Retail News CRM

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.

  • SK Telecom, IT&E to deploy 5G network in Guam and Saipan

    SK Telecom, IT&E to deploy 5G network in Guam and Saipan

    South Korean mobile carrier SK Telecom announced that it is in discussion with Citadel and IT&E to deploy a 5G network in Guam and Saipan. In a statement, SKT and IT&E will work together to commercialize the 5G network with fixed wireless access (FWA) offering in Guam and Saipan in the second half of 2019.

    SKT said IT&E has already secured 1150MHz bandwidth in the 28-GHz frequency band for 5G communications and aims to become the first operator to launch commercial service in the region.

    The 5G network will initially cover dense central areas of cities, local business customers, and areas that lacked fixed broadband infrastructure. This will be expanded gradually to wider areas.

    According to SKT, the decision to deploy 5G FWA initially came as a result of an analysis of the region’s fixed broadband infrastructure, topographic features and the needs of residential and enterprise customers. FWA provides IT&E with a more cost-effective and efficient alternative to offer broadband services in areas with limited access to fixed broadband infrastructure.

    As part of the collaboration, SKT will help IT&E design a 5G network optimized for the local environment, support network deployment and perform field trials and network optimization.

    SKT said the pair have also discussed cooperation in other areas, such as deploying SK Telecom’s security solutions to IT&E’s 5G network, and adopting mobile edge computing and quantum cryptography technologies to enable faster and safer 5G services.

    Lees ook:

  • Half of PaaS services now cloud-only

    Half of PaaS services now cloud-only

    A new Gartner report, “Platform as a Service: Definition, Taxonomy and Vendor Landscape, 2019” revealed that 48% of 550 PaaS offerings are cloud-only. Not a single vendor has a foothold across all 21 segments, and 90% of them only operate within a single PaaS market segment.

    “Business and technology leaders are shifting to strategic investment in cloud computing,” said Yefim Natis, research vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner. “Cloud computing is one of the key disruptive forces in IT markets that is gaining mainstream trust.”

    Natis commented that although many organizations anticipate long-term retention of on-premises computing, the vendors of nearly half of the cloud platform offerings bet on the prevailing growth of cloud deployments and chose the more modern and more efficient cloud-only delivery of their capabilities.

    Gartner predicts that enterprise IT spending for cloud-based offerings will surpass spending on non-cloud IT offerings by 2022. The analyst forecasts total PaaS market revenue to reach $20 billion in 2019, and to exceed $34 billion in 2022.

    In this shift to the cloud, database and application platform services represent the largest market segments, with blockchain, digital experience, serverless and artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) platform services as the newest.

  • Executives blind to disruptive nature of 5G

    Executives blind to disruptive nature of 5G

    Accenture says business and technology executives underestimate the disruptive potential of 5G technology. Fifty-three percent of respondents in a global survey of 1,800 executives in 10 countries believe there are “very few” things that 5G will enable them to do that they cannot already do with 4G networks. Only 37% expect 5G to bring a “revolutionary” shift in speed and capacity.

    Competitive advantage

    5G is believed to have important competitive implications. Up to 60% of surveyed executives believe 5G will cover nearly all the population by the year 2022, and 70% believe that 5G applications will give them a competitive edge with customers. Speed will be a key advantage according to 46% of respondents while 42% cite its capacity.

    “The reality is that 5G will bring a major wave of connectivity that opens new dimensions for innovation and commercial and economic development,” said George Nazi, Accenture’s Network practice global lead. “Breakthroughs in three-dimensional video, immersive television, autonomous cars, and smart-city infrastructure will unleash opportunities that are difficult to imagine today but will soon be transformative. Telecommunications companies will play a pivotal role in bringing these prospects to light.”

    Role of carriers

    Up to 72% of executives said they need help to imagine future possibilities and use cases of 5G. These see telcos as just the right partner on their 5G journeys, cited by 40% of respondents. Hampering this partnership is the recognition by 60% of respondents who cite telcos’ lack of industry knowledge as a key challenge.

    Other barriers include the need for upfront investment (36%), security (32%) and employee buy-in (29%). While 78% of executives believe that using 5G in the workplace will make their business more secure, 32% have concerns about the security of the new connectivity standard.

    Anders Lindblad, Accenture’s Communications & Media industry lead for Europe, said, “Despite the knowledge gap, there is excitement among business leaders about the value that 5G can bring to enterprises. This value is currently trapped within the perceived risks and uncertainty around 5G, which can be unlocked by organizations that understand customer needs, can overcome barriers to adoption and can drive collaboration among service providers.”

