CONSORTIUM BUYS STAKE IN ALTICE EUROPE’S SFR FTTH


Altice Europe has sold 49.99 per cent of SFR FTTH to a consortium led by OMERS Infrastructure including AXA IM – Real Assets, and Allianz Capital Partners, with whom Altice France entered into an exclusivity agreement near the end of last year. SFR FTTH is an alternative fibre to the home


infrastructure wholesale operator, with five million French homes to be covered in the next four years. It sits in the framework of the private investment zone (AMII/AMEL areas) as well as the Public Initiative Networks (PIN/ DSP), or any other form of participation in the


projects of digital development initiated by local authorities. Altice France will sell technical services to SFR FTTH for the construction, subscriber connection and the maintenance of its FTTH network. Patrick Drahi, founder of Altice, said: ‘With


the transformational SFR FTTH transaction, and the various tower deals and long-term partnerships announced in 2018, Altice Europe has been able to crystallise €8 billion of infrastructure value and obtain cash proceeds of more than €4 billion. We continue to explore similar deals in our footprint.’


MANCHESTER SEEKS PARTNERS FOR LOCAL FIBRE NETWORK


Te Greater Manchester Combined Authority, through Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM), and alongside local authorities in the area, has issued a tender notice for partner companies to help ‘procure the design, implementation, maintenance and support,’ of a new full-fibre network in the area.


Te authorities are looking for support,


including a minimum 20-year right of use of dark fibre connectivity, or dark fibre virtual equivalent circuits. Te contract is valued between £13m and £33m. Funding is within the LFFN programme, a £190m government capital grant programme. According to the tender notice, the


funding element will be extended before 31


March, 2021. Te authorities are looking for a service


provider for each ‘Lot’ on a long-term basis, so two framework agreements will be awarded: Lot 1 for the Northern Arc locality (Wigan, Bolton, Bury, Rochdale, Oldham, including Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Services and TfGM assets); and Lot 2 for the Southern Arc locality (Stockport, Manchester, Trafford and Salford). A supplier selection process will be followed by an invitation to submit initial tenders for up to five on a shortlist. Aſter further evaluation, up to three firms


‘may then be invited to further negotiation sessions’. Te contract is due to start in September.


SSE ENTERPRISE TELECOMS WINS CONTRACT TO EXPAND JISC JANET SOUTH NETWORK


SSE Enterprise Telecoms has won a network contract with UK education sector provider, Jisc, to refresh the Janet South network as part of its programme to develop a new Janet Network access infrastructure. Te partnership will see seven BT exchanges


unbundled and will use four existing Points of Presence (PoP) to provide improved connectivity to 11 universities. A pre-existing contract between the two companies has additionally been extended, developing the connectivity framework required to improve the support for education and research across the UK, and access to the global research and education network. SSE Enterprise Telecoms’ core fibre network


will be used by Jisc’s UK ‘backbone network’ for a further nine years until 2028, enabling data- intensive research centres including Te Science and Technology Facilities Council’s Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, and Imperial College


London, access to significant bandwidth and speeds of up to 100Gb/s. Colin Sempill, managing director at SSE


Enterprise Telecoms said: ‘We’re very excited to announce the launch of the Janet South Network partnership and further extension of the UK backbone network, which will keep vital institutions producing ground-breaking research and development for years to come, particularly as 5G and internet-enabled devices become more mainstream.’ Jeremy Sharp, Janet infrastructure director,


added: ‘Te relationship between Jisc and SSE Enterprise Telecoms originated in the early 2000s and, nearly 20 years later, the relationship continues to grow from strength to strength. A substantial level of trust has built up between our two companies and these new network contracts show our continued commitment to further develop this relationship.’


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