SDxCentral’s Top 10 Articles — December 2019

Check out our top 10 articles for December 2019, covering the SDxCentral universe of SDN, NFV, and related topics. Rankings are based on unique visitors aggregated during the month.

GlobalData: expect a flood of 5G devices in 2020

5G networks have been launched, though uptake has been questionable, but this is set to change in 2020 according to research firm GlobalData.

5G Put Down International Roots in 2019

5G was a nearly worldwide phenomenon in 2019. It was a year of many firsts in the United States and much of the rest of the world. Bragging rights are still very much tinted by the eyes of the beholder. The United States, China, South Korea, and some European countries are effectively battling for the lead and many others are close behind.

Juniper SD-WAN Demo Lets Customers Try Before They Buy

It seems SD-WAN vendors are finally getting wise to just how confusing the crowded market has become. Juniper Networks today announced a virtual tour of its Contrail SD-WAN platform designed to make it easier for customers to buy with confidence.

Cisco’s 2019 was Flush With 5G, Security, and SD-WAN

Cisco exerted considerable influence across the 5G, security, and SD-WAN markets in 2019. The vendor’s considerable berth allows it to play in those highly competitive ecosystems with its experience bringing along serious clout.

SD-WAN: It's Not Just for Scrooges Anymore

SD-WAN has emerged as the essential glue connecting services running in the public cloud, as well as emerging 5G and Internet of Things applications.

Huawei Braces for 'Difficult' 2020 After Q4 Slowdown

Despite fourth quarter slowdown, Huawei's 2019 full year revenues are still on course to increase by 18% to around $122 billion.

AT&T, Verizon light up 5G in more markets

AT&T and Verizon have each expanded their respective 5G reach, launching service in additional cities ahead of the new year.  

VMware wraps up its $2.7 billion Pivotal deal

VMware is closing out the year by putting a bow on its $2.7 billion deal to buy Pivotal Software, which was first announced in August.

FierceTelecom's 10 most-read stories of 2019

As the year comes to a close, FierceTelecom is taking a look back at some of its most-read stories from 2019.

Brookfield snaps up Cincinnati Bell for $2.6 billion

Toronto-based conglomerate Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP has struck a deal to buy Cincinnati Bell for $2.6 billion. Under the terms of the cash-and-debt deal, Cincinnati Bell shareholders would receive $10.50 in cash for each share of common stock, or 36% above the company's $7.72 closing price on December 20.

Top 10 FierceWireless stories in 2019

Not surprisingly, the proposed merger between T-Mobile and Sprint garnered a lot of interest during 2019. News about Dish possibly entering the wireless market and upstart Rakuten also commanded readers' attention. These were some of the top stories on FierceWireless in 2019. 

2020: convergence, divestment, disappointment and political posturing

With 2020 drawing to a close, it’s only fair to have a look at how the industry has been shaped over the last few months, and what to expect in the build up to Mobile World Congress.

Happy New Year, Europe! And let’s learn AI

Finland is offering free AI primer to all EU countries, aiming to provide basic AI literacy to 1% of the Union’s total population by 2021.

Vodafone Australia Blames 5G Delays on Huawei Ban

Australia’s third-largest mobile network operator signed a five-year contract with Nokia for the procurement and delivery of 5G equipment. Vodafone Hutchison Australia said it plans to begin deploying 5G services in the first half of 2020.

VMware Folds Pivotal Into New Modern App Biz Unit

VMware closed on its $2.7 billion purchase of Pivotal, folding those operations into a new business unit headed by a long-time VMware executive. The move also sets VMware up to take advantage of its newly acquired Kubernetes assets heading into 2020.

MNJ Demo Lab Gives Customers an SD-WAN Speed Dating Experience

With a glut of SD-WAN vendors crowding the market, it can often be difficult for enterprises, especially smaller ones, to choose the best vendor for their needs.

5G & Huawei Dominated Asia in 2019

Two main topics, sometimes combined, dominated Asia's telecoms sector news during the past 12 months.

Cisco's Big 'Silicon One' Bet

Cisco is fundamentally changing its business strategy to support selling disaggregated components, in addition to integrated solutions, in a bid to win business from hyperclouds such as Amazon and Microsoft.

SDxCentral’s Top 10 Articles of 2019

Check out our top 10 articles of 2019, covering the SDxCentral universe of SDN, NFV, and related topics. Rankings are based on unique visitors aggregated during the year.

2019: The Year US Carriers Waged a 5G Advertising War

Although 5G deployments during 2019 were relatively uninspiring, operators in the US spared no expense when it came to advertising their 5G efforts.

What's Bright, Shiny & Not GEM?

Cable operators are expanding their business services reach well beyond the traditional government, education and medical sectors to take in verticals like hospitality, agribusiness and even e-gaming.

Five IoT Startups to Watch in 2020

Here are some of the IoT startups making waves in 2020.

Top 5 Cybersecurity Predictions for 2020

When it comes to cybersecurity, the types of attacks and threat vectors are always a moving target pitting the white hats against the black hats in an epic battle for our networks that isn’t going to be won anytime soon. (Sorry to be a downer during the holidays.) But the good news is that technology is also ever evolving, and some of the smartest people are working on new ways to secure infrastructure and endpoints while also preventing future attacks from happening. While the brightest minds are working to solve those problems, we at SDxCentral are turning to the crystal ball to wildly speculate about what’s to come in the new year. Grab your tinfoil hat and a champagne cocktail, snuggle up in front of a warm fireplace, and check out our five security predictions for 2020. And if they don’t come true, AI wrote this.

2020 Preview: 5G marketing remains messy

This year already saw its share of confusion among consumers as U.S. operators launched initial 5G service, and 2020 could see additional growing pains when different flavors of the next-generation technology hit the masses.

Industry offers a bunch of telecoms predictions for 2020

It wouldn’t be the last working day of the year without the good old predictions piece so here are a bunch we got together from assorted telecoms industry luminaries.

Telefonica sells 2,029 towers in Ecuador and Colombia

Telefonica has confirmed the sale of 2,029 towers in Ecuador and Colombia for €290 million to Phoenix Tower International.

Huawei promises to launch P40 with Google service replacement, reports say

Huawei has told the media that P40, the company’s next flagship smartphone will be launched with its own mobile service suite but will be built on Android 10 instead of its own HarmonyOS.

'What’s Dead May Never Die' — SD-WAN's Undying Story

“You know nothing John Snow,” and according to three of the leading SD-WAN providers, neither does Aviatrix CEO Steve Mullaney. The executive raised eyebrows earlier this month when he effectively called SD-WAN a dead man walking and predicted the market’s demise.

Huawei Battles Reigned in 2019

Huawei struck back at a new report that claims the China-based vendor benefitted disproportionately from government subsidies that bolstered the vendor’s operational advantage compared to its competitors. The discourse also puts a fitting bow on what has been a dizzying mix of hits and misses for Huawei in 2019.

Top 10 Money Moves of 2019 in SDxCentral's World

Finances remained a hot topic in the cloud and SDN space for 2019, as tens of billions of dollars were thrown at various mergers and acquisitions, initial public offerings (IPOs), and through venture capital investments. Here are 10 of the biggest Money Moves of 2019 as compiled by the SDxCentral Editorial staff.

This Olde Website: 2019

Let's take another jaunt down the World Wide Web of yesteryear, shall we?

Don't Hold Your Breath for Laptops With 5G

Qualcomm and Intel are positioning themselves to help sell laptops that sport built-in 5G connections. However, there doesn't seem to be much demand for such devices, at least not yet.

Who Went Where: The Top Headcount Changes of 2019

Each year, technology and software companies make headlines as they drive change in the software-defined world. But every so often the people behind the scenes make headlines and changes of their own. This is why each month SDxCentral publishes its Headcount column tracking the latest executive hirings, promotions, and staff changes. Below we’ve compiled this year’s biggest Headcount moves as compiled by the SDxCentral Editorial staff.

Kubernetes Opportunities, Challenges Escalated in 2019

If 2018 was the year that Kubernetes broke into the mainstream, then 2019 was the year that reality set in. And that reality is that while Kubernetes is awesome, it’s also hard.

Nuage Networks CEO Sunil Khandekar: SD-WAN Crosses the DIY Chasm

Podcast: Service providers and their enterprise customers face new opportunities and challenges as SD-WAN moves from DIY to cloud service, says Sunil Khandekar, founder and CEO of Nokia's Nuage business unit.

Hyperclouds Muscle in on Telco Cloud

Hyperclouds such as Amazon and Microsoft are partnering with Verizon, AT&T and other telcos, seeking big opportunities on the edge and elsewhere. Look for that trend to accelerate in the new year.

Forget 5G, It's 4G That Hasn't Even Peaked Yet

Although standalone 5G is coming in 2020, 4G isn't expected to 'peak' until 2022. And experts say it will likely stick around for at least another decade.

Why Gaming Is a Promising 5G Market

For network operators with the right combination of assets, strategy and courage, gaming provides an interesting 5G avenue to explore.

Iliad joins the tower divestment trend

Iliad has confirmed the sale of its tower businesses in France and Italy to European infrastructure giant Cellnex.

US starts huffing and puffing over Huawei again

The US Government is on the Huawei offensive once again, throwing another warning to the UK and suggesting the industry should open-source 5G technology to counter the threat.

2020 preview: Microsoft and Google chase Amazon in cloud sector

Amazon Web Services' commanding lead in the cloud sector seems insurmountable, but expect Microsoft, Google and other providers to keep chipping away in 2020.

An Insider's View of the T-Mobile/Sprint Trial

For ten days in New York City, lawyers waged a final, all-out battle around the proposed merger of Sprint and T-Mobile. A veteran court journalist was there for the whole thing. Here's what he saw.

Meet Trump's New 5G Czar

President Trump named Robert Blair to lead his administration's 5G efforts. Blair has a background in national security issues, and just weeks ago defied a Congressional subpoena to testify about Trump's dealings with Ukraine.

Ciena Gets Ready to Leap Into 2020

The optical networking leader is pounding the table for webscale providers and telcos to move straight to 800G in the coming year, minimizing the competitive momentum of several vendors in the 600G space.

Chipmakers' Biggest Buys and Sells of 2019

The past year has been inundated by a wave of consolidation among chipmakers. Throughout 2019, billions of dollars changed hands as industry giants attempted to fill gaps in their product lines and bolster their positions in some of the world’s most competitive markets including data center connectivity, artificial intelligence (AI), and 5G networking.

True or False With Dan Jones

Light Reading Mobile Editor Dan Jones stakes his job and reputation on answering tricky questions about the cable and mobile industries.

Cable's Greatest Hits of 2019

Here's a curated recap of some of the top tech news and trends for cable, including the '10G' initiative, MSO mobile moves and the industry's troubled and complicated relationship with pay-TV.

Italy throws Huawei a bone and the US a cheap-shot

The Italian Government looks set to greenlight Huawei’s involvement in the market, while simultaneously criticising the increasing protectionist trends around the world.

Raynovich: What's next for SD-WAN? A bigger, bolder play

The run in SD-WAN has been fun to watch. Just a few years ago, discussions about how SD-WAN technology could transform the enterprise edge into a more flexible cloud model brought quizzical stares. Now, everybody and their cousin in the networking market are putting together an SD-WAN strategy.

Brookfield finds more cash for $2.6bn Cincinnati Bell purchase

Brookfield Infrastructure has continued its Christmas spending spree with the acquisition of Cincinnati Bell for $2.6 Billion.

2020 Preview: 5G devices go mainstream

Although 2019 saw initial 5G deployments from the four major U.S. carriers and early 5G devices hit the market, many expect 2020 to be the year when 5G handset adoption starts to really gain traction.

2020 Preview: A new chapter in wireless competition

Throughout 2019 T-Mobile and Sprint’s pending merger dominated headlines as the “will they, won’t they” dragged on longer than expected after state AGs sued to block the deal. While we still don’t know the final outcome of that decision, it tees up major changes for the wireless industry in 2020. 

2020 Preview: Mid-band spectrum finally inches to U.S. market

While some thought 2019 would be the break-out year for mid-band spectrum in the U.S., it’s really 2020 when the middle of the spectrum “layer cake” comes to fruition.

Looking back at 2019—the good, the band and the ugly

2019 was a tumultuous year for many wireless firms. Nearly 20 months after announcing its intent to purchase Sprint, T-Mobile still hasn’t closed the deal and is now in court battling to keep the acquisition on track. AT&T struggled with an activist investor resulting in the company agreeing to sell $10 billion in non-core assets. And Verizon is pushing to deploy 5G in 30 markets nationwide despite the fact that it reduced its employee headcount by 17,000 in the past year.

2020 preview: Liftoff for uCPE, white box switches and routers

The deployment of white boxes and universal customer premises equipment has been a slow train coming, but that will change in 2020.

France fines Google another €150 million

The French antitrust authority has fined Google €150 million for applying opaque and difficult to understand rules in an inconsistent manner.

2020 Preview: Operators will deploy DSS

Major carriers in the U.S., including Verizon and AT&T, are eyeing dynamic spectrum sharing (DSS) as an important technology for extending 5G services.

2020 Preview: Mobile edge computing fuels disruption

The coming year is likely to bring more progress with 5G and mobile edge computing (MEC), but the progress is expected to be gradual and not without its challenges, according to GlobalData.

California drives forward with autonomous delivery

California has opened the traps for wide-scale testing and commercial application of autonomous vehicles for delivery companies across the state.

US Government says UAE is spying now as well – report

The US Government is now allegedly suggesting the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is using a popular messaging app to spy on individuals around the world.

mmWave Auction Nears $6B, but Action Slows

The FCC's third and biggest mmWave spectrum auction has blown past some analysts' estimates, but bidders' interest in licenses appears to be waning.

