In-car satellite radio specialist puts up $3.5 billion for Pandora in all-stock deal.

Craig Moffett fears that deal for Sky could become an 'albatross' for Comcast, questions the potential to use acquisition to create a global OTT juggernaut.

Italy's ongoing 5G auction has already raised euro 2 billion more than its government was expecting. For telcos that had flagged concern about license costs, that is a troubling development.

The 5G Transport event will examine how packet/optical networking, edge data centers and distributed cloud platforms can combine to support the new 5G RAN and core architecture, and the many new service types associated with 5G.

Taking SD-WAN service beyond the US to 36 additional nations.

Roku reaches below the sub-$40 threshold with the new 4K/HDR-capable Premiere streaming player.

Bad news if you like making up and memorizing nonsense words.

Microsoft kicked off its Microsoft Ignite customer and analyst conference by punching all the hot buttons on enterprise cloud.

Microsoft is launching programs to protect the electoral process and use artificial intelligence to provide humanitarian aid.

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Telit seeks new CEO; DT embraces robots; new book sheds light on Nokia woes.

How to solve mobile video's worst problem.

Worldpay's Philip Jansen could succeed Gavin Patterson to become the next CEO of the UK's phone incumbent.

Vodafone's UK business is offering customer service agents the chance to retrain as coders, as an increasingly sophisticated chatbot takes over their jobs.

Digital transformation is a complex challenge but one that will help service providers revitalize their businesses, as we found out at this year's Operations Transformation Forum (OTF) in Munich.

iFixit teardown finds that Intel is sole modem provider for new Apple iPhone models.

Comcast's bid tops Fox's offer of GB pound 15.67 per share, putting Comcast in position to acquire control of the UK-based video giant.

Administering another dose of angst to the pay-TV sector, Amazon's new subscription-free companion device lets consumers watch and record over-the-air TV at home or on the go.

Demonstrated with gusto at Vodafone's headquarters this week, holographic calling might just be the killer application that 5G craves.

Qualcomm, Panasonic and Ford recently demonstrated 'cellular vehicle-to-everything' or C-V2X, which allows vehicles to remain in real-time communication with their environment. Light Reading's younger, frumpier sister site, TU-Automotive, took a ride to see the technology up close. Some say this new tech has the potential to reduce motor vehicles accidents by 80%.

This week in our WiC roundup: A majority female C-suite; avoiding another financial crisis; charitable donation allocation; and more.

Microsoft has actually found a practical purpose for the most overly hyped and silliest technology of the decade.

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Telefonica reboots its startup incubator; Inmarsat strikes in-flight WiFi deal with Panasonic; UK considers Internet regulator.

Offers a single network and management interface unifying branch, data center and public clouds.

Glenn Lurie, CEO of software platform provider Synchronoss Technologies, has his work cut out for him. He's helping carriers navigate several possible growth opportunities, like IoT, messaging and personal cloud services. Check out this interview where Lurie discusses the company's newest partnership with AT&T and new proof-of-concept with a blockchain-based mobile payments service.

In response to the merger opposition, they claim that the sum of a combined 5G network will be greater than their individual parts.

In its quest for the edge computing holy grail, Deutsche Telekom-backed startup MobiledgeX has developed a set of middleware tools that it will offer up as royalty-free open source code as it plans world domination by MWC 2019...

UK mobile operator plans a 5G launch in cities and rural areas next year and aims to have 1,000 5G sites in operation by 2020.

Coherent DSPs for 400Gbit/s and beyond could be the catalyst for a re-shaping of the optical vendor landscape, believes Serge Melle.

Cash Hagen says video-focused company will soon expand into new broadband-focused product areas aimed at helping cable partners boost the experience in a way that goes beyond speeds and feeds.

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Telecom Italia considers Brazilian acquisition; Deutsche Telekom and Aricent edge nearer; Nokia helps the trains run on time.

