T-Mobile’s Kubernetes Confidence Knows No Bounds

Technical platform engineers at T-Mobile US are increasingly confident the operator can run all of its IT workloads on Kubernetes.

Money Moves: November 2020

Here are some of the most prominent venture capital and merger and acquisition news items from the past month. If you’d like SDxCentral to report on your company’s VC or M&A activity in our monthly Money Moves section, or if you have any tips on that activity, please send the information to Sydney Sawaya (ssawaya@sdxcentral.com).

Google, Federated clash over ESC vs. IIC for CBRS, other bands

An FCC proceeding about how to handle the 3.45-3.55 GHz band is bringing up new questions about how spectrum gets managed in the 3.5 GHz Citizens Broadband Radio Access (CBRS) band.

Amazon, Cisco, VMware Bite Into Renewable Energy

Corporate giants Amazon, Cisco, and VMware are throwing their weight behind renewable energy projects and corporate climate commitments to drive seismic, near-term reductions in carbon pollution.

Utilities eye private LTE, 5G for digital transformation

Electric utilities are — often by their own admission — not early adopters of new technology, but increasingly they are starting to explore how private 4G LTE networks, and eventually 5G, can benefit their operations.

Ericsson files lawsuit against Samsung in patent license row

Ericsson on Friday filed a lawsuit against Samsung in the U.S., alleging the South Korean electronics giant breached contractual commitments and failed to negotiate in good faith over patent licensing and related payments.

T-Mobile launches its first 5G mobile hotspot

While Verizon and AT&T already offer 5G hotspots, T-Mobile just announced its first 5G hotspot, the Inseego 5G MiFi M2000, which taps into both its low- and mid-band spectrum.

Casa Systems signs up for TIP's OpenBNG initiative

Casa Systems has joined the ranks of the Telecom Infra Project's OpenBNG initiative, which has been spearheaded by Telefónica, Deutsche Telecom, BT, and Vodafone.

Ericsson slings a lawsuit at Samsung over patent infringements

Ericsson filed a lawsuit in the U.S. against Samsung that alleges it violated agreements to negotiate patent agreements in good faith.

Deutsche Telekom and Microsoft ink seven-year cloud deal

German operator Deutsche Telekom is positioning itself as the preferred on-ramp to Microsoft cloud services for medium and large enterprises.

Nokia teams up with Vi Business to stoke digital transformations

Nokia has bulldozed a bigger road into India by working with Vodafone Idea's enterprise arm, Vi Business, to fuel enterprises' digital transformations.

Ericsson sues Samsung for un-FRAND-ly patent negotiations

With so much uncertainty in the world, it is somewhat reassuring to know that Ericsson and Samsung are still able to have their semi-regular patent disputes.

UK CMA shows Europe how to do it by fast-tracking Virgin/O2 merger

Having got control of the approval process the Competition and Markets Authority has already moved to phase 2 of its investigation into the UK telecoms mega-merger.

FCC cements its anti-China stance

Just in case there was any doubt, US telecoms regulator FCC has had another pop at Huawei and China Telecom, as well as detailing the rip-and-replace programme.

Standalone security: Strategic attributes and implementation concerns

SPONSORED: Heavy Reading's research confirms there is no shortage of 5GC SA-related security concerns to be addressed before commercial launch and that the right mix of security strategy attributes will be vital to minimizing apprehension.

Ciena's opex flex

Looking ahead to 2021, Ciena's CEO talks about its 800G systems, network automation and webscale supplier status as the company looks beyond the pandemic.

Daily Roundup: Ericsson Sues Samsung

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Kubernetes Drops 1.20 Release Under Schedule, Security Cloud

The Kubernetes project this week released its 1.20 iteration, which is the third and final platform release for the year. The release comes after a difficult year for most and resulted in the alteration of the project’s typical quarterly update cycle and also came just days after a spurious new security issue was found that impacts every version of Kubernetes.

Disney+ on track to have up to 260M subs by 2024

Premium streaming service has rocketed past 86 million subs in its first year, setting the stage for a lot more content – along with a price increase – in 2021.

RDOF auction results already raising questions

Many of the big winners in the FCC's RDOF program – including LTD Broadband, SpaceX and Starry – are relatively new and untested telecom providers. And that's causing some concerns.

