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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.

  • Huawei insists global smartphone production levels are as Expected

    Huawei insists global smartphone production levels are as Expected

    There’s been much ado about Huawei’s tough road ahead as key US partners and major parts suppliers are prepared to turn their backs on the world’s second-largest smartphone vendor at the end of a 90-day reprieve granted shortly after President Trump’s announcement of a potentially business-ending ban.

    But although it’s pretty obvious the political tensions are already negatively impacting the Chinese company’s sales and brand image in the Western Hemisphere, Huawei reps and executives continue to insist the situation is not as bad as certain reports make it out to be. After essentially suggesting the White House didn’t do the tech giant any favors by giving it the aforementioned “stay of execution”, Huawei is adamantly denying a fresh rumor regarding current smartphone production.

    In a short statement issued to Cnet and a number of other international news outlets, the company specifically and explicitly refuted the claims made in a Chinese media report about a Foxconn manufacturing shutdown of Huawei mobile devices. Apparently, “global production levels are normal, with no notable adjustments in either direction.”

    At first glance, that may seem reassuring, but clearly, these are extremely volatile circumstances, with lots of moving parts and unpredictable future developments. Just because Huawei might be going about its business like nothing has happened or is about to happen, that doesn’t mean a production halt or at least a downgrade are not in the pipeline. If the embargo on collaborations with US companies stands, market researchers expect a significant slowdown of the Chinese tech giant’s incredible recent growth.

    For the time being, it looks like Huawei is working on the assumption the US-China trade war will somehow cool down in the next couple of months, allowing it to continue selling hundreds of millions of Android phones around the world.

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  • Huawei to sell subsea cable business

    Huawei to sell subsea cable business

    Huawei is reportedly planning to sell its subsea cable business according to a buyer’s filing.

    Made on 31 May 2019 to the Shanghai Stock Exchange, the filing showed that Hengtong Optic-Electric Co, an optical telecoms network vendor, had signed a letter of intent with Huawei Technologies to buy its 51% stake in Huawei Marine Systems.

    Through no price was given, the deal is set to be financed through a combination of cash and shares.

    The news comes weeks after President Trump issued an executive order on “information and communications technology and services supply chain” which gives him and the rest of the US government unprecedented power to ban any business dealing. The order bans Huawei from buying technology from any US company without a license from the US government.

    A few days after the order was issued, the US government then relaxed its embargo on Huawei until 18 August. The Department of Commerce (DoC) issued a temporary general license which sets out limited exclusions to the order giving operators time to get their plans in order.

    “The temporary general license grants operators time to make other arrangements and the Department space to determine the appropriate long term measures for Americans and foreign telecommunications providers that currently rely on Huawei equipment for critical services,” said Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. “In short, this license will allow operations to continue for existing Huawei mobile phone users and rural broadband networks.”

    It has been rumored that the sale of Huawei Marine is happening because the company is now facing stronger scrutiny, which may affect its ability to win new business.

    Speaking to the FT, Fergus Hanson, head of the International Cyber Policy Centre at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said, “It’s becoming a more difficult environment when trying to negotiate deals to build cables because [Huawei] is so much in the spotlight.”

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  • BT chooses Juniper Networks to unify services for cloud initiative and 5G future

    BT chooses Juniper Networks to unify services for cloud initiative and 5G future

    BT will develop its 5G capabilities further after striking an agreement with Juniper Networks. The network developer will support BT in the delivery of its Network Cloud infrastructure initiative, which will allow various lines of its business on a single platform.

    A more flexible, virtualised network infrastructure will allow the biggest British telco to create new converged services for mobile, Wi-Fi, and fixed networks.

    It will also bring about a range of new applications that evolve services such as internet access, TV and business network functions.

    After EE, BT’s subsidiary, launched 5G in the UK on May 22, Guillaume Sampic, enterprise strategy director at BT, said that the benefits of 5G to businesses in terms of latency, speed, reliability and volume will “be a step change” from 4G.

