COVID-19 Archives | Page 2 of 2

US telecoms will not charge late fees during COVID-19 pandemic Major US telecommunications companies such as AT&T, Comcast, Cox, and Verizon have expanded their policies to not charge late payments and cancel service for customers and small businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic until June 30. Furthermore, Comcast said that apart from extending the commitment through June 30 and providing its Wi-Fi hotspots to everyone, it would also extend the pause in its data plans to give all customers unlimited data at no extra charge. With tens of millions of Americans working from home, internet providers and the FCC say the internet is performing well. Read more at https://tinyurl.com/yd8wbxuv Google is making Meet free for everyone The tech giant has announced that Google Meet, its premium video conferencing product, will be free for everyone and will be fully accessible over the coming weeks. Previously, the Meet service was available only…

Telecom News

A quick roundup of the news in Telecoms | Week #17

By Vilija Simkiene April 24, 2020

Google rolls out BeyondCorp for secure remote network access without a VPN Google has launched BeyondCorp Remote Access, a new security service designed to provide remote access to internal systems without using a virtual private network (VPN). This new cloud-native security product is based on a “zero-trust approach” and is founded on a system that Google originally built for internal use almost a decade ago. Google said that when the number of remote connections suddenly increases, the VPN architecture may not be able to handle the load. BeyondCorp Remote Access includes a database of every device authorized to connect, a security certificate installed on that device, and integration with a human resources database containing information about usernames and group memberships. Read more at https://tinyurl.com/ya4hhtsk Zoom adds encryption as it passes 300 million daily users Zoom Video Communications has launched an update of its virtual meetings software, adding encryption and new…

Telecom News

ComReg opens up additional spectrum to create more capacity for telcos

By Vilija Simkiene April 15, 2020

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…

Telecom News

A quick roundup of the news in Telecoms | Week #15

By Vilija Simkiene April 10, 2020

BEREC says COVID-19 won’t break the internet The Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) has announced that the increase in Internet usage across the continent is more or less stabilizing and that networks have been able to withstand the pressure. BEREC said that national regulatory authorities (NRAs) have reported “a stabilization in the overall traffic, but some NRAs still observe an increase of the overall traffic.” Some operators have expanded their network’s capacity to cope with the steady growth of traffic. According to the organization, “operators, which did not take any such measure, are still closely monitoring their network’s capacity to check if an upgrade is necessary.” Read more at https://tinyurl.com/rxmg53l Vodafone slashes costs of core network functions across Europe using VMware’s telco cloud The UK-based telecoms operator Vodafone has completed the deployment of a single digital network architecture across all of its 21 European business markets, using…