Bernard Bureau, VP of network and architecture strategy at Telus, talks about why Telus is keen to support open RAN and what it expects from vendors.

Igal Elbaz, AT&T's SVP of wireless and access technology, said AT&T would work on 'scaling' the standalone 5G technology throughout 2021.

Light Reading's Mike Dano and Phil Harvey recount some of the highlights of a busy, busy event discussing all things 5G. Standalone 5G stood alone as the big thing to watch in the coming months.

'The stakes on this are high, and 5g will determine whether the next Google, Apple, Amazon and Uber in the world is created here in the US or abroad.' – Neville Ray

Canada's Telus said it will support open RAN technology, but networking chief Bernard Bureau hinted that the implementation of the technology may be complex.

Following its acquisition of Sprint, T-Mobile has double AT&T's 5G spectrum holding and the first nationwide standalone 5G network, says its tech president, Neville Ray.

AT&T's Igal Elbaz said the operator would work on 'scaling' standalone 5G throughout 2021. However, he did not name the operator's vendors.

The most advanced 5G features anticipated by network operators, like network slicing, will require OSS systems to be modernized and expanded, says Omdia Principal Analyst James Crawshaw.

Omdia Senior Analyst Pablo Tomasi says 5G won't be the main technology in private networks for a few years, but the 5G discussions in some verticals are moving the needle on planning and purchasing.

In this overview of what's happening in the 5G market, Omdia Principal Analyst & Practice Leader Dario Talmesio discusses the 5G deployments to date, the biggest enterprise vertical opportunities and how Apple's products will kickstart 5G consumer acceptance.

Heavy Reading's Gabriel Brown discusses how O-RAN is gathering momentum in 5G networks and why that matters. He also weighs in on operator moves to embrace standalone 5G, and what's holding some of them back.

Accedian, AlefEdge, Altran, Mutable, Red Hat, SK Telecom, Vapor IO, Volterra and ZTE all make the cut for crafting compelling edge computing strategies for an exploding market.

Six companies – Amdocs, Fortinet, Sprient Communications, Ekinops, VMware and Versa Networks (in partnership with Netcracker) – made the cut in the Most Innovative SD-WAN Product Strategy category.

Nine companies – A1 Telekom Austria, Altran, B-Yond, Cujo AI, EXFO, Huawei, Jio/Guavus, Netcracker and TNS – made the cut in the Most Innovative AI/Analytics Strategy category.

Five companies – Colt Technology Services, Comcast Business, Masergy, Verizon and CenturyLink – made the cut in the Most Innovative SD-WAN Service category.

Five companies – Boingo Wireless, Celona, Federated Wireless, Mavenir and Nokia – made the cut in the Most Innovative Private Wireless Networks Strategy.

Five companies – Amdocs, CommScope, Promptlink, Synamedia and ZTE – made the cut in the Most Innovative Cable/Video Product or Service category.

Three companies – Colt Technology Services, HGC and PCCW Global – made the cut in the Most Innovative Telco Cloud Strategy.

Six companies – Amdocs, Matrixx Software, MDS Global, Netcracker Technology, Openet and Whale Cloud – made the cut in the Outstanding Digital Enablement Vendor category.

Four companies – Acacia Communications, LotusFlare, Precision OT and Xilinx – made the cut in the Outstanding Components Vendor category.

Seven companies – A10 Networks, Axis Security, Keysight Technologies, NetNumber, Plume, Sprint and Synamedia – made the cut in the Most Innovative Security Strategy category.

TracFone, the largest MVNO in the US, recently hinted at a service called SmartSIM. If TracFone does indeed launch such an offering, what would it look like?

Rogers' video sub losses moderated in Q4, but the big Canadian MSO continues to shed TV customers at a steady clip after completing its rollout of Ignite TV, a syndicated version of Comcast's X1 video platform.

Never mind the Oscars! The awards season is now properly underway with the launch of the Leading Lights 2020 program, so get cracking on your submission for Light Reading's annual awards before you get swallowed up by MWC madness.

Light Reading's Mike Dano discussed how to build an affordable fixed 5G Internet service with Alex Moulle-Berteaux, chief operating officer for Starry, at the Big 5G Event in Denver on May 8.

Ovum's Michael Roberts discusses what pieces of the 5G puzzle are still needed with NSIGHT's Patrick Riordan, Mavenir's John Baker, Western Digital's Oded Sagee, Sprint's Mishka Dehghan and Cisco's Ian Campbell at the Big 5G Event in Denver, Colo. on May 7, 2019.

Craig Sparks, the CIO for C Spire, discussed how millimeter wave technology will drive 5G innovation during his keynote at the Big 5G Event in Denver, Colo. on May 7.

Verizon initially launched mobile 5G with relatively spotty coverage and a $10-per-month charge. But that's not necessarily where 5G is heading, according to Verizon's Nicki Palmer.

