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Verizon launches 5G Edge private cloud service with Microsoft Azure

Nick Booth
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Verizon launches 5G Edge private cloud service with Microsoft Azure

Shows European mobile operators how to diversify with private 5G edge computing offering

US mobile operator Verizon has branched out into Edge computing with a service for enterprises created from private 5G networks running ‘on the premises’, reports RCR Wireless News. The service was created after a year long project collaboration with cloud service provider Microsoft Azure.

The launch of the new mobile computing service, Verizon 5G Edge with Microsoft Azure Stack Edge, comes nearly a year after Verizon announced it was building a system with Microsoft.

Early in 2021 Verizon announced that On Site 5G would run on its mmWave network, 5G Ultra Wideband, to create private networks in indoor or outdoor venues for enterprise and public sector customers. The next step was to create an ‘on-premise’ network that could harness computing and storage services and offer them to users at the edge of the network within the company premises.

A private edge network is more secure and efficient, with faster response times. Its high bandwidth can provide greater throughput for applications involving computer vision, augmented and virtual reality and machine learning, according to a Verizon statement.

5G gives mobile operators The Edge

“Our partnership with Microsoft brings 5G Edge to enterprises, dropping latency at the edge, helping critical, performance-impacting applications to respond more quickly and efficiently,” said Sampath Sowmyanarayan, chief revenue officer of Verizon Business.

Ice Mobility, a logistics and supply chain solutions company, is an early adopter, using Verizon’s private 5G edge computing for computer vision-assisted product packing. The sophistication of 5G’s network slicing means it could be extended to run near real-time, activity-based costing the logistics firm in future, it said.

The mobile operator’s strength is in providing the connectivity and detailed allocation of multiple resources at sub-millisecond time scales. “With Verizon, we are providing customers with powerful compute and storage service capabilities at the edge of customers’ networks, enabling robust application experiences with increased security,” said Yousef Khalidi, corporate vice president Azure for Operators at Microsoft.

Analyst Ghassan Abdo, research VP at IDC, said that “on-premises, private 5G edge compute deployment model will spur the growth of compelling 4th generation industrial use cases.”

Adtran-ADVA merger promises better fibre network service for mobile operators

Nick Booth
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Adtran-ADVA merger promises better fibre network service for mobile operators

The consolidated company would have combined revenues of $1.2 billion and jointly save $50 million on running costs

Fibre networking service providers Adtran and ADVA have announced plans for a merger that could create revenues of $1.2 billion – and promise mobile operators better backhaul services. The vendors say the merger is in response to surging global demand for fibre services.

The merger combines Adtran’s fibre access, fibre extension and subscriber connectivity systems with ADVA’s metro wavelength division multiplexing, data centres, business ethernet and network synchronisation systems.

Adtran and ADVA have an agreement to combine their companies into one fibre network builder that can offer global reach to its enterprise clients, which include mobile operators and comms service providers.

Both companies advocate open, disaggregated systems and have a ‘shared vision for the future of fibre networking,’ according to Adtran CEO Thomas Stanton.

Better backbone for 5G infrastructure

“We are in the early stages of an unprecedented investment cycle in fibre connectivity, especially in the US and Europe, fuelled by the demand for last-mile fibre access and middle-mile transport to provide high-speed connectivity to homes, businesses and future 5G infrastructure,” said Stanton. “By joining forces, our combined firm’s portfolio will better position us to capitalise on this compelling global opportunity. We expect the transaction will create significant long-term value for both companies’ stakeholders by increasing our scale and improving our ability to serve as a trusted supplier for customers worldwide.”

The merger is an all-stock transaction in which Adtran shareholders will take 54 ownership and the ADVA shareholders 46 per cent of the combined company, assuming a tender of 100 per cent of ADVA shares. The combined company is to be dual-listed on the NASDAQ and Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

The shared vision of the two companies means that mobile operators can expect a fully integrated network with software services that will fine tune network performance, said ADVA CEO Brian Protiva. Expect a more secure and wider portfolio of services for government networks and critical infrastructure, said Protiva. 

 

Nokia steps back from O-RAN Alliance as chance of US penalties disrupts open play

Nick Booth
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Nokia steps back from O-RAN Alliance as chance of US penalties disrupts open play

Is the O-RAN Alliance under threat from China, the US or the SD-RAN of the Open Network Foundation?

Nokia’s suspended commitment to the Open RAN alliance has raised fears that the ideal of open systems becomes impractical when 5G has so much strategic importance to competing global rivals.

