All articles by Ken Wieland – Page 10
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Public AffairsOfcom details O2 UK ‘carelessness’ in billing investigation
Regulator publishes 74-page document highlighting the extent of O2 UK feet-dragging in its investigation as to why the operator overcharged customers during a seven-year period. Demands O2 UK review its processes and systems to ensure accuracy and completeness of responses to information requests in future. Restates view that £150,000 ...
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Suppliers & SCMSafaricom lauds TIBCO for service and network advances
Kipkirui says microservices and cloud-native APIs from longstanding partner is key in helping OpCo to become an “insights-led, tech-driven company”. Adds that Safaricom has been able to maintain “maximum value” from capex invested in TIBCO. OpCo aims to migrate entire TIBCO BPM stack from on-prem to public cloud by ...
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Network & InfrastructurePeru’s IpT likes open RAN, but sees room for improvement
CTO of rural provider lauds lower energy consumption, shorter implementation times, compared with traditional 4G rollouts. Flags “some limitations” on capacity and scalability, however; “overall cost” of open RAN equipment still in same ballpark as kit from mainstream vendors.
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Network & InfrastructureBT’s McRae sees open RAN potential in tackling ‘not-spots’
Optimistic about RIC to enable connectivity in hard-to-reach places. Flags work on rural open RAN trial in Wales, with BT as neutral host provider. Restates view that open RAN functionality is more important than lowering costs.
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Suppliers & SCMBT joins audit club to boost supplier sustainability
Pourrat underlines ESG credentials though membership of telco grouping to share best practice on supply chain sustainability. Highlights that BT spent around £13.1bn this year with more than 1,100 direct suppliers in nearly 100 countries, and that understanding impact on environment and society is key.
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M&AWill Drahi come knocking on BT’s door?
Six months on from French billionaire’s surprise raid on BT, Altice UK now free to up its stake or mount a takeover bid. Jansen called in for meeting with UK government minister to get the lowdown on Drahi’s intentions.
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M&AAmerican Tower “excited” by tower M&A in Europe
CFO flags possibility of “compelling things” happening in Europe’s tower scene. Cautions, however, that American Tower in no rush for dealmaking. Deutsche Telekom, Cellnex, Orange, and Vodafone also in the mix for tower M&A.
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Financial & PerformanceVodafone close to settling €2.4bn tax dispute with India
Group offers New Delhi a deal after retrospective tax legislation scrapped. Dispute harks back to Vodafone acquisition of Hutchison Essar in 2007. Indian stand-off has long cast a shadow over Group finances, despite recent legal victories.
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PremiumOpenBNG unveils winners of multi-operator RFI
DT-backed TIP initiative makes strides in disaggregating the broadband network gateway. RFI process, initiated by DT, BT, Telecom Italia, Telefónica, and Vodafone, identifies shortlist of suppliers most likely to be first with commercial and OpenBNG-compliant products. Altran, Benu Networks, Casa Systems, and RtBrick emerge victorious in software category. APS ...
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PremiumVi goes 5G network slicing with Nokia
Trial in Gandhinagar purportedly enables high-resolution VR content. TRAI sets deadlines for consultation process with “stakeholders” on auction rules for delayed 5G spectrum auction.
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PremiumBrand-heavy TPG looks for smart data handling with AWS
Shaik flags “knowledge lake” as providing deeper understanding of consumer and enterprise behaviour. Aimed at breaking down data siloes across multi-brand portfolio following TPG–VHA merger. Analytics of external datasets, available on the market, increasingly important.
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PremiumIndia 5G auction delayed as Vi showcases prospects
5G-friendly spectrum auction pushed back amid pricing and structure consultations. Vi CEO Takkar outlines ambition to be Digital India frontrunner as government lays out digitalisation ambition. Several pilot projects showcased with partners including Athonet, L&T, and local startups. Ericsson picks up P1; Nokia trailing.
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PremiumCarrier Services settles with ClearX on data delivery
Group’s international connectivity unit aligns with Israeli blockchain firm to “streamline” delivery of data services. Colt Technology Services and PCCW Global part of “pioneering” work. ClearX expects data services platform to go live Q1 2022.
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M&AReliance denies interest in acquiring BT stake
BT share price jumps on report that Indian conglomerate eyeing a move for UK incumbent. Reliance quick to dismiss the article as “completely speculative and baseless”, but City still excited.
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PremiumVodafone, Telefónica launch fixed-broadband TIP group
Operators co-chair new TIP project group targeting FTTP access technologies. Vodafone cementing leadership at TIP.
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PremiumVodafone joins European telco call for open RAN help
Group signs off on Analysys Mason report recommending that European policymakers financially stimulate the region’s open RAN ecosystem. Report also backed by Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telecom Italia, and Telefónica. Wibergh says “Europe needs to urgently prioritise open RAN” to avoid slipping further behind Asia and USA.
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PremiumVodafone extends VMware Telco Cloud to 5G SA
Aims to accelerate delivery of “new digital services” across Vodafone’s European footprint. Builds on Vodafone’s previous selection of VMware Telco Cloud infrastructure as its NFV platform.
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PremiumCompelling 5G use-cases still to come, says EE
EE brand director concedes 5G marketing more difficult than when 4G arrived. Anticipates “a lot” of the 5G use-cases will not arrive in the short term. Next phase of rollout plan begins with indoor launch.
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Products & ServicesDT evangelises Polte to startup IoT device makers
IoT expert encourages hubraum community to test cellular-based location technology from US-based vendor. Maintains ‘OTT solution’ caters for many IoT use-cases. Polte survives DT’s rigorous testing process, which saw it preferred to cloud-based location technologies from Ericsson, Huawei, Nokia, and Skyhook.
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PremiumDT, Ericsson demo “on-demand” 5G network slicing
Bonn lab showcases “network exposure” capabilities over 5G SA. Purportedly allows “slice service on-demand”, whereby app performance requirements are configured automatically. Choi says proof of concept lays “technical foundation for 5G service innovation”. Keen to explore further “customer-centric network-as-a-service models”.