T-Mobile Elbows Back Into 5G Mix Amid C-band Drama

T-Mobile US didn’t want to be left out of the 5G mix this week amid the C-band brouhaha that doesn’t impact its 5G story as much as rivals AT&T and Verizon.

Money Moves: December 2021

Here are some of the most prominent venture capital and merger and acquisition news items from December. 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).

NetFoundry CEO: SASE Isn't Enough, Zero Trust Must Go Deeper

A quick glance back at the biggest cybersecurity incidents of 2021 tells us two things, according to NetFoundry CEO Galeal Zino: secure access service edge (SASE) has proven effective at securing user-to-app communications and it’s not enough to keep the threat actors out.

Samsung, Qualcomm hit 8.08 Gbps 5G download record

The lab trial used New Radio-Dual Connectivity (NR-DC) mode combining 800 MHz of mmWave in the 28 GHz band with 100 MHz of mid-band C-band spectrum.

Ting Internet taps Colorado utility’s fiber ring to reach 200K

Ting Internet struck a deal with Colorado Springs Utilities to become the anchor tenant on a city-wide fiber network.

Verizon’s Visible tries new tact: free trial for 15 days

Verizon’s Visible prepaid brand is offering a free 15-day trial with eSIM-compatible devices, but Android devices won’t be getting in on the action.

NTIA crafts rules for $48B in broadband funding

The agency is asking the public for input on the design of several grant programs through which more than $48 billion in broadband funding will flow.

Repeater technology poised for 5G, 6G overhaul

3GPP is tackling smart repeaters in the next 5G standard while an ETSI group has taken up the concept of reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RIS).

Lumen’s CEO brands 2022 an investment year

The CEO said it plans to pump cash into marketing, branding, product development, mobile edge computing (MEC) and enhancements to its Lumen platform.

Samsung forecasts a hefty 52% Q4 profit hike

Korean tech giant Samsung has issued earnings guidance for the final quarter of 2021, showing a likely 52% profit jump.

Indonesia’s new telco launches with big coverage goals

Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison has started life as a merged entity in Indonesia and from the outset is tasked with some fairly weighty mobile coverage obligations.

Fujitsu and NTT Docomo help KT with its OpenRAN homework

Korean telecoms group KT has built a new OpenRAN test facility with plenty of help from its Japanese friends.

Dish promotes wireless president to COO

With pressure mounting on Dish to hurry up with its 5G network, the US operator has given wireless president John Swieringa additional responsibilities and a new job title.

CES 2022: A view from the show floor

As CES 2022 enters its closing moments we spoke to in-person attendee Frederick Reynolds from MicroAI, to get his thoughts on how it’s gone amid the restrictions and exhibitor cancellations.

Zero Trust Is More Important Than Ever, Security Practitioners Warn

As cyberattacks continue to ramp up and grab bigger and bigger headlines, implementing a zero-trust strategy is more important than ever, cybersecurity practitioners warn.

Daily Roundup: Is Home SD-WAN, Security the Future of Remote Work?

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.

Huawei CSO Pushes Transparency, Warns Anyone Can Be Hacked

Supply chain transparency is essential in a world where any major nation state or malicious actor can hack anyone, warned Huawei USA CSO Andy Purdy.

Microsoft Teases 5G Cloud Core Progress Post-AT&T Deal

Microsoft claims it’s making progress assembling a more expansive telco cloud stack for operators six months after it inhaled AT&T’s Network Cloud technology via acquisition.

Amazon edges further into operator territory with latest Sidewalk product

Amazon's new Sidewalk Bridge Pro by Ring is a targeted at businesses, municipalities, universities and public services and can connect sunlight sensors, air quality indicators and moisture sensors.

Robust apps could help carriers find a path to 5G profits

After running several 5G smartphone promotions over the holidays, telcos are looking to cash-in on their 5G networks by offering advanced apps such as AR and cloud gaming.

Meta leads VR race, but 2022 is AR's year to shine

Meta's loss-leader approach is rewarding it with a huge lead in headsets; in 2022, non-gaming apps will surpass gaming apps' revenue for the first time.

Samsung chip shop is cooking on gas, but it probably won't last

The South Korean firm is guiding for a surge in fourth-quarter profits as chip demand outweighs supply.

Head of Roku's fast-growing Platform business sets his exit

In a surprise move, Scott Rosenberg, an exec who handles a critical piece of Roku's advertising and content business, will be departing this spring.

Eurobites: Vodafone, EE delay reintroduction of EU roaming charges

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Openreach counts the petabytes; Kenyans get T-kash in pocket; The Posh find a fiber upgrade.

