Headcount: Firings, Hirings, and Retirings — June 2020

Here are some of the latest executive hirings, promotions, and staff changes that happened in June. 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.

Liberty Mutual Serves Up Serverless Success

Liberty Mutual, one of the largest insurance companies in the U.S., set off on a digital transformation journey in 2010. Fast forward to present day and the company has since vacated data centers for the public cloud, and in last four years adopted a serverless architecture based on Amazon Web Services’ (AWS) Lambda platform.

Reliance Jio gets into the video conferencing game

Disruptive Indian telco Jio aspires to be much more than just a dumb pipe and its decision to launch its own video conferencing service is consistent with that ambition.

Vodafone claims 5G Standalone first in the UK

Being first doesn’t necessarily give too much away about the winner, but it is an indicator of progress.

UK set for tussle with Europe over O2-Virgin deal approval

Among the many bitterly disputed terms of the UK’s divorce from the EU are the jurisdiction of competition authorities, which could affect the O2-Virgin Media merger.

Dutch watchdog warns against data sharing to combat COVID-19

The Dutch data protection authority, Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens, has said it will recommend against a Bill currently working its way through Parliament to use telecoms data in the COVID-19 fight.

Geoverse offers private LTE with its CBRS/licensed spectrum combo

Geoverse is looking to sell private wireless LTE offerings using a unique combination of its licensed 600MHz and 700MHz spectrum licenses and CBRS spectrum.

5G still too costly, inflexible for private network – Tencent

Tencent GM Wang Yachen warned an online conference audience this week that 5G needs to be more cost-effective in order to compete in B2B.

Here are nine new things that 5G can do now

The 3GPP is expected to issue 'Release 16' of the 5G standard Friday. It will support fancy new technologies like network slicing, Integrated Access Backhaul and vehicle platooning.

Pandemic spotlights need for simplified and automated self-service tools – study

More than half of consumers can't fix their own technical issues, a number that surges to 73% among those who don't consider themselves tech-savvy, Sweepr finds in survey of 600+ people in the US and UK.

PPF Group up to its old restructuring tricks again

Private equity firm splits retail and infrastructure operations of former Telenor CEE assets, just like it did with O2 Czech Republic a few years ago.

Vodafone’s cloud-native journey: A mix of old school and new

The Cloud Native World program last week offered evidence of progressive telco thinking and the same old barriers to faster adoption of cloud-native architectures.

Vodafone UK readies for standalone 5G future

UK operator lines up Ericsson, MediaTek, Oppo and Qualcomm to help with its standalone 5G network and installs trial network at Coventry University.

Will Most Edge Providers Fall Into the Abyss?

Edge computing is spreading like wildfire, but once the wind dies down and fuel runs out, this season of heightened activity and unmet opportunity will be contained. Hundreds of companies from various market segments have an edge computing offering or strategy, and yet relatively few have cracked the code and built a sustainable business.

Eurobites: Show some post-pandemic love for open RAN, pleads trade body ETNO

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: UK wants to pronounce on O2/Virgin Media merger; Ericsson takes TDC to the water; beaucoup de connectivity en vacances, promises Orange.

Carlyle Group acquires 25% stake in Airtel's Nxtra in India

The data center business of one of India's biggest telcos has attracted investment amid surging demand for cloud services.

Huawei ban in UK is surely just a matter of time

If the Chinese vendor were not so technically gifted, it would probably have been sent packing already.

Moore: There’s more to cable MVNO growth than meets the eye

As Sprint is absorbed into T-Mobile, leaving the U.S. with – for now – three national carriers, it makes sense to examine the growth and prospects of the cable companies’ foray into wireless. In most markets, a cable company now is effectively a fourth postpaid competitor.

EncroChat hack shows there’s no such thing as secure communications

French police managed to penetrate a super-secure smartphone platform and catch loads of baddies, but what does this mean for the rest of us?

Twitch vs. Facebook Gaming is a streaming battle worth paying attention to

Netflix and chill might have defined streaming trends for years, but it is video voyeurism which is capturing the attention of the youth nowadays.

