Google has a long history of secretly working on complex, high-tech projects, and the company has disclosed yet another such initiative. Aalyria, a new telecom company, was introduced on Monday. Within Google, it was known by the code name “Minkowski.” Despite the lack of precise information, sources claim that the company has been developing software for satellite-based, high-speed communications networks. Aalyria stated in a media release that its goal is to manage extremely fast, remarkably secure, and highly complicated communication systems that span land, sea, air, near space and deep space. However, Google declined to disclose information about Aalyria, including how long it has been developing the technology and how many employees are joining the startup. The Loon group’s software will be converted by Aalyria experts into a cloud-based system for controlling intricate networks that link high-speed Internet to objects such as satellites, aircraft and ships. …
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…
The US giant AT&T and Discovery have announced a deal to merge WarnerMedia’s entertainment, sports and news assets with Discovery’s international entertainment and sports companies to create a unique, high-end global entertainment company. In accordance with the agreement, AT&T will receive a total of $43 billion of cash, debt and the retention of certain debts of WarnerMedia. If approved by regulators, AT&T shareholders will receive 71% of the shares in the new company, while Discovery shareholders will own 29%. It is expected that the deal will deliver significant value to both AT&T and Discovery shareholders. This merger will bring together the strongest teams of media business leaders and content creators, and include industry-leading libraries of films and series. The merger will create a new business that could be valued $150 billion, including debt. This transaction gives AT&T and its shareholders the opportunity to leverage the value of…
T-Mobile US, an American wireless network operator, has announced a partnership with Zyter, a provider of cloud-based, software as a service (SaaS) digital health products. The companies are partnering to deliver virtual healthcare solutions to healthcare organizations and their patients across the US, including telehealth and remote patient monitoring and care team collaboration. The alliance comes at a time of high demand for virtual healthcare. Since the start of the pandemic, 51% of US residents have expressed concern about visiting hospitals and other healthcare facilities. The partnership aims to make virtual care accessible to more people in order to improve patient outcomes, lower readmission hospital rates and improve patient wellbeing. This agreement will serve healthcare organizations in providing remote and secure communications between patients and health care teams in order to monitor, diagnose, and remotely treat patients wherever they are, making use of the T-Mobile 4G and 5G…
Millicom, a Luxembourg-based international telecommunications and media company, has announced it has signed agreements to sell its operations in Tanzania and its stake in the AirtelTigo joint venture in Ghana. The concluding deals will complete Millicom’s prolonged plan to leave the African market and focus on its operations in Latin America. Millicom has been operating in the Tanzanian market since 1994 and took ownership of the local operations in 2006. For a while, the company tried to make their shares public, but in the end decided to sell the business in its entirety. The company agreed to sell its Tanzanian business for an undisclosed amount to a consortium led by Axian. In the meantime, the company signed an agreement with its joint venture partner Bharti Airtel on Friday to pass on its AirtelTigo shares to the Ghanaian government for $25 million. Looking at Millicom’s operations in Africa…
Google and Intel team up on 5G and edge network solutions Google Cloud has announced that it is working with Intel to establish reference architectures and integrated solutions for communications providers to help them deploy 5G and edge network solutions. To achieve the cloud native 5G goals, the partnership encompasses a full suite of telecommunications, along with application providers, carriers and communications service providers, hardware vendors and global telecommunications networks, with the goal of the cost and time to market required by the telecommunications industry. Intel is already the most powerful participant in the data center hardware market, but is keen to repeat that success with edge infrastructure. Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/34fv5aps Deutsche Telekom tests solar panels to power mobile sites Deutsche Telekom (DT) has announced that in the second half of 2020, the company was testing the use of solar panels to power its mobile infrastructure. In a new…
The French international IT services and consulting company Atos has announced the first release of Unify Office (UO) in the UK. This initiative is a combined effort with RingCentral, a global provider of cloud communications, collaboration, video conferencing and contact center solutions. This announcement follows a similar US rollout earlier in January. Unify Office is a cloud team collaboration and communications service provided by Atos Unify together with RingCentral. Unify Office delivers all features required by present-day team members, in one place, on any device, and from anywhere. Unify Office enables businesses to easily communicate and collaborate with best-of-class voice, video and team messaging functionalities. This can be done from anywhere and using any device by means of a single enterprise solution. By using Unified Office, customers can move from traditional on-premises telephony systems to Unify Office under RingCentral at their own pace, while continuing to use…
The voice over IP vendor 8×8 Inc., has announced that the Anaheim Ducks National Hockey League (NHL) team and the Honda Center, one of the nation’s top entertainment and sports venues, have chosen 8×8 as their official cloud communications provider. They will use 8×8’s integrated cloud voice, team chat, meeting and contact center solution to help enhance the experience for their employees, partners and customers. The Anaheim Ducks and Honda Center decided to give a boost to their digital transformation efforts across the organization and recognized the need to abandon the old, on-premises communication and contact center systems. It is not surprising that they made the decision to move away from the legacy connections given the elevated profile and visibility of cloud technology during the pandemic. Steve Seger, Chief Revenue Officer at 8×8, Inc., commented: “Organizations of all sizes, including professional sports teams like the Anaheim Ducks, have…
The French telecommunications provider Iliad, that provides fixed and mobile telephony services, prepaid phone cards, Internet access and hosting services, has signed a new $356 million loan deal with the European Investment Bank (EIB) to help the Iliad Group finance its mobile network deployment in France, in particular to consolidate its 4G network and deploy its 5G network. Since 2009, the EIB has financed Iliad, and with this new loan the total financing exceeds $1.3 billion. Having helped finance the development of the Iliad fixed network for more than a decade, the EIB is once again working with the group to provide financial support for the company’s latest generation of mobile networks. There was little information on what exactly the latest loan would be used for, but Iliad said it is devoted to providing digital coverage to the whole of France, including most rural areas. Ambroise Fayolle, Vice-President…
DIDWW, an Irish-based telecom operator providing global telecommunication services, has announced the news of its upcoming new and improved API functionality. These updates will assist customers to fully automate their telephony processes and allow for the complete integration of their operational components into the DIDWW customer service portfolio. The company is continually striving to increase the functionality of its services, and in order to achieve that, they are upgrading their platform by accelerating processes with automation. Because of its established priorities, DIDWW plans to make all of its user panel features available through the API, in order to optimize the speed of operations and improve process automation. The current API is designed for telecom operators, making it possible for them to perform a wide range of actions, while helping to automate and further bolster their services. Some of the features include worldwide ordering and setting up of phone…