Why Samsung's 8Gbit/s 5G tests are noteworthy

In order to achieve its new speed record, Samsung said it used its own virtualized radio access network (RAN) and core products, its Massive MIMO radio and Qualcomm's Snapdragon X65 5G chips.

Orange puts three on shortlist for future CEO – report

Reports suggest Stéphane Richard could remain at the helm of Orange beyond the end of January.

SDxCentral 2-Minute Weekly Wrap: Verizon’s 5G mmWave Network Has a Tree Problem

T-Mobile reports 844K net adds in Q4

T-Mobile reported preliminary fourth-quarter postpaid phone net additions of 844,000.

In 2022 Verizon is the new prepaid sheriff in town — Moore

The prepaid landscape has undergone a reset, and Verizon is now the biggest prepaid carrier with more than 24 million subscribers.

UTOPIA Fiber brushes off critics, expands to 19th city in Utah

UTOPIA Fiber extended its reach into southern Utah, announcing plans to build fiber to its 18th and 19th cities in the state.

Crown Castle, T-Mobile reach deal on towers, 35K small cells

The deal involves a 12-year MLA and is significant for Crown Castle on a few fronts including Sprint churn and the small cell business.

Fiber adds propel Frontier to first broadband growth in 5 years

Frontier added 9,000 total broadband customers in Q4 2021, recording its first quarterly subscriber growth in five years thanks to strong fiber gains.

KT, DoCoMo, Fujitsu fete interoperability for open RAN

The three companies are collaborating on an ecosystem to promote open RAN in South Korea.

Charter hits 8.5 Gbps in DOCSIS 4.0 test with Vecima

Charter Communications took frequency division duplex (FDD) DOCSIS 4.0 out for a spin, achieving speeds of more than 8.5 Gbps downstream.

Vodafone and EE drag their feet over the reintroduction of roaming charges

Having announced they will start charging their customers for roaming in the EU, Vodafone and EE seem to be hesitating now that the time has come.

CES 2022: Behold the parade of weird tech

From finger nibbling robots to health monitoring light bulbs, CES 2022 has delivered its usual line up of innovative if eyebrow raising products. Here’s our list of the most peculiar.

Bharti consolidates fibre assets as it walks away from planned re-org

Bharti Airtel has abandoned plans to reorganise its business, buoyed by the Indian telecoms reform package, but is still shuffling certain assets, including bringing a fibre business in house.

Antin set to cash in on Spain’s fibre success

Spanish fibre operator Lyntia is reportedly up for sale at a value estimated to be in the region of €4 billion.

Is Home SD-WAN, Security the Future of Remote Work?

The latter half of 2021 saw a flurry of small, inexpensive networking and security appliances aimed at remote workers and home users. But with the mainstream adoption of technologies like secure access service edge (SASE), who are these devices really for?

Daily Roundup: How Ransomware Hurts Your Bottom Line

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.

Cisco, VMware Ask: Does Remote Work Actually Lower Carbon Emissions?

Cisco and VMware both embrace hybrid-work models, but they present diverging ideas on how much an increasingly remote workforce impacts a company’s overall carbon emissions.

AT&T CEO Downplays 5G Spectrum Delay

AT&T CEO John Stankey today said the effective six-week delay on C-band spectrum availability for the carrier’s 5G network doesn’t significantly impact the carrier’s strategy or momentum in the space.

How Ransomware Hurts Your Bottom Line (And What To Do About It)

To say ransomware’s a big threat would be the understatement of the year, and we’re less than a week into 2022. A new report by Cybersecurity Insiders and Forcepoint’s recently acquired Bitglass finds that a majority (55%) of cybersecurity professionals view malware and ransomware as an “extreme” threat, and over the next 12 months 75% of respondents believe it will become an even bigger threat to their organizations.

Hisense joins the ATSC 3.0 TV party

Additionally, Tablo has launched an over-the-air DVR that receives both ATSC 1.0 and ATSC 3.0 signals. Those product developments emerge as US broadcasters push ahead with the next-gen, IP-based signaling standard.

T-Mobile increases 2022 capex to maintain 5G position against rivals

'I believe capex will likely be higher, year over year [in 2022], as we race to implement this network even faster than we planned,' T-Mobile CFO Peter Osvaldik told an investor event Thursday.

What's the Story: 5G networks on C-band spectrum stalled

Mike Dano discusses the latest developments in Verizon and AT&T's efforts to deploy 5G networks on the C-band spectrum, and why those efforts have been mired in delays.

