Telefónica's German operation has taken its first steps in carrier aggregation for 5G and expects hat to lead to the launch of standalone 5G this summer.

The need to invest in rural broadband infrastructure and bridge the digital divide isn’t a new ambition in the U.S. but the critical need for ubiquitous, reliable connectivity has been brought into sharp relief throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. In response, federal officials made emergency funding available particularly in support of rural school systems; this is [...] The post Editorial Webinar: Building a future-ready rural broadband infrastructure appeared first on RCR Wireless News.

Verizon, like every other company must continually find new pathways for growth going forward. That’s why several years ago they acquired both AOL and Yahoo. I never saw the benefit and thought it was a big mistake. Now, several years later, apparently Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg agrees. Verizon is selling AOL and Yahoo for about [...] The post Kagan: Verizon getting back on track after selling AOL, Yahoo appeared first on RCR Wireless News.

According to Vodafone and Google Cloud, the data platform can process around 50 terabytes of data per day Vodafone and Google Cloud recently expanded an existing agreement to jointly build a new integrated data platform with the added capability of processing and moving huge volumes of data globally from multiple systems into the cloud. The [...] The post Vodafone, Google Cloud to develop global platform to ‘drive data analytics, insights and learnings’ appeared first on RCR Wireless News.

Verizon will provide 5G and Wi-Fi solutions to New York UBS Arena, Seattle Climate Pledge Arena and Coachella Valley Arena Oak View Group (OVG) has selected Verizon as a connectivity provider, making the carrier the exclusive 5G and wireless partner to three OVG arenas, including New York UBS Arena, Seattle Climate Pledge Arena and Coachella [...] The post Verizon named official 5G provider for three Oak View Group arenas appeared first on RCR Wireless News.

A ransomware cyber attack took down the U.S.’ largest fuel pipeline operator on Friday and as of today, the company’s operations are reportedly still largely offline. Georgia-based Colonial Pipeline says that it transports approximately 45% of all fuel consumed on the East Coast. “This is as close as you can get to the jugular of [...] The post Ransomware attack takes down US’ largest fuel pipeline appeared first on RCR Wireless News.

The global telecom and pay-TV markets saw flat revenues in 2020 and an overall “neutral” impact from the global pandemic after a rebound in the second half of the year, according to IDC. The analyst firm pegged global revenues for last year at $1.53 trillion and expects them to rise by 0.7% this year, to [...] The post IDC: A rebound in the second half of 2020 led to a flat year for global telecom services appeared first on RCR Wireless News.

The initial commercial deployments of 6G technology are forecast to take place between 2028 and 2029, according to global tech market advisory firm ABI Research. The research firm also said it expects the first standards for 6G to be ready by 2026.   “X Reality (XR), which is a combination of Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual [...] The post Initial 6G deployments to occur in 2028 or 2029: ABI Research appeared first on RCR Wireless News.

German operator Telefónica Deutschland/O2, which is controlled by Spanish telco Telefónica, is bundling frequencies using carrier aggregation (CA) technology to raise speeds for customers on its 5G networks. “We are continuously working on the further development of 5G in order to be able to offer our customers the full potential of 5G as quickly as [...] The post Telefonica Deutschland uses carrier aggregation to pave the way for 5G SA appeared first on RCR Wireless News.

With IoT destined to become the way of the future in our homes and businesses, it's important that providers build a strong infrastructure on the back end, because most devices in our world are not connected.

The podders were on a hard cut-off this week as Scott had a booking at their local. In a globalisation-themed episode they start by revisiting the semiconductor shortage and its knock-on effects. They move on to examine yet another example of a telco turning to a public cloud giant to sort its life out before concluding with a look at Italy’s faltering attempts to consolidate its fixed-line market.

Telecom operators are striving for growth, which could materialise in growing top line as well as improving efficiency. Automation is at the centre of these efforts if they are to succeed. With the right data and the right tools, automation can go far beyond network operation to help shore up telco performance in multiple dimensions,

UK telecoms operators need to buck up their ideas when it comes to customer service, Ofcom reckons.

After repeatedly changing its mind at the start of the year, the New York Stock Exchange appears ready to delist all three major Chinese MNOs.

We're going back to the middle. The middle mile, that is. Like many telecom terms, this is one that you might have to follow up with “what exactly do you mean by that?”

Today, records show that COVID-19 has caused the deaths of 3.29 million people since the first case in 2019. While it does not directly infect the mind, the virus contributed … Read more "Why Women’s Mental Health Is in Crisis" The post Why Women’s Mental Health Is in Crisis appeared first on RingCentral UK Blog.

Telefónica has brokered a deal that will see it offload four more data centres but pick up a stake in the company acquiring them.

