Net neutrality proponents claim Wheeler has betrayed the free and open Internet by advancing plans to allow premium broadband services.

Creates two business units from its current Networks division as it eyes up the telco cloud and NFV/SDN markets.

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: ADVA revenues up; way cleared for Slim's Austrian takeover; Ericsson shuffles its units; Nokia hangs on to Indian plant.

AT&T's fiber-rich platform starts off year strong with healthy broadband and video subscriber gains in Q1, opening up lead on Verizon FiOS.

Vendors join Ericsson, Tail-f, Metaswitch, and Affirmed Network in the carrier's Domain 2.0 supplier program designed to speed its move to SDN and NFV.

Huawei's devices business is growing fast and making an impact, but founder Ren Zhengfei has voiced concerns about complacency.

First-quarter revenues dip as network rollout projects in US and Japan tail off, but margins are better and sales are set to pick up in H2.

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Ericsson reports Q1; Orange lines up man from the ministry; Spirent profits up; Russia's Zuckerberg does a runner.

Amid restructuring and employee defections, the vendor has a lot to be happy about in the service provider sector.

After losing out in a joint bid to gobble up Hulu last year, AT&T and The Chernin Group have joined forces again to invest more than $500 million in over-the-top video services.

Next and Mobile Share plans are taking off for the carrier, helping it migrate its customers away from subsidies and unlimited data plans.

There's a lot of Google influence and no sign of Lenovo in Moto's new 75,000-square-foot headquarters in downtown Chicago.

Fan TV is officially breaking into the cable business through a deal with Time Warner Cable that will bring the vendor's user interface to TWC video subscribers.

The US MSO reports video subscriber gains for the second straight quarter, thanks largely to its next-gen IP video platform and cloud-based guide.

Infinera, reporting first quarter earnings Wednesday, is likely to face questions about its 100G metro market plans.

By locating AzureExpress in 16 Equinix data centers globally, Microsoft is offering direct connections between public and private clouds.

With Coriant the most recent example, private equity investments look set to play an increasing role in the telecom sector.

The data centers that float the world of cloud computing consumed 30 billion watts of power in 2012 - as much power as is produced by 30 nuclear power stations - and the cloud keeps growing.

Shaun Page, a 13-year Juniper vet, joins the bare-metal SDN vendor.

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: SFR talks network-sharing with Vodafone; Liberty Global gets Carrier Ethernet 2.0 certification; the future's not Orange.

Using its annual Data Breach Investigative Report, Verizon tells 18 different industries what they most need to fear - and protect against.

OpenPeak has signed on AT&T's Chris Hill as president to help handle its 'rapid growth phase.'

AT&T's ready, Google's ready, but are the municipalities they want to serve ready to play -- and bring along access rights and other free stuff?

Juniper Networks prepares to report first-quarter financial results Tuesday as its Integrated Operating Plan proceeds.

AT&T says it now has Gigabit plans for up to 100 towns and cities in the US, with some deployments expected to start in 2014.

After a delay, the $7.36B sale of Nokia's device business to Microsoft is expected to close on April 25.

Two large US MSOs are reportedly discussing the sale of at least 3 million cable subscribers to Charter if Comcast's proposed buyout of Time Warner Cable goes through.

Arris acquires SeaWell Networks for its portfolio of IP video, multiscreen, and ad insertion solutions.

Operator trialing a WebRTC-based chat room it says is free, open to anyone, and secure through web-based peer-to-peer communications.

Juniper submits the OpenContrail Plugin to OpenDaylight as a possible standard.

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler blogs that competition will improve by giving smaller carriers access to some 600 MHz spectrum in 2015's Incentive Auction.

The success of NFV and SDN will depend on service assurance, big data, end-to-end orchestration, and a centralized catalog.

While the operators remain quiet on 4G voice, WhatsApp is plowing full steam ahead -- with or without their involvement.

A new industry report suggests that the market for fixed broadband services in Latin America is about to grow dramatically, driven by fiber access, but I don't see it.

Both large US MSOs move to offer higher-levels of WiFi service to customers as they boost broadband speeds and expand their hotspot coverage.

RK Anand -- the 12th hire at Juniper way back when -- takes on a new role as CEO with the radio rule-breakers at Kumu Networks as they eye small cells and much more.

