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The EU accuses Apple of breaching Digital Markets Act 

Simon Dux
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The EU accuses Apple of breaching Digital Markets Act 

Apple becomes the first company to face action under the digital competition rules and holds back some AI features due to DMA

The European Commission has told Apple of its preliminary view that its App Store rules are in breach of the Digital Markets Act (DMA), as they prevent app developers from freely steering consumers to alternative channels for offers and content. 

In addition, the Commission opened a new non-compliance procedure against Apple over concerns that its new contractual requirements for third-party app developers and app stores, including Apple’s new “Core Technology Fee”, fall short of ensuring effective compliance with Apple’s obligations under the DMA. 

Under the DMA, developers distributing their apps via Apple’s App Store should be able, free of charge, to inform their customers of alternative cheaper purchasing possibilities, steer them to those offers and allow them to make purchases. 

“Apple’s new slogan should be ‘act different’. Today we take further steps to ensure Apple complies with the DMA rules. We have reason to believe that the AppStore rules not allowing app developers to communicate freely with their own users is in breach of the DMA,” said EU internal market commissioner Thierry Breton.  

“We are also opening a new case in relation to Apple’s new business terms for iOS. Without prejudice to Apple’s right of defence, we are determined to use the clear and effective DMA toolbox to finally open real opportunities for innovators and for consumers,” he added.  

Apple currently has three sets of business terms governing its relationship with app developers, including the App Store’s steering rules. The Commission said none of these business terms allow developers to freely steer their customers. For example, developers cannot provide pricing information within the app or communicate in any other way with their customers to promote offers available on alternative distribution channels. 

The Commission added that under most of the business terms available to app developers, Apple allows steering only through “link-outs”, that is, app developers can include a link in their app that redirects the customer to a web page where the customer can conclude a contract. The link-out process is subject to several restrictions imposed by Apple that prevent app developers from communicating, promoting offers and concluding contracts through the distribution channel of their choice. 

It added that while Apple can receive a fee for facilitating via the AppStore the initial acquisition of a new customer by developers, the fees charged by Apple go beyond what is strictly necessary for such remuneration. For example, Apple charges developers a fee for every purchase of digital goods or services a user makes within seven days after a link-out from the app. 

Breach detected 

By sending preliminary findings, it is the Commission’s current view that the company is in breach of the DMA. Apple naturally has a right of reply. The company told the FT [subscription needed] it had: “made a number of changes to comply with the DMA in response to feedback from developers and the European Commission”. 

“We are confident our plan complies with the law, and estimate more than 99 per cent of developers would pay the same or less in fees to Apple under the new business terms we created,” said a spokesperson. 

If the Commission’s preliminary views were to be ultimately confirmed, none of Apple’s three sets of business terms would comply with Article 5(4) of the DMA, which requires gatekeepers to allow app developers to steer consumers to offers outside the gatekeepers’ app stores, free of charge. The Commission would then adopt a non-compliance decision within 12 months from the opening of proceedings on 25 March 2024. 

Apple has been reacting to the EU’s rising activity. In January it tweaked iOS, the app store and the Safari browser to allay competition concerns from the EU and last week it announced it would delay the introduction of its AI-enabled features in the EU due to uncertainty around their compliance with the latest rules. The latter move will not hurt the company given only a small percentage of its handsets will support these features. Apple has already been fined this year over competition concerns around its music streaming services.  

In case of an infringement, the Commission can impose fines up to 10% of the gatekeeper’s total worldwide turnover. Such fines can go up to 20% in case of repeated infringements. Moreover, in case of systematic infringements, the Commission is also empowered to adopt additional remedies such as obliging a gatekeeper to sell a business or parts of it, or banning the gatekeeper from acquisitions of additional services related to the systemic non-compliance. 

Non-compliant contract terms 

The European Commission has also opened a non-compliance investigation into Apple’s new contractual terms for developers regarding access to features enabled by the DMA, such as alternative app stores. Key areas of the investigation include Apple’s Core Technology Fee of €0.50 per installed app, the multi-step process for downloading and installing alternative apps, and the eligibility requirements for developers. 

The investigation will assess if these terms breach Article 6(4) of the DMA, focusing on their necessity and proportionality. The Commission will also continue preliminary investigations into Apple’s validation process for apps and alternative app stores. 

“Today is a very important day for the effective enforcement of the DMA: we have sent preliminary findings to Apple. Our preliminary position is that Apple does not fully allow steering. Steering is key to ensure that app developers are less dependent on gatekeepers’ app stores and for consumers to be aware of better offers,” said Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s executive vice-president in charge of digital policy. 

“We have also opened proceedings against Apple in relation to its so-called core technology fee and various rules for allowing third party app stores and sideloading. The developers’ community and consumers are eager to offer alternatives to the App Store. We will investigate to ensure Apple does not undermine these efforts,” she added. 

Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta and Microsoft, the six gatekeepers designated by the Commission on 6 September 2023, had to fully comply with all DMA obligations by 7 March 2024. 

On 25 March, the Commission opened non-compliance investigations into Alphabet’s rules on steering in Google Play and self-preferencing on Google Search, Apple’s rules on steering in the App Store and the choice screen for Safari, and Meta’s “pay or consent model”. The Commission announced additional investigatory steps to gather facts and information in relation to Amazon’s self-preferencing and Apple’s alternative app distribution and new business model. 

Apple delays AI launch in Europe

Last Friday, Apple said it would delay launching three new AI features in Europe on the grounds that competition laws in the European Union mean the company must ensure that rival products and services can function with its devices.

The three features are Phone Mirroring, better SharePlay Screen Sharing enhancements and Apple Intelligence – will not be rolled out to EU users this year because of regulatory uncertainties due to the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA).

Apple repeated its mantra that the EU’s regulations would force it to compromise the devices’ security which seems to cut no ice with the bloc’s regulators.

The features will be launched in autumn in the US and in Europe next year.

