Zoom, the video conferencing powerhouse that had explosive growth during the COVID-19 pandemic, has disclosed that 15% of its workforce, or around 1,300 workers, will be let go. The company’s CEO, Eric Yuan, attributed the need to reduce staff expenses to the company’s previously accelerated hiring during the pandemic and the unpredictability of the global economy. The number of staff at Zoom increased by more than 275% between July 2019 and October 2022, reaching 8,422 employees. Many companies and schools depended on Zoom to keep their operations running at the peak of the pandemic; however, with lockdowns becoming rare events and the rise of “Zoom fatigue,” the corporation has struggled to continue its growth. Zoom’s market cap peaked at $150 billion in late 2020, but has since dropped to roughly $24 billion. Yuan acknowledged not devoting enough effort to analyzing the company’s growth and determining if that expansion…
Orange to cut down energy use by deploying 5G Orange claims to be on a mission to alleviate strain on Europe’s energy networks. The corporation asserts that it can save energy and is doing this by introducing the latest generation of technology, in particular 5G. All of this effort is being applied in order for the company to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2040. Deploying 5G is cited as a crucial component of this undertaking. Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/4zmnpfce FCC bans all Huawei and ZTE equipment The sale and import of equipment produced by Chinese manufacturers Huawei and ZTE has been banned by the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Dahua Technology and Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology, as well as radio equipment producer Hytera Communications Corp., are also banned. According to the FCC, these suppliers pose a threat to national security in the United States, and their technology may potentially be…
In order to help carriers and service providers become fully compliant with the Microsoft and Zoom Ecosystems, SIPPIO, a global provider of corporate phone services, has launched its Fast Track Accelerator program. Carriers and service providers who participate in this program become completely compliant with the architecture and automation processes needed for wholesale certification within the Microsoft Operator Connect and Zoom Provider Exchange ecosystems. The program provides resellers with a rapid path to start selling retail voice subscriptions. The cloud-based services from Microsoft and Zoom that are covered by this program include Zoom Peering, Microsoft Direct Routing, Microsoft Operator Connect and Zoom Provider Exchange. With a completely customized, white-labeled platform that offers pre configured infrastructure and services for full implementation, the Fast Track program enables network operators and carriers to become Microsoft and Zoom providers. Through the accelerator program, which covers 74+ countries, service providers and carriers may…
Telefonica reveals a new rebrand Telefonica has announced its new rebrand at the company’s annual general meeting. The company also reelected its Chairman and CEO Jose Maria Alvarez-Pallete to its board for a further four-year term with increased backing from shareholders. The newly refurbished design will be used in the company’s brands under the Telefonica name, but will not replace the Telefonica-owned consumer-facing identities O2 and Movistar. According to the company, the new logo reflects extensive restructuring efforts started in 2019 and is reminiscent of the 1984 logo that also resembled the letter T made-up of small circles. Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/34hwm3ve AT&T gifts boost in fiber speed to its customers AT&T has announced that it is giving its customers a free increase in fiber speeds. The company is increasing its access speeds from 100 Mbps to 300 Mbps, and 300 Mbps to 500 Mbps respectively. The company will continue…
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…
Zoom and Lumen advance their partnership The telecommunications company Lumen is already a partner of Zoom, but Lumen has recently announced that it has advanced the partnership further to introduce Zoom delivered by Lumen. Zoom delivered by Lumen combines the embedded network security capabilities of Lumen with Zoom’s integrated security features to actively protect businesses using their combined services. Shaun Andrews, CMO at Lumen, said: “We’re happy to take this partnership a step further by combining our platforms and our strengths to create Zoom delivered by Lumen. Together, we will help keep families, businesses, schools and hospitals securely connected to the world, and thriving in the fourth industrial revolution.” Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/y4luab48 BT to deploy their global network cloud next year BT has been working on their BT Network Cloud for some time now, since deciding to focus on this cloud-native platform. BT has Network Cloud nodes in the…
Vodafone UK going big on OpenRAN Vodafone UK has announced that they are deploying OpenRAN technology in rural base stations, as a key part of Huawei’s switching strategy. Approximately 2,600 sites in rural Wales and the south-west of England will be converted to OpenRAN by a deadline established by the government. This process will start in 2022 and, as yet, Vodafone has not identified any vendors to assist it in this initiative. The operator wants to be seen as an example of OpenRAN, which increasingly appears to be the most likely source of diversity for telecom providers since Huawei was blacklisted. Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/yybbqu45 Deutsche Telekom partners with Zoom Deutsche Telekom has become the latest service provider to partner with Zoom Video Communications. Deutsche Telekom is now the official reseller of Zoom in Germany. The company offers personalized solutions and contracts to customers of different sizes, and is able…
Apple reveals 5G iPhones Apple waited a little longer than other manufacturers to introduce 5G phones, probably because they wanted to be certain their first 5G iPhones are top class. The company unveiled its new iPhone 12 phones on Tuesday. All new iPhones are built around the fast Apple A14 Bionic chip, they support 5G wireless connectivity, and are protected by a ceramic shield to make the phones more damage resistant. Bringing 5G to the iPhone is a huge step forward for the company, as it will provide a new level of performance for downloads and uploads, video streaming, games, real-time interactivity and more. Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/y6mum7wh Masergy launches Work From Anywhere solutions Masergy, a software-defined network and cloud platform for the digital enterprise, announced two new SD-WAN Work From Anywhere solutions. Masergy’s SD-WAN Secure Home is a lightweight Fortinet Secure SD-WAN device for fast connection via the residential…
Zoom Video Communications, a provider of video telephony and online chat services, and Lumen, a global enterprise technology platform, have announced that the companies will work together to allow Lumen to offer Zoom as part of its Unified Communications and Collaboration Suite. Lumen will deliver improved services based on Zoom’s video-first UC platform to its global customer base. The partnership will provide greater delivery, customer success and managed services to companies using Zoom, in order to provide a unique business experience when using the services. Lumen will also combine the security of its embedded network with Zoom’s built-in security features to actively protect customers that are using bundled services. This collaboration will give Zoom access to Lumen’s customer base, while Lumen will be able to update its UCC offering with a leading video conferencing platform. In addition, this partnership should help Lumen to better compete with Verizon, which…
Zoom, the communications technology company that provides video telephony and online chat services through a cloud-based software platform, has announced the expansion of its Zoom Phone coverage. Cloud phone services are now available in 40-plus countries and the company has also simplified the telephone service plan for international companies. Zoom Phone now covers more than 40 countries and territories across Europe, North America, Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region. The newly added countries and territories to Zoom Phone support are: Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, Columbia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hong Kong SAR, Hungary, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Mexico, Norway, Panama, Peru, Poland, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia and Slovenia. Under the Global Select plan, a company can employ local calling in more than 40 countries and territories where Zoom provides Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) services, supporting outbound and inbound calls with integrated telephony features that allow…