    Commenting on the Juniper Networks agreement, Neil McRae, chief architect at BT, said: “BT is a global leader in ultrafast services, with growing demand from our ultrafast broadband services and ultrafast 5G services and has the perfect opportunity to combine several discrete networks into a unified, automated infrastructure.

    “This move to a single cloud-driven network infrastructure will enable BT to offer a wider range of services, faster and more efficiently to customers in the UK and around the world.”

    The Network Cloud infrastructure initiative will integrate seamlessly with BT’s other partners and solutions to move it closer to an automated and programmable network, which will benefit services such as ISP, TV, IT and its voice, mobile core, radio access and internal applications.

    BT is investing in a range of Juniper solutions across various tenants within the BT network, including a dynamic end-to-end networking policy and control for telco cloud workloads using Contrail Networking, cloud operations management using AppFormix and a scalable and flexible spine and leaf underlay fabric using the QFX Series.

    “As a renowned global service provider, BT is a shining example of how to evolve networks to become more agile,” said Bikash Koley, CTO, Juniper Networks. “By leveraging the ‘beach-front property’ it has in central offices around the globe, BT can optimise the business value that 5G’s bandwidth and connectivity brings.

    “The move to an integrated telco cloud platform brings always-on reliability, along with enhanced automation capabilities, to help improve business continuity and increase time-to-market while doing so in a cost-effective manner.”

    Capacity recently spoke with Juniper Networks to learn more about its cloud-based SD-WAN solution and how differs from the competition.

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  • GMS selected as an international A2P SMS partner

    GMS selected as an international A2P SMS partner

    Global Message Services (GMS) has been chosen as an international application-to-person (A2P) messaging hub and managed services partner with the UAE’s du.

    The partnership will see the global messaging provider, which since 2006 has expanded globally with a current reach of 900 mobile operators, secure du’s network and manage its inbound international A2P SMS traffic.

    “Connectivity and communication are core pillars of our operations and we are always in a constant drive to explore ways to improve the quality of service delivery for our end customers,” said Hany Aly, executive vice president of enterprise business at du.

    “We are happy to partner with GMS in effective monetisation of international A2P traffic. Ultimately, the benefits will be plentiful for both du and GMS with the monetisation of our SMS channels and we look forward to building our expertise and trusted solutions in this field as our partnership ensues.”

    du’s intention to improve service quality and unlock new revenue streams was perfectly in line with GMS’s ambition to extend its global monetisation footprint.

    Successful achievement is preceded by conducting a deep analysis of the legal, technical and commercial environments, identifying weak spots which need to be eliminated and implementing the necessary steps to secure the network. In line with this, du and GMS have established direct connectivity over Signalling System No.7 (SS7).

    SS7 connectivity offers an edge over other technologies in that it is of very high quality, speedy and most importantly, offers complete transparency, providing correct delivery reports to the traffic generator (enterprise) for all messages and thereby giving the full picture to both the enterprise and the MNO.

    “du stands out for its approach and attention to detail, and GMS has the exact same vision on doing business. We believe that GMS’ expertise will enable du to maximise its messaging business and achieve steady revenue growth,” added Iurii Makarenko, managing director of GMS (pictured).

    GMS multi-channel messaging platform, Hyber, allows enterprises to deliver messages across different channels worldwide: SMS, Push, OTT messengers, email, etc. GMS is Viber’s official partner.

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  • Tata Communications launches IoT marketplace

    Tata Communications launches IoT marketplace

    India’s Tata Communications has announced the launch of an IoT marketplace aimed at strengthening and accelerating India’s growing IoT ecosystem.

    The new marketplace is designed to link enterprise customers with IoT service providers to enable customers to easily develop tailored IoT solutions.

    Partners including device manufacturers, software developers to start-ups and system integrators will use the platform to market, deploy and manage IoT solutions for customers ranging from government to enterprises to startups.

    Customers will be able to select from the available offerings and deploy them on a plug and play basis.

    India’s enterprise IoT market is on track to grow at a CAGR of 35% through 2023, Frost & Sullivan predicts. But a lack of standardization, interoperability and connectivity in the IoT market is inhibiting further adoption.

