Searching Weekly Analysis
Searching Weekly Analysis
Microsoft has done what many would have though unthinkable, just a few years ago – it has launched its own Linux-based operating system as part of its new Azure Sphere cloud and IoT security offering. Perhaps more importantly, Microsoft is now licensing chip designs, aiming to provide the silicon, OS, and then cloud systems that can work together to provide a very secure IoT platform. However, this screams of land-grab ambitions, and is likely to leave rivals concerned. MediaTek is working with Microsoft to deliver the first Azure Sphere chip, which aims to deliver enterprise-class security for cloud-connected devices in the wireless and Internet of Things environments. The MT3620 is the first chip to support Azure Sphere program, which is…
Japan’s KDDI seems set to try to emulate its rival, Softbank, by setting up a fund to support start-ups and potentially make acquisitions. Though very unlikely to match the vast Vision Fund established by Softbank chairman Masayoshi Son, KDDI’s project could help to expand its influence and assets outside its advanced but saturated home market. Initially, KDDI is partnering with venture capital firm Global Brain to establish a new fund to support start-ups in order to enhance its own R&D and capabilities in 5G and other technologies. This would be similar to venture funds and incubators established by many MNOs in the run-up to 5G, some of them – including those at Orange, BT, Deutsche Telekom and SK Telecom – aligned…
Most people think the day when telco messaging services lose out completely to WhatsApp, Skype and iMessage is very close. Not Google, however, which has been seeking to breathe new life into the GSMA’s Rich Communication Services (RCS) and, in the process, create an effective messaging application for itself. Google has been working with RCS since it acquired Jibe Mobile in 2015 and in 2016 it released a universal profile which would allow different implementations to work together. Its unexpected interest was probably the only thing that saved RCS from being completely moribund, given that only a small handful of operators had supported it, and only Spain and South Korea had multi-operator roaming. Now the search giant has decided to…
Last autumn, the OpenStack Foundation’s executive director, Jonathan Bryce, said edge computing had emerged as a “surprise” use case for the open source platform. Enterprises which are using OpenStack as the basis of their private clouds are starting to consider how to distribute those cloud platforms to support services close to the user. This opens up a new opportunity for OpenStack in telecoms, where operators are increasingly using the technology for NFVi (infrastructure), and are also increasingly interested in integrating their connectivity with edge compute capabilities to enable new services. However, OpenStack’s acceptance in telco’s virtualization projects has been hard-won, and challenges remain with deploying it at the heart of such a demanding environment. So will it succeed in becoming…
The latest drama in the long-running saga of the eSIM is an antitrust probe by US authorities into AT&T and Verizon. Accusations, reported to have been initiated by Apple, claim that the two US operators colluded with the GSMA (which represents MNOs worldwide) to force the market to adopt their preferred format for the eSIM (embedded or electronic SIM), thus strengthening their hand against the device/app providers in the battle to control the primary relationship with the mobile user. The GSMA has been making progress towards eSIM specifications which are largely friendly to the interests of its MNO members in recent years, despite periodic efforts by Apple and others to drive the standards themselves. Pending the outcome of the investigation,…
// M&A, Strategies, Alliances // Google’s Nest is reportedly interested in acquiring Nokia’s Withings division, the connected healthcare startup that Nokia has apparently lost interest in. Findyr and Leviathan have merged, combining a crowd-sourcing map platform with machine-learning expertise, respectively. Granahan McCourt Capital owns Findyr. The Broadband Forum has published its User Services Platform standard, which defines deploying and managing broadband devices inside a home environment. The Cybersecurity Tech Accord hath spake itself into existence, with 30+ founding members – including Microsoft, Cisco, Facebook, Oracle, and ARM. Lutron has acquired Ketra, an indoor lighting specialist, to boost Lutron’s own lighting offering, using Ketra’s natural light emulation technology. Qualcomm and NXP are withdrawing and refiling their acquisition application in China, with…
