Lumen to sell its Latin American business Lumen Technologies has signed an agreement to sell its Latin American business to infrastructure investment company Stonepeak for $2.7 billion. This deal comes from Lumen’s goal of freeing up more cash for its future growth plan. This transaction is expected to be completed in the first half of 2022. After the sale has been completed, Lumen’s Latin American division will become an independent subsidiary of Stonepeak, continuing with the current management team. Despite the sale, Lumen will not sever ties with the subsidiary, as the operator plans to maintain a strategic relationship with the new company. Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/4728y9f Verizon signs a deal with US Air National Guard Verizon’s Public Sector business entered into a second agreement with the US Department of Defense (DoD). The latest $78.8 million contract is to help the Air National Guard (ANG) modernize their network services. Under…
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…
Huawei launches HarmonyOS Huawei has officially released its HarmonyOS operating system for all devices. It looks like HarmonyOS will be available on almost all Huawei devices in the coming years, and the company will describe it as an upgrade. As a next-gen smart device operating system, HarmonyOS provides a common language for connecting and collaborating across different devices, giving users a more user-friendly and secure experience. The OS uses distributed technology to meet the diverse needs of all the different devices in a single system, allowing for flexible deployment. Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/mj8j4j99 Vodafone and CityFibre expand their partnership Vodafone and CityFibre have expanded their partnership to offer Vodafone Ethernet services for business customers. In this new partnership, Vodafone will use CityFibre’s Ethernet infrastructure to provide local access to its customers. Therefore, businesses in 12 UK cities and towns will have an alternative and cost-effective High Bandwidth Ethernet service. Under…
Vodafone Germany to build new base stations and 5G Vodafone Germany has announced that it will undertake more than 7,000 mobile infrastructure construction projects including 3,000 5G projects, which it estimates will support 9,000 5G antennas. The projects will take place in the current financial year, which began in April. The company says it has exceeded its 5G coverage targets by expanding the network to 25 million subscribers, and estimates that it will soon cover 30 million consumers with 5G. In addition, Vodafone has also announced that it is swapping the L3G spectrum for LTE by switching 18,000 3G sites to 4G ones this summer. Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/a5a7txbf Virgin Media shares its sustainability results Virgin Media released its latest sustainability report this week, which examines the ways that the company has supported its employees and customers during the pandemic and how it continues to deal with the climate crisis.…
VCC Live partners with DIDWW VCC Live, a provider of innovative cloud-based contact center software for inbound, outbound and cross-channel contact centers, has announced a strategic partnership with global telecommunications operator DIDWW, which provides high quality VoIP and SIP trunking services to businesses and telecommunications operators around the world. As part of the partnership, VCC Live will take advantage of DIDWW’s extensive virtual telephone number coverage, which will allow VCC Lives’s contact center business to grow effectively in all geographic areas. DIDWW’s vast inventory of virtual phone numbers allows VCC Live to continue the rapid growth of their global business. Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/xhu9xheb Microsoft collaborates with O2 UK Microsoft and O2 are developing a proof-of-concept investigation to determine the benefits of on-premises Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) inside a private 5G network, focusing on security and low latency. The possible benefits of this proposed architecture are noteworthy, combining secure, high-bandwidth…
European Commission proposes new AI regulations The European Commission is proposing new rules that would allow it to ban any type or deployment of AI that it considers high-risk. The organization also proposes much stricter rules and limitations on the use of biometric data, such as law enforcement using face recognition. Violation of the rules may result in fines of up to 6% of the offending company’s total global turnover. For the biggest tech companies, that sum could reach billions. The commission’s digital chief, Margrethe Vestager, said: “On artificial intelligence, trust is a must, not a nice-to-have.” Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/5e8wcufu Cisco to invest $100 million to combat climate change Cisco has unveiled plans to invest $100 million over the next 10 years to help fight climate change, using the fund in its name for initiatives aimed at reducing emissions and educating communities. Cisco’s efforts will be global, and funding…
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,…
Vodia Networks, manufacturer of cutting-edge software-based telephone systems, has announced its 2021 Webinar schedule. A number of industry-leading companies will participate in the webinars, including CyberData, Fanvil, Quest Blue and Yealink. Each webinar will demonstrate the features and ease of use of the new version of Vodia’s industry-leading multi-tenant cloud PBX, version 67, which was released in February 2021. The webinars are designed for both resellers and end-users. “We’re excited about 67, particularly how perfectly it integrates with Microsoft Teams,” said Vodia CEO Christian Stredicke. “Our best-in-class cloud PBX is the telephony system SMBs need to thrive during these challenging times and going forward. We invite all of our partners and resellers to participate in these webinars, and to invite their customers as well. For SMBs interested in our cloud PBX, we are happy to connect you with an outstanding reseller in your area. Please join us for what…
Mobile World Congress 2021 to require a negative Covid test for entry GSMA, the organization hosting the Mobile World Congress 2021, has announced a health and safety plan for its event. Of course, requirements include doing all the usual things such as wearing masks, washing hands, keeping distance, and following the proper sneezing and coughing esthetics, but there are more specific safety outlines. One of the most important stipulations in place will be the requirement of proof of a negative Covid test, which will be fully managed by the MWC app. Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/5ssd8d8u Intel to tackle data privacy with DARPA Intel has become a part of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) as a research partner to help run its Data Projection in Virtual Environments (DPRIVE) program. This program is seeking ways to improve fully homomorphic encryption (FHE), that allows the processing of encrypted data without the…


