Headcount: Firings, Hirings, and Retirings — April 2020

Here are some of the latest executive hirings, promotions, and staff changes that happened in April. 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) for inclusion in the monthly headcount column.

VodafoneZiggo wins Dutch 5G race thanks to spectrum sharing

VodafoneZiggo has announced the launch of commercial 5G services making use of Ericsson spectrum sharing software.

CloudGenix Key to Palo Alto Networks SASE Play

The acquisition of SD-WAN vendor CloudGenix has solidified Palo Alto Networks’ position as a secure access service edge (SASE) provider, while also serving to address the needs of branch and retail customers.

RF Connect builds a private CBRS network for COVID health tents

RF Connect built a free wireless network at Memorial Health System Clinic in Springfield, Illinois, for front-line workers who are treating COVID-19 patients in triage tents.

Industry Voices — Pongratz: Small cells are growing up

The RAN architecture has changed dramatically over the past couple of years as operators leverage all the tools at their disposal to navigate growing data traffic and changing end user dynamics. In parallel with macro RAN developments, small cell technologies continue to advance and play an increasingly important role in the overall radio access network (RAN). And even though capex for small cells – here defined as pico and micro base stations with a transmit power of less than 10 W – did not accelerate as much as many initially expected, preliminary estimates suggest small cell pico and micro base stations together comprised a double-digit share of the overall RAN (macro+small cell) revenues in 2019.

Cable MVNOs add wireless subs in Q1, but wired broadband rules

Comcast, Charter and Altice all reported increased broadband adds during their first quarter 2020. Duh! With so many more people in the United States working and learning from home due to the coronavirus, it’s been well-reported that the broadband pipe has gained new-found status.

Report: Cloud capex bulletproof to COVID-19 in Q1

While the rest of the telecom sector comes to grips with the impact of COVID-19, cloud spending remained robust in Q1. According to a Friday report by Synergy Research Group (SRG), first quarter spending on cloud infrastructure services reached $29 billion, which marked a 37% increase over the same quarter last year.

U.S. Cellular shifts into ‘different, but stable’ mode

U.S. Cellular's first-quarter results were solid in most every regard and the company sees no major disruption to its network investments.

Due to COVID-19, Charter cranks up self-installs in Q1

Charter Communications CEO Tom Rutledge credited his company's self-installation program, as well as marketing campaign around self-installs, for weathering the COVID-19 related storm of new subscribers in the first quarter

Telstra upgrades to 5G standalone-ready network in Australia

Telstra said its mobile network is now ready to support 5G New Radio standalone (SA) capabilities, upgrading its radio access network across Australia with Ericsson’s cloud native 5G core.

Altice chalks up record-setting broadband adds in Q1

Altice USA notched its best ever quarter for broadband subscribers additions in the first quarter, according to CEO Dexter Goei. Altice added 50,000 broadband subscribers in the quarter as well as an additional 9,000 subscribers for its Altice Advantage tier, which is its low-income family broadband program.

Huawei and China Mobile stick a 5G base station on Mount Everest

Chinese telecoms giants Huawei and China Mobile have chosen the highest mountain in the world to make some kind of point about how great they are at 5G.

If there was a good time for COVID-19 to impact Apple, it is now

Hardware sales for Apple have dipped over the last three months, but with services gaining weight and the firm still in the building stages for 5G, few seem to be worried.

Jio is running riot again, but more synergies (sigh) are on the horizon

The Indian telecommunications industry might be crumbling around it, but Reliance Jio is still reaping the rewards of disruption and chaos, and there is much more to come.

Global smartphone shipments fall by 17% coz of coronavirus

The latest smartphone shipment numbers from Strategy Analytics reveal an unprecedented drop that can only be due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Twitter plunges to loss thanks to weakened online ad demand

Twitter has been on the rise over the last few years, but the coronavirus pandemic has slammed the brakes on its progress.

Jio-Facebook deal bodes ill for Airtel and Vodafone Idea

The tie-up between the social network and the Indian telco is a further nightmare for other service providers in the country.

Eurobites: Telecom Italia's offices reopen, but most will work remotely

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Ursula Burns steps down at VEON; Swiss soldiers test coronavirus app; Three UK zero-rates video consultations with the NHS.

WiCipedia: Healthtech lacks diversity, just like the rest of tech

This week in our WiC roundup: Coronavirus research needs to be diverse; a new tech memoir to add to your quarantine reading list; how to get to the top; and more.

Charter nets big broadband gains in Q1 as self-installs accelerate

Charter also tacked on 290,000 mobile lines, pushing that total past 1.4 million lines. Residential video losses improved to 70,000.

The operator opportunity for private mobile networks

Are mobile operators central to the private mobile network opportunity? Or, with new enterprise spectrum allocations, are they destined to be usurped by vendors, systems integrators and enterprises themselves?

