FCC establishes Emergency Broadband Benefit program
The FCC has recently held an open meeting in order to discuss its next priorities. One of the most important matters discussed was the new Emergency Broadband Benefit program, which Congress has instructed the FCC to initiate. As part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, Congress has allocated $3.2 billion for the program. Broadband providers participating in the program will be able to offer discounts of up to $50 per month for Internet services and up to $75 per month for those services on tribal lands. Currently, it is unclear how long these broadband benefits will last.
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Sinch acquires Inteliquent
Sinch AB, a Sweden-based company primarily engaged in the provision of cloud computing services, has signed a final agreement to acquire Inteliquent, the largest independent voice communications provider in the US, for an all-cash offer of $1.140 billion. The deal expands Sinch’s Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) offering and gives the company a leading position in US voice communications. Completion of the transaction is subject to routine closing conditions, including approval by CFIUS and US competition authorities, the FCC, the state public utility commission, and certain other governmental agencies.
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Orange announces its tower company TOTEM
Orange, a French multinational telecommunications corporation, has announced its new tower company called TOTEM. TOTEM will have around 25,500 tower sites in France and Spain. In addition to those two countries, the group will also explore the prospects of integrating other passive mobile infrastructure assets from Orange’s footprint in Europe that could create value for TowerCo. TOTEM will also host and install new sites for other operators and intends to leverage opportunities for inorganic growth in Europe. Orange wants to maintain control of TOTEM in order to take advantage of the important source of sustainable value creation that this company provides to the Group.
Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/fwui9ag0
TelcoBridges and YouMail to offer illegal robocall blocking solution
TelcoBridges, a leading designer and manufacturer of carrier-grade virtual session border controller software and Tmedia VoIP gateways, has announced an integration partnership with YouMail that allows ProSBC customers to automatically block illegal robotic callers. The combination of ProSBC and YouMail is intended for US service providers, IP-PBX providers, UCaaS providers, TDM providers, and, in general, virtually all voice service providers. According to the YouMail CTO, Mike Rudolph, this integration supplies service providers with essential robocall mitigation solutions that can be deployed 100% reliably on their networks, allowing carriers to begin to protect their subscribers and comply with upcoming FCC mandates.
Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/1mruls4i
Nokia to supply 5G radio access to A1 Austria
Nokia has won a multi-year contract with A1 Austria to supply 5G radio access and core network services to the company, as the operator looks to improve capacity and connectivity for consumer and business customers. Nokia will supply A1 with its AirScale portfolio, inclusive of 5G RANs, AirScale base stations and Nokia AirScale radio access products. These solutions will allow A1 Austria to provide first-class connectivity and capacity benefits to its subscribers. Nokia said the offerings are now being rolled out, with a key implementation planned for the first half of the year. A1 Austria plans to install commercial slicing equipment for 4G and 5G networks to connect devices with services running in both the public and private clouds.
Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/11e3pehg