As speedy millimeter wave technology gets deployed to fill some important gaps in super-dense urban areas and some rural regions, the potential of these new wireless offerings will be limited if not backed up by rich fiber networks.

Shay Phillips encourages her peers to identify a career sponsor, an advocate who provides workplace advice and challenges colleagues.

Personal autonomous vehicles is a long-term promise 5G, but the nearer-term reality is more likely involve autonomous shuttles in smart cities, assisted assisted by AI-empowered cameras, Verizon's Dr. Dennis Ong predicts.

Sprint's mobile 5G launch could happen in the next few days. But the real question is what the industry will do with 5G once it launches.

Verizon's Nicki Palmer, AT&T's Igor Glubochansky, C Spire's Craig Sparks, Cincinnati Bell's Tom Simpson and CTIA's Tom Sawanobori join Light Reading's Mike Dano to discuss how 5G will really pay off for carriers.

CenturyLink's Kevin McBride explains why it's a 'great time to be wireline.'

Mishka Dehghan is vice president of 5G development for Sprint Business, and she talked about the future that we can enable with 5G at the Big 5G Event in Denver on May 8, 2019.

MetTel's Max Silber, the carrier's vice president of mobility, says 5G transforms business for both MetTel and its enterprise customers.

Heavy Reading's James Crawshaw gives an overview of a session he chaired at the Big 5G Event on automation, AI and the immediate uses for telcos as their networks evolve.

NetNumber's Jee Alkebsi and Heavy Reading's Jim Hodges discuss the recent 5G Security Market Leadership Study (MLS) and what network operators are doing to offer managed security services.

5G man is always desperate to help... but his help isn't always needed.

Many initial 5G deployments will be private networks on enterprise premises, and service providers will need to accommodate those needs, says MetTel CTO Ed Fox in conversation with Light Reading's Mitch Wagner. Also, Fox talks about how MetTel is going big on network functions virtualization (NFV).

At the Big 5G Event in Denver, Gilles Garcia, EMEA comms business lead director at chip specialist Xilinx, suggests the hardware platforms needed to underpin 5G rollouts are being overshadowed by excitement over software developments.

Ibrahim Gedeon from Telus, Jim Poole from Equinix and Tom Tofigh from QCT discuss edge computing as part of the telco cloud at the Big 5G Event in Denver on May 8, 2019.

This week in our WiC roundup: Women in Comms steals the show in Denver; moms in tech hog the headlines; women are talked over in meetings (duh); and more!

CenturyLink CTO Andrew Dugan shares his views on 5G transport technology at the Big 5G Event in Denver on May 8, 2019.

Bill Walker explains how edge computing has allowed operators to decompose applications and distribute them on the network.

Heavy Reading Senior Analyst Steve Bell highlights some of the fear, uncertainty and doubt related to 5G's return-on-investment cases and regulatory environments.

20 select shots from the week that was in Denver, Colo.

The radio access network receives plenty of attention in 5G discussions, but Verizon's Glenn Wellbrock says those "fancy radios" require a strong fiber backbone.

At the Big 5G Event in Denver, Mike Roberts, research director for Ovum's Service Provider Markets group, gives his take on the current state of the 5G market.

AT&T sees big promise in manufacturing, healthcare and retail, even before mobile 5G becomes available everywhere.

Light Reading's Ray Le Maistre and Phil Harvey were joined by two guests -- Light Reading's Mike Dano and US Ignite's Mari Silbey -- to sum up the state of 5G, why US cities are closely watching 5G deployments and what we can look forward to as 2019 rolls on.

STEM can help women self-correct the gender gap, but girls lose interest in STEM early on. That needs to change.

MSOs must remain wary of 5G-powered in-home broadband services, but the backhaul and fronthaul opportunities will abound for cable operators as 5G networks are deployed.

It's a wrap! Take a low-latency whistle-stop tour of who said what and why at Light Reading's Big 5G Event in Denver.

Boingo is best known as the guys who get travelers online at airports, but that's just a small part of the business nowadays. Network virtualization has helped drive the transition.

To build the edge computing capabilities that 5G applications need, carriers need to find out where more processing is needed – and that's not terribly clear at the moment.

Telus CTO Ibrahim Gedeon shared his views of the industry's progress at the Big 5G Event in Denver on May 8, 2019, and was one of the big hits of the week.

The move to 5G will also disrupt carriers' timing systems as 5G's timing and clock synchronization requirements are much more strict.

5G technology offers promise and potential to public safety agencies, but a long road ahead looms for implementation, according to panelists at the Big 5G Event.

The global wireless industry rushed a barebones version of the 5G standard out the door so it could get to market more quickly. Today's 5G certainly reflects that haste.

Ahead of its 5G launch, Sprint's Mishka Dehghan discussed the carrier's Curiosity IoT platform and highlights smart city applications that will take advantage of 5G's technical capabilities.

