Redknee propels itself into the SPIT big hitters' league by closing the acquisition of Nokia Siemens Networks' BSS unit

Huawei is reportedly out at Clearwire as Sprint & Softbank pledge not to use the Chinese vendor's gear.

Network functions virtualization (NFV), SDN's siamese twin, just can't be ignored

We say a fond farewell to some long-serving and key Light Reading editors

Also: Liberty Global set to grow with Virgin buy; jury dings AT&T for $27.5 million; cable video losses to slow in 2013; Charter shoots down antenna ad

A sneak peek at the SDN startup that's making its big debut on April 2. Here's what they're thinking (vaguely) and why they had to be a spin-in

Facebook has something significant to say about Android. Will the company finally introduce the long-rumored Facebook Phone?

Telcos can find opportunities in the M2M platform market if they are able to lower costs – and many operators are finding they can generate lower costs with in-house control of their M2M platforms

Don't expect anything more to pop for a while, but one analyst sees John Malone & Co. as the 'logical, ultimate acquirer of Ziggo' if the price is right

Also: What would drive Ericsson to buy Microsoft's Mediaroom?; FCC IPTV closed captioning approach; Buckeye takes Moto to the edge

Cable operators are outfitting sporting venues with free Wi-Fi as a way to tout their broadband services. Here's what Comcast has cooked up at the home of the Philadelphia Phillies

Didn't Juniper already have a core switch or two? Yes, but this one's programmable and tailored for whatever SDN will become, Juniper claims

At Alcatel-Lucent, the name plate on the CEO's door is being replaced

Also in today's EMEA roundup: Russians vie for Tele2 unit; Liberty takes Ziggo stake; Nokia fined over Indian tax row

This year's Ethernet Europe event is set for some SDN (software-defined networking) and NFV (network functions virtualization) buzz

Analysts expect that Verizon will stick with LTE suppliers AlcaLu & Ericsson for 4G small cells, but could also add Cisco to the mix

CSG shares went on a rollercoaster ride Wednesday after the billing specialist announced a new long-term deal with Comcast

Cable operators will need to free up at least 24MHz of spectrum for Docsis 3.1. But why is that the magic number?

A combination of software-defined networking (SDN) and Carrier Ethernet 2.0 technology will radically alter telco capabilities, says Stan 'EtherMan' Hubbard

It's a fringe requirement, but somehow, we're guessing we'll hear more about it

Verizon is planning 4G small cells and 'other LTE-Advanced improvements' this year and says it is working with partners on getting the tech 'ready for prime time'

Also: Intel talks OTT with major programmers; Deluxe lands Starz TV Everywhere deal; Comcast's X1 heads to the Mile High City

Also in today's EMEA roundup: Ericsson cuts jobs in Sweden; NSN in step with Tango; EC wants less digging, more progress

Oracle is on an M&A tear – who else might be on its hit list? BroadSoft is the favorite

Generic OpenFlow switches are to be loved, not feared, Extreme says, as it hatches plans for Big Switch's open-source hardware platform

The 'uncarrier' lures AT&T customers with the iPhone 5 on LTE, 4G HSPA+ 42 inAWS, and PCS 1900 band

The TM Forum's Frameworx claims that 90% of the world's largest service providers have adopted its best practices

Arris and Motorola led Docsis 3.0 CPE revenues in 2012, but others could gain ground in the shift to wireless and video gateways

Also: Hulu board seeks suitors; Spotify said to be spotting up video streaming service; HBO could go OTT when the math is right; 'virtual' MSO debuts in Sweden

Also in today's EMEA roundup: Telefónica sells off treasury stock; Saudi Arabia is off messaging; fiber push in Scotland

Service providers are increasingly looking for vendors that can include policy as part of charging and billing, rather than a standalone solution

Washington, D.C., appears poised to become the ninth market to deploy Comcast's IP-capable, next-gen video service

On the eve of its official LTE launch, the 'Uncarrier' undercuts its rivals with contract-free plans

As mobile data usage is growing, wireless networks are suffering. This is giving way to new LTE testing, measurement and service assurance solutions

Also: U-verse tunes in WatchESPN; Otelco files for bankruptcy; Clearleap re-ups with HBO; Bright House spruces up its mobile apps; UK's Blockbuster finds a buyer