Rohde & Schwarz joins AI-RAN Alliance 

Simon Dux
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Rohde & Schwarz joins AI-RAN Alliance 

Company wants to use its test and measurement (T&M) expertise to unlock potential of AI for wireless comms

Rohde & Schwarz has become the latest member of the recently formed AI-RAN Alliance. The wireless testing company will contribute its T&M expertise to this new collaborative initiative, which aims to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) into wireless communications to advance radio access network (RAN) performance and mobile networks. The company said the membership marks a significant milestone for it on the road to 6G and takes its ongoing collaboration with industry leaders on AI-native air interfaces to a new level. 

By joining the AI-RAN Alliance, Rohde & Schwarz further aligns itself with key industry players such as Nvidia, Ericsson, Nokia and Samsung and strengthens its role in the development of AI-native air interface test methodologies. Formed in February 2024 during the recent Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the AI-RAN Alliance will utilise their members’ respective technology expertise and collective leadership to focus on three key areas of research and innovation as the ecosystems moves towards 6G: 

> AI for RAN: advancing RAN capabilities through AI to improve spectral efficiency. 

> AI and RAN: integrating AI and RAN processes to utilize infrastructure more effectively and generate new AI-driven revenue opportunities. 

> AI on RAN: deploying AI services at the network edge through RAN to increase operational efficiency and offer new services to mobile users. 

Prior to joining the alliance, Rohde & Schwarz has collaborated with Nvidia’s research team on 6G research, pioneering a test bed for exploring neural receiver implementations that promise to revolutionise the air interface by improving performance and network efficiency.  

A neural receiver constitutes the concept of replacing signal processing blocks for the physical layer of a wireless communications system with trained machine learning models. Academia, leading research institutes and industry experts across the globe anticipate that a future 6G standard will use AI/ML for signal processing tasks, such as channel estimation, channel equalisation, and demapping. 

Today’s simulations suggest that a neural receiver will increase link-quality and will impact throughput compared to the current high-performance deterministic software algorithms used in 5G NR. 

To train machine learning models, data sets are an absolute prerequisite. Often, the required access to data sets is limited or simply not available. In the current state of early 6G research, test and measurement equipment provides a viable alternative when generating various data sets with different signal configurations to train machine learning models for signal processing tasks. 

To run the test bed, the R&S SMW200A vector signal generator emulated two individual users transmitting an 80MHz wide signal in the uplink direction with a MIMO 2×2 signal configuration. Each user was independently faded, and noise is applied to simulate realistic radio channel conditions. The R&S MSR4 multi-purpose satellite receiver acted as the receiver, capturing the signal transmitted at a carrier frequency of 3GHz by using its four phase-coherent receive channels.  

The data was then provided via the real-time streaming interface to a server. There, the signal was pre-processed using the R&S Server-Based Testing (SBT) framework including R&S VSE vector signal explorer (VSE) micro-services. The VSE signal analysis software synchronized the signal and performed fast Fourier transforms (FFT). This post-FFT data set served as input for a neural receiver implemented using Nvidia Sionna. 

Nvidia Sionna is a GPU-accelerated open-source library for link-level simulation. It enables rapid prototyping of complex communications system architectures and provides native support to the integration of machine learning in 6G signal processing. 

As part of the demonstration, the trained neural receiver was compared to the classical concept of a linear minimum mean squared error (LMMSE) receiver architecture, which applies traditional signal processing techniques based on deterministically developed software algorithms. These already high-performance algorithms are widely adopted in current 4G and 5G cellular networks. 

“Collaboration is critical to unlocking the full potential of 6G technology components, such as an AI-native air interface,” said Rohde & Schwarz CTO Andreas Pauly. “By partnering with leading industry players and joining the AI-RAN Alliance, we ensure that we remain at the forefront of wireless communications innovation. In this way, the ecosystem benefits from our extensive experience in creating holistic test solutions for the wireless industry.” 

Private 5G networks finally begin to boom beyond China

Annie Turner
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Private 5G networks finally begin to boom beyond China

Analysts SNS Telecom & IT expects a compound annual growth rate of 42% between this year and 2027; cites reference deployments

Although private LTE networks have been around for more than a decade, they are a niche part of cellular infrastructure. Now private networks based on the 3GPP-defined 5G standard are beginning to move beyond proofs of concept and small-scale deployments to production, according to a new report from SNS Telecom & IT – outside of China, that is.

The analyst house estimates that annual investments in private 5G networks for vertical industries will grow at a CAGR of about 42% between 2024 and 2027, accounting for nearly $3.5 billion (€3.272 billion) by the end of 2027.

Much of this growth will be driven by highly localised 5G networks covering geographically limited areas for Industry 4.0 applications in manufacturing and process industries. However, sub-1GHz, wide area networks for critical communications (such as public safety, utilities and railway communications) are also expected to begin their transition from LTE, GSM-R and other legacy narrowband technologies to 5G towards the latter half of the forecast period.

Among other features for mission-critical networks, 3GPP Release 18 adds support for 5G NR equipment operating in dedicated spectrum with less than 5MHz of bandwidth, paving the way for private 5G networks operating in sub-500 MHz, 700 MHz, 850 MHz and 900 MHz bands for public safety broadband, smart grid modernisation and Future Railway Mobile Communication System.

China pioneered private 5G

China is the most mature market for 5G private networks due to state-funded directives to accelerate the application of 5G in industry, at scale.

Consequently, it provides good examples of what 5G private networks can do – without the onus of having to prove the business case. The report – Private 5G Networks: 2024-2030 – Opportunities, Challenges, Strategies & Forecasts – says the largest private 5G installations in China can comprise hundreds to even thousands of dedicated RAN nodes. They might be supported by on-premise or edge cloud-based core network functions depending on specific latency, reliability and security requirements.

For example, home appliance manufacturer Midea’s Jingzhou industrial park hosts 2,500 indoor and outdoor 5G NR access points to connect workers, machines, robots and vehicles across an area of about 104 acres. Wuhan Iron & Steel Corporation (WISCO) has installed a dual-layer private 5G network – spanning 85 multi-sector macrocells and 100 small cells – to remotely operate heavy machinery at its plant in Wuhan (Hubei).