Cox expands smart home services into Las Vegas as broadband providers continue love affair with home security and automation.

Heavy Reading analyst Gabriel Brown predicts that widespread operator deployments of virtual Evolved Packet Core technology will mostly happen after 2016.

Cablevision's commercial services unit lights up 7,000th building in NYC metro area, after adding more than 1,000 locations to its fiber network in the past year.

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Russian operator makes a move on Crimea; Duma considers ban on foreign telecom kit; publishing boss turns guns on Google.

Ciena announced today that the Japan-US Cable Network consortium has completed a successful trial of Ciena's 16 QAM 200G technology on a 630 km segment of its network in California.

Dish and Echostar select Nagra's DECE-approved persistent rights management (PRM) technology to secure Dish Anywhere multiscreen services.

AT&T racks up another connected car customer in Volvo, which will embed HSPA+ via the carrier's single SIM platform in future car models in the US and Canada.

New Heavy Reading report says end-to-end service management needed for hybrid networks and current efforts focus only on virtualized services.

US cable engineers are facing a lot of heavy lifting in the coming years, notes Light Reading Cable/Video Practice Leader Alan Breznick.

The company introduces its Thunder Series network appliances, designed to help carriers and enterprises make the transition to faster networks and more flexible address space.

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: BSkyB teams up with Twitter; Ericsson in OpenStack deal; Glastonbury latest!

Not everything you thought you knew about multi-play services is necessarily so.

Zebra claims the massive cash buy will position it well at the business end of the Internet of Things.

The struggling handset maker sees a future in secure communications for the healthcare industry.

Time Warner Cable announces development plans for its first IP set-top box using the RDK software platform

Mohu introduces new Leaf Metro antenna and promises a device that will combine OTA and web-based video content.

Deutsche Telekom is looking to profit from the heightened awareness of data security issues post-Snowden.

New service moves the WiFi controller to the cloud and helps small businesses manage and monetize their WiFi access points.

Ubuntu 14.04 LTS supports Icehouse, the latest version of OpenStack, with improved management features.

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: UK's appetite for superfast; broadband Bolognese; the Nokia tablet that never was.

Do connected cars, smart sensors, and fitness monitors need their own dedicated communications networks? Some are betting they do...

BlackBerry preps security updates for Android and iOS devices as Lookout warns consumers their mobile apps could be vulnerable.

Cable tech group launches corporate alliance program to hike membership and deliver more customized training and education for cable employees.

Ericsson SVP and strategy head Douglas Gilstrap, who guided M&A activities, is leaving, but Ericsson's M&A interests likely will stay.

Vodafone Netherlands is partnering with Entone for set-tops and Divitel for systems integration in the launch of its new IPTV service.

Final 'uncarrier' move of the month has T-Mobile doing away with data overage charges and petitioning its competitors to do the same.

Small cells have taken far longer than many have expected to take hold in the market, but now, as the industry is maturing, what's needed for several different deployment scenarios?

Also in today's EMEA regional news roundup: BT challenges 'margin squeeze' note; eircom considers IPO; European Commission targets mHealth.

They both stand to gain by the shift to virtual networks, according to a recent Goldman Sachs report. Possible losers: companies that primarily rely on hardware sales, such as Brocade and Juniper.

Tango - and its cash - dances to the top of the VC funding table in March.

The "uncarrier" drops prices on its LTE iPads to WiFi levels and offers 1.2 GB of free LTE data each month for the rest of the year.

Companies issued warnings about possible vulnerabilities in some of their equipment, and continue to update the lists of products that may be affected.

Colin Doherty's mandate: Stay the course but step on the gas.

Also in today's regional roundup: O2 UK boasts of 4G uptake and network modernization; Telefonica offers concessions to seal E-Plus deal; Ericsson to continue doing business in Iran; and more.

Aereo plans to go live with Chromecast support on May 29, more than a month after the company will present its case against broadcasters to the Supreme Court.

BlackBerry CEO says it isn't exiting the device business... yet.

Comcast-owned media publishing unit teams up with Adobe to pitch multscreen video service packages to pay-TV and content providers.

Indatel brings the bandwidth, and ANPI brings the services, in an effort to move to a seamless network of rural broadband providers.

