Whittling down the field was a tall order in the mobile product category this year.

As shortlists go this is a long one but that reflects the very high standard of the entries in this year's best new telecom product category.

The US CableCARD mandate may be on the ropes, thanks to a new bill seeking to end the ban on embedded set-top security.

HP's looking to foster a SDN ecosystem and take the smartphone model into enterprise software-defined networking with a developers' kit and an app store. But is this an idea ahead of its time?

If you can't go to each and every Ethernet & SDN Expo (ESDN) conference session, here are five you really shouldn't miss.

Conference sessions focus on business and wholesale services as commercial Ethernet market continues double-digit growth.

Five companies made this shortlist - here's why.

Telcos are well positioned to take advantage of the real opportunity in open-data: the creation of a thriving open-data ecosystem with a platform play.

Services like Uber are redefining how we use mobile technologies to transform our everyday lives.

Also in today's EMEA lineup: BT to hike its prices; consortium acquires Ireland's e|net; Maroc Telecom bid deadline extended.

More than three-quarters of US homes now have broadband, even though the Internet penetration rate has flattened out.

The telecom industry is doing OK, but, then again...

Also in today's EMEA roundup: Government may protect Telecom Italia network; eircom sales decline; Mexican wrestling -- it's Branson v Slim.

Spending on cutting-edge technology doesn't guarantee a return on investment.

Ericsson's new small cell plan already has the support of Verizon, but one rival say it's just a me-too play and redesign of its current DAS radio head.

Telecom isn't boring and neither are these movies inspired by, or heavily involving, technology from this fascinating industry.

BlackBerry's fate in the smartphone business is pretty much sealed, but what is its future in the Rockstar patent group?

Comcast's thePlatform video publishing unit launches cloud-based "Virtual TV Framework" for multi-screen video services.

What questions would you like asked at the upcoming Ethernet & SDN Expo (ESDN)?

Telcos have a few lessons to impart about their networks, service quality and customer experience that OTT players should heed.

If 'Specs & Plugs & Rock & Roll' are your thing, then Light Reading's Big Telecom Event is the show for you.

New $200 Samsung retail set-top box with CableCARD looks to ship to stores this fall.

Think the telecom industry is in lock-step on major trends? Think again, my friend.

Data from WiFi curator Devicescape suggests that the West coast is better when it comes to the availability and openness of WiFi in businesses.

It might look good on paper, but a merger of Alcatel-Lucent and NSN would be a match made in a madhouse.

Also in today's EMEA roundup: BT accused of monopolizing UK rural broadband rollout; Elop plays the divorce card; NSN heads towards 5G.

A young video caching specialist sews up its first deployment deal with a major US MSO.

Caffeine is mandatory for most telecom employees, whether in the field or at their desks. Here are some creative options for a daily fix.

But its new LTE home router will only appeal to the lightest of data users.

Cloudy Orlando was brightened this week by the smiles at Comptel, where competitive carriers say business is looking much better.

Swedish vendor unveils 'unique' Radio Dot System as its prime pitch for indoor cellular coverage. But how unique is it?

Operators are making big bets on small cells, but first they have to work through the mobile backhaul challenges, which will be discussed at next week's Ethernet & SDN Expo in New York City.

iControl partners with EcoFactor and Zonoff powers new Staples Connect offering as cablecos and retailers compete for smart home customers.

Comptel Plus panel warns that threats are more targeted and intelligent, meaning service providers need to get their heads out of the sand and be more vigilant.

Also in today's EMEA roundup: Kabel Deutschland abandons bid to acquire rival; Elop's payoff atypical, admits Nokia chairman; Ericsson wins in Bahrain.

Shanghai free trade zone looks set to open up to overseas service providers, according to reports. But will anything really change?

The digital media specialist adds new video analytics features and cloud DRM services and signs up Turner Broadcasting.

There are plenty more, but here are 10 key reasons the Ethernet & SDN Expo Oct. 2-3 in New York is a must-attend event.

SoftBank put Hesse's contract on a five-year cycle, rather than reviewing it every year.

Interactive TV vendor plans to launch national ad platform for US cable, telco, and satellite TV providers, as well as connected TVs.

'It's time to open up the network,' says Ciena's Steve Alexander.

Reciprocal deal gives Fon's international community of WiFi-sharing users access to AT&T's 30,000 hotspots and gives AT&T an international network of Wifi access points.

Cisco converges recent NFV and SDN developments into its new Network Convergence System to help communications service providers move towards a programmable network.

New hosted unified communications (UC) options enable smaller telcos to get into enhanced services more quickly, without requiring CLEC status.

