Netskope CEO: Don’t Fall for SASE Washing

Riding high on his company’s new $340 million investment, which puts Netskope at a nearly $3 billion valuation, CEO Sanjay Beri says the rest of the industry is finally coming around to his vision of cloud-delivered security. Eight years later, this vision that Beri drew on a napkin in 2012 has a name, and its name is SASE.

Money Moves: January 2020

Here are some of the most prominent venture capital and merger and acquisition news items from the past month. If you’d like SDxCentral to report on your company’s VC or M&A activity, or if you have any tips on that activity, please send the information to Sydney Sawaya (ssawaya@sdxcentral.com).

Headcount: Firings, Hirings, and Retirings — January 2020, Pt. 2

January was a big month for firings, hirings, and retirings. Thus we have broken up our monthly Headcount column into two parts to make it easier to digest. Here is Pt. 2 of the latest executive hirings, promotions, and staff changes that happened in January. You can check out Pt. 1 here. 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 Sydney Sawaya (ssawaya@sdxcentral.com).

Mayors suing the FCC call its small cell rules a ‘land-grab’

Some mayors and other community leaders around the country are pretty steamed about the FCC’s new rules regarding small cells, and they’ll be making oral arguments in their lawsuit against the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) next week.

Verizon sticks behind ambiguous 2020 DSS rollout plan

While T-Mobile’s President of Technology Neville Ray threw water on Verizon’s dynamic spectrum sharing (DSS) plans on Thursday, Verizon said it’s sticking by its prior public commitments.  

AT&T’s Stephenson weighs in on Huawei situation

U.S. Attorney General William Barr said yesterday the U.S. should be “actively considering” investments into Nokia or Ericsson to compete against Huawei in developing 5G technologies. 

Vodafone Ireland launches managed SD-WAN service

Vodafone Ireland has launched a new SD-WAN service, and announced an SD-WAN customer win with airline Ryanair. The operator didn't say which SD-WAN vendor it was using for its new managed service offering, but it has previously deployed Cisco's Viptela SD-WAN offering.

Orange pledges $1.6B to retrain employees worldwide

France-based Orange is forking out $1.6 billion to retrain some of its 148,000-employee worldwide workforce in the face of increased automation.

GSMA holds firm but this weekend could be carnage for MWC

Companies from all corners of the telecoms ecosystem will be having emergency meetings over the next few days to decide whether or not to pull out of the big show of the year.

Ericsson drops out of MWC over coronavirus, Nokia weighs plans

Ericsson has pulled out of MWC 2020 in Barcelona over health concerns from the novel coronavirus, while fellow telecom equipment giant Nokia seems to be weighing its own plans for the event.

Fortinet hooks SD-WAN deal with colocation giant Equinix

SD-WAN and firewall vendor Fortinet has landed an SD-WAN deal with colocation giant Equinix. In order to better serve enterprise customers, Fortinet has paired its Fortinet Secure SD-WAN with Equinix's Network Edge marketplace.

Carriers support Pai’s C-band plan as backlash commences

Executives from Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile stated their support for Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai’s proposal to get C-band spectrum cleared and available for a public auction, a plan that immediately saw backlash from some senators and public interest groups.

Trump throws his toys out of the pram over UK Huawei decision

US President Donald Trump reportedly gave UK PM Boris Johnson a major ear-bashing over the phone following the UK’s decision to allow Huawei in parts of its 5G networks.

US attempt to grab mid-band spectrum for 5G gets messy

The US telecoms regulator wants satellite companies to hand over 300 MHz of C-band spectrum, but the question of how compensation remains unresolved.

Major blow to MWC as Ericsson pulls out due to coronavirus

One of the biggest exhibitors at Mobile World Congress 2020 has decided the risk posed by the corona virus outbreak is too great.

Major blow to MWC as Ericsson pulls out due to corona virus

One of the biggest exhibitors at Mobile World Congress 2020 has decided the risk posed by the corona virus outbreak is too great.

T-Mobile’s Ray says ‘tough year’ ahead for DSS

T-Mobile’s president of technology indicated this year might not be so shiny for much anticipated dynamic spectrum sharing (DSS) technology, citing vendor delays and technical challenges.

T-Mobile Disses DSS as Capacity Hog

T-Mobile US swiftly dismissed the capabilities of dynamic spectrum sharing (DSS) during its earnings call yesterday, describing the technology as late, unnecessary for its current network deployments, and a drain on capacity.

Japan Government to Help Fund Subsea Cable Projects to Counter China

Japan is finalizing an action plan to support submarine cable projects, with the likes of NEC, NTT Communications and KDDI in line to benefit.

Daily Roundup: T-Mobile Disses DSS

In case you’ve been stuck in meetings all day, here are today’s top stories from SDxCentral. Also, make sure to subscribe to our daily newsletter to get these stories in your inbox.

AT&T Cites CNTT Progress on Road to SDN

AT&T highlighted ongoing progress on the Common NFVi Telco Taskforce (CNTT) that is looking to define and create virtual network function (VNF) reference architectures for NFV infrastructure (NFVi) to support carrier SDN deployments.

South Korean Operators Tout Skyrocketing 5G Subscriptions

South Korea’s mobile network operators — SK Telecom, KT Corp., and LG Uplus — proved once again that they are leading the advancement of 5G on multiple fronts. The trio of carriers reported earnings this week and shared some details about their 5G deployments, including adoption rates and new services coming to the fore.

South Korean Telcos Still Waiting for 5G Benefits

KT and SKT have witnessed declines in profitability after pumping money into their new 5G businesses this year.

Ericsson's MWC Decision Will Likely Start Domino Effect

As companies wait to see what others are doing before deciding whether to still attend MWC 2020, Ericsson's bold decision to withdraw looks like it will tip many towards following suit.

Eurobites: Trump Blows His Top at Boris Over Huawei – Report

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Deutsche Telekom tells Nokia to shape up; Orange to spend €1.5 billion on retraining exercise; Cellnex boosts coverage at Etihad Stadium.

Meet My Small Cell

Small cells are rolling out in neighborhoods all over the US. I decided to go find mine.

Local Officials Take on the Feds in Battle Over 5G Small Cells

Dozens of cities and city representatives are challenging FCC regulations intended to speed up the rollout of small cells for 5G. They argue such rules are unfair to taxpayers.

MWC at Risk as Ericsson Pulls Out on Coronavirus Concern

Swedish equipment maker said it would not be able to ensure the health and safety of its employees and customers.

Headcount: Firings, Hirings, and Retirings — January 2020, Pt. 1

January was a big month for firings, hirings, and retirings. Thus we have broken up our monthly Headcount column into two parts to make it easier to digest. Here is Pt. 1 of the latest executive hirings, promotions, and staff changes that happened in January. And check back tomorrow for Pt. 2. 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 Sydney Sawaya (ssawaya@sdxcentral.com).

WiCipedia: Women in Tech Turn to TikTok to Expose Industry

This week in our WiC roundup: When women don't apply to jobs; the new social media scene spreading the tech word (for better or for worse); the skills women need to get hired; and more.