As Sprint upgrades its network to handle more capacity for LTE, it is deploying massive MIMO antennas that provide the carrier a software-upgradable path to 5G services. Sprint's VP of Technology Ron Marquardt fills us in on the very latest, including a bit about why Sprint can use normal form-factor handsets for its network when 5G arrives.

Now 32 years old, the satellite operator reckons it is poised for lift-off in markets where terrestrial technologies simply do not measure up.

Heavy Reading's Gabe Brown and Boingo Wireless CTO Derek Peterson discuss Boingo's view of CBRS spectrum and why the opportunities are great because a whole ecosystem of companies can participate in shared spectrum offerings.

Big Blue is introducing a cloud service and open source toolkit to help reduce bias from AI decisions, and make those decisions more explainable.

Cable op to start rolling out new multiscreen video platform to 'selected' customers in the Netherlands, Switzerland and Belgium later this year.

Distinct strategies amongst carriers are emerging as operators rush to roll out 5G in the US.

If video is so important to communications network operators, why are all the major vendors offloading their video assets?

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Nokia's Nuage trumpets 'SD-WAN 2.0'; Wind Tre uses Open Fiber's FTTH network in Matera; Sky bundles in Netflix; UK mobile operators carry on charging.

Virtual MVPD market is booming, taking industry watchers by surprise.

Microsoft is looking to make automated sales, marketing and customer service smarter, challenging Salesforce's strategy.

Orange Business Services looks in much better shape than its European telco rivals, but can it now become an 'Internet of enterprises' market leader?

Affirmed Networks and others are taking virtualized EPCs and delivering that capability as a service via the public cloud.

Light Reading will tackle the big technology and business changes buffeting the European cable industry at our inaugural Cable Next-Gen Europe conference in London on Nov. 6.

Organization led by former AT&T security chief Ed Amoroso updates third volume of annual reports tracking cybersecurity trends and sees a brighter picture for those who automate well using machine learning.

Service provider says the independent compliance is important not just to its retail segment customers but also many other market segments.

It's buzzword bingo on the pod this week, so pencils at the ready...

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: OBS majors in multicloud; TE Connectivity sells subsea unit; Telefonica goes 200GigE roaming.

LR checks out Sprint's 5G deployment plans in LA.

Twitter says it made a long-term bet that Google is investing more in big data than Twitter can.

App framework, SDK aims to make it easier for pay-TV providers to integrate Netflix and other premium apps with their OTT-capable boxes.

Oracle's cloud revenue is growing just 3%, with the overall cloud market growing at 50% year-over-year and competitors reporting double-digit growth.

Key developments and research for future optical networks will be discussed during a special workshop at ECOC on Sunday, September 23.

Claims that its new Realtime Streaming system can deliver 'sub-second' latency on live, Internet-delivered video streams.

New company built around the acquisition of Cisco's video software unit will have strong revenues, thousands of staff and a focus on developing new products for streaming media management.

US cable's business remains in a good spot despite video cord-cutting and the saturation of the broadband services market, a top industry analyst says.

Today's close of its merger with Cross River Fiber marks entry into new markets, but that growth is expected to continue, both in buildout and buy scenarios, says the CEO.

Getting proficient on multiple cloud platforms makes engineers 'more personally marketable,' says Darryl West, HSBC Group CIO.

Chinese vendor fails to make 5G inroads with SK Telecom, but a reliable source plays down security concerns and points out that Huawei has not previously worked with the South Korean telco.

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: MTS buys supersized data center; Colt gets frisky in Spain; VEON abandons tower sale.

Vendor launches Contrail Edge Cloud, bringing a multicloud platform to the network's edge for 5G and much more and claiming a performance advantage in a small package.

India's Department of Telecoms has reportedly excluded Chinese vendors from a list of companies invited to participate in the development of 5G use cases.

After almost two decades at Light Reading, it's time for a different optical adventure.

Still weary from walking in LA, Light Reading's Phil Harvey and Dan Jones look straight into 5G and offer an artistic interpretation of carrier deployment strategies.

