Tim Whitley, MD Research and Network Strategy, said “I am delighted and humbled to accept this honour as a reflection of the way in which UK scientific research in collaboration with Industrial Applied research has helped shape the telecommunications technology that underpins so much of our modern connected world. I would like to thank all of my colleagues at BT Group and the many academic researchers we work with for their tireless efforts, to ensure that as scientists and engineers we deliver the telecommunications technologies that not only underpin our nations’ economy but also play such a fundamental role in the fabric of people’s lives.”

Powered by AI technology within Foresight Optima^TM from QiO Technologies, it combines the latest in machine learning with BT Edge Compute devices. Customers can also benefit from BT’s wider digital industries capabilities, including IoT, cloud and secure connectivity, in a single managed solution.

The new solution brings together real-time data from IoT sensors, machinery control settings, databases, external data and energy sources to identify the variables that can be optimised to reduce energy consumption, and can also help improve quality, productivity, and other relevant factors.

The resulting energy efficiency index (EEI) looks at past configurations of the process and compares them to see which were most energy efficient and why. It can also compare sites and equipment to look for best practices.

The solution is hosted on a BT Edge Compute device, which ensures data can be securely processed by the AI close to where it is created. BT securely connects the device to all relevant systems, hardware and assets to give total visibility of the process being measured. Connectivity options include private 5G.

QiO’s AI has been successfully deployed across a wide range of industries, including glass, steel, cement, automotive and others, delivering energy savings between 5-15 per cent. For example, QIO’s deployment at a leading glass manufacturer reduced energy consumption by six per cent and carbon emissions by 21,600 tonnes.

“I believe we have a very important role to play in addressing the climate crisis. By partnering with customers, we can help them achieve net zero carbon emissions,” said Hriday Ravindranath, Chief Product & Digital Officer, Global, BT.

“Data is key,” he added. “Too many organisations still gather carbon data manually, making reporting difficult and limiting its usefulness in improving operations. Our solution collects data securely, and by using QiO’s AI, recommends steps to optimise processes. Moreover, customers can use this data to report on their performance in a standardised way. It’s a great example of how we’re delivering on our Manifesto commitments and connecting for good.”

“Our partnership with BT will deliver the benefit of QiO Foresight Optima^TM to asset heavy and energy intensive industry to help meet sustainability and net zero goals,” said Rick Haythornthwaite, Chairman & Co-Founder, QiO Technologies. “Combined with BT’s industry knowledge and connectivity expertise, we can accelerate delivery of energy efficiency, carbon emissions reduction and cost savings for organisations globally.”

ENDS

About QiO

QiO Technologies is a Gartner Magic Quadrant Industrial IoT AI Software products company delivering Sustainability and Industry4.0 solutions for the industrial sector.

Since 2015, QiO has built a global track record with leading industrial companies by optimising their operations, reducing their energy costs and carbon emissions, delivering 5-15 per cent efficiency improvement, and expediting their sustainability agenda.

QiO’s solutions are available across multiple industries, including aerospace, automotive, steel, glass, cement, oil and gas, healthcare, data centers and shipping

For more information, visit www.qio.io

BT today announced that it has developed an epidemiology-based cybersecurity prototype, “Inflame”, which uses deep reinforcement learning to enable enterprises to automatically detect and respond to cyber-attacks before they compromise a network. Using the spread of viruses in human populations as a model to inform its AI, Inflame is a key component in BT’s recently-announced Eagle-i platform.

Epidemiological modelling is typically associated with the spread of viruses and diseases amongst human populations, and has been critical in analysing and managing the spread of COVID-19 over the past 20 months. Using the same principals of epidemiology, BT’s Inflame solution has been developed to understand how computer viruses and cyber-attacks spread across enterprise networks, and how to prevent them from happening.

To develop the technology, security researchers at the BT Labs in Suffolk, UK, built models of enterprise networks which were used to test numerous scenarios based on differing R rates[1] of cyber-infection. This testing enabled the research team to understand how these threats can penetrate and compromise a network, and develop optimal automated responses needed to contain and prevent the spread of viruses across them.

The deep reinforcement training and learning undertaken in the development of Inflame means the solution can automatically model and respond to a detected threat within an enterprise network. These responses are also underpinned by ‘attack lifecycle’ modelling, which assesses real-time security alerts against established patterns to understand the current stage of an ongoing cyber-attack. This insight is used to predict the next stages of an attack and rapidly identify the best response to prevent it from progressing any further.

BT recently announced its transformational cyber defence platform ‘Eagle-i', which uses AI to provide real-time detection of issues and intelligent automated responses. The platform has been designed to self-learn from the intelligence provided by each intervention, so that it constantly improves its threat knowledge and dynamically refines how it protects other users going forward.

“We know the risk of cyber-attack is higher than ever and has intensified significantly during the pandemic. Enterprises now need to look to new cybersecurity solutions that can understand the risk and consequence of an attack, and quickly respond before it’s too late,” said Howard Watson, Chief Technology Officer, BT. “Epidemiological testing has played a vital role in curbing the spread of infection during the pandemic, and Inflame uses the same principles to understand how current and future digital viruses spread through networks. Inflame will play a key role in how BT’s Eagle-i platform automatically predicts and identifies cyber-attacks before they impact, protecting customers’ operations and reputation.”

The lab is the first dedicated telecoms civil engineering robotics test facility in the UK, designed to help BT engage with the university sector and robotics startups as they develop robotic solutions to challenging civil engineering tasks. This includes addressing problems such as how to clear out blocked ducts, mend collapsed ducts and install new fibre network infrastructure without incurring the cost and delays that come with digging up roads and pavements.

New robotic locomotion and excavation techniques inspired by digging and burrowing mammals and insects, coupled with the latest technologies developed for space exploration, aerospace and medical applications are showing real promise for delivering so-called ‘trenchless’ infrastructure deployment. Magnetic, climbing and cable-traversing robotic techniques are also maturing, enabling proof-of-concept trials on wireless tower and overhead cable poles.