Ericsson touts trio of commercial 5G launches

Swedish telecom equipment vendor Ericsson this week announced a trio of commercial 5G launches with service provider partners globally, including Chunghwa Telecom, MTN, and Telma.

DoJ, FCC mark Dish’s acquisition of Boost

The FCC and the U.S. Department of Justice each released statements on Wednesday recognizing T-Mobile’s divestiture of Boost Mobile to Dish Network—one of the conditions on which the government approved the merger of T-Mobile and Sprint last year.

Cambium embraces 60 GHz, Wi-Fi 6 for multi-gigabit connectivity

Cambium Networks recently announced new Wi-Fi 6 products alongside 60 GHz-supported solutions coming this summer that are meant to deliver multi-gigabit last mile connectivity at a lower cost of ownership.

Blaber: Reflections on GSMA's Thrive keynote

"Innovation in Unprecedented Times" felt like an appropriate opening keynote session to the GSMA's Thrive virtual conference. CCS Insight has studied not only the direct impact of the pandemic on our industry, but also the changes that it has thrust on work and society, as well as the role of connectivity and technology in helping the world fight the virus and adapt to a "new normal." We've considered how telecom networks are answering the Covid-19 call, how remote collaboration has become essential to our working lives, and how the outbreak has shone a light on the need for 5G.

Hong Kong dispute could be the final nail in the coffin for Huawei in the UK

China has vowed to punish the UK for trying to help Hong Kong citizens. Well, two can play at that game.

4 ISPs now offer companies WFH enterprise-grade connectivity

Video conferencing and cocktails-to-go may not be the only 2020 trends that outlast the Covid-19 pandemic. Internet service paid for by employers could also be here to stay, as employers evaluate the cost of office space for workers versus supporting telework. 

UK to follow Europe’s lead on small cell planning permission exemption

The Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has confirmed it plans to follow European Commission rules to make small cells exempt from planning permission.

CenturyLink's fiber to enable 5G and other next-gen technologies

CenturyLink has been amassing fiber assets for several years, and now the company says it is ready to deploy its fiber in support of smart manufacturing, artificial intelligence and 5G. This week management told investors that CenturyLink has the world's most highly connected internet peering backbone, with 450,000 fiber route miles, 170,000 on-net buildings, 2,200 on-net public data centers and more than 100 edge compute nodes. The company says these edge compute nodes enable more than 98% of U.S. enterprises to reach its network with less than 5 milliseconds of latency.

Infra projects back in fashion as US Democrats push for $100bn broadband pledge

The Moving Forward Act has navigated the first of three political hurdles, though now the $100 billion broadband initiative from the Democrats faces Republican scrutiny.

UK moves to fight Google and Facebook advertising monopolies

Between them, Google and Facebook control 80% of the UK digital advertising market and that’s not healthy for competition or the consumer.

UK continues to lag on fibre as BoJo forgets broadband promise

As the UK continues to trail other European nations on fibre deployments, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has omitted broadband infrastructure from grand spending plans to drive the economy forward.

Doyle: Covid-19 fuels digital transformations across three areas

Four months into the great work-at-home “experiment," we have already seen significant traffic shifts in the network. For example, the critical requirement for high speed, reliable bandwidth at home is driving enhanced broadband services and 4G LTE. Core Internet traffic is up 25% or more during 2020. Correspondingly, traffic on the campus network is—not surprisingly—at an all-time low. 

5G mmWave silence from AT&T, T-Mobile becomes deafening

Verizon has loudly touted its plans to expand its mmWave 5G network. But AT&T and T-Mobile have remained conspicuously silent on the topic.

Daily Roundup: VMware Buying Spree Continues

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.

AT&T Tracks 2,000% Spike in COVID-19 Cyber Threats

Three Telco Security Alliance members and their threat intelligence units — AT&T (AT&T Cybersecurity and AT&T Alien Labs), Singtel (Trustwave), and Telefónica (ElevenPaths) — reported a 2,000% spike in COVID-19 related threats in March compared to February.

