Headcount: Firings, Hirings, and Retirings — January 2022

Here are some of the latest executive hirings, promotions, and staff changes that happened in January. If you’d like SDxCentral to report on your company’s movers and shakers, or if you’ve got a tip about layoffs and restructuring, please send the information to Emma Chervek (echervek@sdxcentral.com) for inclusion in the monthly headcount column.

Amazon looks increasingly propped up by cloud services

Internet giant Amazon posted a mixed set of Q4 results, but its cloud division AWS clocked 40% growth.

Data centre spending to increase 61% by 2026 – Dell’Oro

Hyperscalers, with their insatiable appetite for putting everything into the cloud, are expected to drive global data centre spending to new highs.

T-Mobile US buoyant but merger costs hit profits

T-Mobile US’s net income almost halved in the fourth quarter of last year but you could be forgiven for missing that metric amidst the hype of its overall results announcement.

US inches closer to breaking the mobile app store duopoly

A piece of legislation that seeks to limit the amount of control Apple and Google have over their app stores has been approved by the US Senate Judiciary Committee.

Daily Roundup: Will Private Sector Follow Government in Adopting Zero Trust?

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.

Will Private Sector Follow Government in Adopting Zero Trust?

A new federal strategy moves U.S. government agencies toward a zero-trust approach trailing President Biden’s cyber executive order. Security professionals expect the private sector will follow suit.

SDxCentral 2-Minute Weekly Wrap: Juniper Guns for Cisco, Nokia With Revamped Routing Silicon

Four takeaways from the House hearing on 5G in the C-band

We're probably in for more breathless warnings, political chaos and corporate gamesmanship for years to come. Also, there's a good chance AT&T and Verizon will seek legal recourse.

Does India need an indigenous OS?

The government will work with domestic startups and academia to develop an alternative to the two dominant OS, Google's Android and Apple's iOS.

Can't ETNO satisfaction in digital Europe

New report commissioned by European telco lobby group calls on regulators (again) to make the region more investment friendly; bemoans Eureope's digital lag behind the US and South Korea.

WOW's first FTTP greenfield move is in Seminole County, Florida

WideOpenWest says it will splash out at least $60 million for a fiber-to-the-premises deployment in a county near Orlando, which happens to be Charter territory.

Juniper takes SRX to the cloud with Secure Edge

Secure Edge provides customers with the ability to access the security features available on Juniper's security, routing and switching hardware (SRX Series Service Gateways) in the cloud.

East Asia's subsea cables, fiber forecasts and more

This digest of recent optical networking news and notes covers Tonga's Internet outage, Japan's subsea cable plans, AT&T's fiber growth, Charter's rural plans and more.

Comcast NBCUniversal lights up 8K VR Olympics app

App for the Meta Quest 2 will deliver more than 150 hours of live and on-demand VR content in 8K resolution, including coverage of the Games' opening and closing ceremonies and select events such as figure staking and hockey.

Amazon eats more of the world as Facebook starts to rot

The e-commerce giant reports a doubling in net profit thanks partly to a surge in cloud business as Zuckerberg's firm comes unstuck.

Facebook shares tank as it pivots towards unproven metaverse strategy

Despite a 20% Q4 revenue hike, stock in tech giant Meta/Facebook dropped 20% amid negative outlook for the next quarter. 

Spotify holds firm over Rogan, for now

Quarterly season has come at an awkward time for streaming platform Spotify, with calls to censor the JRE podcast it hosts continuing.

Nokia revives dividend following strong turnaround

A strong end to 2021 led Nokia to make a whole host of crowd-pleasing announcements on quarterlies day.

BT staying in Sport for now, but full exit could still come

BT is working on a deal to create a 50:50 sports broadcasting joint venture with Discovery, a move that means it will not exit the sports business altogether.

Daily Roundup: Lacework Plunges Polygraph Into Multi-Cloud, Prioritizes Log4j Remediation

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Op-Ed: Can We Talk About Mental Health in Cybersecurity?

It’s OK to say you’re not OK — super easy in concept, but not so easy to do, especially when your job involves protecting your organization, customers, and partners from all manner of cyberthreats that keep getting bigger and badder.

Cisco Reroutes Silicon One to the Enterprise Data Center

Cisco celebrated a milestone on its Silicon One journey today with the launch of the Catalyst 9500X and 9600X enterprise routing platforms. Both routers are based on Cisco’s 12.8 Tb/s Q200 silicon, but more importantly, Cisco fellow Rakesh Chopra said, they mark the first time the vendor’s Silicon One family is available in an enterprise product.