It is expected that the test lab will play an important role in supporting BT’s fibre programme, as well as facilitating collaboration with other utilities such as power and water companies as they roll out and update their underground and overhead networks.

The site is a unique indoor facility that will enable research teams to trial the latest innovations in robotics within a variety of test zones. The facility emulates three different types of environments in which testing can be carried out:

• Underground environment: The facility includes several test beds that can be filled with different soil and aggregate types to replicate the terrain that creates challenges for laying ducts and fibre across the country. The compaction, moisture content and stone content can all be controlled within these environments to test the ability of robots to dig pathways for ducts or direct-in-ground fibre. The test beds will also provide demanding environments for fibre sensing and robotics steering tests.

• In-duct environments: Pipe stands are used at the facility to construct duct runs, using specially manufactured transparent versions of BT ducts. This enables replication of the scenarios whereby a duct collapses or becomes blocked with silt build up.

• Overhead environments: The facility holds a full height telegraph pole, with platform access to allow different pole-top fixtures to be fitted. This creates opportunities to test robots that can lift tools, equipment or cable to the top of a pole. Cables can be run to another pole to provide a single 35m span for development of cable-car-like devices for pulling in new cables or dealing with tree canopies that could damage an existing cable. A series of shorter posts provides a ‘pole-transit’ testbed for developing other cable-travelling devices.

Professor Tim Whitley, BT’s MD of Research, said: “The UK is a hotbed of civil engineering innovation, with a thriving university ecosystem and an enviable robotics startup sector. Our aim is to bring those players together in a dedicated facility to develop solutions that make the UK a world leader in telecoms civil engineering robotics. The lab will provide a hub for the creation of solutions to real world challenges and pioneering applications of robots, reinforcing the UK’s position at the heart of research and innovation into advanced technologies.”

AriSports has been crowned the winner of Innovate 21, BT Sport’s search for exciting new sports broadcast experiences from entrepreneurs, creatives and start-ups.

AriSports impressed the judges with its digital prediction platform, the brainchild of co-founders Rassim and Djewed Hariz. It allows football fans to predict on-pitch events, earning points in the process and competing against friends. It includes a fantasy trading element, where fans can collect and own unique digital cards of their favourite football players. The cards can increase in value, depending on the player’s real-life performances and correct predictions from the owner of the card. As the winner of Innovate 21, AriSports will now have the opportunity to work with BT Sport to develop its technology for future use.

This is the third time BT Sport has backed a search for new viewer innovations in recent years from small businesses. Since winning a 2018 BT competition, Sceenic worked with BT Sport to support last year’s launch of Watch Together service on the BT Sport App. Meanwhile, the winner of a 2016 BT competition, Seenit, enabled fans to send in video reports from stadia around the country as part of BT Sport’s Premier League Tonight show.

AriSports was one of four companies to make it to a final where it presented its innovation to a panel of experts led by Jamie Hindhaugh, chief operating officer, BT Sport. Those involved in identifying both a shortlist and winner included journalist and technology expert Lucy Hedges, Matt Stagg, BT Sport director of mobile strategy, plus BT Sport presenters Brian O’Driscoll, Suzi Perry and Robbie Savage.

Jamie Hindhaugh, chief operating officer, BT Sport, said: “We were extremely impressed by the quality and ingenuity of the innovations on display at the Innovate 21 final. I would like to congratulate AriSports on being crowned worthy winners. Its proposal is an ambitious platform that will offer fans an immersive experience and we look forward to working with them in helping harness its potential.”

Rassim Hariz, chairman, AriSports, said: “Special thanks to BT Sport for this great award, we look forward to working with their team. The process was very competitive and we are honoured to be the winners of Innovate 21. For us, it has been two years in the making and I would like to thank all our technical, product development and business development team. Working with BT Sport, and knowing their innovation track record, is fully aligned with our identity and ambitions in applying our world-first technology for immersive fantasy gaming on live content.”

BT has been at the heart of sports broadcasting innovation over recent years, details of which can be seen at btsport.com/innovates:

• Last season, BT Sport and EE teamed up to launched Matchday Experience on the BT Sport App, offering fans the most immersive sports viewing experience anywhere in the UK, powered by EE’s number one 5G network. Features include Watch Together - the only service in the UK allowing fans to watch, see and chat with three other friends, alongside any BT Sport broadcast, thanks to a split-screen interface.
• BT Sport was the first broadcaster to show live content in 4K and UHD in 2015 and the first to adopt Dolby Atmos in 2016. BT Sport has also embraced social media, being the first to show the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League finals on YouTube and showing content such as BT Sport Score live for free on Twitter and Facebook.
• In 2019, BT Sport collaborated with BT’s Media & Broadcast arm to broadcast the world’s first live 8K test broadcast, into the IBC exhibition in Amsterdam.
• In 2018 BT Sport and EE successfully carried out the world’s first live broadcast over 5G using remote production, delivering a two-way transmission from Wembley Stadium to London’s ExCeL exhibition centre.

Instant replays, slow motion and the ability to rewind live TV are fans’ favourite innovations in sports broadcast, according to new research. Meanwhile, teletext and waiting for Match of the Day highlights on Saturdays make more fans nostalgic than any other aspect of sports broadcast.

Commissioned by BT Sport as it launches Innovate 21, a new competition seeking the next big tech innovation in sports broadcast, research of 2,000 sport fans across the UK examined fans views on tech innovations across the world of sport – both on and off the pitch, from developments in how sport is broadcast, to innovations on the field of play. It found 76% of fans believe tech has a positive impact on sports TV while also revealing football is the sport most fans (49%) believe is best utilising tech to enhance sports viewing.

Turning to fans’ views on recent tech innovations around sports broadcast, 360° camera views (26%) and spider/drone cameras (26%) are the most popular recent innovations, followed by live streaming sports on the go via mobile (22%) and the introduction of 4K and HDR picture quality (21%).

In terms of fans’ take on the best overall innovations on the pitch from athletes, authorities and teams, goal-line technology (32%), Hawk-Eye (27%) and photo finish imagery (26%) were deemed the best enhancements by fans. When asked for their least favourite innovations, football’s video assistant referees (VAR) system was voted for by more fans (31%) than any other tech.

