Imminent TIM and Open Fiber deal revives hopes of single Italian network

TIM is set to allow Open Fiber to use its ducts and poles to extend fibre broadband to unserved areas of Italy.

Telefónica Tech and Oracle strike global cloud deal

The stars of telecoms and public cloud continue to align, as Spanish telecoms group Telefónica took its partnership with Oracle to the next level.

What happens in metaverse stays in metaverse – or does it?

Network connectivity provider Zen Internet felt compelled to ask the UK what it thought about metaverse dating ethics, with nearly half equating virtual flings to real life cheating.

Iliad bid for Vodafone Italia confirmed and rejected

UK telco has confirmed French telecoms group Iliad offered to buy its Italian operation and that the offer was rejected.

Syniverse's IPO plan sunk by SPAC strife

Syniverse had hoped to become a publicly traded company - and raise more than $1 billion in funding - but the plan appears to have collapsed amid current market conditions.

Comcast greens up its coax recycling program

Comcast has teamed with Echo Environmental on a proprietary process that breaks down coax cables into raw new materials and a 'purity level' that enables those materials to be reintroduced into the world.

Eurobites: Telecom Italia gets go-ahead for Oi carve-up

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: SA president finally pins down spectrum auction date; European publishers get the hump with Google; YouView exec heads to TalkTalk.

Questions swirl around BlackBerry phone for 5G

CrackBerry - whose origins trace to the early days of the BlackBerry and the gadget's enthusiasts - reported that 'OnwardMobility and their BlackBerry 5G keyboard phone dream are dead.'

Spurned Iliad to go it alone in Italy

Vodafone rejects euro 11.25B bid for its Italian unit but remains open to 'consolidation opportunities.'

Winner takes it all: India's telcos see a brighter day

India's telcos celebrate brighter days as government intervention and higher tariffs translate into more money for everyone.

Verizon's Frontline team suits up for Super Bowl LVI

Cory Davis provides an on-site video tour of Verizon's network-monitoring command center in SoFi Stadium at Super Bowl LVI.

The Divide: Where fiber broadband deployment is (and isn't) progressing worldwide

Michael Philpott, research director at Omdia, joins the podcast to discuss Omdia's 2021 Global Fiber Development Index, including where fiber is being deployed the fastest and why speed inequalities are growing as countries work toward closing their connectivity divides.

ASML, an obscure Dutch firm, may be the most vital cog in tech

The equipment firm is the only provider of the systems needed to produce the world's most advanced chips.

Regulating Big Tech and the metaverse: What the experts think

The biggest risk to Meta's metaverse plans is regulators with Zuckerberg's company in their crosshairs. We ask experts how new regulations might look.

Could a solar storm bring down the Internet?

After Starlink loses 40 satellites to a geomagnetic storm, news that a severe solar storm could crash the entire global subsea cable network.

Qualcomm invests in the European metaverse

US mobile chip giant Qualcomm reckons Europeans need a big dose of extended reality so it’s opening six new labs across the continent.

GSMA expects MWC 2022 to be half its pre-pandemic size

Mobile trade body the GSMA, which runs the Mobile World Congress trade show, said it expects around 50,000 attendees at the event later this month.

UK’s consolidation merry-go-round takes another turn

Comms regulator Ofcom set tongues wagging in the UK this week when it appeared to soften its stance on mobile network consolidation.

Brazil approves reduction in mobile players, with conditions

Brazil’s antitrust body has given the green light to the proposed acquisition of mobile operator Oi by its three rivals, but has imposed a series of conditions on the deal in a bid to preserve competition.

Vecima rides record revenues but grapples with the supply chain

Revenues related to the distributed access architecture, a prerequisite for DOCSIS 4.0, stayed solid, but growth was constricted by ongoing supply chain issues.

Foxconn sees less chip trouble ahead

Assembler of iPhones reckons semiconductor crunch will ease in the next few months.

Analysts fret over Lumen's fiber plans

'The past few quarters have been relatively weak for broadband net additions for Lumen, even for its higher-speed fiber offering,' MoffettNathanson said of Lumen's consumer broadband business.