The new Supplier Domain 2.0 initiative requires new vendors to incorporate virtualization and cloud-based solutions to help AT&T reduce its capex.

Operations issues are a major challenge for the SDN/NFV evolution, and they'll be a hot topic at the upcoming Ethernet & SDN Expo in New York City.

Also in today's EMEA roundup: Ericsson's new CIO; Transmode wins in Slovenia; and the power of the bacon sandwich.

Level 3 Communications is likely to move toward 100G deployment in its network within six months.

A strong line-up of vendors, including Ciena, Overture, RAD, and others, outline their plans for next week's Ethernet & SDN Expo.

A consortium led by Fairfax Financial Holdings has offered to buy BlackBerry for $4.7 billion.

Rutberg & Co. reveals that mobile companies made $738M in August VC rounds, with Uber netting $258M from Google.

Nearly 75 percent of former Clearwire employees will be cut from the company eventually; 161 received notice this month.

The iPhone 5c and 5s include the same Qualcomm RF360 as the earlier versions, but with support for additional LTE bands tacked on.

The leading European MSO aims to extend its Horizon multi-screen video service to WiFi hotspots throughout the continent.

On the road to full fiber access, BT is checking out the potential of vectoring and G.fast, boosting its core network capacity and finding SDN enticing.

Also in today's EMEA roundup: Vodafone gets EC approval for Kabel Deutschland bid; UK spooks implicated in Belgacom hacking; Telecom Italia considers towers sale.

BlackBerry plans to cut 40 percent of its workforce and two smartphone models as it battles to lower costs.

Leading Spanish MSO prepares to roll out 500 Mbit/s broadband service next month to combat Telefonica.

The introduction of next-generation WiFi can bring major benefits, but only once service providers open up their networks.

Comcast Business adds mobile calling features to its cloud-based voice solution for SMBs.

Need something to fill out a Friday?

New deployments of IPsec in Europe are allaying fears of fears of high costs and negative impacts on performance.

Three very diverse services from three very different service providers represent the industry's best big-business services.

In telecom innovation, China is not even in the race, says Robert Clark.

Also in today's EMEA roundup: Nokia names decision day for Microsoft deal; Danish operator upgrades with Huawei, Euro-Huaweiland opens its doors.

Fewer than 6 percent of readers say they will running out to buy a new iPhone 5C this Friday.

Cox has ended the test of its flameWatch IPTV service based on Fanhattan's Fan TV experience.

The major telcos have all embraced over-the-top applications, using the Guangdong province as the battleground.

Also in today's EMEA roundup: Shareholders discuss Telecom Italia's future; Orange develops M2M offer; Astellia wins in Moldova.

The ambitious German Internet peering exchange operator plans its first US location in NYC, but may need to overcome operator apathy.

Microsoft is the newest addition to the growing fold of companies tying their cloud services to AT&T's VPN.

Comcast's new 505Mbit/s service tops Verizon's 500Mbit/s FiOS offering in the latest round of the US broadband speed wars.

Utopia and EPB drop the rates on their gigabit services to $70 per month or less, matching Google Fiber's offering in Kansas City.

There's a crippling divide within communications service provider teams that's stifling their business and growth potential.

Telecom and music go together like Sonny and Cher, like Simon and Garfunkel, like... oh you get the picture.

Smart, industry-shaking acquisitions and partnerships landed these companies on the shortlist for the best deal maker of 2013.

Also in today's roundup: Regulators' body unimpressed with EC proposals; fiber linkup in Tanzania; Brits flock to 4G.

Cricket is the latest US operator to use Devicescape's aggregated WiFi network to bolster cellular coverage.

The business case for SDN and NFV deployments will be a key topic of debate at the Ethernet & SDN Expo event Oct 2-3.

New products from 10 different vendors make our shortlist of finalists for the 2013 Leading Lights Best New Product (Cable) category.

The mobile core network might be ripe for network functions virtualization (NFV), but there are plenty of hurdles to overcome before any real-world deployments.

Big Portuguese cable provider teams with Concurrent for its new multi-screen cloud DVR service.

Top French MSO moves to capitalize on growing interest in European cable assets.

Also in today's EMEA roundup: Telecom Italia shareholders reject Telefonica bid; Huawei scores in Poland; Nokia tablet 'delayed.'

Stoke has won another mobile security gateway deal in Japan.

We pick the three operators that are being the most aggressive with WiFi and have ground-breaking deployments to show for it.

