11561 search results for Open RAN

// M&A, Strategies, Alliances // WiseTech has acquired Trinium, a trucking transportation management system (TMS) provider, to expand WiseTech’s CargoWise supply chain execution service. Intel has acquired Vertex.AI, the startup behind the PlaidML deep learning system that was built to provide multi-platform machine-learning. // Forecasts, Surveys. Reports, & Blue-Sky Thinking // Some 52% of consumers are using IoT devices, but 64% of those users have already suffered performance issued – an average of 1.5 problems per day. The Dynatrace survey found 72% of 10,000 consumers thought it likely that IoT software glitches will cause serious injuries. Enterprises will pay for 76% of IoT device revenue in 2023, according to Mobile Experts, predicting shipments to hit 2.5bn in 2023, at a…

The US’s elaborate scheme to open up the 3.5 GHz CBRS band with multiple tiers of access has focused the country’s non-MNOs on the prospect of being able to deploy their own cellular networks without buying spectrum or MVNO deals. It has also set the cable, web and industrial players – all of which, for different reasons, want to gain greater control of their wireless connectivity – looking for additional spectrum partners. One might be Globalstar, which owns S-band spectrum (2483.5-2495 MHz) adjacent to the unlicensed 2.4 GHz ISM band, used by WiFi and other radios. So far, its efforts to use this commercially have been thwarted. Back in 2013, it was trialling TLPS (terrestrial low power service) with Amazon,…

In January this year, the Linux Foundation announced it would combine six major networking and telecoms projects under a common “horizontal umbrella” called the LF Network Fund (LFN). This is a bid to rationalize activities and reduce fragmentation and market confusion – and the resulting threat that operators will lack the confidence, despite the allure of open platforms, to tear themselves away from their familiar vendors, standards bodies and closed platforms. It will also help to reduce the variety of skills and resources telcos will need to support all the projects, and will charge a single fee to belong to LFN. The LFN will bring together six projects at various stages of maturity. They are: ONAP (Open Network Automation Protocol)…

Acumos AI addresses AI model discovery, development and sharing, especially in the content and media sectors. It aims to establish a common platform for the exchange of machine learning solutions, while making AI more accessible to all companies. AT&T announced in November that it was working with Indian integrator Tech Mahindra to build Acumos, with the aim of making it cheaper and simpler for operators to deploy and share AI applications, via a marketplace system. That could accelerate the uptake of AI-driven telco processes, from network planning and optimization, to consumer services; and it will also reduce the power of the major AI platform providers. In January, Amdocs signed up, saying it would contribute knowledge of AI data, mapping and…

The mobile operator no longer has the luxury of dealing with a relatively closed and well-defined set of technologies and partners. The mobile network is increasingly intertwined with fixed line connections, and also with broad virtualized, programmable platforms, which will be essential to enable new business models and justify the investment in 5G. That sees operators getting deeply involved in a host of new technologies and standards, and increasingly emerging from the secrecy of inhouse labs and working through open source projects. Two important areas of effort are edge computing and machine learning (ML). Both are the focus of several open initiatives, in which certain operators, notably AT&T, are prominent. Both are starting to be deployed, often starting with the…

Convergence and SDN are the heart of Verizon’s bid to slash network costs When President Trump announced tax reform legislation at the end of last year, both AT&T and Verizon said the unexpected windfall would enable them to accelerate investment in 5G and new network architectures. Verizon, unlike AT&T, did not announce a direct boost to its absolute capex figure, but the impact on its deployment program, to support 5G and increased convergence, is starting to become clear. In AT&T’s case, the reduction of corporation tax from 35% to 21% led to a direct boost in the capex budget, to the tune of $1bn in 2018 (to nearly $25bn). Verizon did not announce a rise in its absolute capex figure,…

The industrial IoT (IIoT) has already proved a graveyard for some start-ups, unable to find a clear focus amid all the competing platforms, devices, standards and formats. Litmus Automation, founded in August 2013 in the San Francisco bay area, appears to have cleared the major first hurdles by finding relevant partners that can help open up the market, as well as some prestigious customers. It has done this by focusing on the unglamorous area of support for legacy devices and protocols, describing itself as a brownfield specialist aiming to help factories and plants manage and collect data from legacy equipment. The firm’s co-founder and COO (Chief Operations Officer) John Younes likened this to having a universal remote that a manufacturer…

The hype over AI itself has been overtaken by equally exaggerated fears of job losses on an apocalyptic scale. This August has brought a deluge, encouraged perhaps by the misperception that there is nothing much newsworthy during the summer months of the northern hemisphere. Prophets of doom include some who should know better, or rather perhaps recognize that it is worth predicting the worst just in case that does come to pass, remembering the way many foretold the world would end at the start of the year 2000 because of the Millennium bug. This of course is a very different situation that will unfold over years rather than a day, but the greatest mistake is to assume that AI represents…

