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Wireless Watch
14th July 2020

Chinese operators urge caution about timescales for full 5G slicing

Network slicing is one of the essential elements of the full vision of 5G as an agile network which can be tuned to any user’s requirements in a dynamic fashion. Without slicing, it will be hard for 5G to meet the needs of many of the industries which hope to use it as part of their digital transformations. The demanding, and very diverse, connectivity requirements of sectors such as public safety, manufacturing, logistics or smart cities cannot be met optimally on a general purpose network, but the individual private network model, while important for some scenarios – especially in-building or localized build-outs – is hard to scale, and hard for MNOs to align with their core profit models. Slicing, then,…

Wireless Watch
14th July 2020

GSMA/LF group changes its name to reflect new urgency around containers

Among the many dilemmas facing operators as they move towards the new software-based 5G architectures is one of timing. They can deploy relatively mature virtualized cores right now, if they rely on virtual machines and the NFV (network functions virtualization) platform that has been the bedrock of telcos’ cloud migrations so far. But this approach is increasingly seen as a compromise – far more complex, heavy and cumbersome than the emerging cloud-native platforms. These rely on lighter containers and agile orchestration frameworks, which can configure, reconfigure, assemble and reassemble microservices on the fly, and in limitless combinations, to meet a particular user requirement. However, if an operator is in a hurry, cloud-native platforms remain immature and there are question marks…

Wireless Watch
14th July 2020

Verizon leads the race to overtake Rakuten on the road to cloud-native 5G

Some large operators are starting to set out clear roadmaps to a cloud-native, container-based architecture for their 5G core, though the cloud-native RAN is some way behind, possibly by several years in terms of large-scale, macro network deployments. Vendors like Nokia are offering cloud-native vRAN systems, and also supporting open interfaces such as O-RAN, but most operators indicate they will initially trial such technology in greenfield, secondary or localized networks, rather than risk any performance trade-offs in the main network at this early stage. It is different for fully greenfield MNOs, of course. Rakuten Mobile, Dish Network and others have the luxury of not having legacy physical networks to integrate, sunset or depreciate. But even for these new players, the…

Wireless Watch
14th July 2020

vRAN looks to be within reach at last, but will MNOs wait for containers?

For a long time, the virtualized RAN (vRAN) has been something more of dream than substance. It has been discussed ever since China Mobile’s seminal white paper, a decade ago, launched the concept of a RAN whose digital functions were run as software in the cloud. But commercially, it has remained the preserve of a few very expensive, hand-crafted deployments, mainly in South Korea, Japan and China; and some roll-outs of small cell or secondary networks, where it has often proved less risky and disruptive to test the new technology without touching the primary macro network. Now, several factors are conspiring to turn on the accelerator. The start of the gradual shift to full 5G, with a 5G sliceable core;…

Rethink Energy
9th July 2020

The world of renewables this week

The European Commission is aiming to launch a €40 billion Just Transition Fund, to help launch a green economic recovery to Covid-19. All member states agreed last week that the new fund should exclude nuclear and fossil fuels projects, including natural gas projects – a position also shared by the EU Commission – but under current proposals for finance rules it is likely that some gas projects could find loopholes to receive just transition funding. The full assembly will vote in September on whether or not to approve the rules. A Japanese start-up, spawned from former Nissan employees, claims that it can make “all-polymer batteries” that can cut manufacturing costs by 90%. APB Corp received backing from a group of…

Rethink Energy
9th July 2020

LNG terminals finding it tough to raise cash as gas prices tumble

A report from Global Energy Monitor this week entitled Gas bubble 2020, shovels the dirt on Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) terminals and their requirement for investment and how shaky it is. First it paints a picture of what looks like a global fracking conspiracy, to turn the US and Canada into the center of the natural gas global community, which needed to eat up some $196 billion in financing for LNG terminals, which has been put together by almost every global bank you can name, including those who have sworn off the idea of supporting fossil fuels. In a report out on the same day focusing purely on Japan’s ambitions to be a global terminal for LNG, under a strategy…

Rethink Energy
9th July 2020

Modular electrolyzers to become commodities before 2025

Green hydrogen could become cost competitive in under 5 years, according to Enapter, but this will require a serious rethink of how value is prescribed in the energy sector, and for the industry to shake off its obsession with centralized generation. When following the nascent growth of hydrogen production, it’s easy to get drawn in by the large-scale production figures – just look at our story on JV project in Saudi Arabia this week – but it’s likely that the key development of the sector will lie outside the remit of these gigawatt scale projects. In conversation with Rethink Energy, Enapter co-founder Vaitea Cowan detailed how the company intends cost reduction to be driven by the serial fabrication of standardized…