The dubious logic of UK resistance to mobile mergers

Ofcom frets that a tie-up would not lead to improvements in service quality or any rise in investment as Vodafone and Three bat eyelids.

Nokia Bell Labs' Peter Vetter: 6G will unite the physical and digital worlds

Commercial deployments of 6G will begin in 2030, but it will take ten years to prepare for 6G, explains Nokia Bell Labs's Peter Vetter.

Starlink to lose about 40 satellites in wake of geomagnetic storm

In a clear setback to Starlink's deployment plans, dozens of recently launched low-Earth orbit satellites have reentered or will soon reenter the Earth's atmosphere because of the storm.

FirstNet's CEO on 5G, priorities in 2022 and what's next

Edward Parkinson is celebrating a full decade of work on what is today FirstNet. Now he's leading the agency into the final year of the first phase of its agreement with AT&T.

Twilio targets 'consistent' profitability from 2023

Software company sets a confident note for the coming years after a strong performance in 2021.

Disney could add almost 50M streaming subs in FY 2022 – analyst

Streaming growth won't be linear, but ISI Evercore expects Disney's direct-to-consumer biz to draw 48 million subs in fiscal year 2022 as Disney+ ratchets up fresh content and broadens its global reach.

Eurobites: Openreach to recruit 4,000 this year for fiber frenzy

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Telefonica Tech gets on Oracle's Cloud; Zain KSA picks Nokia for network expansion; Seacom bags Ugandan assets.

Revisiting the 5G debate between Verizon's C-band and T-Mobile's 2.5GHz

Results from a fresh set of tests 'indicate that at a minimum the differences are moot in the real world where all things aren't equal,' SRG's Michael Thelander tells Light Reading.

MWC expects just 50k visitors this year after COVID rout

But there is cause for optimism with major exhibitors returning for the 2022 show after last year's cancellations.

ZTE has designs on chips with TSMC

Focuses on developing basestation processors; TSMC helps out with chip manufacturing and packaging technology.

India's Jio invests in deep-tech startup Two Platforms

As part of preparing for 5G, Indian telcos are trying to gain new capabilities by forming alliances and acquiring stakes in startups.

UK government moves to improve telco access to street furniture

Things like streetlights are handy places to put mobile base stations but they can often be hard to access. The UK government is trying to change that.

EE uncovers shocking UK mobile snacking habits

New research from UK operator EE has revealed some startling home truths about exactly what snacks the UK favours while watching things on the phone.

Public cloud forecast to account for majority of IT spending by 2025

Hyperscalers rejoice, as new forecasts from Gartner on Wednesday predict an historic inflection point in IT spending.

Apple’s new Tap to Pay turns iPhones into payment terminals

Businesses will soon be able to take contactless payments via iPhone thanks to a new feature Apple is rolling out to its smartphones.

Neutral host provider BAI heads to Italy, led by former TIM execs

BAI Communications is taking its neutral host business to Italy, headed up by a team of executives, most of whom have worked at TIM at one time or another.

Disney's streaming biz bounces back

The Mouse saw gains across Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ in fiscal Q1 after a lackluster prior quarter. Disney's direct-to-consumer revenues surged in the quarter, but so did its losses.

For all the early 6G talk, the Gs investment cycle looks broken

The mobile industry has routinely overpromised and underdelivered on the Gs. A different model looks desirable.

Here is every company asking for FCC 'rip and replace' money

Some companies, like Inland Cellular, are only asking for a few hundred thousand dollars ($117,183 to be exact) in 'rip and replace' money. Others are asking for a lot more.

DoJ accuses China's Hytera of stealing Motorola IP

Federal indictment alleges Shenzhen firm conspired with former employees of Motorola Solutions to pilfer 'walkie-talkie' trade secrets from US company.

EU gets in on the Chips Act

New European Chips Acts aims to 'mobilise' euro 43B in funding to drive Europe's digital sovereignty.

SKT 2.0 forecasts growth surge from new businesses

New-look SKT forecasts growth surge from cloud, media and AI.

Verizon lights up perk-fueled 2-Gig Fios tier in New York

Verizon is putting cable rivals on notice with the launch of a symmetrical 2-Gig service that starts at $119.99 per month and is being paired with a free year of Disney+ and AMC+ along with several other perks.

