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Category: Telecom

Retail News Asia is committed to providing both local and global retailers with the latest Telecom & Telco news throughout the Asian market. This on a daily base.

  • Vietnam’s MobiFone, AVG cancel acquisition agreement

    Vietnam’s MobiFone, AVG cancel acquisition agreement

    Vietnam Mobile Telecom Services Corporation (MobiFone) and shareholders of multimedia company Audio Visual Global (AVG) on Monday decided to cancel the share transfer agreement between the two companies.

    The decision was made several days after the Party Central Committee (PCC)’s Secretariat asked the Government to soon release the inspection results of a VNĐ8.89 trillion (US$395 million) acquisition by communications giant Mobifone

    Accordingly, MobiFone and AVG agreed to cancel the transfer of 344.66 million shares and refund each other the amount received under the agreement.

    AVG shareholders will refund the entire amount paid by MobiFone, while MobiFone will return to AVG the number of shares and assets transferred. At the same time, the two sides will try to not let the other party suffer more damages.

    Phạm Nhật Vũ, representative of AVG in the negotiations with MobiFone, agreed not to impose a fine and claim compensation while cancelling the deal.

    In addition to the amount paid to AVG, MobiFone said it had to pay some related expenses, such as hiring consultants. AVG has agreed to share this expense with MobiFone.

    AVG has made a deposit of VNĐ450 billion to proceed the agreement cancelation, MobiFone said in a press release on Tuesday.

    According to the AVG representative, there are many reasons for them to cancel the contract. First, since its acquisition, MobiFone has not operated and developed the AVG brand as planned and missed many opportunities and potential of AVG.

    Second, Vũ said since the contract was in effect, MobiFone had paid 95 per cent of the contract value. The deadline was over but MobiFone had not yet fulfilled its obligations to pay the remaining 5 per cent despite repeated requests by AVG.

    Since the inspection of the contract, the process of operating the AVG brand had caused many problems, damaging the reputation of both the parties. According to MobiFone and AVG, the cancellation of the contract is aimed at salvaging the damage.

    At the meeting, a MobiFone leader said the inspection process had impacted the completion of payment to AVG. He also said due to problems faced by AVG, the market had changed and MobiFone was not able to concentrate on developing AVG.

    In early 2016, Mobifone formally announced the acquisition of AVG to expand its television network, one of the company’s four main business areas. The details of the deal, however, were not disclosed.

    At the beginning of August 2016, the Government promulgated Document No 1344/TTg, asking the Government Inspectorate to investigate the acquisition. The Inspectorate found serious violations in the acquisition.

    Last Thursday, the Party Central Committee’s Office issued official letter No 6106-CV/VPTW on the handling of Mobifone’s acquisition of 95 per cent of AVG shares, which says that this is a serious, complicated and sensitive matter.

    The Secretariat said that the Government and the Inspectorate must be responsible for reviewing and settling cases in an objective and accurate manner under the law to ensure that punishment is given to the right person and lost State assets are revoked.

    Read more at https://vietnamnews.vn/economy/424281/mobifone-avg-cancel-acquisition-agreement.html#7mlG6OWYcGVqGrou.99

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  • SmarTone 1H17 profit falls 17%

    SmarTone 1H17 profit falls 17%

    Hong Kong’s SmarTone has reported a 17% year-on-year decline in net profit for the last six months of 2017, due largely to intense competition, increased spectrum expenses and lower handset sales.

    Profit for the six-month period fell to HK$328 million ($41.9 million), with revenue declining 23.5% to HK$4.1 billion.

    Service revenue fell 6% year-on-year but improved 1% sequentially to HK$2.52 billion, as a result of ongoing migration to SIM only plans.

    This and lengthening handset replacement cycles led to a steep 41% year-on-year decline in handset and accessory sales to HK$1.58 billion, although this was an 85% improvement on the previous half-year period.

    Net of handset subsidy amortisation, postpaid service revenue was flat year on year and increased 3% from 1H17.

    SmarTone increased its Hong Kong customer base by 7% over the course of the six-month period to 2.2 million, while postpaid customer churn fell to a low of 0.8%. But mobile postpaid ARPU fell 13% year-on-year to HK$262.