Overall, the study found that 74% of fans believe technology has made sport more accessible to a larger audience, with people regularly watching sport on a PC or laptop (53%) or soaking up the action on their smart phones (41%). More than six in 10 also believe tech innovation has made watching sport a more sociable experience.

BT Sport has launched Innovate 21 to find exciting new ideas, technology and services spanning the entire sports broadcast chain from entrepreneurs, creatives and start-ups. The competition will provide one lucky winner with the opportunity to work with BT to develop their idea for future use. BT Sport has a rich history of providing entrepreneurs with opportunities to be at the heart of innovation. Since winning the 2018 BT Infinity Lab competition, Sceenic has worked with BT Sport to support last year’s launch of Watch Together on the BT Sport App. More details on how to enter are available at http://www.bt.com/innovate21.

Jamie Hindhaugh, chief operating officer, BT Sport, said: “There have been many impressive tech developments in the worlds of sport and broadcasting, and this research has highlighted the importance of tech for sports viewers. Sport and sports broadcasting do not stand still though, and we are committed to remaining at the forefront of innovation. This is why we’ve launched Innovate 21 to create the opportunity for someone to make a game changing mark on the world of sport broadcasting.”

BEST RECENT TECH INNOVATIONS IN SPORTS BROADCASTING*

1. Spider/drone cameras (26%)

2. 360° viewer-controlled cameras (26%)

3. Live streaming sport to mobiles (22%)

4. 4K / HDR picture quality (21%)

5. Post-match video analysis (20%)

BEST EVER OVERALL TECH INNOVATIONS IN SPORTS BROADCASTING*

1. Instant replays (33%)

2. Rewinding live TV (32%)

3. Slow motion replays (31%)

4. On-screen time/score graphics (16%)

5. Spider/drone cameras /// 4K pictures /// 360° cameras /// (14%)

BEST TECH INNOVATIONS BY ATHLETES, TEAMS, SPORTS AUTHORITIES**

1. Goal-line technology (32%)

2. Hawk-Eye (27%)

3. Photo finish technology (26%)

4. Prosthetic devices for disabled athletes (24%)

5. Under soil heating (23%)

WORST TECH INNOVATIONS BY ATHLETES, TEAMS, SPORTS AUTHORITIES**

1. Video Assistant Referee (VAR) (31%)

2. eSports – competitive video gaming (16%)

3. Fantasy football apps (14%)

4. Cavity backs – used in golf to help make misfired shots more forgiving (10%)

5. Voice activated assistants (10%)

(*proportion of those surveyed who selected the innovation as best recent sports broadcast innovation)

(**proportion of those surveyed who selected the innovation as best/worst)

BT has been at the heart of sports broadcasting innovation over recent years:

• Last October, BT Sport and EE teamed up to launched Matchday Experience on the BT Sport App, offering fans the most immersive sports viewing experience anywhere in the UK, powered by EE’s number one 5G network. Features include Watch Together - the only service in the UK allowing fans to watch, see and chat with three other friends, alongside any BT Sport broadcast, thanks to a split-screen interface.

• BT Sport was the first broadcaster to show live content in 4K and UHD in 2015 and the first to adopt Dolby Atmos in 2016. BT Sport has also embraced social media, being the first to show the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League finals on YouTube and showing content such as BT Sport Score live for free on Twitter and Facebook.

• In 2019, BT Sport collaborated with BT’s Media & Broadcast arm to broadcast the world’s first live 8K test broadcast, into the IBC exhibition in Amsterdam.

• In 2018 BT Sport and EE successfully carried out the world’s first live broadcast over 5G using remote production, delivering a two-way transmission from Wembley Stadium to London’s ExCeL exhibition centre.

Ends

Notes to editors

The research was conducted by One Poll.com between the dates of 28th April to 5th May 2021 with 2,000 UK adults who watch sport on TV or attend matches / events.

BT Sport today launches Innovate 21, a competition seeking ideas for exciting new sports broadcast experiences from entrepreneurs, creatives and start-ups. The competition will provide one lucky winner with the opportunity to be at the heart of BT Sport’s industry leading innovation.

With entries open from today, Innovate 21 invites submissions for innovations spanning the entire sports broadcast chain, from production at events through to the viewer at home. BT Sport is looking to uncover exciting ideas from across the UK, with the winner receiving a potential six-figure opportunity to work with BT to develop their idea, technology or service for future use and could even see it become available to all BT Sport customers. They will also receive BT Group mobile and/or broadband connectivity for a period of 12 months at no cost.

The competition is backed by BT Sport presenters Brian O’Driscoll, Suzi Perry and Robbie Savage who will be part of a panel of experts in September at a special event to select the winning innovation, led by Jamie Hindhaugh, chief operating officer, BT Sport. Those involved in identifying both a shortlist and winner include journalist and technology expert Lucy Hedges, Matt Stagg, director of mobile strategy, BT Sport, Christian Thrane, managing director, marketing, for BT’s consumer division and Andrew Mensah, leading social media influencer and presenter of BT Sport programing including What I Wore.

Following the deadline for entries on 31 July, finalists will be invited to present their proposals to the panel at the BT Sport studios in East London in September, before a winner is selected. The finalists will also have access to Marc Allera, CEO, BT’s consumer division, for a unique chance to gain insight into innovation and technology from one of the leading FTSE 100 chief executives in the country.

Marc Allera, CEO, BT’s consumer division, said: “Delivering world class customer experiences is one of BT’s core objectives. Innovate 21 from BT Sport is a rare and exciting opportunity for entrepreneurs to join that effort but also to gain access to BT’s renowned expertise and leadership around technology, products and innovation.”

Entrants are encouraged to submit proposals in areas including, but not limited to, the Matchday Experience offering on the BT Sport App, ideas which have a strong sustainability, inclusivity or accessibility focus and ideas which enhance the live sports experience. Full terms and conditions and details of how to enter are available at www.bt.com/innovate21.