  • Indosat Ooredoo picks Nokia for IP/MPLS upgrade

    Indosat Ooredoo picks Nokia for IP/MPLS upgrade

    Indosat Ooredoo has contracted Nokia to upgrade the Indonesian operator’s IP/MPLS network to meet fast-growing demand for fixed and mobile broadband services.

    Indosat Ooredoo is deploying a 100GbE IP/MPLS network as part of a three-year network transformation program.

    Nokia will provide a solution that includes its Nokia IP Anyhaul for Indosat’s mobile transport network, paving the way for its upgrade to 5G. The network will also carry services including metro Ethernet for consumer broadband and enterprise data services.

    The first year of the network upgrade project will concentrate on Jakarta, Jabodetabek and the rest of Java.

    “Indosat Ooredoo started an ambitious three-year program to transform our network to achieve the best customer experience, which will provide video-grade 4G coverage to more than 90% of Indonesia’s population,” Indosat Ooredoo CTIO Dejan Kastelic said.

    “The IP/MPLS network upgrade that we are undertaking with Nokia is aimed at providing a solid foundation for the network transformation, particularly in the most densely populated area of the country.”

    He said upgrading the company’s existing IP/MPLS network with a new Nokia network processor will help the operator both meet the growth in subscriber demand, while keeping capex costs down by extending the life of existing assets.

    Lees ook:

  • Celcom Axiata enters partnership with ZEE5

    Celcom Axiata enters partnership with ZEE5

    Malaysia’s Celcom Axiata has formed a partnership with Indian video content provider ZEE5 and telco API ecosystem provider Apigate to offer access to the ZEE5 content portfolio to its subscribers.

    Under the three-way agreement, Celcom will use Apigate’s Direct Carrier Billing API to provide customers with a secure payment mode to subscribe to ZEE5’s portfolio.

    ZEE5, a subsidiary of Zee Entertainment Enterprises, offers around 100,000 hours of Indian movies, TV shows, news and original content across 11 Indian languages and English.

    ZEE International CEO Amit Goenka said securing partnerships like the one with Celcom is a key component of the company’s aggressive global rollout plan for the next fiscal year.

    “Malaysia is a high focus market for us, given its huge affinity for Indian and South Asian content and growing appetite for online video content,” he said.

    “We will soon be launching content in international languages too including Malay, and we are extremely glad to partner with a key local operator like Celcom to jointly grow the opportunity in this market.”

    Lees ook:

  • Public safety applications among early use of 5G sUAVs

    Public safety applications among early use of 5G sUAVs

    Public safety agencies in big markets have started to deploy mobile broadband communication networks to replace their existing narrowband technology, such as FirstNet in the United States and the Emergency Services Network in the United Kingdom.

    The transition to 5G New Radio will unlock a myriad of civil use cases for small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (sUAVs), said ABI Research.

    As compared to a few years ago, sUAVs have been widely deployed in various public safety applications. This includes asset surveillance and monitoring, traffic management, crowd surveillance, and control, as well as search and rescue.

    However, all these applications are performed using remote control and within visual line of sight. Existing communication technologies, such as LTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and unlicensed spectrum, all have their limitations and restrictions.

    “The biggest strengths of 5G are high throughput and low latency,” said Lian Jye Su, a principal analyst at ABI Research. “The high throughput enables the seamless transmission of high-resolution images and videos that are critical for search and rescue missions. Low latency, on the other hand, allows sUAVs to be controlled by a centralized command and control in beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) flight. Path and route information, sensor information, geospatial, and telemetry data can be exchanged with the command and control almost instantaneously.”

    With the increasing number of sUAVs sharing the airspace, public safety agencies will need UAV Traffic Management (UTM) system to control and manage national airspace. Each sUAV that is connected to the network will have a unique identifier which allows tracking and tracing across all kinds of terrains and environments. This will help public safety agencies track down rogue sUAVs and preserve the safety and security of the airspace.

    In addition, 5G also enhances existing geo-positioning technology. Currently, satellite communications such as GPS and GLONASS are used for sUAV tracking, but satellite signals face a canyoning effect in dense urban landscapes and are subjected to interruption by buildings and natural landscapes. In indoor environments, sUAVs rely on optical flow and ultrasonic sensors for positioning and navigation, but this system is limited to the hardware available on the sUAVs. Cellular technology can augment satellite by using a radio fingerprinting technique, which matches cellular signal measurements against a central calibrated database and does not require an extra device or upgrade to the public safety network.

