TELECOM – THIS WEEK (2229)
1.????Adani Group rattles India’s 5G cage
The Adani Group has plans to participate in the upcoming 5G spectrum auction in India and make its first foray into the communications services sector – but it won’t be challenging the leading operators for consumer customers, as its focus is purely on delivering private 5G networks for the enterprise sector.??
2.????Nokia to lead German 6G lighthouse project
Nokia announced it will lead?6G-ANNA, a?German national-funded 6G lighthouse project,?starting from 1st?July 2022. Nokia will collaborate with?the?29?partners?in 6G-ANNA?to lead and drive 6G research and standardization. Funding for 6G-ANNA will come from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, BMBF), with an aim of strengthening and pushing German and European 6G agendas and driving global pre-standardization activities from a German and European perspective. 6G-ANNA is part of the larger “6G Platform German†national initiative and has a total volume of €38.4 million with a duration of three years.
3.????Ericsson, Qualcomm, and Thales to take 5G into space
French aerospace company Thales (Euronext Paris: HO), and wireless technology innovator Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. are planning to take 5G out of this world and across a network of Earth-orbiting satellites. After having each conducted detailed research, which included multiple studies and simulations, the parties plan to enter smartphone-use-case-focused testing and validation of 5G non-terrestrial networks (5G NTN).????????
4.????Nokia and AT&T Mexico work together to deliver 5G strategic evolution
Nokia and AT&T Mexico today announced that they are collaborating to bring the benefits of 5G to the country. Nokia was also selected as a strategic partner for AT&T Mexico’s 5G Innovation Lab with the aim of exploring the development of 5G use cases suited for Mexico and the local 5G ecosystem. The project is underway and expected to conclude later this year. The 5G Innovation Lab was recently inaugurated by AT&T Mexico to take advantage of the company's infrastructure, knowledge, and global experience in telecommunications. It’s a space where entrepreneurs, developers, and users can meet to trial solutions to grow a local 5G ecosystem.
5.????AT&T Delivers Pan-European Network for Nippon Gases
AT&T is deploying a software-driven network across Europe for Nippon Gases, to support the company’s ongoing mission to ‘make life better through gas technology’. The SD-WAN deployment covers sites across 13 countries.
6.????Rogers blames massive broadband outage on core network update
Canadian operator Rogers Communications over the weekend shed some light on the suspected cause of a prolonged network outage that took down fixed and mobile communications across the country on Friday. In a?notice?posted Saturday, CEO Tony Staffieri said service had been restored and the operator had “narrowed the cause to a network system failure following a maintenance update in our core network, which caused some of our routers to malfunction.†He added it was working to further home in on the root cause and identify steps to increase redundancy in its network to avoid a repeat of the blackout.
7.????Lumen expands Edge Computing Solutions into Europe
Lumen Technologies?is investing in its global Edge network and expanding its Edge Computing Solutions into?Europe, providing the low latency platform businesses need to extend their high-bandwidth, data-intensive applications out to the cloud edge. This expansion is part of Lumen's continued investment in next-generation solutions that transform digital experiences and meet the demands of today's global businesses.
8.????Synamedia acquires Quortex to add just-in-time live video streaming and accelerate its SaaS offerings
Synamedia,?the world’s largest independent video software provider, today announced it has acquired?Quortex, the privately held provider of a leading cloud video delivery platform optimized for just-in-time processing of live video streaming. With this acquisition, Synamedia will enhance its cloud Video Network capabilities, complementing its?VIVID Workflow as-a-Service (WaaS)?with a set of innovative solutions for OTT content processing, disaster recovery, long tail content processing for large service providers, and live events.
9.????CityFibre pilots virtualised network service delivery for businesses
CityFibre, the UK’s largest carrier-neutral Full Fibre platform, is working with Telco Systems, a leading provider of edge compute solutions and subsidiary of BATM Advanced Communications, to pilot enhanced virtualisation capabilities across its network. The new capabilities will enable business ISPs to provide a faster and more flexible set of solutions for their customers, while also reducing costs, complexity, and environmental impact.