The Finnish networking equipment vendor has announced it will “suspend all of technical work activities” with the O-RAN Alliance, because it was concerned that its involvement might invoke penalties for working with Chinese technology firms on the US government’s blacklist. It said the compliance related matter left it with no choice. 

The news surprised many because in June Nokia opened a dedicated Open RAN Collaboration and Testing Center at its offices in Dallas, Texas. Nokia was highly influential within the Open RAN movement, having been involved with the O-RAN Alliance since inception.

Telecoms analyst Caroline Gabriel, Research Director, Rethink Research, has warned that O-RAN was in danger of being dominated by Nokia, which contributed the bulk of the code for the RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) and other key elements.

Conflict of interest bound to cause friction

“I’ve been making the point for a while that O-RAN is founded on a lot of Chinese intellectual property rights,” Gabriel told Mobile Europe “Some of the most enthusiastic O-RAN tests, trials and plugfests have been in China. Given the moves by the USA – and to some extent the EU – to use O-RAN as the hook to reduce Chinese participation in the 5G supply chain, and to stimulate a homegrown ecosystem, this was a conflict of interests waiting to happen.”

“If the Department of Commerce had more joined-up thinking with other departments they might have avoided listing these particular companies at this delicate stage for the O-RAN ecosystem,” said Gabriel, “but the cat is out of the bag now! I imagine Nokia has come under pressure from its hugely important US customers. It certainly doesn’t want any more problems with its US accounts.”

Many vendors are straying from the cause under pressure, Gabriel said. AT&T, another important Nokia client, is an advocate of open networks and contributed foundational code. However, “it isn’t particularly following the O-RAN path,” Gabriel said.

There are two possible outcomes. The worst case is that the technology world is split between two sets of platforms. The least bad outcome is delays to the creation of robust O-RAN specs as the Alliance is forced to re-engineer in order to weed out Chinese contributions, Gabriel said.

Whose RAN is it anyway?

“Nokia’s commitment to O-RAN and the O-RAN Alliance remains strong,” a company spokesperson told Light Reading in an email. “At this stage we are simply pausing technical activity with the Alliance as some participants have been added to the US entities list and it is prudent for us to allow the Alliance time to analyse and come to a resolution.”

Nokia’s contention is that inclusion of Chinese firms Kindroid, Phytium and Inspur in O-RAN is not to the liking of US national security and the risk of being penalised is unsettling. It didn’t specify whether it was in agreement with the US government dictating the direction of Open RAN.

According to Rethink analyst Gabriel, O-RAN risks “falling into the grip of large, incumbent vendors, rather than an innovative crowd of independents. The Open Networking Foundation (ONF), which is launching its own software-defined RAN project, could steal much of O-RAN’s thunder,” Gabriel wrote in a column for Mobile Europe.

Analyst John Strand at Strand Consult predicted that as more companies consider national security issues and the risk of US penalties, more O-RAN Alliance defectors may emerge.

“It appears that some policymakers have not thought through the technical issues and consequences for Chinese government actors to be involved in the development, design and production of open RAN equipment,” said Strand.

Radio specialist Movandi says 5G running costs could be halved with repeaters

Nick Booth
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Radio specialist Movandi says 5G running costs could be halved with repeaters

Wasteful use of radio means that total cost of ownership of 5G is twice the running cost that it could be

A new whitepaper from analyst Mobile Experts claims that 5G network construction is needlessly expensive and in some cases double the price it could be. The white paper, compiled by analysts from Mobile Experts, say the problem stems from expensive radio resources being squandered in the mad rush to build networks as soon as possible. Corner cutting by network builders has added cost to every generation of mobile network, the white paper says.

The good news is that the waste can be tackled now, according to the authors of Repeaters Cut 5G mm-Wave Costs in Half.

The authors from Mobile Experts specialise in 5G, edge, cloud and IoT development. They endorse a claim made by equipment maker Movandi that its 5G mmWave system could cut costs by 52 per cent on millimetre wave broadcasts for 5G networks and any future generations. Movandi was founded by frustrated inventors formerly employed at network equipment maker Broadcom.

Throwing hardware at the problem was punishingly expensive 

Joe Madden founder and chief analyst Joe Madden at Mobile Experts, said the study aimed to assess whether new networks take advantage of a repeater’s potential to reduce millimetre-wave network cost. It concludes they don’t and that network builders are repeating the mistakes of the past. Traditional 4G, 3G and 2G network builders would typically throw hardware at a problem. By lazily adding more radios to increase capacity, rather than using them more judiciously, they created network that were needlessly expensive.