BT Sport has a rich history of providing entrepreneurs with opportunities to be at the heart of innovation. Since winning the 2018 BT Infinity Lab competition, Sceenic has worked with BT Sport to support last year’s launch of Watch Together on the BT Sport App. Meanwhile, the winner of the 2016 BT Infinity Lab competition, Seenit, enabled fans to send in short video reports and comments from stadia around the country as part of BT Sport’s Premier League Tonight show.

Jamie Hindhaugh, chief operating officer, BT Sport, said: “BT is offering entrepreneurs the chance to join BT Sport’s industry-leading pursuit of providing the ultimate sports viewing experiences to customers. We are proud to have continually given our customers even more ways to watch and experience sport in recent years and Innovate 21 looks set to raise the bar even further for what BT Sport’s customers can enjoy.”

BT has been at the heart of sports broadcasting innovation over recent years:

• Last October, BT Sport and EE teamed up to launched Matchday Experience on the BT Sport App, offering fans the most immersive sports viewing experience anywhere in the UK, powered by EE’s number one 5G network. Features include Watch Together - the only service in the UK allowing fans to watch, see and chat with three other friends, alongside any BT Sport broadcast, thanks to a split-screen interface.

• BT Sport was the first broadcaster to show live content in 4K and UHD in 2015 and the first to adopt Dolby Atmos in 2016. BT Sport has also embraced social media, being the first to show the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League finals on YouTube and showing content such as BT Sport Score live for free on Twitter and Facebook.

• In 2019, BT Sport collaborated with BT’s Media & Broadcast arm to broadcast the world’s first live 8K test broadcast, into the IBC exhibition in Amsterdam.

• In 2018 BT Sport and EE successfully carried out the world’s first live broadcast over 5G using remote production, delivering a two-way transmission from Wembley Stadium to London’s ExCeL exhibition centre.

And every day as humans we weave new patterns into it, creating a new masterpiece every millisecond. It binds us together. It crosses seas and continents. It supports us. It drives us. It opens our eyes to new possibilities. It helps us innovate. It makes us dream. Then it helps make those dreams come true!

Those dreams, those possibilities, are why, today, BT’s new Digital unit is born. The unit that brings together a world-class team - a team of dreamers, disruptors, data junkies and innovators. A team of digital natives. All with one mission in mind. To seize the digital threads that run across BT, and weave a new masterpiece for our customers. To dedicate themselves to build great digital experiences for everyone - our customers, our frontline, our employees. To help our businesses grow. To launch new, innovative products and platforms.

Like all masterpieces it will take creativity, tenacity and focus. We need to obsess about the detail of the weave. Which button goes where? What’s the right fit for the customer? How do we tailor the material to fit the design vision? And how do we design it to delight the customer?

And like all masterpieces, there will be moments along the way where we have to fix broken threads, make adjustments, and work with our customers to refine the vision.

But just imagine, if we all work together, what all can we create. The possibilities are endless.
 

Harmeen Mehta, Chief Digital & Innovation Officer

While large organisations often have entire teams dedicated to security, many smaller businesses with limited bandwidth and resources struggle to understand the steps they need to take to protect their organisation. In fact, in a recent survey 65% of small businesses said they had sought external information or guidance on security in the last 12 months[1], with many organizations remaining unclear on the appropriate methods to safeguard their business.

In response, BT have partnered with the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) to provide businesses with top tips for staying secure online. The NCSC is the nation’s technical authority on cyber security and provides products and guidance for SMEs, larger organisations, government agencies and the public.

Tip 1 – Backing up Your Data

All businesses, regardless of size, should take regular backups of their important data, and make sure that these backups are recent and can be restored. By doing this, you are ensuring your business can still function following the impact of flood, fire, physical damage, or theft. Furthermore, if you have backups of your data that you can quickly respond and recover in the event of a cyber breach

Your first step is to identify your essential data. This is the information that your business could not function without. Normally, this will comprise of documents, photos, emails, contacts, and calendars, most of which are kept in just a few common folders on your computer, phone, tablet, or network.

Once you have identified your most important data, keep your backups separate from your main computers. Whether it's on a USB stick, on a separate drive or a separate computer, access to data backups should be restricted so that they are not accessible by unauthorised staff members and are not permanently connected to the device holding the original copy. You can also back up your data with cloud storage, which means your data is physically separated from your computers and can be accessed from any device, simply by logging into your cloud environment.

Tip 2 – Protecting Your Organisation from Malware

Malicious software (also known as 'malware') is software or web content that can harm your organisation. This can include viruses, spyware, or ransomware which prevents users from accessing their computers (or the data stored on them) until a ransom is paid.

For all your IT equipment, make sure that the software and firmware is always kept up to date with the latest versions from software developers, hardware suppliers and vendors. Applying these updates is one of the most important things you can do to improve security - the IT version of eating your fruit and veg.

Ensure that your organisation is also running antivirus software across all your laptops and computers. Antivirus software is often included free within popular operating systems and can typically be enabled with one click. This is the same for firewalls which create a 'buffer zone' between your own network and external networks (such as the Internet). BT works with the NCSC on its ‘Active Cyber Defence’ programme, which aims to prevent the majority of malicious emails from reaching individuals and businesses in the UK – but most popular operating systems also now include a firewall, which you can switch on to protect yourself even further.

Tip 3 – Avoiding Phishing Attacks

A phishing attack is when scammers send fake emails to potential victims, asking them for sensitive information (such as bank details), or containing links to malicious websites. Scammers might try to trick you into sending money, giving away business details to sell on, or have their own motives for accessing your organisation's network.

Many phishing emails will often have similar warning signs which can include:

• Poor spelling, grammar, and punctuation

• Generic greeting, such as ‘Dear Customer’ rather than using your name

• A sense of urgency

• Email from high-ranking persons within your organisation, asking you to do something outside normal processes

• An offer of money or exclusive benefit

However, expecting your staff to identify and report all phishing emails is an unrealistic request, as fraudulent emails are becoming harder to spot. Never punish users who are struggling to recognise suspicious emails – users who fear reprisals will not report mistakes promptly, if at all. Instead, build a culture where users can confidently report phishing attempts (including ones that are clicked on) by having an effective process in place for reporting. You can then take steps to scan for malware and change passwords in a timely manner if you suspect a successful breach has occurred.