After months of tests and trials in the UK, Vodafone Netherlands is impressed with the SpiderCloud enterprise small cell system for fast indoor coverage.

Juniper declares its Contrail SDN solution production ready with an open-source version that further complicates industry efforts to develop a standards-based open SDN controller.

FreedomPop's CEO on what it takes to compete with the big guns in the US mobile industry.

Three cloud-based services comprise our first Leading Lights shortlist recognizing innovation in serving the unique needs of SMBs.

Sprint, racing T-Mobile for third place in 4G, turns on LTE in 34 new markets.

Arris demonstrates hybrid and all-IP set-tops with a variety of software platforms at IBC.

Demo with IBM and Marist College shows off virtualized optical network with dynamic wavelengths connecting datacenters.

Also in today's EMEA roundup: MoD releases UK spectrum; KPN's tax maneuver, Vodafone plans Greek investment; Nokia pops out a cheap one.

The Magenta mob is now at 154 4G LTE cities.

We've already told you which companies made the Most Innovative Carrier Cloud Service category shortlist, now here are the reasons why.

New 400G network processor is intended to support trillions of transactions.

You could spend the cash on the colorful, new, plastic phone from Apple, but there are other options.

AT&T now live in 400 4G LTE markets as it pushes to catch Verizon.

It's day one of the annual IBC show in Amsterdam and Cisco is among the many names making product announcements at the video jamboree.

New Netgear headless media gateway packs a punch with high-powered transcoding, high-speed networking, and cloud-friendly features.

A Light Reading community poll suggests Microsoft's acquisition of Nokia's devices and services will be the biggest game changer in the telecom industry this year.

Three service providers made very strong cases this year for their wholesale offerings.

Also in today's EMEA roundup: Industry reacts to EC 'single market' proposals; Movistar demands less commitment; Viacloud's new CTO.

The cloud-based video vendor has snagged new or expanded deals with Liberty Global, Deutsche Telekom, KPN, and Ziggo.

There is a fine line between making services more convenient and sharing too much info with the wrong people.

DVR pioneer introduces cloud-based nDVR prototype with Harmonic at IBC show in Amsterdam.

Rostelecom deploys largest operator CDN to date, in hope of monetizing video over broadband.

New Comcast-TWC joint venture names Steve Heeb president, signs up S3 Group and itaas as first contractors.

This week's launch of two new iPhones was not a big hit in China.

Also in today's EMEA roundup: Vivendi considers shedding SFR; Vodafone hacked in Germany; Virgin Media deploys Ciena's packet-optical gear.

Our list of the private companies that showed innovation, ingenuity, and potential for disruption in 2013.

Prepare for a new Europe and a fair degree of carnage en route...

Genband wants to give service providers a video, chat, and text response to their OTT competitors.

We predict the devices you want, before you even knew you wanted them. Wait, did we just blow your mind?

The carrier upgrades several US long-haul routes, as well as a major European route, with 100G.

John Donovan says there's a perception gap on AT&T's wireless network performance as the first anniversary of the Project VIP upgrade plan approaches, while AT&T fumbles the anniversary of 9/11 with an ill-judged tweet.

Extensive testing of new 400 Gbit/s systems is critical for network operators if they are to save themselves from post-deployment performance and opex pressures.

Running down the candidates in the ever-changing world of innovative 4G services.

AT&T now has 39 lower 700MHz B block licenses covering 42 million people in 18 states.

NSA revelations show that Blackberry communications are not secure.

AT&T rolls out Arris video access points with embedded Quantenna chipset to all U-verse markets, replacing Cisco and Broadcom products.

Also in today's EMEA roundup: German mag reveals BlackBerry security flaws; EE strikes MVNO deal with Virgin Mobile; AlcaLu wins an Emmy!

The diminishing gap between wireline and wireless speeds will shape consumption of gigabit-class services faster than we may expect.

QuickFire Networks pitches a new, more powerful video server as the transcoding solution for UHD computing demands grow.

The iPhone 5C supports more LTE bands than any other smartphone in the world, Apple claims.

Regional carrier ups its 4G launches after spectrum sell-offs.

Arris boosts its TV Everywhere portfolio with a Sling-loaded media streamer addition.

Want to know how mobile usage will develop? Check out a university campus, says Actix.

Developers and telcos can together create a sustainable and profitable telecom application ecosystem; they've just been doing it wrong so far.

Find out who has made it to this year's Leading Lights awards shortlists.

Transit Wireless is gearing up to unwire another 40 NYC subway stations, starting in October. Here's how it's happening...

