Headcount: Firings, Hirings, and Retirings — May 2020

Here are some of the latest executive hirings, promotions, and staff changes that happened in May. 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) for inclusion in the monthly headcount column.

6G Concepts Gain Backing Amid Political Smacking

A cocktail of equal parts short-attention spans, swagger, and fierce competition muddled with geopolitical tension is giving rise to 6G — or at least the unrefined taste of it.

Tech bigwigs drive new global Wi-Fi roaming initiative

The Wi-Fi industry for years has been trying make Wi-Fi roaming as easy as cellular roaming. Can the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) finally make it happen with the acceptance of Cisco Systems’ OpenRoaming technology? That’s the plan.

Ericsson suspends weekend field work amid reports of 5G protests

Ericsson said its U.S. and Canadian field staff will not be doing any on-site work over the weekend except in the case of emergencies after reports surfaced that 5G protests are planned.

AT&T turns on DSS in parts of North Texas

AT&T said Friday that dynamic spectrum sharing (DSS) is now live in parts of its network. That’s slightly ahead of the timeline cited by Igal Elbaz last month, when the executive said the carrier would introduce DSS technology in the second half of 2020.

Report: France, Germany take on AWS, Microsoft and Google

France and Germany are teaming up to jointly create a cloud-computing ecosystem that would challenge Amazon, Microsoft and Google, according to Reuters.

Spirent fuels Calix's testing across a virtual automated lab

Calix and Spirent have been working together for more than three years on a laboratory-as-a-service platform, but that work took on added importance during coronavirus pandemic.

Matrixx mixes it up in Mexico

BSS vendor Matrixx scored a handy deal win with AT&T Mexico to bring its prepaid subscriber platform into the 21st century.

Omdia crowns South Korea as global 5G leader

And unfortunately for everyone else, it doesn’t even look to be that close a race…

Facebook flags posts from ‘state-controlled media’

Social media giant Facebook continues to walk the tightrope on censorship, this time adding warning labels to posts that originate from media outlets it considers to be under state control.

Abu Dhabi investment fund buys 1.85% Jio Platforms stake

Reliance Industries have found a fifth investor to purchase a handsome stake in Jio Platforms, its digital business unit, with Mubadala signing a $1.2 billion cheque for 1.85%.

Ciena Posts Strong Q2 Earnings Beat

Optical networking vendor Ciena pushed aside pandemic-related challenges in the second quarter of 2020 to post robust earnings Thursday. The company banked $91.7 million in net income on $894 million in revenue, which was up 3.4% year over year, exceeding investor expectations by $4.6 million.

Daily Roundup: VMware Lassos Lastline

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Rakuten's 4G core will not survive NEC shift

Japanese e-commerce giant says the move will address some of the shortcomings of the non-standalone system it has built.

Broadcom signals delay to new Apple iPhone launch

Chipmaker points to delays at 'large North American mobile phone' customer that will push its usual annual revenue uptick into the current, third fiscal quarter.

Dish reportedly begins leasing towers for 5G

The Wall Street analysts at Wells Fargo reported that one contact said Dish has already inked leases for hundreds of cell towers to hold its 5G equipment.

How to Train Employees Not to Fall for Phishing Attacks

Companies have lost more than $12 billion to spear phishing and account takeover, according to Barracuda Networks.

AT&T takes DSS commercial on 5G, albeit very carefully

Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS) is going live on AT&T's network, but only for customers in parts of Texas across three different phones. And don't expect faster speeds either.

The only 5G health risk is the mast-burning vandal

'Experts' who depict 5G as the ultimate evil could provide the vindication that others seek for their criminal behavior.

Oh, Ciena... analysts impressed by Q2 beats

Network supplier surpasses expectations. Strong order-book impresses.

WiCipedia: How companies can align values with profits

This week in our WiC roundup: The pandemic could negatively affect diversity efforts; companies like Cisco are aligning money with ethics; queer women and nonbinary people in tech get their own who's who list; and more.

VMware Buys Lastline to Boost Security NDR

VMware acquired security firm Lastline in a move that will add a network detection and response (NDR) component to VMware’s NSX architecture and Carbon Black security platforms.

Eurobites: France, Germany suit up for cloud 'moonshot'

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Switzerland ahead in Europe's 5G race, says Omdia; Telecom Italia cuts more jobs; COVID-19 app confusion in the UK.

What’s it mean to be Fierce? Our new look tells the story

A few years ago, one of our Fierce editors met a contact in person for the first time. “You’re the ones with the scary name,” he joked. It was a glancing reference, but the comment stuck, and for good reason. We had never articulated, for ourselves or anyone else, what being Fierce actually meant.

What’s it mean to be Fierce? Our new look tells the story

A few years ago, one of our Fierce editors met a contact in person for the first time. “You’re the ones with the scary name,” he joked. It was a glancing reference, but the comment stuck, and for good reason. We had never articulated, for ourselves or anyone else, what being Fierce actually meant.

DoD doubles down on 5G testbeds

Less than a week after submissions closed in the U.S. Department of Defense’s first round of 5G-related RPPs, the agency announced seven new military sites for a second group of 5G testbeds.

VMware strikes a deal to buy anti-malware pioneer Lastline

VMware announced on Thursday that it has struck a deal to buy network security vendor Lastline for an undisclosed sum. Lastline marked VMware's third security deal of this year after previously announcing deals for analytics vendor Nyansa in January and Kubernetes security startup Octarine last month.

FCC’s O’Rielly: CBRS power limits could be increased in future

In a recent FierceWireless virtual event, FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly alluded to the possibility that Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) rules could change in the future to allow for higher-powered devices (CBSDs). And analysts at Mobile Experts say this possibility could increase the value of CBRS priority access licenses (PALs). 

Health charity warns NHS app could exacerbate existing health inequalities

The Health Foundation has warned the existence of digital divides in UK society could create a false sense of security as some segments of society are left in the dark.

Germany and France strive for cloud relevance through Gaia-X project

In a typically European approach, a mass collaboration involving the public and private sectors from Germany and France aims to take on the global cloud computing giants.