China’s relentless campaign to be the dominant country in AI continues to escalate and create the world’s most valuable startups in the field with several worth over $1 billion now. Top of the list comes SenseTime, which specializes in facial recognition technology and has just raised $600 million in a new funding round led by Alibaba, China’s answer to Amazon. This takes SenseTime’s value up to $4.5 billion by some counts, while rivals are also ratcheting up, with Shanghai based Yitu Technology now ranked as the second biggest AI start-up at $2.4 billion. While SenseTime is China’s biggest start-up dedicated to AI, Didi Chuxing, the ride hailing company that bought out Uber in the country with 450 million users across…
The US’s trade war with China intensified this week as the government imposed a seven-year ban on sales of components to the network and handset vendor. Meanwhile, the UK warned that ZTE represented a national security risk. The US Commerce Department said ZTE had violated the terms of a sanctions settlement announced last year, which saw the Chinese firm paying fines for shipping telecoms equipment illegally to Iran and North Korea. However, the US organization said ZTE had subsequently paid full bonuses to the employees responsible for this illegal conduct, and that it lied about the practices to US authorities. This comes against a backdrop of rising hostility from President Trump towards China. He has threatened tariffs on many types…
Microsoft has done what many would have though unthinkable, just a few years ago – it has launched its own Linux OS as part of its new Azure Sphere security offering. Perhaps more importantly, Microsoft is now licensing chip designs, aiming to provide the silicon, OS, and then cloud systems that can work together to provide a very secure IoT platform. However, this screams of land-grab ambitions, and is likely to leave rivals concerned. The new approach is being pitched at device manufacturers, across a number of markets, including white goods, agriculture, energy, and infrastructure. Microsoft says that it has been sharing its plans for Azure Sphere with a number of these companies, and that they have collectively identified security,…
Sports streaming service fuboTV has closed its $75 million Series D funding, which AMC Networks participated in as a new investor, along with existing investors 21st Century Fox, Luminari Capital, Northzone and Sky. FuboTV content is primarily soccer-related but also shows live matches from NBA, NHL and UFC. UHD content platform Insight TV is building a Windows Store Application to enable 4K UHD content to be streamed on any Universal Windows Platform device – using an 8th gen Intel Core processor. The app will show original titles and is set to launch in Q2 2018. UK operator Sky added 480,000 new subscribers across its European footprint to reach 22.9 million during the 9 months ended March 31, adding 70,000 in…
Spain’s FON pioneered the homespot model, which has proved so powerful for some broadband providers like Comcast and Iliad/Free. The notion of having a home access point with a second SSID, left open for passers-by to use, provided a low-cost way to expand WiFi coverage rapidly and cheaply, using existing home lines as backhaul. But the money in service provider WiFi now lies not just in rapid roll out but in improving the quality of experience those networks support. That is likely to be the motivation for FON’s latest acquisition, of WiFi management platform provider XCellAir. XCellAir was founded as an in-house project at InterDigital, which was then spun out as an independent start-up in 2015. The firm developed a…
The European Union’s recent cross-border content portability regulation has been embraced by streaming services with open arms, particularly by ad-supported offerings. Yet it’s possible that subscription-based services are experiencing an unexpected negative impact from the new law, as Swiss streaming company Zattoo declared its direct to consumer operations in the UK, Spain and Denmark are closing – leaving just Germany and Switzerland. A flip situation has therefore occurred from those which have historically plagued Zattoo since its launch in 2006, coming up against legal challenges from US giants Universal and Warner Brothers, plus British broadcasters the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 – regarding content distribution rights. As a result, Zattoo pulled out of the UK and Norway in 2016, but…
In technology, so much can change in a year; sometimes without anything physically happening at all and sometimes tech firms simply forget where it all began in the first place. Last year’s NAB show was all about ATSC 3.0 building the bridge between broadcast TV and mobile streaming. One year on and some six months after FCC approval, suddenly the industry players seeking to implement ATSC 3.0 have forgotten all about their initial plans, claiming the TV set has always been the main target. “Streaming is rising, but so is over-the-air (OTA) viewing. There is always going to be OTA broadcasting in the US. The streaming guys want to come to broadcast – it’s the glue,” said Anne Schelle, MD…
