Money Moves: May 2021

Here are some of the most prominent venture capital and merger and acquisition news items from May. 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 Dan Meyer (dmeyer@sdxcentral.com).

Cisco Talos: It’s Time to Move Beyond Ransomware ‘Thoughts and Prayers’

When it comes to stopping ransomware, sharing threat information between the government and private-sector companies “is the thoughts and prayers of the InfoSec community,” said Matt Olney, director of threat intelligence at Cisco Talos.

U.S. telcos flag ‘cascading impacts’ from chip shortages

A bevy of U.S. telecom groups warned the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) an ongoing global semiconductor shortage could slow network deployments and impede their ability to fulfill key requirements associated with certain federal programs.

Cisco loads DNA Center up with AI features: Kerravala

Cisco this week released the next version of its DNA Center, an open platform for orchestrating network deployment. DNA Center version 2.2.2 builds on version 2.1.2, which, according to Cisco, saw the fastest adoption rate on record, and comes with new capabilities centered on connectivity, security and improved controls for IT administrators.

Former AT&T exec leads STL’s foray into open RAN

STL is an India-based company that’s made a name for itself over the past 25-plus years, providing optical technologies and deploying fiber for telcos.

Verizon mixes up C-band, CBRS tests

They’re not the first and likely not the last, but Verizon’s recent applications with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) show it’s advancing on the C-band front – as well as Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS).

Spending on 10G PON equipment skyrocketed 500% in Q1 – Dell’Oro

A massive jump in spending on 10-gig PON technologies drove the overall broadband access equipment market to double-digit growth in Q1 2021, fresh data from analyst company Dell’Oro Group shows.

U.S., U.K. team to tackle 6G

The U.S. and U.K. announced plans to develop a detailed science and technology partnership agreement, which is set to include a provision for strategic collaboration on the development of 6G technology.

It’s all kicking off as Sky offers free mobile data for Euros

The beginning of summer brings with it the start of a major international football tournament and that can mean only one thing: a telco-backed survey on the TV viewing habits of UK fans.

Altice set to flog Portuguese holdings

It has been reported that French telecoms conglomerate Altice wants to raise a few euros by selling what’s left of the Portuguese business it acquired in 2014.

Multi-cloud networking 101: Q&A with VMware

Fierce’s Multi-Cloud Networking 101 series takes a look into the future, using a series of progressive interviews with experts to help readers better understand the key foundational concepts and market landscape of multi-cloud networking. This emerging field aims to solve the problems associated with linking networks and applications across multiple cloud environments.

C-band race continues as AT&T makes a call

AT&T has completed a call on its recently acquired C-band spectrum, a further sign of the intense competition between the US telcos as they push on with 5G rollout.

Apple reportedly handed over metadata of US politicians to government

In the middle of the ‘Russiagate’ debacle, the Trump administration reportedly forced Apple to provide data from the accounts of Democrat politicians.

Daily Roundup: Bell Canada Links AWS to 5G Ambitions

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Bell Canada Links Early 5G Edge Ambitions to AWS

Bell Canada intends to be the first Canadian operator with a 5G multi-access edge compute (MEC) service paired with Amazon Web Services (AWS) later this year. The carrier inked a deal with AWS to deploy the hyperscaler’s Wavelength service, which marries 5G networks with edge compute and storage. 

Verizon 5G doesn’t provide big boost over 4G – Tutela

Users on Verizon’s 5G network in mature deployment areas don’t yet notice much difference in performance than 4G users, according to new analysis from Tutela. However, those with 5G handsets do benefit during peak hours, when network congestion appears to weigh more heavily on the carrier’s 4G network than its less encumbered 5G.

VMware’s Sanjay Uppal promoted to GM of Service Provider group

VMware has done some reorganizing in its telco group since its former GM for Telco and Edge Cloud Shekar Ayyar left the company in May to create a SPAC.

AT&T, Nokia make 5G call over C-band in field tests

AT&T is gearing up to deploy C-band spectrum for 5G later this year, and recently completed the first call on its network with Nokia using commercial gear.

T-Mobile’s chief marketing officer Matt Staneff departs

Matt Staneff, who had been T-Mobile’s chief marketing officer since April 2019, has left the company as of June 2021, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Altice UK snaps up 12% stake in BT

Altice UK bet big on fiber, making a surprise move to acquire a significant minority stake in operator BT by buying up 1.2 billion shares of its stock.

Ofcom plunders Amazon Alexa for CTO hire

UK communications regulator Ofcom has moved to beef up its digital economy expertise with the appointment of Amazon veteran Sachin Jogia as Chief Technology Officer.

AT&T scores $725M contract with U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs

AT&T’s government contract winning spree continued, as the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) handed it a $725 million task order to update the agency’s IP network.

