Car-sharing drives investment levels with $250M for Lyft, while Internet of Things startups also earn big in April, according to latest from Rutberg & Co.

Five companies and their respective services made the shortlist this year.

With Austin, Texas the nerve center of 1-Gig broadband rollouts in the US, Time Warner Cable is now boosting its Internet speeds to 300 Mbit/s.

Bandwidth-on-demand options and services steal the category in four of the six final entries.

Operators have shared their perspectives on IP and optical convergence, with network management and planning coming in for close scrutiny.

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Brussels examines Dixons Carphone deal; Spotify reaches milestone; anyone for 4G at the French Open?

Following success in New York, the Mobile Network Security Strategies conference debuted to London.

Colin Giles has left Huawei to join a handset rival.

ThreatGrid analyzes files for potential threats before they get on the network.

Huawei names Ming He to lead its US operations, such as they are...

Comcast is selling a CDN service, and Apple is signing paid interconnection deals with ISPs. Networks aren't neutral.

ThreatGrid provides dynamic malware analysis and threat intelligence, both on the premises and in the cloud, Cisco says.

Wireless and cloud are the hot topics in this year's competition.

Despite the continued growth of the AT&T U-verse and Verizon FiOS Internet services, cable operators are still boosting their lead in the US broadband market.

Three finalists stand out in a year when video showed why it's still most popular medium on the planet.

Verizon reminds us it still has VoLTE on the way, and it will be nationwide with several handset options and video calling when it launches.

M2M-focused operators will need to think how to secure multiple networks as IoT evolves.

EE's director of technical security Peter Erceg talks about EE's approach to securing its LTE network, how it can benefit from that, and what vendors need to be doing to help operators.

EE and Sprint's Spark duke it out for the most forward-looking 4G offering of 2014.

The major mobile operators are taking network security seriously and even see it as a business opportunity.

Global mobile network operator Truphone expands enterprise offering to 66 countries with shared data, voice, and text.

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Ericsson does VoLTE for Bouygues; LTE in North Africa; UK mobile coverage in the slow lane.

Carriers need to be more vocal on the mobile security they already provide customers, says Heavy Reading senior analyst Patrick Donegan.

Cisco believes hybrid clouds provide the speed, scale, economics, and flexibility of the public cloud, along with control, security, and data sovereignty needed in the global economy.

Infinera, Ciena, and others are enjoying a busy time for submarine cable upgrades.

A new data center for the Minneapolis-St. Paul market will let CenturyLink Tech Solutions deliver more cloud, co-location, and managed/hosted services.

Taking a leap into cable's future, Casa Systems and Teleste join forces to develop a distributed CCAP/RemotePHY system for boosting broadband speeds.

Cable companies rank lowest in customer satisfaction for both video and Internet service, so vendors are now trying to help out, and cash in, with new data-driven support solutions.

Bell Labs is offering a prize to attract innovation of the Big Bang variety and expects SDN and NFV will get it to market faster.

The WiFi vendor uses NFV to virtualize its control plane and support multi-tenant enterprises.

New products, market growth and some job losses dominate the components sector in the latest roundup of news tidbits.

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: new rules get tough on BT's Openreach; AlcaLu signs 4G overlay agreement with Telenor; UK studies how mobiles affect kids.

The DX70 and DX80 are designed to do for desktop clutter what smartphones did for proliferating handheld gadgets.

But Cisco has a plan to bounce back, based on leadership in SDN, cloud, collaboration, and Internet of Everything, company CEO and chairman John Chambers says.

Between 4G, 5G, Sprint Spark, and Verizon's new XLTE campaign, consumers will likely never understand what LTE really is, but does that matter?

US cable companies lost fewer video subscribers in Q1 than in past quarters, while satellite TV and telecom companies gained fewer subs than before, according to a new LRG report.

OTT services are giving service providers sleepless nights, according to the early results of a poll.

Cisco talked up how SDN and virtualization can help service providers increase agility and cut costs. An executive also dropped the other S-bomb at an opening keynote.

CFO says the company has done with bundled offers similar to its deal with Spotify as a way to add value to its installment billing plans.

AT&T Labs is getting involved in finding the best spots for the operator to deploy 3G and 4G small cells on its network.

