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Tag: telecom

  • Samsung, Cisco, Verizon to pioneer multi-vendor 5G Trials

    Samsung, Cisco, Verizon to pioneer multi-vendor 5G Trials

    Samsung Electronics America and Cisco are working with Verizon in what they described as the successful deployment of the first multi-vendor end-to-end 5G field trial, which took place in Detroit, Michigan.

    Earlier this year, Verizon announced plans for customer trials of 5G technology for home broadband service (Fixed Wireless Access). Five US cities are scheduled to begin trials in the second quarter of 2017, with pilot trials in a total of 11 markets expected by midyear.

    Each location offers a unique set of test parameters, including vendors, geographies, population densities and demographics, and the Ann Arbor location in Detroit was the first to tackle a multi-vendor deployment of 5G.

    The solution includes a 5G virtualized packet core as part of the Cisco Ultra Services Platform with Cisco Advanced Services and Samsung virtual RAN solutions (vRAN), paired with Samsung’s 5G Radio base stations and 5G home routers that will deliver broadband services to Verizon’s trial customers.

    Based on Verizon’s 5G Technical Forum specification, the three companies followed a series of comprehensive network vendor interoperability tests (NVIOT) that demonstrated seamless interworking between core network, radio edge and user devices that showcased a core principle of next-generation network virtualization via multi-vendor support.

    This trial demonstrates that service providers can deploy 5G networks specialized to their unique market needs by selecting individual network infrastructure components from a selection of multiple vendors.

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  • Airtel Q4 profit slumps 71.7%

    Airtel Q4 profit slumps 71.7%

    India’s Bharti Airtel has reported a steep 71.7% decline in net profit for its fiscal fourth quarter to 3.73 billion rupees ($57.6 million), as the company felt the effect of competition from newcomer Reliance Jio Infocomm.

    Revenue for the quarter declined 12.1% to 219.35 billion rupees, with revenue from India down 7.1% year-on-year to 170.3 billion rupees.

    Domestic revenue was impacted by a 11.4% year-on-year decline in mobile revenue as a result of intensified competition amid the free offering from Reliance Jio.

    “The sustained predatory pricing by the new operator has led to a decline in revenue growth for the second quarter in a row. The telecom industry as a whole also witnessed a revenue decline for the first time ever on a full year basis,” Airtel CEO for India and South Asia Gopal Vittal said.

    “The deteriorating health of the industry was compounded by the tsunami of incoming voice traffic from the new operator as a result of which significant investments had to be made just to carry the incoming traffic on our network.”

    While Airtel’s Indian mobile broadband customers increased by 20.5% to 42.7 million, mobile data’s contribution to total revenue declined to 21.5% from 23.3% in the same quarter last year. Airtel’s total mobile customer base in India grew 2.9% to 273.6 million.

    Revenue from Africa grew 2.6% in constant currency terms, with data revenue up 14.5% year-on-year to 157 million, representing 17.7% of total revenue from the continent.

    The company’s Airtel Mobey mobile money service meanwhile increased its customer base to 9 million, increasing the total transaction value over the platform by 35.1% to $4 billion. Airtel’s total Africa subscriber base declined by 0.4% to 80.06 million.

    For the full year, net income declined by 37.5% to 60.77 billion rupees, with revenue down 1.1% to 954.68 billion rupees.

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  • KT, Ericsson moving forward with 5G trial network

    KT, Ericsson moving forward with 5G trial network

    South Korea’s KT is in the final stages of testing for the 5G trial network that will support next year’s Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang.

    Technology partner Ericsson announced that the companies have recently agreed on the details of the planned deployment and optimization of a trial 5G network in the nation this year.

    The 28-GHz trial network will include a virtualized radio access network and core system.

    Ericsson and KT have also jointly been testing components of the planned trial network along the new high speed rail line linking Seoul with the Incheon International Airport. The tests included a handover between 5G base stations along the railway, and achieved a peak throughput of 4Gpbs.

    The companies now plan to jointly develop beam forming and tracking technology for 5G and 5G-LTE interoperability technology to help operators optimize capacity and coverage.

    “Stability and interoperability among multiple services, systems and device manufacturers needs to be verified well in in advance of the trial network. We are raising the bar through our collaboration with partners such as Ericsson who are leading 5G technology and standardization,” KT head of networks Seong-Mok Oh said.