Virgin Media makes DOCSIS 3.1 upgrade splurge

Target of passing 15 million homes with 'gigabit-capable' networks by end of 2021 apparently on track.

Facebook's boycotters risk mainly hurting themselves

The Internet platform's audience has been growing just as major advertisers decide to practice social distancing.

Nvidia Partners With SUSE, Bolsters vGPU Support

Nvidia this week expanded its hypervisor support through a partnership with SUSE Enterprise Server and unveiled new capabilities coming to its virtual GPU software. Through the partnership, Nvidia will provide virtual GPU support on SUSE’s kernel-based virtual machine platform.

TiVo weaves HBO Max into new Stream 4K platform

Integration builds on new SVoD's tie-ins with Android TV devices and gives TiVo's new streaming device a point of differentiation against two platforms that currently don't support HBO Max – Roku and Fire TV.

Profits and power propel the open RAN security debate

While dozens of companies debate the US government's role in open RAN, the almighty dollar is driving the discussion.

KT chief warns of slow 5G adoption

KT CEO Hyeon-Mo Ku warns that slow 5G takeup means operators must switch to focusing on the enterprise.

O-RAN Alliance adds Telus and U.S. Cellular to its ranks

The open radio access network (RAN) specification group now has 26 operator members.

Eurobites: Vodafone wheels 5G into West Midlands transport initiative

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: T-Systems focuses on its Brot und Butter; Israel to track COVID-19 victims; Huawei provides Massive MIMO in Johannesburg.

Indian backlash against China spells opportunity for homegrown vendors

The Chinese are increasingly out of favor in the huge Indian market, creating opportunities for domestic and other foreign vendors.

Facebook shrugs off advertiser panic attack

Social media giant Facebook is refusing to be blackmailed into having its censorship policies dictated to it, for now.

Dish closes $1.4B acquisition of Boost

Dish Network announced it has completed the $1.4 billion acquisition of Boost Mobile, which was one of the conditions for the government’s approval of the T-Mobile/Sprint merger.

FCC ‘stuns’ RWA with immediate USF ban on Huawei

The Rural Wireless Association (RWA) said Tuesday that it was “stunned” by the FCC decision to immediately ban service providers from using Universal Service Fund (USF) dollars for Huawei telecom gear and wants enough time to submit waivers.

Verizon Business chief product officer talks about Covid respons

In March when the coronavirus officially became a pandemic, Verizon Business had to act quickly - just like all other wireline service providers - to meet customer demands, which materialized practically overnight. Verizon Business’ Chief Product Officer Aamir Hussain said four categories of Verizon Business services are hot commodities.

T-Mobile deactivates Sprint’s legacy 2.5 GHz 5G

Sprint’s legacy 5G service using 2.5 GHz has been deactivated as T-Mobile continues work to reconfigure, test, and re-deploy the coveted mid-band spectrum into its new integrated 5G network.

Silver Peak partners with network analytics firm Kentik

SD-WAN provider Silver Peak is partnering with San Francisco's Kentik to add network intelligence and visibility to its Unity EdgeConnect platform. The partnership is meant to address a growing demand for network intelligence from companies that have deployed SD-WAN. Recent research from Cato Networks found that 74% of companies that had deployed SD-WAN solutions had significantly less confidence in their networks following their digital transformation. Only 37% were confident that they could protect locations from threats.

Vodafone Idea loses a quarterly $1.5 billion due to government payments

Beleaguered Indian telco Vodafone Idea registered the largest ever annual loss by an Indian firm, thanks largely to massive payments to the government.

Europe proposes no planning permission obligations for small cells

The EC has created new market definitions for small cell equipment, also recommending the installation of these antenna should exempt from planning permission requirements.

Charter sees COVID-19 accelerating network evolution

Charter's Spectrum Enterprise says the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted corporate customers to take a much more active interest in ISP capabilities, and will likely accelerate adoption of network-as-a-service and SD-WAN. In addition, the company is seeing increased demand for applications and services that support remote work, a trend that Charter’s management team thinks will outlast the pandemic. 