    During a presentation announcing the company’s results, SmarTone CEO Anna Yip detailed plans to roll out licensed assisted access (LAA) five component carrier aggregation (5CC CA) and improve its network speed to over 1Gbps in mid-2018, and deploy FDD Massive MIMO in 2H18.

    But she warned that the challenges facing Hong Kong’s mobile industry are expected to continue, including ongoing price pressure from the intense competitive environment and ongoing declines in voice roaming revenues.

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  • China strikes telecoms from list of “sensitive” outbound sectors

    China strikes telecoms from list of “sensitive” outbound sectors

    The Chinese government has reportedly taken the telecoms sector off a list of “sensitive sectors” that require special approvals for outbound investment.

    The list compiled by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) names the industries that Chinese planning to invest in an overseas company or project need to secure approval for.

    Starting from next month, companies investing in overseas telecoms projects will instead only need to file the same records with authorities as required for investment in other non-sensitive sectors.

    The telecoms sector has been considered sensitive since the previous list was published in 2014.

    The change comes at a time that the Philippines government is courting Chinese investment in its mobile market through a proposed 60-40 venture that would become the nation’s third telco.

    Xinhua noted that China’s outbound direct investment outside of the financial sector fell 29.4% in 2017 to $120 billion.

    As part of the reforms to the sensitive sector list, the energy sector has also been removed while the arms industry, properties, hotels, cinemas, entertainment, sports clubs, and equity investment funds have been added.

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  • Softbank 9m17 Profit Grows 20 Procent

    Softbank 9m17 Profit Grows 20 Procent

    Japan’s SoftBank has reported a solid 20% increase in net profit for the nine  months ending in December to 1.01 trillion yen ($9.35 billion), partly as a result of cost cutting at US subsidiary Sprint.

    Net sales for the first nine months of SoftBank’s financial year grew 3.5% to 6.58 trillion yen, with revenue increasing across all the company’s market segments.

    Domestic telecoms revenue grew slightly to 2.406 trillion yen despite a 1.4% decrease in telecoms service revenue to 1.8 trillion yen.

    Mobile service revenue fell 5% to 1.36 trillion yen, but broadband revenue improved 23.2% to 240.02 billion yen and fixed telecommunications revenue edged up 0.5% to 200.86 billion yen.

    Smartphone net additions for the nine-month period grew to 1.13 million, with the operator’s total mobile customer base growing to just under 33 million, while churn fell slightly to 0.84%.

    SoftBank’s FTTH subscriber base meanwhile reached 4.67 million, up from 3.14 million as of the end of 2016.

    Net sales at Sprint increased 2.6% to 2.72 trillion yen, while the unit’s adjusted ebitda grew 19.1% to 938.8 trillion won on the back of cost reduction efforts that resulted in nearly $1 billion in savings. Net sales from Yahoo Japan increased from 630.8 billion yen to 651.5 billion yen.

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  • Singtel Q3 profit falls 9%

    Singtel Q3 profit falls 9%

    Singtel has reported a 9% decline in profit for its fiscal third quarter to S$890 million ($671.7 million) as a result of declining voice revenues, higher costs and lower earnings from the operator’s regional mobile associates.

    Revenue for the December quarter grew 4% to S$4.6 billion as a result of higher earnings from Singtel’s wholly-owned Australian subsidiary Optus and strong contributions from the group’s digital businesses.

    Optus reported an 8% increase in revenue on the back of strong postpaid mobile and NBN customer growth. During the quarter, mobile revenue grew 4% and 125,000 new postpaid customers were added. Optus’ 4G population coverage meanwhile reached 96.6%.

    But Singapore consumer revenues fell 6% due to ongoing voice to data substitution and lower equipment revenues, partially offset by solid mobile data growth.

    Group enterprise revenue also fell 4% for the quarter, while Singtel’s Group Digital Life revenues more than doubled.

    Pre-tax earnings from Singtel’s network of regional mobile associates meanwhile fell 17.8% to S$523 million, largely as a result of the lower contribution from India’s Bharti Airtel due to the mobile termination rate cut and ongoing intense competition.

    Earnings also fell at Indonesia’s Telkomsel as a result of growing competition and at the Philippines’ Globe Telecom due to higher network investment related costs, but profit contributions from Thailand’s AIS rose due to solid revenue growth.

    “We see our investments in network infrastructure and spectrum as critical to our future growth and longer term returns in this digital world. Already, our transformation strategy is delivering with digital and ICT services accounting for 23% of our revenue this quarter,” Singtel group CEO Chua Sock Koong said.

