In a groundbreaking move, Viasat, Inc., alongside Terrestar Solutions, Ligado Networks, Omnispace, and Al Yah Satellite Communications Company (Yahsat), have come together to announce the formation of the Mobile Satellite Services Association (MSSA). This new consortium is set to enhance and promote the burgeoning Direct-to-Device (D2D) communication landscape, promising to deliver unprecedented scale and diversity in mobile satellite services.
In a significant move towards enhancing developer access to advanced network capabilities, Ericsson’s Vonage has teamed up with telecommunications giant Verizon. This collaboration, formalized through a memorandum of understanding, aims to integrate Verizon’s network APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) into the Vonage platform. This integration is expected to foster deeper consumer engagement and loyalty by enabling enterprises to offer a more seamless and enriched customer experience across various stages of the customer journey.
Bell Canada Enterprises is making significant cutbacks, revealing plans to eliminate 4,800 positions which make up 9% of their total workforce. Citing a need to adjust to declines in legacy businesses and a challenging macroeconomic environment, the company hopes this strategy will result in substantial cost savings. Additionally, Bell Media plans to relinquish over half of its radio stations deemed no longer viable.
BT, Ericsson, and Qualcomm demonstrated successful 5G network slicing trials for diverse applications, proving its potential to improve service quality in the 5G SA era. Disney invests $1.5 billion in Epic Games to blend its iconic franchises with Fortnite. D&H Distributing launches the Go Big AI Program to help partners use AI technologies. IPFone acquires VoIP company Joon to expand its cloud communication services and enhance offerings through synergistic technologies.
Telefonica, a leading international mobile operator, has made a strategic investment in Mitiga Solution, a pioneering firm dedicated to the management of climate-related risks. This move signifies a major step in combining advanced climate science with artificial intelligence to offer innovative solutions for assessing environmental risks.
In a significant development for global scientific collaboration, Aqua Comms has entered into a landmark agreement with the Energy Sciences Network (ESnet), granting a 15-year lease for a portion of its subsea cable spectrum that spans from New York to Dublin and London. This arrangement, covering 25% of a fiber pair, represents ESnet’s inaugural venture into Trans-Atlantic spectrum acquisition, underscoring its commitment to bolstering the data transmission capabilities essential for cutting-edge scientific research.
In a significant stride towards making its 5G network more robust for future technologies, Finland’s Elisa has successfully tested a new uplink carrier aggregation technology. This test, a collaboration with telecom giants Ericsson and Qualcomm, marks a leap in preparing for the demands of the metaverse and other advanced applications.
Broadband for the Rural North (B4RN) is making waves in connectivity by enhancing its network backhaul speeds to a staggering 400Gbps. This progress, ten times that of its previous capacity, paves the way for improved bandwidth, latency reduction, and an entirely modernized scope of rural connectivity.
A recent analysis by the International Data Corporation (IDC) reveals an expected sharp increase in the shipment of AI-enabled personal computers (PCs) in the coming years. The study forecasts that the number of these specially equipped PCs, designed to handle generative AI tasks on their own without cloud assistance, will soar from approximately 50 million units in 2024 to over 167 million by 2027. This growth indicates that nearly 60% of all PC shipments globally will be AI PCs by the end of the projection period.
In a significant security incident, US telecom giant Verizon suffered a serious data breach impacting over 63,000 workers. Despite occurring last September, the leak wasn’t detected until December. Delving into the possible causes reveals potential insider wrongdoing. With the exposed data consisting of extensive personal details, Verizon claims that it hasn’t been shared externally yet. As the company probes into the breach, it offers its affected staff credit monitoring and identity theft protection for two years.
