Dell bought cloud virtualization star VMware in 2016, and it's booming. But the company is spinning it off to write down a $49 billion debt.

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Romania bans Huawei; VEON co-CEO steps down; Nokia claims mmWave breakthrough; hologram pizzas.

This week in our WiC roundup: A cybersecurity PR blunder; Amazon makes commitment to hire minority employees into senior roles; the evolution of diversity in space travel; and more.

The big three US carriers continue to tout new networks, but they remain relatively indifferent about helping customers connect without traditional telco frustrations.

A government-appointed taskforce wants to interfere in the decisions that operators make about their suppliers, according to a report.

Extending a theme that has taken hold at the Canadian company in recent quarters, Shaw's cable pay-TV and broadband business continued to shed subscribers in fiscal Q2 as its mobile business gained more ground.

Wi-Fi 6E will eventually reach the masses, but cable operators will likely use the technology early on targeted, app-driven situations for wireless set-tops, cloud gaming services and in Wi-Fi-constrained MDU environments.

Verizon's new hyper-sensitive location service relies on several dozen Real Time Kinematics (RTK) reference stations the operator has constructed across the US.

SK Telecom is to spin off its non-core businesses to maximize the value of its chip and digital services investments.

This week, David Gilford, co-founder of the Broadband Equity Partnership, on what local government and nonprofit broadband leaders need from a national broadband stimulus.

The acceleration program has so far helped nurture 800 startups of which 250 have worked directly with the Spanish telco.

The Taiwanese foundry is struggling to keep up with demand for chips, partly because there are so few alternatives for its customers.

Vendor Ubiquiti reportedly suffered a 'catastrophic' security breach. 'Their security aligns with the overall nature of their equipment, relatively cheap and flimsy,' said a former Ubiquiti customer.

India's second-largest service provider by subscribers, Bharti Airtel, has announced a new organizational structure to focus on the digital business.

Subs can reduce the price on Xfinity Mobile unlimited plans as they add lines, down to as low as $30/month in four-line packages. Comcast's previous, more static unlimited plan fetched $45 per month per line.

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Cosmote to shut down 3G services; MTS switches on 5G in Moscow with Huawei; Liberty Global trials Teleste's DAA in UK.

Meituan, ByteDance, and JD.com promise to behave, as China's market watchdog, fresh from fining Alibaba $2.8 billion, now calls in 34 other tech giants.

New testing shows T-Mobile provided the best 5G availability in a number of US cities, while AT&T provided superior 5G download speeds and reliability.

Providing a clear picture of network and application performance and the ability to make real-time changes is particularly useful to SMBs that often face budget constraints and have less in-house IT and cybersecurity staff than larger enterprises.

5G players ranging from American Tower to T-Mobile are investing in edge computing sites. However, a new report 'informed by the speed of light' raises questions about the parameters of the opportunity.

Proposed bill that earmarks $100 billion for rural broadband could help merger clear the DoJ, but it would also eliminate a 'critical backstop' for the satellite TV industry, MoffettNathanson's Craig Moffett says.

Italy's new government diverts an extra $3 billion from the EU COVID-19 recovery fund to ultrafast infrastructure.

All of the big US network operators are working to get customers to subscribe to their expensive service plans, but the details of their 5G pricing strategies highlight their divergent network positions.

If there's one thing we've learned from Huawei's annual analyst event this week it is that it's definitely not building its own car – right?

With a mission to become a 'one-stop shop' for streaming media and plans to tie in a bigger mix of major streaming services, new chairman views Plex as 'the cable company of the future.'

The DoT says global vendors including Ericsson and Nokia have applied via the Production Linked Incentive Scheme to expand their manufacturing base in India.

Letter calls for EU Parliament to stand up for user privacy rights in reform of ePrivacy directive, and not defend the interests of tech giants.

Competition authorities have few worries about the UK tie-up, but customers and employees may feel differently.

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Vector Photonics bag equity funding; German data protection regulator clamps down on Facebook; Spotify suffers branding car-crash moment.

The Chinese equipment giant questions the need for 6G and even 5G technology as protectionism looms and US sanctions force a strategic shift.

Satellites to date have been viewed as a last-resort option for 5G backhaul. But players ranging from OneWeb to AST SpaceMobile to Inmarsat are hoping to provide far more than that.

Agreement with Scopia Capital Management leads to some wild speculation about what it all means, but it appears that the motivations behind it are much more straightforward.

The biggest wireless network operators in the US announced in 2019 that they would jointly launch RCS messaging services sometime in 2020. But it was not to be.