For further information on implementing these top tips, check out the NCSC’s Small Business Guide: Cyber Security

BT’s Top Tips on Tech page also has a dedicated section of security for businesses alongside wider guidance for staying safe online. In addition, our Skills for Tomorrow site has a range of guidance on improving Cyber Security in your organisation.

[1] Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2020: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/cyber-security-breaches-survey-2020

As Radio Access Networks (RANs) are evolving to support higher data rates, greater coverage and better use of the spectrum, synchronisation needs to evolve in parallel. Network synchronisation is becoming ever more challenging. Alignment of the frequencies used, the time of day, and embedded network equipment clocks; all need to be increasingly precise.

To establish network harmonisation, the network equipment clocks need to be aligned to three parameters: frequency, phase and time.

If two clocks in your home tick at the same rate, their frequency is synchronised. Alignment in frequency is called synchronisation; the second hands of the clocks could be out of step, but the gap between the hands as they rotate remains constant. If the hands of the clocks do not rotate at the same rate, they aren’t frequency synchronised. Whereas, if the second hands are always in step, they’re phase-aligned – this is true even if the clocks each show a different time. Additionally, if the clocks say the same time, they’re time-synchronised.

Mobile network base stations have strict synchronisation requirements, including requirements on the agreement of frequency and alignment of time and phase. International standards stipulate the frequency and, where required, phase limits for mobile technology. When these limits are exceeded, it can cause a range of problems. It could cause mobile phones to not hand over between cell sites, or not connect to the network; the spectrum use could be less efficient; it could even interfere with another provider’s radio spectrum.

There are two main ways to provide accurate timing to cell sites: network-based timing and local Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). Network-based timing involves GNSS clocks and backup atomic clocks combined with delivery mechanisms to transfer time across the network. It also uses boundary clocks to ensure minimal time errors between elements. This makes GNSS scalable and allows for fixes to be rolled out easily across the network as the networks evolve.

Meanwhile, local GNSS involves installing individual GNSS antennas at every cell site that communicates with satellites thousands of miles away to provide accurate time within the transmitted signals; this can be a quick solution. However, it can also create vulnerabilities in how the network operates, such as jamming or spoofing the signal. Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) must consider what option or combination fits their needs best when managing the synchronisation of their networks; there is no ‘one size fits all’ when it comes to timing.

As 5G networks evolve, we’ll be considering how we develop our atomic clock backups to provide the most secure and resilient sources, and continue to look at how timing is provided in the application space to enable services of the future. Currently, we use Caesium atomic clocks for backups, but we’ll be looking at the benefit of new, improved, optically-based atomic clocks and other atomic elements in the longer term. Looking further into the future, a lot of work is going on in the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), the Internet of Things (IoT) applied to industrial purposes (i.e. manufacturing and supply chain management), and the use of high-performance timing for fixed and mobile networks. I expect to see an increased use of timing for IIoT applications, new cost-effective atomic capabilities with a potential order of magnitude increase on the current atomic standards.

However, only time will tell how synchronisation in mobile networks will evolve. Synchronisation is the unspoken key that allows you to stay connected on your mobile phone; every time that you receive signal bars on your smartphone, it means that my team at the BT Labs has done their job to keep the network right-on-time.

Mike Gilson
BT's Head of Synchronisation

In May, BT announced a £12 billion investment in that future. We took the difficult decision to cancel our dividend to fund ‘full fibre’ broadband access for 20 million homes. This followed the Government’s manifesto promise to bring full fibre and gigabit capable broadband to every home and business across the UK by 2025, and their own commitment of £5 billion to support those that Openreach, and other network builders, won’t without public support.

The Government’s ambition is the right one. Gigabit-capable broadband can fuel the long-term post-Covid economic recovery; maintain the UK’s competitive position post-Brexit; and ensure we are better prepared for any future lockdowns and pandemics.

Achieving that ambition, however, on that 2025 timescale, is going to be tough. For the 2025 target to be met, the number of premises passed by UK fibre builders would need to increase to 4.3 million every year: more than twice what it is at the moment. That won’t happen if we simply wait and see what the market delivers. It needs rapid action from government and regulators too.

We asked industry-leading analysts, Analysys Mason, to take a closer look at what the role of local and central Government should be.

They analysed all 1.7 million postcodes across the UK, and found that, on the current trajectory, full fibre coverage could reach only 70% of UK homes and businesses by 2025. Without policy interventions, the Government’s target may not be delivered until 2033.

At the same time, the report shows that through a concerted action plan Government can get things back on track.

We’ve identified seven key policy, legislative and fiscal enablers that, delivered together, could allow industry to bring the full fibre coverage up to 96% of all UK homes and businesses by 2025 and 100% by 2027.

Those same measures would reduce the overall cost of the build-out by some £9 billion, and would reduce the amount of public subsidy required – so that Government funding would be needed only for the final 15%.

The good news is that two of the seven are already work in progress, with a Government commitment to action. First, giving fibre builders access blocks of flats (legislation is already in train on this), and second making sure all new build houses have full fibre pre-installed. That’s great but it won’t be enough. We also need the other five:

1. Fair and equal access to infrastructure that is already in the ground, so fibre builders don’t have to keep digging up the road and people’s fields when they don’t have to. The rules allowing fibre builders to use gas, electricity and water infrastructure to lay fibre need to be revised, and their scope broadened. Currently they aren’t workable. The Government has issued a call for evidence, which is a welcome step towards this. We need to see legislation follow quickly.

2. Fibre builders need a subsidy scheme to recruit and on-board the thousands of new staff this effort will need at pace. Openreach alone have estimated they may need to recruit at least 13,000 new engineers. CityFibre have also announced they believe they are going to recruit 10,000 new staff. We think that any government support should be conditional on that subsidised workforce being deployed in areas where full fibre is needed most – rural, remote areas.