    Ericsson head of networks Fredrik Jejdling added that the companies have been working closely on 5G development since signing the 5G collaboration agreement in 2015.

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  • Nepal Telecom Authority clears Ncell to launch 4G services

    Nepal Telecom Authority clears Ncell to launch 4G services

    The Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) has cleared operator Ncell to launch 4G services over its existing 900-MHz and 1800-MHz spectrum holdings, paving the way for the operator to compete with Nepal Telecom.

    The telecoms regulator has informed Ncell it is clear to launch 4G services using its spectrum holdings from June 1.

    But the move goes against the decision of Nepalese parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) not to allow Ncell to launch 4G services until it pays a capital gains tax the government has been demanding from the operator.

    According to the report, the committee had approached the regulator asking why Ncell had been permitted to roll out 4G services despite the tax dispute. The NTA responded that it had given the directive in the spirit of the technology neutrality spectrum policy.

    Nepal’s Development Committee had also directed NTA to allow a launch on the grounds that consumers have been negatively affected by the decision to delay providing approval, undermining the committee’s authority.

    In light of the PAC’s concerns, the regulator noted that while Nepal Telecom has been granted new spectrum to support its 4G foray, Ncell so far has not.

    The tax dispute centers on Ncell’s former shareholder TeliaSonera’s decision to exit the Nepalese market. The Sweden-headquartered operator sold its indirect majority stake in Ncell to Malaysia’s Axiata Group for $1.36 billion during a deal announced in April last year.

    The Nepalese government has demanded that capital gains tax be paid on the transaction, but because TeliaSonera had already exited the market and had disputed the assertion that the transaction is taxable, it has been leaning on Ncell to resolve the issue and potentially pay the tax on TeliaSonera’s behalf. But Ncell has resisted this pressure.

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  • Oracle, Fujitsu launch public cloud services in Japan

    Oracle, Fujitsu launch public cloud services in Japan

    Fujitsu and Oracle Japan have launched Oracle Cloud Platform services, including Oracle Database Cloud Service, via a Fujitsu data center, a first for Japan.

    Oracle and Fujitsu have a long history of collaboration when it comes to processors, servers, and software. This synergy now extends to the data center, where Oracle’s cloud services will be available locally to Japanese customers backed by Fujitsu.

    Fujitsu has the largest number of Oracle-certified Oracle Cloud engineers in Japan, and offers a coordinated portfolio of services to assist in the deployment and operations of Oracle Public Cloud, to help organizations build new modern cloud-based solutions and transition their enterprise systems, including mission-critical operations, to the cloud.

    Fujitsu and Oracle formed a strategic alliance in July last year, based on a strategic collaboration to deliver enterprise-grade, world-class cloud services to customers in Japan and their subsidiaries around the world.

    Together with making Oracle Public Cloud services available from Fujitsu’s robust and reliable data center in Japan, can now be used as part of Fujitsu Cloud Service K5, Fujitsu’s public cloud service.

    “The Oracle Cloud Platform running in Fujitsu’s Japan datacenter alongside Fujitsu Cloud Service K5 DB powered by Oracle Cloud is a natural continuation of the three decade history Oracle and Fujitsu have working together to help customers achieve competitive advantage,” said Edward Screven, Chief Corporate Architect, Oracle.

    “By combining Fujitsu’s system integration expertise with Oracle’s cloud services, Fujitsu and Oracle will accelerate the transition of our joint customers’ enterprise systems to cloud.”

    Oracle Cloud offers a complete range of public cloud services across SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS. Oracle Cloud Platform, which includes Oracle’s analytics, application development, data management, and integration services, has experienced steady growth, adding thousands of customers in fiscal 2017.

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  • Nokia forms smart city alliance with Tianfu New Area

    Nokia forms smart city alliance with Tianfu New Area

    Nokia has signed an agreement with the Tianfu New Area Chengdu Administrative Committee to collaborate on digital city development.

    Under the agreement, both parties will collaborate on the construction of a data center and related telecoms infrastructure, deploy an IoT trial network in the city and jointly incubate IoT applications and devices.

    The partnership will also involve the deployment of an end-to-end optical network in the Tianfu New Area of Chengdu – one of the three most populous cities in Western China with an urban population of over 10.1 million.

