DT/Tele2 tie up could smooth path to industry consolidation

For years the telco industry has condemned the EU’s approach to competition, though green-lighting DT’s acquisition of Tele2’s Dutch business could indicate a loosening grip on the idea of four operators.

Germany green lights 5G plans despite industry protest

German regulator Bundesnetzagentur has said it will move ahead with the proposed 5G auction plan, despite German telcos and industry lobby group GSMA slamming the plans as a commercial nightmare.

Openreach announces another one million GFast homes

Openreach has continued to push forward in its GFast mission, announcing it will connect another one million homes in 81 areas across the UK by next summer.

Service providers need to focus on digital touch points: report

When it comes to serving customers, service providers should expand their business offerings beyond edge compute technologies, according to Gartner.

OpenSignal: Mobile network speeds beat Wi-Fi in 33 countries

Mobile data speeds are faster on average than Wi-Fi in 33 countries, according to a new study from OpenSignal.

AT&T's Pacewicz says more work needs to be done on VNFs—Q&A

Virtual network functions (VNFs) are still not living up to their full potential, according to AT&T's Roman Pacewicz.

Phones 4U reaches from beyond the grave to claw back millions

Phones 4U administrator PwC has appointed one of the UK’s leading insolvency experts to assess whether there are grounds to make a claim against mobile operators for unlawful collusion.

Campaign against Huawei intensifies

The U.S. government’s concerns about potential espionage via Huawei products have reached heightened alert.

Smartphones drive one-third of all Black Friday sales

Black Friday was the biggest mobile shopping day in U.S. history with more than $2 billion in sales originating on smartphones for the first time.

Google Drives Direct Istio Access Into Google Kubernetes Engine

Within GKE, Istio will collect telemetry about a running container and send that information to either Stackdriver or Prometheus to allow an organization to monitor the health of that container.

Alibaba Restructures Amidst Cloud Computing Push and Growth

The research firm MTN Consulting said that Alibaba’s cloud computing business is rapidly becoming the group's “most ambitious venture,” as it boosts its overseas investments and refocuses on R&D.

Nokia names Uitto to lead mobile networks unit

Nokia announced the departure of Marc Rouanne and the appointment of Tommi Uitto as president of Mobile Networks.

UK goes through the gears in autonomous driving race

The US, China and Japan have been moving ahead swiftly in the race to put autonomous vehicles on public roads, but new trials in West London perhaps indicate the UK is not that far behind.

HPE Composable Cloud Invites Third-Party Vendors to Hybrid Cloud Party

The new product bundles software on top of HPE ProLiant DL rack servers for an open hybrid cloud platform.

U.S. Government Pressures Allies to Shun Huawei in 5G Contracts, Report Says

Government officials are fearful that telecom providers using Huawei gear in other countries will be vulnerable to spying.  

Mobile data could get even costlier after T-Mobile and Sprint merger

Report by Rewheel showed Americans already have the most expensive mobile data among all four-operator markets. A move to reduce the number of them could make it worse.

LeoSat touts ultralow latency

LeoSat Enterprises has big ambitions to handle huge quantities of data around the world—and to do so with very low latency.

Nokia Merges Mobile, Fixed Network Groups as Another Exec Is Shown the Door

The company says its newly formed Access Networks organization will help it win 5G contracts and battle against rivals Ericsson, Huawei, ZTE, and Samsung.

Web-Scale Companies Pioneer Open Line Systems, but Will Network Operators Follow?

The optical line system is undergoing a revolution. Web-scale providers are bringing the concept of disaggregation to optical networking in the form of the open line system (OLS). But are operators buying it?

FCC Ups Auctions for 5G to 4 Rounds Daily, Bids at $164.3M

The FCC ups the tempo on the first millimeter wave 5G auction.

Countdown to Commercial Use of Operator Cloud VR

Cloud VR solves several problems in the VR industry, but also places higher demands on operator networks.

Architect Digital-Ready Infrastructures Using SDN & NFV

Re-architect your IT infrastructure, using software-defined interconnection to innovate and transform your business. An Interconnection Oriented Architecture approach to IT empowers businesses to react in real time at the digital edge, adapt quickly to change and leverage digital ecosystems to create new business value and growth.

Sale of Arris Set-Top Box Biz 'On the Table' for CommScope – Analyst

CommScope could get $500 million for that unit 'in a distressed sale to a financial buyer,' Jefferies analyst George Notter suggests.

Eurobites: Telefónica Rolls Out Network-Based Cybersecurity Service

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Openreach extends UK Gfast reach; Deutsche Telekom signs SmartConnect deal with iPass; Telecom Egypt hits 200G with Nokia; Phones 4u aftershocks continue.

Cox Business: Riding the Next Wave of Growth

Brian Rose of Cox Business sheds some light on new areas that the division is eyeing as it looks to expand its services arsenal and further differentiate its position in the market.

5G Field Trials Show the Power of Applications

In partnership with Huawei, China Telecom Shenzhen has invested in 5G innovation and begun researching how to commercialize 5G technology.

MEF CTO Sees Key Role in Automation

Pascal Menezes says defining key APIs between carriers and setting SD-WAN standards is MEF's way of helping drive automation and digital transformation process.

Eurobites: Telefónica Rolls Out Allot's Network-Based Cybersecurity in Spain

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Openreach extends UK Gfast reach; Deutsche Telekom signs SmartConnect deal with iPass; Telecom Egypt hits 200G with Nokia; Phones 4u aftershocks continue.

Bill Shock: Orange, China Telecom Fret About 5G Energy Costs

Leading telcos are worried about the power inefficiency of forthcoming 5G networks and the impact this could have on profit margins.

Building a 5G-Ready Experience-Centric Converged Transport Network

To compete with OTTs an operator needs to build a comprehensive, flexible, and intelligent transport network that provides outstanding user experience and meets service development requirements for full-service operations.