• EXA Infrastructure is acquiring Aqua Comms
• India’s Reliance Jio now has 170 million 5G customers
• FCC takes network security action and is to get a new commissioner

In today’s industry news roundup: EXA Infrastructure is buying Aqua Comms at a knock-down price; Jio is now the largest 5G operator (by customer numbers) in the world outside of China; the FCC takes action on telco network security; and much more!

Alternative pan-European long-distance network operator EXA Infrastructure is to acquire subsea network operator Aqua Comms for the knock-down price of just $54m. It looks like a good fit: EXA operates more than 150,000km of digital infrastructure across 37 countries, including 20 cable landing stations that connect with subsea systems; Aqua Comms is the owner/operator of America Europe Connect-1 (AEC-1), America Europe Connect-2 (AEC-2), CeltixConnect-1 (CC-1) and CeltixConnect-2 (CC-2) and is part of a consortium that owns/operates the Amitié cable system (AEC-3). “The acquisition of Aqua Comms demonstrates EXA Infrastructure’s commitment to build a modern and diverse transatlantic platform to fully serve AI, cloud and content demand, now and in the future. The combination will offer our customers more routes, more capacity and increased diversity, all on a scaled platform,” stated Jim Fagan, CEO of EXA Infrastructure and the former CEO at Aqua Comms (he joined EXA in August 2024). While EXA didn’t give a deal value in its announcement, Aqua Comms noted not only that the deal with EXA is valued at $54m but that the company was valued at $75m in June last year and, incredibly, was valued at $283m at the end of 2023. The company listed a number of factors leading to its lower valuation, including that the business “has been severely impacted by numerous factors… including an inability to deliver on its intended global growth strategy and ongoing price compression across the global subsea fibre market, especially in the Atlantic.” Let’s hope EXA can do better. 

India’s leading mobile operator, Reliance Jio, ended 2024 with more than 170 million 5G customers, more than one-third of its total user base of 482 million, according to the latest earnings report from its parent company, conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL). Jio Platforms, the RIL division of which Reliance Jio is the main unit, reported revenues for the fiscal third quarter to the end of December 2024 of 387.7bn rupees (US$4.47bn), up by 19.2% year on year. The operator also ended last year with 4.5 million customers for its fixed wireless access (FWA) service, JioAirFiber.  

US regulator the FCC has “taken action to safeguard the nation’s communications systems from real and present cybersecurity threats, including from state-sponsored cyber actors from the People’s Republic of China,” announced the commission’s chairwoman, Jessica Rosenworcel, who is about to step down from her role. The FCC stated last month that it was preparing to take some sort of action following the major breach of US telecom networks by hacking group Salt Typhoon. “In response to Salt Typhoon, there has been a government-wide effort to understand the nature and extent of this breach, what needs to happen to rid this exposure in our networks, and the steps required to ensure it never happens again. At the Federal Communications Commission, we now have a choice to make.  We can turn the other way and hope this threat goes away. But hope is not a plan,” stated Rosenworcel. “Leaving old policies in place when we know what new risks look like is not smart. Today, in light of the vulnerabilities exposed by Salt Typhoon, we need to take action to secure our networks. Our existing rules are not modern. It is time we update them to reflect current threats so that we have a fighting chance to ensure that state-sponsored cyberattacks do not succeed. The time to take this action is now. We do not have the luxury of waiting. Telecommunications networks are essential for everything in day-to-day life, from our national defence to public safety to economic growth. The actions we take and propose here will strengthen our cybersecurity safeguards and enhance our resilience against future attacks.” So what is the action? The FCC has “adopted a Declaratory Ruling finding that section 105 of Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) affirmatively requires telecommunications carriers to secure their networks from unlawful access or interception of communications. That action is accompanied by a proposal to require communications service providers to submit an annual certification to the FCC attesting that they have created, updated, and implemented a cybersecurity risk management plan, which would strengthen communications from future cyberattacks. The Declaratory Ruling takes effect immediately. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking invites comment on cybersecurity risk management requirements for a wide range of communications providers” and “also seeks comment on additional ways to strengthen the cybersecurity posture of communications systems and services.” 

Still with the FCC…. Incoming US President Donald Trump has nominated Olivia Trusty as a new commissioner to fill the seat that will be vacated when Rosenworcel leaves on 20 January. “Olivia will work with our incredible new chairman of the FCC, Brendan Carr, to cut regulations at a record pace, protect free speech, and ensure every American has access to affordable and fast internet,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. Carr, who is taking over as FCC chairman, stated: “Congratulations to Olivia Trusty on her nomination today. She is a committed public servant with extensive knowledge of the communications sector. As clearly exhibited by her work in the senate, she is an effective policy-maker, which will benefit the agency and the American people going forward.”

– The staff, TelecomTV