Next generation wholesale leased circuits cost model

The Taiwanese regulator NCC has taken a decision to adopt a cost-oriented approach for the regulation of next generation wholesale leased line services. To support the NCC in deriving appropriate wholesale prices for these services, Plum was commissioned to build a bottom-up long run incremental cost (LRIC) model. Plum, working alongside the Telecom Technology Center,[…]

Preparing the UK for an all-IP future

The UK’s Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) currently provides voice services to millions of households in the UK, and the underlying analogue technology also supports a range of data services for both domestic and non-domestic applications. However, the analogue-based network technology behind the PSTN is reaching the end of its lifespan and will need to[…]

Impact of competition and regulation

Both mobile communications and mobile money markets in Kenya are dominated by Safaricom, potentially limiting consumer choice and leading to an unbalanced market for other operators. Plum was commissioned to compile a report looking at the potential impacts of increased or lessened competition in the Kenyan market, drawing on existing academic studies to quantify the[…]

Who will meet the UK’s broadband USO?

On 19 June Ofcom published a document seeking expressions of interest from telecommunications operators to become providers of the UK’s broadband universal service. This Insight paper provides a commentary on the document, discussing the specification of the USO, how it is to be funded and the questions yet to be answered. Plum’s understanding of the[…]

Maximising spectrum efficiency with private LTE

Despite continuing growth in mobile network coverage, there are many areas where enterprise users suffer from no, or poor, connectivity. Manufacturing, agricultural and transport industries in these regions suffer from their remote locations, and they often find that their ability to benefit from Industry 4.0 – the automation through connected machines – is limited. This[…]

A review of the Fixed Call Origination and Mobile Access and Call Origination Markets in Northern Cyprus

The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) enacted its Electronic Communications Law in 2011. The law, which came into effect in 2012, created the Information Technologies and Communication Authority, or Bilgi Teknolojileri ve Haberleşme Kurumu (BTHK). This law is largely based upon the European Union regulatory framework for electronic communications. Amongst the other powers and[…]

High performance wireless broadband: an opportunity for rural and enterprise 5G

Plum was commissioned jointly by UKWISPA[1] and INCA[2] to conduct an independent and updated assessment of the potential benefits of fixed wireless access (FWA) technologies, for provision of broadband services in the UK market. Our focus has been directed towards review of the performance levels available with modern commercially available FWA solutions. Within the study,[…]

Use cases, spectrum requirements and valuation of spectrum for private LTE

These reports examine use cases, spectrum requirements and valuation of spectrum for use by private LTE. The first report defines private LTE, considers environments where private LTE might be used focusing on industrial automation and identifies what spectrum these applications will need. To do this it sets out a methodology to characterise the identified private[…]