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Telecom

Newport Utilities Taps Ericsson for First Rural Fixed Wireless Access Network

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Ericsson has reached an agreement with Newport Utilities to build the rural utility industry’s first Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) network in Tennessee.

Sixty percent of school age children in the community Newport Utilities serves do not have high-speed Internet at home, and the project will bring high speed broadband to an underserved portion of the state.

Chris Calhoun, Broadband Manager for Newport Utilities, says: “This partnership helps close the gaps in terms of Internet access in underserved communities. We’re thrilled to partner with Ericsson to bring best-in-class fixed wireless to this region.”

Newport Utilities currently provides a fiber optic cable to home broadband customers and will use Ericsson FWA to augment this offering to serve areas difficult to reach with fiber.

Fixed wireless access can be a more cost-effective and efficient alternative to providing broadband in areas with limited access to fixed broadband services such as DSL, cable or fiber.

The FWA solution will leverage 3.5Ghz Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) spectrum and Ericsson’s industry leading 64T64R Massive MIMO technology from the Ericsson Radio System portfolio to provide better coverage and capacity.

Rob Johnson, Head of Customer Unit Regional Carriers for Ericsson North America, says: “Fixed Wireless Access can be a solution in places where wired Internet is a challenge geographically.

“The project became not only a first in the utility industry, but a passion project for Ericsson to help connect the unconnected and close the homework gap.”

In addition to building the network, Ericsson will operate the network for the first year while providing transfer services to the Newport team so they can eventually take on the management of the FWA network. This investment by Newport Utilities will enable it to operate a first of its kind FWA network.


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Telecom

African Women Hit Hardest as Mobile Internet Gender Gap Persists

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African women remain among the most digitally excluded globally, with smartphone affordability and digital literacy among the key barriers. New data from the 2025 GSMA Mobile Gender Gap Report, launched recently, reveals a persistent global gender gap in mobile internet use across low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

It further notes that literacy, digital skills, safety, and affordability of data also remain critical barriers. The report highlights that 885 million women across these regions still do not use mobile internet, with nearly 60% of them living in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

While mobile internet is the primary way women in LMICs access the internet, offering critical lifelines to health, education, and financial services, the pace of female adoption has stalled, leaving 235 million fewer women than men connected.

Claire Sibthorpe, head of digital inclusion at GSMA, highlighted that the gender gap had narrowed significantly between 2017 and 2020, but progress flatlined in recent years.

Although 2023 brought a slight improvement, restoring the gap to 15%, 2024 saw minimal change, with the gap settling at 14%.

The disparity is most severe in Sub-Saharan Africa, where women are 29% less likely than men to use mobile internet.

“It’s disheartening that progress in reducing the mobile internet gender gap has stalled. The digital divide is driven by deep-rooted socio-economic and cultural factors that disproportionately impact women,” said Sibthorpe.

GSMA projects that closing the gender gap by 2030 could add $1.3 trillion to GDP across LMICs and deliver $230 billion in revenue to the mobile industry.

The report, funded by the UK FCDO, Sida, and the Gates Foundation, stresses the urgent need for targeted investment and policy action to bridge the digital divide and ensure that no woman is left offline.

“The mobile internet gender gap is not going to close on its own. It is driven by deep-rooted social, economic, and cultural factors that disproportionately impact women,” said Sibthorpe.

 


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Telecom

Telcos Worry over Possible 5 Percent Tax Return

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Nigeria may bring back a 5per cent excise tax on telecom services, according to the 2024 Finance Bill passed by the Senate last week.

Telcos Worry over Possible 5 Percent Tax Return

Gbenga Adebayo, chairman, ALTON

The tax would apply to data transmission and voice calls.

First introduced in 2020 under the Mohammadu Buhari administration to widen the tax base, the measure was suspended in 2023 by President Bola Tinubu due to rising inflation.

With the budget under pressure, the government is now considering reinstating it.

Telecom operators warn that the tax would raise service costs and make it harder to close Nigeria’s digital divide, which still leaves more than 40% of the population without internet access.

Gbenga Adebayo, chairman, Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), said the proposal lacks detail and would increase the financial burden on users.

“We’ve had no clarity on how the 5% tax would be implemented, but the burden will fall on the consumer.  Telecoms should be treated as a social good, not taxed like luxury items. No one taxes telecoms like this in countries where infrastructure is taken seriously,” he said.

ALTON also noted that operators are already subject to 54 different taxes nationwide.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has not yet received the official version of the bill for review.


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GSMA Urges Governments to Prioritise Affordable Spectrum Costs to Support Global Digital Growth

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The GSMA released its latest ‘Global Spectrum Pricing Report’, highlighting that average spectrum prices have not reduced in line with operator revenues over the last decade — putting significant pressure on their ability to invest in essential network infrastructure.

The report shows that, whilst both consumer prices for mobile services and the average cost of spectrum have fallen, the overall cost burden on mobile network operators (MNOs) has actually risen sharply. Global cumulative spectrum costs now account for 7% of operator revenues, a 63% increase over the past ten years.

Meanwhile, the average revenue generated per megahertz (MHz) of spectrum has declined by 60% over the same period. Although costs per MHz have fallen by up to 75% in some bands since 2014, operators have increased spectrum holdings by 80% over the same period to cope with bandwidth demand, driving up the overall cost.

A gigabyte of data is far more affordable today than ten years ago, with operators experiencing a staggering 96% fall in revenue per GB between 2014 and 2024. However, these falling revenues, when combined with the proportionately high cost of acquiring spectrum, restrict operators’ ability to invest in expanding and improving mobile networks, particularly 4G and 5G. The report shows that higher spectrum costs correlate directly with lower network coverage and reduced mobile speeds, impacting consumers and slowing the development of digital economies worldwide.

Vivek Badrinath, Director General of the GSMA, said: “The mobile industry sits at the heart of the digital economy, enabling services and opportunities that transform lives. But a dollar can only be spent once, and high spectrum costs can choke investment at a time when the need for affordable, reliable connectivity has never been greater. Governments and regulators must prioritise spectrum pricing that reflects market realities and fosters long-term digital growth. By ensuring spectrum is affordable, they can unlock faster network expansion, better service quality, and greater digital inclusion for all of their citizens.”

The Global Spectrum Pricing Report also highlights that public policy choices — such as setting artificially high reserve prices, creating artificial scarcity, and attaching onerous licence obligations — have often contributed to inflated spectrum costs. In some countries, spectrum costs can reach as high as 25% of operator revenues.

The GSMA urges policymakers to adjust spectrum prices in line with current market conditions and the economic realities faced by operators. With nearly 1,000 spectrum licences set to expire worldwide by 2030, upcoming renewals present a critical opportunity to reset pricing policies to drive investment in the next generation of mobile networks.

 


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