The evolution to 5.5G will require on-demand frequency allocation and much greater network intelligence, Huawei says.

German operator teams with Ericsson, Nokia, Oppo and Qualcomm to cast 5G adrift from LTE.

MachineQ says rollouts of LoRaWAN gateways and traffic loads are on the rise amid a deployment streamlining effort, investments in sales and marketing and a stronger link to Comcast Business.

UK battery manufacturer looks to 5G VR digital twin solution to boost productivity.

Triangle Telephone Cooperative (TTC) is based in Central Montana and counts around 17,000 subscribers. It's considering ripping out Huawei's core and replacing it with open RAN equipment.

The companies promise a 64T64R radio unit competitive with the best from traditional players by late 2021.

Roku is rolling out a new entry-level, $39.99 4K player, a premium voice remote and new soundbar/streaming combo, along with a mix of new features in updated OS for streaming players and Roku TVs.

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Ericsson drives private network for automotive testbed; Openreach invests £100 million in Northern Ireland; Three UK hires new CTO.

AXON Networks says it delivers an AI-driven, analytics-based orchestration platform, the AXON AnyNet Orchestrator, in addition to high-speed routers utilizing the latest Wi-Fi technologies.

Verizon inked cell tower deals with Crown Castle and SBA Communications, but some analysts believe Verizon will need to add more towers to its network to meet its coverage goals.

Dish Network has said T-Mobile's CDMA shutdown plans raise 'significant competition and public interest concerns.' But T-Mobile issued a blistering retort to Dish: 'Go do your job.'

Two projects originally created by Comcast engineers – Kuberhealthy and Trickster – are the first from the operator to be accepted as 'Sandbox' projects by the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF).

Microsoft sees cloud services boost its net income by a yearly 33%, up to $15.5 billion, as the Redmond tech giant now cocks an eye at telcos.

Big telecom has driven the industry, with light-touch regulation – not just in the US but across the OECD and much of the developing world. Until now.

A number of tech companies, including those in the telecom industry, are scheduled to meet with the Biden administration Monday to discuss the effects of the global chipset shortage.

Product integrations alongside a broader refresh would be an obvious catch-up move against the likes of Amazon, Google and even Roku.

Elon Musk's brain-machine interface tech firm shows a macaque monkey playing 'mind-pong' with the aid of an implanted wireless chip.

The Chinese equipment giant hopes investment in software will make it less reliant on state-of-the-art chips.

Orange Poland teams with Dutch pension fund APG to create 50:50 venture with aim of driving fiber network rollout.

The story is not done playing out, but the road leading to CommScope's decision to spin out its Home Networks division has taken many twists and turns, crossing the paths of Digeo, Motorola and Google along the way.

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Fastweb taps Amdocs for network inventory upgrade; MTN seeks $5 billion valuation of mobile money unit ahead of stake sale; A1 Telekom Austria brings your package inside.

The 5G equipment giant seems to be one of the only telecom companies in China that is not crazy about open RAN.

Fresh off its deal with Lockheed Martin, Omnispace appears to be busy. The company has hinted at potential discussions with players ranging from Dish Network to Verizon to the US Space Force.

The White House has requested $39 million in 2022 for the NTIA to research 'innovative approaches to spectrum sharing.' That could pave the way for IIC technology to go live for 5G.

Following warnings from the likes of T-Mobile, Gogo and Infinera, Verizon said that it does not expect the global chip shortage to affect its C-band buildout plans.

NCTC, which represents dozens of operators that use MobiTV, has asked members to put up at least $1 million toward potential MobiTV buyers.

New president signals that he, too, plans to take a tough line over technologies regarded as a potential threat.

This week in our WiC roundup: How trans people in tech are faring; the best places for women to work; 'tech-bro gender-blindness'; and more.

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Telefónica Tech opts for quantum randomness; STC teams up with Dizmo for smart homes; HMD Global unveils more Nokia phones.

The Internet of Things (IoT) seems to be the flavor of the month as far as Indian service providers' enterprise offerings are concerned.

Beijing's 14th five-year plan calls for building on China's 5G advantage to maintain its status as the world's factory floor, but it's less ambitious than previous plans.

Companies put their patent‑infringement battles behind them, but only after Lenovo agrees to make a net balancing payment to Nokia.

Some of the companies that won money in the FCC's RDOF program are facing a growing, noisy chorus of critics that argue they won't be able to meet their obligations.