    “Despite the current business headwinds, our regional associates’ markets remain attractive with strong mobile data growth. The ongoing consolidation in India will also pave the way for a healthier industry. We believe our associates’ investments in networks and spectrum, strategic partnerships and focus on innovation will pay off.”

    Singtel recently arranged to pay $412.6 million to indirectly increase its stake in Bharti Airtel to 39.5%.

  • Myanmar’s cellcos reach a combined 50m subs

    Myanmar’s cellcos reach a combined 50m subs

    Myanmar’s mobile operators – MPT, Ooredoo Myanmar and Telenor Myanmar – have announced they have reached a collective 50 million subscribers.

    Extrapolating from the latest UN estimates, Worldometers projects that the total population of Myanmar is around 53.6 million, meaning the nation’s mobile penetration is approaching 100%.

    In a joint statement announcing the milestone, the three operators committed to further develop their mobile networks, particularly in rural areas, and to provide the investment needed for the deployment of 4G infrastructure and services for the market.

    The companies also agreed to abide by “sound price competition practices”, including by complying with recently imposed floor pricing on mobile offerings.

    The Myanmar Post and Telecommunications Department’s pricing and tariff regulatory framework, introduced in June last year, prohibits behavior such as free distribution or sales of SIM cards and supplying services and handsets at below cost.

    “MPT, Ooredoo and Telenor are firmly committed to competing based on the stated guidelines and the relevant laws of the country that as the telecommunications operators in Myanmar, they are bound to,” the statement reads.

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  • Latest telco Yoodo targets niche online shoppers segment

    Latest telco Yoodo targets niche online shoppers segment

    Yoodo, a new telco which made its debut in the Malaysian market today, is offering customised mobile plans via an online platform especially targeted at the digitally savvy population.

    The telco allows customers to customise their plans by choosing their preferred voice, data, messaging and content offerings–all of which can be done online via its mobile application which is currently available on Google Play Store and Apple App Store. It offers up to 100GB of data, 2,000 mins of voice and 2000 SMSes—from which customers can customise their plans according to their needs.

    A package with data, voice and sms ranges from between RM28 and RM182.

    “Traditional mobile operators design plans based on what they want to sell the customers, developing various plans and features that don’t fit most customer’s individual needs. We’ve flipped that on it’s head and enabled users to customise their own mobile plans, with everything done online to give our customers full control, because frankly, they would do it better,” said the telco’s head, Farid Yunus on Yoodo’s concept.

    With no brick and mortar outlets in place, customers will have to sign up, activate and authenticate their SIM cards via the mobile app, and the SIM will then be delivered to them for free in between one to three days.

    Meanwhile, customers who opt for premium delivery which costs RM15, will receive their SIM cards within two hours. The premium delivery is only available within the Klang Valley, at this juncture.

    As for payment options, bill payments will be auto deducted from customer’s registered credit and debit card.

    For its roaming services, Yoodo offers the Roam Like Home service which enables users to use their domestic data plan while roaming. The service is currently available in 12 countries which includes Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Singapore, Brunei, Indonesia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Laos, the Philippines and Thailand.

    Yoodo is owned and operated by Celcom Axiata Bhd and leverages on Celcom’s network.

    “There is a distinction between Yoodo and Celcom. Yes, we are owned and operated by Celcom, but we really operate independently. Essentially we are like a start-up and they funded us… in a way we are a guinea pig to try something new… to try something different not just with a different technology, a different mindset, different rules, different governance even,” Farid explained on the connection between Yoodo and the country’s oldest mobile telecommunications provider.

    Yoodo will also be leveraging on fellow overseas telco subsidiaries of Axiata such as Dialog, Ideas and others, for its roaming services.

    The telco is targeting the digital savvy segment, particularly online shoppers.

    “Well we did our initial research, there are about five million Malaysians who regularly shop online and this is our target market,” explained Farid.

    He said for starters, he “will be happy” if the telco could hit 200,000 subscribers by year end.

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  • Singtel appoints global cyber security chief

    Singtel appoints global cyber security chief

    Singtel has appointed Arthur Wong (pictured) as its new CEO of global cyber security to help fulfil the operator’s ambition of becoming a global leader in the cyber security market.

