As sanctions bite, Russia’s MTS begins to discount cell phones MTS, Russia’s largest operator, reported a 76.2 % year-on-year drop in Q1 net profit, blaming the results largely on rising interest rates caused by Western sanctions. Russia boosted local interest rates to 20% in the early days of the conflict before lowering them twice, leaving rates around 14% today. MTS has resorted to selling used and discounted smartphones, and is planning to sell its tower assets, in keeping with the current trend of monetizing passive assets located throughout Europe and beyond. Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/c65t43kb Verizon warns of record rise in ransomware According to Verizon Business, the number of ransomware attacks on enterprises has increased by 13% year-on-year, resulting in a rise exceeding that of the previous five years combined. Ransomware was involved in some manner in one-quarter of the cases investigated, with desktop-sharing software and email being the two…
RingPlan making phone automation possible With the addition of business automation to its range of services, RingPlan, a Southern California VoIP provider, is transforming the way people use their phones. VoIP phone services, video conferencing, business text messaging, and digital fax services are all part of the RingPlan platform. The newly-introduced RingPlan Sidecar is a user-configurable library of functions that may be used to construct unique automation sequences. Users may create up to 48 unique sequences that they can call up at any moment to execute a range of time-saving activities. Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/2ztxhz9d DT partners SKT to bring metaverse to Germany SK Telecom (SKT) and Deutsche Telekom (DT) have formed a collaboration to provide Ifland, South Korea’s metaverse platform, to German users. The partnership will see the two conduct a live platform trial by the end of the year. According to reports, the test will feature the building…
Nokia to deliver additional networking scale and capacity to Microsoft Nokia’s 7250 IXR chassis-based interconnect routers have been selected to serve high-density 400GE applications in Microsoft’s tier-2 network architecture. Nokia will also provide fixed-form-factor platforms for Microsoft’s alternative network applications. The agreement strengthens the two companies’’ long-standing partnership, which has focused on bringing massively scalable, flexible and highly robust networking to the data center. The firms previously collaborated as part of the open-source SONiC effort to develop chassis-based solutions tailored to the needs of high-capacity data centers. Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/bdck5wuw NICE partners with Deutsche Telekom Global Business NICE has partnered with Deutsche Telekom Global Business, a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom that provides telecommunications and connectivity solutions to organizations across all verticals, including the public sector. As part of this agreement, Deutsche Telekom Global Business will use the NICE CXone CCaaS platform and associated apps in various communications initiatives that…
BT putting its digital voice service rollout on halt Last year, BT began rolling out Digital Voice, which is a VoIP solution that works over the company’s broadband network rather than the old analogue network, as the name implies. This service is an essential improvement, as BT points out, to replace analogue technology, which is rapidly becoming outmoded. The operator is, however, delaying the Digital Voice switchover for consumers who do not wish to switch right away. BT did not specify how long the halt will occur, nonetheless, it is confident that the switchover will take place soon. Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/mt23py8u DigitalBridge enters into mobile infrastructure deal with Telenet Telenet has agreed to sell all of its mobile telecommunications towers in Belgium to DigitalBridge, a US-based real estate investment trust and a subsidiary of the DigitalBridge Group. The investment firm has agreed to pay $820 million for Telenet’s 3,322…
DT and Vodafone to tackle areas of Germany with no 4G coverage Deutsche Telekom (DT) and Vodafone Germany have announced further advancements in their efforts to close 4G coverage gaps in distant or rural parts of Germany where consumers are serviced by only one mobile network operator (MNO) or no operator at all. Over the last several years, the two operators have worked to increase coverage in 3,000 to 4,000 so-called 4G gray spots, which are commonly described as places where only one MNO can provide service. Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/yndfwnvb Spectralink launches DECT devices with Microsoft Teams SIP Gateway Spectralink, a global workplace mobility solutions supplier, has announced the availability of DECT devices that are compatible with the Microsoft Teams SIP Gateway. Company-critical deskless workers, who must travel to a remote site in order to carry out their duties, are very much relied upon by enterprise companies such as…