    “The TianFu New Area development project presents an exciting opportunity to build a smart city – or actually a smart region – from the ground up,” Nokia president of Greater China Mike Wang said.

    “The communications network will serve as the brain and nervous system of the smart city, and we welcome the opportunity to apply Nokia’s technology and know-how to the challenge of building the digital infrastructure that will support this groundbreaking effort.”

    Nokia will be following its Smart City Playbook strategy for the project. This strategy was launched in late 2016 and outlines best practices for smart cities.

    The agreement also marks a key development in Nokia’s efforts to expand its customer base outside of the traditional telecoms sphere.

    The Tianfu New Area modernization project was launched in late 2011. It covers three cities, seven counties and 37 towns and villages.

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  • Cisco to buy Viptela for $610m

    Cisco to buy Viptela for $610m

    Cisco’s has announced plans to acquire Viptela and combine the San-Jose-based vendor’s SD-WAN technology with its own efforts, moving further toward a software model that produces more reliably recurring revenue.

    SD-WAN is emerging as this year’s big networking, taking the fabric of software defined networking and turning it into an enterprise-focused product.

    SD-WANs promise to redefine the way enterprises build and operate their wide area networks, making it easier to to hook up branch locations, data centers, and company headquarters with flexible infrastructure.

    Cisco will be paying $610 million in cash and assumed equity awards for the acquisition. Viptela’s talent will join the company’s Enterprise Routing team, working with them to enhance Cisco’s SD-WAN technology with their own.  The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2017.

  • VoIP and SIP trunking revenues growing strongly

    VoIP and SIP trunking revenues growing strongly

    The benefits of VoIP access and SIP trunking services are prompting enterprise customers to transition to fully converged, IP-based networks, without having to overhaul existing IT networks, according to Frost & Sullivan.

    The research firm forecasts that market revenue will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21.5% from 2015 to 2020, and a user base at a CAGR of 18.1%.

    Businesses aiming to lower operational expenditure and obtain significant returns on investments are being drawn to SIP trunking’s attractively priced services, layered with value additions such as voicemail, mobility and collaboration tools.

    Disruptive pricing, packaging, feature/functionality and business models within the existing VoIP access and SIP trunking market, as well as the emerging Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) space, are accelerating adoption among enterprises and heating up competition among service providers.

    “There are significant opportunities for providers of IP-based voice access to build on current successes and branch out into the emerging CPaaS arena,” said Frost & Sullivan Digital Transformation Industry Analyst Michael Brandenburg.

    “CPaaS offerings are emerging as an on-demand alternative to traditional communications services, prompting companies to build, buy or partner, to enable an application program interface (API)-level integration with voice services.”

    While the current adoption of CPaaS is largely limited to app developers and aggressive startups, customer demand for multiple ways to communicate with businesses, including voice, video and text messages will drive adoption among larger enterprises as well.

    “This is the right time for service providers to penetrate the emerging CPaaS arena through mergers and acquisitions that add breadth and depth to the existing portfolio and customer base,” noted Brandenburg.

    “Targeting competitors such as start-up CPaaS providers and API developers will provide complementary network footprint and service capabilities, helping the market grow significantly.”

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  • IoT revenues jump 19% to $8b in Q4’16

    IoT revenues jump 19% to $8b in Q4’16

    Nearly all tracked IoT segments recorded double-digit growth in the fourth quarter of 2016, driving an overall 19% year-to-year revenue gain to $8.2 billion for the 29 companies benchmarked in Technology Business Research Inc.’s (TBR) Commercial IoT Benchmark.

    Cloud services was the benchmark’s fastest-growing segment, at 64% year-to-year as customers increasingly adopted centralized analytics, storage and other intensive computing applications such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning.

    The experimentation on the edge and the necessity of hybrid IoT are also delivering ICT infrastructure a more permanent position in the IoT stack, rather than it being a victim of cloud-based IaaS. The ICT infrastructure segment grew 7% year-to-year to 10% of total benchmarked revenue.

    IT services grew 14% year-to-year and remains a crucial component of the IoT market due to the necessity of build, run and training services in IoT. However, IT services revenue growth decelerated from 15% year-to-year in the second quarter of 2016.

    Business consulting grew 29% year-to-year. TBR believes business consulting will be less impacted by standardization, prepackaged solutions and AI due to the complex knowledge and creativity necessary to guide transformation.