Rethink Energy
9th July 2020

EU reveals solid first step towards hydrogen economy

The European Commission has revealed its long-awaited hydrogen strategy, bringing into existence the European Clean Hydrogen Alliance to bring the contribution of hydrogen consumption for energy purposes from 2% up to 14% by 2050. Despite not ruling out ‘blue’ hydrogen from CCUS, the strategy outlines a possible cumulative investment of half-a-trillion euros in green hydrogen in Europe, powered by as much as 120 GW of renewable capacity. Some have speculated that green hydrogen could provide as much as half of the fight towards net-zero emissions by 2050, so a target of between 13% and 14% will come as a disappointment to some. But in the near-term, several concrete steps have been set out which will help the industry take-off, and…

Wireless Watch
6th July 2020

Dish adds Fujitsu and Altiostar to its 5G supplier roster

Dish Network has announced two further suppliers for its forthcoming 5G network in the USA, Altiostar and Fujitsu. The satellite TV provider has pledged to emulate Rakuten Mobile’s cloud-native, multivendor network based on open interfaces, and indeed, it is clearly adopting a similar approach. It will deploy a disaggregated network supporting open specs such as O-RAN, and with different suppliers for hardware and software (and potentially multiple virtual network function suppliers per domain). However, despite the architectural similarities, it is not selecting all the same vendors. Altiostar is Rakuten’s 4G and 5G RAN VNF provider, but in Dish’s case, it will share the RAN software glory with Mavenir, already selected in April for its open RAN software. And Fujitsu will…

Wireless Watch
6th July 2020

5G core and private networks: essential to offset slow 5G uptake in the UK

Some operators will make a success of a consumer-centric 5G model, by reducing costs dramatically or focusing on emerging economies. Those strategies will certainly be adopted even by operators with an ambitious cloud-based multi-enterprise vision, since the latter will take some years to come to full fruition. So Orange’s expansion into more African markets, or AT&T’s program to slash operating costs, are not at odds with those telcos’ roadmaps to support the 5G core, network slicing and advanced enterprise and industrial applications. Vodafone is another operator which will adopt different business growth strategies, and different pace of chance, for different markets. It also has some growth potential in emerging economies, particularly southern and eastern Africa. Its troubled Indian subsidiary, Vodafone…

Wireless Watch
6th July 2020

Release 16 frozen, with 5G NR-Unlicensed a highlight for private networks

Last week saw the finalization of 3GPP’s next wave of 5G standards, Release 16. Despite a delay of a few months because of the pandemic crisis, the specifications have now been frozen after a series of online meetings of the 3GPP groups. The standards body also said that the Release 16 ASN.1 and OpenAPI specifications, which usually come later than the core specs, had been frozen on schedule, and at the same time as the main standards. (The 3GPP defines ASN.1 as covering protocols between the network and the user equipment, or between network nodes, while everything else is considered a ‘functional requirement’.) Key elements of Rel16 include many focused on the industrial and IoT applications that are often associated…

Wireless Watch
6th July 2020

5G SA roll-out programs accelerated by economic pressures

The 5G core will be essential to an effective 5G business model that serves multiple enterprise sectors, rather than being constrained by the MNOs’ more usual consumer-centric approach. Only with 5G NR Standalone, and the full cloud-native, sliceable core, will operators be able to exploit the full potential of their new platforms and address high value, high growth segments in a profitable way, rather than being confined to low margin consumer markets or just one or two chosen verticals. This means that deployment of 5G Standalone (SA) – which has a full 5G core rather than relying on an enhanced LTE core like 5G NSA – is being accelerated, by many MNOs, rather than delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic. A…

Rethink Energy
2nd July 2020

The world of renewables this week

Siemens officially launched subsidiary Siemens Energy this week, which aims to manage energy systems, generation and transmissions on grid and within industry. The company is expected to go public with an IPO as early as September. Vietnam has approved 7 GW of wind power capacity, putting it on track to hit its target of 12 GW by 2025. This comes in 91 onshore and nearshore projects, with many likely to come online before the expiration of the country’s feed-in-tariff in Q4 2021. The Shandong province of China has published a medium and long-term development plan for its hydrogen power industry up to 2030. Over the next yen years, the province will create two brands of China Hydrogen Valley and Eastern…

Rethink Energy
2nd July 2020

Renewables orders this week

European Energy has sold the 14.4 MW Viertkamp windfarm to Germany utility Encavis. The onshore project uses Vestas’ V126-3.6 MW turbines. It seems excessive to give a paragraph on each of the many deals announced by Vestas this week ahead of the end of Q2. But here is a summary table of the 14 projects amounting to nearly 1.4 GW of total capacity. Buyer Project Capacity Model Year of Commission Quarter Country Rabobank Windpark Zeewolde 322 Various (2/4MW) 2022 Q4 Netherlands ecoJoule Brest 28 V150-5.6MW 2021 Q3 Germany Undisclosed Undisclosed 84 V150-4.2MW 2021 Q3 Vietnam Tokyo Land Corporation Chitose Wind Farm 36 V105/117-3.45MW 2021 Q4 Japan Tokyo Land Corporation Noheji Mutsuwan 40 V105-3.45MW 2021 Q4 Japan Notus Energy Gunrthersdorf 43…