T-Mobile/Sprint Merger Trial Testimony Ends, Waiting Game Begins

The main, testimony phase of the merger trial for Sprint and T-Mobile is now over. The judge overseeing the trial isn't expected to issue a ruling until February.

5G Gains US Foothold in 2019

As the year comes to a close it’s important to note that 5G became a bonafide reality in 2019. All four of the nationwide operators in the United States have now deployed 5G services, and the country’s largest regional carrier plans to join the party in the first quarter of 2020.

Court Slams Cox With $1B Copyright Fine

Federal jury in Virginia finds that large US operator willfully allowed its cable customers to download music illegally; Cox plans appeal.

Verizon Reaches 5G Buildout Goal, Promises More to Come

Verizon says it offers 5G service in 31 markets, meeting its self-imposed 2019 goal. What will Verizon do for a 5G follow-up in 2020?

Brookfield to Buy Cincinnati Bell for $2.6B

Baby, if you've ever wondered what became of Cincinnati Bell... it is being bought by a Toronto conglomerate that has a penchant for telco assets.

Is AI the Antidote to Network Complexity?

Dreams of a future built on 5G networks and powered by IoT dominated the conversation at conferences in 2019. But for all these grand visions there’s a problem: How do you manage networks with millions of cell sites connecting billions of IoT devices? According to some the answer is better visibility enabled by artificial intelligence (AI).

Nokia Lands Another 4G/5G Private Network Deal

Brussels airport is working with Nokia and Citymesh to build a cellular private network that will be based initially on 4G technology but will also be ready for 5G.

Telstra Joins the Cloud-Native Club

Australian telco has worked with Ericsson to deploy a cloud-native packet core for 4G and 5G.

Cisco Warns About Ongoing Security Exploit

Cisco’s Talos researchers have warned about an increase in exploitation attempts against its Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) and Firepower Appliance tied to a vulnerability initially discovered last year.

F5's $1B Shape Security Acquisition: What It Means for SPs

Shape has multiple service provider customers who rely on the service for fraud and abuse detection, and the deal also provides potential for managed services opportunities.

Broadcom Sidelines Wireless, Plans Unit Sale

Chip giant is hardly ever out of the M&A mix and is now reportedly seeking to sell its RF chip unit for up to $10 billion.

India Set to Auction 5G Spectrum by April 2020

The Indian authorities are on course for a massive spectrum auction during the early months of 2020 but there's little appetite for it among the country's mobile operators.

Why the Rise of SVOD Could Boost Pay-TV

Service providers have a great chance to take advantage of the OTT video phenomenon by melding streaming video services into their pay-TV packages and offering greater choice, convenience and navigation to consumers.

Exploring Cable's 5G & CBRS Prospects

Light Reading Mobile Editor Dan Jones shares nuggets about 5G and CBRS from our Cable Next-Gen Business Strategies event in New York.

The Saga of T-Mobile US and Sprint’s Quest to Merge

The year will end as it began with four nationwide mobile network operators in the United States. This unchanged composition of the market was largely unexpected 12 months ago.

FCC, DoJ argue for T-Mobile/Sprint deal

The Department of Justice and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Friday filed court documents supporting the merger of T-Mobile and Sprint and criticizing the states that are fighting the deal in court.

Former Orange CEO jailed over workers’ suicides

French telco Orange has been found guilty of ‘moral harassment’ by a French court, with former CEO Didier Lombard facing a suspended jail sentence.

Adva's edge device notches MEF 3.0 certification for 100G

Adva is laying claim to having the first aggregation and demarcation device on the market to achieve MEF 3.0 Carrier Ethernet certification for 100G interfaces.

Wytec aims to upend MVNO industry with CBRS

A small firm based in San Antonio, Texas, wants to upend the MVNO industry in the U.S. so that cable operators are able to compete on par with mobile carriers. That means removing excess costs with which cable operators currently contend.

Colt Technology Services takes 'Lean NFV' on a test drive

Colt Technology Services is about to shift into its third network functions virtualization (NFV) iteration, and it's currently running "Lean NFV" in a pilot.

Apple working on secret satellite initiative – report

Apple appears to be cooking up a new satellite project involving next-generation wireless technology, though the iPhone-maker’s exact goal remains unclear, according to a new Bloomberg report.

F5 Networks buys Shape Security for $1B

F5 Networks is ending the year with a bang by buying privately-held Shape Security for $1 billion. The deal, which is subject to certain adjustments, blends F5's expertise in protecting applications across multi-cloud environments with Shape's fraud and abuse prevention capabilities.

Cox piracy ruling could open Pandora’s Box for US telcos

Cox Communications has found itself on the wrong wide of a $1 billion cheque after a court ruled it did not do enough to prevent illegal download of content across its network.

Brookfield expands telco footprint with WIG stake

Brookfield Infrastructure has expanded its communications infrastructure portfolio to the UK through the acquisition of a 93% stake in Wireless Infrastructure Group (WIG).

SpaceX fights back over Amazon’s satellite shortcut

Amazon is one of the many companies interested in deploying low-orbit satellites for the internet, but SpaceX is lobbying the FCC to prevent the internet giant dodging bureaucratic complications.

Facebook sets out to create its own OS

Facebook has reportedly hired ex-Microsoft employee Mark Lucovsky to oversee the development of its own operating system to reduce the dependence on Google’s Android.

New York Governor proposes localised net neutrality rules

New York state will join the likes of Washington and California in creating localised net neutrality rules.

SK Telecom and Samsung Heavy Industries Successfully Verified 5G-Powered Autonomous and Remote Control Navigation Test Platform Using a Test Ship

SK Telecom and Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) today announced that they have completed the development of a 5G-based autonomous and remote control navigation test platform and verified the platform using a test ship.

Is VMware Winning the Cloud Wars?

Pundits said that cloud would kill VMware. The virtualization giant proved them wrong, and during its most recent quarter saw hybrid cloud and software-as-a-service (SaaS) represent more than 13% of its total revenue — a 40% increase compared to last year.

Microsoft, Ericsson Connect Clouds to Connect Cars

Microsoft and Ericsson are connecting their connected vehicle programs in a move that targets automakers looking to add more connectivity to their products.

NTT DoCoMo Trials Homegrown 5G RAN

NTT DoCoMo says it has successfully completed trials of 5G network equipment in Thailand and Singapore. The Japanese-made gear was provided in a series of trials designed to elevate DoCoMo’s insights into the unique 5G requirements of global operators, including regional regulatory approvals, trading procedures, and compatibility with existing network equipment.

Nvidia's Mellanox Deal Gains EU Stamp

Nvidia cleared another hurdle in its $6.9 billion quest to acquire chipmaker Mellanox after the European Commission gave its stamp of approval Thursday.

Mobile Carriers Left Out of Home Automation Party

Amazon, Apple and Google come to a connected home deal, carriers not invited!

KT Joins the 5G Cloud Game Streaming Club

Korean operator teams up with cloud gaming specialist Ubitus for exclusive 5G-enabled service that will launch in March.

WiCipedia: Flexible Work Priorities, Next-Level VC & Top Women in Tech

This week in our WiCipedia roundup: Flexible work is a must-have for many women; Ada Ventures takes VC to a new level of equal opportunity; Telefónica raises ratio of women on board to 30% (and barely mentions it); and more.

Service Providers Start to Lock In on IoT Security

Service providers are partnering up and developing new IoT-focused cybersecurity tools and services as the smart home emerges as a soft, increasingly attractive target for hackers and pirates.

The Road to Containerized Network Functions

Virtual machines and containers can coexist in service provider networks, argues ADVA's Prayson Pate.

BBiTV Tosses Book at AT&T, DirecTV & Dish

Lawsuits take aim at connected set-top boxes and mobile apps capable of receiving VoD content via the Internet.

Eurobites: Orange Found Guilty in Suicides Case, Former CEO Jailed

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Huaweigate latest; O2 gets busy on the 5G and 4G fronts; Sparkle adds a PoP in Lagos; ADVA wins MEF seal of approval.

Brookfield Snaps Up UK Towers Firm

Brookfield continues to build out its wireless infrastructure portfolio with the acquisition of UK neutral host specialist Wireless Infrastructure Group (WIG).

Implementing Network-as-a-Service: Beyond Anecdotal

Over the past 12 months in informal discussions with both CSPs and their vendors, it became clear that NaaS was transitioning from the promising technology column to a strategic imperative technology.

Lawmakers pass bipartisan anti-robocall bill

Legislation tackling robocalls has made its way through Congress with bipartisan support, as the Senate on Thursday approved a bill that enables stronger FCC action against illegal robocallers and requires carriers to provide call-authentication technology to consumers at no cost.

Dish’s Ergen defends credibility at T-Mobile/Sprint trial

Dish Network co-founder and Chairman Charlie Ergen avoided handing states a clear win as they challenged his credibility and that of Dish as a wireless competitor this week during Sprint and T-Mobile’s merger trial.

Power grab heats up over 6 GHz

A group of tech industry giants is challenging assertions made by AT&T in its analysis of the 6 GHz band for unlicensed use, saying just two assumptions cause AT&T to “exaggerate all of its interference predictions by more than 1000%.”

NCTC hooks its members up with IP services from Zayo and Cogent

The National Cable Television Cooperative (NCTC) announced it's offering members IP transit services from both Zayo and Cogent Communications. Since it was founded in 1984, the NCTC has found strength in numbers for its members, and such is the case for the new IP transit services from Zayo and Cogent.

Boingo launches neutral host DAS at PDX

Boingo Wireless just last week revealed it's letting go of about 16% of its workforce, but it continues to rack up airport venues for neutral host cellular distributed antenna systems (DAS), announcing this week it has expanded its service to Portland International Airport (PDX).

Big Tech sign-up to make smart home standards

Apple, Amazon and Google are joining forces with the Zigbee Alliance to form the Connected Home over IP project to create universal standards for the smart home ecosystem.

China Mobile International opens doors on UK data center

China Mobile International announced on Thursday that it has opened its first European data center in the U.K. China Mobile International, a subsidiary of China Mobile, said the new data center, which opened earlier this month, serves as both an international exchange hub and an internet data center.  

Rysavy: Virtualization will transform the wireless industry

Although 5G features such as gigabit-per-second throughput and the ability to compete with wireline broadband generate the most attention, the cloudification of 5G networks will have the greatest impact on the wireless industry.

Facebook gets a thumbs-up from privacy officials

The Advocate General to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has said Facebook is not in violation of privacy rules in transferring data to US servers.

Black Friday and Cyber Week highlight the need for faster speeds

Driven in part by streaming services such as Disney +, Black Friday and Cyber Week broadband shoppers showed a marked preference for faster broadband speeds.

O2 signs on for 4G trials on London Underground

It seems like we have been promised the internet on the London Underground for years, and it might well become a reality in the next couple of months.

Micron expects up-tick after Huawei licence application win

US semiconductor firm Micron Technologies has said it expects a greatly improved 2020 after US authorities granted the firm a licence to trade with its largest customer, Huawei.

Facebook admits to tracking users even after opt-out

Two US Senators have gained the upper-hand over Facebook in a patient game of chess which could see further action from authorities.

32% of start-ups fear a bursting tech bubble is on the horizon

Research from venture capital firm First Bubble suggests 47% of start-up founders believe there is currently a tech bubble, and worryingly, 32% think it is about to burst.

Huawei to have another crack at foldable phone at MWC 2020

After a year where the foldable phone failed to live up to the expectations, Huawei has said it will have another crack at delivering on the promise at Mobile World Congress 2020.

F5 Buys Shape for $1B to Dominate Application Security

F5 Networks today said it will acquire fraud prevention company Shape Security for $1 billion in a deal that CEO and President François Locoh-Donou said “changes the game in application security.”

VMware, CenturyLink, 128 Unveil Holiday SD-WAN Deals

It seems everyone is coming together for the holidays, even SD-WAN providers as this week VMware, CenturyLink, and 128 Technology announced a series of new partnerships.

Instana Gifts Itself a Triple Acquisition

Tis the season for spending, and application performance monitoring (APM) provider Instana this week made money moves to further advance software construction insight with three acquisitions: BeeInstant of Ireland, StackImpact of Germany, and Signify, a technology from Jinspired.

Nvidia Strikes China Mobile Edge Supercomputer Deal

Nvidia has landed the world’s largest potential customer for the edge supercomputing platform it revealed just two months ago. The scope of the chipmaker’s deal with China Mobile is unclear, but it marks a major win for the vendor that underlines Nvidia’s ability to advance the nascent technology at scale.

EU Set to Green-Light Nvidia’s $6.9B Mellanox Acquisition

Nvidia might be in for some good news. The company’s $6.9 billion bid to acquire fellow chipmaker Mellanox could clear another hurdle later today, according to a Reuters report.

Report Blows Holes in Anonymized Location Privacy Claims

Companies dealing with users' cellphone location data promise that it's kept securely and anonymously. A new report from the NYT again serves to cast serious doubts on those claims.

Verizon Moves to Buy More mmWave & Midband Spectrum Licenses

Verizon asked the FCC for permission to purchase more spectrum licenses from the likes of Sunshine LMDS Network, Virginia Tech Foundation and Blue Ridge Wireless.

Microsoft, Oracle Now Interconnect in Canada

Microsoft and Oracle expanded the friendly direct network interconnect link between their respective cloud platforms to the most friendly of places: Canada.

Ampere Teases Next-Gen Chip, Teams Up With Nokia at the Edge

Ampere Computing, the startup founded by former Intel president Renee James, will soon ship its second-generation, Arm-based cloud data center chip.

Google Cloud’s 5 Boldest Moves of 2019

Google wants to oust top-ranked public cloud providers Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure. And, according to media reports, it set a 2023 internal deadline to become a top-two player in the market. It’s an ambitious goal, to put it gently. While Google has been gaining, Amazon’s share of worldwide public cloud revenues has hovered around 40% for a few years, and Microsoft’s has increased to almost 20%, according to Synergy Research Group. For comparison: Google’s got around 10% of the market.

