BT putting its digital voice service rollout on halt Last year, BT began rolling out Digital Voice, which is a VoIP solution that works over the company’s broadband network rather than the old analogue network, as the name implies. This service is an essential improvement, as BT points out, to replace analogue technology, which is rapidly becoming outmoded. The operator is, however, delaying the Digital Voice switchover for consumers who do not wish to switch right away. BT did not specify how long the halt will occur, nonetheless, it is confident that the switchover will take place soon. Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/mt23py8u DigitalBridge enters into mobile infrastructure deal with Telenet Telenet has agreed to sell all of its mobile telecommunications towers in Belgium to DigitalBridge, a US-based real estate investment trust and a subsidiary of the DigitalBridge Group. The investment firm has agreed to pay $820 million for Telenet’s 3,322…
Nokia labeled one of the world’s most ethical companies Nokia has been named one of the “World’s Most Ethical Companies®” for the fifth year in a row by the Ethisphere Institute. In 2022, 136 recipients from 22 countries and 45 sectors were honored. Nokia is one of five telecoms industry winners, and the only Finnish business to receive recognition. Nokia’s superior governance, as well as its dedication to best-in-class sustainability, corporate ethics, compliance and governance standards, has earned the company this honor. Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/4ab8c253 NTT partners with Schneider Electric to test private 5G network NTT and Schneider Electric’s latest collaboration will build on their current relationship to create a secure and on-premises end-to-end digital platform that will allow various sectors to benefit from private 5G services. The private 5G network is projected to support equipment availability, machine performance and product quality solutions. The project will also provide a…
Telecom firms in Europe are coming together to assist Ukrainians in staying connected, and they are using a variety of steps that differ from company to company and from country to country, depending on the markets in which they operate. Here are some of the steps that telecommunications firms are taking. Deutsche Telekom has started providing free calls and text messages to Ukraine. This initiative affects both individual and commercial clients making calls from landlines and mobile phones, as well as roaming in Ukraine. T-Mobile Polska and T-Mobile US, the operator’s Polish and US subsidiaries, both launched comparable deals. Verizon has waived costs for consumer and corporate users traveling to and from Ukraine. Customers with foreign coverage bolt-ons will not lose any minutes from their subscription, and voice and text roaming costs have been waived. Virgin Media O2 has lifted costs for calls to and from Ukraine,…
WOW! partners with Reach Mobile Wide Open West (WOW!) has teamed up with the MVNO aggregator Reach Mobile to launch a wireless service. WOW! mobile, powered by Reach, will be accessible in a few markets this spring, and the business is currently working on determining the initial launch sites. It is intended that the mobile product should be expanded to all of WOW! markets shortly after the launch. WOW! will be able to bring a mobile product to market rapidly by relying on their operational efficiency, a full-featured platform, and a fantastic customer experience in a lower-cost operating model by employing Reach Next. Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/2smnm38n Audi taps Verizon for 5G vehicles Audi of America and Verizon have launched a new cooperative venture, with the goal of utilizing Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband connection within Audi automobiles. Their offering will encompass augmented mobile services and new driving-assistance technologies, paving the…
Verizon drives towards its goal of net zero carbon emissions Verizon has used the proceeds from its most recent $1 billion green bond to sign a number of renewable energy purchase agreements (REPAs) in an effort to make its operations more ecologically friendly. These REPAs encompass around 910 megawatts of new renewable energy producing capacity throughout seven states in the USA, with wind turbines accounting for around 51% and solar panels for the remaining 49%. By 2025, the operator claims it will have sourced or generated renewable energy equal to 50% of its annual electricity use. Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/4fzb629n Broadvoice to officially launch GoContact BPO offering At the Call & Contact Center Expo US, Broadvoice, a supplier of hosted voice, unified communications (UC) and SIP Trunking services for businesses, will demonstrate its new contact center solution for the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector. This new offering is the result…
Given all of the major cellular carriers’ full-scale adoption of 5G network resources, it’s likely no surprise that data consumption totals during Sunday’s Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles set records for both Verizon and AT&T. Verizon invested $119 million on its network in the SoFi Stadium area, while AT&T expanded its fiber network. Customers on Verizon’s cellular networks “in and around” the stadium utilized a total of 30.4 terabytes of data on Sunday, surpassing Verizon’s highest recorded record of 21.5 TB of data used at Super Bowl LIV in Miami in 2020. According to the operator, 60% of guests at the SoFi Stadium in California used its service during the game on February 13th, compared to 56% for the 2020 Super Bowl in Miami. Verizon added 169 small cells, four macro cell sites, and 24 in-building systems as part of this investment. According to Verizon,…
TIA releases supply chain security standard The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) has compiled the SCS 9001 specification, which it claims is the world’s first supply chain security standard designed particularly for the ICT industry. The SCS 9001 standard applies to all ICT sector goods, including software, hardware and services that are linked to the association’s global networks. SCS 9001’s goal is to validate end-to-end cyber and physical security throughout ICT network infrastructure. The new standard is based on a Quality Management System (QMS) that operationalizes industry best practices and recommendations such as ISO 27001, the Prague Proposals, applicable NIST standards, and the CSIS Criteria for Security and Trust. Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/2p8hzdru Metro by T-Mobile US now part of the Affordable Connectivity Program Metro by T-Mobile has joined the federal government’s Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). All eligible Metro by T-Mobile customers, new and old, will be able to obtain free…
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…
The Federal Communications Commission got a settlement from four firms in relation to emergency calling standards that were not delivered in 2020. The federal prosecution focused on the four corporations involved in the 911 calls, namely Verizon, AT&T, Intrado, and Lumen Technologies, and their inability to fulfill 911 call delivery commitments. Verizon has agreed to pay $274,000 to settle an inquiry into an outage that occurred on May 7, 2020. The other inquiries were all centered around outages on September 28, 2020. With its $460,000 payment, AT&T will resolve two investigations, while Lumen and Intrado will pay $3.8 million and $1.75 million, respectively. The massive payout demonstrates the corporations’ willingness to accept responsibility for their failure to effectively accommodate emergency calls. Each firm has also promised to put in place a compliance strategy. Within 90 days of the consent decree’s effective date, each carrier must examine and adjust…
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…