Delving into the realm of advanced AI, SK Telecom elevates its AI service ‘A.’, boasting features crafted around user preferences. The upgraded version introduces AI agents with unique personalities, promising each user a personalized experience. Working hand in hand with Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI, SKT’s AI capabilities now consist of a Large Language Model, designed to comprehend intricate conversation details for insightful dialogues.
Open RAN Revenue Growth Slows Global Open RAN revenues saw a 10-20 percent growth in Q1 2023, while the vRAN market expanded by 20-30 percent, according to Dell’Oro’s report. However, this growth is slower than the previous year, mainly due to a decline in North America. The Asia Pacific region performed well and offset the North American decline. Despite the slowdown, Dell’Oro remains optimistic about Open RAN, expecting it to account for 6-10 percent of the global RAN market in 2023. On the other hand, Dell’Oro has lowered its full-year outlook for multi-access edge computing (MEC) by over 20 percent, citing a slowdown in China’s 5G market and subdued enterprise interest. Read the full article. Cisco Partners with the Greater Manchester Digital Security Hub Cisco has partnered with the Greater Manchester Digital Security Hub (DiSH) to enhance cybersecurity in the region. Cisco’s Country Digital Acceleration (CDA) program will focus on…
As the UK’s communications regulator, Ofcom, prepares revised regulations that will hold telecom companies to a higher standard, the UK operator BT is stepping up its efforts to fight scammers. In order to achieve this goal, Hiya Protect, a network-level monitoring system that can detect and reject suspicious calls, will be used by the company. This technology will be available to both fixed-line and mobile EE subscribers. According to a study done by the Hiya team, 29 percent of all phone calls in the UK are spam. 50 percent of those calls are fraudulent, making the UK the most fraudulent country in Europe. This demonstrates the scope of the problem, which affects a vast number of people in the UK. Naturally, Ofcom is aware of this problem. According to calculations made by the telco regulator, a quarter of UK adults dealt with at least one instance of suspicious…
Orange and MasMovil in talks about joint venture Orange and MasMovil have stated that they are in talks to launch a 50:50 joint venture (JV) in Spain. Orange’s Spanish subsidiary is valued at €8.1 billion, while MasMovil is valued at €11.5 billion, for a total enterprise value of €19.6 billion. The merged operator would include around 7.1 million fixed line customers and 20.2 million mobile users, with a combined FTTH network of approximately 16 million residences. The operators claim that the combination would result in a slew of meaningful synergies of more than €450 million within three years of the merger closing. Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/y5d9h3y7 Google acquires Mandiant to boost its cloud offering In a move aimed at bolstering the capabilities of its Google Cloud platform, Google has agreed to pay $5.4 billion for the cybersecurity firm Mandiant. To address harmful information and software vulnerabilities, Google Cloud currently offers…
Spanish telecom operator MasMovil agrees $3.3 billion private equity bid KKR, Cinven and Providence have made their Public Acquisition Offer for Spanish telecoms operator MasMovil. The three venture capital funds have proposed to pay EUR 22.5 per share of the telco, which is valued at almost EUR 3 billion. According to the statement, KKR, Cinven and Providence will pay a 20 percent premium on the current MasMovil share price. Meinrad Spenger, MasMovil Chief Executive, said that they have signed an agreement with the bidders on a deal which would be “beneficial for the shareholders and other stakeholders in the company.” Furthermore, the bidders noted that they would maintain continuity in MasMovil’s strategy, staff and executive team. Read more at https://tinyurl.com/y754vsc9 Google Cloud signs major UK government deal The technology giant Google Cloud has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) to make its cloud solutions…
Work from home: Can the telecoms industry take the strain? Many businesses opt for remote working due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis, and this has led to a dramatic increase in the use of online services. The additional pressure is proving problematic for the telecoms industry in Spain, which has reported a 40 percent increase in data consumption and a 50 percent increase in mobile phone usage. Movistar (Telefonica), Orange, Vodafone, Masmovil, and Euskaltel have issued a joint statement in anticipation of the national lockdown, urging customers to take “intelligent and responsible use of the network and the resources it provides us.” Meanwhile, BT, the UK’s largest telecom provider, said that its network can handle it. Read more at https://tinyurl.com/sm8bms7 Vodafone unveils five-point plan to combat COVID-19 Vodafone has put forward a five-point plan to maintain network services and assist governments across Europe in controlling the outbreak of coronavirus. The five…