After spending around $500 million on CBRS spectrum licenses, Charter is now asking the FCC for permission to conduct drive tests of transmissions in the band in around a dozen cities.

Discovery's new premium streaming service has launched on Flex, and will be rolled out to Comcast's X1 pay-TV platform in the coming weeks.

Dish Network is now promising 'a cloud-native solution that integrates network security from the foundation up.' Nokia, Allot and Palo Alto Networks are providing the details.

The past year has taught us many lessons. Among them is the critical role of the cable network in our homes and our daily lives.

Board would consider other options if they created value that extends beyond the current plan to spin off a Home Business unit that will be led by cable and telecom industry veteran Joe Chow.

When private 5G meets factories it brings cybercriminals to the yard. Fujitsu partners up with Trend Micro to eyeball if they can cook up a solution.

This week, Scott Willis, CEO of DartPoints; and Bruce Garrison, chief revenue officer of Bluebird Network, on their connectivity work in rural Iowa and the collaboration required to tackle the digital divide.

In a first-of-its-kind deal in India, Reliance Jio will buy 800MHz spectrum from arch-rival Bharti Airtel.

For B2B success, CSPs should be open to more collaboration and double down on building an agile network infrastructure that scales, according to CSG.

Company expects to complete the spin-off of a unit that makes set-tops and other consumer premises equipment by the end of Q1 2022. It represents one move of several aimed at cutting operating costs.

Axiata and Telenor are close to agreeing a merger of their Malaysian operations, the two companies have announced.

Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners is said to have teamed up with EQT on a possible takeover bid valuing the Dutch telco at over $15bn.

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Telenor considers Malaysia merger; Nokia expands Wavence microwave range; EE makes progress on 5G rollout.

SPONSORED: 5G monetization will be more profound than 2G, 3G and even 4G network monetization. 5G will fuel the adoption of a multi-vendor, end-to-end programmable and automated service delivery model that will transform how CSPs deliver high-value services to their customers.

But the form of such a transaction remains hazy, as it could involve an outright sale or the formation of a joint venture designed to improve product margins and get the CPE business off of CommScope's books.

T-Mobile plans to sell 100Mbit/s connections to up to 30 million US households for $60 per month. However, there remain a number of questions surrounding the effort.

The satellite broadband service, still in beta, has seen median speeds fluctuate in recent months even as users report a rise in burst speeds, according to new Ookla Speedtest data.

T-Mobile is now offering a free 5G phone alongside promises of cheaper 5G services than the competition. The operator's announcement may represent the final piece of its 5G puzzle.

Open RAN comes to Afghanistan, as Etisalat partners with Parallel Wireless – and operators eye the developing world as prime networks to open up.

Philippines' newest operator, Dito Telecom, has stumbled at the first hurdle in its mission to break the local duopoly.

Bharti Enterprises and Dixon Technologies have agreed to form a joint venture to produce telecom and networking products.

After making a similar complaint against Apple, the noyb pressure group has now launched action against the Android Advertising Identifier.

Yousef Khalidi discusses the economic benefits operators can experience by partnering with a cloud provider.

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Lutz Schüler named as boss of post-merger Virgin Media/O2 entity; Ericsson does 5G in Malta; UK sets up new regulatory unit to tame tech titans.

Improving the customer experience while achieving the full promise of Wi-Fi 6.

Our short, informal survey revealed that nearly one in every five people who went to MWC Barcelona in 2019 are still not sure about whether they'll attend #MWC21.

The FCC plans to auction off 100MHz of prime midband spectrum between 3.45GHz and 3.55GHz in October. It could be just the event that Dish Network's Charlie Ergen has been waiting for.

If multiple qualified bids are received, May 12 has been set for an auction, according to revised bid procedures that tie into MobiTV's voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding.

Shentel is cutting roughly 340 employees from its payroll as it moves ahead with the sale of its wireless business to T-Mobile.

The Motorola MG8725 gateway is also the first in an anticipated lineup of Minim products to be outfitted with Wi-Fi 6 technology.

LG's departure is a loss of sorely-needed device innovation – it may not be a big deal for the handset business, but it is something of a blow to operators.

US Supreme Court ruled that the use of Oracle software code to build the Android operating system did not violate federal copyright law.

WOW's new policy, which includes a $30 unlimited option for 1-Gig customers, arrives amid a 'broadband-first' posture and a steering of high-speed Internet customers to OTT-TV options such as YouTube TV and Philo.

Like we did last August, Light Reading will stage our Cable Next-Gen Technologies & Strategies conference as a free digital event over two half days in late April.