Zoom launches its own phone for some reason

Zoom is getting into hardware, with the launch of a range of branded desk phones aimed at the business market.

Letting dragons (AWS, Google Cloud, Azure) into the castle

Last week we saw yet another 5G carrier sign with a hyperscaler "dragon." Bell Canada announced a deal to deploy 5G multi-access edge computing on AWS Wavelength. This follows a slate of other announcements: Verizon extended its relationship with AWS in April, AT&T is working with both Microsoft and Google, Telefonica said in May it would partner with Microsoft Azure, and of course, there was Dish’s big AWS splash in April.

Verizon launches private 5G for enterprise, public sector

Verizon Business announced the launch of On Site 5G, its first commercially available private 5G network solution for U.S. customers using millimeter wave (mmWave) spectrum.

Altice buys 12% of BT and expects us to believe it just wants to help

French telecoms group Altice has bought 12.1% of UK operator BT’s shares and reckons BT needs top tips on fibre rollout.

UK surfers get OpenRAN-based connectivity

Vodafone has launched two new live Open RAN sites in the UK, one of which will serve Newquay’s Fistral Beach, a spot beloved by surfers.

Daily Roundup: Huawei Dares Critics to Prove Security Vulnerabilities

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HPE, Nutanix Get Closer, Add Database Bundle to Partnership

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) added Nutanix’s database management software, Era, to its growing GreenLake cloud services portfolio.

VMware Expands SASE Scope, Cinches Security Gap

VMware wants to expand the scope of its secure access service edge (SASE) platform in a way that centers on a broad ecosystem of services running at the edge rather than just remote access and security.

Cisco Gives DNA Center a ThousandEyes, AIOps Boost

Cisco today unveiled a bevy of updates to its DNA Center that promise to improve performance, speed zero trust adoption, and increase the scale and security of corporate networks.

Verizon Pushes Private mmWave 5G Networks to Enterprises

Verizon today expanded its use of millimeter-wave (mmWave) spectrum and 5G to release a new on-premise private network offering to enterprises. 

Ransomware Gangs Say This Makes You a Target

The FBI and ransomware gangs agree on this one point: If you don’t want to be the next Colonial Pipeline or JBS, use strong passwords.

FCC sets October start date for 3.45 GHz auction

Bidding in the next U.S. auction for mid-band spectrum, in the 3.45 GHz band, is slated to start October 5.

Google gets to work on its sixth private subsea cable

Google announced plans to deploy its sixth private subsea cable to connect the U.S. to various points in South America, a move designed to strengthen low-latency access to its products and services, including Google Cloud.

Dish, Open RAN coalition cheer Senate tech bill passage

Dish Network and the Open RAN Policy Coalition are cheering bipartisan U.S. Senate passage of tech-focused legislation that includes provisions to fund technology development with an eye on open architectures.

Verizon jumps into SASE with multi-vendor play

Verizon Business followed rival AT&T in rolling out a Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) solution for enterprises, opting for a multi-vendor approach which combines SD-WAN and network security capabilities in a single managed service.

GSMA set to return with Los Angeles-based MWC in October

The prospects of Mobile World Congress 2021 in Barcelona don’t look all that promising, with big exhibitors dropping out left and right, but the GSMA expects to return live and in person this October with its show in Los Angeles. The dates are October 26-28.

Verizon, Lumen, Windstream join Open XR Forum

A group of service providers has joined optical networking vendor Infinera in creating the Open XR Forum, a multi-source working group dedicated to XR optics — a point-to-multipoint coherent pluggable transceiver technology.  

Big U.S. carriers now support eSIM, but they’re not marketing it

Embedded SIM cards promise to make it much simpler for consumers to connect to their wireless carrier of choice and to switch to a different wireless carrier if they choose.

Casa teams with Google on cloud-native 5G standalone core

Casa Systems partnered with Google Cloud to make it possible to integrate the company’s cloud-native 5G standalone core with a hyperscaler public cloud. The advantage of this type of integration, according to Casa, is that it makes it possible to deliver ultra-low latency applications even when the control plane and user plane are separated by hundreds of miles.

UK internet users spend ages online – Ofcom

UK adults spent as much as an hour longer per day online than our peers in other major European markets in 2020, according to the latest research from Ofcom.

Japan and Finland collaborate over 6G development

The collective 6G efforts of Finland and Japan have vowed to help each other out in a bid to move the nascent standard along.

Utilities use Adtran to power fiber expansion

Three utility companies are accelerating their fiber deployments and using Adtran gear to make it happen. Thanks to federal government funding programs like the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, many non-traditional broadband providers such as electric cooperatives and municipalities are deploying Adtran’s Total Access 5000 platform to deliver fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) for their business and residential customers. Others are using the platform to expand their network with XGS-PON technology. XGS-PON is a passive optical network standard that can support 10-Gig upstream and downstream data.