UK picks national pub day to start trial of rental e-scooters

On 4 July Britons will be allowed to go to the pub for the first time in four months, so that seems like a great time to make a new class of motorbike available to take for a spin.

FCC officially designates ZTE and Huawei as national security threats

The FCC has officially designated Huawei and ZTE as threats to national security, barring any telecoms operator using federal funds to purchase or maintain equipment from the vendors.

Chua: CSPs, hyperscale clouds and edge - beware the camel's nose

A few short years ago, we were gearing up for another spectacular showdown — the battle for the edge. Both from a mobile network operator (MNO) or wireline network operator standpoint, there was a sense that we in telecom had ceded the spoils of 3G, 4G and wireline broadband networks to the cloud providers and the OTTs. In the telco consulting and analyst space, you'd be hard-pressed not to find PowerPoint decks replete with slides showing the ascent of cloud providers (and associated valuations and profit margins) compared with the generally tepid growth of key business indicators at communications service providers (CSPs) worldwide. The telecoms industry had lost the battle for the cloud, but with 5G rollouts in process, it was certainly not going to lose the battle for the edge.

Daily Roundup: IBM Security Pushes Ransomware Playbooks

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.

AT&T, fuboTV join the pay-TV price hike party

fuboTV is raising prices in the wake of its Disney deal while AT&T is boosting first-year pricing on its contract-based DirecTV and new AT&T TV services.

VMware’s Buying Spree Continues With Datrium

VMware continued its buying spree today with a deal to acquire Datrium to boost its cloud-based disaster recovery.

Ekinops Claims Misguided SD-WAN Assumptions Hurt Networks

At its core, SD-WAN is designed to provide secure and reliable communications between the branch and headquarters. But what if in doing so, SD-WAN is contributing to poor network performance?

CBRS auction creates challenges, opportunities for utility companies

Some utility companies may need to update their existing WiMax networks due to the CBRS auction. But they might also bid for CBRS spectrum licenses for private wireless LTE networks.

Dish's Marc Rouanne: Building an open RAN, greenfield 5G network

Light Reading spoke with Marc Rouanne, who was hired late last year to construct Dish's 5G network, about the company's vendor choices so far, and how Dish is designing its planned network.

5G's future includes a cloud-native architecture complete with containers

Many mobile operators want 5G to be built on a cloud-native stack from the RAN to the network core.

Google Cloud’s VMware Migration Tools Go Live

Google Cloud VMware Engine, its application and workload migration tool for VMware customers, is now generally available in two U.S. regions.

Dish Network's Boost pricing plans show it's in a marathon, not a Sprint

Dish Network officially entered the wireless industry with the purchase of Sprint's Boost brand from T-Mobile. However, Dish's new Boost service plans aren't very exciting.

Podcast: What's the story with mobile data in Africa?

On this episode of 'What's the Story?' – a new series from the Light Reading Podcast – Paula Gilbert, editor of LR's sister site Connecting Africa, talks with pod host Nicole Ferraro about mobile data growth in Africa: the latest news, why it matters and what's likely to happen next.

The US won't get its Independence Day from Chinese tech

US officials are promoting open RAN as an answer to China, but the technology specifications are based partly on Chinese IP.

NBCU's Peacock forges streaming pact with ViacomCBS

Licensing deal will deepen Peacock's streaming library as the service nears its national launch on July 15.

Dish Finally (Sort of) Realizes US Wireless Market Aspirations

Dish Network’s 12-year quest to become a player in the U.S. wireless market is now fulfilled — partially at least as a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO). The company today closed its $1.4 billion purchase of Boost Mobile, gaining more than 9.3 million customers from the divestiture of Sprint’s prepaid business by T-Mobile US.

Comcast raises monthly Internet data ceiling to 1.2 terabytes

Comcast's usage-based plan offers only one courtesy month with no data cap, but its unlimited data plans are now less expensive than they were before the pandemic.

Eurobites: UK hints at Huawei volte-face

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Deutsche Telekom throws more cash at gaming; Three UK targets enterprise with Amdocs; EU adopts small cell rules.

BT reports on 100 days of lockdown solitude

People more tech-savvy and data usage on the up, as UK lockdown reaches 100-day milestone.

