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Twilio rival MessageBird launches Inbox, an AI-powered contact center MessageBird, a telecommunications service provider in Amsterdam, Netherlands, has unveiled a new all-in-one, AI-powered contact center as it enters the competitive billion-dollar customer service software market. The new solution, dubbed Inbox and pitched as the “Slack for external communications,” enables customers to communicate with businesses and accept inbound messages from WhatsApp, Twitter, Messenger, Instagram, WeChat, Apple Business Chat, RCS, Line, Telegram, email, SMS, voice, and more. Additionally, companies can connect MessageBird’s Inbox to other internal tools as part of their preferred workflows, including Salesforce, Google Calendar, Shopify, HubSpot, Jira, and Slack. Read more at https://tinyurl.com/qvsqh9l CenturyLink adds IBM Cloud to its Cloud Connect portfolio US-based CenturyLink has added IBM Cloud to its growing Cloud Connect Dynamic Connections portfolio, which also includes Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud and Oracle. The company said that through IBM Cloud Direct Link services, businesses can now access…

EU’s new digital strategy targets data-hoarding tech firms The European Commission has proposed its new European digital strategy “Europe Fit for the Digital Age” that puts a target on all the biggest US tech players. It states that a large part of the world’s data is currently owned by a small number of Big Tech firms, which “could reduce the incentives for data-driven businesses to emerge, grow and innovate in the EU today, but numerous opportunities lie ahead.” The new proposals indicate the need to provide “an attractive policy environment”, which means that data can flow throughout the EU while applying data protection values established under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Read more at https://tinyurl.com/wdb9hee Dell targets telco edge deployments with new server, micro data centre Dell Technologies has introduced new products for telecom operators that are building out edge network deployments. A compact high-performance server, a modular micro…

Deutsche Telekom, Telefonica and Orange test blockchain technology Deutsche Telecom is testing a blockchain solution that can be used to generate and sign secure inter-operator roaming discount agreements. T-Mobile US, Telefonica, Orange and the GSMA are collaborating to test the software that will reduce the complexity of the current process, which usually involves drafting, signing and manually implementing the contracts. Deutsche Telecom said that this is the first time operators are able to jointly test blockchain as a solution that also incorporates a corresponding legal framework, governance model, and integration into corporate IT infrastructures. Read more at https://tinyurl.com/rpwsegx The world’s biggest phone show has been canceled due to coronavirus concerns The GSM Association (GSMA) has canceled the world’s largest mobile phone show, Mobile World Congress (MWC), in Barcelona due to concerns related to the growing coronavirus pandemic. The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide uniting more than 1,200…

Apple unifies its app stores by extending the universal purchase option to Mac apps Apple has added the ability for its app developers to sell their cross-platform apps as one universal purchase, including apps that run on macOS. Consumers will just pay once for an app that works across devices such as iPhone, iPad, Apple TV and/or Mac. Developers can choose to create a new app for these platforms using a single app record in the App Store Connect or add platforms to their existing app record. In preparation for the changes, the App Store categories will be unified across the iOS App Store and Mac App Store, to make the apps more discoverable. Apple said that support for universal purchase will launch in March 2020. Read more at https://tinyurl.com/txqz6al Israeli B2B blockchain startup Clear banks $13m in series A funding Blockchain settlement startup Clear has raised USD 13 million in a Series A round.…

Spanish wireless infrastructure giant Cellnex Telecom has acquired the Portuguese telecommunications tower and site operator OMTEL, owned by Altice Europe and Belmont Infra Holding. This agreement is worth around EUR 800 million, and the acquisition includes the projected deployment of 400 new mobile cell sites in the next four years, adding to the 3,000 sites that OMTEL currently operates in Portugal. Cellnex said that to facilitate the upcoming 5G roll-out in Portugal, the company has been rapidly expanding, and its build-to-suit (BTS) program could involve constructing a further 350 sites for third parties by 2027. The estimated investment for this BTS plan is expected to be EUR 140 million. The Spanish towerco anticipates that this acquisition will increase the company’s sales backlog by EUR 2.5 billion to EUR 38.5 billion. Tobias Martinez, CEO of Cellnex, said, “With OMTEL, we are not only integrating one of the leading independent…