Casa Systems gets a lift from cable network capacity bumps

CEO says cable revenues rose in Q1 as operators upgraded software licenses and also bought a greater mix of network hardware.

Sprint goes out with a bang

In its last period as a stand-alone operation, Sprint reported postpaid and prepaid figures far above most Wall Street analyst expectations. And that could portend an imminent divestiture to Dish Network.

Telefónica, Liberty Global in talks to combine UK ops – report

Proposed deal would combine Liberty Global's Virgin Media business with Telefónica's O2 mobile unit, Bloomberg says.

11,000 Californians stand in the way of Dish's entry into wireless

Dish Network appears poised to close the purchase of roughly 9.2 million prepaid customers from T-Mobile. But there are 11,000 Californians that must be dealt with first.

SoftBank takes $6.6B hit on WeWork

Revised guidance heaps more misery on shareholders.

Apple can count on services as COVID-19 bites into iPhone sales

Famous for iPhones and other expensive gadgets, Apple could become increasingly dependent on its fast-growing services business while the pandemic lasts.

T-Mobile confirms store closings

T-Mobile is closing some of its Metro by T-Mobile stores, but the move is happening amid its merger with Sprint and a possible economic slowdown.

Millicom signals cost cutting ahead due to COVID-19 impact

Operator enters phase two of its COVID-19 response strategy, with plans to focus capex on improving capacity rather than building new networks and other cost cuts.

Taiwan operators post mixed results as they brace for 5G disruption

Taiwan telcos report Q1 earnings and raise 5G warnings.

How Rakuten Mobile Overcame First-of-its-Kind Network Challenges

Tareq Amin last month accomplished a bonafide first in the mobile industry, and he did it with a team of engineers that are largely from non-telecommunications backgrounds.

Verizon Virtualization Efforts Vanquished COVID-19 Chaos

Verizon has been able to tap its virtualization efforts to rapidly alter network operations to deal with shifting traffic patterns caused by the current COVID-19 virus outbreak. While that virtualization path is now paying off, it has not been without some kinks.

AWS Revenue Tops $10B in Q1, Bezos Pledges Q2 Profit on COVID-19 Spend

Amazon Web Services (AWS) revenue topped $10.22 billion in the first quarter of 2020, up 33% compared to the same quarter last year, which gives the public cloud business a $41 billion annual run rate.

Daily Roundup: AWS Q1 Tops $10B Revenue

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SDxCentral’s Top 10 Articles — April 2020

Check out our top 10 articles for April 2020 covering the SDxCentral universe of SDN, NFV, and related topics. Rankings are based on unique visitors aggregated during the month.

Cisco Squashes Yet Another SD-WAN Bug

Cisco has patched a high-severity vulnerability affecting routers running the company’s popular SD-WAN software.

Crown Castle expects 5G ramp in 2H, no impact from COVID-19

Crown Castle didn’t see any impact on its business in the first quarter from the COVID-19 pandemic, and expects a significant increase in activity in the second half of 2020 as carriers ramp up 5G deployments.

T-Mobile closing hundreds more Metro stores: reports

Multiple sources are reporting that T-Mobile is closing down more Metro by T-Mobile prepaid stores – to now include possibly 1,500 to 2,000 exclusive Metro by T-Mobile shops.

Padden: Private secondary markets in spectrum are essential

What is the Federal Communications Policy regarding private secondary market sales of spectrum usage rights?

Heynen: What’s next for cable broadband networks?

The COVID-19 pandemic has certainly turned our world upside-down, as it represents a human tragedy affecting millions around the world. There have been countless acts of selflessness on a global scale as we all work to end the threat as quickly as possible.

Smartphone production forecast to drop by 16.5% in Q2

Taiwanese analyst firm TrendForce has been having a look at the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the smartphone supply chain and concludes it has had a significant impact.

Nokia claims China Unicom win, lowers 2020 guidance

Nokia has missed out on most of the big 5G contracts in China, but on today’s first quarter 2020 earnings call with investors Nokia CEO Rajeev Suri said, “We understand yesterday, according to China Unicom, that we won the core deal as well as the virtualized IMS.” He didn’t specify the scale or value of this deal.

Raynovich: Why the COVID-19 cloud bump is here to stay

It's been a strange and difficult time as the world struggles with the societal, health, and economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. But a funny thing happened on the way to global chaos—cloud technologies players are benefiting from the trend and they stand to reap long-term gains as technology buyers see the advantages for their platforms.

Qualcomm upbeat on 5G smartphones despite COVID-19

Acknowledging some “minor changes” to the timing of some device launches, Qualcomm is still forecasting 5G worldwide device shipments of 175 million to 225 million in 2020.

