Telecom news

• China has a moan about Indian 5G ban

  07-05-2021 13:12 via telecoms.com
  
  Earlier this week India started 5G equipment trials that excluded Chinese vendors and China thinks that’s bang out of order.
  While there didn’t appear to be and explicit ban on Chinese vendors at the time, the Chinese embassy in India reckons there was and is not happy. For some reason China decided to frame its public statement as a response to a question from an unnamed member of the media – presumably one of the ones controlled by the Chinese state.
  “In a notification
  
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• India 5G licensing on the back burner

  07-05-2021 12:25 via telecoms.com
  
  India’s telcos may have got the go-ahead to trial 5G services, but it could be some time before they have 5G spectrum for commercial use in their possession.
  Delays in allocating spectrum have been par for the course in India over the past decade or so, so it came as no surprise when the Economic Times reported that the government is planning to push the 5G auction back to the first quarter of 2022. It had been working on a loose timeframe of later this year.
  Global events have conspired t
  
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• Ericsson and Samsung patent war ends in a boring truce

  07-05-2021 11:34 via telecoms.com
  
  The only fun in covering patent disputes comes when there’s a clear winner, but Ericsson and Samsung aren’t even revealing the terms of their settlement.
  Late last year we heard Ericsson was suing Samsung after accusing it of taking liberties when it comes to the licensing of FRAND patents. The Fair, Reasonable And Non-Discriminatory system is applied to standard-essential patents to stop patent holders from holding the entire industry to ransom. It would effectively be impossible to
  
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• Italy set to axe single network plan

  07-05-2021 10:30 via telecoms.com
  
  The Italian government is reportedly on the verge of pulling the plug on a plan to create a single fixed-line network due to fears over creating a new telecoms monopoly in the country.
  There have been media rumblings to that effect for a few weeks and on Thursday Bloomberg reported that Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi plans to can the single network plan on competition grounds, citing the usual unnamed sources familiar with the matter.
  For industry watchers this is a staggering development,
  
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• US broadband industry paid for 18m fake comments pushing net neutrality repeal

  07-05-2021 02:00 via totaltele.com
  The Attorney General for New York, Letitia James, is claiming that the US broadband industry may have had a major hand in pushing for the repeal of net neutrality, paying various research companies to bombard the FCC with fake emails.Net neutrality, the concept that broadband should treat all content equally, without blocking, slowing down, or charging to boost certain content, was repealed in 2017 under FCC Chairman Ajit Pai following fierce debate…read more on TotalTele.com »
  
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• Helios Towers invests $200m in Senegal as African expansion continues

  07-05-2021 02:00 via totaltele.com
  Over the last year, Helios Towers has been seeking to expand rapidly throughout Africa. Back in September 2020, part of this expansion was realised with the purchase of 1,200 towers from Senegalese operator Free for €160 million.  “This agreement is aligned perfectly with our 2025 strategic ambitions, broadening our footprint within the African towers infrastructure market,&rdquo…read more on TotalTele.com »
  
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• Global semiconductor market will top $500bn in 2021

  07-05-2021 02:00 via totaltele.com
  The coronavirus has thrown many a market into chaos over the past and a half, and the semiconductor supply chain is no exception. With demand initially slumping during the early stages of global lockdowns, we have since seen demand skyrocket, so much so that the foundries are struggling to keep up. Given the slow moving nature of the semiconductor industry and the difficulties related to increasing production, the resulting chip shortage is expected to continue for many months, perhaps eve
  
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• Airspan Networks latest company to set up UK Open RAN lab

  07-05-2021 02:00 via totaltele.com
  Airspan Networks has become the latest company to announce the launch of a 5G-focussed research laboratory in the UK.Opening in Slough, the 5G Innovation Lab is set to promote innovation and collaboration with various partners and customers, primarily focussing on the development and adoption of Open RAN technology…read more on TotalTele.com »
  
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• A moody makeover for the V&A’s Raphael Court

