Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Deutsche Telekom teams up on urban data; Openreach goes with Viavi for network management; Proximus in Bruges.

Fewer eyeballs are fixed on pay-TV and the economics of a linear cable TV service are getting 'worse and worse every year,' CEO Dexter Goei tells CNBC.

Verizon's customer support implied that 5G will drain customers' phone batteries. What they really meant is that 5G is not yet worth using.

Digital Colony will take Boingo private in a transaction valued at around $854 million. It's Marc Ganzi's latest step toward 'digital infrastructure' convergence.

Lumen is partnering with Zoom to launch the Zoom Phone, a cloud phone system that provides customers with the ability to migrate on-premises calling systems to a cloud platform which also includes Zoom Meetings, Chat, Rooms and Webinar capabilities.

The German incumbent is weighing options for its infrastructure while the region's powerbrokers continue to advance.

Orby TV has shut down and now steers affected customers to a promo with Dish Network that includes one 'Wally' HD receiver and an option to switch over for as low as $100 when activation fees are factored in.

MobiTV, a pay-TV tech partner to T-Mobile and several MSOs, could end up selling most of its assets. Its list of creditors include Rackspace, Silicon Valley Bank, MPEG LA, Comcast and several programmers.

German owner Deutsche Telekom promised a combo would employ more staff, but 6% of jobs have disappeared.

The Biden administration will put into force sweeping Trump-era measures against importing Chinese technology into the US, to IBM and Amazon's horror.

Government seeks to better regulate its sprawling mobile apps market.

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Vodafone's European integration plan trundles into action; MTN Syria fights judicial guardianship ruling; Hyperoptic does its bit for the digital divide.

Spectrum woes, high taxes and more combine to make life difficult.

Juniper says that by now bringing telemetry data from Session Smart Routers into the Mist AI engine, customers can better manage service levels across the WAN, and proactively detect anomalies to improve user experience.

The discussion is no longer about offering a low-margin OTT-TV service out of Comcast's footprint, but about generating scale for a broader platform supported by a much more diverse economic ecosystem.

MSO needs to buy more smaller operators and apply a model that de-emphasizes video and pushes broadband penetration if Cable One is to 'sustain its stratospheric value,' MoffettNathanson's Craig Moffett says.

According to Reuters, Huawei – in collaboration with Chinese automakers – is gearing up to make electric vehicles under its own brand.

TikTok and Kuaishou rival Lomotif is bought for $125 million by a consortium led by Ted Farnsworth, as the short video industry gets a little more crowded.

As demand for connectivity increases, it's time to begin defining the 6G standard, and understanding the benefits and challenges that 6G will present.

'We're pretty optimistic about open RAN and its ability to do a number of things,' says Dave Mayo, who recently assembled the leadership team for Dish's four network regions.

Requirement to move straight to standalone version of 5G causes some ructions.

5G has delivered a boost to the bottom line for SmarTone and Taiwan Mobile, financial filings reveal, in one of the first signs of 5G uplift outside Korea.

Europe's biggest operator had its most successful year ever in 2020, but investors do not seem to have noticed.

This week in our WiC roundup: New study reports gender equality in tech stats; Google seeks to improve image; the best cities for women in tech in 2021; and more.

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Cellnex grows revenues 55% in 2020; Three UK updates on network upgrades; Brexit threatens UK's fintech future, says government-led report.

Indian government issues new regulations for digital media, including Internet firms, OTT platforms and online news.

'New DirecTV,' consisting of the DirecTV satellite service, U-verse TV and AT&T TV, will operate as AT&T's US video unit. The transaction values the entity at about $16.25 billion.

And that's just fine and dandy. Amid its pursuit of a 'broadband-first' strategy, WOW, which has about 308,000 video subs, expects its pay-TV base to dip below the 100,000 mark within three years, CFO says.

Launch of Xfinity Stream app on Flex enables broadband-only subscribers to add contract-free pay-TV services, starting with a baseline 'Choice TV' package that includes major local broadcast channels.

UScellular dropped out when prices reached $76 million. Dish Network dropped out after prices reached $218 million. And, finally, T-Mobile tapped out after round 30, when prices hit $240 million.

Turn off Abba's 'Dancing Queen' and stopper the aquavit – the Chinese hit back at Ericsson with an even lighter product.

CFO hails 2020 as one of the most successful financial years in the company's history.

Aim is to accelerate the development of the Generic Access Platform, an emerging node standard for HFC networks that can slot in service modules for DOCSIS, PON, mobile/wireless and, potentially, edge compute.

Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile are collectively spending almost $90 billion on C-band spectrum licenses. These seven charts show exactly what they're buying.

Artificial intelligence has brought efficiency for operators but little in the way of additional revenues.

Worth $370 billion in 2006, Spain's biggest telecom operator is valued at just $25 billion today.

Southeast Asian group said to have shelved plans to sell stake in Edotco tower unit.

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: EU wants to extend roaming regulation for another ten years; Tele2 and Equinix cozy up for secure IoT; Sparkle to supply cloud services to GÉANT.

In its first results since its Vodafone merger, Australia's TPG inked $734 million in profits with help from the taxman, though COVID-19 hit pro-forma figures.

Paramount+'s ad-free 'premium' service, to launch March 4, will cost $9.99 per month. Paramount+'s 'base' offering, coming in June, will fetch $4.99 per month.

Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile walked away with the vast majority of the C-band licenses for 5G. Dish Network spent just $2.5 million, while Comcast and Charter spent nothing.

Vendor Infinera expects up to $340 million in revenue in its upcoming quarter, but that figure includes a $10 million risk due to 'semiconductor shortages that are not unique to our industry.'

Windstream Enterprise is backing the new customer commitment with contract flexibility, free upgrades and guaranteed 100% uptime for customers of both its OfficeSuite UC and SD-WAN Concierge services.

Dish and its OnTech unit will market and sell ADT services in an agreement that comes a few years after EchoStar shut down its DIY-focused SAGE by Hughes smart home/security offering.

Siden, a startup backed by Columbia Capital, obtained T-Mobile's permission to test LTE Broadcast technologies in the operator's spectrum in Washington, DC.

The IT giant has spruced up its portfolio of communications products and launched a new open RAN server, but will the industry bite?

Elon Musk says Internet-from-orbit serve Starlink will double its speeds this year to 300 Mbit/s, and reach all the earth's services by 2022.

Telecoms optical computing firm Infinera cut its Q4 losses to $9.9M, down from $66.6M a year before, even as its North American market slowed down.

Vodafone formally announces intention to float European towerco spinout on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange by the end of March.

Thirst for data is driving industry into the arms of 5G mmWave in 2021 – and a GSMA Intelligence report concludes mmWave can cut costs by as much as a third.

Judge's ruling in California could clear way for other states to follow suit ahead of expectations that the FCC will pursue new rules that were rolled back during the Trump administration.

The Italian operator's latest strategic plan is probably not going to be a major restorative for a company that seems in perpetual decline.

BT-owned operator aims to complete 579 4G site upgrades by the end of 2021.

The Light Reading podcast welcomes Dan Kurin, tech coordinator at Factory Two, and Brandon Corder, CEO of Beats x Beers, to discuss an upcoming experiment with low-latency broadband in Flint, Michigan.

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Zain revenue down; real-estate companies warned on digital failings; more bad ads from UK mobile operators.

Börje Ekholm nonetheless thinks large-scale open RAN is years away.

Late last year, T-Mobile told Dish it would shut down its 3G CDMA network for Boost customers by January 1, 2022. That's a full year earlier than Dish had expected.

TPG closing in on agreement to acquire 'large minority' stake in DirecTV, U-verse and AT&T TV in deal valuing AT&T's video business at about $15 billion, CNBC reports.

The city's network spans 44 square miles and provides speeds up to 50Mbit/s. Existing telecom providers Lumen Technologies and Cox have 'spent a significant amount of time pushing back on this project.'

AT&T's primary OTT-TV service will soon support up to 20 simultaneous streams in the home, and shift its premium, 500-hour cloud DVR storage tier to unlimited storage.

'It'll pick up at some point,' Alex Gellman, CEO of cell tower company Vertical Bridge, predicted. In the meantime, though, financial analysts are bracing for a 5G spending lull.

Spanning all flavors of Wi-Fi, new Wi-Fi Alliance certification program brings standardized approach to traffic prioritization, with focus on apps such as AR/VR, videoconferencing and online gaming.

The world's biggest vendors had enterprise on their mind as Mobile World Congress returned Tuesday after a year's hiatus.

One study's winner is another's laggard, possibly because researchers cannot agree on what constitutes an essential patent.

On this episode, Mike Dano gets into the significance of the FCC's $81 billion C-band spectrum auction and what the forthcoming results will mean for operators' 5G plans.