Airbnb IPO shows the new economy isn't fueled by 5G

Just a year after Uber underwhelmed and WeWork fizzled, Airbnb's sky-high IPO caps the busiest year for US public offerings since 1999.

SCTE/ISBE members greenlight CableLabs merger

Following Thursday's vote by hundreds of SCTE/ISBE members, the cable industry's standards-setting organization is set to become a wholly owned subsidiary of CableLabs on January 1, 2021.

WiCipedia: Minority numbers in STEM studies still lag

This week in our WiC roundup: STEM college numbers aren't adding up; Tesla's first diversity report; women on the moon; and more.

Mobile industry tells celebrities to tweet responsibly this Christmas

The likes of David Icke and Amanda Holden are urged not to spread false reports about 5G this yuletide season.

AWS Blends Cisco, 12 Other SD-WAN Vendors Into VPC

Amazon Web Services (AWS) this week revealed a new feature designed to natively integrate SD-WAN into its virtual private cloud (VPC) service. AWS Transit Gateway Connect simplifies what was previously a manual operation for the provisioning of AWS VPC via VPN and replaces that framework with natively integrated SD-WAN appliances and services.

Ericsson sues Samsung in patent dispute; warns of massive hit to income

Swedish supplier's share price tumbles on news that possible delayed royalty payments from Samsung, along with potential legal costs, could wipe out nearly $180 million in quarterly operating income.

AT&T opens up about open RAN

Some of AT&T's top networking executives are touting the benefits of open RAN technology, but caution that commercial deployments aren't imminent.

Ericsson Slaps Samsung With Patent Lawsuit

Ericsson filed a lawsuit against Samsung claiming its infrastructure rival violated contracts for “good faith” negotiations on patent terms and conditions. Ericsson said the issue could cost it up to $177 million in operating income per quarter beginning next year.

Unigroup $2.5B default another setback to China's chip plans

China's chip plans are dealt another blow after one of its chip champions runs into financial problems.

Eurobites: Virgin Media, O2 merger faces in-depth review

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Bucharest chosen for new EU cybersecurity center; Slovakia welcomes 5G; mast misery in Southampton.

Ciena lags Q4 estimates as orders slow

Management expresses confidence the optical giant can outperform the market and says long-term financial goals remain unchanged.

Comcast Business expands its fiber reach in Virginia

Comcast Business has completed construction on a fiber project in Virginia to provide services to an additional 2,800 businesses. Comcast Business has invested close to $100 million over the past five years to expand its network in Virginia.

Crown Castle positioned for outsized portion of early Dish build

Crown Castle’s finance chief this week touted being the first to secure an infrastructure deal with Dish Network, echoing similar sentiments from financial analysts that Crown’s site locations for urban coverage were part of the appeal.  

Huawei rip & replace rules get FCC approval

The FCC today voted unanimously to adopt rules to implement the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act of 2019, as well as affirming its stance that Huawei is indeed a national security threat.

Mediacom files lawsuit against city of West Des Moines

MCC Iowa, which is a subsidiary of Mediacom Communications, has filed a lawsuit against the City of West Des Moines and its city council.

KDDI picks Ericsson for 5G core in Japan

Ericsson on Thursday said KDDI will use the vendor’s cloud-native dual-mode 5G core to launch standalone 5G services in its network in Japan.

Microsoft scores an IT management deal with Deutsche Telecom

The trend of telcos embracing cloud providers continued on Thursday with a new partnership between Deutsche Telekom and Microsoft Azure.

BT sells Italy units to TIM but it’s no big deal

BT has agreed to sell a couple of Italian businesses to TIM via a deal of undisclosed value, but that is unlikely to be a big money-spinner for the UK incumbent.

Aryaka gets its remote worker game on with flexible VPN offering

Aryaka Networks has launched a new service that's tailor made for the "work from anywhere" environment that is the result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

US FTC wastes everyone’s time by suing Facebook for acquisitions it approved

The Federal Trade Commission and a bunch of Attorneys General reckon Facebook’s heart wasn’t in the right place when it bought WhatsApp and Instagram.

AT&T makes money from content…by flogging assets

AT&T has agreed to sell its Crunchyroll anime business to Sony for close to US$1.2 billion, and is reportedly in the latter stages of a sale process for DirecTV, which could be worth about $15 billion.