IBM Security VP: Ransomware Can Destroy Your Business. Playbooks Are Key

More companies have formal, enterprise-wide security response plans in place, according to IBM Security’s latest Cyber Resilient Organization Report. It found that 26% of respondents have such a plan in place today compared with 18% in 2015.

Openet expands BT mobile BSS deal to include EE

Ireland-based BSS provider to implement real-time charging services for EE's mobile operations.

Modernizing China Unicom network operations with TianShu

TianShu enables stronger collaboration between marketing, sales, planning, network planning, procurement, network construction and ongoing operations.

SDxCentral’s Top 10 Articles — June 2020

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

Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile gang up against Charter C-band petition

Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile are each telling the FCC to ignore a call from Charter Communications to change rules for the C-band in order to protect users in the 3.5 GHz CBRS band.

Dish turns to Altiostar for O-RAN help

Upstart US MNO Dish has further signalled its commitment to O-RAN technology by signing a multi-year deal with Altiostar, which specialises in that sort of thing.

Aussies set aside £760mn to fight cybercrime

The Australian Government has outlined an AUS$1.35 billion (£760 million) programme to combat the rise in cybersecurity threats as remote working remains top of the agenda.

Ericsson taps Kathrein know-how for new 5G mid-band solutions

Ericsson can thank Kathrein for some of its innovations in the mid-band 5G antenna space, including the Hybrid AIR and Interleaved AIR solutions that it’s touting today. Ericsson’s mid-band solutions target the 1 GHz to 6 GHz bands.

Rakuten touts 1M mobile signups, expands RCP reach

Rakuten Mobile on Tuesday touted subscriber signups for its 3-month-old 4G LTE service, along with an international expansion for its Rakuten Communications Platform that it plans to sell to network operators and others globally.

SK Telecom trials Intel chips for 5G standalone core network

SK Telecom has trialed 2nd generation Intel Xeon Scalable processors and Intel Ethernet 800 Series network adaptors as part of its transition to a 5G Standalone core network. The Intel technology will help SK Telecom improve performance in latency and jitter for high priority traffic. 

Dish selects Fujitsu, Altiostar for 5G radios, Open vRAN

Dish Network announced two major vendor agreements on its path to becoming the nation’s fourth national facilities-based carrier: Fujitsu for a “large purchase” but undisclosed number of radio units (RUs) and a multi-year agreement with Altiostar for a cloud-native Open vRAN software solution.

CenturyLink to provide voice services for NASA

NASA has awarded CenturyLink a second contract, this time assigning all of its voice traffic to the Louisiana-based telecom giant. The previous contract, awarded in April 2019, tapped CenturyLink to build NASA's backbone network at the agency's Houston headquarters. Under this new contract, CenturyLink will also provide network connectivity service to NASA's regional research facilities and space centers.

UK PM refers to Huawei as a “hostile state vendor”

During a press conference to announced his recovery plan for the country, UK PM Boris Johnson was asked if China’s growing oppression of Hong Kong had affected his thinking on Huawei.

Aryaka to provide SD-WAN for Alibaba Cloud

Alibaba Cloud has tapped Silicon Valley’s Aryaka to provide fully managed SD-WAN services to its customers inside and outside China. This is the first global SD-WAN partnership for China’s largest public cloud provider.

India puts more distance between itself and China

India has made moves to restrict Chinese investment, is on the way to block vendors from state networks, and now has banned 59 apps from the country, including TikTok and WeChat.

Internet platforms try to pre-empt the adpocalypse through mass suspensions

The decision by major brands to boycott Facebook and Twitter has caused other internet platforms to panic into removing and accounts they fear may upset advertisers.

How much is an extra G worth? £158 billion perhaps

Research from Vodafone UK suggests 5G connectivity could add as much as £38 billion to the UK economy over the next five years, and £158 billion over the course of a decade.