3. We need all local authorities to allow, as standard use, the latest digging technology that means that fibre can be laid quickly and efficiently, and that simple things, like laying fibre across the front of a terraced house (rather than having to dig up the street) are, as a matter of course, permitted in planning terms.

4. The rules for getting planning consent and agreements to access land need to be changed. The industry needs the same rights as utilities such as the water industry who have a statutory right to build across land. Right now, the process of getting access for network builders significantly slows down deployment.

5. We must end the situation where BT and Virgin are actively penalised for investing in fibre, because they have to pay higher business rates on a fibre connection than they do on an older, much slower, copper one. This has major implications for the wider business case for full fibre investment.

These are all simple, sensible and reasonable changes through which Government can empower industry to meet their full fibre ambition. It’s an ambition we share. The Analysys Mason research proves it can be done.

 Download and read the full Analysys Mason report 

BT’s Global Research and Innovation Programme (GRIP) was created to connect BT’s global research and innovation centres with leading international universities and research institutions. It’s given us access to world-class research facilities and talented researchers across the globe while ensuring we’re engaged with the latest developments in science, technology, business strategy, policy and society.

However, the coronavirus pandemic has created a new level of responsibility for the programme. We wanted to use our unique capabilities to make a positive impact. So, in May 2020 we activated our GRIP network for good, hosting our first Global Coronavirus Workshop to unite some of the most brilliant technology research teams across the globe and tackle emerging issues from the pandemic.

Researchers and faculty from Australia, China, UAE, India, USA, and the UK participated in discussions on how we can limit the impact of the pandemic on individuals, communities and businesses. Our goal was to foster and develop collaborations between global universities to tackle emerging issues. By sharing global experiences and best practice, we aimed to identify potential research and development (R&D) collaborations with the potential to make a real difference.

One of the main issues on everyone’s mind is: what will the future of work look like? With the rapid arrival of the pandemic, many companies were quickly forced to transition their work forces to homeworking. It’s still unclear which functions in companies and the economy can be performed in a distributed fashion in the long term, and what long term distributed working will mean for the dynamics of organisations. This will be highlighted in areas such as staff training and innovation.

Additionally, companies are rapidly digitising their work processes and moving to new digital ways of working (i.e. video conferencing, agile, etc.). To tackle this issue, we can expect to see a significant increase in focus on workplace design in the next few years as organisations, including our own, try to find their most effective work styles.

Many findings from the initial Global Coronavirus Workshop related to SMEs (small and medium sized enterprises) and start-ups; key sources of employment and innovation in economies. For example, the food and leisure industries, which can be very location-based, have seen dramatic impacts on smaller companies that are less cash resilient. However, it has created an opportunity for significant innovation and adaptability. We’ve seen this through restaurants transitioning to carry-out, delivery or food-kitchen style models.

Similarly, in the technology sector, the new realities of the pandemic are opening up spaces for innovation. For example, the use of sensors (such as temperature sensing cameras) and organisational/behavioural analytics, which might have been seen as invasive in the past, are proving that they can be forces for good when used appropriately. As a result, there will be new opportunities for SMEs in the technology sector to provide AI, robotic and cloud-based value-added services in the post-coronavirus world.

As the world adjusts to a new normal, there are opportunities for innovation to ease that transition. Following the success of our first workshop, we’re aiming to host more collaborative sessions in the coming months and continue to play our part in identifying those opportunities, using the power of global R&D to help the world bounce back from Covid-19.

Nader Azarmi
Head of BT's Global Research and Innovation Programme

Moving to greener forms of transport is one of the key challenges in addressing today’s environmental concerns. At BT, we recognise that biking to work is an effective way to be environmentally conscious but it’s not always an easy decision to make so we’re testing a way to help eliminate some of those hurdles. 200 volunteers from BT’s Adastral Park technology campus and the surrounding area have begun trialling smart Internet of Things (IoT) bike lights to improve the cycling experience. This innovative use of connected technology helps encourage and protect cyclists locally, with potential to extend this to other parts of the UK.

BT is accomplishing this with the help of smart IoT bike lights designed and built by See.Sense, an innovative start-up that was the winner of the BT Infinity Awards in 2016. Since their win, See.Sense was recognised by Road.cc, the biggest online cycling site in the UK, to be the ‘Best Bike Gadget’ in a vote by their readers. The smart bike lights use advanced sensor technology to monitor their environment, reacting by flashing brighter and faster in riskier situations. They also pair with a smartphone app that provides additional connected features for the cyclist including crash detection and theft alerts.

As the 200 trialists travel around Adastral Park and Ipswich, the lights will also collect insights on ride conditions encountered by cyclists, including road surface conditions, chosen routes and traffic hotspot areas. The smart lights send information to BT’s IoT Data Hub allowing BT to combine the anonymised trial data with other factors such as weather. This will demonstrate route preferences and reveal the conditions under which people choose not to cycle – helping to identify areas for improvement. The data gathered by the cycling trialists will be crucial for improving the cycling experience and encouraging more people to consider this green mode of transport.

Using smart technology to better understand the road blocks that face green transportation enables us to prioritise the safety of sustainable means of transport. The smart light sensor trial in Adastral Park and Ipswich is only the beginning of our efforts to improve the cycling experience. With cyclist safety at the heart of our work, we’re already running similar trials in Manchester, Dublin and Antwerp. BT’s Suffolk trial provides the framework for better cycling conditions and the opportunity for all involved to improve their carbon footprint.

Over 12 months, we aim to build up a picture of the way people use cycle routes in and around Ipswich which has a large cycling community. Gaining insight and then sharing it back with trialists will enable BT to improve cycling conditions around Adastral Park, BT’s 100 acre global engineering campus. This data will also be useful to Suffolk County Council in assessing opportunities to improve facilities for cycling. By showing seasoned and potential cyclists the popular routes, road conditions and their level of difficulty, consumers can make evidence-based decisions on cycling. Volunteers have been recruited from BT and the other tech organisations located at Adastral Park, alongside local cyclists recruited with the help of Suffolk County Council. Upon completion, Adastral Park trialists will have the option to keep their smart IOT light in exchange for their £10 deposit being donated to the Children in Need charity.

