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Telecom News

Viasat to acquire Inmarsat

By Aiste Kryzanovske November 9, 2021

Viasat, a worldwide communications company, and Inmarsat, a major UK-based supplier of global mobile satellite communications services, have announced the signing of a formal agreement under which Viasat will buy Inmarsat for $7.3 billion. The merger will establish a global communications leader with increased size and breadth to link the globe more economically, safely and securely. The new organization’s complementary assets and resources will allow the launch of innovative new services in both the mobile and fixed segments, giving customers more options in broadband communications and narrowband services, such as IoT. The merged business intends to combine both companies’ spectrum, satellite and terrestrial assets into a worldwide high-capacity hybrid space and terrestrial network able to offer exceptional service in the rapidly developing commercial and government sectors. Together, these businesses will establish a formidable multi-spectrum, multi-orbit powerhouse. With production and people capacity around the world, the new company…

News Roundup

A quick roundup of the news in Telecoms | Week #43

By Aiste Kryzanovske October 29, 2021

VMware announces RAN intelligent controller This week, VMware released several of their initiatives aimed at bolstering and solidifying the company’s telco cloud plans. The debut of the RAN intelligent controller is one of the recent announcements (RIC). The VMware RIC will be accessible in two deployment models: centralized and distributed, and will be capable of abstracting the underlying RAN architecture and providing RAN programmability via xApps and rApps. Wireless operators, according to VMware, are ready to transition from relatively inflexible conventional RAN infrastructures to more heterogeneous, multi-vendor virtualized RANs. Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/2nxkde8x Verizon teams up with Project Kuiper Verizon and Amazon’s Project Kuiper, a low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite network, have established a collaborative partnership to provide broadband solutions for unserved and underserved populations. Project Kuiper and Verizon have begun to establish technical specifications and define early business strategies for a variety of connection offerings for US consumers and…

Telecom News

A quick roundup of the news in Telecoms | Week #37

By Aiste Kryzanovske September 17, 2021

Virgin Media O2 tests 5G emergency services drone Virgin Media O2 has released information on a trial it conducted with the Swiss public safety drone expert Fotokite to provide a video feed from a drone to help first responders on the ground. The two businesses discussed several incarnations of the drone, including its capacity to function in difficult conditions at any time of day or night, the simplicity of setting up, launching, and flying, and how valuable the data feed is to first responders dealing with emergency situations. Utilizing 5G networks to control and manage drones for emergency services demonstrates the possibilities that 5G technology provides in terms of higher speeds and lower latency. Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/36ax8jrc BT trials quantum key distribution (QKD) over hollow core fiber BT has tested quantum key distribution (QKD) over hollow core fiber (HFC), promoting the technology as a method to improve data security…

Telecom News

A quick roundup of the news in Telecoms | Week #34

By Aiste Kryzanovske August 27, 2021

OneWeb launches 34 more broadband satellites OneWeb has reported the successful launch of 34 additional low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites, increasing the total deployment to 288. The company plans to grow its fleet to 648 satellites by the end of next year in order to provide worldwide coverage. The rollout comes after the conclusion of OneWeb’s Five to 50 mission, and it bodes well for the promise of a commercial service later this year, followed by a worldwide service in 2022. The forthcoming 648-strong LEO fleet claims data speed of up to 195mbps, with latency as low as 50ms. Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/cnpshnse Comcast acquires Masergy Comcast Business has agreed to purchase Masergy, a cloud and software-defined networking business that provides a portfolio of managed services such as SD-WAN, unified communications-as-a-service, call center-as-a-service and security. The purchase price was not revealed. Comcast’s goal with this acquisition is to enhance its…

Telecom News

A quick roundup of the news in Telecoms | Week #33

By Aiste Kryzanovske August 20, 2021

Telefónica, Aerial launch Remote Care project pilot The first pilot project regarding “Remote Care” for elders was initiated by Telefónica, the Canadian firm Aerial and the municipality of Luciana. This solution does not require new devices nor wearable equipment, but includes a movement detector interface for the home WiFi, which utilizes existing wireless signals combined with artificial intelligence and contextual analysis to detect presence and motion. The cloud-based AI engine is intended to share data about a senior’s behaviors with their family members. In order to facilitate remote monitoring of elders, this technology also compares the data to normal behavioral patterns. Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/4ae6w5j9 T-Mobile experiences data breach In a recent cyber assault on T-Mobile, over 40 million individuals’ information was exposed, including names, birthdays and social security numbers. The business claimed that the stolen files contained data from over 7.8 million current T-Mobile accounts as well as data…