Deutsche Telekom taps Adtran for broadband access upgrade

Deutsche Telekom is making a move towards a disaggregated network for both its fiber and legacy networks by teaming up with Adtran. Over the past two years, Adtran has worked with Deutsche Telekom on the service provider's Access 4.0 program, which includes the use of Adtran's software-defined networking (SDN) tools and its software-defined optical line terminal (OLT) terminal systems.

Watch Communications taps Ericsson EPC, readies for rural 5G

Watch Communications has expanded its relationship with Ericsson, tapping the telecom equipment vendor to supply its 5G-ready Evolved Packet Core (EPC) for fixed wireless in rural parts of the Midwest.    

Amdocs targets CBRS-based private LTE/5G

The FCC has authorized Amdocs’s Spectrum Access System (SAS) for CBRS, meaning Amdocs can now operate as a SAS administrator on a commercial basis.

Google and Apple begin testing COVID-19 exposure notification API

Just a couple of weeks after revealing their intention to collaborate over a contact tracing app, Google and Apple have made the first API available to developers.

Orange, Proximus and KPN feature in a tsunami of financial results

Today has seen an avalanche of financials fall on the industry, as Orange, Proximus, Millicom, Ooredoo, Swisscom, Telenet and KPN all release earnings statements.

Nokia rolls with the COVID-19 punches in Q1 2020

Finnish kit vendor Nokia managed a solid set of numbers in the first quarter of this year, despite supply hassle created by that most disruptive of viruses.

Microsoft gets a bump-up in numbers thanks to COVID-19

The coronavirus outbreak is causing chaos in the financial markets, but with every crisis there are those who will benefit financially; Microsoft appears to be one.

Why is Google so interested in Fitbit?

In early November, Google announced it was acquiring Fitbit for $2.1 billion, a transaction which has polarised opinion. But why is Google interested in a faltering wearables brand?

Eurobites: There may be (more) COVID-19 trouble ahead...

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Deutsche Telekom teams up with WatchGuard for enterprise security; Sparkle PoPs up in Casablanca; why the lockdown suits Spotify.

The COVID-19 traffic surge is over, now it's time to find the new baseline

Is global Internet traffic going to return to normal as the pandemic subsides? Or will it remain where it is? Corning's Wendell Weeks might have some insight here.

Microsoft's 5G, edge computing and private wireless ambitions come into focus

Microsoft spent a reported $1.35 billion to buy Affirmed Networks. Now, its plans for the company, Azure, edge computing, 5G and private wireless networks are becoming clearer.

Nokia gives up on 5G radio business in China

The Finnish vendor has thrown in the towel after losing out in a recent round of 5G contract awards.

'Premium' VoD will complement, not shatter, theatrical movie window, NBCU boss says

NBCU's decision to skip the theater for Trolls World Tour during the shutdown and plans to use the PVoD model going forward has lit a firestorm as theaters refuse to screen NBCU's new movies as theaters reopen.

Orange reports slight Q1 revenue growth amid COVID-19 uncertainty

The France-based group reports a mixed bag of results for the quarter, with revenue up strongly in Africa and the Middle East but down in Spain.

Amazon's cloud biz crosses a $10B threshold

AWS hauled in more than $76,000 of revenue per minute during the quarter ended March 31.

Microsoft cloud has a COVID-19 silver lining

Software giant posts strong quarter on back of soaring cloud revenue.

Nokia takes €200M hit from COVID-19 but manages wafer-thin profit

Finnish equipment maker reckons sales would have grown in the absence of the virus and makes good progress on cost-cutting activities.

Podcast: Orange Business Services CEO Helmut Reisinger on coping with COVID-19

OBS CEO Helmut Reisinger and SVP of Customer Services and Operations Aliette Mousnier Lompre discuss keeping customers connected and adapting quickly during the pandemic.

Brits lead the world on 5G mast burning

Telecom vandalism spurred by coronavirus fears just hasn't taken off in other parts of the world.

Altice USA touts broadband sub surge in Q1

Video losses also climbed during the pandemic, and the company expects mobile sub volumes to slow as most retail stores remain closed.

Comcast sees broadband and mobile gains but greater video pain in Q1

As the pandemic set in during Q1, Comcast pulled in a record 477,000 broadband subs and 216,000 mobile customers, but saw pay-TV losses widen greatly to 409,000.

Vendors tout CBRS network for COVID-19 treatments

RF Connect, CommScope, Accu-Tech and Druid Software are gaining valuable CBRS experience while helping frontline workers save lives.

Singapore goes straight to standalone 5G

Singapore has awarded its two 5G licenses to incumbent local operators, including SingTel and a joint venture between StarHub and M1.

Fortinet CISO: Here’s What ‘New Normal’ Cloud Security Needs

Not even global pandemics last forever. “My advice to companies right now is to really think about what will happen next,” said Fortinet VP and Global Field CISO Jonathan Nguyen-Duy. “What are they going to do to shift operations so they’re more resilient? How are they going to do cloud migration — what workloads can be migrated into the cloud, whether it’s public or private? And then begin putting together the resources to do that.”