    Wong joins Singtel from IT services company DXC Technology, where he served as SVP and general manager of the company’s security business.

    DXC was formed from the $25.6 billion merger of Hewlett Packard Enterprise Services (HPE) and Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC), which closed in April.

    Wong has also previously with companies such as HP, Symantec and McAfee in various executive roles. Wong is also the founder of five startups, including IT security companies Secure Networks and SecurityFocus.

    “We are very pleased to bring Art on board as we step up efforts to drive growth in our cyber security business,” Singtel CEO Bill Chang said.

    “This newly-created position reflects our commitment to scaling the Group’s cyber business and accelerating our journey to becoming a global leader in the cyber security space. Art’s wealth of industry experience will help us optimise our cyber security assets and sharpen our business unit’s focus.”

    Singtel’s cyber security revenues grew 84% S$473 million ($361.5 million) in the year ended in March last year and are expected to reach around S$550 million this financial year.

    The company employs over 2,000 cyber security professionals across nine advanced security operations centers in APAC, Europe and the Americas, as well as through its Trustwave managed security services business, which the company acquired in 2015.

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  • Malaysia’s local telco industry needs consolidation

    Malaysia’s local telco industry needs consolidation

    Celcom Axiata Bhd CEO Michael Kuehner, while welcoming the expected entry of a new player in the local telco scene next week, pointed out that what the industry needs is consolidation and not another player.

    Yodoo is expected to launch its mobile data plan next Tuesday.

    “The market has too many (telcos) than too few. Customers have ample choice in Malaysia, from all price range, from all types of network experience, there is enough to choose from. There is no need for another one coming in.

    “No worries about competition. Very happy with competition. We’re strong enough to stay in competition and be successful. Of course there is always the element of competition when it comes to pricing, which possibly has an impact on revenue, but it’s about how strong you are, how much value you deliver to customers and that makes you successful,” Kuehner said after signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Malaysia Airlines Bhd (MAB) to collaborate in enhancing digital lifestyle for travellers today.

    He expects industry growth for 2019 to be flattish after industry revenue fell for the last three years.

    “After three years of shrinking revenue for telcos, maybe a bit of stabilisation possibly on telcos’ revenue side next year, so we’re slightly positive,” Kuehner said.

    Earlier, Celcom Axiata and Malaysia Airlines inked an MoU to provide benefits spanning multiple areas across both companies, including Enrich rewards, flight discounts for Celcom customers, attractive roaming plans and more.

    Kuehner said both Celcom and Enrich customers will enjoy innovative digital offerings and rewards, starting Feb 1. Both companies are still in the exploratory stage to discuss the details.

    On anotehr matter, Kuehner said a merger between Axiata Group Bhd and Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) makes sense in terms of scale , delivery and network perspectives.
    He said fixed mobile convergence is a trend worldwide and it is also relevant in Malaysia, adding that TM is strong on the fixed line side while Axiata is strong on the mobile side.

    “It (the merger) makes sense and this is where rumours come from, because a lot of people are talking about it. But not everything that makes sense will always happen. It’s difficult to predict,” Kuehner

    “It (merger) is up to the shareholders. I don’t have an opinion. I’m not the one calling the shots,” said Kuehner, adding that there is no indication on the merger from parent Axiata Group.

    News of a possible merger between the two emerged some nine months ago, with both companies deniying news of a reunion after a demerger in 2008. Analysts are still banking on the merger to set the tone for an industry consolidation, which is deemed as the logical route forward.

  • Telstra sets speed record with metro network trial

    Telstra sets speed record with metro network trial

    Australia’s Telstra, Ericsson and Ciena say they have achieved the world’s fastest speeds during a demonstration using Telstra’s transmission network in Melbourne.

    The companies achieved 400Gbps speeds over 61.5-GHz spectrum using Telstra’s transmission network, representing the highest spectral efficiency per fiber pair achieved in a live environment.

    This represents transmission speeds of up to 30.4Tbps per fiber pair, a significant improvement from the previous record of 25.6Tbps.

    Such speeds were made possible using software programmable wavelengths controlled by Ciena’s WaveLogic Ai modem technology and Blue Planet manage control plan and Liquid Spectrum applications.

    Telstra plans to introduce the technology as part of an upgrade to its long haul, metro and regional optical networks. Ericsson is providing end-to-end systems integration for the project and managed the deployment of technology for the demonstration.