Microsoft opens up about AT&T's 5G core

Microsoft is taking AT&T's core and cloud technology, 'building it into Microsoft's standard hybrid cloud product, and then delivering a carrier-grade hybrid cloud solution,' wrote the company's Shawn Hakl.

Verizon's Visible uses eSIM for free network test drive

Visible's offering, which provides two weeks of free service, represents an important step forward in the eSIM market because Verizon is Visible's parent company.

In 2022, will telcos get the RCS message at last?

Between holding off business messaging apps and 5G, 2022 could finally be the year telcos embrace RCS, says Omdia's Charlotte Palfrey.

What's ahead for Asia in 2022

Chips, human rights, 6G: What's ahead for Asia this year?

Frontier adds record 45K fiber subs in Q4

In the midst of an aggressive FTTP buildout plan, Frontier's fiber subscriber customer additions in the period were a 50% improvement over the prior record of 29,000 net adds in Q3 2021.

European telco VC arms have shown minimal interest in open RAN

The region's telecom giants have been calling for investment in open RAN startups, but their own funding arms have done little to aid development.

China Mobile hits its target in tepid Shanghai IPO

China Mobile can claim its return to the Shanghai main board a success, achieving its initial 48.7 billion yuan ($7.6 billion) target.

5G networks will help make the metaverse real

The Consumer Technology Association's Sayon Deb said that 5G networks are a critical component of a set of new technologies that help blend our reality with virtual worlds.

Nokia, Ligado ink private network pact for enterprise

In a new collaboration, Nokia is pairing its private network Digital Automation Cloud with Ligado’s L-band spectrum to target U.S. enterprises.

FBA report: 43% of U.S. households now have access to fiber

A new study from the Fiber Broadband Association (FBA) found the number of homes in the U.S. passed by fiber now exceeds 60 million.

Samsung doubles down on the smart home with a dedicated tablet

Korean tech giant Samsung unveiled its Home Hub tablet device at CES, which seems designed to be the lynchpin of a smart home ecosystem called the SmartThings Hub.

Dish names John Swieringa president and COO of Dish Wireless

Dish Wireless is facing a big year in 2022 as its first network deployment goals must be hit by June.

AT&T pilots multi-gig fiber, adds 270K subs in Q4

AT&T CEO John Stankey revealed the operator is conducting market tests of a multi-gig fiber service.

A fully staffed FCC is important for rural broadband: Bloomfield

Bloomfield says Congress should nominate Gigi Sohn as the fifth commissioner to the FCC, ensuring all hands will be on deck as the FCC considers USF.

Wi-Fi 6 Release 2 promises better uplink, power management

The Wi-Fi Alliance announced that Wi-Fi Certified Release 2 is now available to bring to new features to Wi-Fi devices and applications.

Great Plains Communications chases more fiber M&A in 2022

Great Plains Communications just closed two acquisitions in the second half of 2021, but the company is on the hunt for more deals in 2022.

Qualcomm and Microsoft augment their meta relationship

US mobile chip giant Qualcomm has gone big on the buzzwords at this year’s CES tech show, claiming its new AR collaboration with Microsoft has something to do with the metaverse.

Connected cars drive the agenda at CES 2022

Car manufacturers and tech firms rolled out new smart motors and integrated connectivity software at the CES tech show, showing ever more convergence between the two industries.  

OpenRAN takes centre stage as Rakuten orchestrates Symphony spin-off

Rakuten Mobile’s OpenRAN effort is going up-tempo, thanks to its most recent corporate rejig.

New UK national security law has implications for telecoms M&A

The new national security law that could enable the UK government to block mergers and acquisitions moves it doesn’t fancy has come into force.

Daily Roundup: Verizon Pins Swift Mid-Band 5G Launch to Jan. 19

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.

Top 5 Data Center Tech to Watch in 2022

Compared to last year, 2022 is shaping up to be an exciting year for data center silicon.

Verana gears up for mmWave tests

Verana's Amit Jain confirmed the company has applied for an experimental license for a test network in 27GHz spectrum. According to AllNet Insights & Analytics, Verizon is the primary owner of that spectrum.

Charter tests DOCSIS 4.0 at 1.8GHz, hits multi-gigabit symmetrical speeds

Lab trials with Vecima and an undisclosed silicon provider generated north of 8.5Gbit/s downstream and 6Gbit/s upstream on HFC plant upgraded to 1.8GHz.

Charter tests DOCSIS 4.0 at 1.8GHz, hits symmetrical multi-gigabit speeds

Lab trials with Vecima and an undisclosed silicon provider generated north of 8.5Gbit/s downstream and 6Gbit/s upstream on HFC plant upgraded to 1.8GHz.