Vast Data Believes Sharing Is Caring (for Your Data)

Vast Data updated its Universal Storage architecture that includes  20 new features, including support for Windows and MacOS applications, and cloud data replication and native encryption. The release also comes two weeks after Vast Data nearly tripled its valuation to $1.2 billion in a $100 million Series C funding round.

LF Networking Boasts First Open Source PaaS for 5G NFV

LF Networking, a group spearheaded by the Linux Foundation, today introduced what it describes as the first open source platform-as-a-service (PaaS) for 5G network functions. XGVela was donated by China Mobile and has also gained support or interest from China Unicom, China Telecom, ZTE, Ericsson, Nokia, Intel, and Red Hat.

Daily Roundup: COVID-19 Costs Nokia $200M

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How Microsoft Spun Up 32,000 VDI Sessions in 2 Days

Microsoft spun up 32,000 virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) sessions in two days at the start of the coronavirus pandemic to accommodate 10 times its usual remote workforce. At the same time, the company only increased its virtual private network (VPN) capacity 1.5 times to support all of its employees now working from home.

Microsoft Cloud Surge Counters COVID-19 Impact

Microsoft witnessed its stock surge following the release of its latest quarterly results that came in ahead of expectations and were boosted by strong growth in its Azure cloud business. The cloud and computing giant did admit to a slowdown in business as the quarter came to an end, which resulted in a mixed outlook for the rest of its fiscal year.

Nokia Pins $200M Decline on COVID-19

Nokia today reported mixed financial results during its first quarter in 2020, including a $200 million slide in revenue attributed to supply chain disruptions due to the pandemic.

Infovista SD-WAN Gains 'Transparent' Hybrid-WAN Capabilities

Infovista this week announced new hybrid WAN capabilities to reduce SD-WAN deployment times and eliminate the need for network reconfiguration or downtime.

COVID-19 network traffic plateaus off for Verizon and Comcast

While network usage is still above pre-COVID-19 levels, the increases are starting to calm down a bit, according to Comcast and Verizon. In a Wednesday report, Comcast said it was starting to see network traffic plateau in most places, including early work from home markets such as Seattle and California.

American Tower expects to dodge COVID-19 hit in 2020

In contrast to many quarterly results at the start of this year, American Tower executives said the tower company doesn’t expect the global coronavirus pandemic to have a significant impact on its business in 2020.

Entner: A tale of two continents and the internet during COVID

A few weeks ago, EU Commissioner Thierry Breton made headlines when he asked Netflix, Google’s YouTube and Disney to voluntarily reduce their video quality from High Definition to Standard Definition in order to “secure Internet access for all.” Is this an EU bureaucrat detached from reality gone wild or is there something more behind it?

Baker: Forecasting smartphone supply and demand in the plague

For the smartphone business in China, the coronavirus crisis has been quite easy to forecast, at least from a supply-side perspective. Our IDC colleagues there have not had much need to change their early analysis of a probable short period of disruption to phone supply from the initial Wuhan lockdown. If anything, Chinese phone supplies have come back onstream more quickly than the first estimates.

Facebook poaches Ofcom gamekeeper

Regulation is coming and Facebook knows it, so it has reportedly persuaded Ofcom’s Director of Content Standards, Licensing and Enforcement to join the team.

AT&T, T-Mobile butt heads with Comcast, Wi-Fi in 5.9 GHz melee

The 5.9 GHz band, aka “the mess,” is at the center of several fights as the FCC considers rejiggering the band for Wi-Fi after years of the spectrum laying mostly fallow.

Ericsson wins 5G deals with Chinese operators, Nokia loses out

Ericsson has won 5G contracts with China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom. In an announcement today related to China Mobile, Ericsson said it won a 5G contract, including 5G radio access network (RAN) and 5G core components for the second phase of China Mobile’s nationwide new radio (NR) standalone rollout.

Colt upgrades SD-WAN with VoIP optimization and IPv6 support

Colt Technology Services announced on Wednesday that it has added VoIP optimization and support for IPv6 on its SD-WAN platform. Colt said the new features were added due to shifts in network demand related to the coronavirus pandemic as millions of enterprise employees now work from home.

Google Cloud revenue up 52% year-over-year in Q1

While some areas of Alphabet have struggled during the COVID-19 crisis, Google Cloud continued to be a cash cow in Q1. Google Cloud, which includes Google Cloud Project (GCP) and G-Suite, generated $2.78 billion in revenue in the first quarter, which marked a 52% increase over the same quarter a year ago.

Altiostar deploys open vRAN for India’s Bharti Airtel

India’s Bharti Airtel announced it’s deployed Altiostar’s open virtual RAN software across its 4G network in multiple major cities in India.

