Telecoms union pressures BT for inflation-countering pay rises

Britain’s largest telecoms union is rejecting BT’s flat pay rise offer of £1200, which would leave employees worse off this year.

UK inflation is rising at its fastest rate for 30 years as fuel, energy, food, and other costs increase. The Bank of England expects inflation to reach around eight percent over spring and “it could go even higher later this year”.

Many employers are increasing employees’ salaries more than originally planned to help with the...

30 March 2022 | Broadband

Openreach is creating 4,000 new jobs, follows record female engineer recruitment

Openreach has announced that it will create 4,000 jobs during 2022, following a year when it recruited more female engineers than ever.

The new recruits will assist Openreach in delivering full-fibre connectivity to premises up and down the UK. Openreach says that it’s currently on track to reach 25 million homes and businesses by December 2026.

Clive Selley, CEO of Openreach, said:

“Openreach is a people business first and foremost, so I’m proud that...

10 February 2022 | Broadband

Apple is already recruiting talent for 6G modems

Apple has begun recruiting talent for 6G modems even before shipping its own 5G versions.

Cupertino has sought to decrease its reliance on third-party suppliers for chips in recent years. Apple looks to extend the success of building its impressive in-house M1 SoCs to next-generation modems.

Two roles for a ‘6G Cellular Platform Architect’ were posted by Apple within days of each other here and here.

With 6G not yet even standardised and 5G networks still...

4 November 2021 | 6G

Ericsson says its 5G rollout will create 800 British jobs by 2022

During a time when unemployment figures are at record highs, it’s heartening to hear Ericsson’s job creation expectations.

Swedish telecoms vendor Ericsson predicts that its 5G rollout will create an additional 800 jobs in the UK over the next couple of years.

Digital Infrastructure Minister Matt Warman said:

"I welcome this investment in the UK by Ericsson which will create hundreds of skilled jobs across the country and accelerate the nationwide rollout...

15 December 2020 | Networks

How the telecoms industry can overcome its talent and innovation challenges

Whether it’s in the UK, Europe, America or beyond, the telecoms industry is in the midst of a digital transformation that will define the decades to come. Connectivity is at the heart of everything we do, and it is being stress-tested by the ongoing pandemic. Crucially, however, it is holding up.  

For instance, connectivity has, and is continuing to play, a critical role in helping the UK manage its mental, physical and economic welfare during the pandemic. Research...

14 December 2020 | Operators

Oxford Economics: Huawei is responsible for over 220,000 jobs in Europe

A report from Oxford Economics suggests that Huawei is responsible for over 220,000 jobs across Europe.

The report is released as Huawei faces bans across many Western countries over security concerns led by the US.

Huawei contributed €16.4 billion to Europe's GDP and supported 224,300 jobs in 2019, according to the report.

The Chinese telecoms giant holds the largest global marketshare (~35.3%) of any vendor. The second-largest, Nokia, holds less than half...

9 November 2020 | Networks