Verizon doubles down on fixed wireless bet

Verizon will soon begin selling fixed wireless access (FWA) services across 20 million US households at dramatically reduced prices. 'The product quality is there now,' explained Verizon's Manon Brouillette.

AT&T CEO touts 'unified connectivity approach' with wired and wireless

John Stankey reiterates that AT&T will take a targeted approach with fixed wireless broadband, identifying potential use cases for both residential and rural situations and certain business services scenarios.

Cox's Kevin Hart takes helm of fiber-focused Segra

Kevin Hart, the former chief product and technology officer of Cox, is named CEO of Segra two months after Cox acquired the enterprise-focused fiber services company. Len Barlik succeeds Hart as CTO of Cox.

Eurobites: Airtel Africa sells Tanzanian towers

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Agcom gives green light to FiberCop co-investment program; Telkom SA's spectrum auction gripes; UK security law kicks in.

Telecom in 2030: Openness with no guarantee of diversity

Open interfaces will be baked into future generations of mobile technology, but that does not mean the market will be more competitive.

Swisscom buys majority stake in Innovative Web Group

Takeover of web specialist aimed at strengthening Swiss incumbent's 'communities and associations' business area.

Telia to sell Latvian B2B business to Tet

Telia Company will retain an interest in Telia Latvia through its minority stake in buyer Tet and also retains 60.3% of mobile operator LMT.

Consumer tech revenues to exceed $500B in 2022 – CTA study

Led by strong demand for smartphones, automotive tech, connected health devices and streaming services, that expected new high-water mark for 2022 would be a 2.8% rise from 2021's total, says the Consumer Technology Association.

India’s Airtel withdraws corporate restructuring plan

The board of India's second-largest service provider believes its existing structure will best leverage telecom reforms announced by the government in September 2021.

C-band 5G fiasco: This is what $80B buys?

How do you sell airwaves for over $80 billion and then say the spectrum isn’t available after all?

Cable One targets rapid fiber expansion with JV deal

Cable One launched a joint venture with a trio of private equity companies, seeking to speed its expansion of fiber to underserved markets.

AT&T, Verizon concede to two-week C-band delay

The new delay comes just days before C-band launches planned for January 5.

FCC rolls out Affordable Connectivity program to replace EBB

The FCC officially replaced the EBB with the ACP, launching a new subsidy program which is set to dish out more than $14 billion in support.

Huawei vows to keep investing in diversification

The Chairman of embattled Chinese vendor Huawei has published his New Year message, in which he stressed a strategy of searching for new business areas.

Samsung focuses on digital features to differentiate its tellies

Samsung has unveiled its 2022 range of TVs ahead of CES, loaded with an array of smart technologies that provide NFT trading and onboard cloud gaming.

Verizon and AT&T forced to delay 5G expansion once more

The failure of US aviation authorities to get their act together has ensured their battle of wills with the country’s biggest mobile operators carried over into 2022.

CES to close a day early as Omicron surge persists

The Consumer Technology Association has announced that the CES 2022 technology show will run for just three days instead of the usual four, as a safety measure.

Does Google Cloud’s Siemplify Buy Signal the End of Standalone SOAR?

Google Cloud today said it acquired security orchestration, automation, and response (SOAR) vendor Siemplify to bring the capability in-house. Analysts saw this deal as a signal of the end of the standalone SOAR and security information and event management (SIEM) markets.

AT&T’s SASE Strategy Champions Pragmatism

Secure access service edge (SASE) captivated networking and security vendors throughout 2021, but service providers including AT&T took a more pragmatic view of Gartner’s red-hot product category.

Daily Roundup: Flawed HPE Software Update Erases 34M Kyoto Research Files

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.

Verizon Pins Swift Mid-Band 5G Launch to Jan. 19

Verizon today said it will unleash a trove of new mid-band spectrum on its 5G network later this month in a move to bolster that network’s competitive position against rivals T-Mobile US and AT&T. The announcement followed intense back-and-forth missives with federal regulators that have delayed the move.

Verizon, AT&T Pause Mid-Band 5G (Again)

AT&T and Verizon cracked under pressure and agreed to delay their respective 5G networks riding on C-band spectrum for another two weeks. The about face came shortly after the carriers dismissed the last-minute plea from aviation regulators and less than two days before the networks were set to launch.

5 Cybersecurity IPOs We Expect in 2022

Last year set all sorts of cybersecurity records — and not all of them were good. In addition to SentinelOne’s highest-valued cybersecurity initial public offering (IPO), 2021 also saw some of the biggest cyberattacks on record. And that, no doubt, helped fuel a cybersecurity venture funding frenzy, which also posted a record-setting year.