Fujian-based manufacturer Wanhua Chemical recently built a wireless network for more than 8,000 5G reduced capability (RedCap) devices, most of which are surveillance cameras and IoT sensors.

Now for the rest of the world

For the rest of the world, SNS Telecom and IT reckons private 5G networks “are laying the foundation for Industry 4.0 and advanced application scenarios” because 5G brings new capabilities to the party such a low latency, network slicing, and superior reliability, availability and the density of connections. Not all applications require all of these attributes. Still, it is the first purpose-designed, wireless alternative for industrial-grade communications between machines, robots and control systems.

In addition, 5G’s new capabilities are seen by the telecoms industry as paving the path 6G networks in the 2030s.

The report found that despite 5G’s relatively higher cost of ownership, “its wider coverage radius per radio node, scalability, determinism, security features and mobility support have stirred strong interest in its potential as a replacement for interference-prone unlicensed wireless technologies in IIoT (Industrial IoT) environments, where the number of connected sensors and other endpoints is expected to increase significantly over the coming years”.

Enterprises in the US, Germany, France, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and elsewhere are ramping up their digitisation and automation initiatives. Against this backdrop, private 5G networks are being implemented to support use cases as diverse as wirelessly connected machinery for the rapid reconfiguration of production lines, environments that rely on distributed programmable logic controllers, autonomous mobile robots) and automated guided vehicles) for intra-site logistics.

They are also being used for: assisted guidance and troubleshooting using augmented reality; vision-based quality control of production processes and machines; wireless software flashing of manufactured vehicles; and remote-controlled cranes. Other applications include: unmanned mining equipment; beyond visual line-of-sight operation of drones, digital twin models of complex industrial systems and automatic train operation.

Private 5G networks support video analytics to improve safety at railway crossings and on train station platforms, plus remote visual inspections of aircraft engine parts, real-time collaboration for flight-line maintenance operations, extended reality for military training and virtual visits enabling parents to see their infants in neonatal intensive care units.

Yet more applications include production for live broadcasts in locations that cannot be accessed by traditional solutions, operations-critical communications during major sporting events, and optimisation of cattle fattening and breeding for Wagyu beef production

The report found that progress is happening, despite long-standing issues like limited non-smartphone devices and high 5G IoT module costs due to low shipment volumes. Other issues that have proved to be stumbling blocks include the lack of experience and expertise in end-user organisations in using cellular wireless systems in this way and, of course, resistance to change.

Still, early adopters are investing in networks built independently using new shared and local area licensed spectrum options, in collaboration with private network specialists or via traditional mobile operators.

Actual deployments

Some private 5G installations have progressed to a stage where practical and tangible benefits – particularly efficiency gains, cost savings and worker safety – are becoming increasingly evident. Notable examples include:

• Tesla’s private 5G implementation on the shop floor of its Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg plant in Brandenburg, Germany. It has helped overcome up to 90% of the over-cycle issues for a particular process in the factory’s general assembly shop. Tesla is integrating private 5G network infrastructure to address high-impact use cases in production, intralogistics and quality operations across its global manufacturing facilities.

• John Deere [the agricultural machine maker] is progressing towards its goal of reducing dependency on wired Ethernet connections from 70% to 10% over the next five years by deploying private 5G networks at its industrial facilities in the US, South America and Europe. Meanwhile, IKD which supplies automotive aluminium die-castings has replaced 6 miles of cables connecting 600 pieces of machinery with a private 5G network. The cost of cable maintenance is now almost zero and the product yield rate has risen 10%.

• civil aviation customers no longer need to physically attend servicing sessions at Lufthansa Technik. Instead they can carry out inspections remotely, thanks to Lufthansa’s 5G network at its Hamburg facility. Previous attempts to implement virtual inspections using Wi-Fi proved ineffective, hampered by the large metal structures within the plant.

• The East-West Gate (EWG) Intermodal Terminal at Fényeslitke in Hungary has increased productivity from 23 to 25 containers per hour to 32 to 35 an hour through its private 5G network. It has also reduced the staff operating expenses by 40% and eliminated the risk of crane drivers’ injuries due to remote-controlled operation, with a latency of less than 20 milliseconds.

• The Liverpool 5G Create network in the inner city area of Kensington has shown there are potential savings from digital health, education and social care services. This includes “an astonishing $10,000 [€9,351 or £ 7,908) drop in yearly expenditure per care home resident through a 5G-connected system to prevent falls and a $2,600 reduction in WAN (connectivity charges per General Practitioner’s surgery (that is local doctors’ clinics or offices). This could represent a $220,000 annual saving for the UK’s National Health Service when applied to 86 surgeries in Liverpool.

• CJ Logistics has achieved a 20% productivity increase at its Ichiri centre in Icheon (Gyeonggi), South Korea, after replacing the 300 Wi-Fi access points in the 40,000 square meter warehouse with private 5G for Industry 4.0 applications, which previously experienced repeated outages and coverage issues.

The report’s summary cites many more use cases.

Other developments

Some of the most technically advanced features of 5G Advanced – 5G’s next evolutionarily phase – are also being trialled over private installations. For example, the Chinese automaker Great Wall Motor, is using an indoor 5G Advanced network for time-critical industrial control within a car roof production line. This is part of an effort to prevent wire abrasion in mobile applications which result in average downtime of 60 hours a year.

Geopolitical trade tensions and sanctions have given parties the means to test domestically produced 5G network infrastructure products in controlled environments, prior to large-scale deployments or vendor swaps across national or regional public mobile networks. For instance, Russian industrial groups are trialling private 5G networks in zones within production sites, using indigenously built 5G equipment operating in Band n79 (4.8-4.9 GHz) spectrum.

A number of new alternative suppliers have developed 5G infrastructure offerings tailored to the specific needs of industrial applications. For example, satellite communications company Globalstar has launched a multipoint terrestrial RAN system, that complies with 3GPP Release 16. It is optimised for dense private wireless deployments in Industry 4.0 automation environments. German engineering conglomerate Siemens has developed an in-house private 5G network solution for use at its own plants as well as those of industrial customers.  