Intel is Google's latest partner for its Anthos for Telecom effort. The companies are targeting both network operators as well as enterprises building their own networks.

Days after the prepaid satellite TV service halted new service activations, Orby TV's website is active again, promoting a cut rate on one-room installs.

Malaysia also plans to establish a 5G Cybersecurity Lab with the Chinese vendor.

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Deutsche Telekom and Ericsson explore solar power at mobile sites; Swisscom goes with Teoco for 5G network planning; RootMetrics offers UK 5G snapshot.

Bharti Airtel has partnered with global chip-maker Qualcomm to roll out virtualized and open RAN-based 5G networks, after Airtel's successful live 5G test.

T-Mobile is hoping to encourage customers to sign up for new, more expensive Magenta MAX service by removing monthly usage limits.

Meanwhile, a potentially costly wrinkle emerges in Dish's retail mobile biz as T-Mobile warns it plans to shut down its 3G CDMA network on or around January 1, 2022.

'We should have more market share there,' Dish's chairman says, noting that Sling TV 'stumbled' on the quality of the user experience.

But the Singaporean operator's cost reduction program continues to make good progress.

Foxconn says the silicon drought will have 'limited impact' on it and customers like Apple, as freak Arctic weather shuts down Texas chip plants.

The mega spectrum auction takes place in March, with top three telcos Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea bidding on a total of 2310MHz spectrum.

After initially agreeing to postpone new data policies in its Northeast division until July 2021, the cable operator said it will now hold off implementing them until 2022.

One of the benefits of AI is that it can be used to look at coverage data in different ways, incorporating factors such as economics and population density into the maps.

Revenue from RAN equipment reached record-breaking heights in 2020, driven by stronger than expected 5G NR investments in North America and China toward the end of the year.

Swedish vendor claims to have the smallest and lightest massive MIMO radios in the world.

iPhone maker regains number one position for first time since Q4 2016, says latest report, although Samsung retains the top spot for the year.

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: French village says 'non' to Starlink ground station; KPN buffs up green credentials; MVNO specialist returns to Three UK.

Verizon Business is expanding its SD-WAN services by providing customers with the options of co-managed Cisco SD-WAN by Viptela, managed SD-WAN by Viptela for the Cisco ISR1100 Series platform, and new managed service tiers for Cisco Meraki.

Cryptic message that Orby TV is 'not activating customer accounts' has left customers in the dark about the fate of a prepaid satellite TV service that got off the ground in early 2019.

JiNan Glasgow George said her crystal ball, powered by a mixture of experience, artificial intelligence and patent filings, indicates Cisco and Intel will pursue M&A opportunities in edge computing.

Some 42% of Q4 revenues came from Casa's wireless business, outpacing its legacy cable business and its budding telco wireline business.

Cloud business Twilio, with its SMS API platform, sees fourth-quarter revenue up 65% as it sells $1 billion of fresh shares.

MobiTV, a company that helps to underpin T-Mobile's TVision service as well as pay-TV streaming services for several US cable operators, is in need of more capital or a buyer to keep operations afloat.

Casa Systems, HPE, Mavenir, Microsoft, Athonet and Parallel Wireless are just some of the 5G core network vendors challenging established heavyweights like Huawei and Cisco.

Authorities plan to build a state-owned mobile network that would be open to all operators.

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Eir launches VoLTE; TalkTalk dangles Amazon Prime; UK Supreme Court rules that Uber drivers aren't self-employed.

In the latest setback for Meng Wanzhou, the UK's high court has rejected her application to peek into HSBC's files.

This week in our WiC roundup: There's a new billionaire in town; Clubhouse excludes minorities; the gaming industry makes ghosts of female developers; and more.

China-based equipment provider is said to have warned suppliers it will need 60% fewer components this year as US sanctions bite.

Telecom operators are outraged that Internet companies are not subject to the same tough obligations.

Roku ends 2020 with 51.2 million active accounts, maintaining a small edge over Amazon's Fire TV platform.

A more efficient modulation scheme, OFDMA, is expected to play a bigger role as cable operators start to embark on upgrades that dedicate more spectrum to the upstream.

New SAS providers are hoping to compete against CommScope, Google, Sony, Federated Wireless, Key Bridge and Amdocs to manage CBRS spectrum sharing.

A new report reveals that comprehensive network performance management across legacy and SD-WAN deployments will be key to driving successful managed services.

Improved latency is one of the 'great goals of the designers of 5G,' OpenSignal noted, and it's only available to operators that switch on the 'standalone' version of 5G.