    “The mission critical nature of public safety use cases demands a high level of reliability, scalability, and redundancy. Despite still being in the early stage of deployment, 5G has strong potential to solve the pain-points of public safety use cases. The telecommunications industry will start to roll out 5G equipment and devices in 2019 and it is just a matter of time before we start to see 5G sUAVs being deployed by public safety agencies,” concluded Su.

    Lees ook:

  • Nokia to open Cognitive Collaboration Hubs

    Nokia to open Cognitive Collaboration Hubs

    Nokia has announced plans to open a network of Cognitive Collaboration Hubs to drive collaboration between operators and enterprises on the development of AI-powered use cases. By hosting development on the Nokia AVA cognitive services platform, the hubs will reduce operators’ time to market and increase their return on investments in data analytics.

    The Cognitive Collaboration Hubs build on the success of Nokia Cloud Collaboration Hubs established in 2018, which have attracted substantial interest from operators to help them build new cloud-based capabilities.

    The hubs aim to provide a catalyst for operator strategy development and help them solve key challenges by applying analytics and AI techniques. Agile development processes are used to jointly create use cases, test and put them into operation within weeks.

    Typical application areas focus on network operations, network performance, customer experience and data monetization. 5G is another key focus, and Nokia is currently working with several US operators on the use of machine learning to improve 5G network planning – for example to help identify the best site locations or Massive MIMO beamforming configurations.

    “Network operators are eager to deploy AI to improve network operations and strengthen customer relationships,” GlobalData service director for telecom technology and software John Byrne said.

    “Nokia’s Cognitive Collaboration Hubs can help accelerate those plans by providing a space for operators, partners and enterprises to co-create new AI solutions utilizing a mix of data science and telco domain expertise.”

    Nokia is already engaged in a number of AI-based trials with operators worldwide. For example, in Turkey, Nokia and Türk Telekom are testing machine learning based artificial intelligence technologies on new generation mobile and fixed networks by using Nokia’s artificial intelligence assistant MIKA and AVA cognitive services platform.

    Nokia is also announcing a new innovation to improve road safety and passenger experience. Driver Behavior Analytics provides real-time analysis of data from commodity sensors delivering useful data insights for government authorities, the automotive industry and commercial enterprises.

    Advanced insights derived using a proprietary smartphone application to deliver information on aggressive driving, inadequate road conditions or dangerous junctions.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • India’s copper cabling market to reach $862m by 2023

    India’s copper cabling market to reach $862m by 2023

    The India structured cabling market is projected to reach $861.6 million by 2023, according to Research and Markets.

    Increasing demand for copper cables, growing data center market, higher product launch activities by the market players, and rising demand for bandwidth solutions are the major factors driving the growth of the market.

    Based on wire category, the India structured cabling market is divided into Cat5e, Cat6, Cat6A, and Cat7. The most popular category, Cat6 held the largest market share in 2017. Cat6 owed its popularity to the backward compatibility of this cable with Cat3, Cat5, and Cat5e cable system while providing at least 150 MHz of more frequency range than older types of cables that provides a cost-effective solution for the end users.

    In India, demand for Cat6A is surging owing to its low cost/feature characteristics. It is forecast to grow at 11.9% CAGR. Cat6A cable provides a better cost-effective solution than Cat7 cable and double the bandwidth than Cat6 cable.

    On the basis of application, the India structured cabling market has been categorized into data center and LAN. Data center is expected to register faster growth in the market, during the forecast period, owing to growing demand for cloud computing and cloud storage. This demand is fulfilled by increasing number of data centers in the country.

    The market for data centers in India is expected to reach a value of $4.1 billion by 2020. Tier I cities predominantly, Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru, and Pune are expected to be the main locations for data centers in the country.

    Copper cabling has been providing a flexible, reliable, and economical communication medium since decades. Initially, commencing with the analog telephone and continuing with present high-speed digital networks, copper cabling has been the preferred choice for much of the communications infrastructure installed in India’s residential, commercial, industrial and institutional buildings.

  • India may allocate 5G trial spectrum in June

    India may allocate 5G trial spectrum in June

    The Indian government is reportedly planning to allocate spectrum to mobile operators for 5G trial services in June.

    A panel established to set the terms for 5G trials is expected to soon begin deliberations on the spectrum that will be allocated for the trials, as well as the trial time period and other factors, citing government sources.

    Operators could then commence trials in July or August, and a spectrum auction for commercial 5G services may take place from September onwards.