That profligacy is being repeated in a 5G mm-wave scenario, according to the report. But it’s worse in the 5G context because, unlike pre-4G radios, 5G gNodeBs have significantly more capacity – albeit with a limited range. Therefore, any expansion that involves adding more radios wastes the available radio capacity while dramatically increasing costs and installation complexity.

In one example cited, a network with 10 gNB and 85 wired repeaters would has a total cost of ownership (TCO) of $6.6M over ten years, but 48 per cent that TCO was avoidable, said Madden.

“This study confirms our own findings,” said Reza Rofougaran, CTO, and founder of Movandi who claimed the repeater will also improve the end-user experience. Rofougaran called for new network design models based on millimetre-wave frequencies because Movandi’s virtual platform makes these ‘lofty goals of 5g’ possible and the costs affordable. Movandi’s networking approach is based on it own patented 5G millimeter-wave chipsets, RF power amplifiers, MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) antennas, BeamXR smart repeater modules and BeamX algorithms and software.

Nokia speeds Asiacell’s Iraqi mobile network with microwave and services

Nick Booth
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Nokia speeds Asiacell’s Iraqi mobile network with microwave and services

Wavence microwave packet radio maximises capacity and minimises latency with fiber-like performance

Asiacell Telecom has appointed Finnish equipment maker Nokia to build a new microwave network to boost the Iraqi mobile operator’s network capacity and cut its latency. Nokia will replace or modernise legacy microwave kit and create 3,000 network links across in Iraq over the next five years.

Nokia will install equipment from its Wavence microwave packet radio range, including its ultra-broadband transceivers which it claims are capable of fibre-like connectivity in areas that fibre can’t reach. Asiacell will benefit from a more sophisticated network with a greater range of options, allowing it to cater for its subscribers ever-increasing demands for data.

Asiacell can create new services

Asiacell will use its existing Nokia network services platforms (NSP) to manage the complete set of Nokia transport equipment. This enables quick commissions of equipment, fine-tuning of the network and the automation of operations. This speeds up the integration of microwave with Asiacell’s existing network.

In January 2021 Asiacell selected Nokia to provide nationwide network optimisation for two years. Microwave network modernisation allows Asiacell to provide differentiated services and invent new services for customers, said Rima Manna, head of the middle east market unit at Nokia MEA. The Wavence range is designed to help clients like Asiacell to upgrade to the next generation of technology more easily, said Manna. 

“Network performance and end-user experience have been our top priority and Nokia is helping us to achieve this,” said Asiacell CEO Amer Sunna.

KPN buys back €20.5m worth of shares in bid to thwart hostile takeover

Nick Booth
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KPN buys back €20.5m worth of shares in bid to thwart hostile takeover

Latest stock purchase is part of €200 million share reclaim strategy – protecting KPN is a national security issue

Dutch flagship mobile operator Royal KPN NV (KPN) has unveiled details of the latest phase of its share consolidation in defence against a possible hostile takeover.   

In a statement on its web site KPN announced it has repurchased 7,523,256 KPN ordinary shares in the period from 23 to 27 August 2021. The shares were repurchased at an average price of € 2.73 per share for a total consideration of €20.5m. “These repurchases were made as part of the € 200m share buyback started on 23 August 2021 with the purpose to reduce the capital of KPN,” it said.

The operator has been the subject of considerable takeover interest over the years but so far they have foundered.

In May KPN confirmed that it had rejected an unsolicited high level approach by Swedish investment company EQT and Stonepeak for a takeover of KPN. The EQT/Stonepeak proposition did not include an offer price. KPN also recently rejected a separate unsolicited approach for a takeover of KPN made by KKR. The Boards of KPN concluded that both approaches fail to provide tangible and material added value over KPN’s new growth strategy.

In October 2020 it was reported that KPN’s revenues had fallen for a decade and its market valuation had plunged to around €9.4 billion.

Buy back better

KPN’s independent foundation, Stichting Preferente Aandelen B KPN, has the power to temporarily change the structure of the company’s voting shareholding to prevent a hostile takeover, such as by KPN’s largest shareholder, America Movil, in 2013.

In 2020 the Netherlands passed a law enabling the government to block any takeover of communications on the grounds of national security, following a failed takeover involving  Brookfield Asset Management in 2019.

KPN sold its international network unit for €50 million in 2019 as part of a strategy to rationalise the business and cut costs.

Singtel demonstrates new Ericsson-built use cases for 5G Standalone (SA) networks

Nick Booth
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Singtel demonstrates new Ericsson-built use cases for 5G Standalone (SA) networks

This is how European mobile operators could rejuvenate retailers, workforces and culture with 5G SA

New uses cases for 5G Standalone (5G SA) networks have emerged after Singapore’s Singtel mobile operator unveiled some of the new business models built on Ericsson’s new radio access network (RAN) foundations. These include 5G-powered Remote Racing, 4K live streaming, improvements to the remote office hybrid working model and the creation of new arts and culture experiences.