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Deutsche Telekom goes big in Bavaria; new MVNO targets hearing-loss sufferers; why telco customer experience (often) sucks.

FCC filings shed light on mix of initial deployment proposals targeting the emerging, shared 3.5GHz band.

The (nearly) former Ericsson media business is doubling down on platform innovation, including the use of blockchain, as it preps for independence. But will that be enough?

Italy's auction of 700MHz spectrum has raised euro 2 billion, with Telecom Italia, Vodafone and Iliad picking up the valuable concessions.

Speaking at a Goldman Sachs media conference, Charter CEO Tom Rutledge says 5G fixed-wireless networks won't be able to match cable's planned 10-Gig symmetrical speeds or economics.

New initiative at test system specialist aims at making company more of strategic partner, while promising to make 5G rollouts more cost-effective and faster.

Metamako deal brings FPGA networking technology and with founders who have backgrounds in ultra-low latency hardware, software and algorithmic trading.

Lobe makes drag-and-drop AI development tools to fill dire shortage of trained AI engineers.

Deutsche Telekom lashes out at regulatory objections to the proposed deal and says the combined entity would bring 5G to the Netherlands much faster.

The days of prying open the back of your phone and fiddling around with tweezers may be coming to an end. But what would the end of the physical SIM mean for the average telco?

Phil Harvey, Gabriel Brown and Mitch Wagner bring you the truth about 5G from downtown LA.

IBM is looking to beat network bandwidth constraints by bringing analytics to the data, rather than vice-versa.

Users initially won't be able to install fixed 5G services themselves, but despite the additional cost to Verizon of professional installation, the move makes sense.

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Nokia shows off 8K UHD streaming over 5G; BT gives container port added backbone; 5G goes into the woods.

Finnish vendor will retain a minority stake in the video business as it follows in the wake of Ericsson and Cisco to become the third big network vendor this year to sell video assets.

To meet the goals of network quality, customer experience and cost containment, operators will need to embrace even more intelligent forms of network maintenance.

Bill Stone, Verizon's VP of Technology Development & Planning, said the carrier's 5G Home launch is a huge step forward for the industry as it shows 5G's potential - and Verizon's advantage in having fiber, wireless and mass market service experience.

UWB has a long history as a wireless term.

The iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max to handle physical SIM and eSIM.

The US will lose 5G leadership if the Sprint-T-Mobile merger fails, says Sprint executive chairman Marcelo Claure. Everybody panic!

Need for federal rules is 'pressing,' particularly around privacy laws, as individual states continue to plow ahead with their own rules, Randall Stephenson says.

The challenge facing network operators with long-term 5G ambitions is enormous from a technology, skills and financial perspective – sharing the load will be essential.

Comcast CEO talks up 'Broadband 2.0' initiative that focuses on capacity, coverage and service management.

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Vodafone's 'Gigafast' broadband is switched on in Milton Keynes; Orange and Huawei trial 5G in Poland; Ofcom nabs BT boffin.

Communications service providers (CSPs) are slowly adopting automated processes for their Internet of Things (IoT) network architecture, with more than 80% of CSPs who participated in this month's panel citing automation as critical to their IoT networks.

When it comes to mobile technology generations, telecom operators are highly procrastinational.

In a fully connected and intelligent era, autonomous driving is becoming a reality.

FCC says it needs more time to check the pair's updated networking plans.

'5G Home' will deliver fixed 300Mbit/s residential broadband service in parts of four markets this year, using Verizon's home-brewed 5G spec.

Georgia-based company was accused of selling so-called 'fully loaded' Kodi boxes that connected consumers to live TV channels, movies, TV shows and other copyrighted content illegally.

Agreement adds a critical node to CenturyLink's Vyvx platform to help it keep pace with the rise of video streaming from traditional broadcasters and pure OTT players.

US service provider will now spend $7 billion with Europe's two main network equipment vendors on the rollout of 5G services.

