Deutsche Telekom expands data sharing in automotive and smart city
Deutsche Telekom has upgraded its projects around data sharing across the automotive supply chain and smart cities sectors in Europe.
The telco said that membership of its Catena-X Automotive Network (Catena-X) project, announced late 2020 to facilitate secure data sharing across the German automotive industry, has been expanded. New recruits include Mercedes-Benz, BASF, Henkel, Schaeffler, the German Aerospace Center (DLR), the Fraunhofer Society, and the ARENA2036 research factory, among others.
Besides DT, other leaders in the project include Bosch, BMW, SAP and Siemens, aiming to identify production bottlenecks or parts shortages, and avoid production outages of the kind experienced during Covid-19 lockdowns.
Nokia wins five-year C-band equipment deal with AT&T
Nokia has expanded its relationship with AT&T, announcing that it will be a key supplier of equipment for the US telco’s recently acquired C-band spectrum. This is no surprise, since Nokia is the incumbent RAN vendor at AT&T, alongside Ericsson and Samsung (and has the largest share of the network). But it will be a welcome deal, given the reported problems with Nokia’s place in the Verizon 5G roll-out.
AT&T has said it will spend between $6bn and $8bn on building out its C-band spectrum, most of that inn 2022-2024. Nokia, in a five-year deal of unspecified value, will supply Massive MIMO antenna arrays, macro remote radio units and AirScale baseband units.
The technology will interoperate with existing Nokia 4G RAN equipment in the AT&T network and will also support Open RAN, so that AT&T could presumably swap in third party radio or baseband units in the future, if required.
Microsoft buys UK’s Marsden Group to flesh out Industrial IoT portfolio
Microsoft has acquired UK-based industrial technology and rapid prototyping firm The Marsden Group for an undisclosed fee, as part of a buying campaign to fill out its cloud, analytics, telecoms and software portfolio for the Industry 4.0 market.
The deal will enhance Microsoft’s ability to create “new customer value through experimentation and deep industry solutions” based on its cloud, edge, and AI products, according to the company.
This is the latest acquisition in an Industrial IoT spending spree that has brought in UK robotic process automation firm Softomotive, US data modeling startup ADRM Software, US IoT/OT security company CyberX, and US machine vision developer Orions Systems.
It also acquired private cellular specialists Affirmed Networks and Metaswitch in 2020, which have been reoriented towards edge-based industrial 5G products for enterprises.
As Omar Abbosh, Microsoft’s corporate vice president of cross-industry solutions, commented: “The first chapter of digital transformation was oriented toward consumer industries. The newer opportunity in infrastructure, manufacturing and resources is enormous.”