Saturday, October 31, 2020

Cisco’s Robbins Shares 6 Steps to Cloud Success

Cisco admittedly missed out on the first wave of cloud computing. But, according to CEO Chuck Robbins, it’s not making that same mistake again. At the company’s annual partner summit, Robbins laid out a six-step plan for success in a cloud-first world.

Friday, October 30, 2020

5G Dreams Remain Unfulfilled

5G is here, available on all three major U.S. carriers across much of the country, but network operators and vendors are still mostly telling us to imagine what 5G will deliver versus what it is actually delivering today.

Here’s how cable MVNOs did in Q3

Cable operators Altice USA, Charter Communications and Comcast reported third quarter earnings this week and each continued to add wireless subscribers through their respective MVNO mobile brands.

Verizon taps blockchain for transparency on its news releases

In an era of rampant "fake news" allegations, Verizon is implementing a blockchain-verified record of changes to its news releases. Verizon's Full Transparency program, which was announced on Friday, is an open-source newsroom platform that was designed to raise the bar for corporate accountability.

Thursday, October 29, 2020

Accelerating the edge

SPONSORED: 5G is rolling out quickly and bringing mobile edge computing with it. Carriers need cost-effective edge solutions that can scale in terms of performance and ease of deployment and management. Leveraging FPGAs in COTS platforms may be the answer.

ATSC 3.0 reaches the smartphone

One Media 3.0, a unit of Sinclair Broadcasting, has its mitts on the first batch of phones that can use the broadcast signaling standard. One Media is also in talks with a couple of US MVNOs.

Amazon Cloud Growth Stalls

Amazon Web Services (AWS) posted another strong quarter of financial growth and continues to be the cloud market’s 800-pound gorilla, however that growth continues to stagnate to the benefit of its smaller rivals like Microsoft and Google.

Dell prioritizes 5G future

The transition of carrier networks to standard hardware is opening doors for Dell, but the company is making it clear from the outset that it will be much more than a hardware vendor.

Fortinet Earnings Unphased By Pandemic

Fortinet celebrated strong third-quarter earnings, posting revenues of $651 million, up nearly 20% year over year. CEO Ken Xie said the company’s performance was driven in part by strong SD-WAN adoption, which more than doubled year over year, representing 13% of all billings during the quarter.

Analysts Size Up Nokia’s Strategic Shift

A fresh restructuring plan introduced by Nokia’s new CEO Pekka Lundmark is getting mixed reviews from analysts. The collective yawn on some matters and head scratching on others doesn’t point to a clear and positive outcome for Nokia. 

2 prepaid brands offer eSIM

H2O Wireless and Pure Talk — both of which are mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) brands owned by Telrite Holdings — will begin offering eSIM in the first quarter of 2021. Both MVNOs operate on AT&T’s network.

Report: SASE market to grow at 116% CAGR over 5 years

Secure access service edge (SASE) has entered the hype phase as vendors flock to the new sector that was defined by Gartner last year. While the market still needs to sort itself out from pretenders to contenders, a new report by Dell'Oro Group said SASE is expected to grow at a CAGR of 116% from last year to 2024.

Wednesday, October 28, 2020

Alphabet Posts Q3 Win, Pichai Pledges Google Cloud Operating Income in Q4

Google’s parent company Alphabet rebounded during the quarter ending Sept. 30 — following its first-ever revenue decline in Q2 — with total revenues of $46.2 billion driven by increased advertiser spending, Google Cloud, and Play, as companies and consumers turn to cloud computing and online gaming while we ride out the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Marvell Snags Inphi in $10B Acquisition

Marvell today announced it will acquire rival chipmaker Inphi for roughly $10 billion in cash and stock options. The announcement marks the second high-profile semiconductor acquisition of the week, following AMD‘s $35 billion purchase of Xilinx.

Nokia Leader Tees Up Major Reorganization as First Act

Nokia CEO Pekka Lundmark is making his mark on the challenged Finnish company less than three months after taking the helm. He announced a company-wide restructuring and shift in strategy designed to revitalize the vendor’s 5G radio access network (RAN) business and strengthen its position against rival Ericsson. 

McAfee Ties Remote Browser Isolation Into SASE

McAfee upgraded its Mvision Unified Cloud Edge secure access service edge (SASE) platform with remote browser isolation (RBI) and data-loss prevention (DLP) incident management capabilities today at its Mpower virtual event.

McAfee Flexes XDR at Mpower

In what’s turning into a big week (and month) for extended detection and response, McAfee rolled out its new XDR platform, aptly named Mvision XDR, at its annual Mpower event today.

AT&T 5G Hitches Early Ride on IBM’s Satellite Cloud

AT&T is set to be one of the first passengers on IBM’s Satellite Cloud platform, with the telecom operator using that ride to bolster the reach and depth of its 5G network into enterprise markets. The move is also the latest by AT&T in tapping edge platforms from cloud providers to extend that network.

2.5 GHz licenses will be unique for each licensee

Speaking at a CTIA virtual conference today, Giulia McHenry, chief of the Office of Economics and Analytics at the FCC, said the unlicensed portion of the 2.5 GHz band “Is the largest contiguous band under 3 gigahertz; we recognize that it’s vastly underused.”

Tuesday, October 27, 2020

Juniper Q3 Shows Slight Recovery

Juniper Networks staved off another quarter of COVID-19-related supply chain shortages to post third-quarter 2020 revenues of $1.13 billion, which were flat year over year.

What's next for Kyrio?

Ike Elliott, the new CEO of Kyrio, says the CableLabs subsidiary is taking a network-agnostic approach to device testing and expanding into software services that benefit cable operators and their suppliers.

Cisco Intersight Gains Kubernetes, AppDynamics Insight

Cisco bolstered its Intersight platform with a Kubernetes infusion designed to simplify multi-cloud and on-premises application management and updated its Nexus Dashboard for better cloud-native application management. Both moves are targeted at speeding up the delivery of applications running across multi-cloud environments.

FTTH will pass 60 million by 2030, says New Street

New Street Research notes that during 2020, a number of wireline telecom companies in the United States have announced plans to deploy fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) to markets they previously served with copper. And the analyst group is forecasting that homes passed by fiber will increase from 40 million to 60 million over the next 10 years. That would increase the percentage of homes passed from 25% to 35%. 

Ericsson introduces Cloud RAN for 5G

Ericsson traditionally has provided a tightly integrated system of hardware and software, so it’s taking a bit of a leap by introducing a cloud Radio Access Network (RAN) portfolio that enables more automation.

UPC Polska reimagines IT with Google Cloud's Anthos, Accenture

UPC Polska has broken the shackles of a 20-year-old IT infrastructure by embracing new agile development through the use of Google Cloud's Anthos. Before implementing a hybrid environment strategy with Google Cloud’s Anthos, UPC Polska was running everything out of its on-premises data centers.

Server Accelerators Feed 5G’s Need for Speed

The future of 5G + Edge, you might say, is in the cards. Server accelerator cards—graphical processing units (GPUs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs)—have an important role to play in reducing latency and improving bandwidth at the edge of the 5G network. With the volume of data generated by IoT and far-edge devices exploding, telcos must be prepared to accelerate the edge. Implementing server accelerator cards, as part of 5G new wave spectrum strategy, will help telcos deliver more data, faster.

Registration for 5G Blitz Week Fall is Now Open

5G is finally being deployed at scale across the world, but a number of key questions still remain. What is the status of the standalone (SA) 5G New Radio and Core? Where is the industry at with transformation around the edge? What does it take to draw up an FWA business case that makes sense and delivers on 5G speeds? And what are the considerations all operators need to consider for 5G Transport?  Through a series of live video roundtables, fireside chats, and keynotes featuring some of the world's largest operators, OEMs, and enterprises, attendees will have the opportunity to learn, and meet some of the top executives that are helping to shape the global 5G landscape.

Monday, October 26, 2020

Fortinet Revamps Large Enterprise SD-WAN CPE

Fortinet today unveiled a new SD-WAN appliance designed for large enterprise and campus deployments. The FortiGate 200F is the company’s latest F-Series CPE appliance, slotting in above the company’s 80F and 100F appliances.

IBM Storage Ingests Container, Hybrid Cloud Updates

IBM infused its storage with tighter integration for Red Hat OpenShift and CoreOS platforms. New additions to the IBM Storage Suite for Cloud Paks are designed to address block, file, and object storage as well data protection and disaster recovery.

VMware Clinches Samsung Deal for Cloud Native 5G

Samsung is linking up with VMware to integrate its network core, edge, and radio access network (RAN) offerings with VMware’s Telco Cloud Platform. The agreement calls for Samsung to extend its support for cloud-native architecture by adapting its suite of products for containerized network functions (CNFs) and virtual network functions (VNFs) on VMware’s software stack and network automation services.

IP Infusion launches Universal SD-Edge using AT&T's DANOS OS

On Monday, IP Infusion announced the launch of its new Universal SD-Edge solution, which uses AT&T's DANOS network operating system (OS.) IP Infusion's disaggregated platform was designed to increase universal customer premises equipment (uCPE) deployments by using low-cost, off-the-shelf x86 devices. On the white box front, IP Infusion announced Silicom as its first partner.

Marek’s Take: Will small operators survive in a 5G world?

Verizon’s October 19 announcement that it was buying Kentucky rural wireless operator Bluegrass Cellular for an undisclosed amount was touted as a move by Verizon to strengthen its rural coverage. The deal, which is subject to FCC approval, is expected to close in early 2021 and Bluegrass Cellular customers will likely seamlessly transition to Verizon’s network thanks to Bluegrass Cellular’s long-standing relationship with Verizon. 

Sunday, October 25, 2020

Cable One stays hot in Q3

High-speed Internet subscriber adds blow-out expectations in the third quarter. Cable One is also poised to make more M&A moves as it tees up a $500 million offering.

Aruba Bumps Cisco From the Pentagon

Aruba Networks swept the last remaining vestiges of Cisco’s switching gear from the Pentagon building as part of a Department of Defence modernization effort announced today.

SAP Catches COVID Cough, Triples Down on Cloud

SAP was forced to postpone an ambitious financial plan to take advantage of its cloud business due to a slower-than-expected recovery from on the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. However, the vendor also said that it will increase its focus on those cloud operations in order to take advantage of what it views as the future of its operations.

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