Friday, July 17, 2020

Ericsson grows network business in Q2

Ericsson achieved respectable second-quarter results despite the challenges presented by the COVID-19 crisis. The Swedish vendor’s network business grew 4% and overall net income was $287 million.

Windstream rolls fiber into 100K locations to enable 1-G speeds

Through the first six months of this year, Windstream has deployed fiber to approximately 100,000 new locations to enable gigabit-capable services. Due to the network upgrades, Windstream has seen an influx of more than 40,000 net new subscribers in the first six months of 2020 for its Kinetic broadband service. Windstream said it had completed its ninth consecutive quarter of broadband subscriber growth.

Ribbon CEO Bruce McClelland has big aspirations

As the former CEO of Arris, Bruce McClelland knows a thing or two about technology, mergers and acquisitions and transforming a company into a global giant. As the CEO and president of Ribbon, McClelland is determined to make his second act in telecommunications as big as his first.

CBRS private LTE networks help keep oilfield workers safe

In the oil and gas industry, an important step in refining petroleum is fractional distillation, which takes place in tall towers that separate liquids by allowing vapors to rise and condense. When workers need to inspect or repair the inside of a fractioning tower, they face a host of dangers, including heat, confinement and of course elevation. It's an ideal use case for biometric monitors that allow companies to track both the location and the vital signs of workers. And biometric monitors, worn inside towers on a sprawling job site, are an ideal use case for private LTE, according to device-maker PK Solutions.

Thursday, July 16, 2020

Daily Roundup: HPE Gears Up for Cisco Fight

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.

Dish begins staffing up in wireless

Dish Network's wireless business is headquartered in Littleton, Colorado, where it has said it will employ at least 2,000 people. The company is in the midst of staffing up to meet that goal.

HPE GreenLake Rides Interxion Across the Pond

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) struck a deal with Interxion to host its GreenLake cloud service in Europe. The launch will see the GreenLake service run out of Interxion’s Ireland operations, with plans to “quickly expand” that reach to the U.K., Germany, France, and The Netherlands.

Optical Vendors Push Through COVID-19

COVID-19 has cast a shadow of uncertainty across many industries and the optical networking market is no exception. Despite the market uncertainty, a recent report from LightCounting found that optical sales have proven quite robust, with several large cloud providers expected to move forward with optical deployments.

Ericsson Eyes 5G Core Growth Amid Stable Earnings

Ericsson posted modest but, more importantly, positive financial gains during the second quarter of 2020. The stability amid an unabating global pandemic showcases the Swedish vendor’s ability to weather widespread uncertainty.

What value should we place on intellectual property?

There has long been tension between creators and users of intellectual property (IP). This friction spans industries and certainly isn't limited to the technology space. But with tech research and development such a central force behind innovation, and with market participants directly or indirectly reliant on it to create a platform for their products and services, it's little wonder that IP has become such a contentious topic.

India’s Jio creates 5G tech in-house

As major investments from tech giants stack up for India’s Jio Platforms, the chairman of parent Reliance Industries said a complete 5G solution created from scratch in-house by Jio can be ready for field deployments in 2021.

SES, Intelsat duke it out in court

The FCC is set to consider C-band auction procedures at its open meeting in August as two of the main satellite players that need to vacate the spectrum are doing battle in a U.S. bankruptcy court.

Wednesday, July 15, 2020

Daily Roundup: Verizon Integrates IBM for IoT

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.

Is HPE Gunning for Cisco?

Is Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) gunning for Cisco? The company’s $925 million acquisition of Silver Peak, announced earlier this week, would suggest the answer to that question is yes.

Barracuda Builds SD-WAN On Azure Backbone

Barracuda Networks inched closer to realizing its secure access service edge (SASE) aspirations today with the launch of its CloudGen WAN platform. Built on Microsoft Azure Virtual WAN, the SD-WAN offering fills a gap in Barracuda’s emerging SASE platform.

IBM CO2 Cuts Highlight Green Vision

IBM said it has cut operational carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by nearly 40% since 2005, putting it ahead of schedule to reach that amount by 2025. And nearly half of its electricity consumed last year was from renewable sources.

Counterfeit Cisco Switches Uncovered in the Wild

Security researchers at F-Secure Labs this week disclosed the discovery of counterfeit Cisco switches. Two versions of the devices, which were unwittingly purchased and deployed by an unnamed IT company, began failing after a software upgrade in the fall of 2019, according to the security firm.

Dell Cops to VMware Spin-Off Exploration

Dell Technologies is indeed looking to monetize its VMware investment, which could include a spin-off of its ownership stake to current Dell Technologies shareholders. The official acknowledgement followed reports of a potential sale that surfaced last month.

Verizon Weaves IBM’s Enterprise Legacy Into IoT

IBM’s deep-rooted legacy with enterprises and a history with Verizon that almost dates back to the operator’s founding are clear in a new arrangement that calls for the companies to deliver new business services on Verizon’s network.

Apple wins EU tax case, won’t have to pay $14B

Apple won a major court battle over taxes on Wednesday when the European Union’s second-highest court ruled the tech giant doesn’t have to pay $14.9 billion in back taxes to Ireland, striking down an earlier order by the European Commission to do so.

Microsoft and Land O'Lakes form new ag tech alliance for farmers

Over the past several years, the agriculture industry has been rocked by trade issues, workforce problems and, more recently, the COVID-19 pandemic, but Microsoft is bringing its cloud, AI and IoT expertise into a partnership with Land O'Lakes to help farming become more stable and profitable.

Telia Carrier adds new DWDM route in U.S. for more diversity

Telia Carrier is marching forward with the expansion of its U.S. network with a new southeastern Dense Wave Division Multiplexing (DWDM) route. In order to keep pace with customer demand, Telia Carrier expanded its fiber backbone to connect Dallas to a new east-west route via Memphis to Nashville.

Tuesday, July 14, 2020

Daily Roundup: VMware Cloud Gets AWS Cloudier

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: What's the story with SD-WAN?

On this episode of 'What's the Story?' – a new series from the Light Reading Podcast – Kelsey Ziser talks with pod host Nicole Ferraro about SD-WAN: the latest news, why it matters and what's likely to happen next.

Graphcore AI Chip One-Ups Nvidia

British chipmaker Graphcore has Nvidia in its crosshairs with the launch of its second-generation artificial intelligence (AI) chip, which boasts 59.4 billion transistors.

UK’s Huawei Ban Causes 5G Rollout Delays

The United Kingdom government this week reversed a six-month-old decision and is now requiring all of Huawei’s equipment to be removed from its networks by 2027. The move, which will admittedly delay the rollout of 5G services in the country, follows a more tepid decision that allowed for a limited set of equipment from the China-based vendor to be used in domestic 5G networks.

VMware Cloud Jams in New AWS Updates

VMware’s close ties to Amazon Web Services (AWS) continues to generate new products, with the latest updates targeted at furthering the cost benefit of running VMware Cloud (VMC) on AWS. It also expands on an arrangement that is now nearly four years old.

50M unlocked smartphones run on U.S. mobile networks, says NPD

The research group NPD Connected Intelligence, which tracks the unlocked mobile phone market, found about 50.1 million active unlocked smartphones are running on U.S. mobile networks, an increase of 8% from Q1 2019 to Q1 2020.   An unlocked phone is not locked to a specific carrier’s network, and the user can insert a SIM card for the carrier of his or her choice.

Samsung research tackles 6G

5G commercialization is still in the early stages, but it’s not too early to start thinking about what 6G will bring. It typically takes about 10 years from the start of research to commercialization of a new generation of wireless technology, notes Samsung, which released a new 6G white paper on Tuesday.

U.K. bans Huawei for 5G; will Germany be next?

Another domino has fallen for Huawei. The British government today made a final determination to completely ban Huawei equipment from the country’s 5G wireless networks. The ban on new 5G equipment takes effect in January. And operators have until 2027 to rip out existing Huawei 5G gear.

Charter throws its hat into RDOF ring

Charter Communications plans to participate in the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) auction, making it the first cable operator to announce it was seeking billions of dollars from RDOF funding.

Monday, July 13, 2020

Daily Roundup: Google Cloud Stokes Security

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.

Fortinet Debuts Multi-Cloud SD-WAN

Fortinet is building a bridge between clouds with the launch of Secure SD-WAN for Multi-Cloud. The service, announced today, aims to address performance, visibility, and cost challenges associated with multi-cloud deployments.

Google Brass Tap Into Mobile Cloud Vision

Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian, during his kickoff keynote at its digital Next 2020 event, underlined various ways the No. 3 cloud provider is assembling services in a bid to earn more business with mobile network operators. Those efforts include 5G and edge computing, customer service, and core network operations, he said.

SoftBank Weighs Arm IPO, Sale

Cash-strapped Japanese conglomerate SoftBank is weighing the future of Arm Holdings. While the semiconductor designer’s fate remains unclear, The Wall Street Journal reports a full or partial sale and even an initial public offering are on the table.

Nasuni Kicks Infrastructure to the Curb, Secures New Funding

Nasuni has its sights set on running legacy hardware-based file infrastructure out of the storage race with new enhancements to its Cloud File Services platform for remote working, cloud migration, and critical file protection that the vendor says enables a more scalable and collaborative global file store. It also tackles the scalability challenge that hinders traditional infrastructure appliances.

Nokia Releases Software to Upgrade Old Radios to 5G

Most, but not all, of Nokia’s old 4G LTE radios can now be upgraded via software to deliver 5G, the Finnish vendor announced today. This marks the first time the company has released software to upgrade its legacy radio units.

McAfee ESM Gains Cloud Management

McAfee launched a managed version of its Enterprise Security Manager (ESM) that bolsters its position in the rapidly expanding security and information event management (SIEM) space.

Google chucks more money at India

Less than a year after its last major commitment to the country, internet giant Google has announced it will invest a further $10 billion in over the next few years.

Thanks to IAB, backhaul is finally getting an overhaul

5G network performance is expected to deliver a huge leap in capacity and bandwidth. But for 5G users to fully benefit from the faster network speeds and low latency of 5G, operators must ensure that their backhaul network is also performing at its peak.  

Sunday, July 12, 2020

Daily Roundup: HPE Buys Silver Peak

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.

Verizon Grabs Google to Broaden Multi-Cloud Strategy

Verizon’s cloud strategy is dispersing as it pulls together distinct services from different vendors. The operator today announced a customer service pilot with Google Cloud to provide artificial intelligence(AI)-driven insights that allows for quicker and more effective responses.

Writing on UK wall for Huawei

Government expected to announce decision on Huawei this week; UK officials reportedly cozying up to 'Five Eyes' security alliance to explore alternatives to Chinese supplier.

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