Why investors suddenly love T-Mobile

T-Mobile's stock popped 10% in the hours after the company reported its results, rising from around $109 per share to about $120 per share.

Cable edge-outs, fresh fiber builds pose bigger threat than FWA, Viasat says

Meanwhile, the launch of the first satellite in the company's globally focused ViaSat-3 constellation has slipped to late summer 2022 because of supply chain issues.

BT outlook good on Discovery deal, not so good on revenue

UK incumbent in 'exclusive discussions' with Discovery to share financial burden of sports rights, while gloomy outlook blamed on 'ongoing impact of COVID-19 and supply chain issues.'

Analyst predicts PON, FWA spending will climb as cable flattens out

Dell'Oro expects cumulative spending on PON and cable broadband equipment along with fixed wireless CPE to reach $95 billion between 2021 and 2026.

Cisco wades into private 5G market

Cisco is selling private 5G to enterprises under a 'as-a-service' model, allowing enterprises that purchase the offering to pay for it only as they use it.

Swisscom appoints new CEO amid fiber concerns

Swiss operator remains in talks with the regulator about the blocked expansion of its fiber-optic network.

Eurobites: UK government promises to go full gigabit by 2030

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: VEON plans holding company in UK; Nokia invests $400 million into new fund; BT in 'exclusive discussions' with Discovery over joint venture.

Next G Alliance offers 'holistic' view of 6G in North America

An association featuring top companies, government agencies and researchers in the North American wireless industry released its first comprehensive white paper dealing with 6G.

After 'reset' year, Nokia is under pressure to show 5G growth

The Finnish equipment maker looks far more profitable after turnaround efforts by its latest boss, but sales improvements remain elusive.

FBI tells Olympic athletes not to take their phones to China

US security agency the FBI has warned athletes headed to China for the Beijing Winter Olympics to leave their regular phones at home and take burners instead.

Google makes ludicrous amounts of money from advertising and cloud sales

Alphabet, as it’s technically called, recorded a measly $75.3 billion in revenue for Q4 2021 – a 32% year on year jump.

ETNO says Europe’s telco investment climate needs ‘dramatic’ improvement

European telcos are spending heavily on fibre and 5G but the financial health of the sector is suffering.

Telefonica buys back submarine cable stake

Telefonica is spending a couple of hundred million euros to buy back a stake in its submarine cable business that it sold to KKR almost exactly five years ago.

Vodafone CEO hints at future M&A

UK operator group Vodafone indicated it was pleased with how things are going in its latest trading update and might even be tempted to splash the cash before long.

Juniper (Finally) Launches Cloud Firewalls Into SASE

Juniper Networks inched closer to realizing its secure access service edge (SASE) aspirations today with the launch of a cloud-based firewall service it calls Secure Edge.

Lacework Plunges Polygraph Into Multi-Cloud, Prioritizes Log4j Remediation

Lacework continued to expand its security services in the multi-cloud world as it extended its Polygraph platform to support more major public clouds and prioritize Log4j flaw remediation.

Pluribus Drives Kubernetes Visibility, Supports 400G Switch

Pluribus Networks today introduced the seventh generation of its networking platform that supports 400 Gb/s switches and enables visibility in network flows — including those inside Kubernetes clusters.

Daily Roundup: FCC Unleashes $1.2B for Rural Broadband Deployments

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Cisco Chases Networking Academy Growth Explosion

Cisco claims its Networking Academy has reached 15.1 million learners across 180 countries in its 24-year history. In the next three years, the networking giant aims to more than double that number in an effort to impact underserved communities and curtail the skills shortage.

T-Mobile: FWA is 'ready for its primetime moment'

'We're half the price of cable companies,' said Dow Draper, the T-Mobile executive in charge of the operator's FWA offering, during T-Mobile's quarterly conference call.

Lumen's Chris McReynolds on edge computing

In addition to building out edge computing locations to 'cover 95% of enterprises in North America,' Lumen has invested in its network and compute layers and 'automated a lot of the network over the past three or four years for an SDN-enabled network,' said Lumen's Chris McReynolds.

Starlink trots out faster 'Premium' tier fetching $500 per month

With business users among its new targets, Starlink's Premium satellite broadband tier touts speeds up to 500 Mbit/s, but customers will need to front $2,500 for the router and a new, higher-capacity antenna.

More C-band uncertainties show up in 5G's radar

The FAA also has yet to confirm any reports of C-band 5G interference. 'We are using our established safety-reporting systems to look into a handful of reports of possible 5G interference,' the agency said.