    According to the report, the Department of Telecom is currently in the process of appointing an auctioneer and drafting bid documents for the online auction.

    Incumbent operators Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea have reportedly engaged vendors including Huawei, Ericsson and Nokia over the proposed trials.

    But the mobile industry has expressed concern that the expected high cost of 5G rollouts could further damage the financial performance of what is already a highly indebted industry.

    The market’s three operators – which also include Reliance Jio Infocomm – have an estimated total net debt of nearly 8 trillion rupees ($114.15 billion), due in part to high spectrum prices during previous auctions.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • AT&T joins Global Telco Security Alliance

    AT&T joins Global Telco Security Alliance

    The Global Telco Security Alliance, the industry alliance founded by Singtel, SoftBank, Etisalat and Telefónica. has welcomed a new member in US telecoms giant AT&T.

    The inclusion of AT&T will significantly increase the global presence and resources available to the alliance, which was first launched in April 2018.

    AT&T, which has joined the group as an equal member, has become the first North American member of the alliance.

    AT&T recently enhanced its cybersecurity capabilities and technologies though the acquisition of cybersecurity solutions provider AlienVault for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition target was converted into a wholly-owned subsidiary of AT&T named AT&T Cybersecurity.

    Globally, the alliance now has access to the expertise of more than 6,000 security experts and a global network of more than 28 Security Operations Centres. Combined, the members of the alliance have more than 1.2 billion customers in more than 60 countries across APAC, Europe, the Middle East and the Americas.

    “We are thrilled to be the first telco in North America to join the alliance, and to do so as a founding member,” AT&T Cybersecurity president Barmak Meftah said.

    te“Hackers have well established and organized communities that cooperate to produce cyber threats and it’s time large network operators work together to help deliver disruptive innovations and enable our global customers to detect and respond to threats faster and protect their digital footprint.”

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Tata Comm, Syniverse enter managed IPX tie-up

    Tata Comm, Syniverse enter managed IPX tie-up

    India’s Tata Communications and US-based technology and business services provider Syniverse have teamed up to create what they are billing as the first fully-managed, end-to-end IPX network interconnection partnership for operators.

    The IPX network partnership will combine platforms that support 5G and IoT to create a comprehensive foundation for global mobility services.

    Under the IPX network partnership, Syniverse and Tata Communications will collaborate to manage traffic traveling via interconnection between the two companies’ networks to enhance quality of service and improve capacity and connectivity.

    The two operators will leverage each other’s IPX network to expand the reach of global mobile service provider customers. Both companies will have access to nearly 300 directly connected IPX/GRX customers, for a total reach of nearly 800 mobile operators.

    Customers will also be provided with enhanced monitoring, reporting, redundancy and quality of service, according to Tata Communications chief product officer Anthony Bartolo.

    “By joining forces with Syniverse, we’re one step closer to our goal of creating an environment where everything and everyone can become seamlessly connected, anywhere in the world,” he said.

    “As our customers leverage next-generation IoT and mobility services to drive their digital transformation, they need a solid foundation to ensure that they are able to capture, move and manage information seamlessly and securely worldwide. The powerful combination of Tata Communications’ and Syniverse’s capabilities and global reach will enable them to do just that.”

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Telenor Pakistan partners with Netflix

    Telenor Pakistan partners with Netflix

    Telenor Pakistan today announced its partnership with Netflix, the world’s leading internet entertainment service. As part of this partnership, Telenor’s postpaid and corporate customers in Pakistan will be able to add their Netflix subscription fee to their monthly mobile bill, eliminating the need to share additional credit card or debit card details.

    New and existing Netflix subscribers in Pakistan will be able to select the option to pay through their Telenor mobile bills from the payments page of Netflix. They can simply complete this process by entering their Telenor mobile number, followed by the OTP (one time password).

    “Leading Pakistan’s digital transformation, we are always on the lookout for innovative ways to integrate solutions and maximize utility for our customers,” said Sardar Abubakr, Chief Digital & Strategy Officer at Telenor Pakistan. “Telenor Pakistan’s partnership with Netflix will help us achieve that through our industry-first Direct Carrier Billing (DCB) service. With this partnership, our customers will be able to get seamless access to Netflix’s stellar catalogue of original and licenced content.”

    Netflix launched its service in Pakistan in 2016 enabling its members to enjoy unlimited, ad-free entertainment on any internet connected mobile phone, laptop, desktop, tablet, or television.  More than 139 million Netflix paid members in over 190 countries enjoy TV series, documentaries and feature films across a wide variety of genres and languages.