Aspects under investigation

The report presents an assessment of the private 5G network market, including the value chain, market drivers, barriers to uptake, enabling technologies, operational and business models, vertical industries, application scenarios, key trends, future roadmap, standardization, spectrum availability and allocation, regulatory landscape, case studies, ecosystem player profiles and strategies. The report also presents global and regional market size forecasts from 2024 to 2030. The forecasts cover three infrastructure submarkets, 16 vertical industries and five regional markets.

The report comes with an associated Excel datasheet suite covering quantitative data from all numeric forecasts presented in the report, as well as a database of over 7,000 global private cellular engagements – including more than 2,200 private 5G installations – as of Q2, 2024.

Vodafone extends e2e network monitoring deal with Netscout

Annie Turner
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Vodafone extends e2e network monitoring deal with Netscout

This is part of the operator’s data strategy for better management of its evolving hybrid infrastructure

Vodafone’s new multi-year agreement with Netscout is for its InfinistreamNG to provide real-time, end-to-end visibility monitoring across Vodafone’s physical and virtual networks. This includes 5G Standalone (SA), Vodafone’s European operations and Vodafone Group entities and services.

Hence the move is in parallel with the evolution of Vodafone’s European networks and especially its strategy of being data driven. Foundations stones in implementing this strategy were its tie-up with Google Cloud for data crunching in May 2021, then the creation of a pan-European platform for network performance with Cardinality.io and Google Cloud a year later.

Analyse and enhance

Simon Norton, Head of Digital & OSS at Vodafone, stressed, “With Netscout’s solutions, we’re able to analyse and enhance our network performance”

He added, “Netscout has been a valuable partner for many years. InfinistreamNG gives us the visibility to analyse packet and flow data for greater control of our services, networks, and applications across our European hybrid environment.”

The vendor says it gives Vodafone “pinpoint visibility of all the component parts of its networks, enabling it to analyse the flow and performance of anonymised and aggregated packet data to enhance the customer experience”.

“InfinistreamNG gives us the visibility to analyse packet and flow data for greater control of our services, networks, and applications across our European hybrid environment,” stated Simon Norton, Head of Digital & OSS, Vodafone.

Netscout has worked with Vodafone for more than 10 years and the first contract involving InfinistreamNGwas signed in 2017 and expanded three years later to implement the technology across Vodafone’s opcos in Europe.

Deutsche Telekom uses Live TV via 5G at football 

Simon Dux
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Deutsche Telekom uses Live TV via 5G at football 

Telekom and Sony carries out successful 5G live TV test from the UEFA Euro 2024 fan zone in Cologne

Broadcast continues to decent 5G use case despite remote surgery not taking off. RTL Deutschland’s and n-tv’s coverage of the opening 2024 European Championship match in Munich featured live broadcasts by reporters via Deutsche Telekom’s 5G network. In addition to the live TV, Telekom also set up a 5G campus for RTL. The media company has been also using Telekom’s “Live Video Production” product since last year, which also transmits via the operator’s 5G standalone (SA) network.

Directly next to the RTL media centre in Cologne is one of the official public viewing locations for the European Championship. Thanks to the direct proximity to the transmitter and onwards to Telekom’s campus network, live reports from the fan zone could be sent from that site via 5G. For the coverage, the companies used a new camera system, part of the Networked Live ecosystem, from Sony and Nevion, a Sony Group Company.

In February, Deutsche Telekom and Sony said they had successfully tested Nevion’s VideoIPath media orchestration platform with 5G network Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). The solution from Sony and its subsidiary Nevion uses Deutsche Telekom’s network APIs to make optimum use of the 5G network and offer low latency and reliable bandwidth, which is essential for live, professional video production.

Live Video Production is now regularly used for RTL/n-tv coverage and continues to be booked almost daily during the European Championship.

Parallel streaming

Put together, this system can receive the 5G signal directly via an integrated SIM card and transmit images to the studio in real time without an additional mobile solution. This enabled a high-quality live connection to a reporter in the public viewing zone. The 5G campus network provided the basis for several parallel data streams. Here, too, there were several live broadcasts on n-tv news and for pre-match reporting on MagentaTV.

An RTL team equipped with two mobile 5G cameras has been working at the public viewing spot in Cologne over the last few days. Here they tested four different functions, all of which worked successfully via the 5G connection: Ultra Low Latency Live Video Production; audio intercom for direct communication between the control room, the camera operator, and the interviewer; return video to show the camera operator or interviewer in real time what is currently being broadcast; and remote camera control.

Two Sony FX6 cameras were used for the test, each connected to a CBK-RPU7 HEVC 4K/HD remote production unit for ultra-low latency HEVC video encoding. The encoded outputs were connected to the 5G campus network in the 3.7–3.8GHz frequency range via Sony’s PDT-FP1 Portable Data Transmitter and decoded by an NXL-ME80 processor. RTL’s existing Nevion VideoIPath SDN Control Software System was used to manage the delivery of pictures and sound received via the 5G network into RTL’s SMPTE ST 2110 based IP production infrastructure. Sony’s UWP-D series wireless microphones and receivers were used to ensure high quality sound.

Ooredoo Group gets Nvidia AI chips for data centres 

Simon Dux
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Ooredoo Group gets Nvidia AI chips for data centres 

The move comes despite US officials slowing down licences for chip manufacturers like Nvidia and AMD to export large quantities of AI accelerators to the Middle East

Ooredoo Group has announced it is becoming an Nvidia Cloud Partner (NCP) and plans to deploy thousands of Nvidia Tensor Core GPUs in its AI data centres to support the region. The move comes amid heightened geopolitical tensions globally that has seen the US Government has been curbing the export of advanced US chips to stop Chinese firms from using Middle Eastern countries as a back door to access the newest AI technology. 

Last month, Bloomberg reported US officials had slowed down the issuance of licences for chip manufacturers like Nvidia to export large quantities of AI accelerators to the Middle East while a national security assessment of AI developments in the region was underway. 

There was no further info on what “large-scale” exports looked like and the fact the Qatari operator has announced the Nvidia is happening suggests that nation has passed scrutiny and is poised to push ahead of the UAE and Saudi Arabia which are both looking to import significant quantities of chips for AI data centres. 

“Our B2B clients, thanks to this agreement, will have access to services that probably their competitors (won’t) for another 18 to 24 months,” Ooredoo’s CEO Aziz Aluthman Fakhroo (above right) told Reuters in an interview. 

In January, the US finalised an agreement with Qatar to extend its military presence at the Al Udeid Air Base, its largest military facility in the Middle East, accommodating more than 10,000 American troops. 

Ooredoo wants to use Nvidia’s advanced accelerated computing platform to help enable “the AI revolution” in the region. Through this collaboration, governments, enterprises, and startups in Qatar, Algeria, Tunisia, Oman, Kuwait, and the Maldives will have access to Nvidia’s latest full-stack AI platform. 

Capitalising on the significant market demand for accelerated computing and hyperconnectivity across its MENA footprint, Ooredoo is developing an AI-ready platform powered by NVIDIA’s full-stack innovation across systems, software, and services. The agreement with Nvidia was signed during TMForum’s DTW24 in Copenhagen. 

“Implementing Nvidia’s full-stack platform for accelerated computing and generative AI, Ooredoo is equipped to be at the forefront of the AI revolution in MENA, driving digitalisation and innovation as the leading digital infrastructure provider in the region,” said Ooredoo’s chief executive Aziz Aluthman Fakhroo. “Working with Nvidia, we aim to meet the significantly growing demand for accelerated computing infrastructure to support advanced AI models.” 

Ooredoo plans to offer GPU-as-a-Service, which offers on-demand access to “some of the most advanced AI and machine learning tools available”. The telco will also be able to offer GPU-as-infrastructure, giving its customers the flexibility to integrate accelerated computing with their own cloud solutions or directly host them on premises. 

“As a trusted regional telecommunications provider, Ooredoo Group combines deep enterprise and consumer relationships with the ability to invest in and deploy AI infrastructure and services,” said Nvidia SVP of telecom Ronnie Vasishta (above left). “By providing NVIDIA’s full-stack AI computing platform to customers, Ooredoo will help make it easier for their customers to deploy generative AI applications and services.” 

Ooredoo Group said its collaboration with Nvidia is part of its larger aim to boost AI infrastructure in the MENA region while enabling enhanced security, optimised performance, and customisation to align with local standards. As a result, the countries where Ooredoo operates can establish local clouds, facilitating the development of local AI ecosystems and applications and reinforcing data security measures. 

Data centre push 

The operator carved out its data centres into a separate company called Mena Digital Hub and last month appointed ex-Microsoft executive Sunita Bottse to become CEO and manage the firms $1bn investment plans to expand the data centre capacity to more than 120MW. Bottse was previously senior director of data centres site acquisition (EMEA) at Microsoft. 

Mena Digital Hub has 26 active data centres across Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Iraq and Tunisia. The operator currently sits at around 40MW. Ooredoo also has plans to carve out its undersea cables and fiber network into a separate entity, according to the Reuters report. 

Automated assurance needs to accelerate in 5G private networks

Tomer Ilan, Director of Product Management, RADCOM
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Automated assurance needs to accelerate in 5G private networks

Partner content: Private networks are progressing rapidly, gaining recognition for their distinct capabilities – it’s imperative that automated assurance keeps up

Private networks are accelerating at a notable speed and increasingly gaining recognition for their distinct capabilities. The market is heating up with operators eager to get a boost in revenue from the 42% of enterprises that have revealed plans to implement 5G private networks within the year, the market of which is expected to reach US$42.4 billion by 2032 .

Private networks’ appeal

Private mobile networks are dedicated to a single enterprise, and offer, particularly in 5G, a reliable alternative to physically wired or WiFi connections. In an enterprise where large numbers of Internet of Things (IoT) devices, mobile devices, smart phones and users are all integrated, private networks offer privacy, scalability, powerful connectivity, and significant security advantages.

Requirements can be tailored to meet the exact needs of the enterprise that gains complete control over which devices can connect to the network.  Private networks are more reliable than WiFi and provide better coverage indoors and outdoors, eliminating patchy internet connection problems and avoiding latency issues – i.e. the delay in data transfer, while offering significant cost savings.

The move to 5G private networks extends LTE’s benefits and has enabled many enterprises to increase efficiency and productivity. In almost every industry, there are success stories of implementing private 5G networks, with many more planning the move. This is particularly prevalent in mission-critical enterprises like defense, healthcare and utilities where a reliable and continuous mobile connection to industrial IoT and data-driven mobile devices could mean the difference between life and death. 

Security services

Security services prefer 5G private networks to ensure reliable connectivity and security to IoT devices such as security cameras, mobile communications devices and portables. In healthcare, private 5G networks offer high reliability and high security for device tracking, monitoring and distribution of medicines and even ambulances with 5G connections offer the ability to transmit vital information such as vital signs, and facilitate remote diagnosis and quicker decision making.

SNS Telecom and IT research reported 5G private network savings of up to 40% for the East West-Gate Intermodal Terminal in Hungary. Baosteel, a business unit of China’s Baowu Steel Group, moved its 43-sites to private 5G and achieved savings of $7 million in annual costs.

Their private network enabled the company to lower lost production capacity from 9,000 tons to 700 tons by reducing manual quality inspections and achieved a higher detection rate of more than 90%. The mining sector has also seen a boost from 5G with a considerable reduction in worker safety with increased use of unmanned mining equipment. Dongyi Group in China for example, reported $1 million in annual cost savings with the digitization and automation that 5G facilitated.  

The SLA conundrum

Transitioning to private networks, however, necessitates deep insights into the network at all times. With the wide-spread adoption of digital technologies and the potential risk of downtime, stringent service level agreements (SLAs) that define key performance indicators (KPIs) and key quality indicators (KQIs), are a critical element to ensure the demands of enterprises are met.  

A survey conducted last year revealed that the cost of downtime in industrial businesses is close to $125,000 an hour. Enterprises moving to private 5G networks will therefore be more meticulous about holding operators to certain guarantees that are promised to them, whether it is regarding latency, throughput, network availability or security.   

