T-Mobile outlines 600 MHz, 700 MHz and 5G drone ambitions

T-Mobile confirmed that its LTE network is also powering a number of major drone tests around the country.

International politics emerging as a factor in Sprint/T-Mobile merger

One of the federal agencies that must sign off on the proposed merger between Sprint and T-Mobile is the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S.

Editor's Corner—Focus on customers, not automation

With dwindling subscribers, increased competition and, maybe, shorter attention spans, operators' top concern is providing a better customer experience.

Dell Still Pondering IPO, VMware Merger, Puts a New Option on the Table

Under this scenario Dell would exchange its common stock, privately held by Michael Dell and Silver Lake, for shares of the company’s publicly traded VMware stock.

Microsoft and Dell Win Mega Cloud Deal With US Intelligence Community

The contract comes as Microsoft competes against other cloud providers for a $10 billion Pentagon deal called JEDI.

Rigado Packages IoT-Focused Edge-as-a-Service Platform

The platform relies on Canonical's Ubuntu Core OS and Snaps application packaging system.

FCC order sticks with sharing in 37 GHz band

The FCC is rejecting recommendations to adopt exclusive area licensing in the 37-37.6 GHz band.

Telcos using Flytxt's AI-driven automation software

For the past eight years, telcos have tapped into Flytxt's automation and machine-learning software to increase customer satisfaction and profits.

AT&T Joins SKT and Intel to Launch the Airship OpenStack Project to Build Container-Based Clouds

Airship will build clouds ‘where absolutely everything is a container from the bare metal up.’

SDxCentral's Weekly Roundup — May 18, 2018

Red Hat enhances its virtualization game; HPE releases AI and ML suite for telcos; CA Technologies gets stamp of approval from U.S. Department of Defense.

DC Blox Snares $37M in Funding for Southeast Data Center Expansion

The Atlanta-based firm expects to add new data centers by year-end to support multi-access edge computing and cloud services.

Spectrum Enterprise EVP Asks Industry to Fill Fiber & Feedback Gaps

Spectrum Enterprise chief urges other telecom service providers to follow company's lead and extend more fiber lines to businesses and consumers.

Has AT&T Inked a Deal With Google for TV?

And if so, what does a devil's bargain with Android TV mean?

Reliance Jio's BCE Keynote: A Disruptive Digital Transformation

At BCE 2018, Reliance Jio's president of Network, Global Strategy and Service Development, Mathew Oommen, describes how the operator has transformed the nature of mobile service delivery with its greenfield 4G network and, in doing so, changed the communications landscape in what is the second-biggest services market in the world.

BCE 2018 Recap: Automation Nation & the Big Fight at the Edge

Light Reading's Ray Le Maistre and Phil Harvey sum up the whole show in five minutes. That's after we cut out the 75 minutes of food-and-coffee commentary.

Eurobites: UK Broadband Only Half as Fast as It Should Be, Finds Study

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: EU calls for co-operation on cyberdefense; Cambridge Analytica files for bankruptcy; nun news.

WiCipedia: Moms at Work, Ageism in Tech & Girls in Boys' Clubs

This week in our WiC roundup: Announcing our three Leading Lights Awards winners; celebrating moms at work; men-only clubs think again; and more.

House Committee Snubs Trump’s Request to Save ZTE

Trump today said his support of ZTE came directly from a request made by Chinese President Xi.

Ericsson uses machine learning to redesign SoftBank's RAN

Japan-based mobile operator SoftBank improved its radio access design in the Tokai region by using a network automation service from Ericsson.

Technicians may need to install Verizon's initial fixed 5G CPE

One of the things Verizon is still testing is how much time and money will be spent installing the company's 5G customer-premises equipment.

Carriers increase network speeds despite unlimited data

Unlimited data plans placed a strain on carrier networks last year, but according to OpenSignal the carriers met the challenge.

Sprint matches T-Mobile's price plan for seniors

Sprint said it will offer discounted service to customers age 55 and above.