Apple now owns Intel’s mobile modem business Intel, a leader in the semiconductor industry, has completed the sale of the majority of its smartphone modem business to Apple. The company said this transaction enables it to focus on developing 5G network technology while maintaining the ability to create modems for non-smartphone applications, such as PCs, Internet of Things (IoT) devices and autonomous vehicles. Apple now uses Qualcomm for 4G LTE and 5G modems for iPhones. With this acquisition, Apple is planning to develop its own modems for smartphones in 2021. Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/rqmu724 Orange unveils new five-year grand plan Orange, a French multinational telecommunications corporation, has introduced “Engage 2025”, its new strategy that follows on from the Essentials 2020 plan launched in 2015. The corporation has revealed its goals for the coming years, emphasizing that its business model will be guided by social and environmental responsibility. Considering the operator’s business…

Cisco Enhances Webex Teams as Unified App Cisco is introducing a series of updates to its collaboration solution Webex Teams. At the Cisco Partner Summit in Las Vegas, the company announced new products and features that include new desktop and room video conferencing systems, as well as more options to integrate calling and third-party PBXes into the Webex platform. These updates are designed to reinforce Cisco’s single platform approach to delivering consistent experience across all types of enterprise communications workloads running on any type of device. Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/y63uhdqm Microsoft and Nokia accelerate Industry 4.0 Microsoft and Nokia have joined hands to accelerate transformation and innovation across industries with cloud, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT). “Bringing together Microsoft’s expertise in intelligent cloud solutions and Nokia’s strength in building business and mission-critical networks will unlock new connectivity and automation scenarios,” said Jason Zander, Executive Vice President at…

As a whole, the telecommunications industry has been traditionally male-dominated. However, the trend is rapidly changing as this business sector becomes increasingly augmented with talented women having profound knowledge and skills, and influencing an industry where high-ranking female officials were a rarity until recently. Here is the list of the top ten women in the telecommunications industry, selected for their technical and business know-how, extensive experience, leadership and most significantly, their influence. Michelle Bourque Michelle Bourque is Senior Vice President, Product, Marketing and Access Strategy for BCE Nexxia, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bell Canada. The company provides wholesale services, including voice, broadband, hosting and co-location, and IP connectivity. As the leader of a team of product and marketing professionals, Michelle has introduced innovation and fresh perspectives to the wholesale marketing and product divisions. According to Michelle, women already have a significant presence in the telecoms sector, and…

RingCentral, the California-based cloud communication and collaboration solution provider, has made a definitive agreement to acquire the cloud digital customer engagement platform, Dimelo. Dimelo is a single management interface enabling communications with customers through a variety of channels, including email, social networks, chat and mobile. This innovative platform is already in use by major companies across a number of industries, including Allianz, AXA, BNP Paribas, ENGIE, Orange and Telenor. “In today’s digital world, engaging with customers over digital channels is crucial to business success. With Dimelo, consumer-facing enterprises can transform how they engage with their customers. Simply put, Dimelo enables companies to vastly improve their customer interactions by delivering world-class integrated experiences across a multitude of digital channels. We’re excited to welcome the Dimelo team to RingCentral,” said the CEO of RingCentral, Vlad Shmunis. The addition of the Dimelo platform will expand the already considerable RingCentral solution…

French startup “BlackBoxSecu” located on the Côte d’Azur,  has made the first demo of its secure voice communication system CipherBOX (CBOX) on Orange and Free mobile networks. Commercialization might begin the coming months. As the global threat evolves, listening to voice over the Internet and mobile networks becomes easier, cheaper and more accessible to third parties, private spies and foreign special services. Developed by BlackBoxSecu, the CBOX aims to provide secure high-level voice connectivity that meets individual communication needs on mobile, laptop, tablet or landline phones. The company has been awarded by Innovation Award of Special Forces SOFINS 2017, Trophées de la Sécurité 2017 (Bronze medal) in France and has been selected by Village by Crédit Agricole. Based on a stand-alone box developed during 3 years near Nice, the Cipher BOX encrypts the audio signal directly to the source of the voice (microphone of the user’s headset) as well as…