  06-05-2021 19:00 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  A large gallery in the V&A museum has been given a major refurbishment and swept away pale grey walls for a richer darker look that really brings out the artwork on the walls.
  View of refurbished Raphael Court at the V&A, 2021 (c) Hufton+Crow
  One of the V&A’s largest and most dramatic galleries, The Raphael Court is almost identical in proportion to the Sistine Chapel and is home to the Raphael Cartoons, which are among the greatest treasures of the Renaissance in the UK. They&
  
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• The rise of telco brand value

  06-05-2021 18:46 via telecoms.com
  
  Telecoms.com periodically invites expert third parties to share their views on the industry’s most pressing issues. In this piece David McGlew, Marketing Director at Openet, discusses how the move to online economies is driving up the value of telco brands.
  I was struck by a recent news headline covering a report from the organisation, Brand Finance, who measure the relative value of Brands. The news article highlighted a report that explored the Irish market and called out the increase in
  
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• Verizon is getting up to speed with its 5G spectrum aggregation

  06-05-2021 17:50 via telecoms.com
  
  Verizon has achieved speeds of 4.3 Gbps in a lab trial that saw it aggregate C-band and mmWave spectrum.
  The US operator said it worked with Ericsson and MediaTek on the trial which took place recently and gives it the opportunity to once again talk up the planned expansion of its 5G Ultra Wideband network.
  “These lab trials demonstrate the exceptional network performance our customers will receive as we are able to integrate our newly acquired C-band spectrum with mmWave spectrum,”
  
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• Quarterly season haunted by chip shortage

  06-05-2021 16:02 via telecoms.com
  
  A common theme in analyst calls this earnings season has been cautious pessimism about the knock-on effects of the global chip shortage.
  Most recently Nintendo followed its fellow games console maker Sony in warning it would flog fewer units because of reduced supply, rather than demand. Car companies have been ringing alarm bells since the start of the year an none of the sudden political attention on the matter seems to have done any good so far.
  Light Reading took a look at some of the stuff
  
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• Did you know there was a London Underground whisky?

  06-05-2021 16:00 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  At some point, someone released a very limited range of London Underground branded whisky miniatures.
  (c) McTear’s
  I say someone, as Macallan say it wasn’t them, even though the miniatures contain their whisky, and they suggest that that “someone” has rebottled Macallan’s own aqua vitae into small water jugs.
  I only mention this as someone with deep pockets may be excited to learn that what seems to be an entire collection is up for sale. As us less rich folk can re
  
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• Orange tries to put a positive spin on Belgium fiasco

  06-05-2021 14:45 via telecoms.com
  
  Orange secured just over half the shares it aimed for in its recent tender offer to minority shareholders of Orange Belgium, but insists that’s a good result.
  “We have achieved the objective we set for ourselves: offering a fair price to shareholders who wanted to monetize their shares and strengthening our stake in Orange Belgium,” said Ramon Fernandez, Deputy CEO in charge of Finance, Performance and Development at Orange Group, when the telco revealed the results of part two
  
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• Fading support for single Italian broadband network hurts Telecom Italia

  06-05-2021 14:42 via ft.com
  Government signals desire for more competition in blow to plan for incumbent to spearhead rollout
  
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• Nokia has another go at Femtocells

  06-05-2021 14:31 via telecoms.com
  
  Finnish kit vendor Nokia has launched a new small cell product designed to boost indoor 5G coverage called Smart Node.
  Remember Femtocells? They used to be a thing, right? The weird name was derived from the metric unit prefix denoting 10-15, which is one order of magnitude smaller than ‘pico’ and two smaller than ‘nano’. In other words, very small indeed. It seems to have been chosen as a geeky way of subdividing the small cell category, almost daring someone to go to &l
  
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• Virtualized RAN: Strategies, opportunities and pitfalls

  06-05-2021 14:17 via telecoms.com
  
  The transition to 5G is a transition to containers and cloud-native network applications, in particular vRAN, according to a Heavy Reading survey. This transition brings with it several enabling technologies, such as network slicing and edge computing, that in turn set the stage for the dominant 5G use cases: Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), Ultra-Reliable Low Latency Communications (URLLC), and Massive Machine-Type Communications (mMTC). To support these technologies and use cases, the 5G netw
  
