Money Moves: June 2021

Here are some of the most prominent venture capital and merger and acquisition news items from June. 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 Emma Chervek (echervek@sdxcentral.com).

Microsoft’s Bug Bounty Pays $13.6M While PrintNightmare Rages

Microsoft paid out $13.6 million this year through its bug bounty program, a nearly identical sum to last year’s $13.7 million payout.

Dish gets unlikely ally in fight over 12 GHz band

It wasn’t that long ago that Public Knowledge was fighting tooth and nail against the merger of Sprint and T-Mobile that eventually would lead to Dish Network being set up as a fourth national player in wireless.  

SpaceX attacks Dish for ‘flaws’ in 12 GHz argument

While Dish Network is calling for a win all around in the 12 GHz proceeding, SpaceX is blasting Dish once again, this time for what it calls a flawed study perpetuated among “a Dish-bankrolled coalition,” among other things.

GSMA urges 2 GHz of mid-band spectrum by 2030

Global mobile industry body GSMA says policymakers need to license 2 GHz on average of upper mid-band spectrum to operators to help lower costs and reduce environmental impact of 5G, while achieving data speed requirements set by the UN’s International Telecommunications Union (ITU).

Private networks help companies go green

Private wireless networks are helping companies conserve energy and reduce their carbon footprints by giving them more control over power consumption. By using cellular networks to monitor and control HVAC equipment, enterprises are realizing immediate savings in energy use.

Biden order on broadband competition could hit wall at FCC

President Joe Biden prepared to sign an executive order which among other things aims to boost broadband competition, but New Street Research analysts warned progress could be limited by a deadlocked Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

Midco targets 10 Gbps fiber to 300,000 homes

Regional U.S. broadband provider Midco announced a $500 million fiber project, aiming to deliver 10 Gbps service to hundreds of thousands of locations in the Midwest.

Ribbon preps for future of optical transport with 5G features

Ribbon Communications is hoping to stand out from the pack as communications service providers around the globe upgrade their transport networks, with CEO Bruce McClelland pitching its products as the future-proof option for those pursuing 5G deployments.

Lack of mid-band spectrum could cost operators billions of dollars – GSMA

Policymakers are not making enough mid-band spectrum available for 5G and that could cost operators – and ultimately consumers – dear, the GSMA warned this week.

Cellnex completes €1.6 billion Polish expansion

Ambitious Spanish infrastructure specialist Cellnex has completed its acquisition of Polkomtel Infrastruktura.

IoT is failing to live up to its promise…or is it?

IoT is failing to live up to expectations in the UK and in the US, or at least that is what the creators of a new report would have us believe.

Netskope Valuation Soars to $7.5B on $300M Funding Round

Netskope today said it closed a $300 million funding round led by existing investor Iconiq Growth that sent the secure access services edge (SASE) vendor’s valuation skyrocketing to $7.5 billion.

Daily Roundup: 6 Largest Cybersecurity Deals of 2021

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FTC Calls Broadcom a Monopolist in ‘Toothless’ Complaint

Broadcom is a monopolist, according to an FTC complaint charging the chip giant of using illegal and anti-competitive business practices.

6 Largest Cybersecurity Deals of 2021

Just six months into the new year, 2021 has already seen some of the biggest cyberattacks on record with cybercriminals raking in record-breaking amounts of cash — that’s the bad news. The good news, however, is that the defenders are making money, too, and scoring some of the biggest cybersecurity deals in history. So far this year, we’ve seen the highest-valued cybersecurity IPO (SentinelOne) and the largest-ever cybersecurity funding round (Lacework), and we’ve still got the second half of 2021 to break those records.

Ericsson teams with MIT to research cognitive networks

Ericsson is exploring cognitive networks to reduce operational complexity and increase energy efficiency, with two major research projects in a new collaboration announced with MIT.

CWA wants U.S. broadband funding to include worker protections

The Communications Workers of America (CWA) urged Congress to incorporate worker protections in a proposed infrastructure deal which includes billions in broadband funding, aiming to ensure its members aren’t cut out of buildout efforts.

