Sphere No.48 (Jan 2020)

Taking chargewith solar power The headquarters of 3 Austria (Drei) launched their solar panel system last October. In the future Drei will rely on in-house green electricity to power the telecommunications headquarters. Sphere #48 2020 06 NEWS TELECOMS ExpandingWind Tre’s coverage in Italy Wind Tre, together with Open Fiber, extended its fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) coverage to reach several more locations in Italy, including Rome, Macerata, and Bologna. Equipped with FTTH connection andmobile data traffic capabilities, the ultra- fast line is accessible inside both residential homes and industrial buildings. Hong Kong Economic Summit 2020 At the Hong Kong Economic Summit 2020 co-organised byMetro Radio, Hutchison Telecommunications Hong Kong Holdings (HTHKH) Executive Director and CEO Kenny Koo presented his insights on innovation technologies. He emphasised the ways in which 5G and big data will reinvent business models and provide fresh opportunities, showing HTHKH’s commitment tomaking Hong Kong a world-class smart city. 5G speeds coming to 3 Hong Kong 3 Hong Kong announced its 2020 preparations to implement 5G data for smartphones in the low-to-high range of forthcomingmodels. To deliver the best user experience, monthly plans are likely to include at least 100GB of data entitlement, with the 5G plan pricing expected to be set much lower per GB compared with 4G plans. 4G for HUTCH Sri Lanka In 2019, HUTCHSri Lanka unrolled its nationwide 4G network and opened a fullymodernised data centre. In addition, its newly established converged billing system is able to simultaneously run post-paid and prepaid billing systems on one platform. AmazonMusic in Austria AmazonMusic Unlimited has been brought to Austria exclusively through 3 Austria. Customers will get streaming perks and a deal to purchase an Amazon Echo at a reduced price. Drei will make this a seamless change by rolling the price into themobile phone bill. INFRASTRUCTURE H21 wins funding for second phase A UK gas industry programme called H21, dedicated to converting the network to one that carries 100% hydrogen, has received a £6.8 million award from the regulator Ofgem. The funding will go towards executing the second phase of the programme’s research and development, which will include testing operational and maintenance procedures on the network. Northern Gas Networks is the lead partner in the collaborative project. Showcasing talent through school outreach The “ 3 Goes To School” programme, a 3 Indonesia initiative, took place last July to October. It aimed to promote educational opportunities for Indonesia’s youth through increased accessibility and holding events like the H3Y STAR talent competition. A total of 10,000 students from725 schools participated in this outreach and the H3Y STAR Festival was hosted by 48 different schools.