The initial round of bidding hits the government target for auction proceeds, with operators able to increase their offers on September 13.

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: France-IX partners up for cybersecurity; Sky invests in content management startup; Nokia demos 5G NR with Sprint.

This week: M&A action; the 5G jigsaw puzzle; and Huaweiphobia.

Round led by new investor, Third Point Ventures, includes other newbies such as Battery Ventures and Samsung NEXT, and existing funders Softbank and Dell Technologies Capital

Cisco announces a stronger, better, faster version of its edge routing platform, the ASR 9000 series and, in doing so, reminds us that there's a lot at stake with the arrival of 5G networks.

In a misguided attempt to protect content creators, the EU's Article 11 and Article 13 would have the opposite effect, preserving Facebook, Google and other hypercloud platforms' monopolies – forever.

Operator's uncapped, symmetrical residential Internet service launches in 'select' parts of Long Island, boosting competition with Verizon Fios.

Direct access to most popular SaaS offering now available from its data centers globally.

AT&T names all 12 5G cities for 2018, reveals vendors, and plots 5G for 2019.

CEO believes new 'Atom' client/cloud approach could find a foothold in emerging markets and help service providers sidestep expensive set-top upgrades.

As part of Linux Foundation's new Deep Learning Foundation, it's casting a broader net and has greater ambitions to create an AI platform and a distributed marketplace of apps.

Tracy Nolan explains the difference between mentorship and sponsorship and the benefits of both. She shares how her career was shaped by an influential sponsor, and provides insight on how women in comms and tech can identify and foster relationships with mentors and sponsors.

IT services division of Germany's telecom incumbent has agreed a plan with trade unions to cut up to 5,600 jobs over the next few years as it strives to boost profits.

Six months into taking a job as CIO at Mohave Community College, Mark Van Pelt watched the campuses' entire network go out for 72 hours. He knew that couldn't happen again.

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Deutsche Telekom extends business-park FTTP network; Virgin launches dedicated 4K Ultra HD channel; Equinix helps out on London-Paris link; progress on EU-Japan data transfer pact.

FCC application outlines proposal that would include participation from multiple wireless and cable operators, tower companies, wireless ISPs and more than 80 rural carriers across nearly 16,000 deployment sites.

After Apple warns that tariffs on Chinese goods would drive up iPhone prices, Trump offers tax breaks to the company if it agrees to relocate production to the US.

Boss of Verizon's Oath division is quitting after the operator decides to integrate it with the telecom business instead of running it as a standalone unit, according to reports.

Tractica forecasts a multi-billion-dollar opportunity for edge computing that supports AI applications. But will all that go away when 5G networks arrive?

The evolution of the communications service provider (CSP) sector is creating a schism between the large, resource-heavy Tier 1 operators and the smaller Tier 2/3 players, says TM Forum Chief Analyst Mark Newman.

Startup set to expand reach for cap-free wireless broadband service that has been connecting with cord-cutters.

Elon Musk finds himself at the center of a storm engulfing the high-tech carmaker, whose shares have taken a battering.

Operating the core network and owning the SIM card will lead to lower churn, pave the path to more control of the service and offer other benefits, CEO says.

AI and machine learning are essential to scaling the deployment and configuration of the exploding numbers of cellsites needed for 5G, says Mazin Gilbert in the first of a two-part series.

This week in our WiC roundup: Lyft raises $1M for Girls Who Code; a knitted solar system steals our hearts; reimagining the childcare dilemma; and more.

Heavy Reading senior analyst James Crawshaw talks about some of the challenges, such as power management, that will arise as 5G networks are deployed, and suggests that AI and analytics tools will be needed to help automate an increasing number of operational processes in a 5G world.

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: EU approves Apple's acquisition of Shazam; Deutsche Telekom's data fortress; streaming piracy plagues soccer World Cup.

Musk is accused of damaging Tesla's shareholders after tweeting plans to take the carmaker private in August.