TiVo, Xperi Tout Scale Benefits of Proposed All-Stock Combo

Execs say plan is to eventually separate the product and intellectual property businesses of TiVo and Xperi after they close their deal in Q2 2020.

NBCU Sizing Up $10 Price for Ad-Free 'Peacock' – Report

Comcast-owned programmer also mulling $4.99 price on ad-supported version of subscription SVoD service slated to debut in April 2020.

Eurobites: 1&1 Drillisch Taps Telefónica for 5G Spectrum

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: more diversity at Telefónica; Vodafone sells its subsidiary in Malta; Ericsson and Microsoft team up for connected cars; Huawei frozen out of Greenland.

Fortinet's 21,000 SD-WAN customers tops Cisco's numbers

Fortinet took direct aim at Cisco by announcing on Wednesday that it now has 21,000 worldwide FortiGate Secure SD-WAN customers compared to Cisco's 20,000.

Dish aims to deploy 10K 5G sites by end of 2022

As Dish Network’s Charlie Ergen took the stand at the T-Mobile/Sprint merger antitrust trial this week he shared some additional details about the satellite provider’s planned network build.

Cloud data center capex on the rebound in Q3 - report

Driven by higher spending on new data centers, cloud data center capex bounced back to double-digit growth in the third quarter, according to a report by Dell'Oro Group.

Dish ‘mystery partner’ emerges during T-Mobile/Sprint trial

Dish Network co-founder and Chairman Charlie Ergen was given the opportunity Tuesday to present his arguments for how his company can and will build out a greenfield 5G network and become a fourth wireless competitor, and analysts say he was a strong witness for hopeful merger partners T-Mobile and Sprint.

C Spire, Entergy build $11M fiber project in rural Mississippi

C Spire and Entergy are putting the finishing touches on an $11 million all-fiber infrastructure project that paves the way for faster broadband speeds in rural areas of Mississippi.  

Dish CEO claims it can compete from Day One

Dish CEO Charlie Ergen has been sitting in a New York court room to defend the approval of the T-Mobile US-Sprint merger, but also insisting his company can compete in the cut-throat telco industry.

CenturyLink notches a large SD-WAN win with Braskem

CenturyLink landed an SD-WAN customer win that spans more than 50 locations across Latin America, North America, Europe and Asia. Those locations belong to Braskem, which is the largest thermoplastics resins producer in the Americas and a worldwide producer of biopolymers. The SD-WAN network will travel through more than 130 MPLS and dedicated internet links with a connection to the private cloud throughCenturyLink Cloud Connections.

Lowenstein: Reflections on the ‘Wireless Decade’

Industry analysts spend most of their time looking forward, but as we near the end of 2019, I think it’s important to take a moment and reflect on what could fairly be coined the ‘Wireless Decade’. Wireless/mobile was not only among the top stories in tech during the 2010s, but it was probably among the top five business stories of the past 10 years. Major tech players outside the traditional mobile ecosystem would either not exist, or would be a shell of what they are today, without smartphones and broadband wireless networks. Think Google, Facebook, Twitter, and Uber.

Telefónica kicks the tires on open source SD-WAN with flexiWAN

So far, so good for open source SD-WAN vendor flexiWAN. To wit: FlexiWAN announced on Wednesday that it has been working with Telefónica ahead of proof-of-concept (PoC) trials next year.  

India explores minimum prices for telcos

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has unveiled a public consultation to decide whether it needs to set minimum prices for data tariffs in the country.

Cisco names rival in trade secret lawsuit

Cisco has updated an existing lawsuit to include its rival, Poly, as well as Poly Executives, in the trade secret dispute.

EFF rouses rabble over .ORG sale

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has officially made its stance over the sale of the valuable .ORG domain registry to private equity firm Ethos Capital.

Silver Peak, Ciena Tackle Enterprise SD-WAN Deployments

Silver Peak and Ciena announced a team up that will pair the SD-WAN vendor’s software platform on the optical giant’s universal consumer premises equipment (uCPE). That combo is aimed at developing new service delivery models for communications service providers (CSPs) and greater flexibility for global enterprise customers.

Comcast's Xfinity Mobile Warns of Slower Speeds During 'Network Congestion'

Comcast plans to move its Xfinity Mobile customers to its =second generation= plans in February. Those plans include an important new caveat: speeds will be slowed during periods of 'network congestion.'

Why Illumio Wants You to Break Up With Your Firewall

Enterprises’ relationships with firewalls remains complicated. And most — 86% — still use firewalls to segment their applications and reduce the risk of data breaches, according to an Illumio report.

Starry Falls Behind 2019 Network Buildout Goal

The fixed wireless upstart says it is expanding to more cities but isn't disclosing its timeline for launching additional markets.

Ericsson Reveals Container-Based 5G ‘First’ With Telstra

Ericsson says it has, with an assist from Telstra, deployed the first cloud-native and container-based evolved packet core for 4G and 5G services. The Australian network operator launched limited 5G services on Ericsson equipment in May and has been building out its coverage to reach at least 35 cities during the first half of 2020.

AlefEdge, Packet, Federated Gel for Edge First

AlefEdge, Packet, and Federated Wireless combined their efforts on the live deployment of an edge area network in Massachusetts that used data center assets from an unnamed wireless infrastructure provider and the first use of the Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) spectrum for such a network.

Cisco Prepares to Unplug Its Cable Amps

End-of-sale and end-of-life alerts for 'GainMaker' cable amplifiers spur speculation that Cisco might pursue a licensing partnership with a third-party partner to sell and manufacture those products.

Dish's 5G Surprises: $10B in Loan Promises, Mystery 'Strategic Partners'

Dish Network's Charlie Ergen testified he has several banks lined up to loan the $10 billion he needs to build a 5G network. And Dish appears to have inked deals with unnamed 'strategic partners' for 5G.

How an FTTP Startup Makes SMB Gains in NY

Stealth Communications President and CEO Shrihari Pandit explains how the small FTTP player is wiring commercial districts outside the downtown and midtown Manhattan core for gigabit service.

Eurobites: Allez le Vente de 5G Spectrum!

In today's regional roundup: The French government gives le lumière verte to the 5G license sale process; Huawei hints at European components production site; EE turns on its 5G service in six more locations (hello Sunderland!); Rohde & Schwarz's golden CATR reflector sees some action; mobile data prices in Africa; and more.

Telefónica, flexiWAN Drive Open Source SD-WAN Development

Open source SD-WAN vendor flexiWAN today announced a partnership with Telefónica to develop a proof-of-concept SD-WAN service designed to run on white-box consumer premises equipment (CPE).

Opensignal Sees Smooth Transition for 3G Laggards

Opensignal reported that roughly 96% of Americans who connect to 3G actually have a 4G-capable device, which could pave the way for operators to re-purpose their 3G spectrum for 4G or 5G.

A Year in the Life of a Cellular IoT Modem: Quectel's AT&T Story

Quectel Wireless Solutions has a cellular IoT module certified for use AT&T's LTE-M and NB-IoT networks, but it's not a process that happens overnight.

The Telecoms.com Podcast: A Year in Review

Download the audio on Soundcloud here: https://soundcloud.com/telecoms-podcast/the-year-in-review and subscribe on all podcast platforms! Only Scott and Iain were around this week so they decided to look back on the year in telecoms over a few beers, with 5G and politics looming large.

It's 5G vs. WiFi 6 for the Factory of the Future

Is WiFi 6 a workable alternative to 5G for the factory of the future?

AlefEdge taps CBRS to deploy edge computing capabilities

AlefEdge, a company that provides a software stack for edge computing, worked with partners to deploy edge computing capabilities over Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) spectrum.

Windstream Enterprise cozies up to retail consulting partner

In a bid to boost the company's sagging fortunes, Windstream Enterprise announced on Tuesday a retail consulting partnership with enVista.

Google Cloud bolsters security with Fortinet, McAfee, Palo Alto

In an effort to woo enterprise customers away from Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud is partnering with a whole host of security vendors, including Fortinet, McAfee and Palo Alto Networks, to bolster security for its customers.

Lawmakers question FCC’s T-Mobile/Sprint merger approval process

U.S. lawmakers are pressing FCC Chairman Ajit Pai for answers over concerns that the agency’s approval process for the pending T-Mobile/Sprint merger was flawed and lacked transparency.

Verizon lights up 20th market as Des Moines gets 5G

Verizon is singing the praises of 5G as it counts down to its target of having mobile 5G in 30 markets by the end of the year, announcing 20 thus far, and ticking more off as each day passes.

MyData signs on first Finnish operator as battle for consumer data rights rages

MyData is not a company which many would have heard of, but it is one everyone should start to take notice of.

Hughes picks VMware/VeloCloud to deliver SD-WAN for enterprises

VMware's VeloCloud SD-WAN technology chalked up a big customer win by being picked by Hughes Network Systems for deployments to distributed enterprises.

Google giving up on Turkey

Google has announced that new Android devices in Turkey will no-longer be sold with its own applications pre-installed following an antitrust dispute with authorities in the country.

US introduces further rules to damage Huawei reputation

The US Energy and Commerce Committee has almost introduced rules to reinforce the ban on Huawei contributing components, products or services to communications infrastructure.

Ofcom proposes ban on selling ‘locked’ devices

Ofcom has proposed new rules which would stop UK telcos from strong-arming customers into renewed or extended contracts.

Reliance Jio offloads towers to settle Government bill

Telecoms disruptor Reliance Jio has been forced to sell its tower assets to Brookfield Infrastructure Partners for approximately $3.55 billion.

Cisco Wins Latest Battle in War Against Chinese Counterfeiters

Cisco won a temporary legal ruling in federal court that orders four Chinese manufacturers to stop selling counterfeit networking equipment, The Wall Street Journal reports. The temporary injunction also requires online sellers, including Amazon, Alibaba, and eBay, to remove listings of the phony Cisco-branded products.

Fortinet Leapfrogs Cisco With 21,000 SD-WAN Customers

Fortinet says its FortiGate Secure SD-WAN technology has been adopted by 21,000 customers, leapfrogging Cisco by about 1,000 businesses.

Amazon Snaps at New York Times Open Source Critique

Amazon snapped back at a recent New York Times article that delves into the cloud giant’s complex relationship with the open source community.

Podcast: Orange's Samir El Rashidy on the MSI Difference

Samir El Rashidy explains Multisourcing Service Integration (MSI) – Orange's approach to helping companies select and manage the right network services and technology suppliers.

Eurobites: Telefónica Plans Shift Away From Huawei for 5G Core – Report

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Orange agrees towers deal for rural France coverage; Ofcom proposes "locked" phones ban; Ericsson claims breakthrough with VoNR trial; Deutsche Telekom acquires chunk of gaming company.

Sun Sets on Liberty Global's Proposed Sale to Sunrise

Liberty Global has formally scuttled talks to sell off its Swiss unit to Sunrise, setting forth on a turnaround plan that the operator says is 'on track.'

Intel Chip Flaw Plunderbolt Hits Secure Enclaves

Intel issued a patch for a major vulnerability in many of its processors that could allow attackers to change information stored on the chip’s secure enclave. The flaw, dubbed Plunderbolt by international researchers who discovered it, affects all Software Guard Extension (SGX)-enabled Intel Core processors from Skylake onward.

Semtech to Launch LoRa Trial With Shipping Group

Wilhelmsen adopts LoRa for on-ship monitoring and more.

Bids top $2B at FCC’s third mmWave spectrum auction

Gross proceeds from the FCC’s third high band 5G spectrum auction surpassed the $2 billion mark on day five of auction action.

Judge asks Legere why Sprint can’t do a turnaround like T-Mobile

One of the biggest arguments that Sprint and T-Mobile have made in favor of their $26 billion merger is that Sprint is a failing company with a dismal future.

Dish’s Ergen testimony anticipated in T-Mobile/Sprint trial

Framing the “trial of the century” like a football game, analysts at New Street Research are gearing up for the second half, with the T-Mobile and Sprint this week getting a chance to argue their points for their proposed merger after most of last week involved opposing states presenting their case.

Cisco snags Exablaze to target low-latency applications

Following on the heels of last week's "Internet for the Future" announcement that included the news that Cisco is developing its own silicon, Cisco announced on Monday that it is buying Exablaze to better enable low latency applications.

Intel drops $2 billion on AI chip maker Habana Labs

Having once more failed at mobile, US chip giant Intel is doubling down on the datacenter, where artificial intelligence is expected to be ever more prominent.

BT sells off Spanish assets to Portobello Capital

As part of an effort to pare down its Global Services division's assets, BT sold its Spanish fiber networks and data centers to private equity group Portobello Capital.

Altice Europe strikes a $1.7B deal for fiber in Portugal

Alice Europe's Portuguese subsidiary MEO has inked a deal with Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners to build what it says will be the first nationwide fiber wholesaler in Portugal. As part of the deal, MEO will sell off a minority equity stake of 49.99% in Altice Portugal's fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) assets for an initial price of $1.74 billion.

BT streamlining continues with sale of Spanish managed services

UK telecoms group BT is in the middle of a major streamlining operation and the latest casualty is its Spanish managed ICT services business.

China threatens Germany over Huawei

At the Handelsblatt industrial summit, Chinese Ambassador Ken Wu said that any decision by the German government to exclude Huawei from its 5G network would have consequences.

Ericsson, MediaTek eye standalone 5G with VoNR test

Ericsson says standalone 5G is one step closer following the vendor’s successful Voice over New Radio (VoNR) interoperability test with partner MediaTek.