Also in today's EMEA roundup: Telefonica secures infrastructure funding; AlcaLu goes multi-screen in Spain; Virgin trials Netflix; Brussels lays down the law on roaming charges.

Carrier wants to persuade insurance companies to sell their customers much more than insurance.

The user base for SK Telecom's new LTE-Advanced 4G service grew to over 350,000 in August.

The mobile core network is ripe for network functions virtualization (NFV) -- here's why.

An unofficial Comcast source says an Xfinity Games trial is now starting in Atlanta.

Join us Wednesday at 12:00 p.m. EST for a live chat with Heavy Reading's Gabriel Brown about how LTE operators are evolving their networks and what it means to their customers.

Also in today's EMEA roundup: EE has more than 1 million 4G subscribers; AlcaLu does 3G femtocells in Germany; Sawiris's nose out of joint; Nokia draws on Microsoft funding.

Ericsson buys the thorn in its CDMA side.

German carrier taps ActiveVideo for landmark cloud TV trials.

Take a look inside the chipmaker's Uplinq conference where all the talk was about the Toq, augmented reality apps, and more.

Mobile operators in Hong Kong are seething over the regulator's plan to snatch back 3G spectrum, a plan they say will cost them and their customers dear.

Also in today's EMEA roundup: Vodafone focuses on Italy; investors size up Telecom Italia stake; Neul gets $5M Series B funding; Berlin gadget-fest.

We look at five iconic tech moments of yesteryear that will soon fade from public consciousness -- just like Nokia and twerking.

Venture capitalist Marc Andreessen says datacenter innovation leads to lower costs, which lets app developers get more creative.

TiVo software makes a love match with Entone hardware.

Chipmaker's Alcatel-Lucent investment aimed at using small cells to address an expected 1000% growth in capacity needs.

Lands a major deal in Europe that boosts its standing in the 4G market.

Most smartphone manufacturers now have near-field communication (NFC)-enabled smartphones commercially available.

Also in today's EMEA roundup: NSN goes Dutch with 4G; GSMA tells Europe to get a move on; how much competition is enough?

It's not its primary focus now, but Qualcomm isn't abandoning 3G network technologies as it looks to evolve for future networks.

Ma Bell has upped its total of 4G markets covered to 397 as it aims for 420 towns and cities and 270 million potential users by year's end.

The chipmaker wants to show its partners what's possible in wearable computing with new Toq watch, but its partners are already launching their own versions.

CEO says his company's strong 2013 financial performance is proof network operators are investing in packet-optical nets, not legacy gear.

In our latest community poll, Alcatel-Lucent emerged as the favorite to become the new No. 3 vendor in cable tech land.

Also: Samsung's smart watch is set for its German debut, Huawei extends its ARM deal, and Swisscom introduces direct carrier billing.

Regional carrier ditches its "Belief Project" brand along with several customer service perks from it.

A new LTE toolset is designed to give the complete picture by testing the device, network, and apps in the labs and in the field.

Did Stephen Elop just deliver the goods to Microsoft?

The fifth largest TV manufacturer partners up with Hillcrest for motion control technology.

Developers at Qualcomm's Uplinq conference hope the acquisition means more tightly integrated services for Windows Phone.

Acquiring Actix brings both RAN analytics and self-optimizing network technology for mobile operators into the Amdocs fold.

Here, Light Reading presents our choice for the 10 most absurd in-flight offerings du jour.

A snapshot of where we're at with 4G, as LTE-Advanced and VoLTE come into view.

Bill Burns gets the chop as test vendor looks for a new CEO to take it into new markets.

New after-market insurance offerings include disabling text messages when in transit.

The CBS blackout comes to an end for Time Warner subscribers as the two companies agree to a new content licensing deal.

One story dominates today's Euronews. Can you guess what it is yet?

Nokia is selling its mobile phones and services business to its partner for euro 5.44B, leaving it with NSN, its patents, and little else.

Sales of champagne set to rocket in City of London as Vodafone plans to hand over $84 billion to its shareholders.

UPDATED 1PM EST: Expect an M&A frenzy if Vodafone completes the sale of its stake in Verizon Wireless.

Plans three new tech facilities in Sweden and Canada to support R&D and customer testing.

Helping unite disparate voice, video, and messaging systems is something the cloud can do easily, say Cisco and IDC.

Also in today's EMEA roundup: Free Mobile boosts its profits; UAE operators suspend services; new CEO for Zain Saudi; NEC small-cell success in Russia.

Qualcomm's annual developer confab kicks off this week in San Diego, where everything from LTE-Advanced to WebRTC and augmented reality is on the agenda.