Oracle buys DataScience.com

In order to beef up its machine-learning roster, Oracle announced that it has inked an agreement to buy DataScience.com.

Kubernetes' Future Is More Jazz Improv Than Just Orchestration

Heptio CTO Joe Beda explained that orchestration infers a plan from the start, while Kubernetes is more about not knowing what's going to emerge.

Cisco’s New Security Guru Talks About How to Kill Complexity in 3 Steps

Gee Rittenhouse says security needs to be simpler. The complexity that today's security professionals deal with is overwhelming.

AT&T, Shaw, and China Mobile Outline 5G Trial Successes and Failures

From foliage that blocks antennas to bandwidth speeds that vary dramatically, global operators open up about the good, bad, and ugly of their 5G trials.

Cisco’s Catalyst 9K Switch Propels the Company’s Finances

The company now counts over 5,800 Catalyst 9000 customers, up from 3,100 last quarter.

Oracle Beefs Up Its Machine Learning With DataScience.com Acquisition

Oracle will integrate the DataScience.com cloud workspace platform for data science into its Oracle Cloud infrastructure.

Qualcomm to incorporate WPA3 into Wi-Fi portfolio

Qualcomm Technologies will be applying the industry’s newest Wi-Fi security protections across its portfolio.

How Will U.S. Tensions With China Affect Open Source Networking?

Hopefully there’s enough good will built up in open source groups to survive the actions of governments during these times.

Rackspace Snaps Up Salesforce Specialist RelationEdge

Expands Rackspace's business from IaaS and PaaS into SaaS.

Google Absorbing Enterprise Big Data Startup

Cask Data develops an open source platform that helps enterprises deploy big data applications using Hadoop.

Google Absorbing Enterprise Big Data Startup

Cask Data develops an open source platform that helps enterprises deploy big data applications using Hadoop.

From LTE-U/LAA to 5G Spectrum Sharing

The evolution of spectrum sharing into the 5G era.

Indian Telcos Raise Capital as Price War Rages

India's operators are busy raising funds despite the debt burden that already weighs heavily on some players.

AT&T's BCE Keynote: 5G & SDN Worlds Colliding

At the Big Communications Event (BCE) 2018 event in Austin, Melissa Arnoldi, president of Technology and Operations at AT&T, spoke about AT&T's path to 5G and the important role software plays.

Eurobites: Deutsche Telekom Sets Out Broadband Targets

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Zuck to face Eurocrats over data privacy shenanigans; MTS claims LAA breakthrough; ADVA's encryption wins.

Telecom Italia Plots Layoffs, Slams Unions

Italian phone incumbent is reportedly looking to cut about 7% of its workforce as it automates and digitizes operations.

Large & In Charge: Operators Take Control

Network operators are taking more control over the digital transformation process as reliance on traditional vendors weakens.

TM Forum Sea-Change Overcomes That Sinking Feeling

The industry association now dedicated to digital transformation answers some of its critics with a well-received show in Nice.

WiC Panel: Societal Pressure Drives Diversity & Inclusion

Measuring success with diversity and inclusion can be challenging and companies can only enact change with buy-in from top executives, panelists said.

Barracuda Drops Cloud-Delivered Web Application Firewall Service

Verizon’s annual data breach report found web applications had the most breaches in 2017.

CSPs bullish on digital transformations but lack follow-through

While CSPs realize the importance of implementing digital transformation strategies via partner ecosystems, their follow-through is lacking.

Sprint offers some employees bonuses to stay on board: report

Sprint confirmed to local media in Kansas City that some employees are being offered retention bonuses.

Another looming 5G challenge: Getting customers to upgrade

Moving subscribers to 5G networks will help carriers manage network traffic, but they can't do it until customers buy 5G-ready smartphones.

Verizon hopes to launch standards-based 5G this year

Verizon plans to bring 5G to four U.S. cities this year and hopes to have standards-based equipment in place for some of those deployments.

Trump Axes Top Cybersecurity Role, Kaspersky Moves to Switzerland

A new U.S. cybersecurity strategy calls on government agencies to work more closely with private sector companies to reduce risks.

