German incumbent lashes out at European authorities after they approve Vodafone's takeover of Unitymedia, and says it may request a judicial review.
This mini episode of the Light Reading podcast features Ray Le Maistre and Dario Talmesio discussing the big trends shaping the 5G market worldwide, now that so many major operators have launched 5G services.
Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: BT sells historic HQ; Virgin and Sky extend content deal; Telefónica taps smart-metering tech.
The deal should take the pressure off Vodafone CEO Nick Read but comes as a big blow to German incumbent Deutsche Telekom.
In an 'extensive, multiyear alliance,' AT&T is moving its non-network applications to Microsoft Azure and its employees to Microsoft 365, while Microsoft gets access to AT&T's network for emerging 5G, AI and edge applications.
Bill Baker, CEO of AMG Technology Investment Group's NextLink, is getting ready to put millions from the FCC's Connect America Fund to use covering rural America with fixed wireless. He may soon bid for billions more.
Despite passing the 150-million subscriber mark globally, Netflix disappoints investors by falling well short of its second-quarter target of adding 5 million paid subscribers worldwide.
In its latest take on the SVoD space, MoffettNathanson says Netflix will still dominate the OTT video market despite the impending loss of Friends and The Office to new streaming services from WarnerMedia & NBCUniversal.
Early NB-IoT services from T-Mobile, and more action from AT&T and Verizon as narrowband IoT starts its initial growth in the US.
Australian government-backed wholesale broadband provider concludes successful D3.1 field trial on a retail operator's HFC network in Victoria, achieving download speeds of nearly 1 Gig.
5G Man finds an unwelcome guest in his apartment...
Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Tele2's earnings up 3% in Q2; Openet goes cloud-native for 5G; Inmarsat takeover comes under scrutiny.
The Networks division is helping the Swedish operator improve its top line numbers but 'strategic contracts' hit margins and other divisions are still in turnaround mode, dragging the vendor's share price down.
As the traditional pay-TV biz suffers and the direct-to-consumer OTT video market rises, You.i TV has found its niche as companies on all sides seek ways to simplify the path to a wide array of screens.
Piracy and account-sharing are taking a sizable bite from operators' content revenue, with incumbents and OTT startups feeling the financial hurt.
Operators around the world are eyeing network-sharing deals to deploy 5G. US operators remain decidedly against such a proposition, but they may back into more sharing scenarios in the coming years nonetheless.
Back-to-back studies by InMyArea Research indicate major TV programmers and streaming services like HBO and Netflix could also face a mass exodus by subscribers soon.
Ellen Rubin joins the Light Reading podcast to discuss edge computing and the new need for data management in more places as the world goes from static storage to mobile, multicloud madness.
AT&T Business Solutions will migrate its internal applications to the IBM Cloud. IBM, meanwhile, will use AT&T Business as its primary provider of software-defined networking.
Cato offers self-service, co-managed and now fully managed options for its cloud SD-WAN service.
The Norwegian incumbent has revised down this year's outlook and lacks a decent growth story to excite investors.
Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Arcep sets out its ground rules for 5G spectrum allocation; Facebook exec moves to VEON; Eurofins lands smart-home testing deal.
Jennifer Kyriakakis from Matrixx joins the guys this week, as they attempt to work out what 'digital' really means in the telecoms environment.
US mobile users don't show much interest in buying new phones these days, a situation that could create challenges for operators looking to replace the 4G phones among customers with more efficient 5G gadgets.
With the Chinese vendor now developing alternatives to US suppliers, and Ericsson moving production closer to its customers, the telecom world order is under serious threat.
Sensoneo is deploying its trash management system in parts of the US with T-Mobile's NB-IoT.
To support its ongoing transition to a SaaS-based business model, Dalet signs agreement to acquire Ooyala Flex Media Platform and staff.
Chinese equipment giant confirms it is developing alternatives to US suppliers and limiting the amount of US technology in its products.