Another major M&A move for Oracle that further boosts its network functions virtualization (NFV) capabilities

Incremental tweaks that boost the capacity of HFC networks will postpone cable's need to pull fiber all the way to the premises, says Motorola exec

Also in today's EMEA roundup: Interoute bucks the trend; TeliaSonera launches data buckets; Fujitsu invests in UK

The company insists its CPAK 100Gbit/s transceivers are the right move, even though the proprietary parts don't seem that far ahead of the market

OpenSignal IDs nine cities with T-Mobile 4G LTE signals, with average downstream speeds of 25 Mbit/s

New CableLabs President and CEO Phil McKinney explains how the R&D house is working to become a leaner, meaner and much more focused innovation machine

The potential impact of network functions virtualization (NFV) and SDN is a catalyst for technology suppliers and technology thinkers alike

What's new now and on the horizon for Docsis 3.1, CCAP and cable's IP video transition took center stage at this week's Light Reading Live event at The Cable Center in Denver.

Although LTE seems excessive to machine-to-machine users, it offers many benefits

Also: Comcast gives free Wi-Fi to Phillies fans; HBO CTO takes a shot at 4K and 3DTV; Aereo's courtroom setback; Broadcom and Entropic advance their China broadband strategies

Also in today's EMEA roundup: TripAdvisor et al push Brussels on Google; KPN raises $600M; Viva Kuwait in the black

There's an interesting tension between how much SDN can benefit service providers and how it could threaten their established businesses

A key chip in the coherent 100G ecosystem gets a refresh, with Broadcom getting invited to help Japan Inc.

Since we can't show you SDN photos or capture NFV on film, here are pics of tradeshow booths, giant red carpets and people walking with purpose

2013 looks to be a foundation year for LTE-Advanced, but many of the features won't be implemented until much later

The telecom sector is transforming – so is Light Reading

Cox's Jeff Finkelstein outlines the anticipated benefits and drivers of Docsis 3.1, and explains how much bandwidth operators will need to free up during the initial deployment of the emerging, multi-gigabit platform.

Cox's John Civiletto explains how the operator is getting the most out of its 1GHz network and what options still remain in Cox's bandwidth toolbox

Also: Virgin Media adds a TV Everywhere tech partner; Com Hem gets a shot of Adrenalin; GCI turns on TiVo

Stanford's Nick McKeown says SDN won't take hold until networking equipment vendors give up some control

Network traffic continues to grow, and most network equipment providers plan to use packet processors that can handle 100 Gbit/s by the end of 2014 to help relieve some of that demand

Yeah, Juniper's PTX can now snub its 100G partner, but that was all part of the plan, ADVA's CEO says

Intel Media believes 'smarter' bundles and a more personalized experience will help it connect with younger consumers who are dissatisfied with existing pay-TV operators

Telecom operators shouldn't fight the OTT players, they should make money from them

Also in today's EMEA roundup: France Télécom reshuffles; Vivendi considers SFR spin-off; Vodafone's Polish partnership

What can Sprint, T-Mobile and the smaller carriers do to deal with the LTE juggernaut?

Cable has a head start in IPv6-readiness, but a lack of preparation by the consumer electronics industry could complicate matters

Comcast has started a handful of 'pilot' deployments, while TW Cable and Bright House prepare to field test cable's next-gen access platform later this year

Cisco helped amplify the chatter at OFC/NFOEC, but the silicon photonics story isn't written in stone yet

A first sampling of the optical confab at work and play (mostly work) in Anaheim

Need for improved cyber security gets real personal for Telenor execs

AT&T is now at 158 LTE markets as all of the big four US operators head into a 4G future

Optical vendors have said for a while that they're a perfect match for OpenFlow. Now they're taking the relationship to the next level

Adaptive bitrate streaming has become the technology of choice for leveraging bandwidth available for streaming, but its implementation has been difficult in a highly fragmented video streaming sector

Where T-Mobile's going with its LTE-Advanced ready network, what speeds it might get and what the future holds

Also: Comcast seals up the rest of NBCU; CableLabs taps innovation VP; consumers record (but don't always watch) lots of TV shows; Comcast's Heartland gets a business services VP

Also in today's EMEA roundup: NSN does 4G voice in Poland; Ipanema goes down 'virtual' route; Yahoo considers Dailymotion slice

Network operators are bracing themselves for a dramatic increase in unicast video traffic volumes with various investments

CenturyLink, Verizon, and Google executives spoke at the annual Optical Society of America Executive Forum this week in Anaheim, Calif.

