Saturday, January 23, 2021

Broadcom Unveils First Co-Packaged Optical Switch

Co-packaged optics (CPO) are inching closer to reality. Broadcom recently announced its first co-packaged switch, which combines its 25.6 Tb/s Tomahawk 4 switch silicon with integrated optical interconnects, during the J.P. Morgan Tech/Auto Forum Conference.
           

Friday, January 22, 2021

Rakuten Challenges Portend Trouble for Dish Network

Dish Network continues to inspire more cynics than enthusiasts. The greenfield operator’s 13-year journey to assemble a nationwide wireless network faces significant challenges, and if Rakuten Mobile’s experience in Japan to date serves as a premonition for that effort it could be in for a rude awakening, according to MoffettNathanson.
           

Alphabet shuts down Loon and its balloons

That crazy science experiment that started out as Project Loon to deliver internet to hard-to-reach areas is going away. X Captain of Moonshots Astro Teller and Loon CEO Alastair Westgarth announced Loon’s final flight in separate blogs on Thursday.
           

Systems integrator CTS acquires ClearSky for private LTE

Private wireless networks can create opportunities and solve technical problems for many companies, but right now those companies are unlikely to go out into the marketplace looking for private wireless solutions. Organizations need technology to meet business objectives, and they often look to trusted systems integrators for ideas and solutions. Integrators that recognize the potential of private wireless are starting to form alliances with equipment vendors that can provide it.
           

Thursday, January 21, 2021

Verizon, AT&T want to kill Lifeline

The US government's Lifeline program collects fees from telecom companies in order to help poor Americans pay for connectivity. AT&T and Verizon are proposing sweeping changes to that setup.
           

Honor cashes in chips post-Huawei

Smartphone maker wastes little time in striking new chipset deals now that US-imposed cuffs on its supply chain have been removed. CEO Zhao reiterates strategy to expand into mid- and high-tier markets.
           

Daily Roundup: IBM Looks Ahead to 2021

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.
           

RAN Market Growing at 10-Year High

The radio access network (RAN) market is, thanks in large part to operators’ 5G investments, growing faster than it has in about a decade, according to Dell’Oro Group. 
           

IBM Ends 2020 Down, Targets Brighter 2021

IBM reported disappointing fourth-quarter results that continued what has been an eventful start to CEO Arvind Krishna’s tenure as head of the computing giant. That trend is expected to continue through the first part of this year, with a possible turnaround toward the second half.
           

Entner: ARM, Nvidia could dampen mobile innovation

When Nvidia announced that it was in the process of buying Arm from Softbank, many analysts and industry observers were exuberant about how it would transform the semiconductor industry by combining the leading data center artificial intelligence (AI) CPU company with the leading device AI processor architecture company. While some see the potential advantages that Nvidia would gain by owning ARM, it is also important to look at the risks that the merger poses for the ecosphere at large and the course of innovation.
           

BT reels in a $40M contract to connect Dutch diplomatic missions

BT has landed a $40 million contract to provide software-defined network services to the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. With the contract in hand, BT will provide communications services to embassies and consulates in 120 countries. The initial contract is for four years, but there's an option to extend it to nine years. BT won the contract in a public, European Union-wide tender process.
           

Wednesday, January 20, 2021

Intel's 7nm Chips Back on Track, External Fabs Still on the Table

Intel’s ill-fated 7-nanometer manufacturing process is reportedly back on track after a six-month delay. Speaking during the company’s fourth-quarter 2020 earnings call Thursday, incoming CEO Pat Gelsinger expressed optimism that the majority of the chipmaker’s 2023 product portfolio would be built on the new process.
           

VMware Bets on AIOps as SASE Differentiator

Secure access service edge (SASE) saw rapid growth during 2020 as enterprises grappled with the abrupt and unceremonious shift to remote work in the wake of a global pandemic. But while the technology addressed many of the security challenges associated with a remote work force, it didn’t necessarily solve the problems faced by the workers themselves.
           