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• Open transformation in telecommunications

  06-05-2021 14:06 via telecoms.com
  
  To meet new challenges and expectations, telecommunications service providers must transform their networks and operations. Traditional operators running primarily monolithic legacy systems can reinvent themselves by adopting modern IT architectures and operational management approaches and building a more agile culture. This e-book highlights the technologies and approaches powering telecommunications transformation and how Red Hat® products and services support service providers on th
  
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• Security in Open RAN

  06-05-2021 13:52 via telecoms.com
  
  5G and Open RAN enable new capabilities and control points that allow suppliers, test equipment manufacturers, wireless carriers, and network operators to assess, mitigate and manage security risks efficiently.
  This paper details how O-RAN enables operators by giving them full visibility and control of their network’s end-to-end security. Security topic highlights:• Open RAN security based on zero-trust architecture• Secured communication between network functions• Secure fr
  
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• American Tower does €1.6 billion deal with CDPQ to fund Telxius buy

  06-05-2021 13:08 via telecoms.com
  
  American Tower has agreed to sell a big chunk of its European business to Canada’s CDPQ to help it fund the acquisition of Telefonica’s towers business.
  The firm has brokered a deal worth in excess of €1.6 billion with investment group Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) for a 30% stake in ATC Europe. It is pitching the deal as a long-term strategic partnership that will help both parties benefit from growth potential in the European towers space, b
  
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• More virtual disused tube station tours announced

  06-05-2021 13:00 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  With visits to the disused tube stations in person on hold, a new batch of video tours has been announced by the London Transport Museum.
  The newest tour on offer covers Euston station, including parts of the station not usually accessible on the in-person tours. The tour explores the remains of the station’s two original structures that have been closed for over a century. The tour includes a last look inside the iconic Leslie Green station building before it gets demolished as part of th
  
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• What the City of London will look like in the mid-2020s

  06-05-2021 11:45 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  The City of London has released some updated images visualising how the Square Mile’s skyline will look by the mid 2020’s.
  (c) Didier Madoc-Jones of GMJ / City of London Corporation
  The updated skyline adds in all major developments that have had planning approval over the past 12 months including 50 Fenchurch Street, 55 Gracechurch Street, 60 Aldgate High Street, 70 Gracechurch Street and 2-3 Finsbury Avenue. The majority of these tall buildings fall within the ‘City Cluster&r
  
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• A post-war hotel at St Pauls

  06-05-2021 08:00 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  There’s a very 1960s era hotel practically on the doorstep of St Paul’s Cathedral that was once an office block.Built on land that was cleared following war damage, what was known as Colonial Mutual House was occupied by Australia based Colonial Mutual Life Assurance Society. Through a long line of takeovers, the UK arm is now a deeply buried subsidiary of Aviva.
  The construction was probably completed in 1964.
  Today, it’s one of the area’s few unapologetically post-war b
  
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• TIP backs WBA’s OpenRoaming standards ahead of OpenWiFi launch

  06-05-2021 02:00 via totaltele.com
  Today, the WBA has announced that TIP has adopted their OpenRoaming standards, ahead of the launch of TIP’s own OpenWiFi project next week.  According to the WBA website, OpenRoaming is a ‘federation service enabling an automatic and secure WiFi experience globally’, based on three key elements: cloud federation, whereby networks and identity providers can enable automatic roaming and user onboarding on WiFi…read more on TotalTele.com »
  
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• Russian operators teaming up for 5G joint venture

  06-05-2021 02:00 via totaltele.com
  Rolling out networks efficiently is a major challenge faced by operators around the world, especially for 5G, which will require more dense deployment than its predecessor, 4G.To overcome this challenge, in Russia a group of operators are seeking to team up to create a 5G joint venture…read more on TotalTele.com »
  
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• Gamgee’s New Mesh Technology Turns Consumer Routers and Extenders into Enterprise-grade Mesh Nodes