Heynen: Mixed messages in 1Q20 broadband equipment

The first quarter of the year saw service provider investments in broadband access equipment drop to $2.5 billion worldwide, down 15% both quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year. Notoriously slow to begin with after operators flush their budgets in the fourth quarter, the quarter was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region. The temporary closing of manufacturing facilities in China and Taiwan, combined with limitations on the import of necessary components and the export of finished equipment resulted in reduced supplier revenue.

Size means little in the app economy

Tear up the rulebook, forget about what you learnt in Economics 101 and don’t bet on the market leader; the app economy is one segment which is supercharging start-ups like few others could dream of.

KT’s 2nd Generation AI Hotel Robot Enhances Room Services

KT Corp., South Korea’s largest telecommunications company, announced its second-generation GiGA Genie hotel robot, dubbed “N Bot,” has improved room service at Seoul’s Novotel Ambassador Dongdaemun Hotels & Residences.

Aryaka and Alibaba Cloud amp up SD-WAN in APAC

Alibaba's customers approached Aryaka about the need for a partnership between the companies to expand SD-WAN availability and access to public clouds in the APAC region.

Rural carriers 'stunned' by the FCC's ban on Huawei, ZTE

Rural wireless network operators represented by the Rural Wireless Association are taking issue with an FCC move against purchases of Huawei and ZTE equipment.

China’s Top Operators Dig Into 5G Strategies

Executives for China’s top two mobile network operators, representing almost 1.4 billion customers, shared their respective visions for 5G today during a keynote at the GSMA Thrive virtual event.

YouTube TV hikes price by $15 per month

Illustrating again that OTT-TV service providers aren't immune to rising content prices, YouTube TV has jacked the rate of its baseline package by 30% – from $49.99 to $64.99 per month – as it adds fare from ViacomCBS.

Silver Peak, Kentik Tackle SD-WAN Visibility

Silver Peak today announced support for network intelligence provider Kentik in a bid to address visibility challenges facing SD-WAN customers.

Daily Roundup: Verizon Joins Facebook Revolt

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.

Podcast: US Ignite's Mari Silbey on hybrid networks and new broadband business models

US Ignite's Mari Silbey joins Light Reading's Kelsey Ziser and Phil Harvey for a discussion about what changes are ahead in how cities and companies can provide broadband to residents in underserved areas.

Dish's 5G radios to come from Japan's Fujitsu

Dish said it will use 5G radios from Japan's Fujitsu. That's noteworthy considering radios account for a large percentage of the cost of a 5G network, and Dish had indicated its preference for US suppliers.

Dish Strikes Deals With Fujitsu, Altiostar for 5G Network

Dish Network’s pool of vendors for its yet-to-be built cloud-native, virtualized open radio access network (RAN) is starting to look strikingly similar to Rakuten Mobile. All three of the first vendors tapped to be involved in Dish’s greenfield 5G network are also working with the Japanese greenfield operator.

Diamanti Stretches Spektra to the Public Cloud

Diamanti went deep with the latest update of its hybrid cloud Kubernetes control plane and operating system, extending its on-premises reach across the data center, edge, and public cloud.

Rakuten plots global 5G landgrab as Japanese tech strikes back

The Japanese e-commerce company's real goal is not to become another mobile operator in Japan but to lead a global revolution.

Ericsson Fights 5G Footprints With Integrated Radio, Antenna

Telecommunications giant Ericsson today announced two new radios with integrated antennas it claims will ease deployment pains and speed the rollout of mid-band 5G.

Light Reading virtualizing Cable Next-Gen event

Instead of staging our usual in-person conference in Denver, we will now conduct a free, digital event over two full days in late August.

Cisco Rolls Out Networking for New Edge

Cisco rolled out networking products for businesses reopening as well as those planning a more hybrid future with a distributed workforce working at reopened and highly digitalized branch offices and from home — aka the new edge.

Missouri farm makes hay with edge computing, private LTE

Trilogy Networks and its new Rural Cloud Initiative (RCI) is aiming to bring technologies like private wireless LTE networks and edge computing to rural parts of the US.

Asia cloud slowdown 'not a positive' for economic recovery

A new report from the ACCA shows cloud adoption across Asia is slowing down, but the reason for the slump is unclear.