As part of its broad product syndication deal with Comcast, big Canadian MSO is counting on new home WiFi app, DOCSIS 3.1 rollout and IPTV launch to trigger fresh subscriber and revenue growth.
The 5G industry is hoping that the technology will play a role in the 'factory of the future.' AT&T specifically has embarked on a few efforts to make this happen.
Microsoft is partnering with eight managed service providers, including SD-WAN startup Aryaka, to connect enterprises with applications in the Azure cloud.
Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Huawei requests level laying field in Italy; ADVA adds a dash of AI to satellite signaling analytics; Galileo crashes and burns; Telenor's Q2 dented by Bangladeshi 'errors.'
Qualcomm talks up 16 design wins for its cellular IoT modem.
A proposal with cable industry backing to free up at least 370MHz of C-Band spectrum for 5G should make fiber providers and data center operators salivate.
While sports content piracy is growing at an alarming rate, hurting the industry and dampening down the value of sports TV rights, solutions are available.
Sprint and Verizon have launched 5G services in parts of just a handful of cities. But the operators confirmed that they will sell their 5G phones in all of their retail stores nationwide.
After New York's Public Service Commission rescinded approval of Charter's merger with TWC and Charter threatened to leave the state, negotiations succeeded and both orgs come out winners.
Synacor reveals that it's winding down three-year deal with AT&T to run the telco's web portal, which will sap nearly half of its overall revenue.
Operators desperately need 5G's 'spectral efficiency' to cope with a data tsunami. Just don't expect it to boost profits.
From 5G to WiFi 6, Boingo's new CEO sees opportunities everywhere. Moreover, those opportunities now stretch into the 3.5GHz CBRS band.
Rather than ignoring password sharing or solely seeking ways to prevent it, service providers are now in position to monetize it thanks to advances in behavioral analytics and machine learning.
Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: SWAN, ZTE claim 5G first in Slovakia; Sparkle moves African hub; France Telecom suicides trial reaches conclusion.
Cell tower owners including SBA, American Tower and Crown Castle have been enjoying lots of love on Wall Street. But the good times might be over, according to some analysts.
Philip Jansen and Nick Read are not off to a dream start at the UK operators, and turnarounds could be a long time coming.
Ovum and Heavy Reading explain how MEF has stepped in to create SD-WAN specifications to provide clarity in the market, and how this service definition could impact the industry.
Large cross-border cable operator exceeds analyst expectations with Q3 Atlantic Broadband results in US but disappoints with Cogeco Connexion results in Canada.
Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Vodafone boss takes a £1.2 million pay cut; BT may cut its dividend to fund fiber rollout; ADVA connects in Kuwait.
India's government has proposed a rescue deal for its state-backed operators, but their survival remains in doubt.
The FCC said it's moving to release valuable midband spectrum for 5G with its new 2.5GHz action, but opponents argue American students will suffer as a result. The truth is that Sprint already owns most of the nation's 2.5GHz holdings.
Verizon is moving its smart city operations into its new consumer/business corporate structure. As a result, Verizon's VP of Smart Communities, Mrinalini (Lani) Ingram, is leaving the company.
Charlie Ergen has accumulated a treasure trove of spectrum licenses, and has now emerged as the linchpin in the government's review of the T-Mobile and Sprint merger. But what does he really want?
IBM executives say they'd be fools to compromise Red Hat's independence, following the $34 billion acquisition that closed this week.
5G Man doesn't always get along with his father... the irascible 4G Man.
Acacia's pluggable optics help Cisco's routing business stay competitive and make its customer networks easier to operate, according to the head of Cisco's optical business.
International wholesale operator wants to play a bigger role with enterprise customers but adding services such as data center interconnect and SD-WAN requires additional operational and business support tools.
Various reports suggest there has been a relaxation on the trade position being taken by the US authorities with regards to Huawei, but the situation for US vendors is no clearer.
Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Transatel expands mobile data offer for Jaguar Land Rover; ZTE opens cybersecurity lab in Brussels; Amazon's Alexa heals the UK.