Telecom firms in Europe are coming together to assist Ukrainians in staying connected, and they are using a variety of steps that differ from company to company and from country to country, depending on the markets in which they operate. Here are some of the steps that telecommunications firms are taking. Deutsche Telekom has started providing free calls and text messages to Ukraine. This initiative affects both individual and commercial clients making calls from landlines and mobile phones, as well as roaming in Ukraine. T-Mobile Polska and T-Mobile US, the operator’s Polish and US subsidiaries, both launched comparable deals. Verizon has waived costs for consumer and corporate users traveling to and from Ukraine. Customers with foreign coverage bolt-ons will not lose any minutes from their subscription, and voice and text roaming costs have been waived. Virgin Media O2 has lifted costs for calls to and from Ukraine,…
Samsung to undertake a structural reorganization Samsung has announced yet another dramatic reorganization, this time separating the corporation into just two units: Device Solutions, which handles semiconductors, and the SET Division, which includes the mobile, consumer and television businesses. The reorganization looks to be strategic, indicating a change in focusing on the highly successful semiconductor market. Consolidating the consumer electronics and mobile companies should assist to streamline the company’s overall operations and improve synergies across the many sectors. Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/4e78wsfd AT&T to upgrade US Coast Guard network The Defense Information Systems Agency has selected AT&T to combine and enhance the US Coast Guard’s diverse data networks, awarding the company a $161 million, 11-year contract. AT&T will provide an IP-based Wide Area Network as well as ethernet, virtual private networking, private lines, fixed wireless, optical wavelength and commercial satellite connectivity to the Coast Guard. The contract was granted as…
Telefónica Tech and Fortinet announce new SD-WAN service As the hybrid and cloud-centric work model has become the new normal, Telefónica Tech and the cybersecurity firm Fortinet have unveiled a new worldwide managed, software-defined wide area networking (SD-WAN) solution aimed at the work-from-home market. Fortinet’s latest solution, flexWAN, will debut in Spain before being rolled out internationally across Telefónica’s European and American markets. For corporate personnel connecting from their workplaces or other locations to their jobs, this solution combines networking and security into a single product. Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/yrtssb94 Vodafone launches Eco-SIMs Vodafone has announced that it will begin providing customers half-sized Eco-SIM cards manufactured from recycled plastic. The Eco-SIM should reduce the requirement for 320 tonnes of new plastic to be manufactured each year, resulting in a reduction of about 1,280 tonnes of CO2 emissions each year. Eco-SIMs are expected to be gradually introduced in all twelve of…
Deutsche Telekom and Softbank in a share-swap deal In a significant shake-up that reinforces the German group’s transatlantic emphasis, Deutsche Telekom has reached a $7 billion share-swap agreement with SoftBank Group to raise its stake in T-Mobile US. In addition, Deutsche Telekom has sold its Dutch subsidiary. As a consequence of the two transactions, Deutsche Telekom’s share in T-Mobile US will increase to 48.4 percent, moving it closer to its aim of gaining direct control of the $170 billion US telecoms operator. In exchange, SoftBank will receive cash and a 4.5 percent interest in Deutsche Telekom, creating a direct shareholding link. Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/32tvyn46 NEC expands its partnership with AWS NEC has stated that it will broaden its relationship with AWS to include 5G and digital governance. NEC aims to create an “end-to-end 5G offering” by integrating their cloud-native open 5G core with AWS’ cloud and edge services. According…
Nokia launches iSIM Secure Connect Nokia has released new software to help operators cope with the provisioning of cellular IoT devices and subscription management. The software, called iSIM Secure Connect, relies on embedded SIM (eSIM) and integrated SIM (iSIM) technologies combined with reliable digital identification, allowing telecom service providers to quickly and securely authenticate and manage cellular IoT devices. The software is vendor agnostic and can be installed in a variety of network and cloud environments, providing a myriad of IoT use cases and business models. Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/42kf2tu8 Lumen strikes a deal with Microsoft Lumen Technologies has announced that it has entered a long-term partnership with Microsoft to take advantage of the Azure cloud platform. The duo plans to integrate Microsoft’s Azure stack with Lumen’s bare metal edge computing service, allowing customers to run Azure-based applications wherever the edge network can reach. Lumen will also use the cloud…