Blaber: Private 5G networks poised for take-off in 2020

In CCS Insight's recent survey of IT decision-makers, connectivity was ranked the sixth biggest priority for investment over the next 18 months (see IT Decision-Maker Workplace Technology Survey 2019). Security of networks, cloud services, devices and applications all featured as the leading priorities of IT decision-makers, along with cloud productivity and collaboration.

New Orleans declares State of Emergency after cyber-attack

Servers were powered down and devices unplugged, as New Orleans suffered a cyber-attack comprehensive enough to force Mayor LaToya Cantrell to declare a State of Emergency.

Altice bags €2.3bn Morgan Stanley cash in wholesale deal

Altice has struck a deal with US investment bank Morgan Stanley which will see its Portuguese unit create a nationwide wholesale business.

Boingo cuts 16% of workforce

Boingo Wireless disclosed last week that it was eliminating about 80 positions, or 16% of its workforce, as part of a restructuring designed to increase profitability.

Net neutrality argument reappears with another court appeal

A coalition of consumer interest groups are attempting to reinvigorate the dying embers of the net neutrality debate with a petition filed with US courts.

Enabling the Wireless Enterprise with URLLC: 5G, Wi-Fi and Edge

Enterprises increasingly see the benefits of a pervasive wireless environment which connects not only people on the premises – staff, tenants, contractors, visitors – but also sensors, cameras, machinery, vehicles, goods and pretty much anything within the confines of the business’s physical location. Wireless networks today primarily allow people to communicate with each other through data and voice. With 5G and Wi-Fi, wireless technologies will take on a central role in enterprise core operations, either replacing the wireline infrastructure at the edge or adding connectivity to processes that today are still done manually by humans.

The Evolution to Open vRAN

The 21st century communications landscape has been characterized by virtualization and digital transformation, as well as a preference for open source technologies rather than proprietary, monolithic solutions. The radio access network (RAN) is no exception: Open, virtualized RAN (vRAN) solutions give telecom operators the ability to realize performance gains, intelligence, fast adaptability, and dual connectivity between 4G and the forthcoming 5G network—all with a smaller price tag, compared with traditional hardware solutions. The open vRAN is a transformative technology, and it rises from a profound shift in the way mobile networks have been architected for decades.

Are broken inventory systems stalling your automation strategy?

Click here to read the full article. 

Tech Leadership Shift Underway at Liberty Global

Dan Hennessy, managing director of technology, recently left the operator. Baptiest Coopmans, SVP of tech operations, will assume his role while the company seeks Hennessy's permanent replacement.

Eurobites: BT Says Adios to Spain

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Altice Europe sells almost half of its fiber Portugal unit to Morgan Stanley; Russian government seeks control of joint 5G venture; China stirs the Huawei pot in Germany; the Helsingør experiment.

China Telcos & Investors Hunt 5G Economic Value

Investment in 5G networks has been rapid in China, and early uptake strong, but the mobile operators, like their counterparts around the world, are still looking for ways in which they can generate financial returns from their 5G efforts.

US Cable Broadband Still Has Ample Room to Grow – Analyst

Based on MoffettNathanson's analysis of overlapping FTTP and DSL competition, MSOs have more subscriber runway ahead for broadband than contemplated in prior forecasts.

Cisco Acquires Exablaze for Ultra-Low-Latency Networking Boost

Cisco buys Exablaze, a maker of Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) technology, potentially useful in 5G and edge applications, though Cisco says the primary market now is high-speed financial trading.

SD-WAN to Clip WAN Edge Growth, Gartner Predicts

The way networks are architected is changing and this change is driving innovation in the WAN edge market, according to the latest Gartner Magic Quadrant WAN Edge Infrastructure report.

Gap Narrows Between Azure, AWS, GCP in Cockroach Labs 2020 Report

Cockroach Labs’ 2020 cloud report found that competition in the cloud is alive and well between the three major public cloud providers — Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP) — with the playing field more equitable than ever before. 

Google Cloud Beefs Up Security With Palo Alto Networks, Fortinet

Google Cloud teamed up with a slew of vendors including Palo Alto Networks, McAfee, Fortinet, Qualys, and ForgeRock as part of its ongoing effort to beef up its security and attract more enterprise customers to its cloud platform and services.

5G RAN Vendor Choice Vexes Telenor, Contradictions Ensue

Telenor is walking back reports that it will completely ditch Huawei as it advances its 5G network deployment in Norway. The global operator, which is majority owned by the Norwegian government and has networks in Scandinavia and Asia, selected Ericsson to build its 5G radio access network (RAN) in Norway.

Cisco Buys Exablaze, Scores Ultra-Low Latency FPGA Tech

Cisco today said it reached a deal to buy Exablaze, a low-latency networking device maker, for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition adds Exablaze’s field programmable gate array (FPGA) based devices to Cisco’s portfolio, which the networking giant says will boost its intent-based networking (IBN) strategy.

Intel Is $2B Serious About AI, Buys Habana to Target Nvidia

Intel is betting on a $2 billion acquisition of artificial intelligence (AI)-focused startup Habana Labs to bolster its position in the highly competitive data center processor space that the chip giant predicts will be worth more than $25 billion by 2024. Analysts noted the move could also highlight issues with its current Nervana platform.

Larry Ellison: Oracle Will Not Replace Hurd

Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison  said the company will not name a new co-CEO to replace the late Mark Hurd and instead will move forward with Safra Catz as its sole leader.

Migration to Cloud-Native 5G Core

One of the major issues for the mobile networking industry going into 2020 is the deployment of 5G core networks and the migration to 5G standalone operation.

Work on the Next Big 5G Tech Spec Update Now Underway

5G is set to gain a wide range of new features and functions, including better mixed reality support, walkie-talkie style services and more. But users probably won't see these updates anytime soon.

Comcast Ups Charlie Herrin to Chief Product Officer

Promotions are among changes being made to Tony Werner's team as Comcast moves to link and align the leadership of its Customer Experience and Product & Technology organizations.

Samsung Selected as 4G LTE-A & 5G Network Solution Provider by Videotron in Canada

Samsung Electronics today announced that it will provide 4G LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) and 5G radio access networks solutions to Videotron, a Canadian telecommunications operator. This is the first time Samsung is delivering network solutions in Canada.

Cisco opens up with new OS, silicon and routers

In the face of mostly flat revenues and competition from new startups, Cisco hasn't been sitting on its hands the past five years. Cisco's announcements on Wednesday were noteworthy on several fronts, including that it spent $1 billion on research and development for its Silicon One chip that will be used from pizza box switches all the way up to an 18-slot router chassis. 

Telenor ditches Huawei, taps Ericsson for 5G RAN in Norway

Huawei was recently dealt partial wins and a blow, as the Chinese vendor was tapped by Telefónica to supply 5G radio access equipment in Germany and 5G core components in Spain, but ditched Friday by Norway’s Telenor in favor of rival Ericsson.

Samsung breaks into Canadian market with 5G, LTE-A for Videotron

Samsung Electronics is expanding its North American presence in wireless infrastructure, striking a deal with Canadian telecom operator Videotron to supply it with 4G LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) and 5G radio access network solutions. It marks the first time Samsung is delivering network solutions in Canada.

Hyperscale players account for a third of all data center spend

It's the hyperscalers' world and we're just living in it. By most any measure, the hyperscale service providers are ascendant in the industry across all levels.

AT&T goes high and low with 5G

AT&T said its 5G service, for both consumers and businesses, is now live in 10 markets. Consumers in Birmingham, Ala., Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, Providence, R.I., Rochester, N.Y., San Diego, San Francisco and San Jose, Calif., market areas can now access AT&T’s low-band 5G network using the Samsung Galaxy Note10+ 5G. 

AT&T finally launches proper 5G

Almost a year after rebranding its LTE-A as 5GE, US communications group AT&T has launched full-fat 5G in ten cities across the US.

Telenor Norway goes all-in on Ericsson for 5G RAN

Norwegian vendor Telenor has announced Ericsson will be the sole vendor for its 5G radio access network, replacing incumbent Huawei.

US and China reportedly sign tentative trade agreement

A bunch of existing and threatened tariffs between the US and China have apparently been scrapped thanks to what will hopefully be the first of many new trade agreements between the countries.

Samsung Expands 5G Footprint With Videotron

Canadian telecommunications operator Videotron tapped Samsung Electronics to provide 4G LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) and 5G radio access networks, marking the vendor’s first foray into the Canadian market.

Millimeter Wave Spectrum Auction Blasts Past $1.5B, Shows No Signs of Cooling

Bidding doesn't show signs of cooling in the FCC's ongoing mmWave spectrum auction. However, it appears that the event isn't generating the same demand that the agency's two prior mmWave auctions did.

Boingo Hits Hard Times, Lays Off 16% of Workforce

Boingo said it would retire its retail and advertising business units and eliminate 80 positions as part of a cost-cutting restructure.

Google Transfer Service Mitigates Cloud Migration Migraines

Google Cloud announced beta availability of its Transfer Service for on-premises data this week as a free service. To further expedite cloud migration, the cloud provider claims that the new platform removes the technical complexities inherent with large-scale, online data transfers for moving customer’s on-premise data centers into the Google Cloud.

Trial Shockers: Comcast Courted Sprint, T-Mobile Attempted Merger With Dish

Each day of the antitrust trial against Sprint and T-Mobile brings new revelations, including an attempted merger between T-Mobile and Dish Network in 2015 and MVNO negotiations between Comcast and Sprint in 2017.

Amazon Leads Linux Foundation’s Edge NOS Project

The Linux Foundation’s latest open source project DENT targets enterprise edge networking software with support from Amazon, Cumulus Networks, and Mellanox, among other member companies.

Ciena Chief Calls Infinera 600G Uncompetitive Amid Strong Q4

Infinera‘s 600G optics lack the competitive advantages necessary to steal away market share from Ciena, president and CEO Gary Smith assured investors during the company’s fourth-quarter 2019 earnings call.

Podcast: The Big Cisco Silicon One Recap

Mitch Wagner brings us coverage of the Cisco Silicon One announcement from San Francisco, where the company announced a single technology platform to serve all its networking customers.

Cellular IoT's Top 400 Projects Account for 279 Million Devices

The Chinese State Grid, General Motors and BMV operate three of the largest cellular IoT projects.

WiCipedia: Glass Ceiling Justice, Tech on TV & the Dark Ages of Advertising

This week in our WiC roundup: Women take companies to court in droves over unfair pay; TV isn't done with tech parodies; is the glass ceiling getting lower?; and more.

How Cable Will Broaden Its Horizons for Biz Services

David Strauss of Broadband Success Partners dives into new research that explores which new verticals, such as e-gaming and hospitality, will keep cable's business services engine humming in the years to come.

Rockbot CEO Aims to Shake Up B2B TV

Google-backed startup boots up OTT-delivered video service for restaurants, retail shops and other businesses that can complement (or possibly replace) TV services from cable and satellite TV providers.

How Wireless Carriers Might Bring Private CBRS Networks into the Fold

Private wireless networks in the 3.5GHz CBRS band are all the rage, but they also represent an opportunity for the likes of AT&T and Verizon to dramatically improve their coverage inside smaller buildings.

Eurobites: Huawei Loses Telenor to Ericsson

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Labour defeat brings relief for BT; MTS goes all holographic; Orange Belgium launches 5G hub.

Starry Eyes Commercial Market

Starry Internet COO Alex Moulle-Berteaux discusses the fixed-wireless player's ambitious expansion strategy with 5G, including plans to pursue small business owners and people who work from their homes.

Looking Back at 2019 in India: 5G Miss, AGR, Price Hikes & More

India's telecom sector has witnessed a year of major developments in 5G, pricing, competition and M&A activity.

Fortinet snags security automation vendor CyberSponse

Fortinet announced on Thursday that it has bought Security Orchestration, Automation and Response (SOAR) vendor CyberSponse.

FCC drives 5.9 GHz proposal for C-V2X, Wi-Fi use forward

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) today voted unanimously to advance a proposal that would reallocate large portions of the 5.9 GHz band, dedicating spectrum to both unlicensed and C-V2X technologies.

Deutsche Telekom opens doors on Asia security operations center

Deutsche Telekom has extended the reach of its cybersecurity protection technologies into Asia with a new security operations center (SOC) in Singapore.

Odds of T-Mobile/Sprint merger happening fall to 55% - analyst

As some analysts expect today’s testimony may be the most pivotal to date in the T-Mobile/Sprint merger trial, Raymond James earlier this week lowered its odds of the deal getting approved from 85% to 55%.

Citrix gets personal with Workspace updates

While technology has grown by leaps and bounds, worker productivity hasn't always followed suit. In order to improve employee productivity, Citrix has added an intelligent feed and personalized workflows to its Workspace digital platform.

Telia Carrier boosts its network capacity in Phoenix area

Telia Carrier has upgraded its network capacity in its Phoenix Metro data center, and expanded its partnership with phoenixNAP. 

Nokia gets German train automation gig

German rail company Deutsche Bahn is really keen on automation and ha picked Nokia to help it take humans out of the equation.

Cisco revamps networking platform with new silicon and software

US networking giant Cisco has unveiled a major refresh of its core technology, including a first-ever unified silicon architecture, a new OS and a new platform.

You don’t need to understand AI to trust it, says German politician

The minister for artificial intelligence at the German government has spoken about the European vision for AI, especially how to grow and gain trust from non-expert users.

DriveNets CEO on Market Dynamics in Service Provider networking

DriveNets’ CEO Ido Susan Explains the Latest Market Dynamics in Service Provider networking.

Atlassian Forge Serves an AWS Lambda-Based Serverless Option

Atlassian launched a serverless functions-as-a-service (FaaS) platform that takes advantage of Amazon Web Services’ (AWS) Lambda to make it easier for enterprise developers to build and run cloud applications that integrate with Atlassian products.