Edge computing, particularly in the 5G world, faces a series of serious obstacles, according to several in the mobile network and data center industries.

Under-fire Chinese vendor wants the US to introduce a regime for the testing of 5G products from all vendors as it fights efforts to have it banned from international markets.

Millimeter wave-powered provider of fixed wireless broadband has been able to achieve 20% service penetration in apartment buildings within 60 to 90 days of launch, COO says.

We invited our 2019 Leading Lights awards winners to share their thoughts with the Light Reading video crew. Here's what they had to say:

Ibrahim Gedeon of Canada's Telus says there needs to be less focus on speed and more attention paid to real transformation.

Ample fiber infrastructure and edge computing resources will play a key role in getting 5G services ready to go, says CenturyLink CTO Andrew Dugan.

The country's 5G leadership position could be at risk unless mid-band spectrum is made available to its operators.

Shay Phillips says women can change misperception in the workplace by identifying a career advocate with an open-door policy.

CenturyLink is one of the biggest wireline network operators in the country, but the company is also eyeing the wireless business, including through a small cell buildout operation.

A broad range of spectrum bands is critical to helping T-Mobile deliver on a good 5G experience, and millimeter wave takes another knock.

Network operators are looking for 5G to do what 4G can't for enterprise customers – and that will justify the investment.

Preparing and educating customers about the true capabilities about 5G can help mobile service providers avoid unrealistic expectations, execs at Light Reading's Big 5G Event insist.

The US telco expects to support a sub-10-millisecond service on its edge platform by the end of this year.

Not every workload needs to go to the edge. Operators need to consider which workloads make the most sense to transition.

Find out which companies have taken home the 2019 Leading Lights Awards trophies.

We've added four names to the Hall of Fame this year. Find out who they are...

Four companies have made the 2019 shortlist for this coveted award.

CenturyLink's Bill Walker explains how edge computing can help service providers efficiently manage traffic and meet increasing bandwidth demands in the 5G era.

Amdocs, CommScope, Parallel Wireless, Quantenna Communications, Sprint and Verizon and Ericsson are this year's finalists.

Six companies – Anritsu, Infovista, Kentik, Netrounds, Spirent and Viavi Solutions – made the cut in the Outstanding Test & Measurement Vendor category.

LotusFlare, MATRIXX Software, MYCOM OSI, Netcracker Technology, Openet and Synchronoss Technologies are the six shortlisted companies in this category.

There are 11 (yes, count them!) shortlisted entries in this year's category for Most Innovative Telecoms Product (Optical/IP/Carrier Ethernet/FTTH).

Find out which vendors devised the most innovative SD-WAN product or platform during the past year.

Acacia Communications, Finisar, ProLabs, Source Photonics and Xilinx all submitted standout entries for the Outstanding Components Vendor category in this year's Leading Lights contest.

Accedian, Amdocs, ASSIA, Boingo, Cisco and Huawei make the shortlist for our Most Innovative AI/Analytics Strategy award.

Verizon, AT&T and other network operators provided updates on the state of their 5G rollouts at the sixth annual Brooklyn 5G Summit, hosted by NYU Wireless and Nokia.

India's Reliance Jio and Japan's Rakuten make this year's shortlist for Most Innovative Automation Strategy.

Thirteen vendors, from Altiostar to ZTE, are helping operators apply SDN and NFV technologies to transform their networks from the core to the edge.

Three leading operators make the shortlist for telco cloud strategy for this year's Leading Lights.

Know your role. Take our poll. Help our editors finish arguing which set of executives, inventors and luminaries will be among this year's inductees into the Light Reading Hall of Fame.

Light Reading is delighted – nay, pumped – to announce the finalists for this year's Leading Lights Awards program, which is now in its 15th year.

Not entered yet? Then get a move on… there are only days left to submit your entries.

Yes, it's that time of the year again already, folks! Get cracking on your submission for Light Reading's annual awards before you catch MWC fever – there's a category (or three) for everyone!

Two years after first announcing my retirement plans, I'm really doing it. No, really.

Technology can be learned, but critical thinking, decision making and verbal communication are the career-making skills that are transferable and crucial in a digital transformation, says Jennifer Kyriakakis, Matrixx Software's co-founder and VP of marketing.

Reliance Jio's Mathew Oommen discusses the market reality and motivation behind one of India's most incredible mobile networks.

Parallel Wireless is focused on making networks more flexible under the guidance of Co-Founder and VP of Development Kaitki Agarwal, who shares her thoughts on the industry's most game-changing technologies – past, present and future – as well as offering advice for other female founders with a great idea.

Heidi Westbrook, Fujitsu's director of ICP and North American Carrier Sales, shares the secrets to advancing in comms with a work/life balance in tact, including networking, self-advocacy, unapologetically pursuing the next step and more.

CenturyLink's James Feger explains why converting some central offices into data centers may be necessary but also notes it won't be easy.