Supply chain issues weigh on Juniper's service provider segment

Juniper Networks posted a 14% year-over-year decline for its service provider revenue in Q1, mainly due to supply chain issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The service provider sector has been a struggle for both Juniper and Cisco over the past several earnings reports, but Juniper CEO Rami Rahim was bullish on Tuesday's conference call.

Huawei reportedly partners with European chipmaker

It looks like Huawei is seeking to diversify its supply chains beyond US influence by partnering with Franco-Italian STMicroelectronics.

Diversification helps Google ride the waves of coronavirus turbulence

Alphabet-owned Google certainly felt the pinch of COVID-19 over the last few weeks of the quarter, but CEO Sundar Pichai identified diversification as key to managing the crisis.

Chinese smartphone sales plummet

The latest numbers from Counterpoint Research reveal Q1 2020 smartphone sales in China plunged by 22%.

Samsung warns of worrying H2 as COVID-19 wobbles spreadsheets

Samsung has unveiled its quarterly figures for the three months ending March 31, which looked pretty positive, though there has been a dire warning for the rest of the year.

Eurobites: Telekom Austria's Q1 survives COVID-19 threat

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Safaricom sees full-year revenue rise; NHS coronavirus app almost ready; Colt soups up SD-WAN platform for better videoconferencing.

AT&T, Hughes and Verizon top SD-WAN leaderboard

The seven service providers on the leaderboard – AT&T, Hughes, Verizon, CenturyLink, Windstream, Aryaka and Comcast – each have 2% or more of installed and billable carrier-managed SD-WAN customer sites in the US as of year-end 2019.

NextWave's Allen Salmasi returns with edge computing startup Veea

One of the pioneers of the wireless industry has turned his attention to the network edge, with the goal of combining connectivity and compute capability in a single box.

With no live sports, NY AG urges pay-TV providers to trim subscription fees

New York Attorney General Letitia James presses several pay-TV providers, including Comcast, Charter, Dish, AT&T and Verizon, to propose plans to reduce subscription fees temporarily until sports return.

Dish's mystery partners probably won't bring the big bucks

Facebook is investing $5.7 billion into one of India's leading mobile network operators. Could Dish Network score the same kind of agreement with an Internet company for its 5G ambitions?

Mojo banks another $51M, moves closer to connected contact lens

Mojo is working on a contact lens that can display augmented reality information. 5G operators hoping for a new class of devices on their networks are undoubtedly cheering the company.

Eurofiber signals delays to fiber build in Belgium, France

Some government authorities have imposed restrictions on the delivery of new projects during the COVID-19 pandemic, with repercussions for fiber rollout targets.

Google warns of hiring slowdown as search takes a hit

Internet searches for information about the virus are not easy to sell, said Google executives.

Samsung's mobile biz braces for white-knuckle ride in Q2

Semiconductor business looks in better shape to ride COVID-19 storm next quarter.

Synamedia syncs up with Google Cloud

Partnership plays into Synamedia's move to an 'as-a-service' model for OTT video services as it looks to draw in new customers and help existing ones migrate part or all of their operations to the cloud.

Qualcomm: The 5G outlook is still good

Qualcomm isn't changing its 5G phone shipment forecast this year. The company's positive outlook appeared to rally investors.

With 6GHz boost, expect Wi-Fi 6 to encroach on 5G's aspirations

The Wi-Fi industry is targeting areas like fixed wireless, telehealth, VR, precision manufacturing, private networks and smart cities for expansion. That could worry 5G folks.

Cable upstream growth went 'bonkers' during early stages of pandemic – CommScope

MSOs have tools that free up more upstream capacity in the near-term, but the recent spikes in peak usage have accelerated discussions about bigger upgrades that will beef up cable's upstream, CommScope exec says.

Firstlight CEO sets out to reignite QuickPlay's B2B flame

After acquiring the QuickPlay assets from AT&T and shifting to a cloud-native architecture, the video streaming specialist will now rekindle its biz-to-biz ambitions and chase deals with pay-TV providers and pure-play OTTs.

Juniper is heading for another sales dip this year

Supply chain constraints and weaker demand from enterprise customers will make the equipment maker increasingly reliant on its cloud business in 2020.

NetApp Jumps on CloudJumper

NetApp acquired virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) provider CloudJumper for an undisclosed amount in a deal that propels the data services company into the remote desktop market.

Juniper Q1 Revenues Flat as COVID-19 Derails Supply

Juniper Networks faced a difficult first quarter of 2020 racked by supply-chain shortages resulting from the global pandemic, said CEO Rami Rahim on Tuesday’s earnings call. The company reported flat revenues of $998 million falling short of expectations.

Daily Roundup: Google Cloud Revenue Soars 52%

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Cisco Supports SONiC on 8000 Series Routers

Cisco 8000 Series routers now support the open source SONiC operating system.