Eurobites: BT outsources logistics operations to GXO

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Iliad bid for Vodafone Italy is for real; TREX opts for Nokia routing platforms; RootMetrics' love-in with EE's 5G services continues.

EU unveils €43 billion microchip manufacturing splurge

The European Union has announced a huge investment strategy to scale up its semiconductor sector, in a belated bid to achieve chip autonomy.

Nvidia inevitably gives up trying to buy Arm

US semiconductor giant Nvidia has decided to stop wasting everyone’s time over its futile attempt to gain control of the world’s main source of chip designs.

Ofcom says broadband and mobile complaints are down across the board

UK comms regulator Ofcom has published its latest quarterly report on the number of complaints it receives related to landline, broadband, mobile and pay-TV services.

M&A in Southern Europe as Iliad and Orange reportedly make overtures

Iliad has reportedly made a takeover bid for Vodafone’s Italian unit, while Orange is exploring the possibility of a merger with MasMovil in Spain, according to the industry rumour mill.

BT poaches Vodafone smart tech execs

Former Vodafone exec Tom Guy and his team have jumped ship to oversee BT’s start-up accelerator programme.

Cisco SD-WAN Boosts SaaS, Visibility, 5G Connectivity

Cisco continued its crusade against inconsistent software-as-a-service (SaaS) performance today in the latest release of its SD-WAN platform.

Regulators Deal Deathblow to Nvidia’s $40B Arm Buy

Nvidia’s $40 billion bid for Arm Holdings is over. Nvidia and Japanese mega-conglomerate SoftBank, which owns Arm, terminated the deal late Monday citing “significant regulatory challenges.”

Zero-Trust Investments Surge Despite Uneven Adoptions

The vast majority of organizations are still in the early stages of their zero trust journey, but more than two-thirds of them will increase their investment in related technology deployments this year, a recent Forrester study found.

CrowdStrike, Qualys Plunge Head First Into XDR

CrowdStrike and Qualys officially rolled out their extended detection and response (XDR) modules this week during what was supposed to be the first in-person RSA security conference in two years.

Vecima tucks DAA controller into the AWS cloud

Proof-of-concept test with Bluepeak tapped the AWS cloud in Ohio to control a Vecima remote MACPHY node located about 1,000 miles away in South Dakota.

Odds shorten on Huawei 5G ban in Czech Republic

The cybersecurity office recommends using 5G suppliers from only democratic countries, which is bad news for Huawei and its customers.

Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile again rally around 5G for the Super Bowl

The nation's top wireless network operators routinely use the Super Bowl as a way to push their 5G marketing messages, and this year is no different.

Verizon's Aparna Khurjekar guides SMBs through the security labyrinth

Khurjekar works closely with small and midsized businesses with ten to 1,000 full-time employees on delivering communications, security and "other above the network services."

Growth in the RIC: How open RAN could get smarter

The RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) market is gaining momentum and could grow steadily in the coming years.

DOCSIS 4.0 'absolutely on the roadmap' at Minim

Minim, a company that holds the Motorola branding license, expects to develop modems and gateways based on specifications that will enable cable operators to deliver multi-gigabit services on HFC.

SoftBank calls off $40B Arm sale, pivots to IPO

SoftBank has scrapped the sale of UK-based ARM to Nvidia because of industry opposition and antitrust concerns.

Orange plotting Spanish merger with Másmovíl – reports

The France-based group is linked with Masmovil, although Vodafone speculation continues to bubble.

Eurobites: Vodafone Portugal hit by cyberattack

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Liberty Global spots EVs opportunity; MWingz gets airborne with Comarch software; Proximus tackles digital exclusion.

Anterix stumbles in pursuit of private wireless

Anterix had hoped to ink private wireless networking deals worth over $200 million in "contracted proceeds" by March 2022. Now, though, the company's isn't so sure.

Iliad buying Vodafone Italy would need a few miracles

The enfant terrible of European telecom wants to swallow a rival with twice as many customers, say reports.

Telstra strikes $71M smart meter deal to boost new energy business

The company will embed up to 4.1 million SIMs into Intellihub's smart meters over the next decade to deliver real-time monitoring and data insights.