    “We believe that this first-of-its kind initiative provides a missing link that will make a difference to how disparate IoT components are brought together to create a unified experience in designing a solution or ultimately purchasing one; thereby enabling customers to deploy these solutions with ease and achieve their strategic goals using IoT,” Tata Communications head of IoT Alok Bardiya said.

    In support of India’s IoT ecosystem, Tata Communications is also deploying an LPWAN network that has so far been rolled out in 45 cities India-wide.

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  • Indonesia’s VisioNet enters cloud partnership with Epsilon

    Indonesia’s VisioNet enters cloud partnership with Epsilon

    PT VisioNet Data Internasional (VisioNet) has selected Epsilon to deliver its Direct Cloud Connect solution for its enterprise customers in Indonesia.

    Through the partnership, VisioNet’s Indonesian enterprise customers will benefit from on-demand access to leading cloud service providers (CSPs) with scalable, private, and secure cloud connectivity.

    Direct Cloud Connect is offered using Epsilon’s MEF-certified Ethernet service delivered in granular bandwidth ranging from 2Mbps up to 100Gbps. It is delivered via Epsilon’s Software-Defined Networking (SDN) platform, Infiny by Epsilon.

    This enables VisioNet to connect to multiple CSPs, including Alibaba Cloud, Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform, and a growing number of other options.

    “Indonesia has one of the most exciting cloud markets in South East Asia and has shown tremendous growth over the last five years. Our work with VisioNet will simplify and accelerate how Indonesia enterprises connect to the cloud and enable them to deploy hybrid cloud strategies easily,” said Jerzy Szlosarek, CEO at Epsilon.

    “We see exponential growth in digital services in Indonesia, and cloud demand is growing alongside eCommerce, fintech and digital content. We see an opportunity to seamlessly add Cloud Connectivity to expand our service offering and enable our customers to optimize how they connect to a variety of CSPs,” Miko Yanuar, CTO and CSMO of PT Visionet Data Internasional.

  • INDIGO cable system ready for use

    INDIGO cable system ready for use

    The new INDIGO subsea cable linking Singapore, Indonesia and Australia has completed commissioning and is ready for use.

    The INDIGO consortium – consisting of Google, Indonesia’s Indosat Ooredoo, Singtel, and Australia’s SubPartners and Telstra – are now able to leverage the new cable system to enable capacity increases on demand.

    The 9,200km INDIGO cable system can support a capacity of up to 36Tbps. It consists of the 4,600km INDIGO West cable between Singapore in Indonesia and Perth on the west coast of Australia with a branching unit to Jakarta, and the 4,600km INDIGO Central cable between Perth and Sydney on the east coast of Australia.

    INDIGO uses new spectrum sharing technology which will allow consortium members to each independently manage capacity on the cable.

    Alcatel Submarine Networks built the new cable system under an agreement reached with the consortium members in April 2017.

    “The development of the INDIGO cable system strengthens the link between our Australian network and the fast-growing South East Asian markets and will deliver our customers faster connectivity and dramatically improved reliability,” Telstra head of international Oliver Camplin-Warner said.

    Bandwidth demand between Asia and Australia is predicted to reach 75Tbps by 2025, TeleGeography predicts.

    “As South East Asia and Australia become increasingly interconnected, a high-speed and robust connectivity infrastructure plays a critical role in catalyzing the development of digital economies across the regions,” Singtel VP of carrier services Ooi Seng Keat said.

    “The completion of INDIGO will accelerate the roll-out of next-generation technologies that rely on low latency and high-bandwidth connectivity such as high-definition video, autonomous vehicles, Internet of Things and robotics applications.”

    As well as its domestic operations in Singapore, Singtel is the 100% owner of major Australian operator Optus.

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  • Docomo, Ericsson complete 5G glass antenna trial

    Docomo, Ericsson complete 5G glass antenna trial

    Japanese operator NTT Docomo and glass solution provider AGC Group have collaborated with Ericsson to complete what the companies believe to be the world’s first trial of 5G communications using a glass-embedded antenna.