The Telecoms.com Podcast: Core network, Huawei and Facebook boycott

It's all getting a bit heated on this week's pod as the usual crew sweats the big stuff.

Verizon: The fastest 5G in the world – report

Thanks to its mmWave network, Verizon offers average 5G download speeds of roughly 500 Mbit/s, which Opensignal calculates is the fastest in the world.

Synacor and Qumu call off the marriage

Before scuttling the merger, the companies foresaw an opportunity to take a bigger run at the enterprise services market.

Bharti said to be key player in UK's OneWeb bid

The Indian operator is reportedly one of several investors in a UK government-backed consortium that aims to secure control over the low-Earth orbit satellite system.

BICS pens IoT deal with Avnet Silica

Industry middleman combines 'largest cellular connectivity' with IoT 'hardware expertise.'

Eurobites: Dutch 5G auction cranks into gear

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Ericsson comes up for AIR; Nokia boosts backhaul for Djezzy in Algeria; Telia goes 5G roaming.

Anjuna Partners With AWS, Microsoft on Secure Enclaves

Anjuna Security, a startup that develops hardware- and cloud-agnostic software that allows enterprises to deploy secure enclaves and automatically encrypt memory, launched today with partners spanning storage vendors, chip makers including Intel and AMD, and public cloud providers Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure.

Europe's dependence on Huawei laid bare in new study

A report by Strand Consult shows that some of Europe's largest operators and national incumbents have become heavily reliant on the Chinese vendor.

Dish, SpaceX drive calls for new look at 12 GHz band

Dish Network’s planned entry into the wireless space as the nation’s fourth facilities-based carrier and SpaceX's plans to close the digital divide are driving calls for the FCC to take a closer look at the 12 GHz band.

European MVNO group Lebara picks Openet cloud charging platform

Irish BSS vendor Openet has chalked up a nice win with MVNO Lebara to sort out its charging systems in five European countries, including the UK.

AT&T expands 5G to 28 new markets

AT&T expanded its 5G rollout today, deploying its low-band flavor of 5G to 28 new markets in the U.S.

Comcast touts network performance and Wall Street takes note

Comcast says its broadband network has earned high marks for its performance so far during the Covid-19 pandemic, and now Wall Street analysts are projecting more broadband subscriber growth for the company.

AT&T and Verizon make moves to combat racial inequality

AT&T and Verizon are both making spending decisions that reflect corporate commitments to fighting racial inequality in the U.S.

Nokia scores $450M 5G contract with Taiwan Mobile

Nokia has inked a three-year 5G contract with Taiwan Mobile (TWM) as the sole network supplier for the mobile operator’s 5G radio access network (RAN), core and IMS.

Nokia wins exclusive Taiwan Mobile 5G gig

Nokia’s rally continued this week, with the news that Nokia will be the sole 5G RAN, core and IMS vendor partner for Taiwan Mobile.

FCC asks Congress to fund more broadband for education

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said he has asked Congress to increase funding for broadband in support of education, claiming that the agency has seen success with its Covid-19 Telehealth Program and could do the same with a program for remote learning.

Verizon: 5G NU-R needs higher power levels in 6 GHz band

Verizon is urging the FCC to allow higher power access points to operate in the unlicensed 6 GHz band, making it easier for operators to use the band for 5G services.

Netherlands kicks off 5G auction

The Dutch regulator has officially launched its 5G auction with KPN, Vodafone and T-Mobile fighting for valuable assets in the 700, 1400 and 2100 MHz spectrum bands.

DiDi Chuxing begins autonomous taxi trials

DiDi Chuxing has begun trials for self-driving taxis in Shanghai, offering free trips to users who are prepared to trust the AI-powered machines.

Credit rating agency gets moody over Dish financial foundations

Credit rating agency Moody’s has dampened enthusiasm for US wireless entrant Dish, downgrading its credit rating on the grounds it will need a major cash injection to be a valid competitor.

Major advertisers flee from social media as Parler use goes exponential

The campaign against Facebook has metastasised, as big brands increasingly decide all social media is too toxic for them.