Deutsche Telekom Taps Adtran SD-Access

Deutsche Telekom today announced a partnership with Huntsville, Alabama-based networking vendor Adtran to create an open software-defined access network for gigabit internet service.

AT&T’s FirstNet uses ‘deployable’ fleet for COVID response

The COVID-19 crisis has given AT&T’s FirstNet the opportunity to use its fleet of 76 “deployables” to provide emergency internet service. This fleet includes everything from a ground-based Cell on Wheels, a heavy-duty satellite cell on a light truck and a blimp.

Greenblatt: Shelter-in-place workforce creates FWA opportunities

The sudden quarantine of Americans by the millions has given birth to a shelter-in-place workforce that is fundamentally changing the relationship consumers have with their network service providers (NSPs). Expectations for high-quality broadband access have been exponentially elevated, as family homes become branch offices—often for multiple enterprises—as well as schools and online clinics to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. To meet these demands, interesting opportunities for fixed wireless access (FWA) applications are emerging.

French government dodges parliamentary debate over StopCovid app

As France prepares to relax its coronavirus lockdown, the government is avoiding parliamentary scrutiny of its controversial contact tracing app.

Europe’s GDPR blasted for underinvestment and enforcement

Open source web browser Brave has directed weighty criticism towards European Governments for failing to equipment data protection agencies and enforcing GDPR rules.

Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile extend no-disconnect pledge

Count Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile among those service providers extending their policies through June 30 to not charge late fees or cancel services for consumers and small businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The policies previously ended on May 13.

Nokia scores major network deal with India’s Bharti Airtel

Nokia has inked a major, multi-year network deal with India’s Bharti Airtel to expand the telecom operator’s 4G coverage and increase capacity.

In face of COVID-19, AWS launches new cloud region in Italy

Amazon Web Services (AWS) launched a new cloud region in Milan, Italy, which marked its sixth European region overall. Italy, along with Spain, has been one of the European countries that has suffered the most due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has included a nationwide lockdown.

VodafoneZiggo launches 5G with Ericsson’s DSS in Netherlands

Dutch service provider VodafoneZiggo is launching 5G with Ericsson Spectrum Sharing and Ericsson 5G Core as part of its GigaNet strategy.

Zoom picks Oracle as its cloud infrastructure provider partner

Instead of going with cloud giants Amazon or Microsoft, Zoom announced on Tuesday it had picked Oracle as its cloud infrastructure provider. It was a big customer win for Oracle as Zoom has seen its video conferencing service skyrocket during the COVID-19 crisis. With millions of employees now working from home, along with students that are also home bound, Zoom has seen massive growth.

Kaloom and Red Hat partner on unified platform for the edge

Kaloom and Red Hat have teamed up on a new unified solution for distributed edge computing that targets emerging 5G use cases. After working with Red Hat over the past six or seven months, the two companies have blended Kaloom's Cloud Edge Fabric (CEF) with Red Hat's Kubernetes-based OpenShift.

VodafoneZiggo wins Dutch 5G race with Ericsson’s help

VodafoneZiggo has announced the launch of commercial 5G services making use of Ericsson spectrum sharing software.

Nokia lands $1 billion RAN deal with Bharti Airtel

Finnish kit vendor has signed a multi-year deal with Indian operator Bharti Airtel to deploy a bunch of its SRAN gear all over the country.

Current crisis acts as convenient distraction for wider NTT failings

Like many other businesses, NTT Docomo has pointed to COVID-19 for poor financial results, but this is a business which was struggling long before the coronavirus hit Japan.

Madden: CRAN emerges as unsung hero

Webex traffic is up 24X during peak hours. Fixed broadband data demand jumped 90% in some areas. American cable modem traffic bounced up 20% in the downlink and 34% in the uplink, with much higher increases in some local areas. The COVID lockdown has caused more data growth in the last month than in the previous year.

Huawei and ZTE win 88% of joint China Telecom/Unicom 5G tender

Apparently seeking to demonstrate even greater patriotism than their larger contemporary, the other two Chinese MNOs went big on domestic vendors for their 5G rollout.

UK snubs Google and Apple privacy warning for contact tracing app

Reports have suggested the UK will pursue a centralised data collection approach for its COVID-19 contact tracing app, despite the well-publicised security and privacy risks.

The Telecoms.com Podcast: Q1 numbers, India and open RAN

Via the soft-focus magic of Google Hangouts, the guys once more bring you your favorite podcast, in spite of everything.

NTT DoCoMo earnings fall on tougher competition and virus impact

Coronavirus, tougher competition drive down NTT DoCoMo earnings.

FCC action signals Comcast's and Midco's intent to join CBRS auction

The cable ops seek a waiver that would enable both entities to file separate applications to participate in an auction for CBRS spectrum that's set to start on July 23.

Automation champ Telenor slashes spending on COVID-19 impact

It's bad news for equipment vendors and employees but good for automated networks and their investors.