Ting, an MVNO of both Sprint and T-Mobile, in part blamed the ongoing uncertainty around the proposed merger of Sprint and T-Mobile for its decision to move from T-Mobile to Verizon.
The latest release of the Open Network Automation Platform (ONAP) sports enhancements designed to get the software up and running faster, so carriers can get on with sexy innovation.
Under the new enterprise license, Comcast will pay $175 million in software license fees over four years in a move that could help to fuel the cable op's access network virtualization efforts.
IBM sees its combination with Red Hat as enabling a full virtualization stack to service providers, from infrastructure to OSS and everything in between.
WarnerMedia's new direct-to-consumer OTT service to feature 10K hours of content, reportedly cost more than $14.99 per month.
Some of the world's most visible and wealthy entrepreneurs are preparing to compete against each other in offering satellite-based backhaul services to wireless network operators.
Wireless industry executives tout 5G as ideal for gaming and other high-speed services, but executives at video game company Nintendo are taking a wait-and-see approach.
Swedish kit giant says a Brexit on no terms would leave the telecom industries in both the UK and Europe worse off.
Cisco said it would buy Acacia and the components vendor's current optical transport customers need not worry. The move is seen as positive overall, but one analyst explained why Arista should probably be more concerned than ADVA.
Investors are now more willing to ignore pay-TV declines as cable margins surge, thanks in part to ARPU-boosting broadband services, Craig Moffett says.
Former Cisco exec and cable industry vet named partner and CTO of JC2 Ventures, a venture capital firm devoted to startups in areas such as AI, IoT and cybersecurity.
AT&T's decision to replace the 'LTE' icon on some of its phones with '5G E' earned the carrier widespread condemnation, but new findings show that AT&T's network is nonetheless seeing dramatic improvements.
Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: ADVA lands Luxembourg deal; Orange completes SecureLink acquisition; Telefónica extends its Internet-access-for-resale service; a Spotify for Africa.
Verizon is spending billions on fiber to support its wireless 5G push.
US Ignite's Mari Silbey provides commentary on a few topics related to smart cities, including how research universities are helping cities slice up IoT and sensor data into bite-sized morsels.
This week: Vodafone goes for the controlled throttle on 5G tariffs; the US goes for the jugular with Huawei; and will an Ive-less Apple go down the pan?
Meanwhile, Android TV trails the pack at retail, but continues to make strides with cable ops and other service providers worldwide.
The optical equipment maker spies international opportunity in Huawei's problems.
Governments are trying to contain a global pandemic of the smartphone undead.
Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: KPN sells international assets; Telenet shares dented by wholesale access proposals; Huawei's position on Poland.
Italian operator gets its 5G motor running and heads out on the highway. Just don't expect it to arrive in Calabria anytime soon.
T-Mobile boasts that 5G will support 10x faster speeds than 4G. CTIA crows that it will be be up to 100x faster. Well, the initial results are in, and the reality doesn't quite match up to the hype.
Colt CEO Carl Grivner said its business in the US – providing enterprise connectivity – is still growing thanks to continued enterprise cloud adoption.
5G is catching steam around the globe. As a result, device makers ranging from Oppo to Samsung are rushing to get 5G devices out into the market.
Meanwhile, Comcast's Xfinity Mobile business is expected to add 200K lines in the period, and reach a 'steady state,' Nomura analysts predict.
The expansion of 5G networks will require an unprecedented increase in the number of radio units, especially in urban environments.
The German operator is rumored to be in talks about selling assets in Romania. Difficult as it may be to pull off, that move could make business sense and suit its strategic objectives.
Equinix and GIC, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund, launch a joint venture for more than $1 billion to develop and operate data centers in Europe for the likes of Amazon, Microsoft and other hypercloud providers.
This week in our WiC roundup: Allies in privilege and power; automation gone awry; no pats on the back; and more.
Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Ofcom looks to help out public service broadcasters; Ericsson demos wireless factory; Net Insight lands Swiss deal.
