T-Mobile US has begun offering commercial Voice-over-5G (also known as Voice over New Radio, or VoNR) in certain regions of Portland, Oregon, and Salt Lake City, Utah, with the intention of expanding the service to a larger area later this year. VoNR, which is based on 5G Standalone (5G SA) network technology, is now available on the Samsung Galaxy S21 5G smartphone and will be available later this year on a variety of additional 5G handsets, including the Galaxy S22. Voice over 5G represents a significant hurdle for the whole wireless industry, however all US providers will most certainly want to transition voice calling to 5G at some point in the future to free up LTE spectrum for 5G. Voice conversations via 5G offer decreased latency, lightning-fast speeds, real-time response and immense connectivity. Ericsson, Nokia, Samsung and Qualcomm all contributed to TMUS’s voice over 5G service debut.…
BT announces a new deal with Amazon Web Services BT’s Digital division has announced a new partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS), which will see the cloud giant assist BT in migrating internal applications to the cloud. This initiative is part of BT’s larger strategy, which aims to modernize the company’s operations and save up to £2 billion each year by 2025. The operator claims that it will continue to make large investments and leverage AWS technology to improve its internal operations. Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/2p9ykxaz Apple under pressure over NFC access Apple has been accused by the European Commission (EC) of misusing its position to prevent competitor mobile wallets from being used on iOS devices. The European Commission stated that in order to benefit Apple Pay, the vendor restricts third-party wallet software developers’ access to the NFC input on its devices. If this statement is confirmed, it would appear…
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…
Telefonica partners with Meta A new agreement between Meta and Telefonica has been inked to create a Metaverse Innovation Hub in Madrid. Local startups and developers will have access to a 5G laboratory inside the Hub, where they will be able to use a metaverse end-to-end testbed using Meta and Telefonica’s networks and equipment. The hub’s goal is to test innovative network topologies, use cases and devices in order to speed metaverse network and device readiness. Participants will have access to Telefonica’s open innovation ecosystem, as well as the Innovation and Talent Hub Resources and Meta’s engineering capabilities. Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/mf2jbjxu Turkcell partners with Ribbon and Odine Ribbon Communications has teamed up with Odine, a virtualized and containerized infrastructure and solution integrator, to provide Turkcell, a Turkish integrated telecommunications and technology services provider, with next-generation voice interconnect services. Ribbon’s SBC SWe, which delivers the features and capabilities of appliance-based…
Oracle Communications has been chosen by Vodafone UK to lead the network policy for its standalone 5G network. Vodafone will be able to make more intelligent policy decisions and swiftly test and deploy new services using Oracle’s cloud native network policy management technology as part of its 5G core. Customers will be able to get their hands on exciting new 5G options sooner, thanks to this new agreement, which includes holographic calls, lag-free 5G game streaming and film downloads up to 4X faster than 4G networks. The solution, which is comprised of Oracle’s 5G Core Policy Control Function (PCF) and Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF), enables the implementation of sophisticated network policies across wireless, fixed and cable networks, as well as IoT and machine-to-machine (M2M) networks. In the case of Vodafone, the solution will provide data from which Vodafone customers may select the optimal network offer…
The telecom industry is responsible for keeping the globe linked through communications services. There are many aspects of these services that we take for granted, from private calls to business interactions. However, it is only because of the telecom sector that we are able to swiftly connect to individuals all over the world, whether by phone, internet, airwaves or cables. For years, cybercriminals have targeted telecom operators because they maintain and manage vital communications infrastructure that is used to transport and store vast quantities of private and sensitive data. Cyber-attacks on the telecom industry in particular, have risen dramatically in recent years as technology has advanced and our world has evolved to become more connected. In this article, we hope to shed light on the cyber security threats that the telecommunications sector is facing. Also, explain how providers can defend their digital environments and key infrastructure from possible cyber-attacks Why…
Vantage Towers partners with Mowea Vantage Towers, a subsidiary of Vodafone, has formed a strategic alliance with the Berlin-based start-up Mowea to power towers with renewable energy. Vantage Towers plans to build 752 micro wind turbines on 52 towers in Germany, with a capacity of up to 650 MWh per year. Under typical wind conditions, the turbines can cut grid power usage and electricity operating expenses at each site by up to two-thirds or more. Installation of the Mowea’s micro wind turbines is planned for the second part of the year, assuming that all relevant licenses are obtained by then. Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/35zsph6v Nokia to defend IP Telecom against quantum cyber attacks Nokia has established a partnership with IP Telecom to expand the latter’s data center cloud connection infrastructure to Portuguese urban regions. Under the terms of the agreement, Nokia will create an encrypted optical data center interconnect (DCI)…
AWS announces 3 new Local Zones AWS has announced that AWS Local Zones in Atlanta, Phoenix and Seattle are now generally available. Customers in these three metro regions can utilize these new Local Zones to deliver apps that require single-digit millisecond latency to end users or for on-premises deployments. The company presently has 17 Local Zones spread over 16 metropolises. Each zone provides select services inside Local Zones near population centers, typically where Amazon does not already have a data center footprint. Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/4ahzesr3 The Club collaborates with Google Cloud The Club, HKT’s loyalty program and digital enterprises arm, has inked a collaboration agreement with Google Cloud to build a hyper-personalization platform named ‘Copernicus.’ This platform will be integrated throughout The Club’s business pillars into its digital environment. The Club hopes to give clients a personalized online digital experience by combining the network and database with Google Cloud…
Verizon and AT&T delay 5G rollouts After initially refusing to postpone the launch of their new 5G service which had been set for January 5, 2022, AT&T and Verizon have decided to delay the rollout by two weeks. According to airline industry representatives, a last-minute draft agreement was first negotiated with AT&T and subsequently with Verizon. Aviation officials are concerned that the new technology will interfere with flight altitude-measuring equipment. Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/2p8sbzc7 Amazon, Cisco and Lockheed Martin collaborate on a space mission Callisto, a tech demonstration payload, will be deployed onboard NASA’s Orion spacecraft during its unmanned Artemis I trip around the Moon, thanks to a collaboration between Cisco, Amazon and Lockheed Martin. The goal is to determine if voice and video communication technology can assist astronauts and increase their mission efficiency and situational awareness. The Callisto payload has bespoke hardware and software created by the three companies…
Verizon and Google Cloud have launched a new collaboration initiative. The corporations will join to deliver the power of the cloud closer to mobile and connected devices operating at the edge of Verizon’s network. With this new agreement, Verizon now interoperates with all three main cloud providers: Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud. Verizon intends to deliver Google’s computing and storage capabilities to the edge of the local network by combining Verizon 5G Edge with Google Distributed Cloud Edge. This will provide real-time corporate applications such as autonomous mobile robots, intelligent logistics and industrial automation with the bandwidth and low latency that they require. Verizon’s private On Site 5G and private 5G Edge, combined with Google Distributed Cloud Edge, are expected to enable enterprises in industries ranging from retail to manufacturing to harness the power of 5G and mobile edge computing, while also gaining operational…