Telefónica, a multinational telecommunications company and one of the largest telephone operators and mobile network providers in the world, has introduced a new unit that integrates their global wholesale, roaming and international customer divisions into a new single identity: Telefónica Global Solutions. Telefónica Global Solutions was established as part of the company’s transformation plan, which was announced last year. As stated by the group, this move will improve connections between people and businesses. In the current environment of extensive change and new challenges, the Telefónica Group continues to move forward to improve its service to global customers. The three businesses are now banding together to increase their capacity and continue to support their partners and customers. With a single goal, they have their sights set on providing consistent and comprehensive services, and specifically to offer leading-edge global solutions to Telefónica’s customers around the world. At present, Telefónica…
Deutsche Telekom reaches a wholesale deal with Telefónica Deutsche Telekom and Telefonica have reached a wholesale FTTH deal. These telecom rivals extended their partnership that was launched in 2013, which allowed Telefónica to purchase VDSL lines from Deutsche Telekom. The renewed agreement has been extended for 10 more years, and now covers FTTH lines as well. This is a big opportunity for Telefónica Germany, as it is one of the smaller players in the fixed broadband market in the country. By using Deutsche Telekom’s fiber network, Telefónica has set up a clear path for itself to be an important participant in the growing ultra-fast broadband market. Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/y6985zh9 Telia sells Telia Carrier On Tuesday, the Swedish company Telia announced that it was selling its international carrier business to Swedish pension funds for $1.1 billion. Polhem Infra’s acquisition of Telia Carrier is expected to be completed in 2021, when…
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…
Ofcom announces another 5G spectrum auction for the UK in spring 2020 Britain’s telecommunications regulator Ofcom has confirmed that it plans to hold an auction for low and mid band 5G spectrum in the spring of 2020. In a statement, Ofcom said that the auction will include companies bidding for spectrum in two different frequency bands: 80 MHz in the 700 MHz band and 120 MHz in the 3.6-3.8 GHz band. However, the UK telecoms watchdog has not yet confirmed when it will auction the high band, mmWave spectrum that will allow mobile operators to offer the truly transformative speeds of 1Gbps and above. Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/y6tx6ecz Microsoft furthers $5 billion IoT plan with new Azure features Microsoft launches new functionalities to simplify the customer journey and deliver highly secured IoT products over its Azure platforms. The company said that the expansion of IoT devices is enabling enterprises to bring cloud intelligence to…
Here’s everything Google announced at the Pixel 4 event At its new smartphone launch event in New York, Google introduced Pixel 4 and Pixel 4XL that offer a new and improved version of Google Assistant, a new Motion Sense feature for gesture control, an upgraded camera, and a new Recorder app that also transcribes speech. The fourth-generation Pixel is priced from USD 799 for a 5.7-inch display and USD 899 for a 6.3-inch display. According to Google, the Pixel phones will be available with all US operators and major MVNOs. The new phones will ship on October 24th, globally. Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/y3xw2v7q Apple pushes for own 5G modem by 2022 Apple has set a rather ambitious goal to have its own 5G modem in iPhones by 2022. The tech giant is currently using Qualcomm modems as part of a long-term supply agreement, but with the takeover of Intel’s smartphone modem…
EllaLink Ireland Ltd (EllaLink) has announced the appointment of the former Sparkle CEO Alessandro Talotta, and Alberto Horcajo, who has held senior positions at Telefonica’s Telxius, to its Board of Directors. EllaLink is a subsea cable project being built with advanced coherent technology and will initially offer 72 Tbps of capacity over a four fiber-pair system, helping to remedy the congestion currently plaguing North Atlantic traffic. By linking data centers in Madrid, Lisbon, Marseille, Fortaleza and Sao Paulo, EllaLink is expected to provide express subsea connectivity and offer the world’s first direct fiber pair between Europe and Latin America. Michael Dedieu, Chairman of the EllaLink board and managing partner at Marguerite, an infrastructure investment fund that is backing the project, commented, “We are delighted to welcome Alessandro and Alberto as new independent directors to the EllaLink Board. Their skills will greatly complement the current board’s expertise through the on-going construction…