Rethink Energy
2nd July 2020

“It’s all Covid’s fault” – Shell echoes BP’s excuse for stranded assets

Shell’s assets will be worth as much as $22 billion less than previously expected, with the company outlining a future for oil pricing which will see returns dented in its fossil fuel business, and assets becoming stranded at a faster rate than the oil major was anticipating through its ‘transition to  a zero-emissions company.’ On Tuesday, Royal Dutch Shell stated that it will write down the value of its assets by between $15 and $22 billion in its second quarter earnings results, which will be made public on the 23rd of July. The extent of this damage comes as a result of Shell revaluating its mid and long-term price assumptions for commodities in the energy market, with both supply and…

Faultline
2nd July 2020

OTT Video News, Deals, Launches and Products

A spate of video subscription hikes have been ushered in by executives, putting their acts of charity and solidarity during the peak of the pandemic behind them. DirecTV has increased rates by $10 a month for new subscribers across all tiers, while package prices for the new AT&T TV streaming service have also been given the same $10 monthly hike. YouTube TV is another, hiking its monthly subscription price by $15 to $64.99 a month, along with MVPD FuboTV which has raised monthly prices by $5. In similar lockdown-easing moves, Disney+ has lifted the limitations it placed on image and sound quality to free up bandwidth in some countries, including the UK and Ireland. It means HD, 4K and HDR…

Faultline
2nd July 2020

Altibox latest operator to realize VCAS cloud dreams

Verimatrix has come good on a strategic promise to Faultline about prioritizing pushing customers towards the cloud, lining up an IPTV security framework migration project at Nordic operator Altibox. It was less than a year ago when Verimatrix opened up about doubters who said this could never be done, after completing its first Video Content Authority System (VCAS) cloud service migration project for an unnamed telco customer shifting from an on-premise system to a pure SaaS VCAS environment. Now, the Inside Secure-owned vendor has a number of cloud-based operator scalps – with Altibox the latest to get SaaS for hosting the Verimatrix Multi-DRM and VCAS technologies for IPTV. With the Verimatrix Secure Cloud, Altibox can basically better optimize content security…

Faultline
2nd July 2020

MediaKind sets sights on APAC sports streamers

Continuing our APAC theme of late, MediaKind transported us to an early morning Singapore Standard Time webinar where the vendor was pitching its broadcast quality experiences. MediaKind’s target market for its new Aquila Streaming technology became quite clear, looking to live sports content providers in APAC regions – specifically those seeking to break out of broadcast chains and deliver content OTT, but have serious reservations regarding video quality. “Live sports will be back post-lockdown, with a huge appetite for live sports behind closed doors. Customers will need streaming operations at the same level of quality as broadcast, if not better at some point. We have the technology and now is the time to implement it,” implored MediaKind’s Thomas Fayoux, senior…

Faultline
2nd July 2020

VO’s TV data wasted in France, partners Smart AdServer to break free

Faultline could hardly contain its excitement ahead of seeing our old friends (and occasionally foes) Viaccess-Orca back in action this week, with Covid-19 lockdowns apparently applying to the French TV software vendor’s virtual activities, as well as physical. Viaccess-Orca is not exactly known for its targeted TV advertising prowess, but what it does have is a hell of a lot of experience with major operators. We tuned in to hear VO showcase a joint product in partnership with ad tech management specialist Smart AdServer, also from France, during a Videonet webinar this week. Interestingly, the two vendors are appealing for international aid – actively seeking exile from France where operators apparently have no ad inventory whatsoever and it is the…

Faultline
2nd July 2020

RIST receives game-changing endorsement from NBCU

The Reliable Internet Stream Transport (RIST) Forum’s recent marketing epiphany is paying dividends already as the company welcomed 15 new members. Every signature is significant, but they don’t come much greater than NBCUniversal in the digital entertainment ecosystem – particularly with Peacock landing only a fortnight from now. When Faultline last spoke with The RIST Forum’s President Dr. Ciro Noronha, who teased a few weeks back that a handful of vendors were due to be inaugurated as members, we struggled to look impressed – imploring that he needed a push from a giant of technology and/or entertainment to make gains on the SRT Alliance. The Forum has certainly delivered that with NBCUniversal. Despite our best attempts at wooing the Forum,…