Spying allegations threaten 'our country's global technological leadership,' says Cisco CEO and chairman John Chambers.

Metaswitch held its annual forum for its telecom customers, highlighting its new software-driven focus.

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: BT recruits more engineers; Orange sells Ugandan unit; Ofcom boss cool on net neutrality.

Condor OS is designed for multi-tenant managed service providers.

Boards of both companies approved AT&T's offer to buy DirecTV for about $95 a share Sunday, a deal that would make AT&T the largest pay TV provider on the planet.

The WAN Automation Engine is designed to reduce costs and increase agility for service providers.

The Controller is a keystone of AT&T's eventual plans to let users design their networks.

Managed services provider builds national strategy around serving companies with widely distributed small sites, starting with retailers.

Adds to its European assets with the acquisition of Geo, which has a network running through London's sewers... phew!

Also, Cisco's not trying to crush VMware. Really it's not.

Also in today's EMEA roundup: Numericable may buy Virgin Mobile France; another upgrade for Nokia; EU antitrust chief strikes back; BT's here for the beer.

Delivering live sports events online can be a nightmare, but help may be on its way for cable operators and other broadband providers.

John Chambers says Cisco is winning back customers it lost to VMware.

Amid heated debate, the FCC passes a "Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Protecting and Promoting the Open Internet" that could allow ISPs to charge more for priority service.

Fresh approaches to radio technology from startups are coming to fruition, which may end up helping to power 5G.

Charter and Comcast announce that Michael Willner will serve as President and CEO of "SpinCo," a proposed new spinoff cable company.

A new report by software specialist iControl finds that security is still consumers' number-one smart home priority.

Carrier joins NTT DoCoMo and HKT in revealing its VoLTE plans this week, making it the first Tier 1 to launch 4G voice in the US.

Having made a flying start with 4G LTE, the UK's largest mobile operator is looking ahead to the evolution to 5G and what it will mean for its business.

Application-to-person (A2P) messaging SMS could be the operator opportunity of 2014.

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: TalkTalk TV takes off; SFR numbers heading south; Nokia pays off 5,000 at troublesome Indian plant.

Cisco reported third-quarter revenue of $11.5 billion and profits of $2.2 billion -- down from last year but not as much as expected.

The CEO of NTCA encourages rural telcos to bid on "the last bid of beachfront property" in the wireless game.

Harmonic pursues new "Distributed CCAP" course with debut of NSG Exo product that pushes CMTS and edgeQAM functions out of the cable headend and into the access network.

Operator JV claims 20,000 new mobile wallet activations per day in the past month.

Comcast EVP David Cohen argues that the MSO is following open Internet principles and that Internet 'fast lanes' still need to be defined.

After an initial deal with Verizon, tower company hopes to attract more wireless operators to lease its small cell real estate with the help of the big-name vendors.

Facing the same need to cut costs and introduce new services faster, smaller telcos are looking for a pragmatic path to virtualization.

Cyan helps Mid Atlantic Broadband Communities (MBC) develop backhaul connectivity to a greater number of cell sites for less expense.

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Orange chief feeling chipper; Numericable Q1 numbers on the up; 4G for Moscow metro; Etisalat completes Maroc Telecom acquisition.

As expected, AT&T has made a play to add Sprint's WCS spectrum to its own holdings. The deal could earn $130 million or more for Dan Hesse & Co.

In another big CCAP win, Casa Systems sells its next-gen CMTS solution to the largest cable operator in Belgium.

Metaswitch CEO urges telcos to transform their business models along with their networks and start behaving like software companies.

CEO John Chen tells the Economic Times that BlackBerry will have a major M2M play in five years.

We've got the questions, you've got the answers...

The disaster recovery market is facing challenges with quick IT growth, especially among mobile and other technologies.

The latest roundup of news from the communications components sector.

A sweeping deal between Comcast and Turner Broadcasting will bring new Turner TV shows to Xfinity On Demand customers and open up new dynamically inserted ads for advertisers.

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Huawei trials small cells with Vodafone; Google must implement 'right to be forgotten'; Moody's upgrades Nokia.

On its recently deployed 100G link between Salt Lake City and Sacramento, Integra is using Ciena's PinPoint solution to monitor fiber loss.

Nokia watchers offer their views on the 'new' Nokia and the choice of Rajeev Suri as CEO.