Telecom News

FCC announces $311M in RDOF funding

By Aiste Kryzanovske July 29, 2021

The United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has announced that it will fund new broadband rollouts across the country through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF). The FCC has announced its readiness to give the green light to more than $311 million in funding for the provision of broadband in 36 states. A total of 48 providers have been authorized for funding, and the FCC has noted that this financing will help nearly 200,000 homes and businesses in 36 states get access to gigabit speeds over the next ten years. Companies on that list include 3E8 Broadband Solutions, 4-County Fiber LLC, Aeneas Communications, Allen’s TV Cable Service Inc., Cincinnati Bell, Consolidated Communications, Cox Communications and more. Additionally, the FCC has issued a statement about its steps to increase oversight in the RDOF program. The Commission has stated that it will not approve of any service provider participating in…

Telecom News

Telefónica sells its fiber assets in Colombia

By Aiste Kryzanovske July 20, 2021

Spain’s leading telecommunications group, Telefónica, has announced the sale of a controlling stake in its fiber network in Colombia to a global investment company KKR. With the sale of this majority stake, the telecommunications company expects to reduce its debt by $169 million. As part of the agreement, KKR will hold 60% of the shares in the new Colombian fiber company, and Telefónica will retain the remaining 40% and contribute its existing fiber assets in the country. The new company will start operating with a fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network, covering 1.2 million locations in 50 cities and municipalities and serving 380,000 customers by the end of the first quarter 2022. In three years, their goal is to reach 4.3 million sites in almost 90 cities. The deal between Telefónica and KKR values the new company at $500 million. This entity will be the first independent Colombian open access wholesale…

Biggest myths surrounding VoIP technology

By Aiste Kryzanovske June 21, 2021

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is not a new technology, and there are thousands of articles written about it. Still, there are many myths surrounding VoIP. Is it the awkward acronym? Maybe it sounds super technical? On a basic level, VoIP, or Voice over Internet Protocol, is simply an Internet-based replacement for traditional telephone systems, offering significant cost savings and advanced technologies that provide improved convenience and productivity. In our humble opinion, myths should not detract from you using one of the industry’s leading and most affordable means of business communications that can provide businesses with a tremendous competitive advantage. Therefore, let us dispel some of the most common misconceptions and give you the truth about VoIP phone systems. Myth #1: VoIP will cost more Actually, VoIP is more economical than legacy phone and on-premises PBX systems. With a hosted VoIP or Cloud PBX, the costs are limited to service…

Telecom News

Virgin Media O2 officially launches

By Aiste Kryzanovske June 3, 2021

The new UK joint venture between Liberty Global and Telefónica officially became operational on 1 June, merging the two household names to form Virgin Media O2 (VMO2). This joint venture has committed to providing a unique choice to consumers and has also promised to boost the UK economy. While, at the moment, the company is not changing any of its current services, later this year it plans to offer seamless broadband, entertainment and mobile services all in one place. The Liberty Global-Telefónica merger is devoted to investing at least £10bn in the UK over the next five years. This investment will help businesses further contribute to the UK Government’s goals of connectivity, upgrading infrastructure all around the country, creating stiffer competition and providing a wider variety of choices for customers. The merger instantly makes the new business one of the largest in the UK, with 47 million…

Telecom News

OneWeb successfully launches 36 additional satellites

By Aiste Kryzanovske June 1, 2021

OneWeb, a global communications company that provides broadband satellite Internet services around the world, has announced another successful launch of 36 Arianespace satellites from the Vostochny Cosmodrome. With this launch, the company gets closer to reaching their “Five to 50” goal and the lift off of commercial services by the end of this year. The launch took place on May 28th at 18:38 BST. The OneWeb satellites detached from their host rocket and were distributed in nine clusters over 3 hours and 52 minutes. Signals were received from all 36 satellites, indicating their operational status. This launch is the fourth in a series of five total launches needed to complete the “Five to 50” program. The program will allow OneWeb to offer connectivity in all parts of the UK, Alaska, Northern Europe, Greenland, Iceland, the Arctic Seas and Canada. The service is predicted to be available by the end…