  06-05-2021 02:00 via totaltele.com
  As the telecom industry races to provide products and services that improve home Wi-Fi network speed and coverage for consumers, the Dutch tech company Gamgee designed a solution that (remotely) upgrades routers, gateways and home nodes of various vendors and chipsets into mesh nodes.Poor Wi-Fi performance and insufficient network coverage are some of the biggest pain points in consumers’ smart homes. As the internet and data consumption at home is growing exponentially, an increasing num
  
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• Draghi govt to pull plug on Italian single network scheme

  06-05-2021 02:00 via totaltele.com
  When Mario ‘Super Mario’ Draghi took control of the Italian government back in February, a plan to create a single Italian fibre network through the merger of TIM and Open Fiber had already been in discussion for many months. Now, after much debate, reports suggest that the Italian government may be looking to abandon this plan altogether, arguing that the creation of a single network would constitute a return to a telecoms monopoly. Documentation sent to the EU regarding Italy
  
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• Digital twins: A revolution for site inspection efficiency

  06-05-2021 02:00 via totaltele.com
  The telecom industry has been digitalising its assets for several years now, using the process to gain insights into telecom networks and the related infrastructure. But it is only in recent years, with the introduction of artificial intelligence (AI), that the concept of a digital twin has really begun to see rapid adoption.“Five years ago, the industry started to begin digitalising their assets, but the main reason why it is now more important than ever is that we are enhancing these di
  
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• Chinese telcos set the pace for 5G monetisation

  06-05-2021 02:00 via totaltele.com
  Over the last year, there has been a growing debate around 5G monetization. The recent quarterly results of the Chinese service providers, including China Mobile and China Unicom, validate that the 5G large-scale commercial operators have performed well on the back of an increase in 5G Average Revenue Per User (ARPU).
  China Mobile, the country's largest telecommunications company, recently reported that the total number of 5G package customers reached 189 million, and the total number of 5G net
  
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• Colourised film shows London during WW2

  05-05-2021 16:00 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Film footage of London during WW2 is rare, thanks to the efforts of the film censor, but here’s a colour film from bombed-out London. It’s a compilation of smaller film snippets that have also been colourised by a Netherlands based film restorer who also specialises in colourisation.It’s not perfect, as that takes far more time and money than is available, but it’s pretty good and really gives a flavour of what London was like during the blitz.
  Static photos just don&rsqu
  
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• Foxconn gets into the chip-making game

  05-05-2021 15:43 via telecoms.com
  
  The world’s biggest electronic device manufacturer is forming a new venture designed to cater to the lower end of the chip market.
  XSemi will be a joint venture between Foxconn’s parent company, Hon Hai, and electronic component maker Yageo, both of which are Taiwanese . It will focus on the development of semiconductors with average selling prices lower than $2.00, which they refer to as ‘Small IC’ (integrated circuit). It looks like there will be further partnerships wi
  
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• New telecoms infrastructure investor spends £300m in Czech Republic and Norway

  05-05-2021 15:15 via telecoms.com
  
  Cordiant Digital Infrastructure, a newly-launched investment trust, has picked up its first two investments, a mobile towers business in the Czech Republic and a fibre network in Norway.
  The company this week announced that it has acquired telecoms and TV towers firm České Radiokomunikace and an unnamed Norwegian fibre network plus land for a combined total of £451 million, comprising £318 million in equity and the assumption of £133 million in debt. Macquarie Asset
  
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• Instagram seems to block ads designed to expose personal information details

  05-05-2021 13:42 via telecoms.com
  
  Messaging app Signal created an Instagram ad campaign that would have specified the personal information used to target it.
  The details of the initiative are published in a Signal blog. It looks like the independent messaging company, which positions itself as more secure and private than Facebook-owned WhatsApp, wanted to run an ad campaign on social media site Instagram, which is also owned by Facebook. The ads themselves would have displayed the information used to target each individual reci
  
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• Indian telcos choose non-Chinese vendors for 5G trials

  05-05-2021 13:12 via telecoms.com
  
  India has finally given the go-ahead for operators to carry out 5G trials, but the eyes of the world are on the vendors that will participate and, even more so, on those excluded.
  The absence of Huawei and ZTE from the list of equipment makers taking part in the trial dominated the headlines on Wednesday. It’s worth pointing out there are only four players on the list and there is no specific exclusion of the Chinese companies. Nonetheless, their absence is clearly more than just a coincid
  