    The security and connectivity segments, necessary aspects of an IoT solution, grew 28% and 16% year-to-year, respectively. Both of these segments’ revenues scale extremely close to IoT adoption — as more devices and sensors are deployed by customers the more security and connectivity are required.

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  • NTT Com secures international license in India

    NTT Com secures international license in India

    TT Com has announced it has secured an international telecoms operating license in India via its affiliate NTT Communications India Network Services (NTTCINS).

    NTTCINS has secured a virtual network operator – international long distance (VNO-ILD) license in the market, becoming the first Japanese ICT provider to secure such a license.

    The acquisition will allow NTT Com to launch its Arcstar Universal One International Network Services in India, in addition to the national long distance network services it provides through NTTCINS.

    The company plans to offer a range of ICT solutions in the market, including WAN, LAN, data centers and value-added services. NTT Com also plans to enhance its network services and improve service quality in the market via closer relationships with local operators.

    NT Com has data centers in Chennai, Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi. The company’s portfolio in India also includes colocation, managed hosting, cloud and ICT management services provided through affiliate Netmagic.

    “With the enhanced network capabilities coupled with managed hosting and cloud services, we are always committed to enable our customers to reap the maximum value from their technology investments,” Netmagic CEO Sharad Sanghi said.

    “This suite of offerings provides a robust value proposition as an ICT provider to meet our customers’ IT infrastructure and connectivity requirements.”

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  • HKBN profit falls 66% in 1H17

    HKBN profit falls 66% in 1H17

    HKBN has reported a 66% decline in net profit for the first quarter of 2017 to HK$46 million ($5.9 million), due in part to investments associated with the operator’s entry into the mobile market as an MVNO.

    But revenue grew 25% to HK$1.53 billion as the company accelerated growth in both its residential and enterprise businesses.

    HKBN said that since the beginning of the financial year, the Hong Kong operator’s residential focus has shifted from subscriber to revenue growth.

    The company traded off a slowdown in broadband net additions – to 21,000 from 38,000 in the same quarter a year earlier – for an improvement in ARPU to HK$192 from HK$166 over the same period.

    Residential revenue accordingly grew 5% year-on-year to HK$941 million, with HKBN increasing its market share to around 37.6% by end-December, from 37.2% as of August 31.

    Enterprise business revenue meanwhile more than doubled to HK$569 million, as a result of the HK$650 million acquisition of New World Telecom (NWT) in March last year. HKBN recorded 1,000 enterprise net additions to take its total base to 51,000, while ARPU was flat at HK$1,467.

    “This interim results mark the beginning of our quad-play harvest,” HKBN CEO William Yeung said.

    “We have a monthly billing relationship with over 870,000 broadband households, representing over one-third of Hong Kong households. We will continue to leverage this to expand from our double-play centric business on broadband and fixed voice to quad-play, which includes OTT and mobile service offerings.”

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  • SKT partners with Bluebell on new business

    SKT partners with Bluebell on new business

    SK Telecom is teaming up with Bluebell Korea, a local subsidiary of luxury goods retailer Bluebell Group, as the mobile carrier seeks to step up on-demand services as part of its business expansion.

    The mobile carrier said Wednesday it signed a memorandum of understanding with Bluebell Korea to cooperate on new business opportunities, by bringing information and communication technologies to the local luxury retail industry.

    Bluebell Group operates luxury brands in Asia and specializes in consulting. The group has eight branches across Asia – in Korea as well as Hong Kong and Taiwan – to distribute products from more than 100 brands. Bluebell Korea distributes luxury goods – from cosmetics to clothes, jewelry, watches and accessories — to duty free shops and shopping malls in Asia.

    Under the deal, the two companies vowed to collaborate to connect offline shoppers over online services.

    For instance, a foreign traveler to Korea may receive the latest information about luxury goods on their smartphone through SK Telecom and shop at stores affiliated with Bluebell. The goods purchased from those shops are embedded with location tracking devices so that shoppers don’t have need to worry about losing them or having them stolen, SK Telecom explains. The top mobile carrier also plans to more actively mobilize its cutting-edge technologies including cloud-based digital signage platform, where information, images and videos about products sold are displayed to respective stores’ need and users may even interact what they see.

