products by actors and make them more difficult to detect. This can increase the likelihood that their exploitation will have a particularly serious and widespread negative impact".

The report adds that EU Member States should not judge 5G network providers solely on their technical qualities and assess them on the basis of "non-technical vulnerabilities related to 5G networks", such that the provider's country has "no legislative or democratic control and balance in place, or in the absence of security or data protection agreements between the EU and the given third country" or that the structure of the provider's owner and the ability for its own country to "exert any pressure, in particular with respect to the manufacture of equipment". If Huawei's name is not mentioned, it is impossible not to think about it...

As a result, Huawei once again defended itself against any interference from the Chinese authorities: "We are a 100% private company, 100% employee-owned, and cybersecurity is a top priority: our end-to-end cybersecurity assurance system covers all process areas, and our solid experience proves that it works".

No one is saying that the Commission will respond to this extended hand, since it has apparently also decided to sweep away another option proposed by Huawei. Indeed, the Chinese manufacturer had indicated that it could be satisfied with intervening only on parts considered less sensitive in the future 5G networks of EU Member States.

The European Union's next steps will result in the publication of a range of mitigation measures to address the identified cybersecurity risks at the national and EU levels by 31 December 2019. Finally, Member States should assess the effects of the Recommendation in order to determine whether further measures should be taken by 1 October 2020. This assessment should take into account the results of the coordinated European risk assessment and the effectiveness of the measures.

 Read the article

Source : ZDnet