Potential of assurance solutions

Automated assurance solutions offer a comprehensive solution to monitoring and reporting network traffic and performance across 3G, 4G and 5G voice and data services, providing end-to-end visibility from the RAN to the core, across different locations, architectures and vendors.  

The information is collected and captured in a central site for KPIs, advanced analytics, session tracing and troubleshooting. It is a powerful tool that enables the network to be monitored by operators, system integrators and even enterprise users. In a scenario where an operator or integrator is responsible for thousands of private networks, one platform in the cloud can manage all these networks securely and ensure privacy through multi-tenancy.

Automated assurance solutions offer operators the opportunity to have a bird’s eye view of the network. It allows operators to set KPI thresholds according to the SLAs and provide a quick solution to access all the data through dashboards with real-time alerts for network issues, as well as to drill down to troubleshooting views that help reduce the mean time to repair (MTTR).

This is crucial as not delivering on SLAs invokes high penalties, with some agreements stipulating penalties of as much as 5% of the quarterly payment per single incident when breaching the SLA.

Operators, who serve multiple enterprises, need to access not only the enterprise-wide data but also ensure that individual enterprise users are receiving the expected performance, as SLAs are often expected to be met on a per user, per device basis.  All this must take place while monitoring hundreds of private networks with different SLAs for each enterprise.

Predictive analytics

Automated assurance solutions look at the actual performance of the network and notify users about any breach of the SLA in real time, through dashboards and alerts. RADCOM ACE, offers predictive network and service analytics, looking a few hours or days ahead using AI and machine learning to help predict a breach of the SLA, giving operators enough time to prevent or mitigate the issue before it affects users. When a closed-loop solution such as Network Data Analytics Function (NWDAF) is deployed, the process can be fully automated, with issues being predicted and resolved without manual intervention, before users are affected.

Operators with advanced assurance solutions with multi-tenancy can offer value added services and allow their enterprise customers’ users to control their own organization’s data, while having complete separation from other private networks, and view both enterprise-wide and individual users’ quality of experience and network performance.

This is offered either stand-alone, on the cloud or through network slicing, which allows operators to create virtual slices of their mobile network with pre-defined capabilities. Assurance solutions should cover both models within one solution for the highest efficiency. 

3GPP’s NWDAF

Delivering on the promise of private 5G networks also means operators are eager to automate their network through NWDAF – defined by 3GPP to enable network data analysis for mobile core networks. However, many Private Networks have not implemented NWDAF due to its complexity and the amount of resources required for the artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) capabilities required to perform tasks such as predictive analytics.

However, RADCOM’s NWDAF solution can offer a centralized NWDAF in the cloud with multi-tenancy capabilities and lightweight “NWDAF proxies” which are deployed at the private network sites, allowing operators to extend the power of NWDAF to private networks in a cost-effective manner.

NWDAF supports dozens of analytics and closed-looped use cases for Private Networks. A popular NWDAF use case for private networks is IoT anomaly detection. NWDAF uses AI and machine learning to monitor the communications patterns of IoT devices and identify anomalies that would indicate either a security or network issue.

Automatic detection in real time automatically triggers corrective action through a closed-loop interface to resolve the issue, for instance by barring the offending or suspicious IoT device from the network.

The power of Generative AI

Generative AI (GenAI) is another element to help manage private networks. As GenAI has permeated many industries, so too it offers network operators many potential benefits. Sitting on vast amounts of network data, those automated assurance solutions that include GenAI can collect and analyze the data, from the RAN to the core, which opens huge possibilities for the operator in overcoming existing challenges.

Essentially GenAI can draw insights using natural language from the network with prompts to point to data regarding everything from geographies, times, different services, video, VoNR and more, to ease monitoring, troubleshooting and optimize the network.   

Keep it simple

There is no doubt that 5G is disruptive in its nature and combined with a private network, facilitates the convergence of all connectivity onto a single efficient pipeline. Advanced multi-tenancy based automated assurance solutions offer operators the ability to feed all the information from multiple networks onto a single platform.

They offer the enterprise users self-service access to predictive SLA assurance, analytics, alerts and troubleshooting tools with visibility down to the user and session level, ensuring both the operator and their enterprise customers can reap the promised rewards of private 5G networks. 

Bandwidth on the move: innovative approaches to FWA challenges

Moti Goldshtein, VP Product Management, Allot
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Bandwidth on the move: innovative approaches to FWA challenges

Partner content: Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) is a promising way to bridge the digital divide but it needs to be able to scale and manage rising volumes of traffic

The world is moving forward in its digital transformation, and the demand for reliable and high-speed internet continues to soar. Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) has emerged as a promising solution to bridge the digital divide, especially where xDSL customers are looking to upgrade to fast broadband to accommodate their digital lifestyles but do not have access to a fibre connection.

According to Statista, FWA will account for 21% of all fixed broadband connections globally by 2030. It will have the largest share of the fixed broadband market, surpassing even fibre. What’s more, FWA subscribers expect their wireless access to behave like fixed broadband on their large screens with OTT TV, gaming applications, browsing and work-from-home scenarios. This raises the bar for the quality of experience that FWA service providers need to ensure.

As with any technology, FWA comes with its own set of challenges. This article delves into these challenges and explores innovative solutions, particularly focusing on how traffic management can significantly enhance the quality of experience (QoE) for both FWA providers and users.

Current FWA landscape

FWA delivers internet connectivity using wireless technology to connect fixed locations, such as homes and businesses, to the internet. This approach is particularly advantageous for remote and rural areas where the deployment of fibre connections is either too expensive or logistically challenging.

The growing adoption of FWA is driven by its lower infrastructure costs, scalability, and flexibility. In addition, 4G FWA is already four times faster than xDSL. With the advent of 5G spectrum, FWA will get a further growth boost as the wireless experience of FWA gains parity with the fixed broadband experience.

Despite these advantages, the rapid increase in internet usage poses significant challenges for FWA providers. A study by Coleman Parkes, commissioned by Allot, reveals that 87% of FWA providers anticipate a rise in traffic on their networks within the next year, with 40% expecting a 10-20% increase and 20% bracing for even higher growth​​.