    “The luxury industry has so far strictly adhered to the craftsmanship of products and traditional sales channels,” SK Telecom said in a statement. “However, a slowdown in market growth coupled with the rise of young, tech-savvy consumers who are taking up a growing share of luxury spending is driving new changes in the conservative industry.”

    “The convergence between ICT and the luxury retail industry will not only create new business opportunities for both parties but also deliver enhanced value and experience for customers,” said Cha In-hyok, executive vice president and head of the Internet of Things business at SK Telecom.

    The global luxury industry is estimated at 300 trillion won ($263 billion) and its impact on related markets in the clothing and accessories is immense, he added. In this age of digital revolution, fashion and retail also have been undergoing significant changes, applying emerging technologies such as virtual reality, artificially intelligent chatbots and blockchains to their day-to-day operations.

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  • Cyient, Amdocs to implement GIS for NetLink Trust

    Cyient, Amdocs to implement GIS for NetLink Trust

    Cyient is collaborating with Amdocs to implement GE’s Geographical Information System (GIS), Smallworld, as part of the next-generation business/operations support system (NGBOSS) project for NetLink Trust.

    The NGBOSS project aims to improve the user experience for NetLink Trust’s customers with faster deployment of new fiber networks while reducing fault repair and outage times, as well as delivering improved service quality.

    As part of the overall solution, Amdocs will deliver a comprehensive BSS/OSS suite that includes an online portal, billing, order orchestration and service order management, workforce management, and service assurance components.

    Amdocs will assume the role of solution provider and will also act as the prime system integrator of third-party software and hardware. Cyient will install and configure GE Smallworld 5.1 GIS, enabling NetLink Trust to plan and design modules to model fiber to the x (FTTx), including homes and businesses.

    The project includes end-to-end operations support planning, operations, fulfillment and assurance teams, consolidation, as well as migration of the business processes and network data from existing systems to new systems without disturbing the current operations.

    Ongoing maintenance and support of the GIS subsystem/component will also be provided by Cyient in the effort to ensure that the implemented solution continues to provide NetLink Trust’s customers with an uninterrupted service.

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  • China Unicom parent seeks private investment

    China Unicom parent seeks private investment

    China Unicom’s parent company China United Network Communications plans to open up to private investors in response to government pressure to reform the ownership structure and competitiveness of the market’s big three operators.

    The company plans to welcome in a strategic private sector investor as part of a pilot designed to evaluate having subsidiary China Unicom operate more like a private company.

    China Unicom itself is listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange along with rivals China Mobile and China Telecom, but China United Network Communications owns a controlling 75.9% stake in the company.

    As the least profitable of China’s big three operators – Unicom reported a 94.1% slump in net profit for 2016 – the government has selected Unicom to pilot the mixed ownership reform model.

    The operator has already taken steps towards becoming a leaner, more competitive company. Unicom cut its planned capex budget to 45 billion yuan ($6.52 billion), from 72.1 billion yuan last year, to ensure it has the resources needed to fund its 5G rollout once the technology launches.

    The pilot of a mixed ownership model forms part of the government’s wider plans for state-owned enterprise reform. The government has previously announced that substantial reforms will be needed across seven industries including the telecoms sector.

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  • Trai cracks down on Jio’s free service offers

    Trai cracks down on Jio’s free service offers

    Indian telecoms regulator Trai has finally ordered an end to disruptive new operator Reliance Jio Infocomm’s practice of offering free services to customers as promotional exercises.

    The regulator has instructed Jio to withdraw its Summer Surprise offer, which would have entitled new customers to three months of free services upon making their first recharge payment of at least 303 rupees ($4.70).

    The regulator has declared that the offer does not fit with India’s regulatory framework covering promotions, which places limits on the duration that discounts can be offered.

    Jio has announced it will comply fully with the order, but that customers who have already signed up for the offer will remain eligible.

    Jio’s latest offer follows an initial promotion providing completely free services that had run for three months, and was subsequently expanded for a further three. This aggressive strategy helped the operator sign up over 100 million customers  in less than six months of commercial operation.

    Rival operators had objected to the offer extension, but Jio had insisted that the second offer represented an entirely new promotion and so did not violate the regulations limiting promotions. At the time, Trai sided with Jio, but this latest decision indicates that the regulator’s patience is wearing thin.

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