Keys to ZTE 5G Delivery

Network delivery is a core task in the telecommunications industry. Excellent and complete network delivery solutions and capabilities are often the keys to vendor success in the industrial competition. In addition to being a leader in global communications technology, ZTE also excels in network delivery. Over the past three decades, ZTE has delivered over 500 turnkey projects worldwide, built more than 4 million sites, and deployed more than 130,000 kilometers of outside plants. The company has provided quality products and efficient services for more than 2 billion users worldwide and obtained their high recognition.
           

Tuesday, January 19, 2021

AT&T Business Exec Calls for Patience on 5G

AT&T believes “5G will reshape the fabric of society,” but “because of the hype around it, it’s clear that a lot of people expected one big shift overnight,” Mo Katibeh, chief product and platform officer at AT&T Business, tells SDxCentral.
           

Trump's Final Act Cuts Off Huawei From US Chipmakers

Donald Trump’s presidency may be over but the U.S.-China tech war he helped spark is alive and well, at least for the time being. In the final days of Trump’s presidency, his administration took sweeping actions, which included tightening restrictions on Chinese technology companies and their suppliers.
           

Europe's Telecom Giants Vow Open RAN Support

Europe’s four largest mobile network operators are linking up to support the deployment of open radio access network (RAN) technology across the continent. Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefónica, and Vodafone describe open RAN as “the technology of choice for future mobile networks to the benefit of consumer and enterprise customers across Europe.”
           

Cybersecurity Spend to Surge 10% in 2021, Canalys Says

Cybersecurity spending is set to increase up to 10% this year as the broader economy recovers from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new report from Canalys. That increase will push overall global spending on cybersecurity equipment, software, and services to more than $60 billion.
           

MatSing supplies antenna tech for Biden inauguration

Even though the National Mall near the U.S. Capitol building will be mostly empty of the traditional crowds on Wednesday, the nation’s three biggest carriers will get the benefit of MatSing’s unique lens antenna technology. MatSing’s antennas will provide LTE and 5G broadband coverage for President-elect Joe Biden’s Inauguration Day, and while it won’t be like previous inaugurations, the antennas will provide extra capacity for customers of AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon. The gear will remain permanently in place and maintained by MatSing and the carriers after the ceremony. The antennas for this year’s inauguration were ordered well before the decisions about limited attendance due to security threats and Covid-19. Besides the expectation that there would be more demand on the mall, there was the belief that members of the audience would be carrying more powerful phones compared with the last inauguration. Of course, now the equipment can be used by members of the National Guard and others present in a security role.
           

Cisco clears final major hurdle in $4.5B deal to buy Acacia

In a deal that has been brewing since 2019, Cisco has garnered the final regulatory approval for its $4.5 billion deal to buy Acacia. Reuters reported Tuesday morning that the Chinese government’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) has approved the merger. Cisco had previously gained regulatory approval for the deal, which was first announced in 2019 with a price tag of $2.6 billion, from the United States, Germany and Austria.
           

Survey: 40% of businesses suffer supply chain issues in Covid-19

New research from Orange Business Services found that the supply chains in 40% of multinational corporations surveyed were overwhelmed by the pandemic. In the survey of 320 enterprises, roughly 83% said they are now more aware of supply chain risks, such as raw material shortages or transport blockages, than they were 12 months ago.
           

Exploring 5G Opportunities in Diverse Industries

In the first post in this two-part series, I noted that 5G networks are emerging as a key to richuser experiences, high-quality enterprise services and new business opportunities. Today, I will take things a step further and look at some of the specific ways that 5G is making a difference in industrial, healthcare and retail applications.
           

Monday, January 18, 2021

5G Hits 75% of US Population

U.S. mobile operators have collectively covered 75% of the country’s population with 5G service and successfully convinced 8% of smartphone users to purchase compatible devices, according to PwC.
           

SAP Poaches Microsoft Cloud Exec

Long-time Microsoft cloud executive Julia White is set to jump ship to SAP in a move that could back SAP’s attempt to bolster its cloud business. The vendor also teased an uptick in business to end an eventful 2020, though continued to caution that overall growth will remain muted for the foreseeable future.
           

US revokes Huawei export licences

The US Commerce Department has revoked export licences from vendors including Intel to stop them supplying Huawei with essential semiconductors, according to a report by Reuters.
           

Sunday, January 17, 2021

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