AT&T, Samsung, Qualcomm help launch 6G research center at UT

The University of Texas at Austin is launching a 6G research center with the support of major wireless industry players, including AT&T, Samsung and Qualcomm.

Qualcomm and InterDigital among founders of new US 6G initiative

The US has created another 6G initiative and got a bunch of tech and telecoms giants on board from the start.

TIM sticks by footy deal as competition watchdog launches investigation

Italy’s competition watchdog has launched an investigation into TIM’s exclusive deal with rights holder DAZN to stream top-flight football content, but the Italian telco is sticking to its story – that the deal is good for competition in the pay TV market.

Kaloom hires former IBM exec to push partnerships

Canadian networking software startup Kaloom appointed former IBM executive George Khatchadourian as EVP of Strategic Partnerships, tasking him with advancing its collaborative efforts and go-to-market strategy.

T-Mobile 5G powers Halo’s driverless car service in Las Vegas

T-Mobile is driving home the point that it’s got a 5G network good enough to power one of the first commercial driverless car services in the U.S., with Halo running on T-Mobile’s 5G network in Las Vegas.

Vodafone UK and Mavenir collaborate over OpenRAN small cells

UK operator group Vodafone has enlisted the help of US software vendor Mavenir to see if they can add some OpenRAN secret sauce to small cells for businesses.

Telenor sells Myanmar business for a song

Telenor has sold its operations in Myanmar for less than a quarter of the licence fee it paid to enter the market seven and a half years ago.

Daily Roundup: AT&T 5G Edge Shimmers On Google Cloud, Leaves AWS On-Prem

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Biggest CEO Moves of 2021 (So Far)

Each year, technology companies make headlines as they drive change in the software-defined world. But every so often, the people behind the scenes make headlines and changes of their own. This is why SDxCentral publishes its Headcount column each month to track the latest executive hirings, promotions, and staff changes. Here’s a look at the biggest CEO moves of the first half of 2021.

Nokia, Huawei, VMware Lead $4.4B Network Automation Market

The global market for network automation software topped $4.36 billion in 2020 and remains Nokia’s to lose, according to a new Appledore Research report.

Analysts Knock 5G Effect at MWC Barcelona

5G was on the lips of almost every speaker and attendee at MWC Barcelona, but evidence of what the technology has done in a meaningful way for any person or organization to date remains lacking.

Verizon CEO sees 2021 as tipping point for 5G

Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg is among those attending this week’s “summer camp for billionaires” in Sun Valley, Idaho, where he’s evangelizing 5G.

Astound Broadband CEO eyes more M&A, mulls MVNO potential

Astound Broadband just picked up assets in three new markets through a $661 million deal with WideOpenWest (WOW!), but CEO Jim Holanda told Fierce the company still has its eyes peeled for additional opportunities to expand its footprint in new and adjacent markets.

Lumen taps into Azure ecosystem with Microsoft edge deal

Lumen Technologies struck its latest in a series of edge compute deals, this time teaming up with Microsoft in a long-term collaboration to tap the power of its Azure cloud platform.

Dish declares 'win-win-win' for 12 GHz band

Dish Network has its sights set on the 12 GHz band for 5G, and it isn’t backing down, even in the face of some pretty stiff competition.

TPG and Samsung to have Australia’s first go at 5G vRAN over mmWave

An imminent trial marks a significant step for Samsung in Australia as well as adding to a busy week for TPG.

A bunch of old fossils are getting 5G SA coverage

A stretch of the UK’s famous Jurassic Coast has become one of the first locations in the world to receive standalone 5G coverage at 700 MHz.

US government decides single-vendor public cloud contracts are a bad idea

The US Department of Defense has decided to cancel its $10 billion cloud contract with Microsoft because it reckons it no longer meets its needs.

Singtel chief says last year was one of the toughest in company’s history

Singapore’s incumbent operator this week gave an unvarnished appraisal of its performance during its recently-ended financial year.