Cisco Paints 5G Strategy Around Optics, Packet Core

Cisco plays in two of the three key areas that network operators have to address to facilitate the delivery of 5G service, said Jonathan Davidson, SVP of Cisco’s service provider networking business.

Cisco: Service Providers Are Getting Squeezed & We've Got the Cure

Cisco claims it can help service providers break the trap of increasing bandwidth demands and declining revenue per user. Cisco's solution: a new networking architecture spanning silicon to software and services.

Cisco Bets Its Business on 'Internet for the Future' Strategy

Cisco's audacious new "Internet for the Future" strategy, which comprises completely new silicon, operating system software and a new business model, is either going to drive Cisco's domination of Internet infrastructure for a generation to come -- or flop spectacularly. With a strategy as ambitious as Cisco's, there's no middle ground, says Light Reading's Mitch Wagner.

AT&T TV Streaming Service Going National in February

Acquisition costs for new OTT-delivered pay-TV service, which runs on an Android TV box, are expected to be half of AT&T's legacy satellite TV product.

Fortinet Snaps Up SOAR Provider CyberSponse

Next-generation firewall and SD-WAN vendor Fortinet today announced the acquisition of CyberSponse, a security orchestration, automation, and response (SOAR) platform provider. The terms of the purchase were not disclosed.

Google, VMware Headline Linux Foundation’s ACT Program

The Linux Foundation has formed a new open source code licensing program that is headed by heavyweights Google, VMware, and Siemens. The Automated Compliance Tooling (ACT) program is looking to manage the responsibility and investment challenges facing open source code, which has seen considerable duress over the past year.

Google’s New VMs Use Dynamic Resource Management to Slash Costs

Google launched new E2 general-purpose virtual machines (VMs) for Google Compute Engine that it says provide 31% savings compared to its earlier N1 configurations. This, according to the cloud provider, offers the lowest total cost of ownership of any VM in Google Cloud.

Nokia 5G Dynamic Spectrum Sharing Plans Gain Dynamics

Nokia is undeniably behind in the development of dynamic spectrum sharing (DSS) but the Finnish vendor is making strides to catch up with its competitors and says it will have the technology commercially ready for deployment sometime next year.

SolarWinds Sweeps Up VividCortex for $117.5M

SolarWinds acquired VividCortex, which provides database performance management software, for $117.5 million.

AT&T Exec Hints That '5G Evolution' Is Faster Than T-Mobile's 5G

An AT&T executive hinted that forthcoming speed tests will find that AT&T's '5G E' branded connections are faster than T-Mobile's recently launched 5G service in its 600MHz spectrum.

Ciena Soars on Bullish Outlook as Sales Top $3.5B

Ciena stock rocketed as it reported year-over-year sales growth of more than 15% and predicted further market share gains and sales hikes.

Liberty Global Taps Teltoo's P2P Tech to Blunt OTT Video Spikes

Cable op taps startup's P2P-assisted CDN platform to manage bandwidth and optimize OTT video quality amid streaming surges and unpredictable events that cause demands on the network to rise.

Telecom Industry Rift Widens Over Key 5G Security Issue

Some of Europe's biggest operators are distinguishing between the core and the RAN as they build their 5G networks, but the region's biggest 5G vendor says the boundary is disappearing.

'Small Disruptions' Have Totally Changed Fixed Network Biz, Says Nokia CTO

The arrival of new technologies and growing interest in WiFi have spurred activity in the fixed broadband market, says the Finnish vendor's technology chief.

Ray Mota on Cisco's Network Vision

Ray Mota, CEO and principal analyst for ACG Research, dives into Cisco's 'Internet for the Future' strategy, noting that the key focus is on helping service providers boost capacity as they roll out 5G and other new services while keeping costs in line. That's important because customers are using more bandwidth but aren't paying more for it, notes Mota.

Eurobites: Russia's MTS Does TIP Run

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Keymile lands FTTB deal with Wobcom; BT Sport offers OTT monthly pass; KPN sells consulting arm; Deutsche Telekom nurtures 5G startups.

CBRS Rising, & the Wait for Private 5G Networks

Midband LTE will start to arrive at the end of 2019, for private networks and more.

Cisco's SP Chief on 'Silicon One'

Jonathan Davidson, SVP and general manager of Cisco's Service Provider Business, outlines the key takeaways from the company's major new networking portfolio announcements, including the Silicon One chip launch, new router platforms, enhanced operating software and optical plans.

Nokia to Test 5G for Driverless Trains With Germany's Deutsche Bahn

Finnish vendor lands a role with Germany's railway operator to begin testing a 5G standard designed specifically for trains.

Sharma: 5G as the platform for innovation, disruption

In our 2017 paper, “Mobile Network as a Platform: Planning for the 5G World,” we explored the role of LTE in the disruption that took place over the last decade. 5G promises to create an even bigger platform for ingenuity and transformation.

Nokia to introduce DSS software in 2020

While Ericsson has been the equipment vendor leading the dynamic spectrum sharing (DSS) charge, it appears rival Nokia intends to offer its own version of the technology sometime next year.

Senate Commerce Committee OKs C-band auction bill

Citing the need for the U.S. to win the race to 5G, the Senate Commerce Committee today voted for legislation directing the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to initiate a C-band auction, with at least 50% of proceeds going to the U.S. treasury and 10% for rural broadband deployments.

Raynovich: Did Cisco just throw ACI under the bus?

Cisco Systems, one of the closely watched networking hardware companies on the planet, today made a pretty spectacular series of announcements: It's diversifying away from its core business model of selling integrated network systems and will independently sell a new proprietary switching and routing applications specific integrated circuit (ASIC), called Cisco Silicon One, which it will sell directly to customers with or without its own system, including its new routing software operating system, IOS XR7.

Twitter tries to find another way to solve the censorship dilemma

Social media giant Twitter is exploring the creation of an open standard that it hopes will provide the answer to the impossible question of censorship.

American Tower: Mid-band could be 5G backbone, benefiting towers

American Tower thinks mid-band spectrum could be the backbone for 5G, and benefit tower companies as carriers deploy off macro sites, according to SVP of corporate finance and treasurer Rod Smith.

Cisco makes a bold play in the silicon space

After years of aligning optics, silicon and software elements, Cisco announced its "Internet of the Future" strategy at an event in San Francisco Wednesday morning.

Orange Digital Ventures invests in cloud-interconnection vendor

Orange Digital Ventures, Orange's early-stage investment fund, was the lead investor in a financing round of $24.3 million for software-defined cloud interconnect (SDCI) vendor InterCloud.

Verizon CEO emphasizes C-band for 5G

For its 5G strategy, Verizon has all the spectrum it needs to accomplish its stated near-term goals, but for the nation as a whole, C-band spectrum—3.7-4.2 GHz—will be vitally important to achieve the kinds of economies of scale the industry needs.

Study claims Financial Identity as a Service could add $250 billion to global GDP

A report published by Oxford Economics has looked into the implications of bringing into the financial system the millions of people currently excluded from it.

Telefónica Deutschland picks Huawei and Nokia for its 5G RAN

As part of a broader announcement concerning its 5G plans, Telefónica Deutschland revealed Huawei and Nokia are the chosen kit vendors for its 5G radio access network.

Vodafone Idea reportedly looking to flog assets to cover government bill

Beleaguered Indian operator group Vodafone Idea has apparently been reduced to a fire sale of its fibre and datacentre assets to raise funds in a hurry.

Cisco Rolls Out New Silicon, Router for ‘Internet for the Future’

SAN FRANCISCO — Cisco rolled out new silicon, software, and optics targeting service providers at an event in San Francisco during which the networking giant unveiled its “Internet for the Future” technology strategy.

Comcast Teams With NuEyes to Optimize TV for the Visually Impaired

Cable operator is first to integrate a streaming TV app for specialized VR glasses outfitted with electronic magnification tech that enhances an individual's 'usable vision.'

Making Virtual Business Services Real

Charter Spectrum Enterprise's Satya Parimi discusses the cableco's rollout of SD-WAN and virtualized security services, the lessons learned and the challenges still ahead.

Verizon CEO: Network Virtualization Is 60% Complete

Verizon’s journey to transform and virtualize its various networks under a common, unified framework is 60% complete, CEO Hans Vesterg said at a UBS investor conference. The journey hasn’t been easy, he explained, because Verizon’s network assets were previously divided among wireline and wireless, and new software layers are being added to blend operations onto a single platform.

Telefónica Defies US, Selects Nokia, Huawei for 5G

Telefónica today announced that Nokia and Huawei will be providing equipment for its 5G network in Germany, despite an ongoing campaign by the U.S. government to pressure its allies to remove and preclude the Chinese networking giant’s equipment from their networks.

VMware vSphere Key to Slicing Red Hat’s Kubernetes Head Start

VMware is betting that its Kubernetes plans will quickly surpass that of rival Red Hat thanks to its already established base of vSphere customers.

Focus on Mobile Margins, Profits Trump Need to Pump Big Volumes at Altice USA

Ahead of ramp-up, Altice USA is working on enhancements and new features for its recently launched mobile product as company keeps initial marketing and other operating costs in check, Dexter Goei says.

Cisco Wants to 'Build a New Internet' for 5G

Cisco unveiled new silicon, optics and network operating system software that it says will carry the Internet through the next decade – with its products forming the backbone.

T-Mobile/Sprint Trial Serves Up Healthy Dose of Courtroom Drama

The first few days of the trial to block the proposed Sprint/T-Mobile merger delivered more courtroom twists and turns than most Law & Order episodes.

The Telecoms.com Podcast: Media, Edge & Cunning Plans

From a very brown room in Vienna, the podders take time out from some top-drawer telco schmoozing at Light Reading's 2020 Vision event to talk mobile edge and more. Contains adult themes.

Vienna Views: Pics From the 2020 Vision Executive Summit

Senior executives gathered in the Austrian capital for the latest Light Reading 2020 Vision Executive Summit to discuss what's right, what's wrong and what's next for the telecom sector.

Eurobites: Orange Suffers Existential Crisis, Does Other Stuff

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: KPN invests in smart alarms; Telefónica vows to go carbon-neutral by 2050; Amazon bags Champion League rights in Germany.

Telefónica Deutschland Makes Risky 5G Bet on Huawei

German operator will also use Finland's Nokia to build its 5G network and has cut dividends to help fund the project.

Hon Hai Plots Private Networks With Its Own 5G Kit

Taiwan's manufacturing giant has big plans for 5G, and they don't appear to include the traditional 5G players.

Auction 103 concludes second round with $715M in bids

The first day of bidding in the Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC) Auction 103 ended its second round with $715,333,400 in bids, possibly indicating a lighter appetite for the latest millimeter wave spectrum to come to market.

Microsoft strikes up strategic alliance with NTT

Microsoft has struck up yet another partnership with an industry heavyweight by announcing on Tuesday it has inked a multiyear alliance with NTT.

Samsung had three quarters of 5G shipments in Q3 – IHS

While the 5G smartphone market is in its infancy, Samsung has been the most proactive vendor and accounted for a quarter of shipments in Q3 as a consequence.

AT&T COO: T-Mobile/Sprint face merger distractions either way

As T-Mobile and Sprint fight an antitrust lawsuit this week in the hopes of combining into one wireless operator, AT&T’s operations chief said that no matter the trial outcome, it means a level of distraction for both carriers.

Silver Peak scales global SD-WAN features for large enterprises

Silver Peak is out of the gates with several key updates that target large-scale global enterprises that have multiple divisions.

Cato Networks blends SIEM insights into its platform

Cato Networks is the latest SD-WAN vendor to announce it has blended SIEM capabilities into its platform. But Cato is laying claim to being the first vendor to add SIEM, which stands for security information and event management, into a secure access service edge (SASE) platform at no additional cost.

T-Mobile feeling ‘very good’ after first day of trial

As the second day of its trial gets underway in New York City, T-Mobile’s got a game plan ready to go, and it’s about bringing the cultures of Sprint and T-Mobile together to create a unique combination for consumers that they wouldn’t get without the merger.

DriveNets moves the needle on disaggregation with new partners

Israel-based DriveNets has further burnished its standing in the telecom industry by announcing a raft of vendor partnerships on Tuesday that included UfiSpace, Edgecore Networks and Delta.

SK Telecom and Samsung give 5G remote-controlled ships a go

Korea is looking to lead the way on autonomous shipping following the development of a 5G-based test platform by SK Telecom and Samsung Heavy Industries.

Wearables market doubles, but only if you include wireless headphones

The latest global wearable device market numbers from IDC reveal it grew by 95% in Q3, but much of this came from a category that didn’t used to be counted.

T-Mobile/Sprint merger may increase ARPU – what’s wrong with that?

On the first day of the TMUS/Sprinter merger antitrust trial it was revealed that a Sprint exec thinks the merged company will be able to raise prices.

Silver Peak Injects Multi-Fabric Orchestration Into EdgeConnect

Silver Peak’s Unity EdgeConnect SD-WAN platform today received a healthy injection of enhancements including many that promise to address network complexity and cloud adoption.

Verizon CEO Says Dynamic Spectrum Sharing Will Arrive for Shared 4G & 5G in 2020

Verizon expects DSS to offer wider 5G services in 2020.

Kubernetes Integrates Interoperability, Storage, Waits on Sidecars

The Kubernetes platform received a handful of significant updates for its last release of the year with an overall focus on cross-platform support and storage integration. Those updates should further bolster Kubernetes’ growing importance in the cloud-native ecosystem.

Comcast Tests 2.5-Gig Gateway

Technicolor has been tapped for the 'XB7,' a new, speedier DOCSIS 3.1 gateway with 802.11ax (WiFi 6), MoCA 2.0 and IoT radios that's a big leap over the current-gen XB6 D3.1 gateway.