VodafoneZiggo uses dynamic spectrum sharing to get ahead with 5G

Dutch operator adopts Ericsson's dynamic spectrum sharing solution and aims for nationwide 5G coverage by the end of July.

India's Airtel awards massive network deal to Nokia

A deal reported to be worth about $1 billion is designed to boost capacity amid the COVID-19 crisis.

Eurobites: UK's NHS goes its own way on COVID-19 app

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: trouble brews over French coronavirus app; Virgin Media suffers major outage; CityFibre breaks ground in Bury.

COVID-19 puts brakes on NXP growth

Automotive chipmaker sees more tough terrain ahead in Q2.

Huawei using STMicroelectronics to parry US attack – report

According to Japan's Nikkei, Huawei is working with chipmaker STMicroelectronics to help protect itself from a possible US blockade of its business with TSMC.

Verizon, AT&T, Cisco, others eye telehealth growth

Some US hospitals are handling more than half of their patient encounters through the Internet. And some companies are betting such telehealth offerings are the 'new normal.'

Huawei and InterDigital bury the hatchet

The Chinese equipment giant and the US patents owner have reached a compromise after a long-running legal battle.

Google Cloud Q1 Revenue Jumps 52%, Unscathed by COVID-19

Google Cloud revenues hit $2.78 billion during the first quarter of 2020, growing 52% compared to last year.

Microsoft Jolts Arc Further Across Red Hat

Microsoft is expanding the reach of its Arc hybrid-cloud platform to Red Hat’s Kubernetes-focused OpenShift and Enterprise Linux (RHEL) environments to simplify the management of applications running across those platforms.

Daily Roundup: Google Eyes D2iQ Acquisition

In case you’ve been stuck in video conference meetings all day, here are today’s top stories from SDxCentral. Also, make sure to subscribe to our daily newsletter to get these stories in your inbox.

AWS Narrowly Escapes Azure Defeat as Public Cloud Surges, Flexera Says

Public cloud adoption continues to accelerate at a rapid pace with the top three cloud providers — Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP) — maintaining their positions as they lead the charge, according to Flexera’s 2020 State of the Cloud report. 

Red Hat Injects More Kubernetes Control Into OpenShift

Red Hat bolstered its Kubernetes-focused OpenShift platform with new virtualization capabilities and plans to add a new cluster management service. Both are part of the vendor’s ongoing efforts to more fully form the OpenShift product that is becoming increasingly important to enterprises and Red Hat’s parent company IBM.

Cumulus Streamlines Deployments, Maintenance in Latest Release

Cumulus Networks today continued its mission to eliminate network complexity with the release of the third iteration of its NetQ telemetry and validation platform.

Does Google Want to Buy D2iQ?

Google wants to buy cloud-native software company D2iQ, formerly Mesosphere, to bring its Kubernetes offerings in house, according to an Axios report.

Kaloom Sings Red Hat OpenShift Tune for 5G Edge

Kaloom today announced an expansion of its partnership with Red Hat to provide network operators with a more comprehensive approach to distributed edge computing. By integrating its Cloud Edge Fabric with Red Hat OpenShift, Kaloom aims to reduce the costs of edge infrastructure and further facilitate its use for 5G use cases.

Facebook, Cisco, Verizon Give Glimpse Into Future of Networks

The impact of COVID-19 on network infrastructure is providing a sense of what the future might hold, according to a group of technology executives assembled for a group video chat today.

Pluribus, Dell Tackle IoT Video Security With SDN

Pluribus Networks and Dell Technologies’ latest SDN product targets IoT video networks using open white box switching and distributed multicast forwarding technology.

Maybe we should stop talking Millennials and start chirping Generation Z

With 5G becoming a reality, it won’t be too long before new services are launched, which is perhaps why we should stop talking about Millennials and start focusing on Generation Z.

Apple pushing back 5G iPhone launch– report

A new report says Apple will delay the launch of its flagship iPhones later this year, including its first 5G handset, though device research firm BayStreet Research doesn’t think it would have a major impact on U.S. carriers in Q4.

Google’s Preston Marshall says Tier 1s will go for CBRS

Preston Marshall is chief wireless architect for Google, and he’s also been a big advocate for CBRS. Marshall chairs the Wireless Innovation Forum (WINN Forum) as well as the CBRS Alliance board. On a recent Competitive Carriers Association webinar, Marshall said CBRS was created to make spectrum a more accessible resource and open up new business opportunities for its use. He laid out the top expected use cases for CBRS spectrum, saying operator mobility offload is “certainly the base case.” And the prospect of mobility offload was compelling enough to the Tier 1 carriers in the United States that they caused the handset ecosystem to support the band.

Dish’s network slowly falls into place: analyst

Noting Dish Network’s progress in selecting its first vendor for its greenfield wireless network, analysts at New Street Research say nothing about the COVID-19 crisis really changes the company’s ability to build a network.