    The trial used an antenna embedded in synthetic fused silica glass to transmit and receive 28-GHz 5G radio signals.

    Validation testing used a vehicle fitted with multiple antennas and traveling about 30 km/h. Using the antenna, the companies achieved downlink speeds averaging 1.3Gbps within a 100 meter range, and maxing out at 3.8Gbps at 400 MHz.

    The glass antenna prototype has the potential to overcome challenges associated with high-band 5G spectrum being unable to adequately penetrate windows, the companies said.

    It could potentially be attached to window surfaces in buildings, vehicles and railway cars to enable stable, high-speed 5G communications under challenging indoor and in-vehicle conditions.

  • SoftBank signs 5G deals with Ericsson, Nokia

    SoftBank signs 5G deals with Ericsson, Nokia

    Japan’s SoftBank has signed 5G deployment contracts with both Ericsson and Nokia as it prepares to launch services over its newly-granted 5G spectrum.

    Ericsson has announced it has been selected as a primary vendor for the deployment of a multi-band 5G network utilizing Softbank’s 3.9-GHz to 4-GHz and 29.1-GHz to 29.5-GHz spectrum bands.

    SoftBank will deploy radio access network equipment including products from the Ericsson Radio System portfolio to allow it to enhance its existing LTE network while optimizing its 5G network.

    SoftBank and Ericsson have been trialing 5G technologies since 2015, and have since expanded their collaboration to include 5G testing of multi-bands, including 28-GHz and 4.5-GHz.

    SoftBank and Ericsson have been partners since the 2G era and we are thrilled to support them on this latest part of their technology journey,” Ericsson SVP and head of North East Asia Chris Houghton said.

    “With the help of our advanced product portfolio, SoftBank can unlock the potential of 5G for Japanese society and we look forward to building on our long-standing partnership.”

    Meanwhile SoftBank will deploy Nokia’s 5G AirScale technology across Japan, enabling the delivery of 5G mobile broadband, ultra-reliable low latency connectivity (URLLC) and machine type communication (eMTC) services.

    SoftBank plans to launch 5G services with Nokia’s AirScale solution in both distributed and centralized RAN configurations, according to Nokia Japan head John Harrington.

    “We are delighted to continue our long-term relationship with SoftBank and to be working with them as a trusted end to end partner at such an important milestone in the transformation to 5G. We are committed to help SoftBank launch their commercial 5G network.”

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  • Docomo, Tohoku Uni to use AI for gum disease detection

    Docomo, Tohoku Uni to use AI for gum disease detection

    NTT Docomo and Tohoku University have launched a research initiative to jointly develop a service using AI technology to detect periodontal disease.

    The AI-based service will photograph a person’s gums with a smartphone and analyze gum color and shape, compensating for photo brightness and camera shake, to determine the risk of periodontal disease.

    Docomo said the service combines the operator’s expertise in AI technology with Tohoku University’s expertise in oral diseases and extensive data on medical examinations and research.

    It provides a practical, everyday solution to help users to understand their personal risks by facilitating better communication with dentists and increased examinations aimed at preventing early-stage periodontal disease from becoming serious.

    Docomo and Tohoku University also plan to use their AI technology for the detection of additional oral diseases, such as temporomandibular disorders and oral cancer.

    A device-based tool for determining disease risks is slated for commercial launch by March 2023.

    In Japan, periodontal disease is present in 61% of adults in their 20s, 71% in their 40s and 75% in their 60s, according to a survey conducted by Japan’s Ministry of Health and Welfare in 2016.

    Confirmation of the disease requires going to dental office to be examined, which is often inconvenient for working people.

    The Japanese Society for Oral Health Magazine estimated in 2018 that only 4.3% of people between the ages of 40 and 70 receive examinations and many do not consult dentists until symptoms become severe.

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  • Altran, Wind River developing end-to-end NFV platform

    Altran, Wind River developing end-to-end NFV platform

    Engineering and R&D services provider Altran has announced a partnership with critical infrastructure software provider Wind River to develop an end-to-end networks functions virtualization (NFV) platform.