Ericsson, Nokia accused of charging exorbitant fees to open networks

Lobbying has started in the US for a fully opened X2 interface, supporting handover between basestations, to be included in mobile network products for no extra charge.

India gives boost to manufacturing with PLI for 5G gear

India will launch a production-linked incentive scheme for 5G equipment, according to India's Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her budget speech.

T-Mobile expands fixed wireless via its MVNOs

EarthLink and Ultra Mobile are MVNOs that are now moving into the market for fixed wireless access (FWA) services. T-Mobile is likely powering the effort.

Telenor still steady after COVID, coup and change in 2021

Despite ongoing Myanmar issue and a global pandemic, Norwegian group plans to pay a 3% higher dividend for 2021.

The problem is not Vodafone – it's telecom

Despite its bad rap in the mainstream media, the UK-based operator has outperformed other telco stocks, and its peers face most of the same challenges.

Eurobites: Telefónica goes subsea with Telxius deal

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Vodacom teams up with Amdocs for African Centre of Excellence; MTN sells shares in Nigerian unit; Ericsson offers mentoring in Moroccan students.

'Buy America' campaign sparks discord around open RAN, 5G

New rules require the use of US-supplied telecom equipment. But they are worrying many in the 5G market, particularly at a time when US-based open RAN companies are being acquired by international providers.

Cato clips in CASB security to SASE service

Protection for cloud applications – run in data centers and public clouds – is increasingly critical as workers connect to business applications from anywhere.

Accelerate productivity and efficiency with Cisco Private 5G

Cisco introduces a new kind of private 5G network. The converged, integrated private network that can support 5G, 4G and Wi-Fi, while also integrating with existing enterprise networks.

The lesson from 5G: Operators need more than 5G

Since its debut in 2019 it has been apparent that the 5G payday won't be anytime soon, if ever, and operators need to broaden their income streams.

Parallel Wireless ramps up OpenRAN activity

Parallel Wireless has revealed how it’s taking their involvement in OpenRAN to the next level.

5G in India will be later than expected…as expected

The Indian government has confirmed that 5G licensing will take place sometime this calendar year, as opposed to before the end of the financial year. 

Gaming shopping spree continues as Sony swoops for Bungie

Japanese tech giant and owner of PlayStation, Sony, has bid $3.6 billion for games developer Bungie, which appears to nod towards future metaverse plays.

SDxCentral’s Top 10 Articles — January 2022

Check out our top 10 articles for January 2022 covering the SDxCentral universe of cloud, telecom, security, and networking. Rankings are based on unique visitors aggregated during the month.

FCC Unleashes $1.2B for Rural Broadband Deployments

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) loosened its purse strings, allocating more than $1.2 billion to fund broadband deployments in rural and underserved areas across 32 states. 

Samsung and Amdocs Collaborate to Deliver 4G and 5G Private Network Solutions

Samsung Electronics America and Amdocs, a leading provider of software and services to communications and media companies, today announced the companies will collaborate to deliver end-to-end 4G and 5G private network solutions to U.S. enterprises to help businesses across key industries leverage next-generation communications applications and services.

Microsoft, Google Invest $5M in Software Supply Chain Security

Microsoft and Google together invested $5 million in a new project to improve software supply chain security for 10,000 open source projects.

Cato Embeds CASB Into SASE, Hunts Shadow IT

Cato Networks went after shadow IT today with the introduction of cloud access security broker (CASB) functionality to its secure access service edge (SASE) platform.

Daily Roundup: Vodafone Plots Urgent Need for Open RAN Silicon

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AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile duke it out at America's biggest retailer

AT&T recently launched its Unlimited MAX with 5G prepaid plan for $45 per month exclusively at Walmart. The move comes amid increased investments into prepaid by Verizon and T-Mobile.

AT&T to take WarnerMedia for a spin

Plan to spin out the media giant links to a proposed merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery, expected to close in the second quarter of 2022.

Harmonic sees growth ahead despite supply chain headwinds

Supplier says deployments of its 'CableOS' virtualization platform have reached 73 service providers worldwide and now serve 4.8 million modems.

What's the story? T-Mobile pursues purchase of 2.5GHz spectrum

Light Reading's Mike Dano breaks down the bidding wars over 2.5GHz spectrum.

India's Airtel acquires 25% in SD-WAN company Lavelle

Lavelle Networks, a Bengaluru-based company specializing in software defined wide area networks (SD-WAN).

