MessageBird acquires 2 companies The cloud messaging platform, MessageBird, has announced the acquisition of two companies that will increase its customer engagement portfolio. The goal of MessageBird is to improve communications between companies and their customers. Their multi-channel technology aims to give customers the opportunity to communicate with the business in a way they like, rather than limiting the business to the currently-preferred method. Buying 24sessions and Hull provides MessageBird with even more possibilities. The company believes that consumers prefer to use messaging rather than voice calls and are proposing that businesses use this method of communication to cater to customers. Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/9nedkjns ETSI published TR 103 639 for timeslicing The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), known for its universally accepted standards such as UMTS, 4G and TETRA, has published TR 103 639. The technical report describes a system and metrics for timeslice measurement methodologies for assessing the…
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…
Google announces their Network Connectivity Center Google has announced a new product, the Network Connection Center (NCC). NCC is described as a revolution in the simplification of on premises and cloud networking. This new product is an initiative to provide a single control panel for a company of any size to manage all of its networks globally. The Network Connection Center is said to effortlessly join together VPNs, partners and dedicated interconnects, as well as third-party routers and Software-Defined WANs, in order to optimize connectivity, reduce operational burden and minimize costs. Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/xaaypzwr AT&T signs a 12-year contract with the US Treasury Department AT&T has cemented a $231 million and 12-year contract with the US Treasury Department to modernize the agency’s voice and data networks and ensure cyber security protection. This agreement is part of the General Services Administration’s (GSA) Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions (EIS) technology procurement program. Under…
Singtel, a Singaporean telecommunications conglomerate, and its Australian subsidiary Optus have expanded their 5G ecosystems by adding Amazon Web Services (AWS) Outposts to their portfolio of hybrid cloud technologies from hyperscale cloud providers in their respective multi-access edge compute (MEC) platforms. With Amazon Web Services Outpost, MEC will power 5G solutions such as robotics, drones, autonomous vehicles and artificial intelligence to function with very little latency, and closer to end-users. Companies can access MECs with AWS Outposts from the nearest Singtel site, allowing them to seamlessly manage their applications that utilize AWS tools and benefit from extremely low latency data processing. Furthermore, Singtel may optionally install the MEC with AWS Outposts at the customer’s site for testing, in the case where the customer wishes to keep confidential data on its premises. Bill Chang, CEO of group enterprise at Singtel said its partnership with AWS will increase the…
The world is still standing on its tip toes and looking over its shoulder because of how our lives have changed since the end of 2019. Yes, we are all tired of hearing this, but the truth is that a pandemic is still very real, and we all have a duty to protect ourselves and each other. Therefore, some of the biggest events in the telecommunications industry are going virtual in 2021. Even though general societal norms have been halted to a large extent, we are still moving forward, albeit at a slow pace with much more cautious steps. We invite you to explore the list we have compiled of the top telecom events that will take place online this year. CC-Enterprise Webinar.Live Session CC (Carrier Community) is organising its next digital Enterprise CC-Webinar.Live Panel Discussion and Knowledge Sharing Session, scheduled to take place on April 12, 2021. During…
Orange launches satellite broadband service in France Orange-owned satellite broadband business Nordnet has officially launched its satellite broadband service in France. As is well known, Neosat provides broadband services of up to 100 Mbps to homes and businesses in areas with poor connectivity for less than €40 per month. Nordet launched its services just as a new generation of satellite broadband services is beginning to emerge around the globe. The company packages satellite broadband services with a fixed-line telephone service, together with unlimited calls to fixed and mobile telephones and certain other destinations. Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/ap4rdryh Microsoft acquires Marsden In continuation to expand its capabilities to better serve industry verticals, Microsoft has acquired The Marsden Group, the company’s current partner focused on rapid prototyping and digital transformation for industrial customers. The acquisition of Marsden, an existing Microsoft Gold partner, will accelerate Microsoft’s capability to take advantage of its cloud,…
Juniper Networks, an American multinational corporation that develops and markets networking products, has announced a partnership with PBX-Change, a VoIP and Internet service provider. From now on, PBX-Change will be able to introduce customers to the innovative Flexible Service Edge technology of Juniper’s Software-Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN), that provides business quality Unified Communications (UC) and business continuity services. Combining Juniper’s Flexible Service Edge technology with the capabilities and features offered by PBX-Change will assist customers in optimizing their networks by providing high-speed priority services for critical business applications. PBX-Change is Tampa’s leading provider of business voice and ultra-high-speed Internet services, specializing in voice, cloud and Gigabit + Internet services. The company is recognized for providing exceptional services to local and national customers. Ryan Yaldor, CTO of PBX-Change, commented: “From the very beginning, our company’s cornerstone has been the dedicated, specialized service that we offer all of…
The SoftBank Group’s subsidiary Z Holdings has announced that after completing a merger with the popular messaging app Line, it will invest $4.7 billion into the venture and hire 5,000 artificial intelligence engineers over the next five years. The merger of the two Japanese companies has been in the works since 2019, but was delayed by issues related to Covid-19. The main business areas of the company will be communication and social media, electronic and mobile commerce, along with online search and advertising. With the launch of their new services and collaborations with companies such as for online advertising, the joint establishment aims to generate $18.7 billion in revenue and $2 billion in operating profit in the fiscal year 2023. Softbank Corp. and Naver Corp., the South Korean IT giant and major shareholder of Line, will each contribute 50 percent of capital required for the new intermediate holding…
The Swedish multinational networking and telecommunications company Ericsson has introduced three new radios in its enterprise-level Massive MIMO portfolio, and bolstered their RAN Compute portfolio with six RAN Compute products to accelerate the 5G mid-band release and expand next-generation mobile technology. Ericsson stated that the three new radios and six new RAN Compute products will enable operators to make better use of the full spectrum of mid-band, that is around 3.5 GHz. The products are powered by Ericsson Silicon, the company’s system on a chip (SoC), which provides advanced processing capabilities for the rapid development of energy-efficient, high performance networks and ensures greater security. With the new mid-band spectrum, telecom service providers can leverage their 5G spectrum resources to deploy services quickly and efficiently, thereby delivering higher quality and more responsive experiences to mobile broadband subscribers. Mid-band bridges speed, capacity and coverage gaps between low and high frequency…
FCC establishes Emergency Broadband Benefit program The FCC has recently held an open meeting in order to discuss its next priorities. One of the most important matters discussed was the new Emergency Broadband Benefit program, which Congress has instructed the FCC to initiate. As part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, Congress has allocated $3.2 billion for the program. Broadband providers participating in the program will be able to offer discounts of up to $50 per month for Internet services and up to $75 per month for those services on tribal lands. Currently, it is unclear how long these broadband benefits will last. Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/jj52hlfl Sinch acquires Inteliquent Sinch AB, a Sweden-based company primarily engaged in the provision of cloud computing services, has signed a final agreement to acquire Inteliquent, the largest independent voice communications provider in the US, for an all-cash offer of $1.140 billion. The deal expands…