HPE buys Plexxi to boost hybrid cloud infrastructure

HPE announced yesterday that it's acquiring Plexxi in a bid to boost its software-defined portfolio for hybrid cloud infrastructure.

Rackspace Joins the Managed Kubernetes Fray

The company sees its platform as having a scale advantage over tech-focused vendors like Docker, but with more agility than larger systems integrators like IBM.

Sprint Joins ORAN Alliance and Linux Foundation Networking Fund

The operator is growing its open source clout prior to its merger with T-Mobile.

Verizon touts real-world deployment of CBRS

Verizon has successfully tested LTE over Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) on a live commercial network in Florida.

RingCentral Unites SD-WAN and Unified Communications

RingCentral partners, such as VMware and CloudGenix, are optimizing their SD-WAN offerings to work in concert with RingCentral’s unified communications products.

AT&T to use prestandard 5G standalone configuration at U.S. Open

AT&T will use a prestandard version of the 5G New Radio standalone configuration when it teams up to stream 4K video at the U.S. Open Championship.

Cryptojacking Is the New Black, Cloud Security Reports Say

One report found that 25 percent of organizations currently have illicit cryptomining activity in their cloud environments.

Cisco: Revenue Slump? What Revenue Slump?

Cisco is putting a bad two years of financial results behind it, but service provider revenue is a dark spot.

Senate Vote Says Net Neutrality Can Stay Around a Little Longer

Take the wins where you can get 'em.

Rackspace Launches Kubernetes-as-a-Service

New offering will help enterprises get the most from managed Kubernetes in the multi-cloud.

Oracle Boosts Machine Learning With DataScience.com Buy

Oracle will integrate DataScience.com into the Oracle Cloud Platform.

White House Axes Top Cybersecurity Role, Strengthens Agency CIOs

White House says it's reducing bureaucracy.

BCE Panel: Open Source Makes Telcos 'Nimble'

Open source can drive agility and change, but telcos need to overcome cultural obstacles.

Eurobites: Telefónica Journeys Further Into the Cloud With AWS

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Ericsson deploys machine learning for SoftBank; Italtel plays part in network automation; Elisa seeks AI-powered light-bulb moment.

BT Revamps Consumer Offers, Adds Amazon to TV

UK incumbent makes a big push on convergence in a bid to reinvigorate its ailing consumer business.

The Inner Digital Transformation World in Nice

What's it all for? Why are we here? What's the French for 'ennui'? Oh, I nearly forgot: Here's the much-anticipated recap of the TM Forum event on the French Riviera.

Verizon CEO Says LA Is Second 5G City

LA is next up for Verizon's fixed 5G.

AT&T’s Donovan on T-Mobile/Sprint merger: We won’t contest it

AT&T has its hands full with its own planned acquisition of Time Warner, but it isn’t going to stand in the way of another big proposed merger, that of T-…

Sprint, Verizon Reveal New 5G Launch Markets

Early 5G markets will be a diverse group of cities — from densely populated New York City to flat, sprawling Phoenix.

Netscout’s Monitoring Makes the Cut in Telefónica’s Lab

Vendors that want to sell to Telefónica’s Unica must get their VNFs certified and comply with OSM.

Mun: Is Sprint a victim of 'The Rule of Three and Four'?

The proposed combination of T-Mobile and Sprint raises questions related to Bruce Henderson’s “The Rule of Three and Four."

Carriers can reap cash savings using MEC: study

Carriers can tap into significant cost savings by creating local breakouts that offload traffic through multiaccess edge computing (MEC).

AT&T: LTE speeds will double thanks to FirstNet

AT&T said Tuesday the technologies that tower technicians are adding to the AT&T network as they light up the FirstNet spectrum will double LTE speeds.

Verizon names Los Angeles as 5G city

Verizon said it will launch 5G in four U.S. cities this year. Los Angeles is the second city named; the first was Sacramento, California.

Verizon picks AWS as its public cloud provider

Verizon announced today that it was going with Amazon Web Services (AWS) as its preferred public cloud provider.