New CableLabs CEO Phil McKinney offers an update on the R&D house’s activities, including his top priorities, the role that the recently formed 'innovation team' will play, and when CableLabs expects to complete the Docsis 3.1 specifications

Vasona, a startup to watch, has pulled in $22M all told with the promise of software to help carriers cut wireless congestion

CableLabs is on track to complete the 3.1 specs this year, paving the way for the first products to appear in 2014, with deployments to follow in 2015 and 2016

Jorge Salinger of Comcast says the operator has moved beyond the trial stage and is now starting to pilot equipment and services that take advantage of the emerging Converged Cable Access Platform

Cable must contend with fragmented platforms and business model uncertainty as they use multi-screen video offerings to head off competition from aggressive OTT rivals

Your guide to LTE-Advanced.

T-Mobile's official 4G LTE launch could happen as soon as March 26, with users seeing signals in NYC and Washington, DC

As the data center has progressed, it has struggled to cope with growing virtualized data traffic. In order to solve these issues, data center operators have adopted network virtualization

Dr. John Malone has struck again as he looks to grab a chunk of Charter and reestablish Liberty as a big player in the US cable operator market

Also in today's EMEA roundup: KPN sells infrastructure unit; Iliad's revenues up, but profits down; Ericsson unveils new network processor

Also: HD-DTA deployment snag hits Entropic's Q1; FTC clears Charter-Cablevision deal; Hillcrest goes inside Intel's set-top kit; Rovi and LG pass the peace pipe

Traffic challenges in Facebook's data centers will require some optical ingenuity to fix, a keynoter says at the OSA Executie Forum

Liberty Media's rumored plan to snag a 25% stake in Charter for $2.5B could aid the MSO's M&A strategy

Operators are keen on killing set-top boxes, but Comcast believes it can give them new life

T-Mobile's LTE-Advanced launch starts today with a Galaxy Note II update

Its first annual report, another sign of impending independence, shows services deliver 52% of revenues in 2012

Apple is advertising for an engineer to work with carriers and vendors to develop wireless specifications for 4G LTE-Advanced and beyond

Also: Verizon aims to tweak the pay-TV model; AT&T bundles CE gear, springs two iTV apps; analysts rekindle DirecTV-Dish merger and Cablevision sale chatter

Marlin Equity unveils its pitch to the optical sector, confirms the name Light Reading revealed last month and unveils its logo

Top US cable operators lost 1.41 million video subs in 2012, but the bleeding continues to show signs of slowing in a saturated pay-TV market

Also in today's EMEA roundup: EE gave away 4G spectrum; UK auction's missing billions; STC chief steps down

Who knew Juniper was that much of an optical company? (Who knew the PTX system was a 'router?')

The latest developments in cable's ever-evolving broadband access network will head up this week's Light Reading Live event at The Cable Center in Denver

The week's OFC/NFOEC coverage kicks off with terabit, of course

It's been a pretty good year for the optical startup. When's the last time you saw that sentence?

Network functions virtualization (NFV) could be a threat to some vendors if it becomes a reality, but many challenges remain, notes seasoned analyst

At Mobile World Congress, which single network technology development did Alcatel-Lucent most want to discuss?

Major carrier plans a near 50% hike in annual spending, with LTE TDD getting a healthy chunk

Aereo streams its 'no cable required' tagline into the video world. Will consumers tune in to the message?

