India confirms four 5G auction bidders
India’s Department of Telecom (DoT) has received applications from Adani Data Networks, as well as the big three telcos (Reliance Jio, Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel), for participation in the upcoming 5G auction scheduled to begin on July 26. DoT added that these applications have not yet been processed or pre-qualified.
Adani Data Networks is a subsidiary of Indian multinational conglomerate Adani Group, with businesses in several areas including port management, electric power generation and transmission, renewable energy, mining, airport operations, natural gas, food processing and infrastructure.
“Our intention is not to be in the consumer mobility space. We are participating in the 5G spectrum auction to provide private network solutions along with enhanced cybersecurity in the airport, ports and logistics, power generation, transmission, distribution, and various manufacturing operations,” the Adani Group stated.
The long-awaited 5G auction will offer licences in the 600 MHz, 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1.8 GHz, 2.1 GHz, 2.3 GHz, 3.3 GHz and 26 GHz bands. There will be no mandatory requirement to make upfront payments by successful bidders, which had been feared by operators. Payments can be made by winning bidders in 20 equal monthly installments, with a moratorium of two years if operators do elect to pay upfront.
Deutsche Telekom and Google Cloud expand partnership
Deutsche Telekom and Google Cloud have expanded their partnership by defining a joint roadmap for bringing cloud products and services closer to mobile and connected devices at the edge of the German operator’s network. As a first step, the pair will focus on core network services, network analytics and customer experience analytics.
For the core, DT and Google Cloud will pilot several network services together, including 5G Standalone in Austria, as well as remote packet gateway functions.
For the network analytics, DT will pilot several applications of anomaly detection, performance counter, and trace data, as a first step towards utilizing data-driven operations and automated workflows, exploiting container-based Kubernetes components from Google Cloud.
For customer experience analytics, DT will trial Google Cloud’s data analytics, AI and machine learning capabilities in a joint proof-of-concept to improve actionable insights and understand customer needs better.
“At Deutsche Telekom we are implementing our Leading Digital Telco strategy by investing in best-in-class network infrastructure and by establishing cloud-based service platforms,” said Claudia Nemat, a DT board member.
Lumen brings edge systems to Europe
US-based Lumen Technologies, formerly CenturyLink, has launched its enterprise edge computing systems in Europe.
The company claims its service achieves 5ms latency and is currently available in the key markets of the UK, France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, with plans for further geographical expansion by the end of 2022.
Lumen’s edge computing systems are built on the backbone of its global fiber network, which it touts as one of the most heavily connected and deeply peered networks in the world. It includes about half am miles of fiber, providing services to over 190,000 sites and connecting 2,200 public and private third party data centers.
For the European deployment, the company deployed additional 100Gbps multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) and IP network infrastructure, while boosting power and cooling capabilities at key edge data center locations in the continent.