This year’s competition is seeking innovative start-ups with services which can deliver business or social benefits by utilising Edge Computing or 5G Private Network Infrastructure. Winners will work with globally recognised scientists and engineers at the BT Labs at Adastral Park, one of the world’s leading centres for telecommunications research, with access to BT’s network facilities, hardware and testing capabilities. In addition, they will gain access to potential investors, build their network across the TEAC global community, and raise their company’s visibility.

Interested companies should apply by 18th October 2019 via the TEAC UK website.

Entries will be judged by a panel of senior network and technology leaders from BT and TIP. The shortlisted companies will be announced at the TIP Summit in Amsterdam on November 12th-13th, and will then be invited to a final pitch event at BT Tower on Thursday 5th December, where the winners will be chosen.

Howard Watson, CTIO of BT, and a member of the TIP Board notes: “TIP is playing a crucial role in helping to tackle some of the big challenges in global connectivity, supporting innovation across the telecoms sector and opening up opportunities for companies with exciting ideas, regardless of scale. This year, we’re particularly interested in entries from companies who are using Edge Computing or 5G Private Network Infrastructure in innovative ways to create new business opportunities or benefit society.”

The TEAC initiative is part of the Telecom Infra Project, which was founded in 2016. TIP is a global community that includes more than 500 member companies, including operators, infrastructure providers, system integrators, and other technology companies working together to transform the traditional approach to building and deploying telecom network infrastructure.

This year’s competition represents the third wave of entries into TEAC UK. Last year, two companies; Tethir and Accelleran, were welcomed into the TIP community.

Many will recall the Gatwick Airport drone incident that occurred late last year. Over three days, drones were seen flying over airplane runways, causing hundreds of flights to delay or cancel, and displacing 140, 000 passengers. For Gatwick Airport, this caused major chaos, cementing this as the biggest disruption since ash from an Icelandic volcano shut down the Airport in 2010.

Drones are one of the biggest technology innovations of this era, having improved emergency services and disaster relief programs. However, with the increased use and popularity of drones, the number of drone related incidents in the UK has also risen, with issues involving civil aircraft alone rising 29 percent last year, according to UK Airprox Board.

The domino effect of drone incidents is significant. In addition to the cancelled flights, the Gatwick Airport drone attack cost the airport £1.4 million, impacted many scheduled airlines and caused thousands of travellers heading into Christmas to re-plan their travels. And this seems to be a reoccurring concern. Just last week, activists pushed forward with plans to disrupt Heathrow Airport with drone activity for a week-long protest, potentially grounding flights from September 13^th.

To help combat this rising concern, we’ve partnered with DroneShield to deliver a counter drone service to help organisations like airport operators detect intruding drones and protect themselves and the community from threats to privacy, security and safety.

Our Counter Drone Solution determines if a drone poses any risk to the surrounding infrastructure and has an operating range of up to 5km and 360-degree detection coverage. The BT system will continuously monitor the surroundings and provide early warnings, so security teams are equipped to identify, assess and respond to threats.

Inbuilt tools will gather, process and report information back to the organisation in real-time, providing the necessary evidence that is required for reporting and for an organisation to build up knowledge about drone activity on its site so that preventative measures can be put in place.

Where legal, our counter drone solution also provides a range of countermeasures, such as fixed signal blockers that can jam drones up to 1.5 kilometres away, to portable disruptors that will help to deter and defeat drones.

We’re able to deliver this technology with DroneShield, whose products have been used at a variety of sites and events, including the 2018 Olympic Games in South Korea, and by several high-profile defence organisations such as The British Army and the U.S. Department of Defense.

With the recent disruptions at Gatwick and Heathrow airports, and the continued use of commercial and private drones across the UK and internationally, there is a real need for counter drone capabilities for UK’s critical infrastructure.

Our world leading expertise in communications and networked IT services, combined with DroneShield’s expertise in the counter-drone space, will help empower organisations – hospitals, airports, large venues and prisons – with a best in class, integrated and secure drone detection solution. As we roll out this innovation, we’re looking forward to continuing our conversations with Enterprise customers across a range of industries and demonstrating how this counter drone solution is helping some of UK’s largest and most important businesses.

With 94 percent of UK residents owning at least one mobile device, the way we live, socialise, consume media and communicate with each other has completely changed. This transformation extends far beyond our personal lives, with more than 80 percent of British employees (I am definitely one of them) using their smartphones at work. Whilst this is no real surprise, many small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) are changing the way employees use mobile devices in the workplace, shifting to a “mobile-first” approach and reaching customers better than ever before in an increasingly wireless world.

Defining mobile-first

So what is a mobile-first approach? Well, in recent years, mobile interactions have surpassed all other media for brand-based interactions. In other words, people are interacting with organisations via mobile devices far more than through desktop. If I am engaging with a particular brand, it’s more likely I will connect with them via my smartphone than my laptop, simply because it is always with me. And because of this, organisations are looking at a mobile-first strategy, putting the mobile experience at the core of every customer and employee touchpoint. This means looking at design, development, marketing and employee workflow through a mobile lens above all else. As this trend continues to rise, SMEs are increasingly asking questions such as:

• What platforms should we leverage to best reach our customers?

• How can we boost productivity of remote employees?

• Does a mobile-first approach really enhance employee and customer satisfaction?

How SMEs benefit from mobile-first

A growing global workforce, a shift in media consumption and an increase in remote employees, mobile virtualisation has become a necessary and profitable option for SMEs.

Many businesses are starting to understand that a mobile-first approach reaps significant benefits for customer experience. SMEs depend on customer communications; a positive experience means high customer retention rates and ultimately business growth. Mobile-first enables SMEs to respond to customer queries and stay in touch at scale and at speed. When customers are increasingly demanding real-time and always-on communication, SMEs that do employ a mobile-first approach gain a competitive advantage over those that rely solely on desktop.