Surprise! With $637M in Auction Bids, Demand for mmWave Spectrum Continues

The FCC's third mmWave spectrum auction started today, and it's likely that AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile are driving a significant amount of bidding.

AT&T Targets Labor, Wireline Footprint in New Cost-Cutting Effort

'Everything is on the table,' AT&T exec John Stankey says. AT&T has hired former Clearwire CEO Bill Morrow as the hatchet man to lead its cost-cutting efforts.

Disney+ is 'Not That Deep,' AT&T's Stankey Says

Stressing that the streaming battle is 'not a zero-sum game,' exec says new HBO Max service will appeal across families and across various family-based wireless plans.

T-Mobile Execs Talk Up 5G Prospects While Merger Trial Proceeds

T-Mobile's management team is in NYC, talking lawsuits and 5G at a UBS event.

Microsoft, NTT Tap Azure, AI to Target Enterprises

Microsoft struck a multi-year deal with Japanese communications giant NTT to combine its Azure cloud platform and artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities with NTT’s optical and wireless network to produce and support new enterprise-focused digital services.

Eclipse Foundation Warns Operators: Don’t Be a ‘Dumb Pipe’ for AWS

The Eclipse Foundation is fostering open source software for edge computing that could enable network operators to become bonafide cloud providers — something, it claims, hyperscale cloud providers will never seek to deliver.

Aryaka SD-WAN Joins Azure App Gallery, Pens Energy Deal

Aryaka’s MyAryaka cloud portal is now available in the Microsoft Azure Active Directory Application Gallery as part of an integration announced this week.

IBM Security Gives Cloud Identity an AI Boost

IBM Security is using artificial intelligence (AI) to boost its cloud-based identity and access management service.

Silver Peak Touts SD-WAN on a Global Scale

New Silver Peak automation tools are designed to help enterprises – and the service providers working on their behalf – deploy networks to hundreds of thousands of locations worldwide.

2019: The Year Telecom Went Doolally About 5G

2019 will be remembered in telecom as the year when 5G arrived and industry hype went into overdrive.

McAfee Adds Containers to CASB, Cloud Security Platform

After teasing a new container security product last week at AWS re:Invent, McAfee today announced that Mvision Cloud for Containers is now available, and it integrates with the vendor’s cloud access security broker (CASB) and cloud security posture management (CSPM) technology.

Cato Rolls Instant*Insight SIEM Into SASE Platform

Cato Networks today rolled out security information and event management (SIEM), which it’s calling Instant*Insight, to its secure access service edge (SASE) platform.

Eurobites: London's Not Ready for 5G, Says Tech Lobby Group

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Telecom Italia beefs up TV sports offer; Bearing Point/Beyond scores at Altibox; Ericsson's crystal balls; Boris bites back at the BBC.

Comcast's X1 Platform Means Business

Comcast Business's Christian Nascimento details how this fast-growing unit of the company has adapted Comcast's cloud-based video platform to service the commercial market, including restaurants, hotels and other hospitality venues.

Ligado CEO urges FCC to make decision now on L-band

Despite making commitments to satisfy the GPS community, Ligado Networks is still getting push-back, including from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).

Which reckons a third of UK constituencies have rubbish connectivity

Consumer advice organisation Which has done some research into the 4G and broadband connectivity in the 650 UK parliamentary constituencies.

Amazon blames President Trump for loss of $10B JEDI contract

Amazon is putting the loss of the $10 billion Pentagon JEDI cloud contract squarely on the shoulders of President Trump, according to a filing.

Telefonica taps Huawei for 5G core, as DT freezes 5G deals

Telefonica has reportedly chosen Huawei as one of the vendors for part of its 5G network in Spain, in contrast to Deutsche Telekom, which last week decided to put 5G equipment deals on hold until political uncertainty around the Chinese vendor is resolved, according to Reuters.   

Ericsson forks out over $1B in fines to settle U.S. bribery char

Ericsson announced late Friday afternoon that it had agreed to pay $1.06 billion in fines to U.S. regulators after pleading guilty to bribery charges.

AT&T expects to test IAB in 2020

One of the tools in 3GPP Release 15 related to the 5G standard is something called Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) for—you guessed it—backhaul in 5G.

Former CIO exec, data center sales head leaving Cisco

Amid a reorganization effort, Cisco is losing two key executives, including a former CIO and its top data center sales leader.

5G is in its infancy, and consumers are already confused

The wireless industry has always had a tendency to make its marketing messages complicated, and 5G is not immune to this trend. In fact, as 5G becomes more widely available in the U.S., it  seems as if operators are intent upon making their 5G messaging as complex as possible.

China reportedly escalates trade war with ban on foreign computer kit

All Chinese public bodies need to replace all foreign computer hardware and software within three years according to a report.

Ericsson gets a $150 million bargain on its corruption fine from the US

Swedish kit vendor Ericsson got a $150 early Christmas present from US authorities after its fine for violating corruption laws was finally revealed.

How Viasat Changes the Satellite Game

Satellite internet is rising in prominence as an option for providing high-speed connectivity to locations outside the reach of traditional cable or dialup infrastructure. Although the industry has endured some challenges and attained a negative reputation over the years—because of cost concerns and lackluster performance—the market has rallied as costs have decreased and as private access to space has increased. Customers at home and in corporate airspace are now finding that satellite internet can be faster (sometimes much faster) than typical methods, offers high bandwidth without compromise, and—of course—doesn’t rely on a terrestrial tether to deliver the goods. 

Broadcom Boasts ‘World’s First’ 25.6 Tb/s Switch Silicon

Broadcom commercially released its new StrataXGS Tomahawk 4 switch series silicon. The chipmaker says the new Ethernet switches can transmit up to 25.6 Tb/s, a feat that it claims to be at least double the bandwidth of any other switch silicon available today.

NTIA Joins DoD Against Ligado's L-Band 5G Plan

The NTIA is teaming up with the Department of Defense to oppose a proposal from Ligado to release L-Band spectrum for 5G. That could come as a disappointment to the likes of Verizon and T-Mobile.

Comcast/NBCU Earmarks $2B for 'Peacock'

NBCU's premium streaming service, which will support both advertising and subscription models, is expected to turn profitable in year five, CFO says.

Adlink Tackles Industrial IoT as Latest 5G-Drive Member

Adlink today became the latest company to join the 5G-Drive consortium, which seeks to test and realize use cases relying on 5G technologies.

Ericsson Corruption Probe Takes $1B Bite

Ericsson spent 17 years bribing high-ranking government officials and falsifying financial documents as it failed to implement proper internal accounting controls, the company admitted in a settlement with the Department of Justice and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The settlement to that corruption investigation will cost the vendor $1.06 billion in penalties, though on the bright side that is less than the $1.23 billion financial provision Ericsson had set aside in September to to cover what it anticipated to lose as a result of the settlement and related costs.

Charter 'Looking at All Angles' for Licensed Spectrum, CEO Says

Cable operator may not need to own spectrum to achieve its goals in mobile and wireless, Charter's Tom Rutledge says.

Magic Leap's Reported Stumbles Cast Shadow Over 5G

A new report indicates Magic Leap sold just 6,000 of its AR glasses, well below expectations. That may not bode well for the wider 5G industry.

Money Moves: November 2019

Here are some of the most prominent venture capital and merger and acquisition news items from the past month. If you’d like SDxCentral to report on your company’s VC or M&A activity, or if you have any tips on that activity, please send the information to Sydney Sawaya (ssawaya@sdxcentral.com).

Energy Giant Shell Is Not Sold on Private Networks

One of the world's biggest energy companies is prioritizing 4G and public networks over 5G and private ones.

Video Streamers Step Up Password-Sharing Crackdown

As programmers and studios launch their own streaming services, password sharing is becoming a bigger concern.

Eurobites: Orange Secures €700M Loan for High-Speed Broadband Expansion in France

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: KPN outlines FTTH plans for Amsterdam; Amazon's NHS data deal comes under scrutiny; IoT and blockchain combine for green energy.

Telcos Let FAANGs Into the Edge at Their Peril

Given the relative loss of value in the telecom industry, the recent edge deals involving AWS are risky moves for the operators involved.

Ericsson Paid Out Millions in Bribes While CEO Ekholm Sat on Board

The details of Ericsson's corruption scandal, as documented by US authorities, raise awkward questions for the Swedish vendor.

VMware, Silver Peak Lead SD-WAN Pack; Cisco, Riverbed Lose Ground

The highly competitive SD-WAN market is still very much in flux and the latest Gartner Magic Quadrant WAN Edge Infrastructure report bears that out. While VMware and Silver Peak continued to lead the WAN market in 2019, according to the report, Cisco lost ground falling from a leader in 2018, to a “challenger” in this year’s report.

T-Mobile, Sprint merger teed up for trial

A conclusion to the winding saga that is the T-Mobile/Sprint merger is inching closer, with an antitrust trial against several state attorneys general suing to block the deal slated to start Monday.

BT Ireland and Huawei engineer 1.2 Terabit transmission trial

BT Ireland and Huawei are laying claim to the industry's first 1.2 Tb/s transmission real-time trial based on a commercial product platform in a live network

T-Mobile’s OnePlus 5G McLaren impresses, to a point

MAUI, HAWAII—I don’t do phone reviews very often. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I even reviewed a phone, so let’s not call this a “review” so much as my impressions with the OnePlus 7T Pro 5G McLaren for a short time. (I have used my share of devices over the years by virtue of being someone who covers the wireless industry, so there’s that.)

Google Fiber pulls plug on 100 Mbps service offering

Google Fiber announced this week it was pulling the plug on its 100 Mbps service to new customers in order to just offer its gigabit service.

Apple could ditch Lightning port, but should it be allowed to?

Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has a reputation for pretty accurate guesses at what Apple is going to do next, and the next prediction is ditching the Lightening port for a ‘wireless experience’.

Editor's Corner—MEF makes a play at OTT cloud providers en route to world federation of carriers

MEF executives outlined an ambitious roadmap at last month's MEF19 conference in Los Angeles that included snagging more business with hyperscale cloud providers and federated models for carriers.

Spain and Portugal resist US pressure over Huawei

Portugal is the latest western country to say it won’t ban Huawei from its 5G network, while Telefónica Spain is using Huawei for its 5G core.

Europe says no to stablecoins until grey areas are gone

The European Commission and European Parliament have dealt a blow to the likes of Facebook’s Libra initiative until they can write the appropriate rules.

Vodafone Idea threatens closure over $13 billion fine

Vodafone Idea has stated it will shut-down its business unless relief is offered by the Indian Government for the $13 billion demands which have been directed at the firm.

5G over low frequency spectrum seems to be a waste of time

T-Mobile was able to claim the first US 5G network thanks to its 600 MHz spectrum, but it immediately started managing-down expectations, so what was the point?

Qualcomm’s XR chief says MEC, XR are ‘perfect match’

MAUI, HAWAII—Qualcomm just announced the Snapdragon XR2 platform, which it says is the world’s first 5G-supported extended reality (XR) platform, and the company's head of XR says it’s a perfect match with the mobile edge computing (MEC) that carriers are in the midst of deploying.

Metro & Simple Mobile Launch Cheaper 5G Plans

Companies release pay-as-you-go plans on T-Mobile's 5G network.

Bernie Sanders Threatens to Break Up Broadband Market With 'High-Speed Internet for All' Plan

Presidential candidate claims wide-ranging plan will expand access, reduce pricing, eliminate data caps, codify net neutrality and move to 'break up Internet service provider and cable monopolies.'

Amazon CTO Details Virtualization Journey

LAS VEGAS — Amazon CTO Werner Vogels spent a long stretch of his AWS re:Invent keynote talking about the company’s years-long effort to reconfigure virtualization for the cloud computing era.

Aviatrix CEO: SD-WAN Is Dead. AWS Killed It

LAS VEGAS — Networking didn’t get a lot of love at AWS re:Invent this week — CEO Andy Jassy’s three-hour keynote reportedly didn’t give him enough time to detail all of Amazon Web Services’ networking and security news. So the new AWS Transit Gateway capabilities flew a bit under the radar.

AWS Pins Enterprise Cloud Success on 4 Initiatives

LAS VEGAS — There are four key initiatives that determine whether an enterprise will be successful in the cloud, according to Amazon Web Services (AWS) CEO Andy Jassy. These differences oftentimes illuminate a clear separation between enterprises that successfully move to the cloud and those that don’t, he said.

Cable Sizes Up New Business Verticals & Vectors

Light Reading's Alan Breznick and Jeff Baumgartner look at the future and past of cable business services.

RJio Will Gain Most From India's Tariff Hike

India's youngest and most aggressive operator could be the main beneficiary of an increase in prices.

5G Is a Chance to Change the Telco Monoculture

Telecom operators have an opportunity with 5G to build diversity in their workforce.

Headcount: Firings, Hirings, and Retirings — November 2019

Here are some of the latest executive hirings, promotions, and staff changes. If you’d like SDxCentral to report on your company’s movers and shakers, or if you’ve got a tip about layoffs and restructuring, please send the information to Sydney Sawaya (ssawaya@sdxcentral.com).

WiCipedia: Cultivating Confidence for Speaking Gigs, 2020 Predictions & Too Many Marks

This week in our WiC roundup: Harlem Capital raises cash for minority founders; female speakers claim their worth; more women will join tech in the new year; and more.

Eurobites: Telefónica Awards 5G Core to Huawei – Report

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: BT Ireland trials 1.2Tbit/s transmission with Huawei; TIM and Open Fiber are daggers drawn; Deutsche Telekom enables 'holographic annotation' for field service engineers.

Ovum's Evan Kirchheimer: Enterprises & the 5G Market Opportunity

What's the real opportunity for carriers selling 5G to enterprises? Ovum's enterprise services research director helps us sift through the areas where carriers can expect new revenue, and not just replace existing services.