The Singapore-based mobile operator disclosed that it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Ericsson to collaborate on the development and deployment of advanced 5G enterprise solutions in Singapore. The agreement will allow companies to use Ericsson’s technology expertise and Singtel’s 5G network, test facilities and know how. Some of the first inventive uses of Ericsson’s 5G foundations have been unveiled.

Singtel’s vision of the future of hybrid work probably has the most immediate uses. With no obvious end to the Covid crisis in sight, European nations are particularly interested in developing safe and practical ways to manage their work force. Singtel has teamed with Samsung and Zoom to create a Productivity Data Pass plan using 5G SA. This offers data-free usage of Zoom, enabling operators to connect companies, cross party collaborators and families seamlessly and without lag – it claims. The proposal used Samsung devices such as DeX to show how users can set up virtual workstations.

Another use case for European mobile operators is the ‘Enhanced arts and culture experience’. In the demo this involved collaboration with the National Gallery of Singapore and various theatres to deliver cultural and art experiences over 5G. The demo showed how the Singtel Special Exhibition Gallery and the Singtel Waterfront Theatre could be made more accessible and the culture event could be experience more vividly when it opens officially in 2022. The use of 5G SA could stop the distance between artists and performers from becoming a passion killer by making 5G a more sensual experience.

The details of remote retail  

The Ericsson-built 5G SA infrastructure was the enabler of a new retail model in another demo which used 4K live streaming to bring Singapore’s first underwater 5G livestream aquarium footage to Unboxed, Singtel’s unmanned pop-up retail store. The demo showed how remote consumers may immerse themselves among manta rays, sharks and shoals of fish in vivid 4K resolution. Singtel also used a demo at Southside, Sentosa to argue that professional racing of remote-controlled cars can become a more viable activity if 5G can make it a more is a more sensual, lag-free experience.

Singtel launched its 5G SA network in May, via a partnership with Korean company Samsung. The 5G SA sites run on 3.5 GHz spectrum. As part of its 5G SA deployment, Singtel has already deployed over 1,000 5G sites across Singapore. Singtel initially launched its 5G Non-Standalone (NSA) network in September of 2020, using spectrum in the 3.5 GHz frequency as well as existing 2.1 GHz spectrum.

Yuen Kuan Moon, CEO of Singtel enthused about 5G’s “potential to transform business models as the country moves into post-COVID recovery.” The strategic reset must focus on 5G, Yuen Kuan Moon said.

Vilicom to build Britain’s first private LTE network for Scottish off shore windfarm

Nick Booth
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Vilicom to build Britain’s first private LTE network for Scottish off shore windfarm

Scotland’s offshore Moray East wind farm will showcase green power, open RAN and private LTE network

UK system integrator Vilicom and US telco software Mavenir are to build an open RAN based private LTE network for the Moray East wind farm off the north east coast of Scotland. 

The combination of open radio access network (open RAN) and LTE in an off-shore private network is a first for the UK.

Like all de-coupled open systems Mavenir’s virtualised (software-based) MAVair open RAN can run on any computer, which means the project can save money by using commodity radio hardware. The cheap hardware and specialised software combination will be the foundation for LTE connectivity with the sea vessels and workers building the wind farm.

The wind powered electricity turbines farm could generate 40 per cent of the total electricity demand in Scotland, according to Mavenir. That would mean powering 950,000 homes out of Scotland’s 2.64 million dwellings. The new private LTE network will connect construction workers and engineers with video calls and emails whilst they are working and travelling at sea. The network is also intended for the isolated workers to communicate with their friends and family and access leisure services.

Consultant and systems integrator Vilicom is in charge of the contract and designed the overall system, which is a departure from its mainstream work involving indoor and outdoor cellular systems. “Building efficiencies into the construction and operations of a wind-farm is a challenge without superfast and reliable connectivity,” said Vilicom chief executive Sean Keating. 

Comms platforms as a service to 5G

This latest project highlights the relevance and importance of advanced communications in a real application scenario, according to Stefano Cantarelli, chief marketing officer at Mavenir. 

This month Mavenir announced the purchase of fellow Texan network specialist Telestax, a communications platform as a service (CPaaS) provider and application developer. Comms platforms will be deal makers for service providers, said Mavenir president Pardeep Kohli. They provide interfaces to verticals such as IoT, smart cities and the automotive sector, said Kohli. This “unlocks the enterprise value of 5G” by enabling “turnkey apps for logistics, fleet management, AI and ML chatbots, voice biometrics verification, immersive commerce and entertainment and many other use cases,” said Kophli.

