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Telecom Italia (TIM) said it will begin official discussions with KKR nearly four months after the US investment firm made a non-binding offer of $11.8 billion for the business. TIM said it has invited its CEO and chairman to speak with KKR to learn more about its prospective proposal after an almost six-hour board meeting on Sunday.    TIM noted in a statement that its board of directors had directed CEO PietroLabriola and chairman Salvatore Rossi to conduct formal conversations with KKR in addition to those already held by its advisers in order to maximize shareholder value in respect to other potential interested parties. The release  went on to say that the goal was to get information on the financial and industrial appeal and execution of KKR’s offer, as well as to define the length and breadth of the applicable confirmatory due diligence sought by the fund prior to a…

Telefónica and NEC Corporation announced an agreement to undertake pre-commercial Open Radio Access Network (Open RAN) tests in Telefonica’s four key worldwide markets: Spain, Germany, the United Kingdom and Brazil. This is a step toward Telefonica’s goal of achieving a 50% expansion of their current radio network based on Open RAN by 2025.   According to a joint press release, Telefonica will perform open RAN trials in Spain, Germany, the United Kingdom and Brazil, with the objective of offering commercial alternatives to at least 800 locations across the four countries beginning in 2022. Under the terms of the agreement, NEC will serve as the primary system integrator for the implementation and testing of multi-vendor Open RAN solutions with the Telefonica group’s operational businesses.   Telefónica and NEC will also cooperate with the newly formed Telefónica Technology and Automation Lab in Madrid to validate and implement cutting-edge Open RAN technologies and…

Two Japanese companies, Rakuten Mobile and NEC Corporation, have announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote Open RAN in mobile telecommunications markets worldwide. The MoU is based on Rakuten’s current partnership with NEC, where NEC supplies 5G radio equipment to the operator. The pair is also jointly working on developing a Rakuten standalone 5G core.   Under the Memorandum of Understanding, Rakuten Mobile and NEC will continue to expand their local collaboration to provide 5G and 4G radios and engineering services for Open RAN systems that are compliant with O-RAN specifications. These services will be applicable to  markets worldwide and will boost the global development of the Rakuten Communications Platform (RCP). RCP is Rakuten Mobile’s fully virtualized and containerized cloud-based mobile network platform, enabling telecom businesses to station virtual networks rapidly and inexpensively.   Tareq Amin, executive vice president and CTO at Rakuten Mobile, said: “Rakuten…

IBM and Telefónica Argentina (Movistar) have announced a live, fully operational Open RAN network that will act as a proof of concept (PoC) for the delivery of commercial mobile services to the city of Puerto Madryn, Argentina, covering 81,000 urban residents. The launch allows for the testing of live, commercial traffic and provides an early proof point for the technology as it continues to develop.   IBM has led the system integration process, assembling components and systems from a number of software and hardware vendors, including Altiostar, Red Hat, Quanta, Gigatera and Kontron, from pre-integration all the way through to full deployment.   Open RAN is a state-of-the-art radio access network technology that enables interoperability for transforming a radio network into an open cloud environment in which multiple vendors can participate to create a better and more efficient service network. When using Open RAN, operators can combine hardware and software…

Amdocs, a leading software and service provider to communications and media companies, has bought an Ireland based Digital BSS company, Openet, that provides charging, policy and data solutions. Two years after their heated legal dispute, the telecom software company Amdocs has ended the litigation by finally licensing a number of Openet patents. As the telecommunications sector has been trending towards digital transformation for some time now, the merger between the two companies will provide exceptional and wide-ranging opportunities for both enterprises. In recent years, the Ireland-based company, Openet, developed modern cloud-based software and 5G products that are recognised around the world for their innovation. The amalgamation of the two companies is said to offer Amdocs‘s customers advances in 5G technologies, cloud, edge computing and Internet of Things (IoT), as well as an elevated customer experience, policy and data management expertise. Shuky Sheffer, CEO of Amdocs Management, commented:…

The Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg), the Irish national regulatory authority, and the current Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment Richard Bruton TD have signed new regulations that will allow the release of additional radio spectrum to create extra capacity for mobile phone and broadband services. These are temporary measures taken in response to a sharp increase in the use of mobile networks, as people rely more heavily on their operators to communicate and stay connected during COVID-19 social distancing. According to ComReg, mobile operators have coped well with increased usage so far, but they have currently less headroom to accommodate further spikes in demand. ComReg Commissioner, Jeremy Godfrey, said, “The provision of this spectrum will help the mobile providers cater for the increased demand on their networks. ComReg will continue to work with industry and will support operators so that telecoms networks may continue to meet demand…

The highly anticipated DIDWW telephony museum is now open to the general public in the Northern European city of Siauliai, Lithuania. The region’s premiere telephony museum is located in a restored cultural heritage building, a former treasury house (built in 1907-1908), and the project was made possible with the generous support of Lina Zaboras, CEO of DIDWW. Being passionate about telephone communications and guided by a strong vision to present the history of telephony to the general public, DIDWW has cherished the idea of a museum for many years, and this goal has finally come to fruition. Having assembled an extensive collection of exhibits and other artifacts related to the history of telephony in Lithuania and the world, DIDWW has opened this unique museum, featuring innovative, educational and historical exhibits. The museum’s collection is comprised of more than 200 pieces, reflecting over 200 years of telephony history. The…

Entegro, an Irish tech company which designs and deploys fiber and hybrid gigabit networks, has announced the opening of its new Fiber Network Design Centre of Excellence. Based in the Danville Business Park on the edge of Kilkenny City, Ireland, the company’s new facility is set to create 50 jobs over the next 18 months. Currently employing 100 people, Entegro said it has immediate vacancies for planning and design, fiber planning, GIS and other engineers. “We’ve nine different nationalities working on our 100-strong team here in Kilkenny, at our Dublin hub and in the UK,” said Fintan Shortall, Director of Business Development at Entegro. “From our headquarters in Kilkenny we’re building networks across Ireland, the UK and into the US. We’ve built a very strong team and together, we will significantly increase our turnover.” Jim Doyle, Managing Director at Entegro, underscored that the company is passionate about delivering network…

China’s leading technology group Huawei has unveiled its new office based at Salford’s MediaCityUK complex in Greater Manchester. This is the company’s first major facility in the North West of England, as Huawei is set to expand its 5G operations and boost the local tech economy in the region. The new office will run several key business operations including the Network Design Centre, Delivery Operations Centre for the north of the UK, and customer account teams. According to Huawei, the MediaCityUK complex has earned a reputation as an international center for technology, innovation and creativity. Greater Manchester is also home to one of the fastest growing digital technology sectors in Europe, the company said in a press release. Huawei will initially base more than 50 employees at the new office, with the aim of doubling this by 2022. Victor Zhang, Huawei Group President of Government Affairs, said, “This…

Vodafone has made a move that could put an end to the global dominance of the three main telecom equipment providers – Huawei, Ericsson and Nokia – by starting trials on open access radio technology in the UK. The company is the first wireless carrier to run European tests of Open Radio Access Networks (OpenRAN), a cellular infrastructure technology that may increase the number of companies supplying telecom network equipment and assist in connecting more of the world’s most remote communities using lower cost systems. In a statement, Vodafone said that “the global supply of telecom network equipment has become concentrated in a small handful of companies over the past few years” and added that a wider choice of suppliers will increase flexibility and innovation, thus helping to address some of the cost challenges of internet services in rural communities. Telecom operators use RAN infrastructure, masts and antennae…