    Under the agreement, Altran is using Wind River Titanium Cloud, an NFV infrastructure software platform for telecom operators, to develop a platform that incorporates NFV in the data center and at the network edge.

    Altran has designed its VNF Management and Orchestration Platform to help operators lower costs, accelerate service delivery and meet customer demands for high availability.

    The platform will provide an environment for vendors to deploy virtual network functions (VNFs) on Wind River infrastructure software.

    The platform will take advantage of Altran’s programmable VNF Lifecycle Management solution – which can integrate with any VNF as well as with third-party orchestrators – and its integrated policy engine.

    “The Wind River Titanium Cloud ecosystem provides outstanding infrastructure for highly available, robust and agile virtualization platforms needed in telecommunications networks and industrial control,” said Altran North America group SVP and chief engineering officer N. Mohan Rangan said.

    “We are delighted to be a part of Wind River’s initiative. Service provider customers will benefit greatly from a comprehensive NFV platform that handles a wide variety of sophisticated VNFs.”

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  • Shared services models fuel demand for mobility-as-a-service

    Shared services models fuel demand for mobility-as-a-service

    Shared mobility business models that focus on integrated and digitally connected ecosystems that offer unified multi-modal mobility services and personalized user experiences will find high adoption all over the world.

    “Globally, companies are planning to commercialize autonomous shuttles between 2020 and 2022, backed by favorable government initiatives in North America, the UK, China, Japan, and Dubai,” said Abhishek Iyer, research analyst, Mobility at Frost & Sullivan.

    “There will be an increase in the number of partnerships and rollouts of new technologies such as autonomous shuttles, blockchain, and Artificial Intelligence (AI), which will enhance user experience and operation.”

    Iyer noted that governments across developed cities are building testing infrastructure and piloting autonomous shuttles to evaluate viability and user experience. “Approximately 10 to 15 cities can be expected to conduct autonomous shuttle trials on public roads in 2019. Cross-industry collaborations for connected technologies, integrated payment capabilities, shared mobility insurance and financial services will also prove to be critical for future success,” he commented.

    The researcher suggested that further growth opportunities will come with industry participants partnering with stakeholders from other industries such as banking and financial services (BFS) and insurance to lower costs and generate fresh revenue streams.

    Other opportunities include adopting business models such as vehicle subscription services, demand responsive transit (DRT), ride-hailing and carsharing to create opportunities for data monetization. This will also allow them to leverage their investments and partnerships to develop autonomous and emission-free vehicle technologies.

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  • Demand for seamless indoor-outdoor location tech on the rise

    Demand for seamless indoor-outdoor location tech on the rise

    ABI Research noted that of the 205 companies it surveyed for its Location Technologies Supply Chain and Ecosystem Tracker, 24% of them are currently offering solutions covering both indoor and outdoor location services.

    The researcher cited growing need for seamless indoor and outdoor integration and supply chain visibility forcing more companies at the lower layers of the technology supply chain to create more flexible technology offerings.

    Computing the position of a person or asset outdoors is usually done via Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) technology, although in some cases auxiliary technologies like cellular networks or to lesser extent low-power wide area (LPWAN) solutions may also be used at lower tracking accuracy.

    But GNSS signals do not perform well indoors suffering from difficulty to penetrate well and interference issues. Location technologies like Bluetooth low energy (BLE), ultra-wideband (UWB), RFID, or Wi-Fi are best suited for these environments.

    “As things stand, there is a hard line between the indoor and the outdoor technologies and services used for location use cases. Offering seamless tracking between these two environments raises the possibility of having unprecedented visibility into the supply chain, as any item can be tracked end-to-end between factories, warehouses, and retailers up to the point-of-sale,” remarked Henrique Rocha, research analyst at ABI Research.

    Some of the benefits from acquiring visibility into the supply chain include more efficient planning and less asset shrinkage, which quickly revert to business owners in the form of ROI.