This can also be said for employees. Flexibility to work anywhere, anytime is made possible with a mobile-first approach. Employees can work autonomously, manage their own time and seamlessly switch from their personal lives to work commitments. Looking at my own workflow, this is something I highly value; the ability to use my mobile devices during my long commute between my home and my workplace allows me to be more productive during those “micro-moments” when I am not in the office.

This trend will continue to become a critical component to business success with the wave of Millennials in the workplace. By 2020, more than half of the global workforce will be Millennials who have been raised in the digital revolution and expect mobility, flexibility and a stronger sense of work-life balance. Within my own team, I encourage employees to find the balance that works for them, and organisations that understand this, and prioritise the needs of this next generation will likely experience much higher levels of employee satisfaction and well-being.

Mobile-first in action

One such business that is adopting a mobile-first approach is AccountsIQ, a cloud-based financial management software company. In our recent podcast, Lianne Gatti, Commercial Director for AccountsIQ discusses how she is constantly evolving the company’s mobile policy and why she firmly believes in a mobile-first strategy.

“Because we’re a SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) business at heart, we have always implemented a mobile policy in that every application we use, has to be available on our mobile devices,” says Lianne. This also helps AccountsIQ to collaborate across its global workforce with staff located in the UK, Croatia, Argentina and Dublin. Whilst colleagues are not physically in the same office, they’re able to use their mobile devices to maintain a personal connection via FaceTime or Zoom Video for meetings.

AccountsIQ is a connected finance platform supporting 4, 000 customers on a global footprint. It serves mid-to-large businesses by providing cloud based financial management software. Gartner forecasts worldwide public cloud revenue will grow 17 percent this year, and there are already more than 50 million cloud-based enterprise systems being used. Employees are more frequently conducting work in the cloud, using mobile business applications to create spreadsheets, presentations and documents.

With more businesses, co-workers and consumers using mobile technology in all facets of life, a stronger network is required to transfer larger amounts of data over the air for faster speeds, reduced congestion and lower latency. And this is where 5G comes in.

How 5G will accelerate mobile-first for SMEs

The biggest enabler of a mobile-first ecosystem will no doubt be 5G. The race is on, with many of the world’s leading operators rolling out a 5G network to bring more speed, more capacity and lower latency to consumers and businesses. In fact, EE was the first network provider to launch 5G across the UK, offering increased speeds, reliability and connectivity to consumers and businesses.

And just this week, EE went one step further and announced its 5G Unlimited Data plans for SMEs, enabling businesses to maximise 5G usage with unlimited and uncapped data packages. Business users on the 5G plan will benefit from access to the UK’s fastest network as well as value-added features such as business-grade mobile security, unlimited data, calls and texts.

5G is a step-change in mobile networking and promises exponentially faster download speeds, greater latency and better reliability. Building on the capabilities of 4G, 5G boasts speed uplifts of around 100-150Mbps, with some users able to achieve speeds of 1Gbps on their 5G enabled smartphones. As well as improved bandwidth, a key feature of the technology is greatly reduced levels of network latency, making 5G more responsive than other mobile technology standards before it.

For SMEs, this will mean steaming high-resolution video, audio and images with practically no latency. 5G will be a game changer for businesses across virtually every industry and will empower the next generation of skilled workers across a global footprint.

And that’s just the first phase of 5G. Over the coming years, we’ll witness digital transformation for businesses that we’ve not seen before, with 5G IoT applications for analytics and business process automation completely transforming the way we work and connect. Smart cities, autonomous vehicles and smart environmental monitoring are just a few examples of how 5G will revolutionise our communities and businesses in the future.

Whilst this complete end-to-end 5G infrastructure is still some years away, SMEs can benefit right now from 5G’s superfast download speeds, data-sharing in real time, and streaming high quality video without interruption. It’s these SMEs who employ a mobile-first approach and leverage the benefits of 5G that will experience an unpresented level of business productivity, success and growth.

BT’s network is one of the largest in the world. Serving almost 200 countries and territories, we own enough terrestrial fibre to go 1.5 turns around the earth, not to mention satellite and wireless networks. One terabyte of data passes through our network every second. We also operate at an industrial scale, with thousands of applications and hundreds of thousands of users.

We protect our global network from a huge number of cyber attacks, and the scale and complexity of attacks is intensifying. For example, between April to June 2019 we blocked on average 111 million connections to malware sites every month.

As a network service provider, our expertise is in analysing and understanding traffic and data flows across public and corporate networks. We can correlate what we see happening on our network, on our customer’s networks and with external events. We process 600,000 events per second (2.1 billion events an hour) into BT’s Cyber Security Platform, enabling us to proactively hunt threats in real time.

This allows us to understand how and where to put controls in place and how to detect anomalous behaviour that could be an early indicator of an attack, enabling us to be on the front foot in continually tuning and refining security policies and our services.

We want everyone to feel safe when using our services, so we work behind the scenes to protect our customers - from both large scale attacks and more targeted attempts to steal data. We believe that sharing threat information with trusted partners in industry and government is crucial to improving the overall security ecosystem and protects our customers from a wider range of threats than any one organisation can determine on their own.

We’re now sharing some of the information we monitor on the BT Cyber Index. The Index gives a high level view of cyber threats that we protect our customers from on a daily basis and show some of the challenges we’re working against. It includes DDoS alerts, phishing sites taken down, malware sites blocked and scam activity that we act on. Given the breadth of our network, the data it provides gives an indicative view of the wider security ecosystem and a snapshot of the growing threat landscape.

Building awareness of cyber issues is key for improving defences, as it makes people and organisations place more emphasis on their online security, and makes it more difficult for cyber criminals to operate.

For example, the increase in the number of phishing attacks has driven us to do more internal education and training of what to look for, how to avoid being caught out and how to report suspect emails. The training has not only helped protect our own network but has also helped employee’s share the information they’ve learnt at home with friends and family.

Over time the Index will also give a more insightful, long-term view of the trends and developments in cyber security. We’re also working to add further categories and measurements, so that we can provide insight on more types of cyber attacks.

Find out more about how to make security integral to your business.