The latest in user interface upgrades means you no longer even need to touch the screen to make stuff happen

Also: Hulu CEO IDs his (possibly temporary) successor; Invidi inks a Comcast deal; vandals target Suddenlink; FiOS TV expands its streaming slate

Also in today's EMEA roundup: Telefónica, NSN test FlexiGrid; Bouygues gets green light on 4G plan; and why Americans keep crashing

Forget Pi Day. Let's talk about optical milestones and the legacy of Nortel

Also: Netflix gets social, Europe's Wi-Fi future, and much, much more

The FCC reveals just why MetroPCS's LTE is so slow and why the merger with T-Mobile gives it a fighting chance with 4G

The Lightwire acquisition has already been applied to Cisco's next generation of ASICs

The Chinese vendors hike their intellectual property investments and ask everyone to play nice with patents

Also in today's cassock-free EMEA roundup: Telecom Italia's spin-off won't; hedge fund boss slams Vodafone; AlcaLu does 4G in Galicia

Netflix, what you got? 'Watchathon Week' will serve up 3,500 TV episodes from 30 programmers as Comcast tries amp up VoD usage on set-tops and mobile devices

Unfortunately, it's not too surprising that many European enterprises aren't best pleased with their service providers

All the pieces to shrink 100G interfaces are on the way, including some line-side CFP2 modules that will be shown at OFC/NFOEC

Europe's cable operators have the specifications and the will to enable Wi-Fi roaming, says Cable Europe Labs chief

Also: ThinkAnalytics muscles up for US push; Synacor inks China JV; Vevo sets sights on cable deals; more grist for the Apple TV rumor mill

Also in today's EMEA roundup: No takers for ST-Ericsson; Telefónica cuts back on pay and conditions; Ericsson scores in Africa; Bezeq does 100G

Brace yourself for a bevy of 400G papers at OFC/NFOEC, including one that promises to send signals halfway around the world

One outcome of the T-Mobile/MetroPCS merger could be a price war between the new company and Sprint

FCC & DoJ sign off on merger, clearing way for another national 4G LTE build-out in the US

Set-top vendor says it intends to 'lead the market' with a more advanced version of an Ethernet-connected DTA that cable can sell at retail

Four new focus areas for NGMN Alliance highlight the key challenges facing mobile network operators in 2013

Also: Analyst expects a Charter turnaround; Aereo to broadcasters – prove how we're hurting you; Avail-TVN's new name; Cablevision CFO adds duties

Also in today's EMEA roundup: Telenor collects coupons firm; HP/Autonomy row hots up; TeliaSonera wins Turkcell case

News of two investigations into Autonomy's financial statements changes nothing, notes analyst

Packing silicon photonics on a chip, startup CompassEOS claims it's radically simplified (and shrunk) the core router. Now, can it escape the core-router-startup curse?

We probably won't see any fruits of the Ensemble OSA plan this year, but Overture still wants the world to know it's working on the SDN thing

Netflix's ISP rankings add seven countries, and, once again, Open Connect members tend to secure the pole position for video streaming speed

Also: Reviewer gives Dish Hopper DVR the edge over Comcast's X1; Titan preps cable's upstream for Docsis 3.1; VOO and SeaChange get Cable Congress kudos

In its latest 4G survey, RootMetrics finds AT&T wins for LTE speed, while Verizon beats all on size

At Mobile World Congress, which single network technology development did NEC most want to discuss?

Broadcom's latest DTA chipset aims to help major US MSOs ship encrypted live TV streams to Boxee boxes, smart TVs and other IP-connected retail video devices

Also in today's EMEA roundup: Telecom Italia loses €1.6B; Croatian operator buys satellite TV firm; South Africa hooks up to Amsterdam

A deal with Arbor Networks should sound pretty familiar to followers of Alcatel-Lucent

A look back at one of the optical companies that gave Light Reading its start -- and that filed for liquidation Thursday

Comcast pumped out 2.4B hours of VoD in 2012, but that number, and the rate of VoD growth, could improve if it fixed its legacy user interface problem

Accenture executive believes the business services market offers an untapped market for Europe's cable operators

Also: European cable shows love for Comcast's RDK; HEVC to be big on smartphones first; Google Fiber does 3DTV; QuickPlay pitches 'off-the-shelf' TV Everywhere platform

Swedish giant saw its network equipment market share dip last year

Also in today's EMEA roundup: EU collusion probe called off; courts catch up with streaming service; Internet hubs pair up

Mobile network planning, optimization and analytics specialist Arieso gives JDSU a smarter set of tools in a small-cell, 4G world

OneAPI may provide developers a reason to build apps and content for networks, not just mobile operating systems

Embedded system vendor has found the going tough in the emerging mobile security gateway sector

MetroPCS is using its longtime LTE supplier for a 4G core upgrade aimed at giving better voice and video chat features

Also: Rovi and Hulu pass the peace pipe; Aurora takes over a piece of Harmonic; FreedomPop puts some pressure on cable ISPs

Slightly better fiscal first-quarter sales and much improved margins give Ciena an early lift

Ex-Cisco exec Murali Nemani joins ActiveVideo at an opportune time. But is his role to drive growth or help the cloud TV specialist attract a suitor?