Vodafone’s diversification continues with the launch of ‘military-grade’ cybersecurity

UK telco Vodafone has been helping the government with its cybersecurity for years, now it’s offering those services to UK businesses.

CBRS drives military to experiment with private wireless

Open RAN, CBRS, 5G, public/private partnerships and IoT technology are all coming together at Colorado’s Fort Carson, where US Ignite has partnered with the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) to build a dedicated 4G/5G network to monitor smart vehicles. The network will be part of ERDC’s $4 million Fort Carson Smart Transportation Testbed and will upload and analyze data from ERDC’s automated shuttle, called the Mountain Express. Fort Carson is home to a large number of retired military personnel, many of whom use the Mountain Express for transportation. 

Disney+, ESPN+ to launch on Comcast's X1 and Flex platforms

New agreement with Disney will pave way for integration of two major streaming services on Comcast's pay-TV platform and streaming product for broadband-only customers in Q1 2021.

FCC pays lip service to open RAN in 'rip and replace' program

The FCC said its Huawei and ZTE 'rip and replace' program should allow for the use of open RAN equipment. But the agency didn't name any approved open RAN vendors.

Aryaka Assembles SD-WAN, SASE Into a Managed VPN

Aryaka Networks launched a new managed VPN targeted at the growing remote workforce market that is built on SD-WAN and secure access service edge (SASE) principles.

Verizon, Altice USA, Cox got the most game among top ISPs – study

Meanwhile, Frontier and AT&T lag the field, according to a PCMag study of the best gaming ISPs.

Here's the 5G glossary every American is apparently going to need

'5G Ultra Wideband,' 'Extended Range 5G,' '5G+,' '5Ge,' '5GTF,' '5G Nationwide' and plain-old '5G' are just some of the labels Americans will have to navigate. Good luck with that.

Daily Roundup: Aryaka Adds SD-WAN, SASE Ideas Into Managed VPN

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Orca Wins $55M for Cloud Security Fight Against Palo Alto Networks

Orca Security scored a $55 million Series B financing round, which brings the startup’s overall funding to more than $82 million in its fight against cloud security heavyweights including Palo Alto Networks.

Microsoft Strikes 7-Year Cloud Deal With Deutsche Telekom

Microsoft and Deutsche Telekom today announced a seven-year agreement that expands their longstanding partnership to help enterprises and schools shift more IT resources to the cloud.

BT scales back in Italy

UK incumbent agrees preliminary deal with TIM to sell its public administration and SME business units.

Microsoft Takes On Internet Routing Security

Microsoft plans to improve internet routing security with a series of steps recommended by a global cloud provider initiative.

Deutsche Telekom becomes Microsoft tenant in bid for IT savings

German operator is the latest to move its IT systems into the public cloud, but at what long-term risk?

Why Singapore is going straight to standalone 5G

The standalone variant will support innovation and makes sense for technology reasons, says Singapore's regulator.

Eurobites: Orange unpicks cybersecurity trends

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: EE fills in Scotland's 4G notspots; Ekinops and LiveAction combine on analytics; Sequans makes LTE-M life easier.

Bidders line up for AT&T DirecTV satellite division

AT&T receives three offers for troubled satellite division DirectTV, as new CEO John Stankey unwinds his predecessor's less successful acquisitions.

Vodafone targets £1B UK market for 'military-grade' security

UK operator is going after critical national infrastructure providers and other businesses demanding much higher levels of security.

Ericsson lands cloud-native 5G core role at KDDI

The Japanese operator has been trialing cloud-native 5G core technology from Ericsson and Nokia.

Gluu Server-Based Janssen Project Tackles App Security

The Linux Foundation’s latest open source initiative, the Janssen Project, is a cloud native identity and access management platform based on the Gluu Server that tackles online trust and security.

A glimpse into Microsoft’s edge compute ambitions

Operators such as Verizon and AT&T have made announcements about partnerships with big cloud providers, including AWS and Microsoft Azure, to co-build edge compute locations. But we’ve not heard a lot from the cloud providers, themselves, about their perspective on edge compute.

Nutanix lands VMware COO as its new CEO and president

On Wednesday, Nutanix announced it has hired VMware COO Rajiv Ramaswami as its new CEO and president. Ramaswami will take over his new roles at Nutanix, which competes against VMware, on Monday when co-founder and current CEO Dheeraj Pandey steps aside. Pandey had previously said he would retire as CEO once his replacement was found.