Finnish kit vendor Nokia has been chosen by Swiss operator group Swisscom to bring the latest whizzy tech to its optical infrastructure.

(Telecompaper) French operator Altitude Infra said that it has raised EUR 350 million to fund its FTTH growth strategy...

(Telecompaper) Tejas Networks has announced that Zimbabwean operator TelOne has deployed its 100G/100G+ coherent DWDM system. Tejas' 100G DWDM/OTN system was...

(Telecompaper) Telefonica said it has agreed to sell four more data centres to Spanish infrastructure fund Asterion in exchange for shares in the latter's Nabiax subsidiary...

Creating an effective sales plan is the first important step in defining your sales strategy. Are you a business owner with a sales team? Perhaps you are a sales manager … Read more "How to Successfully Create a Sales Plan that Works [with Examples and Templates]" The post How to Successfully Create a Sales Plan that Works [with Examples and Templates] appeared first on RingCentral UK Blog.

(Telecompaper) Swisscom has picked Nokia to upgrade its infrastructure. It said Nokia will provide hardware, software and professional services to transform the...

(Telecompaper) Zain Group's consolidated revenue decreased by 6 percent year on year to KWD 382 million for the first quarter of 2021...

Test equipment and antenna company PCTel has acquired Swedish company Smarteq Wireless, which develops external antennas for vehicular, energy and industrial IoT applications. PCTEL acquired Smarteq from Allgon AB for about $6.8 million, according to a PCTel filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Smarteq serves customers in 20 countries and has offices in both [...] The post Test and Measurement: PCTel acquires Smarteq Wireless to bolster antenna business appeared first on RCR Wireless News.

US Cellular continues to push the limits of 5G millimeter wave, announcing this week that it was able to demonstrate sustained average downlink speeds of about 1 Gbps and peak speeds of more than 2 Gbps in its live network at a distance of 7 kilometers, which it says is the longest 5G mmWave Fixed [...] The post US Cellular pushes mmWave’s limits, achieving gig speeds over a 7 km link appeared first on RCR Wireless News.

Recently, we welcomed customers and prospects to our first-ever Connect Online event in Europe. The agenda was filled with insight, from our keynote speakers Adam Steltzner and Nat Natarajan, through … Read more "Out of This World: How to Collaborate When Work is 154 Million Miles Away" The post Out of This World: How to Collaborate When Work is 154 Million Miles Away appeared first on RingCentral UK Blog.

The network faced a host of new demands and challenges in 2020, but many of the key trends that characterized the wholesale market prior to the pandemic held true. Demand growth remains robust. And while the pace of price erosion moderated in many markets over the past year, prices still continued to decline.

Earlier this week India started 5G equipment trials that excluded Chinese vendors and China thinks that’s bang out of order.

India's telcos may have got the go-ahead to trial 5G services, but it could be some time before they have 5G spectrum for commercial use in their possession.

The only fun in covering patent disputes comes when there’s a clear winner, but Ericsson and Samsung aren’t even revealing the terms of their settlement.

The Italian government is reportedly on the verge of pulling the plug on a plan to create a single fixed-line network due to fears over creating a new telecoms monopoly in the country.

(Telecompaper) Microsoft has confirmed that it allow all commercial and public sector customers in the European Union to process and store their data in the region by the end of 2022...

(Telecompaper) ViacomCBS said it added 6 million streaming subscribers in the first quarter, thanks to the launch of the new Paramount+ service in March. This takes its total base to 36 million subscribers...

(Telecompaper) Google announced plans to increase app disclosures on privacy practices on its Google Play Store...

(Telecompaper) Finnish operator and broadcasting services provider Digita said it has appointed Jani Koskinen as CFO and management team member from 01 August 2021...

(Telecompaper) Spanish operator Cellnex Telecom, Europe's largest mobile towers company, reported revenues up 41 percent year on year to EUR 506 million in the...

Larger enterprises have been eyeing up attractive private 5G networks, and DIY deployments that would once again demote the telco to ‘Dumb Pipe’ provider.

Verizon has achieved speeds of 4.3 Gbps in a lab trial that saw it aggregate C-band and mmWave spectrum.

A common theme in analyst calls this earnings season has been cautious pessimism about the knock-on effects of the global chip shortage.

Orange secured just over half the shares it aimed for in its recent tender offer to minority shareholders of Orange Belgium, but insists that's a good result.

Finnish kit vendor Nokia has launched a new small cell product designed to boost indoor 5G coverage called Smart Node.