Also in today's EMEA roundup: Microsoft fined over browsers; BT boasts more FTTX jobs; Inmarsat hit by LightSquared failure; hosted OSS in Germany

After an impressive 2012, revenue assurance specialist adds Asia/Pacific acquisition action to its growth plans

Device managment, tower services and cheap VoIP companies each pull in over $100M to top the list of Feb. funding from Rutberg & Co.

What were the hot topics at the London Cable Congress Show? M&A, TiVo, customer experience and wireless were in the mix

Also: RCN pitches the TiVo Stream for $4.95 per month; Cisco Videoscape invades Europe; more moves at Charter

Also in today's EMEA roundup: Virgin learns to love OTT services; Zen does business Ethernet; VimpelCom on the up

In this video, the Father of Ethernet talks about those good old days – and why it's good that PARC didn't stay that way

The Open Networking Summit has been the SDN place to be seen, but it's always a challenge for a conference to stay cool while growing

White-spaces spectrum is in the news again, thanks to Google and the IEEE, but what exactly will the technology do for us?

For cable operators, the next step should be about more than just networks, speeds and screens

A new program for lower-income families indicates Comcast might be planning to expand on its pre-paid consumer trials

What's the role of a group like PARC today? The Father of Ethernet gives us his opinion -- and reflects on how it all got started for Ethernet, 40 years ago.

The mobile packet core could be one of the first network segments affected by network functions virtualization, and that could present vendors with some tough choices

Also: Verizon CFO sees Redbox J.V. turning a profit in 2014; SCTE starts its paper chase; another OTT deal rains on Elemental

Collective revenues were up 5.5% in 2013 and cable broadband subs grew 8.4 percent – but is cable eating away at the telcos' market share?

Also in today's EMEA roundup: Nokia shares drop following Stoxx move; Pace results; NSN does CEM in the Lebanon

Sprint hits 67 markets with 4G LTE as it attempts to stay on track to cover 200 million people by the end of 2013

A coming 'Watchathon' promo, and the extension of Comcast's Queue app to the set-top box, aim to amp up Comcast's VoD numbers

EE's 1800MHz LTE network is so good, it signals the beginning of the end for 3G

Apple is rumored to be preparing a smart-watch for launch this year. No word yet on whether it will follow that with a jet pack or a flying car

We visited seven major network equipment companies at Mobile World Congress and asked them the same question – so what did Ericsson say?

Also: Xbox streams a movie premiere; Videotron defends its Netflix-like service; NCTA offers a history in cable capex spending

AT&T's wireless broadband strategy for 2013 and beyond got more filled out in Barcelona last week and not just with ham and tapas

Cable has realized that energy management is not a 'green' issue, but rather an increasingly important business issue

Also in today's EMEA roundup: Zain plans IPO in Iraq; Amdocs opens R&D hub with SingTel; ZTE's Bulgarian win; Tele2's rethink

The last 10 pics I could find in my camera from a week's worth of random walks around the Mobile World Congress show floor

Cisco CEO reportedly displays a wicked sense of humor in Barcelona

Here are a few more photos I've dug out of my camera from the walk around the sprawling Mobile World Congress show floor

From the new convention center in old Barcelona, here are a few snapshots from the week's activity at Mobile World Congress 2013

In the final not-so-quiet hours of the show, we were still frantically taking shots and dodging Androids

The TV station land grab is well underway as the FCC preps its incentive spectrum auction. SNL Kagan says $345 million in deals have gone down since 2011

Also: UPC Cablecom fends off Horizon TV complaints; Dish scores a hollow victory against Disney; Telefonica plays around with 4K TV

Why all the fuss about network functions virtualization (NFV)? Here is some background, a definition and some references to help focus the debate

Also in today's EMEA roundup: DT, FT won't see EE float away; Colt profits slip; Belgacom loses mobile subs; Kroes cross with German regulator