Telenor offshoot WG2 aspires to be the Twilio of telecom

A Norwegian software startup with its own core stack is creating a few ripples in a sector that has not been known for innovation.

Macquarie reportedly looking to drop £10 billion into UK infrastructure

Australian bank Macquarie is reportedly in talks with downing street to invest £10 billion into UK energy and digital infrastructure projects.

Australian court throws out Facebook claim that it doesn’t do business there

An Australian court has rejected an appeal by Facebook over the Cambridge Analytica data scandal, allowing court action to proceed.

Bharti Airtel plots $16 billion subsidiary spending spree

India’s Bharti Airtel has divulged plans to spend more than a trillion rupees doing business with its group companies over the next five years.

US telcos ask for $5.6 billion to replace Huawei, ZTE kit

Telecoms operators in the US have submitted applications for funding to replace network equipment from Chinese vendors to the tune of US$5.6 billion.

UK government seeks to significantly expand digital thoughtcrime laws

The UK Online Safety bill is seeking to criminalise a whole new raft of online activity and force platforms to censor more.

Amazon Bests Microsoft, Google in Cloud Market Battle

Amazon Web Services (AWS) maintained its chokehold on the enterprise cloud market in the fourth quarter, but Microsoft and Google’s continued growth threatens to break AWS’ longstanding dominance, analysts report.

Daily Roundup: Hello, Cryptomining Malware, Google Cloud Sees You

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.

US Mandate to Scrap Huawei, ZTE Gear Tops $5.6B

The U.S. government’s years-long quest to remove all Chinese vendor equipment from the nation’s wireless networks has ballooned to a cost of $5.6 billion.

Cisco, Microsoft Team on Office 365, SD-WAN Optimization

Cisco renewed its partnership with Microsoft to address inconsistent software-as-a-service (SaaS) performance.

IBM Tucks Sentaca Into Cloud Native 5G Push

IBM acquired telco consulting services provider Sentaca in a bid to bolster its position in the cloud-native and hybrid-cloud market for wireless operators. The deal marks at least 20 acquisitions for IBM since CEO Arvind Krishna assumed his position in 2020, including 10 in the realm of consulting.

Hello, Cryptomining Malware, Google Cloud Sees You

Google Cloud Security Command Center’s newest service puts cryptomining malware in its crosshairs.

Verizon hires 'Cable Guy' actor Jim Carrey in apparent FWA push

'Jim Carrey returns as 'The Cable Guy' on 2.13.22. Your Internet will never be the same,' wrote Verizon's chief marketing officer, Diego Scotti, on LinkedIn. The Super Bowl is scheduled for February 13.

FuboTV experiments with three-month contract for new subs

Decision to temporarily eliminate monthly plans for new subs could protect FuboTV against 'serial churners,' but the move could alienate certain consumers, analysts warn.

Cable Next-Gen event goes online again

As we have for the past two years, Light Reading will stage the Cable Next-Gen Technologies & Strategies conference as a free digital event over two half-days in mid-March.

3G shutdowns in 2022: What we know so far

AT&T plans to shut down 3G on February 22; T-Mobile plans to shut down 3G CDMA on March 31 and 3G UMTS on July 1; and Verizon plans to shut down 3G on January 1, 2023.

Mexico plots 5G auction for 2022

Plan to auction frequencies in the 600MHz, 3.3GHz, 3.5GHz and L bands included in 2022 work program.

SpaceX steps into Tonga Internet breach

Engineers at work on building a temporary Starlink ground station on Fiji to act as an Internet gateway for Tonga.

Low viral load: What went wrong with Citrix?

Remote work software company Citrix should have prospered during COVID but didn't. Will its merger with Tibco help it catch VMware and Microsoft?

Rakuten Mobile boasts 4G network progress

The Japanese cloud-native upstart hits 96% 4G target, but questions remain over its 5G deployment.

Eurobites: UK looks Down Under for infrastructure boost – report

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: STC launches MENA hub; Openreach looks east; Beyond.pl lands Hivelocity gig.

East and west living in parallel realities

The US and China are operating from a different set of telecom facts.