AT&T seeks to expand its 1-Gig fiber service to six North Carolina cities, as well as boost coverage in Austin, Texas.

The move to 100G in long-haul networks is driving the integration of DWDM transport and OTN switching, finds Heavy Reading.

Comcast announces higher Internet speeds and more WiFi hotspots amid Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the proposed merger with Time Warner Cable.

Latest version of Apigee Insights combines InsightOne's predictive analytics capability with APIs for a deeper understanding of customer behavior, before and after it happens.

The RapidEngines acquisition ties real-time log analytics to performance metrics for a more complete network picture.

Also in today's regional roundup: Fiber network M&A activity in Spain; KPN chief gets vote of approval; BT, Unify team on unified communications.

Veteran video analyst Colin Dixon, founder and principal analyst of nScreenMedia, says research shows 56% are using digital video already.

Global reach, hybrid cloud support, and bandwidth to support the coming Internet of Everything.

While fiber-connected businesses are increasing in numbers, they're still isolated islands.

AT&T and Sprint are committed to offering 3G & 4G service across all 277 NYC underground subway stations. Transit Wireless says it is still talking to T-Mobile & Verizon.

Once again, VMware is among those spending big on mobile management in a BYOD world.

Will eMBMS be the mobile broadbcast technology that takes off, or the latest in a line of flops?

Playing catch-up with its fellow cable companies, Charter adds new content and platform support to its TV Everywhere apps.

Tech suppliers prep for Ultra HD future with flashy 4K video demos and displays at annual NAB convention in Sin City.

Verizon's new offering adds 'burstability' and on-demand billing to private IP connections into cloud services, starting with its own and Microsoft's.

There are plenty of technology startups in China, but none of them are in telecom systems.

Colin Doherty is a 25-year telecom vet who headed Arbor through its acquisition and beyond.

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: more French M&A talk; Telekom Austria dissolves its CFO; big data pioneer lands Finnish tech prize.

With acquisition of Global DataGuard, the managed service provider is offering new capabilities to predict and ward off advanced malware threats.

Sprint says that it will shutter its WiMax network by the end of 2015 as it upgrades its backhaul architecture.

Google's wireless ambitions might be more than a US MVNO. The search firm appears to be tackling everything from WiFi extensions to Internet delivered via balloons.

New antitrust concerns are emerging in the debate over the potential Comcast/Time Warner Cable merger, including fears of one entity controlling much of the TV viewed by Americans.

COO Kevin Hankins talks to Light Reading about the carrier's loyalty and rewards program and the opportunity in bridging the chasm between networks and IT.

Co-founder James Taylor turns the services enablement provider over to his founding partner as CHR says its software woes are over.

Wunderlich cuts Cisco, Jefferies isn't so pessimistic, while Raymond James sticks with an 'Outperform' rating, as financial analysts try to glean the company's prospects in a more virtualized networking world.

Tom Gonder, a chief architect at Time Warner Cable, explains how its trial of multicast gateways is impacting IP-based video plans.

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: EU court declares Data Retention Directive invalid; OpenCloud scores in Egypt; Deutsche Telekom workers plan strike action.

Canadian test vendor adds to its service assurance capabilities with the purchase of network performance management system specialist ByteSphere.

Service providers are being challenged to enable a digital lifestyle for their corporate clients as well as residential customers.

Softbank is now reportedly eyeing European operators as M&A targets.

On the heels of Amazon's Fire TV launch last week, Google appears to be preparing its own Android TV product.

A new industry alliance is aiming to quickly produce a specification for 100G to be used inside data centers.

Is it back to bananas and coffee for Costa Rica? Reports suggest a resource shift away from Central America to Asia-Pacific by the chip giant.

Frank the Buffalo is the popular face of Frontier on Facebook and elsewhere, even if his no-BS promise left some customers cold.

A record-breaking crowd flocked to Denver for our annual information-packed, tech networking schmoozeria in late March.

Investment in upgrading Verizon properties starting to pay off for Frontier, as it prepares to add AT&T Connecticut footprint.

Regional operator will refocus on its fiber business, discontinuing its wireless operations after the deal closes.

Photos from the best of the Interop conference in Las Vegas. We don't know what the phrase in the headline means either.

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: BT's new TV sport chief; US disses Euro-Internet plan; Telecom Italia learns from AT&T.