    To promote digital and e-commerce ecosystem in the country, Telenor Pakistan launched Direct Operator Billing (DOB) in 2014 in collaboration with mobile payments company Fortumo and digital & social games publisher Gameloft for purchase of exclusive Gameloft titles and content from the gaming ecosystem. Direct Carrier Billing (DCB) was launched in 2017 through which customers may purchase content from Telenor Apps and Google Play Store, Gamebird related content and now for Netflix subscriptions as part of their mobile bills.

     

    Lees ook:

  • Singtel, Optus complete international 5G AR video call

    Singtel, Optus complete international 5G AR video call

    Singtel and its wholly-owned Australian subsidiary Optus have completed a 5G augmented reality video call between Singapore and Australia as part of their preparations for the introduction of the next generation mobile technology.

    The joint trial was conducted using Ericsson networking equipment as well as OPPO 5G test devices running on Qualcomm’s inaugural Snapdragon 5G chipset.

    Augmented reality technology was used to provide instant on-screen annotations during a call conducted at the operators’ respective live 5G sites.

    According to the companies, the technology has the potential to open up a range of new possibilities for enterprises, such as the ability to deliver live on-the-job training and remote assistance.

    In the consumer space, augmented reality communications use cases will include holographic calls and the ability to deliver a virtual tactile shopping experience.

    “This call is a significant marker in our journey to 5G as we develop a robust 5G ecosystem to ensure that our enterprise and consumer customers will enjoy an enhanced connectivity experience,” Singtel group CTO Mark Chong said.

    “5G is a key enabler that will bring the future of augmented reality, autonomous vehicles and smart cities closer to reality.”

    Singtel and Ericsson launched a 5G Centre of Excellence in Singapore in 2017, and recently opened the first live 5G facility in the market in collaboration with Singapore Polytechnic.

  • Telstra to trial 5G in banking sector

    Telstra to trial 5G in banking sector

    Australia’s Telstra has used this week’s Mobile World Congress to announce a partnership with Commonwealth Bank of Australia And Ericsson to trial 5G edge computing technologies in the financial services sector.

    The three-way collaboration will involve testing end-to-end banking solutions over 5G technology in an effort to explore the future of banking.

    The companies will evaluate how 5G edge computing can help reduce the network infrastructure currently required at bank branches to support high-speed transactions.

    Speaking at the event, Telstra group executive for networks and IT Nikos Katinakis said 5G has the potential to transform the global financial services sector.

    “5G edge computing is all about bringing the network closer to the user or application. For financial institutions like Commonwealth Bank, it will help to enhance existing banking applications as well as deliver new use cases such as artificial intelligence, all supported by a range of software defined networking solutions,” he said.

    “Together with Ericsson, we are pleased to be working closely with Commonwealth Bank, an industry leader, to help them design and deliver the next generation of banking services, powered by Telstra’s 5G technology and using edge computing.”

    Katinakis added that the lessons learned from the collaboration will be applicable to other industry verticals beyond financial services.

  • Vodafone Idea taps Ericsson for 5G-ready LTE upgrade

    Vodafone Idea taps Ericsson for 5G-ready LTE upgrade

    Vodafone Idea has contracted Ericsson to deploy 5G-ready LTE equipment as part of its network consolidation and modernization program. Under the agreement, Ericsson will help integrate the networks of the merged Vodafone India and Idea Cellular. As part of the contract, Ericsson will supply radio systems and transport equipment from its 5G-ready Ericsson Radio System portfolio.

    The deployments will provide Vodafone Idea with high capacity, low latency microwave backhaul and an easy upgrade path to 5G.

    Vodafone Idea plans to consolidate its existing deployed 2G and 3G network to maximize spectrum availability for LTE. This will be followed by ongoing optimization of the network in order to enhance end-user experience.

    “We have been strategic partners to both Vodafone India and Idea Cellular for several years, and now we enter a new phase of partnership with this deal with Vodafone Idea,” Ericsson head of SEA, Oceania and India Nunzio Mirtillo said.

    “The 5G-ready solutions in the Ericsson Radio System portfolio will help boost the capacity of Vodafone Idea’s LTE network and broaden the availability of high-quality mobile broadband services for its customers. These deployments will play an important role in building [the operator’s] future-ready 5G network.”

    Vodafone India and Idea Cellular completed a $23 billion merger in September, but the combined company is currently operating both the Vodafone and Idea brands independently.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook: