Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger's Greatest Hits of 2021

In just shy of a year, Pat Gelsinger, Intel’s favorite son and CEO, managed to turn the faltering chipmaker’s fortunes around in more ways than one.

Verizon’s 5G mmWave Network Has a Tree Problem

Millimeter-wave (mmWave) spectrum suffers the same severe limitations today that dogged it when Verizon first deployed the technology in 2018.

5G’s Killer Apps: Fixed Wireless Access, Edge, Private Networks

In the early days of 5G, mobile network operators pushed a futuristic vision for the technology — invoking a world of remote surgery, autonomous vehicles, and virtual reality.

Intel, Lenovo and Google withdraw from CES due to Omicron surge

More major tech players have joined the list of firms pulling out or limiting their presence at Las Vegas tech mega-show CES.

There are reasons for optimism in 2022

It might not feel like it right now, but there are many reasons to hope the world will bounce back strongly next year.

This Olde Website: 2021

This year's trek down memory lane of the WWW takes us to Apple, Arris, Dell, Facebook and – hold onto your Santa hats! – a brief tour of Places Jeff Used to Work.

Is Multi-Cloud SD-WAN’s Final Destination?

SD-WAN is evolving, fueled by a potent cocktail of cloud, edge, and networking technologies that we call multi-cloud.

P50 Pocket foldable phone signals Huawei’s consumer tech defiance

Embattled Chinese tech vendor Huawei has released a set of new products based on the HarmonyOS operating system. 

UK 5G coverage roughly doubled in 2021

Network analysis firm Global Wireless Solutions says that three of the four major operators have doubled their nationwide 5G coverage in the last year.

US tech masters of the universe squabble over the future of the internet

Having stepped down as CEO of Twitter, Jack Dorsey has criticized claimed ‘Web3’ technology, which has inevitably triggered some of its cheerleaders.

Vodafone and Mavenir complete small cell OpenRAN trial

UK operator Vodafone and software vendor Mavenir say they have successfully tested a small cell OpenRAN mast using containerised software.

2021: The Year Aruba Joined The SD-WAN Leaders Club

It’s been a busy year for Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s (HPE) Aruba Networks as it embraces its newfound footing as a leading SD-WAN vendor.

Orchestration ogler Oracle scoops up Federos

Continuing its recent spending spree, Oracle aims to expand its applications portfolio by adding AI-optimized assurance, analytics, and automation solutions from Federos.

Rural broadband report talks up fiber, funding and supply constraints

Here are five of the most interesting things I found in the NTCA's recent survey and report on broadband availability in rural America.

China Mobile gets green light for blockbuster $9B Shanghai IPO

China Mobile is moving quickly to IPO after approval from the securities regulator, paving the way for one of the telecom industry's biggest-ever floats.

Consumer techies expect big digital things by 2030 – Ericsson

Survey of early AR/VR adopters finds many rubbing their virtual hands together in glee at prospect of various digital experiences in shopping malls by 2030.

Cloudflare, Armis Join CrowdStrike’s XDR Alliance

CrowdStrike added new members — Cloudflare, Armis, and ThreatWarrior — to its extended detection and response (XDR) alliance in a move that CTO Michael Sentonas says defines “the standard for what XDR technology should be.”

AWS, Google, Microsoft Measure Cloud Customers' CO2

Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) all made moves this year to tackle their environmental impacts — including passing the emissions-reduction baton to their cloud customers.

India wants to do 6G

The last few days have seen senior Indian government officials, including the telecom minister, mention 6G on more than one occasion.

Device upgrades to drive 5G growth in 2022 – Omdia

In developed markets, most devices telcos sell in 2022 will have 5G, giving them an opportunity to sell 5G plans if they add more value.

AT&T follows T-Mobile in pulling out of CES

T-Mobile said that its CEO Mike Sievert would no longer be delivering a keynote in-person or virtually at CES.

Wrapping up 2021: 5 predictions for 2022 — Madden

After two years of a roller coaster ride, here are some predictions to ponder for the year ahead.

Apple makes big inroads in Chinese smartphone market

When you think of smartphones in China, you tend to think of Chinese brands such as Huawei, vivo and OPPO.

Who leads the global RAN market? Ericsson, says Mobile Experts

New analysis from Mobile Experts ranks Ericsson as the leading vendor for global RAN market share, with China’s Huawei at number two.

NTCA members serve gigabit speeds to over half their rural subs

Among other things, the report found that on average 75% of members’ serviceable locations were covered by fiber to the home this year.

T-Mobile limits presence at CES but the show goes on

US operator T-Mobile says the vast majority of its team will no longer be attending CES, while Amazon, Meta, Twitter and Pintrest have reportedly pulled out entirely.

2021 was a record year for UK data use – VMO2

UK operator group Virgin Media O2 has published the numbers on the use of its networks this year and revealed we downloaded more than ever.

AT&T agrees to sell Xandr ad unit to Microsoft

US network operator AT&T has agreed to sell its programmatic advertising operation Xandr, launched just 3 years ago, to Microsoft.

Daily Roundup: NTT Taps HPE GreenLake, Microsoft Azure for Hybrid Cloud

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Cisco Topples Diversity, Environmental Targets

Cisco claimed a 120% increase in Black vice presidents and a 90% increase in Black directors, in its latest Purpose Report. The diversity gains usurp Cisco’s original goal, which targeted a 75% increase by 2023.

Some 5G providers step back from CES

'After careful consideration and discussion, T-Mobile has made the difficult decision to significantly limit our in-person participation at this year's Consumer Electronics Show.'

SeaChange, Triller sign merger pact

The $5 billion 'reverse merger' will enable privately owned Triller, a short-video app and content developer, to become a publicly listed company on the Nasdaq as TrillerVerz Corp.

Here's why the telecom industry is taking aim at Big Tech

For the first time ever, the six biggest Internet companies in the world accounted for more traffic in 2021 than all other Internet companies combined, according to Sandvine.

Book excerpt: How Huawei took the telecom world by storm

Jon Pelson's new book, Wireless Wars: China's Dangerous Domination of 5G and How We're Fighting Back, dives into the meteoric rise of Huawei on the global telecommunications stage.

From the digital divide to 6G, top regulatory trends to watch in 2022 – Omdia

The analyst firm points to trends it says will be 'at the heart of regulatory activity' next year, including spectrum licensing, the digital divide and – yes – 6G.

What's the story? Streaming TV providers seek market stability

Light Reading's Jeff Baumgartner explains the challenges that streaming TV providers face in keeping subscribers while achieving profitability.

T-Mobile’s Very Good, Very Bad 2021

T-Mobile US closes out 2021 much like it began: the only wireless carrier in the U.S. running its 5G network on a 5G standalone core. Its mid-band 5G network currently covers 200 million people, and that runs alongside a low-band 5G network covering 308 million people. 

Verizon Bumps 5G Standalone Core to 2022

Verizon’s 5G core won’t be fully deployed and commercially available until 2022 — a delay that affords T-Mobile US continued bragging rights as the only U.S. carrier with 5G services running in standalone (SA) mode. 

Eurobites: Telent acquires Harlequin Group for private-networks push

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Telefónica Tech brings security to CAVs; Ericsson eyeing Russia for basestation manufacturing, claims report; BT's speed guarantee found wanting.

Fixed wireless opens new customer engagement avenue — Greenblatt

A critical question now faces the wireless service provider community: Where will new growth come from? FWA is emerging as a central element.

STL brings SDN principles to fiber with programmable FTTX

STL sought to capitalize on a trend toward open networking in the fiber market, rolling out an open programmable FTTX solution.

AT&T, Verizon host open RAN plugfests in 2021

In October and November AT&T and Verizon hosted open RAN plugfests across three labs in the U.S.

Mint Mobile pulls back on unlimited claims after AT&T complaint

The National Advertising Review Board recommended Mint Mobile stop using "unlimited" ad claims, as data speeds are throttled to 2G after a data cap.

BT hires doctors to bolster smart healthcare offering

BT will create a ‘Clinical Advisory Board’ to drive the growth of new connected healthcare technology.

China Mobile could raise almost $9 billion from Shanghai IPO

Having been booted out of the New York Stock Exchange, China Mobile is doing the sensible thing and offering its shares in China.

Three and EE throw weight behind London Underground 4G project

UK Operators Three and EE have teamed up with infrastructure firm BAI Communications to pipe in 4G and later 5G to commuters on the tube.

A Ransomware Retrospective for 2021 With Qualys CEO

Nvidia Challenges Fungible for DPU Dominance

Nvidia today claimed a new record for data processing unit (DPU) performance that saw a pair of BlueField-2 accelerators achieve 41 million IOPS of storage performance. The claim bests Fungible’s own 10 million IOPS record from late last month — at least on paper.

HPE, Dell, and Cisco Push Network-as-a-Service. Will Enterprises Bite?

CEOs of Cisco, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), and Dell Technologies all touted plans in 2021 to offer almost everything as-a-service in the near future. One of these moves is network-as-a-service (NaaS), which brings network agility and scalability to help organizations deal with the challenges of hybrid workforce, distributed systems, and digital transformation acceleration.

SolarWinds to Log4j: More Risk Management Wake-Up Calls

Cybersecurity practitioners started this year with the struggle of addressing the SolarWinds supply chain attack, and now the Log4j vulnerability is another wake-up call for the need to set up long-term risk-management strategies.

Daily Roundup: HPE, Dell, and Cisco Push Network-as-a-Service. Will Enterprises Bite?

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ZTE's device business poised to fire up growth

ZTE's device business could be the fire that lights up its rebound. The consumer unit grew by 67% in the first half to 12.4 billion yuan (US$1.95 billion).

5G might be costly but competition settings still matter

5G is a big lift, especially for developing countries, needing a denser mix of basestations than 4G, multiple spectrum bands and a much higher power load.

The year in DOCSIS 4.0

With early lab trials, a first wave of interoperability testing and collaborations between key suppliers, DOCSIS 4.0 made significant progress in 2021, even as deployments remain well out on the horizon.

Eurobites: Three, EE get onboard London's tube connectivity plan

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Elisa Estonia chooses Nokia for 5G open RAN; Telefónica tries liquid-cooling for its data centers, central offices; Fastweb speeds up with Infinera.

After a turbulent 2021 Vodafone Idea faces uncertain 2022

It's been a turbulent year for India's third-largest telco, Vodafone Idea, as it fought for survival – but new measures and a tariff hike have helped.

Media, vendors rethinking in-person plans for CES 2022

Some media members and vendors worried about the latest COVID-19 variant are canceling plans to attend CES, casting a cloud over the tech industry's largest US trade show.

5G providers reject mandates for backup power at cell sites

'Planning and managing backup power resources thus requires case-by-case judgments that are not amenable to prescriptive rules,' Verizon told the FCC in a recent filing.

Ericsson's CradlePoint unit buys UK's Quortus – exclusive

Swedish vendor says takeover will provide engineering talent to support the growth of its enterprise connectivity and security business.

Disney+ moves into top tier of US streaming services

New top ten list from Parks Associates reveals significant changes as Disney+ moves into the top three of US OTT services, while HBO Max and Paramount+ also climb in the rankings.

Most pay-TV subs take streaming services too – new survey

In its latest 'State of Cable' survey of 1,000 readers, CableTV.com found that 70% of them still subscribe to cable or satellite TV and that nearly all of them also subscribe to at least one streaming video service.

NTT Taps HPE GreenLake, Microsoft Azure for Hybrid Cloud

Japanese telecom giant NTT West Group tapped Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s (HPE) GreenLake platform and Microsoft’s Azure public cloud to provide hybrid cloud services to local organizations across western Japan.

AT&T sells Xandr to Microsoft

AT&T, which has been working to exit the media industry and shed related businesses, didn't disclose the sale price of its programmatic advertising business to Microsoft.

U.S. scores top rank for 5G coverage, falls short on speed

outh Korea led the pack on 5G downloads with median speeds of 492 Mbps.

USDA gives rural broadband a $119M boost

The U.S. Department of Agriculture dished out more funding for rural broadband, awarding more than $119 million for projects in 19 states.

Openreach has plugged in full fibre to 100,000 customers in Northern Ireland

BT subsidiary Openreach’s Northern Ireland expansion continues, as it connects it’s 100,000th customer to its 1 Gbps fibre-to-the-premises network.

Orange Business chief exits

Orange Business CEO Helmut Reisinger is leaving the company to pursue other opportunities.

Arrcus CEO sees a ‘critical’ need to address transport security

The CEO explained there are two primary catalysts driving the need for security in the transport layer.

Virgin Media O2 wants to pick your telly for you

Converged UK telco Virgin Media O2 has launched a TV and film recommendation engine called ‘What should I Watch?‘

5G-Powered Drones: New Services and Revenue Opportunities

Text: Mobile operators need to offer new lines of services to tap into fresh revenue opportunities and capture new market segments.

Zyxel’s Cost-Effective Connections to Rural/Remote LTE/5G Subs

Zyzel’s CBRS solutions provide efficient, cost-effective broadband connections to rural/remote LTE/5G subs.

Nokia lands all of Elisa Estonia’s 5G RAN work in vendor swap

Finnish kit vendor Nokia has continued its 5G redemption by landing the whole gig at the Estonian subsidiary of Finnish operator Elisa, replacing the incumbent vendor in the process.

TIM’s former CEO accepts €6.9 million to vacate board seat

Luigi Gubitosi, the ex-CEO of Italian operator group TIM, has been given 6.9 million reasons to step down from its board of directors.

VMware’s Long Road to Freedom in 2021

The Dell Technologies-VMware train has been on a wild ride for the past few years.

Fortinet Broadens SD-WAN Service Provider Empire

Even in the final days of 2021, Fortinet is still hustling to expand its service provider empire and strengthen its grip on the SD-WAN market.

Daily Roundup: Shortages Stall Q3 Ethernet Adapter Shipments as Demand Surges

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NTT's Bruce Snell on 'wide sweeping ramifications' of Log4j vulnerability

Snell covers some of the biggest cybersecurity trends of 2021 and has advice for how organizations can better manage and secure their data.

Ex-CEO Gubitosi steps down from TIM board

$7.8 billion severance package frees up seat on board, paving way for successor appointment.

Huawei staff installed malicious code on Aust. network – report

Huawei installed malicious code in Australia's Optus telco network that recorded all communications and transmitted it to China, according to Bloomberg.

Nearly a quarter of LTE operators have launched 5G – GSA

GSA forecasts that more than 200 5G networks will have been deployed by the end of Q1 2022.

The FCC may be facing another nuclear-sized interference problem

NextEra said it uses the 6GHz band for 'plant control communications,' including for its nuclear power plants. That's why it's asking the FCC to immediately halt sales of Wi-Fi devices in the band.

Frndly TV finds its pay-TV niche as subscribers surpass 500K

Subs and profits are hard to come by in the unfriendly world of pay-TV, but Frndly TV has been able to get both with a family-focused, skinny bundle that starts at $6.99 per month.

5G more than holds its own against Wi-Fi in Singapore – report

Opensignal finds 5G is nearly 50% faster than Wi-Fi in the island and provides users with the same multiplayer mobile games experience.

India's 5Gi to be included in 3GPP global standards – report

India’s homegrown 5Gi standard is likely to be included in release 17 of the international 3GPP 5G standards.

Disney, YouTube TV get a deal done after brief blackout

After being blacked out temporarily starting late Friday night, ESPN, ABC, FX and other Disney-owned networks were being restored to the YouTube TV service on Sunday afternoon in the wake of a new distribution deal.

AT&T, Verizon, others fined for 911 outages

An outage 'affected AT&T's ability to deliver 911 calls to 11 PSAPs in multiple states during this event. As a result of the outage, calls were not transmitted to those affected PSAPs,' the FCC said.

Deutsche Telekom preps towers sale – report

Deutsche Telekom is said to want to start a sales process in the first quarter of 2022.