Softbank takes to the crowded skies for coverage

Softbank has become the latest major telco to look at providing connectivity from space, announcing a raft of initiatives to broaden access to communications networks.

Dell unveils ecosystem to help operators to monetize edge

Dell Technologies announced the creation of an open, cloud-native ecosystem for telecom network operators looking to get their piece of the explosive enterprise edge business opportunity. The ecosystem includes hardware from Dell and partners, new software to help service providers deploy and manage global multi-vendor network environments and a new lab to enable companies to leverage ecosystem-developed innovations.

Nokia, Qualcomm and UScellular manage to get mmWave to go 10 km

Millimetre wave might not be so rubbish after all, with a group of intrepid telecoms boffins managing to set a new range record.

Huawei Dares Critics to Prove Security Vulnerabilities

Huawei today opened its largest cybersecurity center to date in a bid to revitalize its thus far failing effort to convince skeptics that data traversing its equipment and services is not susceptible to espionage.

Daily Roundup: What the Heck Is Open XDR?

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Fortinet Expands SD-WAN Service Provider Menagerie

Fortinet added four new managed service providers to its SD-WAN menagerie today, announcing partnerships with Commandlink, DNA, Syringa Networks, and Telecom Italia.

VMware, Vapor IO Reveal First Open Grid System

VMware and Vapor IO today announced plans to build a Multi-Cloud Services Grid, the first fulfillment of the Open Grid Alliance. This re-architected internet revealed by a group of vendors in April envisions a shared platform for distributed compute, data, and intelligence at the edge.

Verizon Taps Versa, Zscaler for Managed SASE Play

Verizon today became the latest U.S. carrier to get in on the secure access service edge (SASE) hype, unveiling a fully-managed service based on Versa Networks’ SD-WAN and Zscaler’s cloud-based zero-trust network access, secure web gateway.

Carriers continue to evaluate the 3.45 GHz band

The Federal Communications Commission is looking to auction 100-megahertz of spectrum in the 3.45-3.55 GHz range as early as October, and major carriers appear to be cautious as they continue to evaluate the band.

T-Mobile left with ‘too many’ small cells, Ray says

T-Mobile President of Technology Neville Ray reiterated the synergies it stands to gain due to its combination with Sprint, and that includes in the area of small cells.

IBM's hybrid cloud plan: Many clouds working as one

The notion of hybrid cloud environments, in which enterprise customers move their data, resources and applications to a mix of public and private clouds and software-as-a-service platforms, has been gaining traction, but that doesn’t mean the industry should stop talking about “the cloud” in the singular.

ISPs may want Amazon's Sidewalk kicked to the curb

Amazon appeared set to roll out its Sidewalk Wi-Fi-sharing service today after issuing an update last month on the project, which is expected to raise the ire of ISPs and increase privacy concerns because it allows Amazon devices and other devices and apps to share low-bandwidth portions of internet coverage from individual home networks across a localized area.

UScellular stretches 5G mmWave 6 miles in extended-range record

UScellular continues to push the reach of 5G millimeter wave spectrum, hitting a new record of 10 km (about 6.2 miles) in new tests with Nokia and Qualcomm.

Aryaka opens Dublin PoP as EU campaign continues

SD-WAN pioneer and managed services provider Aryaka Networks has activated its latest Services Point of Presence (PoP) in Dublin, Ireland, as the company continues to expand its cloud-edge-delivered managed networking and security services, including SASE for both on-premises and remote workers, across European Union countries.

TIM pushes OpenRAN agenda with new Turin lab

TIM is pushing further into the OpenRAN arena, this time with the launch of a new R&D centre in Turin.

Public cloud scores another PR win with Fastly outage

A bunch of media and government sites were offline earlier today following an issue with the Fastly edge cloud platform.

Samsung touts vRAN role in C-band Massive MIMO demo

Samsung Electronics is claiming an industry first: Its commercial 5G virtualized RAN (vRAN) supports its latest C-band Massive MIMO radios. The company also achieved a top 5G vRAN speed exceeding 1.5 Gbps on C-band (3.7-3.98 GHz) spectrum.

Report commissioned by Ericsson and Qualcomm insists mmWave is a great idea

The deployment of millimetre wave (mmWave) spectrum for 5G in Europe will bring a huge economic benefit, according to a new report by Analysys Mason.

FBI scores a couple of major wins against digital baddies

US law enforcement agency the FBI twice managed to trick criminals into using digital services it had access to.

Telefonica’s latest asset sale makes for interesting reading

News of new asset sales from Telefonica seems to break pretty regularly and this week is no exception.

Dell Directs IT Chops to Aid Open Telecom Systems

Dell Technologies is doubling down on the telecom industry, directing its expertise in software development, cloud native architecture, and digital transformation to the aid of network operators. 

What the Heck Is Open XDR?

The technology industry loves its buzzwords, but “open” may be the most overused and abused. Depending on who you are talking to, open may mean anything from fully open source to API integrations, and the latest in a very long list of verbiage offenders is extended detection and response (XDR).

Daily Roundup: Snowflake Crystalizes Cloud-Focused Data

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NetFoundry, Oracle Cloud Tease App-Side Zero Trust

NetFoundry today extended its zero-trust networking software development kit (SDK) to customers building apps on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI).

Mavenir CEO Cuts Through Open RAN Noise

When discussions turn to the topic of open radio access networks (RAN), the alphabet soup of acronyms representing various groups and technologies can become dizzying. Mavenir CEO Pardeep Kohli likes to cut through the noise and get to the heart of the matter.

Palo Alto Networks’ Prisma Cloud CSPM Adds New Threat Detections

Palo Alto Networks added five new capabilities to the cloud security posture management (CSPM) side of its Prisma Cloud platform including a visibility-as-code feature and two new threat detection capabilities to protect customers against data exfiltration and cryptojacking attacks.

Snowflake Crystalizes Cloud-Focused Data Platform

Snowflake rolled out updates to its cloud-focused data platform that enhance what the vendor has been evolving over the past several years and also maintains its notion that a proprietary system is a better deal for customers.

Verizon in a mmWave groove, CTO Malady says

C-band deployments may be front and center as 2021 progresses, but Verizon continued to build millimeter wave 5G sites throughout the pandemic and has gotten into a good rhythm to support high traffic areas, according to CTO Kyle Malady.

Verizon's One Fiber build rolls full steam ahead

Verizon’s One Fiber initiative still has legs even as it enters its sixth year running, the operator’s CTO Kyle Malady told investors.

AT&T offers 36-month EIP

AT&T has added a 36-month equipment installment plan (EIP) as an option for customers buying new phones.

DT, Vodafone bow out of on-site MWC21

Deutsche Telekom (DT) and Vodafone Group became the latest to opt out of having a physical presence at Mobile World Congress (MWC) Barcelona this year, joining a number of big name players in going digital.

Analysys Mason report cites need for 5G mmWave action in Europe

A new report by Analysys Mason, commissioned by Ericsson and Qualcomm, highlights potential positive economic impacts from deploying 5G millimeter wave spectrum in Europe as the companies urged action by regulators.

Consolidated, Uniti finding silver linings: Cowen

Independent telcos Consolidated Communications and Uniti Group are showing signs of strength and optimism--Consolidated with its broadband buildout and Uniti with its enterprise sales efforts--according to an industry update from Cowen’s Technology, Media and Telecom research team.

Lumen's Black Lotus Labs uncovers hacktivist attack

Lumen Technologies’ Black Lotus Labs, the telco’s security threat intelligence unit, uncovered evidence that hacktivists recently attacked the switches and routers of at least 100 organizations, having gained access to those internet-connected devices due to misconfigurations of Cisco Systems’ Smart Install feature.

Vodafone confirms limited physical presence at MWC

UK operator group Vodafone won’t be running a physical stand at Mobile World congress later this month but hopes people will visit its virtual one.

BT launches SoHo unit to boost U.K.'s smallest firms

BT has created a new Single/Small Office/Home Office (SoHo) unit to cater to the communications needs of the U.K/s smallest businesses--those with nine or fewer employees--that comprise more than 95% of the nation’s private sector companies and around 5.7 million potential customer accounts.

Orange buys into African digital healthcare platform

Orange has teamed up with insurance firm AXA Assurance Maroc to buy a majority stake in DabaDoc, a Moroccan digital healthcare platform.

Brussels inches towards easing 5G radiation rules

The regional parliament in Brussels has taken a small step towards easing rules on radiation that could pave the way for the introduction of 5G services.

BT targets home office market with ‘unbreakable’ wifi

UK operator group BT has apparently just realised there are a lot of very small businesses in the UK and has created a new business unit on the back of that revelation.

AT&T Wins $725M Veterans Affairs Contract

AT&T appears to be the home team network for the homeland. The network operator has landed nearly three dozen contracts with the U.S. federal government since it instituted a massive effort to overhaul the networks that serve agencies and federal employees.

Bosch Flips Switch on Silicon Saxony Foundry

It may take years before we emerge from the ongoing semiconductor shortage, but there may be some hope on the horizon, at least for German and European automakers. Bosch today announced the opening of a $1.2 billion 300-millimeter wafer fab based in Dresden, Germany.

Daily Roundup: AT&T’s Media Addiction Stunts 5G

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