    ABI Research noted that 63% of location companies featured in its report offer indoor solutions only. Indoor tracking is still more demanding than outdoor tracking in the industrial and logistics spaces as it often requires high accuracy and real-time tracking capabilities of individual assets, as well as on-site dedicated infrastructure.

    With a consolidating location ecosystem, however, it is expected that more companies will turn to offering full supply chain visibility solutions, which require seamless indoor/outdoor tracking.

    While several companies offer both indoor and outdoor location solutions separately, only few have managed to offer a single end-to-end solution providing seamless indoor/outdoor tracking capabilities.

    One of the most common combinations for seamless asset tracking involves BLE communication for indoor tracking and GNSS for outdoor tracking, with an LPWAN like LTE-M used to relay location data.

    Because different location technologies are often designed to operate in specific environments and address specific needs and use cases, an increasing number of technology suppliers are now opting for designing solutions compatible with multiple technologies to give their clients the flexibility to deploy these solutions across varied use cases and applications.

    “Manufacturing and warehousing verticals are some of the most technologically demanding in the asset tracking space. In this ecosystem, companies stand out only through scalable business models. One way of achieving scale is by implementing seamless indoor and outdoor tracking. Solution providers are not oblivious to this and by this time next year, we anticipate an approximate 30% growth in the number of companies offering indoor/outdoor location services,” Rocha concluded.

  • India plans to implement fixed number portability

    India plans to implement fixed number portability

    India’s Department of Telecom has asked telecoms regulator Trai to draw up recommendations for the planned implementation of nationwide fixed number portability.

    The department has sent a reference to the regulator on fixed line portability in line with the government’s planned ‘one nation, one number’ policy.

    As part of the proposal, India would transition to 10-digit fixed line numbers, by merging current STD codes with the seven to eight digit landline numbers.

    India started implementing mobile number portability since 2010, starting with specific telecoms circles or service areas. The ability to port numbers between service areas was introduced in July 2015.

    Since 2010 India’s mobile operators have fielded more than 428.4 million porting requests.

    But according to the report, the Department of Telecom expects the implementation of fixed number portability to be significantly more complicated, due to issues including copper last mile connectivity and the presence of competing fixed line service providers.

    As a result, the department expects the consultation and recommendation drafting process to be a protracted one.

    Porting landline numbers could also take more time than porting mobile numbers – which can currently be completed in between two to four days.

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  • Samsung and Apple phone business still going down

    Samsung and Apple phone business still going down

    The latest report from Gartner shows global smartphone sales declined 2.7% in the first quarter of 2019. The fallout continues for both Apple and Samsung, each recording quarter one revenue of 17.6% and 8.8% respectively. The other smartphone maker, Huawei, despite a lack of presence in the US, is the only vendor in the top three rankings that reported positive growth across all regions, growing 44.5% with shipment totaling 58.4 million units.

    “Demand for premium smartphones remained lower than for basic smartphones, which affected brands such as Samsung and Apple that have significant stakes in high-end smartphones,” said Anshul Gupta, senior research director at Gartner. “In addition, demand for utility smartphones declined as the rate of upgrading from feature phones to smartphones has slowed, given that 4G feature phones give users great advantages at a lower cost.”

    Slowing innovation in flagship smartphones and rising prices continued to extend replacement cycles. The two countries that sell the most smartphones, namely the US and China, saw sales decline by 15.8% and 3.2%, respectively, in the first quarter of 2019.

    Huawei’s fortunes are in question, however, as news of the pullout of its licensing by Google of the Android operating platform, have seen a stoppage by retailers of Huawei-branded smartphones.

    “Unavailability of Google apps and services on Huawei smartphones, if implemented, will upset Huawei’s international smartphone business which is almost half of its worldwide phone business. Not the least it brings apprehension among buyers, limiting Huawei’s growth in the near term,” said Gupta.

    Rounding out the top five are the two other Chinese brands – Oppo and Vivo, each reporting an increase in unit shipments in the first quarter. Falling off the top five is Xiaomi which, Gartner estimate, shipped 27.2 million units – 200,000 thousands unit fewer than Vivo.

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