Those consumers who watch the most video on mobile devices may actually be willing to pay for it too.

Allot's new Service Gateway, built for a European mobile operator, promises faster service delivery and a migration path to SDN.

Cisco confirms that its small cell boss, the VP and GM of the service provider group, has left the company.

Deciding that it's time to leave OCAP behind, the cable industry is increasingly turning to RDK to take its place.

Ciena suggests at an investor event that the 100G metro market is ramping up more quickly than expected.

Enterprise voice becoming a key part of expanding service strategy for national CLEC.

Independent Canadian operator Eeyou Communications Network needs some advice about OSS and BSS for a small fiber network operation.

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Turkish PM bristles at un-banning of Twitter; Allot lands $5 million Tier 1 deal; BT Sport joins Chromecast line-up; Google upsets Italians.

The European Union parliament is one step away from introducing a set of mobile roaming and net neutrality rules that are contradictory and potentially disastrous, argues one seasoned industry analyst.

Bill Burns oversaw four years of revenue growth at his former employer before sales headed south, and that's a good enough track record for Embrane.

Shamim Akhtar, Comcast's architect and senior director of network strategy, explains why the cable company is moving to a more distributed network architecture.

Google opens up internal SDN architecture to outside developers in its next big network virtualization step.

The big four US operators managed to add 800,000 post-paid subscribers in the past three months, but the scales are tipping in T-Mobile's favor.

In a long-awaited move, Amazon launches media streaming set-top to take on Apple TV, Roku, and Google's Chromecast in growing media streaming market.

Acquisition strategies don't work for everyone, but chipmaker Xilinx appears to have devised an M&A plan that has paid off.

FCC chairman Tom Wheeler has a regulatory rubric for addressing telecom challenges in the 21st century.

A long-time supporter of OpenStack, Ericsson has struck a licensing deal to use commercial software from Mirantis in its Cloud System.

New 802.11ac WiFi chips will include multi-user MIMO to support more devices, faster speeds, and more efficient use of unlicensed spectrum.

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: EU roaming charges voted into dustbin of history; bailiffs knock on Vivendi's door; Vodafone creates new UK jobs.

As part of its new operating plan, Juniper is cutting through its middle management ranks to reduce costs and ceasing application delivery controller R&D.

The biggest challenge for the SDN sector is the people, according to speakers on an Interop panel.

BlackBerry CEO John Chen says the device maker won't renew its licensing deal with T-Mobile on April 25 after the operator made an iPhone offer to BlackBerry users.

Slamming broadcasters, Rep. Anna Eshoo calls retransmission-consent deals a 'racket' at the American Cable Association Summit in Washington.

Aryaka's Network OnDemand service provides a capacity solution for rare enteprise WAN traffic spikes.

More cash is being spent on big data analytics systems and services as service providers come to realize they need to get smart and dig into their raw assets.

Bidding for DVR supremacy, Verizon rolls out FiOS Quantum TV service with the ability to record up to 12 shows at the same time, but there's a catch.

There are several things the FCC must do to make the IP transition successful for service providers and consumers alike.

Big data analytics is creating a multi-billion-dollar revenue opportunity for service providers.

HP claims it can help convert enterprise networks from cost centers to profit sources - easier said than done.

Cisco and partners promote a new southbound protocol that fits into the router giant's vision of 'declarative control' of a software-defined network.

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: German regulator steps into Telefonica/E-Plus deal; mobile banking boost in UK; NSN's ping-pong diplomacy.

By avoiding the I-95 corridor between NYC and northern Virginia, United Fiber & Data is courting customers seeking new and reliable fiber routes.

New research from the network watcher suggests T-Mobile's LTE may be the fastest, but consumers are spending more time on Verizon's 4G network.

In twin moves, FCC bans broadcaster 'collusion' in retransmission-consent negotiations and weighs further changes to rules after spate of battles between broadcasters and pay-TV providers.

Social enterprise vendor Lithium snaps up Klout to add its social influence scoring system to its arsenal of customer experience management tools.

Cisco-backed Embrane hires Burns, who oversaw years of growth for Spirent, but was sacked in 2013 when sales flagged.

Also on today's EMEA news smorgasbord: Openreach offers nationwide 100G; Telecom Italia sells HQ; startup banks on super-slow broadband.