IBM buys consulting firm as it chases telco systems integrator biz

IBM acquired Sentaca, which provides telecom consulting services and solutions. The company hopes to benefit from the relationships Sentaca has developed with service providers throughout North America.

Tele2 CEO: 'Hope springs eternal' during pandemic

Kjell Johnsen was in a philosophical mood as the Sweden-based operator announced plans to pay a 12.5% higher dividend for 2021 compared to last year.

The C-band struggle continues, but early results suggest a win for telcos

'Verizon's recent C-Band launch should help the company's competitive position,' wrote the analysts at Evercore. However, some regional airlines are warning of continued disruptions.

Eurobites: Orange goes large with 5G on 700MHz in Spain

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Vantage Towers feels the supply chain crunch; HBO Max spreads its wings; Deutsche Telekom and Google extend their love-in.

DT and Ericsson launch new 5G SA campus offering

Deutsche Telekom and Ericsson have partnered on a new standalone 5G private campus network offering, aimed at on-site business communication infrastructure.

Spotify’s concessions over Rogan fail to placate censors

The fuss over podcaster Joe Rogan having conversations some people don’t like continues, with Spotify introducing Facebook-style advisory labels.

Vodafone reportedly joins forces with Intel to develop its own OpenRAN chips

UK telco Vodafone has reportedly recruited Intel and other silicon manufacturers to help it design its own OpenRAN chip architecture at a new R&D centre in Spain.  

Orange rubber-stamps Heydemann appointment as CEO

As expected, French incumbent Orange has confirmed Christel Heydemann will take on the top job as CEO, albeit not just yet.

Virgin Media O2 looks to raise big money for new fibre push

There are rumours afoot that Virgin Media O2 is in talks with investors to bring in hundreds of millions of pounds for a new fibre rollout in the UK.

Palo Alto Networks Makes the Business Case for DevSecOps

Organizations can increase employee productivity and earn a better return on their security investments by shifting cloud security left at the infrastructure and application layer, according to Palo Alto Networks.

Vodafone Plots Urgent Need for Open RAN Silicon

Vodafone poured more money and muscle into its plan to break the hold network equipment makers have on the infrastructure market with the opening of Europe’s first facility designed to develop silicon for open radio access networks (RAN).

Daily Roundup: Juniper Guns for Cisco, Nokia With Revamped Routing Silicon

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Sandvine's CSO warns of terabyte 'power' users

The amount of data and applications consumed by 'power users' and tech company giants is skyrocketing, according to a Sandvine report on Internet data usage.

Comcast, customer service contractor targeted in civil suit

The suit, filed by Washington, DC, Attorney General Karl Racine, alleges that Arise Virtual Solutions and Comcast failed to pay service agents legally due wages.

Vodafone preps silicon implants to lift Europe's open RAN

The operator's Spanish unit is investing in an open RAN facility in Malaga that it hopes will spur local development.

China Mobile's broadband business pivots to profit

After years pummelling its smaller rivals with aggressive pricing to drive its growth, China Mobile is pivoting away from low-priced home broadband.

New report explores how CSPs are leveraging (or not) open APIS in their journey to cloud native infrastructure

SPONSORED: The findings from Heavy Reading's The Journey to Cloud Native report indicate that CSPs and their partners are in the early stages of designing and deploying scalable cloud native applications through the use of open APIs.

Sandvine's CSO warns of terabit 'power' users

The amount of data and applications consumed by 'power users' and tech company giants is skyrocketing, according to a Sandvine report on Internet data usage.

Buoyant KPN plots another share buyback

Dutch incumbent plans to return more than €850M to shareholders this year.

India’s Airtel gets $1B deal boost from Google

Google will spend $700 million acquiring a 1.28% stake in Airtel, and will spend another $300 million over the next five years on commercial agreements.

ZTE profit soars on diet of US chips tech and China 5G sales

The understudy to Huawei is in healthy shape while China's operators continue to buy its 5G network products.

How to take security automation to the next level in 5G networks

This panel interview will focus on how Palo Alto Networks and IBM are working together to automate delivery of secure 5G network slices designed to protect organizations' business critical 5G applications — with high operational efficiency.

Eurobites: Virgin Media O2 in fiber joint venture talks – report

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Cevian makes its presence felt at Vodafone; Telefónica boss to chair GSMA board; Spotify in damage limitation mode.

Olympic athletes should be worried about data security

The official app, My2022, sent unencrypted information in breach of China's own data laws.

Orange flags fiber progress as new era dawns

The arrival of a new CEO signals changes ahead at the France-based operator following the departure of its former long-serving boss.