21815 - SCTE Broadband Feb2023 COMPLETE v3

25 Vol. 45 No. 1 - February 2023 Issue industry news rights are essential for the delivery of broadband upgrades as operators are unable to deploy their services without first obtaining permission, either from the landowner or a court, to install their equipment. Broadband companies have said around 40 per cent of their requests for access to install connections receive no response, which means they may lose out on the revolutionary benefits of faster speeds. Now, providers in England and Wales will be able to seek rights to access a property or shared land if the person required to grant access is unresponsive. The law does this by creating a new route through the courts that operators can use to access blocks of flats and apartments. It will prevent situations where a tenant is unable to receive a service simply due to the silence of a landlord. From the point where a company makes the first request to the landlord, it will take 35 days for this new rule to kick in. Alex Marshall, CEO of Upp, told Broadband, “We certainly do welcome this news, it’s a great start to 2023. It will facilitate faster installation for tenants in MDUs, force landlords to act and make our job easier all round.” For more information, visit www.inca.coop Cheap and cheerful mobile handsets have been leaving production lines and shipping todeveloping countries for several years, but predictions are that a 5G smartphone with “a low-end display, a single-lens camera, a low-power processor, and modest storage capacity” is being developed ahead of a likely launch later this year, according to a report by Deloitte Global last month. In an earlier issue of Broadband Journal we looked at the chasm between wealthy countries who upgrade their handset every few years as a matter of increasingly dull, though expensive routine, whereas developing nations are struggling to even obtain basic internet access. The prospect that a 5G capable, $99 smartphone could be available will be a gamechanger for developing nations. The Alliance for Affordable Internet have previously outlined the barriers to internet access, and handsets are a major issue, as well as the monthly data costs, which are prohibitive to millions of people worldwide, subsisting on just a few dollars a day. Access to a smartphone however is one of the Four Targets of Meaningful Connectivity outlined by the A4AI, the others being 4G-like speed, unlimited broadband connection and daily use. This announcement goes some way towards achieving those targets. Deloitte Global say the arrival of such cost-efficient handsets will likely represent a very small share of 2023 smartphone sales, but they should eventually make 5G accessible to almost all consumers in almost all markets, accelerating 5G’s adoption around the world. At present, 85.41% of the world’s population owns or has access to a smartphone, equivalent to 6.93bn people, according to Statista. However, that is a jump of almost 50% since 2016. That final 15% will go very quickly, even in a global economic downturn, especially if the barrier to entry is removed by the offer of a $99 5G smartphone. A good number of this 15% already own a basic, cheap 3G cell phone anyway, but these will be without any app functionality and limited capability beyond calls and texts. The fall in microprocessor production costs, plus a willingness on the part of manufacturers to subsidise these new handsets to customers will see the landscape alter again as the demand for connectivity reaches communities for whom this was previously out of reach. Deloitte predict that “beyond 2023, further falls in component prices should make subsidies unnecessary. Accessible is possible: Introducing the US$99 5G smartphone