Tencent acquires the ‘Netflix of Asia’

Iflix, dubbed the ‘Netflix of Asia’, has been acquired by Hong Kong-based Tencent, as the firm takes another step towards its dream of becoming the streaming giant of South East Asia.

Scaling Optical Networks Far and Wide

Bandwidth-intensive data services and applications have been driving continued demands for service providers to architect their networks for growth and flexibility. Client traffic from large bandwidth users such as hyperscale data centers has now reached 400G, thanks to recently introduced 400G port switches, routers and standardized 400G coherent optical modules. However, supporting 400G client traffic across multiple network segments can be a challenge if network operator legacy equipment is unable to address these data rates in an efficient, scalable, and cost-effective manner. Network operators surveying both terminal and line-system equipment to address this new 400G “currency” paradigm are looking ahead to ensure a certain level of cost-effective future proofing for higher capacity demands as client speeds increase beyond 400G. This article examines how recent advancements in terminal equipment coherent technology and line-system channel capabilities help them achieve that goal.

Introducing the 5G innovation space – where opportunity awaits

Let me confide in you. I’m being a little provocative maybe, but here it goes. The way I look at it, 5G isn’t necessarily ready to live up to the hype. That’s because like all wireless networks, 5G is designed for utility since that’s where the market is. Think of it like a Jeep Cherokee – a great all-rounder that you wouldn’t enter into the Indianapolis 500. So, what I want to talk about here is the fine tuning, the customization that will deliver IndyCar performance and unlock the full potential of 5G for new industrial markets.

Aryaka Sets Up SD-WAN Shop in Alibaba Cloud

Managed SD-WAN vendor Aryaka today announced a partnership with Chinese public cloud provider Alibaba to better address connectivity within the region.

Daily Roundup: Nokia Wins $450M 5G Deal

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.

US wireless carrier capex projected to grow 11% in 2021 to $35B

Increased spending on 5G by T-Mobile, Dish Network and others could create more opportunities for cell tower companies and wireless network equipment vendors.

Verizon, Microsoft Join Growing Advertiser Revolt Against Facebook

An advertiser backlash against Facebook fueled by growing disillusionment over the company’s inability or lack of interest in curbing hate speech and racism on its platform is gaining momentum. 

Microsoft locks down more IoT security with latest acquisition

The software giant is focusing on smart manufacturing.

IoT security prioritization creeps to the forefront

Comcast, Google, Amazon and T-Mobile are among the big names behind the Internet of Secure Things Alliance. But will driving a global standard of IoT security be enough to thwart the threat?

Vodafone silent on Huawei as it values 5G at £158B to UK economy

Greater support from government authorities will be needed if the UK is to realize the full benefits of 5G, says a new report from the UK operator.

Comcast beefs up network capacity, uses AI to keep data demands in check

As usage spiked during the early parts of the pandemic, Comcast has accelerated the pace of capacity upgrades and sped up the use of an AI system called 'Octave' to boost the efficiency of its access networks.

Facebook, AMD, Nvidia Join Confidential Computing Consortium

Facebook, AMD, Nvidia, and Accenture are among the latest companies to join the Linux Foundation’s Confidential Computing Consortium.

Nokia Wins Exclusive $450M 5G Deal With Taiwan Mobile

Taiwan Mobile today tapped Nokia to be its exclusive vendor for 5G equipment and services in a three-year deal valued at about $450 million.

Eurobites: UK government faces fresh lawmakers' mutiny over Huawei

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Ericsson's aboard the 5G train; Lebara chooses Openet for charging; BT fast-tracks ethnic minority employees.

Ericsson trumpets mobile core network win from Liberty Latin America

Sweden-based vendor says the three-year deal will focus on implementing virtualized and cloud-based mobile core network solutions to prepare the operator for new technologies.

India to test telecom gear as tension rises with China

Indian authorities will require some equipment to undergo mandatory tests starting in October in a move that could hold up network deployment.

Nokia lands $450M 5G contract with Taiwan Mobile

Finnish operator lands a significant 5G contract with an existing customer.