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.