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• Tickets Alert: Fish and Chips on a steam train

  05-05-2021 13:00 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  The Epping Fryer is resuming service from July, serving up fish and chips while you travel on a steam train. It’s a service from the Epping Ongar Railway, the heritage railway that runs from near to Epping to Ongar and back again.
  There are either evening suppers, or daytime lunches available, both costing £25 which either includes an all-day pass on the railway with lunch served at 1pm, or two return trips in the evening with supper at 7:30pm.
  Booking and more details are here.
  Even
  
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• London’s Pocket Parks: King Square Gardens, EC1

  05-05-2021 08:00 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  This is a large municipal park surrounded by tower blocks that was once a middle-class Georgian housing development and later gained fame for some marching hammers.
  The area was still outside London and mainly fields owned by St Bartholomew’s Hospital when in 1822 it was bought by the Church Building Commission to build a large church. As a large church in the middle of fields would be odd, they also planned to develop the fields into middle-class housing to provide the necessary parishone
  
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• Myanmar's military coup sees Telenor write off $782m business

  05-05-2021 02:00 via totaltele.com
  On February 1st, 2021, a military coup overthrew the civilian government, plunging the country into political unrest that continues to this day. To date, more than 700 people have been killed by security forces, with the police violently cracking down on protestors. For Telenor, who’s Myanmar business is one of the country’s largest mobile operators, this disruptive period has been catastrophic…read more on TotalTele.com »
  
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• Huawei and ZTE miss out on Indian 5G trials

  05-05-2021 02:00 via totaltele.com
  The Indian government has announced that it will allow Reliance Industries' Jio Infocomm, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea, and state-run MTNL to conduct 5G trials over the next six months. Equipment makers cited as taking place in these trials include Nokia, Ericsson and Samsung, but Huawei and ZTE are notably absent.The trials will take place in urban, semi-urban, and rural settings, with the government keen to ensure that “the benefit of 5G technology proliferates across the country and is
  
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• Foxconn spots opportunity in global semiconductor crisis

  05-05-2021 02:00 via totaltele.com
  Today, the world’s largest electronics manufacturer, Foxconn, has announced it will be forming a joint venture with Yageo Group to develop small Integrated Circuits (ICs), targeting the lower end of the semiconductor market. The joint venture, set to be called XSemi, will focus on creating ‘small ICs’ with average sale prices below $2, seeking to not only create a steady semiconductor supply to the company&rsquo…read more on TotalTele.com »
  
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• CDPQ takes €1.6 billion stake in American Tower’s European business

  05-05-2021 02:00 via totaltele.com
  Today, American Tower Corporations (ATC) has announced that they have struck a deal with Canadian pension fund Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) for the sale of a 30% stake in their European business, ATC Europe. The transaction will be for €1.6 billion, giving ATC Europe a total valuation of €8.8 billion.ATC will retain managerial and operational control of ATC Europe…read more on TotalTele.com »
  
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• At the tipping point of network creation with STL

  05-05-2021 02:00 via totaltele.com
  With the coronavirus pandemic still raging all around the world, the value of connectivity has never been higher. Digitalisation is accelerating and data demand is booming, and this trend is expected to increase even more rapidly in the coming years with the emergence of new technologies, especially those surrounding 5G.As a result, the lines between fixed and wireless networks are beginning to blur, as both sets of technologies become increasingly reliant on each other to deliver the highest q
  
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• Call for artists to decorate Vauxhall’s railway arches

  04-05-2021 19:00 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  A line of railway arches around Vauxhall station are to be redecorated, with the designs coming from an open competition.
  The project is offering paid commissions for either digital artworks that will be printed on vinyl, or for artists to hand paint a mural on brickwork. There is a theme for the art, so your design has to be based on “Love Different”, to reflect the diverse cultures of the Vauxhall area.
  The deadline for entries is 31st May 2021 for murals to be installed in mid-Jun
  