The transition to 5G is a transition to containers and cloud-native network applications, in particular vRAN, according to a Heavy Reading survey. This transition brings with it several enabling technologies, such as network slicing and edge computing, that in turn set the stage for the dominant 5G use cases: Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), Ultra-Reliable Low

To meet new challenges and expectations, telecommunications service providers must transform their networks and operations. Traditional operators running primarily monolithic legacy systems can reinvent themselves by adopting modern IT architectures and operational management approaches and building a more agile culture. This e-book highlights the technologies and approaches powering telecommunications transformation and how Red Hat® products and

5G and Open RAN enable new capabilities and control points that allow suppliers, test equipment manufacturers, wireless carriers, and network operators to assess, mitigate and manage security risks efficiently. This paper details how O-RAN enables operators by giving them full visibility and control of their network’s end-to-end security. Security topic highlights: • Open RAN security

With the annual update of our Global Bandwidth Research Service comes new insights for 2021. Here's the big news: between 2018 and 2020 alone, international bandwidth used by global networks more than doubled to exceed 2,000 Tbps.

Do you know that there are 1.7 billion websites worldwide? Around 600k sites are launched daily. We could say that Coronavirus and the pandemic situation have pushed our creative limits … Read more "What is a CMS and What are the Best Content Management System Platforms?" The post What is a CMS and What are the Best Content Management System Platforms? appeared first on RingCentral UK Blog.

A few weeks ago I was on a call with a support specialist when I heard a dog bark in the background. Clearly embarrassed, the agent quickly apologised for the … Read more "Hybrid Work in the Contact Centre" The post Hybrid Work in the Contact Centre appeared first on RingCentral UK Blog.

As a fresh new business on the block, you’re faced with many major and minor challenges, from getting the capital for your business to choosing the right storefront. One thing … Read more "The Ultimate List of Business Name Ideas" The post The Ultimate List of Business Name Ideas appeared first on RingCentral UK Blog.

What's everyone been reading this month?

It used to be the case that one person conducted a job interview. Usually, a senior manager if a single interview, or possibly a lower manager, is a two or … Read more "What is a Group Interview? Questions, Answers and Tips to Stand Out" The post What is a Group Interview? Questions, Answers and Tips to Stand Out appeared first on RingCentral UK Blog.

Whether you’re looking to boost your income with a side hustle or start a full-time business, working from home (WFH) provides you with the luxury of flexibility. Depending on what … Read more "50 Small Business Ideas You Can Start at Home" The post 50 Small Business Ideas You Can Start at Home appeared first on RingCentral UK Blog.

Introduction The flexibility of working from home became even more apparent in the past twelve months. For many, it was not even the normality before offices shut and work patterns … Read more "How to Successfully Motivate Your Remote Contact Centre Team" The post How to Successfully Motivate Your Remote Contact Centre Team appeared first on RingCentral UK Blog.

Nearly 95% of consumers cite customer service as important in their choice of and loyalty to a brand. A lack of good customer support can cause you to lose out … Read more "How To Make Your Customer Support More Responsive" The post How To Make Your Customer Support More Responsive appeared first on RingCentral UK Blog.

The average enterprise network had MPLS running at 82% of sites in 2018. That fell to just 58% in 2020. About one-third of those networks have active backups for their MPLS service—a quarter of them have passive backups. Looking at these numbers, we have to ask: what role will MPLS play in the WAN moving forward?

In September 2020, U.S. telecom giant Verizon announced the surprise takeover of prepaid MVNO TracFone Wireless. The deal is worth a whopping $6.25 billion.  Verizon hopes that the transaction will help it compete in the prepaid space, where T-Mobile U.S. and AT&T rule the roost with their Metro by T-Mobile and Cricket Wireless brands. 

Despite the expanding role satellite providers have in delivering connectivity, the vast majority of intercontinental capacity is carried by submarine cables.  This will likely always be the case, but new constellation projects are poised to reshape how broadband is delivered to end users.

There's plenty happening along the critical Europe-East Asia subsea route. Senior Manager Jon Hjembo recently treated the Transport Networks Russia & CIS Conference to a virtual presentation on all things Europe-East Asia backbone transport, highlighting big developments and persistent trends in the region.

Surging demand for bandwidth and higher quality end-user experiences— of both the human and droid variety—continues unabated. This trend puts intense pressure on ICPs and network operators to maximize submarine network spectral and returns on limited submerged assets. Join Ciena’s  Brian Lavallée and our own Alan Mauldin on May 4 at 11 a.m. ET for a live discussion on this topic.

In today's episode of the WAN Manager Podcast, Greg is joined by Analyst Elizabeth Thorne to dig into our latest WAN Manager Survey data. From SD-WAN adoption stats to network configuration preferences and MPLS trends, the pair covers a lot of ground. If you want to learn more about the survey, the people who take it, how we run it, and what the top-level findings are from our newest batch of data, punch that play button.