Global app spend increased by 25% in 2020

Mobile app tacker App Annie has released its numbers for the year and the headline stat was that total global spend hit $112 Billion, a 25% increase on 2019.

T-Mobile CEO touts mid-band spectrum lead in 5G

T-Mobile’s crown jewel from its long-fought battle to merge with Sprint was front and center on Tuesday, as T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert talked up the capabilities the “uncarrier” will get from the 2.5 GHz spectrum.

India’s Jio sets 5G sights for second half of 2021

Mukesh Ambani, chairman of India’s Reliance Industries, on Tuesday said policy steps are necessary to speed up the rollout of 5G and indicated Jio Platforms would make moves on 5G next year.

Verizon Business expands its SD-WAN roster with Silver Peak

Verizon Business has added another arrow to its SD-WAN quiver with a new Silver Peak-based managed service. Verizon is now using Silver Peak's Unity EdgeConnect Platform to provide its enterprise customers more options as they transition to integrated WAN optimization for their managed business applications.

Industry Voices—Cochran: Who needs to SASE!

Every enterprise and business entity needs to Somehow Administer Security Everywhere! (SASE!). Meanwhile, the magic SASE (secure access service edge) notion promises to simplify this challenge through the integration of SD-WAN and a mixture of cloud-based security capabilities such as firewalls, zero trust network access and more. SASE does not tackle the repercussions of relying solely on security in the clouds.

Digital transformation spending will catapult to $6.8 trillion

IDC has forecast that global spending on digital transformation (DX) will reach a staggering $6.8 trillion globally by 2023. Furthermore, due to the impact of Covid-19, International Data Corporation (IDC) forecast that 65% of the world’s GDP would be digitized by 2022.

LoRa Alliance rolls out QR codes for zero-touch onboarding

The humble QR code has been adopted by the LoRa Alliance to speed up and simplify IoT device provisioning.

Digital transformation spending forecast to skyrocket to $6.8 trillion

Global spending on digital transformation (DX) between 2020 and 2023 is expected to total a whopping $6.8 trillion, as business adapts to ‘the new normal’.

Trump nominated FCC commissioner confirmed, Democrat types sulk

US President Trump has managed to get Nathan Simington, an ally in the attempt to reform Section 230, confirmed as an FCC Commissioner.

O2 UK wants to use OpenRAN to boost indoor connectivity

O2 has tested out Vilicom’s OpenRAN technology, in an effort to make it cheaper to offer indoor 4G and 5G coverage for businesses.

FTC, US states sue to break up Facebook

Dual lawsuits seek to unwind Facebook's past acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp over claims the social media giant engaged in crushing anticompetitive behavior.

AT&T falls behind Verizon in mmWave race

In 2018, AT&T loudly boasted that it was the first operator in the US to launch mobile 5G in mmWave spectrum. Now, two years later, the operator has little to show for its efforts.

AWS Exec Predicts IoT Namesake’s Demise

Sarah Cooper has been working to advance IoT, and the world of machine-to-machine (M2M) that preceded it, for at least 13 years and she thinks the namesake for this technology is facing an imminent demise.

Arista Drives Big Switch, Awake Deals Into DMF

Arista Networks made its first big move to integrate its Big Switch acquisition, rolling out an enterprise-focused network observability software platform that provides network visibility across data centers, campus, and edge use cases.

Daily Roundup: Nutanix Steals VMware COO

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Cloud spend to rocket in 2021, says Deloitte

In 2021, cloud spending will grow seven times faster than overall IT spending, while 5% of doctor visits worldwide will be virtual, says Deloitte.

Opportunity knocks for Filtronic in UK telecom shake-up

A small UK developer of RF technology is attracting fresh interest as the UK seeks to cultivate local talent while it phases out the Chinese.

Podcast: AT&T VP on security for 5G

AT&T VP Rita Marty joins the podcast to discuss how the service provider is addressing 5G security, and what that means for its enterprise customers.

NBCU's Peacock pushes past 26M signups

The Comcast-owned media giant has not said how many signups are for Peacock's completely free option, but advertising is Peacock's primary revenue stream, according to NBCU CEO Jeff Shell.

O2 UK flags open RAN tests with Vilicom

UK mobile operator pilots network platform that was co-developed with Mavenir.

Open Source Community Conquers 2020’s Pitfalls

The open source community has made its mark on the software development space through its one-for-all, all-for-one group think and pace of innovation that no single enterprise could ever hope to match. This has allowed open source-based platforms to spread quickly through the market and become the basis for much of the advancements across the software-defined ecosystem.

Nutanix Steals VMware COO to Lead Company

Nutanix today said it hired former VMware COO Rajiv Ramaswami as its new CEO effective Dec. 14. Ramaswami will succeed co-founder Dheeraj Pandey, who announced his plans to retire as CEO of Nutanix upon the appointment of a successor, earlier this year.

Eurobites: Global services boss joins Nokia exodus

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Nokia goes zoom! with Zain; Elisa brings its SD-WAN knowhow to paper giant; Benetel unveils open RAN radio unit.

Firebolt Emerges With Guns Blazing At Snowflake

The data warehouse market is shaping up to become a battle of the elements as Firebolt, a cloud-native data warehouse startup, emerged from stealth today with $37 million in financing and an offering that claims to boast speeds hot enough to melt Snowflake’s hype into a springtime puddle. 

HPE Brings HPC to GreenLake

Hewlett Packard Enterprise is betting artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning will drive the adoption of high-performance compute (HPC) in the data center. The company today announced it will offer HPC clusters through its GreenLake platform.

Trump’s FCC nomination gets approved by Senate

The U.S. Senate voted 49-46 on Tuesday to confirm Nathan Simington to replace Michael O’Rielly on the FCC. Simington’s term is for five years. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and fellow Republican Brendan Carr immediately issued congratulatory statements, as did the heads of groups that will continue working closely with the FCC for the next five years. On the flip side, Democrats charged that the nomination was rammed through, designed to do President Trump’s bidding.

C-band 5G spectrum auction garners $1.9B on day one

The C-band auction kicked off with gusto on Tuesday, generating more than $1.9 billion in gross proceeds at the end of Day 1 as bidders compete for key mid-band 5G spectrum the 3.7-3.98 GHz band.

Dish tests 5G O-RAN radios from obscure vendor MTI

Dish Network is working with radios from an obscure vendor for its new, greenfield 5G network.

Verizon’s Vestberg makes private vs. public 5G MEC distinction

Verizon’s chief executive on Tuesday made it clear that the carrier has multiple revenue opportunities from 5G mobile edge compute (MEC), emphasizing the distinction between private and public use cases.

Lowenstein: My view of top priorities for the new FCC

When the Biden administration takes over in January 2021, the FCC will sport a new chairman and a 3-2 Democratic majority. In this column, I’d like to offer my views on what I think the FCC’s top priorities should be and what might be some strategies for fulfilling some of these objectives.

Huawei backs Sweden into a corner over ban review

Chinese vendor Huawei is doing everything it can to make it impossible for Sweden to sustain its ban.

AT&T’s Stankey cites Q4 wireless momentum

AT&T CEO John Stankey said he likes what he’s seeing in the company’s wireless business when it comes to fourth-quarter momentum, and that’s in part because AT&T tweaked plans earlier this year to make them appeal to not only new customers but existing ones as well.

AT&T CEO Stankey: Market focus is squarely on broadband services

Whether it's fixed, wireless or fiber-based, AT&T CEO John Stankey said his management team is squarely focused on broadband as one of its three core areas.

Lumen rolls out bare metal-as-a-service at the cloud edge

While Lumen has built private, custom bare metal edge compute configurations for its customers in the past, it has taken bare metal to the cloud edge.

Deutsche Telekom hits 5G target, repeats itself on fibre

Deutsche Telekom is rounding out 2020 with an upbeat announcement on its achievements and ambitions in 5G and FTTH. The trouble is, we already knew most of it.

Vodafone and Nokia show off their green cards

It’s no good ticking a few green boxes if nobody knows about it. Thankfully there’s a company that can help you with that.

Cato Networks launches cloud API to automate SASE deployments

Cato Networks is now offering its enterprise customers a cloud API to provision and manage their Cato SASE deployments from third-party platforms.

AT&T snags FBI business with $92M FirstNet contract

AT&T scored a major win for FirstNet, landing a contract valued at around $92 million to provide FirstNet mobility services for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).  

Charter and Elon Musk among big winners of FCC $9.2bn broadband funding

The FCC has allocated US$9.2 billion worth of funding for high-speed broadband rollout in rural areas and a number of major names are among the big winners.

Nokia wins SoftBank 5G core work

Japanese operator group Softbank has picked Nokia to provide the core software for its standalone 5G services.

Finland passes new 5G security law to ban risky equipment

The Finnish parliament approved a new law late on Monday to vet 5G equipment as a means to shore up the country’s defence against cyber-attacks and espionage attempts on its communications systems.

T-Mobile outlines Sprint network shutdown plans

T-Mobile expects to close much of Sprint's network starting in 2022, but steps toward that goal are already underway.

AWS in-house routing tech could blow a hole in Juniper's sales – analyst

The cloud computing giant plans to substitute routers developed in-house for equipment it currently buys from Juniper, according to MKM Partners.

FireEye Hit by ‘Highly Sophisticated’ Nation-State Attack

FireEye said a “highly sophisticated threat actor” stole its internal hacking tools in what the cybersecurity vendor believes was a nation-state attack targeting its government customers.

Operators begin singing Kumbaya for open RAN

Executives from Verizon, Vodafone and other operators are calling for unity in a push to create an open RAN ecosystem. Meantime, survivors of vendor consolidation are catching up.

Qualcomm lends a 5G helping hand in Japan, South Korea

US supplier involved in 5G sub-6GHz carrier aggregation with NTT Docomo, and 5G mmWave campus deployment with LG U+.

Dish turns to Taiwanese supplier for more 5G radios

MTI will join Fujitsu in providing triband and dualband radios for Dish Network's planned 5G network. The radios will support open RAN interfaces.

TikTok clocks up another court victory vs Trump

TikTok owners ByteDance won a further injunction against a Trump order shutting down its US operations, as it waits out the clock until Biden.

Verizon Slides In Silver Peak SD-WAN Expansion

Verizon Business is expanding its relationship with SD-WAN vendor Silver Peak that includes a new deployment model and more options for customers selecting the managed offering. The move also fills out Verizon’s SD-WAN portfolio, which also includes its managed Cisco-based service.

Daily Roundup: Equinix Stretches SDN, Expands Edge

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On the eve of launch, Dito battles to renew license

Dito Telecom, the 40% China Telecom-invested Philippines operator, faces a battle to renew its license, with the Senate skeptical it can meet commitments.

Zscaler CEO: Network Security Is Dead. Long Live SASE

Zscaler kicked off its virtual Zenith Live event by adding zero-trust protection for public cloud workloads and a new push into 5G security as CEO Jay Chaudhry discussed his company’s direction heading into 2021.

C-band auction for 5G spectrum explodes with $1.7B in first-round bids

'Who 'wins' the C-band auction will shape the competitive dynamics of 5G for a decade,' wrote the financial analysts at MoffettNathanson. 'Yes, the stakes really are that high.'

Verizon CEO Defends DSS, Details 5G Edge Strategy

Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg today defended the mobile operator’s decision to lean heavily on dynamic spectrum sharing (DSS) for its recently activated low-band 5G network, but he didn’t go so far as to admit the company had no other option. 

AT&T CEO defends contentious box office moves

John Stankey says decision to release new movies simultaneously at theaters and on streaming will accelerate the scale and growth of HBO Max, which now grown to about 12.61 million activations.

Deutsche Telekom cozies up to Nokia for open RAN

The Finnish equipment vendor is likely to help build an 'open RAN town' for the German operator next year, which would bode well for a future relationship.

Can Open Source Technology Keep Our Planet Alive?

In the face of a looming recession and climate catastrophe, technology titans, service providers, and consumer giants are taking collaborative action and turning their technology to fight the effects of climate change and fundamentally transform practices that harm both people and the planet through sustainable innovation.

India’s Jio to launch 5G in 2021

India's largest service provider, Reliance Jio, will roll out 5G technology in the second half of 2021, says Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani.

Eurobites: Huawei says it will bend over backwards for Sweden

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Finland approves 'no Huawei' law; Iskratel brews up 10G broadband in Belgium; Ofcom says public service broadcasting needs to adapt to survive.

Verana Networks nabs $11M to make 5G basestations

Verana scored a batch of VC funding that the company said will help it begin selling 5G basestations by 2022.

Google Cloud brings apps to the edge for glorious benefit of 5G

Google Cloud brings 200 partner applications at the edge as it continues its strategy to, in part, help service providers make money from 5G.

Nokia trumpets standalone 5G role at SoftBank

The Japanese telco has already picked rival Ericsson's cloud-native 5G core.

Charter CEO unconcerned about 'me-too' OTT-TV competition

But Tom Rutledge does believe programmers and media companies should consider adopting 'dual content strategy' that can be tailored to the pay-TV distributor and direct-to-consumer streaming markets.

Cloudflare Moves to Keep Data Local

Cloudflare delivered an early holiday gift to customers with the launch of the its namesake Data Localization Suite. Through Cloudflare’s global cloud network, the new set of tools give enterprise customers the helicopter-parent control they need to manage where data goes and ensure it stays where it should. 

Google Cloud brings partners, applications to the edge

Hundreds of partner apps can now run at the edge with Google Cloud and Anthos, writes Google's Amol Phadke.

Where Are You, Open Source RAN?

Despite the widely acknowledged allure and prevalence of open source technology, it’s making nary an impact in radio access networks (RAN).

Equinix Expands Fabric, Enhances Network Edge

Equinix is expanding its Equinix Fabric and Network Edge platforms with a broader ecosystem of partners and new capabilities designed to create a single interconnection between physical and virtual devices. 

Untangle SD-WAN Adds VLANs to the Fray

SD-WAN Vendor Untangle launched version two of its SD-WAN router today, which adds support for local network segmentation through VLANs. The company claims the new capabilities provide small to midsize businesses with new tools to more effectively manage their internet connections.

Indian telcos push for Huawei, ZTE inclusion in 5G trials

Service providers have written to the Indian government calling for the removal of vendor-based restrictions in 5G trials.

Minim puts new broadband product plan in motion

CEO Gray Chynoweth talks product and service provider strategy after closing the acquisition of Zoom Telephonics and rebranding the company under the Minim moniker.

Ericsson boasts 1.5 Gbps in C-band demo

Ericsson is already boasting about its work using C-band spectrum, one day before the FCC’s auction of the spectrum starts.

Charter scores big in Phase I of FCC's RDOF auction

Charter was among the biggest winners for the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) reverse auction, which the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced on Monday.

Comcast extends support for internet access through June

For the third time, Comcast has extended its initiatives to keep users connected during the Covid-19 pandemic. Comcast will continue to provide free internet service for the first 60 days for new Internet Essential Customers, as well as keep providing free access to more than 1.5 million Wi-Fi hot spots, through June 30.

Dish stock gets downgraded to ‘Neutral’ at Guggenheim

Shares in Dish Network received a downgrade from Guggenheim on Friday amid concerns about its ability to compete in the wireless industry.

Nokia to head EU’s flagship 6G initiative

Nokia will lead the European Commission’s 6G research initiative, project Hexa-X, to help lay the foundation for the next generation of wireless and drive the 6G roadmap.

Juniper snares Apstra to automate datacenter operations with IBN

On Monday, Juniper Networks announced a definitive agreement to buy Apstra in order to simplify data center operations by using intent-based networking (IBN) and closed-loop assurance.

Is fixed wireless the answer to bridging the digital divide?

I remember writing about fixed wireless access (FWA) more than 20 years ago. At the time, it was considered a costly alternative to wired broadband services like DSL or cable. 

Cisco to pay a big premium for UK CEM vendor IMImobile

Cisco has offered the equivalent of US$730 million for cloud-based customer experience firm IMImobile, a figure that represents a hefty premium on its current share price.

Etisalat claim new 5G speed record of 9.1 Gigabits per second

UAE-based operator group Etisalat combined 2.6 GHz, 3.5 GHz and 26 GHz spectrum to claim the fattest of pipes.

Swisscom welcomes Stock Exchange to its cryptocurrency JV

The Swiss Stock Exchange is buying into Custodigit, a digital assets storage facility set up by Swisscom and digital bank Sygnum a couple of years ago.

Nokia chosen to lead Europe’s 6G hive-mind initiative

Hexa-X envisages 6G as a network of networks, connecting everything with a generous dose of AI, and Nokia has been put in charge of it.

CAST AI gets $7.7M to make multi-cloud management easier

CAST AI says its new software is being used by telcos, payment platforms and fintech companies to enable them to use multi-cloud environments more efficiently and cost-effectively.