This surge is driven by the proliferation of connected devices, the rise of data-intensive applications like video conferencing, video streaming, online gaming, and the increasing use of cloud services.

Key Challenges for FWA Providers

Network Congestion

Network congestion is one of the most pressing issues faced by FWA providers. As more devices connect to the network, the demand for bandwidth increases, leading to slower speeds and reduced service quality during peak usage times. According to the Colman Parkes report, internet browsing and business applications are among the most impacted activities, with over 50% of respondents identifying these as top concerns​​. 57% of respondents indicated that they experience congestion in 10-20% of their cell sites. Considering the expected traffic growth in FWA and 5G in general, it can be expected that more congestion is on the way.

Quality of Experience (QoE)

Ensuring excellent QoE is crucial for subscriber satisfaction and retention. However, the Coleman Parkes survey indicates that while only 53% of Wireless Internet Service Providers (WISPs) rate the QoE for business customers as excellent during peak times, only 42% can say the same for residential customers​​. This disparity underscores the need for effective traffic management solutions that can prioritize critical applications and maintain high service standards across all user types.

High equipment costs, regulatory hurdles

Deploying and maintaining FWA networks involves significant financial investment. High equipment costs are a major challenge, cited by half of the surveyed providers. Additionally, regulatory and logistical issues, such as obtaining permits and finding tower space, further complicate the deployment process​​. When WISPs are not able to add infrastructure, or are not able to add it in a timely manner, the combination of existing infrastructure plus increasing traffic can lead to reduced QoE, and thus to churn or reduced capacity for business growth.

Traffic management solutions

To address these challenges, advanced traffic management solutions, with FWA application-aware Traffic Management capabilities, offer a comprehensive approach to managing network congestion and enhancing QoE.

Dynamic application, recognition, prioritisation

Allot’s solution employs Dynamic Application Recognition Technology (DART) to identify user traffic and applications dynamically. This, and other technologies use multiple inspection methods to analyze application behavior, network performance, to prioritize application performance and user QoE​​. By applying sophisticated congestion management policies on a per-subscriber and per-application basis, it ensures that sensitive applications and high-end service plan customers receive the bandwidth they need, even during peak times.

Real-time congestion management

Real-time congestion management is crucial for maintaining optimal network performance. Using advanced congestion management techniques to enforce prioritization policies in real-time, an advanced solution ensures that subscribers experience optimal speed and QoE even during periods of high traffic​​. This dynamic adaptation helps maintain efficient and equitable access for all users.

More subscribers per cell

Employing a real-time congestion management solution in an FWA network can optimize the capacity for the given bandwidth for each cell, maintaining or improving QoE and creating a situation where the provider can service a larger number of subscribers on each cell.

This makes each investment in FWA infrastructure more cost-effective and enables the provider to support more satisfied customers within a geographical area: statistical analysis of different scenarios shows a potential increase of 10-30% in additional users per cell when a real-time congestion management solution is employed.

Differentiation between service packages

By prioritizing QoE for specific applications, a service provider can offer subscribers service packages that guarantee QoE for the applications that they consider important, such as streaming, browsing, gaming and business applications. By differentiating service packages, the service provider can develop new revenue streams while ensuring that FWA customers get the service that they expect for the applications that they value most.

Fair usage policy enforcement

Implementing fair usage policies is another key feature of an advanced traffic management solution. These policies ensure that network resources are distributed equitably among subscribers, preventing any single user from monopolizing bandwidth and degrading the experience for others​​.

Benefits of Advanced Traffic Management

Enhanced subscriber satisfaction

Improved QoE and service differentiation lead to higher subscriber loyalty and reduced churn. By ensuring that critical applications receive the necessary bandwidth, operators can deliver a superior user experience, thereby increasing customer satisfaction​​​​.

Cost reduction

Advanced traffic management solutions can achieve significant bandwidth savings, reducing the need for immediate infrastructure investments. Allot’s solution, for instance, can save up to 30% in bandwidth, directly lowering capital expenditures (CapEx) and operational expenses (OpEx) associated with capacity expansion​​.

Scalability and flexibility

Scalability is a critical requirement for growing FWA networks. A traffic management solution should be implemented in the core network so that it can be quickly and easily applied to any cell where it is needed. It should be designed to scale seamlessly, supporting unlimited capacity across the network. This ensures that it can meet the evolving demands of a growing subscriber base without compromising performance​​.

Advanced traffic management for FWA success

As the demand for high-speed internet continues to grow, FWA providers face significant challenges in managing network congestion and ensuring high end QoE. Advanced traffic management solutions, such as those offered by Allot, provide a comprehensive approach to addressing these issues. By leveraging dynamic application recognition, real-time congestion management, and fair usage policy enforcement, FWA providers can enhance subscriber satisfaction, reduce costs, and scale their networks efficiently.

In a world where digital connectivity is becoming increasingly essential, innovative traffic management solutions are not just a luxury but a necessity. They enable FWA providers to deliver reliable and high-quality internet services, ensuring that both urban and rural areas can enjoy the benefits of the digital revolution.

As FWA technology continues to evolve, adopting these advanced solutions will be crucial for providers looking to stay competitive and meet the ever-growing demands of a connected world. For a more in-depth look at how CSPs can improve the quality of experience for their FWA customers, you can view the Allot webinar on the subject – Masterclass For FWA: Future-Proof Your QoE Strategies

The author, Moti Goldshtein, is VP Product Management at Allot

Telefónica Tech, IBM collaborate on AI, analytics and managing data for firms

Annie Turner
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Telefónica Tech, IBM collaborate on AI, analytics and managing data for firms

Starting in Spain, they will deploy SHARK.X, an open, hybrid, multi-cloud platform and create a use case office to develop pilots for customers

A new collaboration agreement between Telefónica Tech and IBM is intended to drive the deployment of AI, analytics and data governance solutions to meet the dynamically evolving needs of enterprises. They will deploy SHARK.X, “a new open, hybrid and multi-cloud platform that hosts different IBM hardware and software components, with access to IBM Cloud and other clouds”.

