technologyreseller.co.uk 05 Lack of space contributing to UK techno-stress The UK doesn’t just have the least energyefficient homes in Western Europe, it also has the smallest amount of space for homeworking, according to a new report by telecommunications service provider NFON. Its Wellbeing Report Working from Home 22 reveals that UK citizens have just 15.35 m² of homeworking space, compared to a European average of 20.32 m². Moreover, just 19.6% of UK homeworkers have a dedicated home office, compared to 31.8% of EU respondents. UK home/hybrid workers also have higher levels of techno-stress, with 24.4% complaining of unreliable and inadequate equipment and poor internet connectivity. More than one third felt stressed by the lack of communication with colleagues (37.2%) and lack of separation between their professional and private lives (33.6%). http://www.nfon.com · · · · · · SaaS price hike SaaS prices are rising 3.5 times faster than inflation in the US and as much as five times faster in the UK, claims SaaS purchasing and spend management platform Vertice based on an analysis of 10,000 SaaS contracts. Overall, spending on SaaS products grew more than tenfold between 2010 and 2020, from $13 billion annually to $157 billion or an average of $3,112 per employee (rising to $4,552 in technology companies). SaaS software now accounts for 12.7% of all business expenditure. www.vertice.one · · · · · · Wayleaves made easy Full fibre network provider CityFibre is taking the hassle out of wayleaves through a new Permission to Work (PtW) process that has cut the average cycle time for on-net (CityFibre-based) Ethernet orders by 60%. Instead of putting orders into a wayleave process by default and involving external solicitors and legal representatives, the PfW process gains approval from the end user customer at the point of order, prior to provisioning or at the point of survey. Andrew Wilson, Sales Director – Wholesale Channel at CityFibre, said: “The new PtW process is game-changing. I really can’t stress enough how significant this is for our partners. By adopting this process, partners can reduce the time between an order being placed and an invoice being raised. We encourage every partner to adopt it and see the benefits first-hand.” CityFibre’s £4bn 100% fibre network rollout programme is on track to serve up to 8 million homes, 800,000 businesses, 400,000 local authority sites and 250,000 5G access points in 285 cities, towns and villages by 2025. CityFibre’s rollout has already passed 2 million homes. NEWS Nearest city 2G 3G 4G 5G* Glasgow 20% 20% 61% 49% Cardiff 14% 19% 56% 48% Sheffield 8% 15% 43% 45% Liverpool 6% 14% 48% 43% London 11% 17% 61% 40% Nottingham 11% 8% 53% 39% Birmingham 12% 15% 64% 39% Newcastle 6% 12% 47% 38% Bristol 12% 29% 66% 37% Plymouth 9% 14% 41% 33% Leeds 14% 21% 51% 32% Manchester 6% 17% 53% 28% Belfast 14% 22% 66% 27% Edinburgh 12% 18% 57% 24% Brighton 12% 18% 61% 23% Norwich 13% 16% 55% 22% Southampton 7% 10% 62% 13% ‘Overhyped’ 5G failing to meet user expectations Three years on from its UK launch in 2019, one in six mobile phone users (16%) feels 5G technology is ‘overhyped’, according to new research from comparison and switching service Uswitch.com. More than 16 million people own a 5G-enabled handset in the UK, with a further 23% planning to buy or upgrade to a 5G handset within the next two years. However, less than half of 5G users (41%) say they have experienced improvements in speed or reliability despite realistic expectations of 20x faster speeds than 4G. One in six (17%) 5G mobile users in the countryside has never been able to connect to the network, nearly three times the proportion of those in cities (6%). In some parts of the UK, poor connectivity extends beyond 5G. In Yorkshire, less than half of residents (48%) receive a reliable 4G service, and one in seven (14%) reports that they often have to use the 2G network, which dates back to the early 1990s. One in six mobile users (17%) feels providers should focus on improving 4G coverage instead of building a 5G network. From 2023, the 3G network will begin to be phased out across the UK enabling its bandwidth to be freed up for 4G and 5G services. Vodafone has announced it will turn off its 3G network in 2023, followed by EE and Three in 2024. O2 has yet to announce switch-off plans. Source: Uswitch.com. 5G figures are based on how often those with 5G handsets regularly get a 5G signal Astrocast IoT satellite network grows Astrocast, a global nanosatellite IoT network operator, is improving the capacity, reliability and resilience of its SatIoT network with the launch of four Astrocast 3U spacecraft. The launch at Sriharikota, India’s Satish Dhawan Space Center, will enable the company to increase its commercial constellation to 14 satellites, making Astrocast one of the top 40 satellite operators in the world, based on the number of satellites in orbit. Astrocast’s network went live in January 2021 with an initial launch of five nanosatellites, followed by five more in June 2021. In February 2022, it launched its bi-directional satellite IoT Service, which enables companies to monitor, track and communicate with remote assets from anywhere in the world. Use cases include tracking shipping containers across the globe, the remote control of water management systems to prevent flooding and, in farming, the ability to command silos to release food, open gates or manage irrigation systems, without the need for expensive and often hard-to-source human intervention. www.astrocast.com Andrew Wilson CityFibre continued...
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