Samsung is expecting O-RAN gear to arrive by 2020.
Representatives of EU member states vote to scrap a scheme that would favor a WiFi-based standard over cellular technology in future connected cars.
Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Telenor toots 5G trumpet; InterDigital joins 5Growth project; Telefónica fights fraud; Orange saddles up for Tour de France.
The chances of a complete 5G ban on the Chinese equipment giant look remote, as far as two of the UK's mobile network operators are concerned.
German incumbent becomes the first operator in the country to launch 5G services, but customers outside a few urban hotspots will have to wait.
A $15 billion deal is in the works, according to market speculation.
The UK mobile operator has started a race to the bottom with its launch of cut-price 5G services.
Downloads of apps such as DirecTV Now and other OTT-TV services declined in Q2 as prices for OTT-TV services ticked up, study finds.
Now that all of the major US wireless network operators have launched some type of commercial mobile 5G service, it's worth seeing exactly how they're pricing the offering. The results are anticlimactic, to say the least.
Marielle Lindgren, CEO for the UK and Ireland at Ericsson, talks to Light Reading's Iain Morris about Vodafone's launch of 5G services in the UK, what kind of applications 5G enables and Ericsson's role in the operator's 5G rollout.
Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Vodafone UK fires up 5G; Nokia's 5G factory lights the way ahead; BT to launch 5G in the fall; Google invests in Lisbon-Cape Town cable.
While there is a fair degree of hype around the term 'cloud native' and plenty of misuse by software marketeers, it is clearly an important topic among CSP CTOs and CIOs.
Charter, Google and others are rallying around new proposals that would release midband spectrum for 5G. However, the government agency in charge of such matters – the FCC – might be a bit hesitant to engage in bold action.
No matter what the US and China agree from now on, the dynamics of the global telecoms technology supply chain have changed forever.
It's the summer of 5G in the US!
In addition to kicking around the idea of 5G's impact on SD-WAN, Heavy Reading's Sterling Perrin shares insights on how the SD-WAN market might evolve this year.
The UK's smallest mobile network operator is preparing for a shift from the non-standalone to the standalone version of 5G technology.
Price hike by PlayStation Vue and new packaging options from Sling TV are more indicators that virtual MVPDs need to adjust to become sustainable businesses.
Dish Network has reportedly inked a tentative deal with T-Mobile that could save the operator's proposed merger with Sprint. That would likely be welcome news considering the transaction is now officially overdue.
The UK mobile operator's decision to rely solely on Huawei as a 5G RAN vendor means Samsung's 4G kit must go.
Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Telia acquires Fello AB; Tele2 audits its network following sequence of outages; Michael Joseph returns to Safaricom following death of Bob Collymore.
It's a new studio but the same old faces this week tackling trade wars, 5G hyperbole and more.
Telcos need new ways to monitor their services and networks and some are turning to the open source community for inspiration.
Thanks to a new 5G push in China, analysts are raising their forecasts for the 5G phone market. However, it's unclear how that market will shake out given the ongoing geopolitical dance between China and the US.
Teams with the Wi-Fi Alliance on new open source, standard way to collect and analyze WiFi network data and troubleshoot in-home WiFi issues that have been a drag on cable opex.
What are the three key trends in 5G right now? Dario Talmesio, principal analyst and practice leader for 5G Accelerator and European TMT Research at research house Ovum, tells all.
A white paper from the Chinese vendor is supposed to show Huawei respects intellectual property. It seems likely to further unnerve Huawei's critics.
Japanese operator pulls together multiple units to form a single international ICT service provider with annual revenues of $11 billion.
App-focused video streaming tech and distribution company says fresh round of funds will fuel global growth, further tech development.
Donald Trump's U-turn on Huawei proves this US president lacks any conviction and will not silence the Chinese vendor's critics.
What's the best way forward for operators when it comes 5G transport networks?
Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Safaricom boss Collymore dies; ETSI tweaks NFV for 5G; BT hires some job-cutting muscle.