Adtran signs up for Orange's software-defined ARES project

Adtran announced on Monday that it has joined Orange's software-defined networking (SDN) access renewal and evolution strategy (ARES) program. Orange's ARES is a multi-stage program that includes the use of SDN for fixed fiber access networks.

Doyle: How does SASE impact managed service offerings?

The large market for managed network and security services is highly competitive and rapidly evolving.  Network and security technologies are converging and moving to a cloud-based model. This convergence, which is called Secure Access Service Edge or SASE , will have a significant impact on associated managed service offerings and the managed service providers (MSPs) themselves over the next five years.

India reportedly moves to restrict Chinese direct investment

It looks like India is the latest country to move to restrict the amount of its stuff China can buy.

Gigabit broadband could add $50bn to UK economy – analyst

Assembly Research has estimated gigabit speed broadband services could add as much as $5 billion to the UK economy over the next five years.

CTA paints gloomy picture for US consumer tech industry

The Consumer Technology Association (CTA) has published new forecasts for smartphone, laptop and TV sales in the US, which do not look the most attractive.

Unlike France, Germany decides to do smartphone contact tracing the Apple/Google way

Contact tracing via smartphone is a powerful way to tackle the spread of coronavirus, but it mustn’t be done at the expense of individual civil rights.

FCC starts process to ban Chinese telcos in US

The FCC has issued what is known as a ‘Show Cause Order’ to four Chinese telcos operating in the US, demanding evidence to prove they are not at the behest of the Chinese Government.

6GHz ruling a 'big deal' for cable, Charter exec says

Wi-Fi 6, paired with gobs of new spectrum in the 6GHz band, will help fuel Charter's plans for wired/wireless network convergence, fit with cable's '10G' initiative and pave way for new apps and services.

As Ericsson advances, Nokia's 5G business may be finished in China

Where does China's recent award of major 5G contracts leave the Nordic equipment makers?

FCC: China covered up COVID-19, so we'll ban Chinese telcos

Blaming China for the spread of the deadly virus, US authorities are moving to ban Chinese service providers from the US market.

A changing of the guard in wireless

AT&T's John Stankey, T-Mobile's Mike Sievert and Verizon's Hans Vestberg are the new top leaders in the US wireless industry. Each is taking a slightly different approach to 5G.

Rust Belt ISP touts gigabit speeds with 5G fixed wireless

The FCC wants rural Americans to have access to both gigabit Internet and 5G. One ISP in America's heartland believes fixed wireless can deliver both.

India's new FDI rules are another headache for Chinese vendors

Rules mean that any foreign investments by countries that share land borders with India will be heavily scrutinized.

Samsung takes a bullet for US carriers' 5G

Samsung has long worked to match its products to network operators' desires. But in 5G that strategy does not appear to have paid off.

France unveils project team for StopCovid app

France presses ahead with centralized approach for contact-tracing app, but a decentralized option seems to be gaining favor with other countries including Germany.

Britain needs to get its gigabit act together – report

Research firm Assembly warns the UK economy could miss out big time if measures are not in place to promote gigabit-capable broadband.

Ramping traffic from COVID-19 caused 'small amount of anxiety,' CenturyLink CTO says

Parts of CenturyLink's infrastructure 'ran hot,' but the overall network, already built to withstand failure, was able to normalize traffic surges and deal with those initial spikes, Andrew Dugan says.

Layoffs hit CommScope's Home Networks unit

Between 150 and 200 employees were let go, sources say, as division grapples with eroding pay-TV market, OTT competition and the transition of service providers to lower-cost video devices.

Huawei, ZTE win nearly all of another huge 5G tender

Huawei, ZTE take their China 5G winnings to $9 billion this year.

Harmonic's CableOS momentum slowed by COVID-19

Harmonic ends Q1 with 27 commercial deployments covering 1.3 million modems for its software-powered, virtualized cable access platform, but rollout pace has decelerated during the pandemic.

Eurobites: Broadcom makes peace offering to EU to head off monster fine

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Germany changes tack on coronavirus app technology; Telxius towers deal in the offing; Parallel Wireless takes OpenRan to Ghana.

AWS Gives AI Workloads a Human Touch

Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced the general availability of its Augmented Artificial Intelligence (A2I) service, which is designed to streamline human review of low-confidence artificial intelligence (AI) workloads.

Microsoft Azure, Intel Keep Cloud Data Confidential

Microsoft today made available Azure confidential computing built on Intel hardware for enterprise cloud customers.

Daily Roundup: WiFi 6 Fuels Speed With 5X Spectrum Boost

In case you’ve been stuck in video conference meetings all day, here are today’s top stories from SDxCentral. Also, make sure to subscribe to our daily newsletter to get these stories in your inbox.