Russian Hackers Exploit VMware Bug

Russian state-sponsored hackers are actively exploiting a bug in some VMware endpoint and identity management products, according to a U.S. National Security Agency warning issued today.

Is Huawei leaving its US customers high and dry?

Some companies have suggested that Huawei is no longer supporting its existing US customers amid government actions against the Chinese vendor. But others say that's not true.

Podcast: What's the story with open RAN's progress?

Iain Morris joins the show to give an update on open RAN's progress and hurdles, and what's in store for the technology next year.

Common Edge Computing Framework Remains a Longshot

The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) is making progress in defining mobile edge computing integration standards, but the extent to which operators, developers, and cloud providers will embrace common interfaces is very much an open question. 

Juniper takeover makes Apstra look as agnostic as the Pope

On an acquisition spree in recent months, the maker of routers and switches has just bagged a company whose big selling point was vendor neutrality. Er...

Charter tops US cable's RDOF take

Charter was the winning bidder across more than 1 million locations, alongside smaller wins for Cox, Atlantic Broadband, Midco and Altice USA, among others.

Comcast adds CBS All Access to X1

Integration of the premium streaming service comes ahead of the early 2021 debut of Paramount+, the successor to CBS All Access.

Daily Roundup: Cisco Buys IMImobile, Slido to Boost Webex

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 newsletters to get these stories in your inbox.

Here are all the winners of the FCC's $9.2B RDOF auction

Here is the full list of RDOF winners organized by the amount of money each bidding entity won. For the top 10, Light Reading also listed the identity of the winner and the technology it will use.

Singtel gets a crack at the banking business

The Singaporean operator's bank license underlines the telco opportunity in the finance sector.

COVID-19 Gifts Cloud Service Market $1.5B Bonus

The year of coronavirus has been a boon for major cloud providers as enterprise spending on cloud services hit $1.5 billion in the third quarter of 2020, according to a new report from Synergy Research Group.

Comcast adds CBS All Access to X1, Flex on deck

Integration of the premium streaming service comes ahead of the early 2021 debut of Paramount+, the successor to CBS All Access.

South Korea puts others in 5G shade – report

Even the most advanced 5G cities elsewhere struggle to compete with availability and performance found in South Korea.

McAfee Puts $1 Trillion Price Tag on Cybercrime

Cybercrime costs the world economy over $1 trillion, or just more than 1% of global gross domestic product, according to a McAfee report.

Aruba Tackles the Data Center With Orchestration, New Switch Line

Aruba Networks announced a sweeping update to its data center switching and support line up with the launch of Aruba Fabric Composer, the CX 8360 switch series, and tighter integrations with company parent Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)

Open Source Accelerates Arm’s Data Center Fire

Not long ago x86 processors’ dominance in the data center and hyperscale spaces was uncontested. Today, Intel and AMD face new competition from a swath of chipmakers championing Arm-based data-center chips with more cores, lower power consumption, and greater scalability.

Nokia to head up European 6G project

Vendor takes on 6G role, just as Finland looks set to pass a new 5G security law that could lock out certain vendors.

Cisco Pays $730M+ for IMImobile, Slido for Webex Boost

Cisco paid hundreds of millions of dollars or more to acquire two companies, IMImobile and Slido, that it says will boost customer interaction on its Webex video conferencing platform.

Will Open Source Cybersecurity Reach Critical Mass?

Cybersecurity professionals are quick to see the risks associated with open source — a developer may unknowingly insert buggy open source code into an enterprise application, which could make the company, its partners, and customers vulnerable to attacks.

Juniper Networks Acquires Apstra to Driver Deeper Automation

Juniper Networks is acquiring Apstra in a deal that will drive deeper automation into Juniper’s Junos-based data center networking platform. The acquisition should better position Juniper in the intent-based networking segment against rival Cisco.

Orange CTO: Don't expect 'densification' with 5G

Michael Trabbia says 5G efficiencies will allow his company to provide a nationwide service without the need for additional sites.

Eurobites: Finland prepares to make life easier for Nokia

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: OMG it's an FWA record; where we are with open RAN; Ethiopia's telecom privatization going ahead.

COVID-19, network reuse contribute to strong PON market

Omdia's Julie Kunstler outlines why the broadband equipment market uptick will keep on going in 2021.