ADVA Drives Cloud-Native Encryption Into ConnectGuard Platform

The cloud-native update also bolsters the platform's ability to protect against the Spectre and Meltdown processor vulnerabilities.

T-Mobile CTO discusses planned integration of Sprint network

T-Mobile says that the integration of the Sprint network will be similar to its integration of MetroPCS and will in some ways be even easier.

HPE Buys Plexxi, Flexes Hyperconverged and Composable Muscles

Plexxi simultaneously announced updates to its hyperconverged software stack, building on its intent-based networking capabilities.

Adtran Shepherds Broadband Forum Project on Application-Level Testing

While Adtran has been working internally to build models for application-level testing, with Broadband Forum it can create a standards-based approach to the modeling.

Google, Facebook, others press for 6 GHz rulemaking

A group of companies—including Apple, Facebook, Google and Qualcomm, among others—says it's time for a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for the 6 GHz band.

Verizon to Migrate 1,000 Biz Apps and Backend Systems to AWS

The deal bolsters Verizon’s overall operations, but it also boosts AWS’ position among the country’s largest telecom operators.

T-Mobile: Not an All or Nothing When It Comes to vRAN

Virtualizing the RAN is a goal for operators but it won’t happen overnight.

Will Intel White Box uCPE Pass Service Providers’ Taste Tests?

A handful of OEMs are already building products based on the new reference architecture for uCPE.

The 5G Connectivity Challenge

5G promises to change the way we live our lives, with unprecedented services and unparalleled user experience. To facilitate the experience, mobile network operators (MNOs) need to build an underlying connectivity infrastructure that is capable of delivering on demands like massive machine connectivity, ultra-low latency and hyper-flexible bandwidth. Preparing for these changes will require a whole new way of thinking and working for many operators worldwide.

Sprint Reveals 3 More 5G Cities, Promises 'Cool' 5G Phone & Small Cell

Sprint promises new design thinking for its first 5G handset.

Leading Lights 2018

A recap of the 14th annual Leading Lights Awards in Austin, TX. Congratulations to all the winners!

HPE to Acquire Plexxi for Hybrid Cloud Infrastructure Muscle

Plexxi adds software-defined networking technology to complement compute and storage networking in HPE's hyperconverged infrastructure.

TM Forum, ONAP to Meet in Beijing

TM Forum says its open APIs will be included in the next version of the ONAP platform.

Vodafone Prioritizes Automation as Efficiency Bolsters Margins

UK-based operator reduces headcount by 3% and targets automation across the business as margins rise.

Intel Cooks Up Recipes to Speed uCPE Adoption

Intel Select Solutions for uCPE aims to get service providers to market more quickly while making network services simpler for enterprises.

Rotterdam Sets Sail Toward Self-Driving Ships

IBM and Cisco are working with Europe's largest port to reduce fuel consumption and other costs and improve safety.

Four Cloud Skills Every Network Admin Needs

For network admins used to wrangling on-premises networks, cloud networks are different animals to tame.

Eurobites: Colao to Leave Vodafone in the Fall

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Iliad revamps top table; BT joins forces with Europol; NetScout gets the nod from Telefónica.

Vodafone Cut 3,300 Jobs Last Year, Prioritizes Automation

UK-based operator reduces headcount by 3% and targets automation across the business as margins rise.

ADVA Moves Encryption Into Software to Protect Cloud-Based Apps

Ensemble Connector now supports deploying software-based encryption at multiple endpoints, including public cloud sites and customer premises.

KT Builds Africa’s 1st Nationwide LTE Network in Rwanda

KT announced on May 14th that it celebrated the completion of Rwanda’s 4G LTE network at the Transform Africa Summit 2018, Africa’s largest ICT conference, which was held May 7-10 in the Rwandan capital, Kigali.

Survey: Culture, organization issues curb digital transformation

Cultural and organizational obstacles are weighing down communications service providers' digital transformations, according to a TM Forum report.