    Telstra has already deployed Ciena’s industry-first programmable coherent modem, which offers up to three times the data capacity of the earlier modem technology deployed on the Telstra network.

    “Over the next five years we forecast traffic on our network will grow by five times. We are investing in our network and developing these innovations to meet this growing demand by providing unprecedented levels of scale, automation and intelligence,” Telstra director of IP and transport engineering David Robertson said.

    “This technology will be deployed in our domestic transmission network and we will look for opportunities to use it in Telstra’s international subsea cable network, which is the largest in the Asia-Pacific region.”

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  • Idea Q3 revenue falls 25% from MTR cut “body blow”

    Idea Q3 revenue falls 25% from MTR cut “body blow”

    India’s Idea Cellular has reported a steep 24.9% decline in Q3 revenue and a surge in net losses as a result of the “body blow” from regulator Trai in the form of a mobile termination charge cut.

    Revenue for the quarter fell to 65.1 billion rupees ($1.02 billion), and the operator’s standalone net loss climbed 182.3% to 13.52 billion from 4.78 billion a year earlier.

    The decision by regulator Trai to reduce mobile termination rates from 0.14 rupees to 0.06 rupees per minute resulted in a steep 57% decline in interconnection usage charge rates, which Idea said negatively impacted revenue for the quarter by 8.2 billion rupees.

    “The new domestic MTC rate and recently announced drop in ‘International mobile termination’ settlement charges effective 1st February, 2018 from 53 paisa (0.53 rupees) to 30 paisa per minute, remains a body blow to all operators and reduces investable funds for the critical ‘Digital India’ program,” Idea said in its quarterly report.

    “The international IUC rate drop only benefits the foreign operators, with no commensurate benefit to Indian consumers but with significant foreign exchange and revenue loss to the Indian exchequer.”

    Idea also blamed ongoing “unrelenting rate pressure on voice and mobile data services as high ARPU consumers migrate to unlimited voice bundled data plans.”

    Despite its financial woes, Idea said that the company had managed to accrue 7.5 million net customer additions for the quarter due in part to a large influx of subscribers porting to the company from operators exiting the market in India’s wave of consolidation.

    This took Idea’s total customer base past the 200 million milestone for the first time to 203 million.

    The adoption of unlimited voice bundled data plans also led to an explosion in voice volumes for the quarter, with voice minutes of use growing 10.8% sequentially. Data usage per data subscriber also surged to 4.74GB per month during the quarter, from just 703MB a year earlier.

    Idea said it is in the final stages of the approval process for its planned merger with Vodafone India, which is expected to close in the first half of the year. The proposed $23 billion merger would create India’s largest operator by subscribers with around 400 million customers.

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  • TransCo close to deal to bolster third telco bid

    TransCo close to deal to bolster third telco bid

    The Philippines’ state-run National Transmission Corporation (TransCo), the owner of the nation’s power grid, is close to a deal with the private operator of the grid National Grid Corp (NGCP) to use NGCP’s transmission facilities as the backbone for its bid to become the nation’s third operator.

    TransCo has sent a draft memorandum of agreement for a deal involving use of the grid’s inter-plant fiber transmission equipment for telecoms facilities, ABS-CBN News reported.

    TransCo has previously expressed an interest in forming a partnership to apply for the third telco license. The government has meanwhile reportedly approached the Chinese government with an offer for one of China’s state-run operators to play the role, and plans to hold the allocation as a beauty contest.

    But according to the report, while NGCP has stated that it is eager to participate in the government’s plan to improve telecoms services in the nation and break the PLDT-Globe duopoly, it does not agree that TransCo should be party to the deal.

    An NGCP spokesperson told the publication that any deal involving allowing a third party or the government to use NGCP’s available network capacity should be negotiated with NGCP.

    The company also said it is not interested in ownership in a third player and is willing to allow use of the equipment at minimum or even no cost.

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  • Singapore completes public safety trials with NEC

    Singapore completes public safety trials with NEC

    NEC and NEC Asia Pacific have announced the completion of three safety and security test bed projects, held in and near Singapore’s Jurong Island, under the Safety and Security Industry Program (SSIP) 2020.

    The SSIP 2020 is led by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) and is being conducted in collaboration with JTC.