Cloud-Based Network Services Bring You Simple Deployment

The COVID-19 outbreak in 2020 has brought many uncertainties to the global economy, and people’s original lives have been completely changed. Over the past year, the traditional network construction mode in the communications industry has also undergone severe conflicts between crisis and transformation. So, while the COVID-19 pandemic still remains severe, how can ZTE quickly and efficiently complete communication network construction projects for overseas operators? How to break through the pandemic blockade and continue to provide high-quality products and efficient services for global customers?

AT&T 5G Edge Shimmers On Google Cloud, Leaves AWS On-Prem

AT&T this week hoisted another kite off its expanding 5G edge, showcasing incremental momentum accomplished with Google Cloud since the pair of companies kicked off a partnership 16 months ago. 

HPE Pours Ampool Into GreenLake, Ezmeral

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) today acquired Ampool and shared plans to roll the vendor’s cloud-native SQL analytics platform into its Ezmeral service.

Daily Roundup: Ericsson’s Private Networks Head Polishes Strategy

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MEF Celebrates SD-WAN Wins, Tackles MSP Pain Points

Less than two years after MEF debuted its MEF 3.0 SD-WAN certification, the industry trade group is once again looking at ways to squash lingering pain points.

Palo Alto Networks, Cisco Warn REvil Ransomware Attacks Target Everyone

As the story behind the Kaseya ransomware attack by a Russian cybercrime cartel continues to unfold, threat researchers at Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 and Cisco Talos warn that all networks are susceptible, trust must be continually validated, and that REvil may not have been the first to exploit Kaseya’s VSA software.

Top 3 Mobile Threat Takeaways from MWC

Considering the rapid rise in ransomware and other destructive attacks we’ve seen over the past six months alone, MWC Barcelona still doesn’t have the mobile security focus that it should.

MWC 5G Services Push Centers On AI, Security

Helping telecoms leverage edge, artificial intelligence (AI), and perhaps least surprisingly 5G to drive new service revenues, empower smart cities and factories, and reign in cyberthreats, was an ongoing theme throughout last week’s MWC conference in Barcelona.

AT&T: Cloud deal with Microsoft validates virtualization

A lot of people did a double take when hearing for the first time last week that AT&T is shifting its mobile network traffic over to be managed by Microsoft Azure. It will start with AT&T’s 5G core.

U.S. scraps $10B JEDI cloud contract with Microsoft

The U.S. government terminated its 10-year, $10 billion Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) cloud contract with Microsoft after years of legal wrangling but announced plans to solicit proposals for a new work order in its stead.

AT&T, Google Cloud collab yields new edge compute products

A 5G and edge collaboration between AT&T and Google Cloud initiated last year began to bear fruit, as the companies trotted out a pair of new co-developed products.

Dish breaks ground for first 5G site in Orlando

Dish Network isn’t saying much about it yet, but last week, it broke ground for its first 5G site in Orlando, Florida.  

AT&T, Verizon to feel pain from cable’s wireless gains – analyst

Analysts at MoffettNathanson warned AT&T and Verizon will likely bear the brunt of the damage as cable MVNOs continue to gain ground in the U.S. wireless market.

GSMA wraps MWC21 with 20K attendees

The GSMA wrapped up its annual Mobile World Congress conference in Barcelona, Spain, last week, attracting more than 20,000 in-person attendees.

Colt teams with IBM to boost edge ambitions

U.K. fiber provider Colt Technology Services unveiled a new collaboration with IBM which aims to enable delivery of next-generation applications at the network edge.

GSMA says 20,000 people turned up for MWC 21

The numbers are in for this year’s exceptional Mobile World Congress Barcelona event and, while it missed attendance targets, it did OK under the circumstances.

Broadcom settles FTC broadband chip monopoly charges

U.S. semiconductor company Broadcom struck a deal with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to settle claims it monopolized the market for broadband and video chips, agreeing to change its business practices going forward.

Nokia takes aim at 5G IoT with iSIM management software

Finland’s finest has launched new software designed to help operators get to grips with cellular IoT device provisioning and subscription management.

Telefónica, Telia, Globe indulge in some 5G back-slapping

There are all manner of metrics that telcos cite when crowing about their 5G milestones, and these last few days have seen some top-notch braggadocio.

Nexperia acquisition of Newport Wafer Fab calls into question UK’s tech strategy

China-owned semiconductor company Nexperia has acquired full ownership of the UK’s largest chip manufacturer and yet Huawei was banned from its 5G networks for being Chinese.

ZTE releases Radio Composer

ZTE Corporation (0763.HK / 000063.SZ), a major international provider of telecommunications, enterprise and consumer technology solutions for the mobile internet, today has released a white paper on Radio Composer, an intelligent orchestration radio network solution aiming to improve 5G user experiences, facilitate 5G network potential and maximize 5G network value through the innovative AI-based intelligent orchestration engine. In 5G era, the networks become more and more complex with 2G/3G/4G/5G multi-band and multi-mode coexistence and co-evolution. More services are carried over 5G, such as AR/VR, IoT, autopilot, machine vision and holographic call, etc. In addition, 5G is designed to serve multiple scenarios including eMBB, mMTC and URLLC consequently with increased 5G terminal complexity in accommodating these new application scenarios, all of which pose unprecedented challenges to operators in network operation and development. The white paper elaborates on the architecture, key technologies and future-oriented evolution of the Radio Composer solution, with both user orchestration and network orchestration. User orchestration leverages machine learning with wireless characteristics to accurately guide users to the cell with optimal user experiences in accordance with terminal capabilities and precise requirement recognition. Network orchestration flexibly matches traffic requirements and network grid capability with adaptive network resource configuration and allocation, such as spectrum and frame structure, to increase network payload and further optimize user experiences. During MWC Shanghai 2021 in February, ZTE released the “Intelligent Orchestration Radio Network” solution. On 10th June, China Unicom and ZTE implemented the industry’s first intelligent orchestration radio network trial, with up to 200% improvement of 5G user throughput. Meanwhile, both the NR slow download speed user ratio and the handover delay have been reduced by 50% respectively. As multi-dimension focus of the operators, including user experience and energy saving, have long been important in achieving better network performance and efficiency, Radio Composer will further evolve to support more complex multi-intention scenarios to deliver even more balanced and optimized network performance and efficiency, thanks to our prospective utilization of digital twin technology and consolidation of data from even other fields than telecommunication.Download white paper now.

Ericsson’s Private Networks Head Polishes Strategy

Ericsson’s private 5G offering now comes in two flavors — a basic option that is mostly resold by operators and systems integrators, and a more customizable option the vendor sells directly to enterprises.

Daily Roundup: MWC Barcelona Showcases Open RAN

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Op-Ed: MWC Barcelona Shows the Cloud Has Eaten Telecom

This year’s MWC Barcelona event was overshadowed by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that wiped out last year’s show and delayed this year’s event until it was deemed safer. But, below that layer of cloud cover was the realization that the cloud is robust enough to unleash the full power of 5G technology.

Deutsche Telekom sounds out potential bidders for Dutch business

The German incumbent has made no secret of its plan to offload T-Mobile Netherlands, and now it appears as if that process has begun in earnest.

Myanmar telcos reportedly pressured to install spyware

The failed state of Myanmar, which is currently run by a military junta, is apparently preventing telecoms execs from leaving the country until they install wire taps.

TPG lays claim to world’s first 5G SA network at 700 MHz

Australian mobile operator TPG Telecom wants to offer reliable indoor 5G coverage and boost the overall range of its network.

US accuses Broadcom of abusing STB and broadband chip monopoly

The Federal Trade Commission reckons Broadcom has a monopoly in certain types of chip and is abusing that position to impose exclusivity on its customers.

Intel Aims to Supercharge EDR With Silicon Security

Software platforms like endpoint detection and response (EDR) play an important role in combatting cyberthreats, but what if they could take advantage of the underlying silicon? That’s a question at the top of Intel Business Client Director Mike Nordquist’s mind.