Verizon's Vestberg: Small cell numbers do not measure 5G progress

Speaking Monday morning at an investor conference, Verizon CTO Hans Vestberg described the carrier's approach to architecting its 5G network.

Between ZTE and Qualcomm, U.S.-China trade war may be cooling

The brewing trade war between the United States and China may have taken a step back.

Wi-Fi Alliance introduces EasyMesh

The Wi-Fi Alliance is introducing Wi-Fi Certified EasyMesh, a new certification program for bringing more consistency to in-home mesh networks.

Verizon’s Fixed 5G Plan Is Just 1 Slice of Its 5G Deployment Picture

The carrier sees an addressable market of some 30 million homes for its fixed 5G service plans, but it will also support slices for mobile and enterprise services.

Adtran leads Broadband Forum's application-level testing project

Adtran has taken a leadership role in the development of the Broadband Forum's new application-level testing initiative.

Fortanix Scores Partnerships with IBM Cloud and Equinix, Encrypts Data in Use

The encryption software only runs on Intel hardware now, but the startup isn’t ruling out support for other vendors in the future.

Sprint taps Casa for small cells

Casa Systems said Sprint is one of its newest small cell customers.

Contrail’s Founder Raises $25M for Volterra, a New Startup Focused on Business Use Cases

Ankur Singla says that solving business problems has more value than simply selling a technology.

Trump Intervenes in ZTE Drama to Get Company ‘Back in Business, Fast’

President Donald Trump tweeted Sunday that he and Chinese President Xi were in talks to resolve, or potentially lessen, the ban imposed on the Chinese firm last month.

CTIA, CCA urge FCC to add 37, 39, 42 GHz bands to 24 GHz auctio

CTIA and the Competitive Carriers Association are urging the FCC to add the 37, 39 and 42 GHz bands to the auction of the 24 GHz band.

Google, Federated, others prep for CBRS field trials

Representatives from six conditionally approved SAS administrators met with regulators to discuss methods by which field trials might be conducted.

Announcing...WiC's 2018 Leading Lights Winners

Congratulations to AT&T's Anne Chow, CableLab's Dr. Jennifer Andreoli-Fang and Movandi's Maryam Rofougaran, our 2018 WiC Leading Lights winners.

Leading Lights 2018: The Winners

Find out which companies have landed the 2018 Leading Lights Awards.

Light Reading Hall of Fame 2018

Find out who's been welcomed into the Light Reading Hall of Fame this year.

Telus CTO: NFV Burden May Cripple Telcos

Canadian operator says exorbitant software maintenance fees and a bigger operations team is undermining the cost attractions of NFV.

ONF: Major Vendors Not Joining Open Edge

ONF's Timon Sloane tells Open Compute Project Workshop that incumbents haven't yet embraced fully disaggregating edge compute and open source.

Trump Tweetplomacy Could Backfire

President Trump's peacemaking move over ZTE's survival could come at a price, while ZTE appears to be in hot water elsewhere.

China Mobile IoT: China Mobile Partners With Huawei to Create the Era of IoE

China Mobile aims to create an Internet of Everything (IoE), in which thousands of businesses are empowered to create billions of connected devices.

Who's Doing What With VR

In a special NAB breakdast workshop, experts discuss what's happening in the emerging VR video market, what type of content works and what doesn't.

Eurobites: Telcos Offering Less Than Zero-Touch Service, Says Ericsson Report

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: speculation over possible BT sale prep; VEON, Vodacom report; Virgin and TalkTalk joining forces?

AT&T, San Jose Sew Up Model Small Cell Deal

Enemies no more.

Making Sense of Content Overload

The time is ripe for communications and media providers to use their scale and customer data to deliver a truly personalized experience to viewers.

DT to Lay Out Conditions for All-Fiber Splurge

German operator will present the investment criteria for a much bigger rollout of all-fiber networks later this month.

CenturyLink Exec: Enterprise Success Is All About the Network

Ed Morche says the company will continue to invest in wireline infrastructure and focus on the best on-net service experience.