Google Fiber Dumps 100-Meg Service

Google is going 'All in on a Gig' and exclusively selling uncapped, symmetrical 1Gbit/s service starting at $70 a month, the same price as it's been since 2012.

Huawei fights FCC USF restrictions with new lawsuit

Huawei has stepped up its fight against U.S. restrictions and petitioned a federal appeals court to throw out a recent FCC ruling that bans service providers from using federal Universal Service Fund (USF) support to purchase the Chinese vendor’s telecom gear and services.

Adva takes the reins on optical research project

Adva is taking the lead position on a research project that is drawing a bead on expanding the capacity of optical metro and core networks. With financial backing from Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), the OptiCON project is exploring technologies that will enable fiber infrastructure to support 10 times more throughput than it currently carries today.  

FCC to scrap flawed Mobility Fund II over unreliable 4G LTE maps

The Federal Communications Commission on Wednesday disclosed plans to scrap its flawed Mobility Fund Phase II proceeding after an investigation determined carriers, including T-Mobile, Verizon and U.S. Cellular, submitted unreliable and overstated 4G LTE coverage maps.

Cisco tops Huawei, Nokia and Juniper in Q3 router rankings

Cisco held onto the top spot in the third quarter in the service provider router segment, but the quarter was slow overall.

Verizon, T-Mobile, and US Cellular lied on 4G coverage but will get away with it

Buried in the depths of a FCC press release, the authority has said Verizon, T-Mobile, and US Cellular exaggerated on 4G coverage maps but no punishments are being considered.

CenturyLink bows software-defined storage for businesses

In order to speed up processing times and reduce complexities across data centers, clouds and edge locations, CenturyLink is offering a software-defined network storage service.

Verizon races to get 5G to all 30 markets by year’s end

MAUI, HAWAII—For some folks, the last month of the year is a time to start winding down, getting ready for the holidays and slowly detaching from the daily work grind. For Verizon engineers, it’s anything but that as they scurry to reach the 30 5G markets the company set for its goal by the end of this year.

Austerity measures impacting innovation at telcos

Research from Ivalua suggests employees at telcos believe a hard-line focus on cost-reduction is impacting the ability to innovate at this crucial time.

Gartner predicts death of personalised marketing by 2025

Gartner has made the bold statement that personalised marketing will be a thing of the past by 2025 as consumers reject the data land grab.

Report: FTC expands scope of Amazon antitrust probe to include AWS

Amazon has been offered an early Christmas present from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) by extending an existing antitrust probe to include its burgeoning cloud business.

Huawei takes the US FCC to court

The US telecoms regulator has moved to block federal funds being spent with Huawei and the Chinese kit vendor reckons that’s unlawful.

Ericsson not expecting any nasty surprises as US corruption investigation nears conclusion

Following reports that the US investigation into historical corrupt practices is set to finally conclude, Ericsson has indicated the fine should be as previously anticipated.

Wifi-6 goes toe-to-toe with 5G claims

The Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) is championing the results of a wifi-6 trial with Mettis Aerospace as proof the technology can be a viable alternative to 5G.

Boris Johnson sparks Huawei fire at NATO summit

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has dealt a blow to Huawei hopes as US lobbying seems to gain some traction in the UK political arena.

Sophos Tracks Kubernetes Vulnerabilities, Adds Threat Intel Platform

LAS VEGAS — Sophos added capabilities to its cloud security platform and a new product called Intelix based on the vendor’s global threat intelligence and data science team.

AWS Chief Minimizes Impact of Declining Growth

LAS VEGAS — Amazon Web Services CEO Andy Jassy downplayed the notion that the cloud platform is somehow losing steam because its growth rate, on a percentage basis, has been in recent decline. Amazon’s cloud business has experienced three consecutive quarters of declining cloud growth, but that doesn’t provide a full picture of AWS’ performance, Jassy said during a press conference at AWS re:Invent.

Huawei Slams FCC With Legal Appeal

Huawei filed a legal petition against the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) move to bar rural U.S. operators from using equipment from the China-based vendor because of national security concerns.

CenturyLink Expands Edge Services With Network Storage

LAS VEGAS — CenturyLink advanced its edge strategy at re:Invent this week with a new managed storage service. It’s called CenturyLink Network Storage, and it’s built on NetApp’s software-defined storage technology.

Cable 'Starts to Matter' in US Wireless – Analyst

After capturing 495,000 mobile subs in Q3, pushing their cumulative total to 2.6 million, US cable has 'already reached a level of clear relevance in wireless,' analyst Craig Moffett concludes in a new report.

T-Mobile Quietly Moves Its 5G Goalposts

Once upon a time, T-Mobile promised that 5G would be 10x faster than 4G. Today, the operator is promising a 20% speed boost.

Martello Wraps Initial Test of 5G SD-WAN for IoT

Ottawa-based Martello Technologies has its eyes locked on a 5G SD-WAN future. The company announced it had wrapped up the initial phase of testing of its 5G SD-WAN offering as part of a project in collaboration with the Canadian government’s ENCQOR 5G testbed.

Access to Spectrum to Determine Starry's Network Deployment Speed

Starry, which provides fixed wireless broadband over millimeter wave spectrum, is exploring services for business customers to complement its core residential offerings.

Eurobites: Deutsche Telekom Orders 5G Freeze Until Heat Is off Huawei

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: InterDigital files Huawei patents suit in UK; ADVA leads optical research program; 2Gbit/s 5G in Helsinki; Ericsson reassures on corruption costs.

Juniper Touts Euro Telco Deals

Russia's Rostelecom and Orange Poland tap Juniper gear and software for network upgrades, in a busy week for the networking vendor.

CityFibre's David Tomalin: Building a Fab Fiber Future

CityFibre's Group CTO David Tomalin discusses how an infrastructure provider, making long-term bets, is planning to enable service providers to reshape the UK tech landscape.

Cable Infrastructure Spending Slogs Through Another Tough Quarter

Q3 spending on cable network tech improved but it's still well below historic levels, Dell'Oro says.

Podcast: Cisco's Chang Shares Collaboration Vision

Cisco's collaboration boss Amy Chang sits down with Light Reading's Mitch Wagner to share stories about videoconferencing facepalm moments and discuss Cisco's collaboration vision in this mini-episode of the Light Reading podcast.

Huawei Ban in UK Still on the Table

UK leader Boris Johnson links the use of Huawei to security concerns, raising the prospect of a partial or full ban on the Chinese vendor.

Huawei Appeals FCC Decision to Declare It a National Security Risk

The Chinese vendor says that the FCC has no experience with national security matters, and highlights its relationship with small rural US carriers.

Carriers' 4G Maps Are Rubbish, but FCC Chief Proposes $9B for 5G Anyway

A new FCC report found that Verizon, T-Mobile and U.S. Cellular provided inaccurate coverage maps, wildly overstating coverage, about 40% of the time. But the agency wants to dole out $9 billion to carriers for rural 5G anyway.

Koley Needs to Make Google Work Properly – No Pressure, Then

Bikash Koley, currently finishing his last few weeks as CTO of Juniper, will be responsible for everything networking at Google, from inter-cluster communications to campus to WAN to intercontinental subsea cables.

CBRS Finally Expected to Launch Commercially by Year's End

The midband technology is expected to be initially used by mobile operators for traffic offhaul and fixed wireless operators.

Qualcomm takes wraps off Snapdragon 865

MAUI, HAWAII—It took three years and 10,000 engineers to bring the Snapdragon 865 to life, and now it’s nearly ready for prime time, with devices based on Snapdragon 865 expected to be commercially available in the first quarter of 2020.

Qualcomm: 5G is all about sub 6 GHz and mmWave

MAUI, HAWAII—If there were any doubts about where Qualcomm stands when it comes to millimeter wave, Qualcomm President Cristiano Amon put those to rest, saying millimeter wave (mmWave) without a doubt will be one of the key spectrums used in 5G.

Qualcomm to fight antitrust fine upheld by South Korean court

Qualcomm plans to appeal an $873 million antitrust fine that was upheld Wednesday by a South Korean court.

Data center and colocation openings pick up the pace - report

Data center and colocation construction projects picked up the pace in the second half of this year, according to research by IHS Markit. A total of 9.9 million square feet of data center capacity under construction is expected to open during the second half of this year, according to the IHS Markit | Technology Cloud and Colocation Data Center Building Market Tracker.

AT&T’s FirstNet build 75% complete; CFO says ‘money well spent’

As AT&T this week announced momentum for its FirstNet dedicated public safety platform, passing the 1 million connections mark, the carrier’s finance chief touted multiple benefits of the network build.

Hyperscale provider capex mashes the gas pedal in Q3 - report

After a bit of a lull in the first half of this year, hyperscale operator capex was once again booming in the third quarter, according to Synergy Research Group.

Frontier CEO McCarthy steps down; Han named as new CEO

After a 29-year career, Dan McCarthy has stepped down as Frontier Communications' president and CEO, and has left the company's board of directors. Frontier's board unanimously appointed Bernie Han as McCarthy's successor across all three positions at the company.

Orange unveils new five-year grand plan

With the Essential2020 plan all but complete, Orange has released the details of the Engage2025 strategy to drive growth over the next five years.

Page and Brin officially step away from Google management

Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin have announced they will step-back from their management roles at Alphabet, handing the reigns over to current Google CEO Sundar Pichai.

Because you asked. Adaptive IP™

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AWS helps Verizon, Vodafone, KDDI, and SK Telecom over the edge

Amazon Web Services has launched AWS Wavelength, which is designed to bring operators and app developers together at the edge of the network.

Qualcomm unveils new flagship Snapdragon

Mobile chip giant Qualcomm dragged the industry over to Hawaii so they could hear about some of the new stuff it has lined up for next year.

AWS Head Bemoans ‘Political Interference’ in JEDI Contract

LAS VEGAS — Amazon is gearing up for battle with the U.S. government over the process by which Microsoft was awarded a reported $10 billion Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) cloud contract. “We feel pretty strongly that it was not adjudicated fairly,” Amazon Web Services (AWS) CEO Andy Jassy said during a press conference at the AWS re:Invent show.

Verizon Beats the Edge Drum With AWS

LAS VEGAS – Verizon Edge, which marries the operator’s 5G network with Amazon Web Services’ (AWS’) Wavelength edge compute service, brings the computing platform much closer to the 5G network and, more specifically, much closer to the user, said Bill Stone, Verizon’s VP of technology development and planning.

Amazon Detective, McAfee Hunt Down the Baddies

LAS VEGAS — Amazon Web Services (AWS) rolled out three new security tools at re:Invent this week. Amazon Detective is a new service that the cloud giant says makes it easier for customers to conduct large-scale investigations. AWS IAM Access Analyzer, which is a new AWS identity and access management (IAM) capability that allows security teams and administrators to audit resource policies for unintended access. And finally, AWS Nitro Enclaves is a new Amazon EC2 capability that creates an isolated compute environment within an instance where customers can securely store sensitive data.

T-Mobile's Merger Prospects Look Grim Ahead of 'Trial of the Century'

A group of state attorneys general is suing to block the proposed merger between Sprint and T-Mobile, and the trial is scheduled to start Monday.

Snow Software Adds Embotics to Boost Hybrid Cloud Management

Snow Software acquired Embotics in a move that bolsters the former’s competitive position in the hybrid cloud management space.

Amazon, Google, Microsoft Pace Q3 Hyperscale Capex, SRG States

After a slight dip in the first two quarters of 2019, hyperscale operator ramped up capex spending in the third quarter, representing a significant return to growth as hyperscale capex is now ahead of the record-setting levels seen in 2018, according to the latest numbers from Synergy Research Group (SRG).

Vodafone UK Is Emptying Its NOCs

The UK service provider has cut hundreds of jobs in operations, with more to go as it rolls out more automated 5G networks.

Silver Peak, Versa, Citrix, Aruba Bolster SD-WAN With AWS

SD-WAN vendors Silver Peak, Versa, Citrix, and Aruba announced new integrations to enhance connectivity with Amazon Web Services (AWS).

AWS Graviton2 Platform Takes Dead Aim at Rivals

Amazon Web Services (AWS) made an aggressive push into the data center chip space with the unveiling of its purpose-built, Arm-based Graviton2 platform that will power instances within many of its core cloud services. The aggression is set to put pressure on its hyperscale cloud rivals and chip players.

China Mobile to Operate National Blockchain Network

The Chinese operator has teamed up with a credit card firm and other agencies to run a new blockchain network.

Comcast Business Testing 'GameOn' App in Philly

Developed by a startup linked to the Comcast/NBCU Lift Labs incubator, an app running on a verrsion of X1 tailored for bars and restaurants enables patrons to play an interactive game based on making sports predictions.

Eurobites: Cellnex Buys 1,500 Tower Sites From Orange Spain

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: OBS connects Mars employees; broadcasting at the edge; Vodafone tunes into AWS Wavelength; more ETNO grumbling.

Orange Targets €1B in Savings & Bigger Enterprise Role

The French operator has prioritized growth in enterprise, Africa and financial services under its latest five-year plan.

Google Names Juniper CTO Koley as Networking Boss

It's a homecoming for Bikash Koley, who joined Juniper in 2017 from Google. Ex-Googler Raj Yavatkar will join Juniper as CTO, taking Koley's job.

Verizon partners with AWS to bring more power to its 5G edge

Verizon is bringing cloud computing closer to its 5G network edge by teaming with Amazon Web Services (AWS). Verizon will use AWS Wavelength, Amazon’s new cloud platform designed for edge computing, to make it easier for developers to create and deploy low latency applications.

Cisco and AWS deepen their embrace across SD-WAN, data centers

Amazon Web Services and Cisco have taken their partnership to another level with a raft of announcements at AWS re:Invent in Las Vegas on Tuesday.