When President Trump talked up the introduction of tariffs on Chinese products we did wonder what the economic effect would be and how we might measure it. But now the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) and the National Retail Federation (NRF) have had a stab at the job for us, and the results look fairly negative at first glance for both the US and for China. The answer to the question “who wins in a trade war?” has always been “a new partner who is not in the war,” and if China cannot supply the US, prices go up but someone else will take that business, let’s say a company from Japan. But there is always a knock-on effect. If there…
Spain’s FON pioneered the homespot model, which has proved so powerful for some broadband providers like Comcast and Iliad/Free. The notion of having a home access point with a second SSID, left open for passers-by to use, provided a low cost way to expand WiFi coverage rapidly and cheaply, using existing home lines as backhaul. But the money in service provider WiFi now lies not just in rapid roll-out but in improving the quality of experience those networks support. That is likely to be the motivation for FON’s latest acquisition, of WiFi management platform provider XCellAir. XCellAir was founded as an inhouse project at InterDigital, which then spun it out as an independent start-up in 2015. The firm developed a…
In October 2017, Nokia hung up its OZO virtual reality camera boots, but unbeknown to many, its failed VR venture was quietly reborn in January this year as a start-up called Imeve – which was showcasing the resurrection of OZO at last week’s National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) event in the US. Imeve is purely in the software business, picking up what OZO left behind and rebranding as a start-up. What will become of the hardware corpse of OZO is still a mystery, although a line reading “additional cameras coming soon” on the Imeve website gives us a clue – on the assumption Imeve software continues to operate exclusively with OZO camera compatibility. Clearly there is a wealth of broadcasters…
Radio over fiber (RoF) technology is one of the emerging options to improve the cost and efficiency of fronthaul connections for virtualized RANs (see lead article), and is expected to play a greatly enhanced role in 5G. A European Union-backed project says it has proved the feasibility of an RoF solution in the 60 GHz unlicensed millimeter wave band, which could open new horizons for fronthaul, backhaul and converged wireless/wireline access. In RoF systems, light is modulated by an RF signal and transmitted over an optical fiber link, resulting in high performance and reliability. In cellular networks, it can be used to transport signals between a central baseband and the remote radio/antenna units, in a vRAN or base station hotel…
The US’s trade war with China intensified this week as the government imposed a seven-year ban on sales of components to the network and handset vendor. Meanwhile, the UK warned that ZTE represented a national security risk. The US Commerce Department said ZTE had violated the terms of a sanctions settlement announced last year, which saw the Chinese firm paying fines for shipping telecoms equipment illegally to Iran and North Korea. However, the US organization said ZTE had subsequently paid full bonuses to the employees responsible for this illegal conduct, and that it lied about the practices to US authorities. This comes against a backdrop of rising hostility from President Trump towards China. He has threatened tariffs on many types…
Like a pair of sparring partners in a Shakespeare comedy, Sprint and T-Mobile can’t leave one another alone. The US’s third and fourth MNOs are reported to be in merger talks again, for the third time in five years. They may believe the current government would be less likely than its predecessor to throw an antitrust spanner in the works, and the largest shareholders in both companies – Deutsche Telekom in TMO, Softbank in Sprint – have shown signs of still wanting to pursue a deal. For Softbank’s chair, Masayoshi Son, the goal would be to increase Sprint’s scale and compete more effectively with Verizon and AT&T, marrying TMO’s recently commercial acumen and disruptive pricing with Sprint’s ambitious network strategy…
The Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) has a remit which goes well beyond its name these days, and is taking a central role in developing open specifications for carrier networks that do not necessarily involve Ethernet at all. Its broader approach means it has a widening range of partners, and is achieving the difficult feat of bridging conventional standards bodies, and open source initiatives, in the quest to bring unity to the world of software-defined, virtualized telco networks. The complexity of its relationships was illustrated by its announcement of a new set of tests and certifications, developed in collaboration with standards body ETSI and the Linux Foundation (which, like MEF, is now looking well beyond its original Linux brief and playing…