New beta app delivers live TV, VoD and cloud DVR on managed IP network to newer Samsung smart TVs without 'additional outlet' fee... for now.

Respondents to Heavy Reading's Multicore Processor and Switch Survey consider programmability as the most important differentiator in switch functions.

But exec sees some 'edge use cases' where 5G will make more sense than wired connections.

Startup currently sells its service directly to consumers, but is discussing how that could be bundled and packaged with broadband service tiers.

Ericsson's 5G transport partnership picks are telling.

Cirrus will take the burden of heavy spending on platform technology off broadcasters and other customers, says European satellite operator at press conference in London.

Boring ol' terminals are ready to make the leap into the next generation.

The technology arm of Mercy healthcare system had to get 'really good at what we do,' to meet the needs of a changing market.

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Vivendi slams Elliott's management of Telecom Italia; CityFibre goes with Calix for SDN bells and whistles; Deutsche Telekom gets biometric.

Latest restructuring to cause staff reductions across all functions and geographic areas.

While still unconfirmed, Chinese government plans to merge the country's number two and three mobile operators would be regrettable.

5G looks to be much more than just a way to deliver faster wireless access... it could lead to a new way of designing, deploying and operating communication networks.

Comcast integrates ESPN3, ACC Network Extra and SEC Network+ to connected set-top box platform.

Do not fear the data flood, was the message from Turkcell boss Kaan Terzioglu at Huawei's Operations Transformation Forum in Munich this week.

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: BT makes SNAP decision on SD-WAN; Telefonica Deutschland is sweet on Netcracker; DT's Langheim gets new US board role.

Ciena is adding to its network management automation capabilities with the acquisition of inventory specialist DonRiver.

Swedish equipment vendor prefers the alternatives to a couple of long-standing partners in a 5G setting, and adds new features to its '5G-ready' baseband platform.

The new version of ADVA's virtualization software suite adds new features, including zero-touch provisioning, service chain monitoring and multi-level security.

Ambitious project promises global core and operating system that will support IoT on 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G.

Claims its 5G network, aided by Sprint merger, will also enable T-Mobile to pitch an in-home TV/broadband bundle.

Returning to its roots as a software company, F5 aims to aid service providers with virtualization and delivering enterprise applications anywhere.

Brand, product focus for emerging company revealed as Permira prepares to seal deal for Cisco division and divulge more details at IBC.

Ericsson acquired a minority stake in automation expert CENX in 2012 and now will add the vendor-neutral service assurance specialist's technology to its own network automation and orchestration efforts.

Charter adds iPhone models to device mix as cable operator moves past this summer's soft launch of mobile offering that's being bundled with broadband.

French telco will issue a request for proposal for 5G equipment before the year is through, and says ONAP support and automation will be key requirements.

While more locations – perhaps orders of magnitude more – presumably mean better service performance, it also means more devices that someone needs to install, monitor, maintain and troubleshoot.

French operator turns its attention to more lucrative segments of the market as rivals fight back on low-cost deals.

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: 5G fever sweeps Switzerland, Italy and the UK; Elisa spies Chinese TV opportunity; Agama targets OTT providers.

Network operator sees multiple opportunities to improve inter-carrier settlement management, SDN interoperability and more using blockchain technology.

Using blockchain to speed the automation of one of the trickiest areas in telecom - inter-carrier settlements - seems to be showing promise as startups emerge to lead the way.

Tattoos, 80s nostalgia and Game of Thrones characters were highlights of VMware's sizzling annual Las Vegas customer/analyst confab.

Since Huawei's 100G solution became commercially available, it has been widely applied on operator networks around the world. Here are some of the success stories.

Verizon gives Light Reading a taste of some upcoming 5G apps.

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Ericsson extends managed services deal with Liberty Global; Sky invests in startup discovery; Telia Norway calls time on 3G; BT lands NHS gig.

At the Operations Transformation Forum 2018, operators and industry experts explained how the shift to digital platforms and new operations processes are essential for 5G.