IBM’s Storage Fusion HCI infrastructure for running enterprise applications will be deployed in Telefónica Tech’s La Cabina facility, which is Telefónica’s technological centre for the digital transformation of companies and public administrations.

Telefónica Tech will provide specialised professional services to define the most appropriate deployment architecture for each customer and integrate the solution into their environment, as well as ingest data from different sources and develop artificial intelligence use cases aimed at addressing their business priorities.

It will also provide advice in the field of data governance and artificial intelligence models and in the field of regulatory and ethical compliance, which is especially relevant with the new regulations approved in the European Union. 

Software level

At the software level, SHARK.X will include several IBM technologies that will cover the value chain associated with enterprise data management, analytics and management of enterprise data. SHARK.X will host IBM Cloud Pak for Data to enable data collection, organization, analysis and governance.

It will include the IBM watsonx AI and Data platform, which was launched last year, to build, deploy and scale AI applications “in a simple, secured and governed way”. It will also offer Cognos and Planning Analytics to glean collaborative business intelligence, planning and reporting solutions. 

According to the companies, these capabilities mean the SHARK:X platform will address both traditional and generative AI initiatives and address end-to-end data governance and management. At the same time, they will provide a Lakehouse as an enterprise data management solution to address data security and protection. In short, SHARK.X promises business intelligence, planning, optimisation and reporting. 

Spanish steps

According to findings in the IBM Global AI Adoption Index study, almost half the companies in Spain that are already working with AI claim they have accelerated their investments in it in the last two years.

In this new collaboration, the companies will develop and deploy an open, hybrid and multi-cloud platform that specialises in data management and AI to accelerate business initiatives for customers.

They will run a use case office, demonstrations and development of minimum variable product (MVP) and the implementation of resources, training and certifications.

Telefónica Tech and IBM will launch a use case office, comprising professionals from both companies, to promote and coordinate the definition and development of use cases, proofs of concept, and MVPs to accelerate business development and further showcase the value available to clients through the use of these technologies.

The collaboration is already providing generative AI solutions to customers, including code generation for IT applications, automation of processes and incidents, cognitive assistants in industrial operations, advice and customer service, analytics, processing and management of audiovisual content and text documents.

Long history

IBM and Telefónica Tech have a history of collaboration that includes hybrid cloud-based solutions, such as TROS, Telefónica Tech’s multi-cloud service based on RedHat OpenShift; integrated AI for the creation of virtual assistants to improve customer service; and optimized supply chain management to increase the traceability of business assets with blockchain.

Elena Gil Lizasoain, Director of the AI and Data business unit at Telefónica Tech (pictured), said, “This new collaboration with IBM will help drive the many benefits of Artificial Intelligence, traditional and generative, and proper data management in the business world. By combining the knowledge of both teams, we will continue to advance in the construction of use cases aimed at creating more efficient and sustainable businesses.”

Vodafone Czechia partners Mobil Pohotovost to improve handset trade-ins 

Simon Dux
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Vodafone Czechia partners Mobil Pohotovost to improve handset trade-ins 

Vodafone Flex users will get better trade-ins at the popular electronics retailer that specialises in selling mobile phones, tablets and other electronic devices

As part of a new collaboration with electronics retailer Mobil Pohotovost, Vodafone Czechia is guaranteeing its customers “the best trade-in value for used phones and tablets on the market.” The money obtained can be used to purchase a newer model as part of the operator’s RE-START service which itself is part of the newly introduced Vodafone Flex service package. RE-START allows customers to trade in old devices, reducing the financial burden of upgrading to newer models. The process is streamlined with online registration, courier service, and quick payment. 

Vodafone said its Flex package offers several benefits. These include the ability to trade in old phones and tablets, discounted financing for new devices, and worry-free use of technology with Vodafone Care insurance. Additionally, customers use the OneNumber service, allowing calls from smartwatches without a phone in range. Vodafone claims it is the only domestic operator to guarantee this service for Apple, Samsung, and Xiaomi watches. Both the OneNumber service and Vodafone Care insurance are free for the first three months. 

“In the Czech Republic, three-quarters of mobile phones are still sold separately in electronics stores,” said Vodafone VP for consumer Zohar Weitz. “We want to provide customers with the full spectrum of the latest technologies, which is why we offer a comprehensive range of devices and additional services and features with discounted financing within the Vodafone Flex service package.” 

She added: “We help our customers keep pace with the dynamic development of technology conveniently in one place and at favorable prices. We believe that modern technology should be accessible to everyone.” 

In the Czech Republic, Vodafone provides services to more than 4.5 million customers – about 4 million in mobile services, and another approximately 700,000 in fixed services, where Vodafone strengthened its position after integrating UPC Czech Republic.  

Phone or tablet trade-in 

Vodafone said Flex addresses “all customer needs” from the first purchase and during upgrades when people still have an older working phone. Still functional phones and tablets can be sold within the Vodafone RE-START program, reducing the financial burden associated with purchasing a selected newer device. The trade-in process is simple: after online registration, the customer receives a price offer, and if they decide to accept it, they just need to send the device for free via an agreed courier service. The money can be in the account within two days. 

The operator said customers who use multiple operator services simultaneously (mobile tariff, fixed internet, and Vodafone TV) can apply an additional discount of up to CZK 4,000 on the purchase of all devices, and for selected devices – such as the Samsung Galaxy S24 128GB – up to CZK 7,000 as part of a combined discount available in stores. 

Vodafone suggests customers can save more by taking up its offers. The latest is where customers can get a Xiaomi smartwatch worth CZK 7,001 for an additional one crown with the purchase of a Xiaomi 14 phone throughout the summer. Additionally, up to two devices can be purchased in instalments for one phone number. The operator is also offering OneNumber free for the first three months. 

Vodafone Flex is a mobile plan offered by Vodafone, designed to provide Flexibility and simplicity for customers. It typically allows users to customize their plans according to their usage needs by purchasing “Flex” units that can be used interchangeably for data, calls, and texts.

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