10.?Now Deutsche Telekom takes its 5G core onto Google’s Cloud
Google Cloud is rapidly becoming the hyperscaler of choice for major network operators looking to make use of public cloud functionality to improve their operational efficiencies and strategic insights. Deutsche Telekom is the latest influential telco to work even more closely with Google Cloud on mission-critical operations related to the mobile core and data analytics. The giant German operator, which has multiple operating units around Europe as well as its significant stake in T-Mobile US, has been working with Google Cloud across multiple parts of its business for some time. In January this year the telco announced it was expanding its relationship with Google Cloud for messaging, sovereign cloud hosting and streaming TV services.
11.?Hawe Telekom and IS-Wireless enter into an agreement to build 5G private networks together
Telecommunications companies – Hawe Telekom and IS-Wireless – have signed an agreement under which they will work on a comprehensive offer for customers looking to set up private 5G networks. They will provide their deployment-ready solution in Europe.
12.?Nokia selects Infovista to deliver cloud-based automated drive testing to accelerate roll-out of 5G deployments
Infovista,?the global leader in?network lifecycle automation?(NLA), today announced a global partnership with Nokia to accelerate the rollout and acceptance of 5G network deployments. The partnership will see Infovista deliver its cloud-based, automated testing solutions to support the verification, optimization, and benchmarking of new 5G and legacy networks deployed and managed by Nokia.?
13.?Telenet Deploys Netcracker Configure, Price, Quote in the Public Cloud to Grow Enterprise Business
Netcracker Technology?announced today that its cloud-native?Configure, Price, Quote?(CPQ), part of the?Netcracker Digital BSS?product suite, will be deployed in a public cloud setting by Belgian operator Telenet, a leading quad-play provider for business and residential customers.
14.?Deutsche Telekom sells 51% stake in GD Towers
Deutsche Telekom (DT) is selling a 51% stake in GD Towers, its German and Austrian tower portfolio, to a consortium consisting of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners and DigitalBridge Group. DT said that the entire portfolio of towers, which consists of 40,600 sites, is valued at $17.5 billion and Brookfield and DigitalBridge will pay roughly $6.64 billion for their stake. DT expects to receive $10.7 billion in cash, including debt of $4.1 billion, from the deal.
15.?AWS announces general availability of AWS Cloud WAN
Amazon Web Services (AWS)?announced?the general availability of AWS Cloud WAN, a new managed service that connects on-premises data centers, colocation facilities, branch offices and AWS cloud regions to simplify operating a global network.With?AWS Cloud WAN, enterprises can use a central management dashboard to define their network configuration, view the health of their global network and automate routine configuration and security tasks.?
16.?MTN attempts consolidation in South Africa with takeover bid for Telkom
Pan-African operator MTN has made an audacious bid to strengthen its presence in South Africa by entering into talks to acquire smaller rival Telkom SA, the telco announced in a stock market note issued.?“Shareholders are advised that MTN and Telkom SA SOC Ltd. (Telkom) have entered into discussions in relation to MTN acquiring the entire issued share capital of Telkom in return for shares or a combination of cash and shares in MTN (the Transaction),†stated MTN. “Discussions are at an early stage and there is no certainty that the Transaction will be consummated,†it added.?
17.?Ericsson gets U.S. clearance for Vonage deal
Ericsson said today that it received clearance from the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States (CFIUS) to complete its $6.2 billion acquisition of Vonage Holdings. The acquisition of New Jersey-based Vonage is the Swedish vendor’s biggest acquisition to date. Vonage was founded in 2001 as a VoIP provider for consumers and grew into a cloud communications provider focused on businesses. In 2020,?it reported revenues of $1.25 billion. During Ericsson’s second-quarter earnings presentation on Thursday, CEO Borje Ekholm said the acquisition of Vonage is an important building block in Ericsson’s strategy, which includes developing a leading offering in the enterprise space.