Bloomberg reports that AT&T is now in advanced talks to buy DirecTV for about $50 billion as media merger fever picks up.

As MVNOs prepare to enter the market, the Chinese authorities introduce further liberalization. But will it make any difference?

In announcing Salesforce.com as part of the AT&T Cloud Ecosystem, the carrier also explains its homegrown, SDN-like way of managing cloud connections.

Owners of select GM cars can get LTE connectivity for only $10 per month as part of AT&T's Mobile Share data plans, as the carrier experiments with connected-car pricing models.

The WSJ reports that Deutsche Telekom is asking for $1 billion in break-up cash from Sprint if it's unable to acquire T-Mobile.

Comcast is selling wireless hotspot access to subscribers of KDDI and Taiwan Mobile, but WiFi is no substitute for mobile broadband.

Verizon's acquisition of CDN provider EdgeCast is just one of several developments that will shake up the CDN sector.

Who would you find at a Utilities Telecom Council event? A Light Reading editor with a camera, for one...

Not even a future $19 trillion market can keep Guido Jouret, Cisco's Internet of Things leader, at the company.

In our recent community poll, most readers don't think cable operators will upgrade to all-IP service delivery until at least 2018, if they do so at all.

Verizon hopes enterprise connectivity will help it close Amazon's enormous market lead.

SDN is gaining popularity fast, but there's also a lot of skepticism about its potential among network engineers and managers, according to a Network Instruments study.

HP is going from Silver to Platinum membership, increasing its commitment from $20,000 to $500,000 plus 10 full-time equivalent staff.

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Huawei enables 400G for Broadnet; Ericsson swallows Red Bee; 5G latest; BSkyB's M&A ambitions.

Sprint says using a single radio at a time gives battery life and performance benefits for Spark-capable devices.

Several sources, including Dr. Dre himself, suggest the iPhone maker is splashing down $3.2 billion to acquire Beats for its streaming music service and wearables.

First Nokia now Alcatel-Lucent have reported supply chain issues.

Comcast cloud DVR services now reach one-third of the MSO's footprint with the launches of the new service in southern Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC.

Vendors urging utilities to deliver high-speed connections to the underserved.

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: AlcaLu's IP boost; ZTE wins German patents case; Merkel backs easier M&A; BICS drags Belgacom down.

The pink sneaker tide rises at T-Mobile.

The vendor cuts its losses and shows strength in key networking equipment sectors in the first quarter, but revenues are static.

Choi Jin-ho, manager of SK Telecom's ICT R&D division, tells Light Reading about SK Telecom's plans for WebRTC, including a service to help the visually impaired.

The big US MSO views its rapidly growing WiFi network as a way to "disrupt" the wireless data market with potential products.

Just over a year after taking the helm, what's on the mind of Alcatel-Lucent CEO Michel Combes? Plenty of things, but being part of the next mega-merger isn't one of them.

Utility companies face many of the same network transformation issues as telecom players but their needs are also unique to the power sector.

AT&T has selected Jinni's video search and recommendation engine to power content discovery and recommendation features on the U-verse TV platform.

Cricket confirms AT&T is exploring 'alternative music options to Muve,' a decision that shows it's tone deaf to its prepaid customer base.

Customer data stolen in security breach that could lead to phishing attacks on subscribers.

The innovative Japanese operator is soliciting help from six wireless equipment vendors to conduct next-generation mobile broadband experiments.

Colin Dixon is reportedly part of SDN brain drain at IBM.

tw telecom enables dynamic Class of Service changes to go along with its existing dynamic bandwidth capabilities.

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Deutsche Telekom profits hit by US push; Telekom Austria challenged in Q1; bring on the smartphone orchestra!

Global VoIP provider adds support for WebRTC, so its enterprise and service provider customers can offer click-to-call with no network.

Google picks up Stackdriver for AWS monitoring and analytics know-how.

Cox reports that video subscribers using its new Contour program guide and interface watch more channels and more on-demand content than those without it.

Altair Semiconductor is betting it does, with an LTE-only modem coming for the smart sensors and other gizmos that make up The Internet of Things.

Surging shipments of cable and IPTV set-tops, video gateways, CCAP devices, and cable modems drive higher than expected sales and earnings for equipment vendor.

