Eurobites: BT hooks up with Broadpeak on MAUD tech

Confirming rumors that have been circulating for some months, UK operator BT has announced that it has entered into a technical collaboration with France's Broadpeak with a view to using multicast-assisted unicast delivery (MAUD) technology in the streaming of live video content. Traditionally, such streaming is based on unicast technology, which inefficiently sends a separate stream to each individual user; multicast effectively allows one stream to serve millions of customers. Under the terms of the new partnership, Broadpeak is providing BT with the wherewithal to create what they claim is "the world's first MAUD-enabled network," which will be able to group individual streams together in the network core, before converting them back to unicast at the network edge for consumption by player applications on end-user devices.

Nokia has launched a new 25G PON fiber modem for multi-gigabit broadband deployments, which it says can be easily installed on a wall either inside a building or in an outdoor enclosure to serve up speeds that are twenty times faster than current gigabit offerings. The modem can also be used to connect cell sites to transport mobile traffic over a PON network in plug-and-play mode, says Nokia, providing the capacity, latency and synchronization required for 5G networks.

Bundesnetzagentur, the German communications regulator, has forced an unnamed provider in Lower Saxony to offer "adequate" phone and Internet service for €30 (US$32.80) a month after a consumer complained that his home could only be supplied with Internet at an "excessively high price." The provider in question was told to provide the consumer with a minimum download rate of at least 10 Mbit/s and upload of at least 1.7 Mbit/s.

The 2Africa subsea cable system has landed in Portugal,  following investments by an international consortium that includes Vodafone, Orange and Meta. 2Africa was launched in May 2020 and, once completed, will stretch for 45,000km and connect 33 countries across three continents.

Croatian operator Hrvatski Telekom has upgraded to the latest version of Netcracker's revenue management platform as it attempts to modernize its IT infrastructure and merge its mobile and fixed-line systems. Netcracker will also continue to provide Hrvatski with support and maintenance services, including analytics-based tools that provide business continuity.

Openreach, the semi-autonomous network access arm of BT, has reached 1 million homes and businesses with full fiber in southwest England. According to Openreach, the Wiltshire village of Alderbury has the highest level of full-fiber coverage, with nine out of ten homes and businesses there able to order gigabit broadband.