Ericsson holds slight lead over Huawei in mobile core market

As wireless operators around the globe prepare to deploy standalone 5G in the coming year they are investing in 5G mobile core architecture. According to a new report from the Dell’Oro Group, the mobile core network market revenue increased 14% year-over-year ending in third quarter 2019.

Sprint’s Lifeline problems aren't a new phenomenon – report

Sprint is currently under investigation by the Federal Communications Commission for incorrectly counting nearly 900,000 inactive Lifeline subscribers, but a new Wall Street Journal report shows that it’s not the first time the carrier erred in its claims for the government subsidy program.  

Orange Business Service lands a sweet deal with Mars

Orange Business Services was picked by Mars to build a network that will connect more than 12,500 Mars Associates across more than 80 countries. Orange Business Services is building an intelligent automated network (IAN) for Mars, which makes M&Ms, Snickers, Twix and other food items.

Huawei elects Canadian courtesy over US aggression

Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei has said the R&D business unit in Silicon Valley will be uprooted and relocated to Canada.

Rackspace expands Service Blocks portfolio for AWS users

In order to help business keep pace with Amazon Web Services' innovations, Rackspace announced on Tuesday that it has expanded its Service Blocks portfolio.

EdgeConneX teams up with Azure for private cloud offerings

EdgeConneX is continuing to turn up cloud services at the network edge by offering the Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute service in its Munich data center.

Biometric payments to rock the world by 2024

Sceptics will turn their noses-up at the research, but as we increasingly drive towards a cashless society the trends are heading in the right direction.

T-Mobile lures new customers to 5G with free smartphones

T-Mobile’s debut of its nationwide 5G network yesterday included a special enticement for non-T-Mobile customers. Switch to T-Mobile and you can get a OnePlus 7T Pro 5G McLaren, which retails for $899.99, for free with 24 bill credits and a smartphone trade-in. Or, get a Samsung Note10+ 5G, which retails for $1,299.99, for free with 36 bill credits when you buy another device and add a line.

Cisco the revenue leader for Q3 data center switch sector

Cisco continued to hold down the top spot for data center switch revenue, but white box vendors, Arista and H3C gained market share in the third quarter compared to the previous Q3, according to a report by Dell'Oro Group.

Vodafone launches quad-play tariffs with Apple TV+

Vodafone has announced the launch of a new converged offer, bundling together its mobile and CityFibre-fuelled broadband services with a 12-month Apple TV+ subscription.

Amazon launches quantum computing service

Amazon Web Services (AWS) has announced the launch of Braket, a quantum computing service, as well as two research centres for the technology.

Huawei’s Mate 30 is void of any US components

If the objective of the White House was to destroy Huawei by undermining its supply chain, the strategy is seemingly heading towards failure.

US unveils retaliation for French Digital Sales Tax

The US Trade Representative (USTR) has begun the process of targeting French cheese and fashion for trade tariffs in retaliation for Digital Sales Tax imposed by France.

Fortinet Extends Cloud Security Into AWS CloudFormation

Fortinet extended its cloud security service offerings into Amazon Web Services (AWS) in a push that is similar to one made by the vendor toward Microsoft’s Azure platform last month.

Cisco SD-WAN, ACI Anywhere Gain AWS Links

Cisco today deepened its ties with Amazon Web Services (AWS) announcing three new integrations aimed at helping campus, branch, and data center customers more easily secure, automate, and manage their connections to the cloud giant’s services.

Intel Sizing Up Sale of Home Connectivity Unit – Report

Intel has hired a financial advisor to sell a unit that makes chips for gateways, cable modems and smart home equipment, according to Bloomberg.

Verizon, Vodafone Embrace Amazon's AWS for Edge Computing With 5G

Amazon announced its new AWS Wavelength 5G edge computing platform, with Verizon, Vodafone, SK Telecom and KDDI promising to support it. However, details on a US rollout remain foggy.

AWS, Verizon Launch 5G Partnership at re:Invent

LAS VEGAS — Amazon Web Services and Verizon formed a 5G partnership that will embed AWS compute and storage at the edge of Verizon’s mobile networks. It will use AWS’ new edge computing service called Wavelength to allow developers to deploy ultra-low latency applications to mobile devices using 5G networks.

AWS Outposts Lands, Pushes to the Edge

LAS VEGAS — The long-awaited AWS Outposts has landed. It pushes the cloud giant into enterprise data centers and it’s moving to the network edge.

Deutsche Telekom Embarks on Edge Computing for IoT

T-Systems, a subsidiary of global operator Deutsche Telekom, unveiled an edge computing platform that delivers low latency for IoT applications in enterprise facilities. The EdgAir platform is designed to operate like a private cloud to ensure security and transmit data in less than 10 milliseconds, according to the IT services and consulting company.

Juniper SD-WAN Now Handles SD-LAN

Juniper Networks expanded its SD-WAN management console to now include its SD-LAN service that provides enterprises with a simplified approach to managing their SD-branch deployments. The vendor also launched a trio of new SD-branch devices targeted at the enterprise space.

AT&T Adds Blimps to FirstNet Arsenal, Passes 1M Connection Mark

AT&T said it now counts a whopping 1 million connections, just three years after scoring the FirstNet contract. And it's taking to the air with blimps to deliver connectivity.

TiVo Plugs Amazon Prime Video Into Platform for Pay-TV Partners

'Select' TiVo-powered devices distributed by cable operators can now integrate the Amazon Prime Video app.

Nokia Naming Former Networks Boss Sari Baldauf as Board Chair

Baldauf will succeed Risto Siilasmaa as Nokia's Board Chair at the company's annual meeting in April.

SMBs Still Stoking Business Services Growth for US Cable

But cable ops are making progress with bigger, enterprise-sized deals and pursuing new types of commercial-class services to open up fresh revenue streams and inflict more pain on the telcos.

HPE Hybrid Cloud Platform Challenges AWS ‘Walled Garden’

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) today announced a new hybrid cloud platform that’s part of its as-a-service portfolio.

The Telecoms.com Podcast: Private Networks, SI Competition & Huawei

Cub reporter Jamie is joined by two LR elder statesmen (it says here) to talk private networks, systems integrators and Huawei litigation.

Eurobites: Putin Plans Russian App Revolution

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Trump threatens cheese war with France over tech titans tax; Sky plans major new TV studio; Nokia lands smart grid gig in Finland.

To MTS, Russia Remains Land of Opportunity

The mainly Russian operator has quit Ukraine and is targeting a bigger share of revenues from outside the telecom sector in its home market.

NB-IoT System Set to Detect Leaks in Water Mains

Leak detection specialist Gutermann is starting an NB-IoT trial with Vodafone in the UK.

Switching Wireless Carriers Might Soon Get a Lot Easier

The GSMA said it will create a new standards-setting process for eSIM technology, pushed by a Department of Justice antitrust investigation. The effort could have eSIM implications for everyone from Google to Charter.

T-Mobile launches America’s ‘first nationwide 5G network’

TMUS finally makes good use of its 600 MHz spectrum to be able to claim the country’s first 5G network with nationwide coverage.

Orange Poland picks Juniper Networks for IP core network upgrade

Orange Poland is going with Juniper Networks for a major upgrade to its IP core network ahead of its rollout of 5G.

Huawei to sue over FCC restrictions on USF spending - report

Huawei is preparing to launch a legal battle against a recent Federal Communications Commission ruling that bars U.S. carriers from using government subsidies to purchase the Chinese vendor’s telecom equipment or services, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

US is a more attractive investment than Europe – DT CEO

Deutsche Telekom CEO Tim Höttges is always a colourful character, but he hasn’t held back in brutally condemning Europe as we enter the digital age.

CenturyLink's fiber expansion marches into Spain and France

CenturyLink's fiber build team is flexing its muscles in Madrid, Spain and Marseille, France in order to get closer to its customers.

Swisscom, Telstra use spectrum sharing for transglobal 5G call

Swiss operator Swisscom teamed with Telstra in Australia to demonstrate that it is possible to make a 5G data call using Ericsson’s dynamic spectrum sharing technology. Spectrum sharing allows operators to allocate some of their existing 4G LTE spectrum to 5G using existing radios (as long as they are 5G NR-capable).

Juniper Networks CTO Koley exits as Yavatkar named new CTO

After close two and a half years, Juniper Networks CTO and Executive Vice President Bikash Koley will leave the company. In a November 22 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Juniper said that Koley would remain with the company until Jan. 3. 

T-Mobile bashes Verizon, AT&T as it lights up nationwide 5G

Not one to miss out on an opportunity to bash Verizon and AT&T, T-Mobile in particular brandished the knives for Verizon when it announced today that T-Mobile has lit up a nationwide 5G network covering more than 200 million people and more than 5,000 cities and towns across the country.  

Huawei CFO updates her prison diary

Meng Wanzhou, the Huawei CFO being held in Canada awaiting deportation to the US to stand trial, had publicly reflected on her challenging year.

GSMA revamps eSIM standard to appease DoJ anti-collusion probe

The U.S. Department of Justice Department Anti-Trust Division said it will drop its nearly two-year anti-collusion investigation of the GSMA and its mobile operator members —specifically AT&T and Verizon — over eSIM technology. The dismissal comes after the GSMA agreed to draft a new procedure that will give non-operator members more say in the eSIM process and make it easier for consumers to switch operators.

Europe needs better, not more regulation – A1 Telecom CEO

It certainly isn’t unusual for telcos to have a swipe at regulators, and they never miss the opportunity to do so.

Telecoms had a good 2019 and expects a better 2020 – survey

Our latest industry survey reveals a an optimistic outlook, largely bolstered by the launch of 5G commercial service, but also helped by innovations and progress in other quarters of the industry.

China doubles down on facial recognition

A new law has come into force in China requiring all mobile phone users to submit a face scan, meanwhile the country is pushing to define global facial recognition standards.

New research finds DNS-over-HTTPS can increase resolution time b

By: Alan Jones

Intel fires one final bullying accusation at Qualcomm

Months following the well-publicised sale of its smartphone modem business to Apple, Intel has hit out at Qualcomm, accusing the semiconductor giant of market dominance misbehaviour.

Telefónica Reorients Around Tech, Waiting on 5G

Telefónica, like most operators, is facing a new era of rampant technological change and disruption that is forcing the company to make daring decisions about its path forward, said José María Álvarez-Pallete, chairman and CEO of Telefónica, during a press conference last week.

AWS Stacks SageMaker ML Onto Kubernetes Clusters

Amazon Web Services (AWS) launched its SageMaker Operators for Kubernetes that uses the Kubernetes Operators model to more tightly couple the SageMaker machine learning (ML) platform with their Kubernetes workflows.

T-Mobile Launches Lowband Near-Nationwide 5G Network

T-Mobile says it will cover more than 200 million people in the US with its 5G network

T-Mobile Leapfrogs Competitors With ‘Nationwide’ 5G

T-Mobile US once again beat its self-imposed deadline to activate nationwide 5G service. The operator, which has been battling for almost 20 months to merge with Sprint, says its 5G network running on 600 MHz spectrum is now live in more than 5,000 cities and towns.

South Korea Minister Demands More From 5G Operators

South Korea's new ICT minister has urged the country's operators to do more on 5G development.

AWS, Intel, Adlink Join Forces on AI at the Edge

Edge computing company Adlink partnered with Intel and Amazon Web Services (AWS) on a product that targets industrial use cases that can benefit from artificial intelligence (AI) at the edge.

Juniper CTO Bikash Koley Calls It Quits

Juniper Networks former Chief Technology Officer Bikash Koley is out, and the company hired Raj Yavatkar as the new CTO.

40% of US Pay-TV Biz Remains 'At Risk' – Analyst

Live sports remains the glue holding together the pay-TV bundle, but rising costs for sports programming is poised to apply even more pressure on both traditional and OTT-delivered pay-TV services.

Huawei CFO Paints Rosy Picture of Canadian House Arrest

What does the financial chief of the world's biggest equipment maker do in Vancouver when international travel is no longer an option?

Corning Competes to Make In-Building 5G Affordable for Enterprises

With a new Intel deal, Corning continues to bulk up its in-building wireless business, but analysts warn it's facing pressure from the likes of Solid Technologies and JMA Wireless.

Eurobites: Three Ireland Postpones 5G Launch

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Orange Poland goes with Juniper; the incredible shrinking KPN; BT ends performance-related pay for top execs; Ericsson shares on spectrum sharing.

How Three Private Networks Landed a Deal at Heathrow Airport

At the 'Private Networks in a 5G World' event in London, Catherine Gull, head of Business Development at Three Private Networks, explains how the competitive UK operator landed deals with flagship customers such as Heathrow Airport and the Port of Felixstowe.

China Mobile Just Isn't Into Private 5G

China Mobile boffin says public networks are more efficient than private.

Huawei Ban in Australia Threatens 1,500 Jobs, Warns Chinese Vendor

Huawei's payments to Australian telecom contractors will dry up in the next couple of years unless the government reverses its 5G ban, says the Chinese equipment giant.

SDxCentral’s Top 10 Articles — November 2019

Check out our top 10 articles for November 2019 covering the SDxCentral universe of SDN, NFV, and related topics. Rankings are based on unique visitors aggregated during the month.

5G Is No Panacea for IoT

IoT has been a long time coming and the waiting game continues under 5G. Network operators, vendors, and device makers have been forcefully targeting the opportunity to connect anything anywhere for at least 15 years.

India ignores industry on spectrum pricing complaints

The Indian Government has said it will not drop prices for spectrum licences in the next auction, despite persistent complaints from industry.

European Parliament reprimanded by Data Protection Supervisor

The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) has launched a data protection probe into the European Parliament for continued work with a US firm.

Huawei mobilizes is North American legal team once more

Embattled Chinese telecoms giant Huawei is reportedly going to challenge a recent FCC proposal, while there have been developments in the trial of its CFO in Canada.