There are more than 80 finalists in 16 categories for this year's Leading Lights awards, and it's an impressive bunch.

The proposed Geneve protocol would improve interoperability for virtualized networks.

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: GSMA man wants merging made easier; Vodafone, SFR renew enterprise collaboration; Deutsche Telekom enables mobile payments.

There are now 288 live LTE networks in 104 countries, with 497 operators making a firm commitment to deploying 4G, according to the GSA's latest numbers.

Netflix swings carriage deal with Suddenlink Communications, the seventh largest US MSO, after breaking the ice with three midsized cable operators last month.

The Big Telecom Event, or BTE, is a big deal for the whole industry, as well as for Light Reading.

A new group, Open Web Alliance, will try to bring Internet giants into collaborative process with telecom network operators over proxies.

Citrix upgrades its application delivery controller in an effort to improve performance and user experience for mobile apps.

Comcast is ready to bring the RDK concept to broadband gear, creating an underlying and open software stack for cable broadband modems, routers, and gateways.

Japanese network and data center operator makes SDN platform centerpiece of its new on-demand burstable Ethernet service suite.

Also in today's EMEA roundup: Ericsson trials LTE Broadcast; Etisalat sells West African operations to Maroc Telecom; Virgin goes quad-play; Iraq gets 3G.

Ciena and Brocade co-develop a dynamic resource provisioning solution for the inter-data center WAN.

Comcast and EA may be close to a deal to stream popular video games - including Madden titles - to X1 set-tops.

IP and multiscreen video delivery are paving the way for a shift from ratings-based TV advertising to an impressions-based model.

Cox, Mediacom, and TW Cable all boost broadband speeds to compete with Google Fiber, AT&T, and CenturyLink I Gig rollouts.

Vendors are vying to define SDN in ways that advantage their own products. Meanwhile, the threat from cloud providers looms like a zombie army in the distance.

PayTV service is not the future for AT&T so there have to be other reasons for buying a satellite TV distribution network.

The latest roundup from the world of comms components features funding news from Cisco.

Nokia Growth Partners has set up a $100 million Connected Car fund to integrate its mapping and location services into more cars.

Customer premises equipment (CPE) is set to change dramatically in the coming years through virtualization, a process that will change business models for telcos, helping them to reduce capex and opex.

The 3GPP is in heated discussions about LTE in unlicensed spectrum, with operators split between those that want to take advantage and those worried about their WiFi investments.

Cox will roll out a gigabit broadband service tier to all residential subscribers starting in 2014.

It is suspected that a machine could be posting thousands of short repetitive videos of tones and colored shapes to the web, but why it's happening is still a mystery.

SPIT giant unveils a slew of major carrier deals as it announces record quarterly revenues.

Telecom players need to give their CSRs more intelligent tools to address customer issues, or see training and turnover troubles persist.

Research from Raymond James & Assoc. points toward increased capex by AT&T and Verizon in the first quarter and a possible long-term shift away from seasonal spending patterns.

A consortium of Japanese companies including NTT has developed a distributed server platform designed for network functions virtualization (NFV) deployments.

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: new exec line-up at TeliaSonera; BT's man in sub-Saharan Africa; BSkyB does deal with Paramount.

The carrier reportedly plans to launch VoLTE in Chicago and Minneapolis at the end of the month.

Verizon and AT&T managed to sell nearly 1M tablets between them, while T-Mobile says its push into connected tablets is just beginning.

Share price takes a hammering as slow carrier spending in US and a delay in revenues from China's 4G rollouts hit vendor's numbers.

The Wall Street Journal reports that an AT&T buyout could value the satellite TV provider at $40 billion.

A look at what the transition to IP means to you, me, and other people who use a phone for business and personal communications.

Five months after announcing the Tier 3 purchase, CenturyLink unveils new cloud strategy built on cheaper prices and enterprise-scale power.

The 'uncarrier' manages to add 2.4 million total customers, but lost $151M in the first quarter.

China's major operators are considering the creation of a mobile tower joint venture.

Biggest US MSO now plans to roll out 8 million WiFi hotspots by the end of the year, after reaching the 1 million hotspot milestone less than a month ago.

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: BSkyB's profits slip; Virgin considers slow-speed sell-off; Orange not happy about network-sharing deal.