451 Research says the total revenue for CPaaS market will rise $6.5 billion in 2020 and $21 billion in 2025.

Twilio, Vonage and Sinch driving record growth in CPaaS market

Annie Turner
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Twilio, Vonage and Sinch driving record growth in CPaaS market

Data from Synergy Research Group shows the communications platform-as-a-service market continues to expand

Synergy Research says this momentum provides ‘a solid foundation” for increased development of communication and software technologies, creating and enhancing new customer interactions and experiences.

The latest 2Q 2021 market share report shows CPaaS market grew over 40% worldwide with Twilio maintaining its number one market share ranking. Synergy has measured sevenfold market growth for the CPaaS market over the last 18 quarters.

 Source: Synergy Research Group

Local expertise propels

While Twilio is the clear worldwide market share leader, vendors like Vonage, Sinch, bandwidth, MessageBird, and 8×8 have stronger market share positions across the regional markets driven by their focus on areas of local expertise.

This is illustrated in the APAC region where Vonage is the #1 CPaaS vendor followed by Twilio and Sinch. The CPaaS market is on track to exceed $5 billion (€4.25 billion) in 2021with each of the major four regions driving the strong growth. In 2Q 2021, APAC clocked the fastest year-on-year growth exceeding 55%.

Fazil Balkaya, Principal Analyst at Synergy Research Group, commented, “Today the primary application for CPaaS is consumer-based SMS, providing transactional connectivity between mobile devices and emerging cloud services.

“We believe the technology is poised to provide significant enhancements to business communications and sophisticated customer service applications, driving this market to the $14 billion mark by 2025. 

“We believe we are at the beginning of the CPaaS evolution as sophisticated customer engagement and advanced communications can become the key building blocks of future communication tools”.

Bouygues Telecom’s sales figures fall short of its Ambition 2026 targets

Nick Booth
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Bouygues Telecom’s sales figures fall short of its Ambition 2026 targets

Acquisition of Euro-Information Telecom (EIT) good but not enough to propel it up the French mobile league table

New figures suggest that Bouygues Telecom’s stated Ambition 2026 agenda to become the second-largest mobile player in France and a ‘major player in fibre’ still has some way to go, according to analysis in The Light Reading. 

The French mobile operator claims its mobile subscribers have surged to 14.5 million (excluding machine-to-machine) in the six months ending on July 1st 2021.

The newly acquired EIT unit, now known as Bouygues Telecom Business Distribution (BTBD), brought in 2.1 million customers at the beginning of 2021, while Bouygues Telecom itself gained 258,000 new customers in the first half of this year. Around 141,000 mobile subscribers were added from January to the end of March.

Orange France grew by 142,000 subscribers in the first half of 2021, its total of 22.87 million mobile customers giving it a lead of over 7 million subscribers. Currently in second place is Altice France-owned SFR, with 18.16 million subscribers, although the gap is narrowing as its numbers only grew by 105,000 in Q2. 

The disruptive mobile telecoms arriviste, Iliad’s Free Mobile, is in fourth place with 13.34 million subscribers, not far behind Bouygues, although it suffered a disruption of its own, having lost 36,000 net mobile customers in Q2. Bouygues is aiming to gain 4 million more mobile customers at the end of 2026 than it had at the time in 2020.

Gains fall short of target

There have been gains for Bouygues Telecom on the fixed line business, adding 346,000 new fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) subscribers to a total of 1.9 million. This gives it a 15.6 per cent share of the national FTTH market for Q1 2021, according to figures from regulator Arcep Observatory.

Bouygues Teecom’s revenue grew by 14 per cent to €3.5 billion (US$4.1 billion) for the first half of 2021. However, its earnings before interest, tax and depreciation after leases (EBITDAal) margin was two points lower than in the first half of 2020. The operator attributed this to the dilutive effect of integrating BTBD, the changes caused by its emphasis on FTTH sales and a €10 million loss in roaming revenue.

Operating profit in the first half of 2021 was €335 million ($394 million), up €81 million year-on-year, a figure temporarily boosted by the sale of its data centres. 

In April, Bouygues said its 5G network was now present in 28 major towns and cities and confirmed its objective to achieve national coverage by the end of 2021. In June the regulator Arcep published figures that Iliad is way ahead of its rivals in deploying 5G, with 10,239 sites. Bouygues was second with 2,945 sites, followed by Orange (1,862) and SFR (1,751). So it has achieved second place in one market. 

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