    The three trials were conducted over a period of 12 months from September 2016, and were aimed at using data analytics and security insights to address Singapore’s safety and security needs.

    They involved early detection of suspicious behavior, off-site security clearance of authorized personnel and on-the-spot enrollment for first-time visitor access to controlled areas.

    In the first trial, NEC provided and tested a system that utilized its high performance NeoFace Facial Recognition software together with the Intelligent Complex Event Processing engine which correlates audio and video analytics, to detect suspicious behavior and identify Persons of Interest (POIs) in both indoor and outdoor areas.

    The second trial facilitated off-site security clearance for entry of authorized personnel into Jurong Island, thus reducing congestion at checkpoints. NEC provided and tested a Bus Sensors Monitoring Management System using customized tamper-proof security sensors to prevent unauthorized opening of vehicle doors during bus journeys.

    The third trial tested the feasibility of an automated system to provide a more efficient method of enrolling first-time visitors for entry into Jurong Island. The system leveraged NEC’s biometric solution to expedite clearance of such visitors via on-the-spot facial and fingerprint recognition enrollment at car inspection bays.

    For all the three trials, the technologies provided real-time monitoring and alerts to the simulated Command Center, to inform the authorities of activities which may require law enforcement action.

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  • APAC companies reaping the benefits of IoT

    APAC companies reaping the benefits of IoT

    Companies across Asia-Pacific are already seeing the benefits of IoT, according to a new report conducted by Forbes Insights.

    Sponsored by Hitachi Vantara, the report found that 76% of APAC companies are operating IoT programs that generate revenue while 60% agree that IoT programs are generating data that is very useful to their business. As a result, 88% expect to see increases in their IoT budgets over the coming fiscal year.

    “Across the Asia Pacific region, it is clear that executives see the value in IoT initiatives,” Forbes Media chief insights officer Bruce Rogers said.

    “With 70% stating that they see IoT as either important or very important to their business, it is fast becoming a competitive differentiator that will affect almost every industry.”

    The report also reveals that 70% of companies in the region believe IoT is important or very important to their current business, and 87% believe IoT will be important to the future of their business. Of all emerging technologies, executives in Asia Pacific believe IoT, artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics will be the most important.

    Nearly three quarters (72%) of respondents say their company has significant or pilot IoT programs in operation, and 11% say that IoT programs are already a major contributor to their business.

    When building out IoT capabilities, companies say their greatest challenges are keeping the IoT secure (31%), ensuring cross-department cooperation (31%) and availability of skilled staff (31%). The inability to present a compelling return on investment (30%) and integration of disparate data (28%) are other significant challenges.

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  • Ericsson unveils 5G small cell solution

    Ericsson unveils 5G small cell solution

    Ericsson has unveiled a new small cell solution designed to meet the indoor mobile broadband performance requirements that will be demanded by 5G.

    The new 5G Radio Dot small cell radio will support the new 5G mid-bands between 3-GHz and 6-GHz, delivering speeds of up to 2Gbps.

    The new solution is also deigned to support emerging 5G industrial applications such as connected factories, connected hospitals and connected mining operations.

    Operators will be able to deploy 5G Radio Dot next to 4G solutions using the same cabling infrastructure, architecture and locations as existing 4G Radio Dot deployments. Radio Dot systems are used in many large buildings including office blocks, shopping malls, hospitals and airports.

    “Now that first 5G standards are here, vendors are going to need multiple radio solutions to help operators roll out their new 5G networks. Ericsson takes an important initial step in this direction by adding indoor small cell 5G solutions to its already existing outdoor 5G RAN portfolio,” Ovum practice leader Daryl Schoolar commented.

    “This new indoor solution from Ericsson is going to be attractive for operators wanting to offer enterprises good indoor performance for enhanced mobile broadband and new industrial applications that can’t be met by Wi-Fi or 5G base stations deployed outdoors.”

    Ericsson head of network infrastructure Nishant Batra commented that adding small cell solutions to its 5G portfolio is a natural part of the evolution to 5G.

    “Enterprises have been asking for first-rate connectivity indoors, as well as higher speeds and capacity to serve advanced use cases that cannot be addressed by traditional indoor systems. Our 5G portfolio, bolstered by small cells, will enable operators to meet these demands,” he said.

    The 5G Radio Dot will undergo trials in late 2018 and will be commercially available in 2019.