Number-two ride-sharer Lyft and automotive OEM Aptiv (formerly Delphi) have announced that their 20-car fleet of self-driving taxis have now served 5,000 trips in Las Vegas since January. It comes ahead of Waymo’s plan to start charging fees for its service in Arizona. When viewed in combination, these trials could create the consumer and political trust needed to bring fully autonomous services to market. Without such trust or buy-in, the likes of Aptiv and Waymo will struggle to find customers for their technologies. If, for example, a deadly school-bus crash was blamed on a self-driving car, a politician might seize that as a chance to push an agenda, playing on the tragedy to outlaw such cars on public roads. That…

The Facebook-inspired Telecom Infra Project (TIP) has shown how the mobile industry could achieve a new cost base and a new open ecosystem in 5G, bringing itself more into line with sectors like WiFi. Now it is entering its second phase, in which we will see whether it really can result in an innovative, broad vendor landscape delivering carrier-class equipment while remaining open. That is the goal, and the reason many operators are supporting TIP, to try to break the stranglehold of a few vendors, and so to drive down their future network costs. But it is a tough challenge for a newly formed network of incubators and start-ups to catch up with the quality and performance of the equipment…

Evrythng has announced that its online object identity platform is the first such system to support the new GS1 Digital Link standard, an update to the GS1 barcode standard that now lets smartphones scan these barcodes directly. This is a big step forward, enabling physical things to be quickly tracked in supply chains and linked to consumers. Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) and Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) are the envisioned early adopters, especially as they account for much of the four trillion barcoded goods sold each year globally. Evrythng says it has connected over a billion devices through its platform, and now that the GS1 ecosystem has such capabilities, through the new Digital Link standard, it will be hoping to snap…

Sierra Wireless has launched a new LTE router for IoT applications, the AirLink LX40. Ahead of its launch, Wireless Watch’s sister service, Rethink IoT, spoke to chief engineer Ashish Syal, about the manufacturer’s IoT strategy and its mangOH open source hardware development platform. Syal explained that mangOH’s focus on industrial grade hardware was key, better suited for Sierras’ typical customers than the likes of the Arduino and Raspberry Pi platforms. Growing the partner ecosystem has been a main focus, as well as boosting community participation on the forums, with Syal noting that the ecosystem is what often needs the most investment. According to Syal, mangOH is progressing well. He points to Jabil’s truck tracking system as a good example of…

Samsung Electronics America re-entered the mesh WiFi market this week by adding technology from Plume, the start-up formed by ex-Atheros employees, to a new line of network products within the SmartThings smart home suite – essentially a rebrand of last year’s Connect Home mesh devices. As a key investor and long term supporter of Plume within its own footprint, the move screams of Comcast getting the economies of scale that Samsung brings, and a partner for Plume that has good penetration of Asia. Samsung says the new network system, comprising three WiFi ‘routers’ (access points) with a built in SmartThings smart home hub, uses AI-based mesh WiFi optimization technology from Plume. There was no mention of Samsung’s AI-powered digital assistant…

5G spectrum auctions are mounting up in western Europe, with Italy and Germany joining the pipeline. Most are focused for now on the 3.5 GHz band, which looks set to be the most internationally deployed of the first wave of mobile bands specifically targeted at 5G. However, some regulators, like Italy’s, are starting to add other, lower bands to the mix as well. There are seven bidders lined up for the Italian spectrum sale, which raises hopes that 5G may start to support alternative providers in addition to established MNOs, diversifying the services on offer. The MNOs – Telecom Italia Mobile (TIM), Vodafone Italia, Wind Tre and disruptive new entrant Iliad – will be up against three broadband providers, Linkem,…

When the giants of an industry start to rock on their pedestals, there is usually positive as well as negative fall-out. Nokia’s meltdown in the handset market led to large numbers of engineers and executive leaving, to breed a new wave of Finnish start-ups tapping into all those years of expertise. The same may be the case if Qualcomm’s problems continue. Already, former chairman Paul Jacobs has established a start-up, XCOM, focused on the kind of 5G developments Qualcomm itself will be doing. His primary aim is to raise financing to acquire Qualcomm and take it private, but should he fail to do so, there is high interest in what XCOM might achieve in its own right, given its pedigree.…

The mobile industry badly needs a new approach to patent licensing. This eluded it in 3G and 4G, despite high hopes, leaving a situation in which royalties account for too high a percentage of a device’s cost, and a handful of companies control the purse strings. That, in turn, raises barriers to smaller, innovative device and equipment makers, and reduces competition. Will 5G be any different? Some developments, such as open and even open source platforms for networks; a shift from hardware to software in networks; and the rising diversity of cellular-connected devices point to a more open, WiFi-like ecosystem. In particular, 5G will no longer just be about smartphones, and the tight group of vendors and chip providers in…

The Facebook-inspired Telecom Infra Project (TIP) has shown how the mobile industry could achieve a new cost base and a new open ecosystem in 5G, bringing itself more into line with sectors like WiFi. Now it is entering its second phase, in which we will see whether it really can result in an innovative, broad vendor landscape delivering carrier-class equipment while remaining open. That is the goal, and the reason many operators are supporting TIP, to try to break the stranglehold of a few vendors, and so to drive down their future network costs. But it is a tough challenge for a newly formed network of incubators and start-ups to catch up with the quality and performance of the equipment…