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• Wi-Fi 6E in Peru: DSA celebrates MTC’s decision to enable unlicensed access to the 6 GHz band, bringing benefits for Peruvians and the economy

  04-05-2021 17:43
  
  It is predicted that unlicensed access to the 6 GHz band will add US$ 22.87 billion to the Peruvian economy between 2021 and 2030. Lima, Perú, May 4, 2021: Ministerial resolution 373-2021-MTC/01 and Viceministerial resolution N° 162-2021-MTC/03 adopted by the Ministry of Transport and Communications of Peru (MTC), published last Friday established important measures to improve connectivity in the country. “Highlighted was the possibility of accessing 1200 MHz of spectrum in
  
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• MoCA unveils new President and Executive Officers as it maintains multi-gigabit network momentum

  04-05-2021 17:32
  
  (May 4, 2021 – San Ramon, Calif.) – MoCA®, Multimedia over Coax Alliance, continues its lead as the coax standards body for managed networks announcing a new MoCA President and Executive Officers following its annual election. Recently elected for one-year terms, the Executive Officers and President come together from all corners of the broadband networking ecosystem including service providers, original design manufacturers, product developers, and semiconductor companies. The n
  
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• It’s time to fully involve Open RAN community in 3GPP

  04-05-2021 16:58 via telecoms.com
  
  Telecoms.com periodically invites expert third parties to share their views on the industry’s most pressing issues. In this piece John Baker of Mavenir explains how OpenRAN is about open and Interoperable element specifications.
  In the last decade, competition and choice in the mobile network supply chain has dwindled. Globally there are now only a very small number of vendors providing closed, proprietary systems, especially in the Radio Access Network (RAN).
  In addition, recent bans or l
  
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• The Telecoms.com Podcast: Nokia, content M&A and satellites

  04-05-2021 16:48 via telecoms.com
  
  The Telecoms.com Podcast · Nokia, content M&A and satellites
  
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• Vodafone relies on Google Cloud for next phase of digital transformation

  04-05-2021 16:15 via telecoms.com
  
  UK-based Vodafone has been a busy operator recently and its latest move is a strategic partnership with Google to do all kinds of cloudy stuff.
  The mutual commitment lasts no less than six years and is all about providing Vodafone with data analytics to help it develop new digital products for its customers. The two companies are going to jointly build a data platform called Nucleus, which will house a data analytics system called Dynamo. Ultimately, apart from amusingly named pieces of geekery,
  
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• The Tower of London wants you to name a raven

  04-05-2021 16:00 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Two new ravens have been born at the Tower of London, and there’s a chance for the public to chose a name for one of them.
  They were born in March this year to the Tower’s resident breeding pair, Huginn and Muninn, who take their names from the ravens of the Norse god Odin. The first of the two, a male, has been named Edgar, while the second – a female – is still in need of a name. The name is also to be chosen from a shortlist, so Raven McRavenFace will not be an option.
  
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• Telenor swings to Q1 loss on Myanmar write-off

  04-05-2021 15:45 via telecoms.com
  
  Norwegian incumbent Telenor has been left reeling by the military coup in Myanmar, which has forced it to completely write off the value of its operation there.
  The telco announced on Tuesday it recorded a NOK6.5 billion ($780 million) impairment charge relating to Telenor Myanmar during the first quarter, causing the whole group to swing to a Q1 net loss of NOK3.9 billion from a year-earlier profit of NOK698 million.
  “In Myanmar, we see an irregular, uncertain, and deeply concerning situa
  
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• Verizon finally abandons its media folly

  04-05-2021 14:27 via telecoms.com
  
  US operator group Verizon thought it might be an idea to get into the media game by buying two internet dinosaurs.
  When it bought AOL for $4.4 billion back in 2015 the rationale focused on wireless video, for some reason. Having spent a couple of years working out what it had acquired, the pitch evolved to a more generic consumer content and advertising theme by the time Verizon spent a similar amount on fellow 90s internet brand Yahoo.
  It was never very clear what the point of all this impulsiv
  
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