SaaS-based network security scores $1.2B in revenue for Q3 2021 – report

Citing an 'uncommon alignment between enterprise IT teams asking for more security investment and business leadership willing to do so,' SaaS-based network security revenues rose 26% in the quarter, Dell'Oro says.

Cable One and partners team up to form fiber-fueled JV

A new firm involving Cable One, GTCR, Stephens Capital Partners and The Pritzker Organization aims to accelerate the growth of a unit comprising Cable One's Clearwave and Hargray fiber businesses.

Eurobites: Orange invests in Europe's 'technological sovereignty'

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Springo joins the FiberCop fold; Telefónica, Microsoft hawk hybrid cloud; Telia sells Latvian unit.

Verizon releases C-band launch timeline, speeds and prices

Verizon said it will launch 5G services on its midband C-band spectrum licenses sometime this month, and that customers can expect 'typical download speeds' of 90 Mbit/s to 170 Mbit/s.

It's time for the Biden administration to get it together in 5G

A year into the Biden administration, 'there is no spectrum plan, there are no big auctions planned, at a time when everyone was all about 'we've got to beat China on the race to 5G,' said a former FCC chief.

Taiwan Mobile chief calls for speedy approval of merger

Taiwan Mobile boss Jamie Lin has called on regulators to expedite approval of its merger with smaller operator Taiwan Star.

Dish's 5G remains MIA, but company debuts new tagline

Dish Network's new 5G tagline, 'America's First Smart Network,' was trademarked in October and is now being used in a number of social media posts. But the company has not yet launched commercial 5G services.

Huawei 2021 sales decimated by US sanctions

Chinese vendor reports a 30% drop in revenues as the US campaign finally catches up with it.

US pay-TV drops another 637,000 subs in Q3 2021

Despite gains among virtual MVPDs in Q3 2021, the 5.2% rate of decline in the period for the full pay-TV industry was among the worst on record, according to a fresh analysis from MoffettNathanson.

BlackBerry says thumbs down on its iconic handsets

Canadian firm calls time on OS support for old-style keyboard devices; long running class-action lawsuit proving harder to shut down, however.

Tele2 picks Nokia for 5G RAN in Baltics

Nokia takes a leading role in building 5G networks for Tele2 in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

5G private networks: Seven years beyond Reykjavik

Heavy Reading's survey data indicates that the notion of 5G private networks driving commercial service innovation is rapidly becoming a reality.

AT&T, Verizon agree to another C-band delay

Late last year, AT&T and Verizon agreed to delay their 5G launches in C-band spectrum by one month, to January 5. On Monday, they agreed to extend that delay another two weeks, to January 19.

North American service providers take on the cloud, fast fiber and edge investments

Service providers in 2022 expect to deploy more midband 5G spectrum deployments, add more fiber to their networks and ramp up the battle for broadband subscribers.

The Evolution To Distributed Intelligence

Analyst Maribel Lopez shares key takeaways from an interview with Intel Corporation’s, Asha Keddy, on the foundational technologies enabling the move

AT&T, Verizon Dismiss Last-Minute Plea for Mid-Band 5G Delay

AT&T and Verizon are unwilling to further delay 5G deployments on C-band spectrum, as the CEOs of both companies effectively dismissed another last-minute plea from aviation regulators.

Flawed HPE Software Update Erases 34M Kyoto University Research Files

Kyoto University in Japan lost 77 terabytes of research data due to a defective software update issued by Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) that unintentionally deleted backups.

Daily Roundup: Nvidia, Fungible Dispel DPU Misconceptions

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.

Samsung to support NFTs in new smart TVs

TV maker's NFT Platform will be available in a set of 2022 models, including its MicroLED, Neo QLED and The Frame products.

Apple, Ericsson square off over 5G patents

Ericsson wants up to $5 for every iPhone Apple sells. But according to Apple, it now holds 'a share of declared 5G patent families that is comparable to Ericsson's share.'

Comcast debuts Wi-Fi 6E gateway as it preps for faster speeds on HFC

New gateway, which adds support for Wi-Fi's fresh 6GHz band, will initially be offered to broadband subs on Comcast's 1.2-Gig service or its 'xFi Complete' package, which bundles in unlimited data.

Verizon, AT&T reject federal request to delay 5G on C-band

'If US airlines are permitted to operate flights every day in France, then the same operating conditions should allow them to do so in the United States,' the CEOs of AT&T and Verizon insist.

AT&T, Verizon push back on request for C-band delay

The CEOs of AT&T and Verizon rebuffed the federal agencies’ request that the carriers delay their C-band deployments.