Two conferences in one month! You’d think we’re back to pre-pandemic conference norms. Well, not quite. We were on the ground twice at the Los Angeles convention center, once for KubeCon+CloudNativeCon and again for MWC LA. Kudos to Linux Foundation and the CNCF for pulling off a socially-distanced, COVID-safe event with relatively strict checking and convenient access to outdoor spots. Likewise to the GSMA for enforcing checks and masking. While attendance was a fraction of pre-pandemic levels, the in-person meetings were welcomed by many conference-goers, after 18 months of being cooped up in home offices. It was wonderful to catch up with so many friends!
AvidThink and Events
October saw us participating in Enea’s webinar on network detection and response, and also chairing the Application Management Summit at Topio Networks’ Edge Computing World. You can check out on-demand sessions from many excellent speakers by registering.
We also chaired the first portion of FutureNetWorld Asia, and you can check out our moderation of the opening CxO Keynote Panel with Airtel’s CTO (Randeep Sekhon), M1’s Chief Digital Officer (Nathan Bell), and Blue Planet’s VP of Portfolio and Engineering (Kailem Anderson).
And we had a most enjoyable time moderating our first in-person panel since the pandemic with Intel, Dell, Parallel Wireless and Mavenir at the Edge Summit at MWC LA. Perhaps if the GSMA makes recordings available, you can see why #5gmilkandcereal will join the #5gpotato meme (from the AT&T, Cradlepoint, Ericsson webinar we moderated recently). Jason Hoffman of MobiledgeX was hilarious, and both Cristina Rodriguez of Intel and Ihab Tarazi of Dell were in rare form. In particular, I’ve collaborated with Ihab many times in the past, but he’s outdone himself this time!
Up next is Truth in IT event with Cisco and Equinix on optimizing SD-WAN on Nov 9, followed by Fierce Telecom/Wireless (Questex)’s virtual E5G Show, where I host a panel on private network adoption on Nov 15. That’s followed by a webinar with open-source SD-WAN/SASE player flexiWAN on “Enterprise Edge Evolution from Closed to Open” on Nov 16 (with replay and live Q&A on Nov 17).
Then we’ll be at Layer 123 World Congress 2021 (now a virtual conference from Nov 16-18), where I’ll be opening and moderating, and finally, pandemic willing, AvidThink will be in person at Upperside’s SD-WAN and SASE 2021 conference in Paris in December, where I’m opening, chairing and moderating.
Resource Sites
Please check out our current resource sites and stay tuned for later this week when we will officially launch our Open RAN infrastructure resource site and report. You don’t want to miss this one — we have exclusive content fresh from our trip with Jim Carroll of Converge Digest at MWC LA.
- Service Assurance — Featuring unique content from AT&T, Comcast Business, Ribbon, Emblasoft, Juniper Networks, Cisco/ThousandEyes, Amartus, and Prosimo.
- Private Mobile Networks — Featuring exclusive content from Boingo, Orange Business Services, Qualcomm, Linux Foundation, Accedian, Celona, Aarna Networks, Aruba/HPE, Fortinet, EdgeQ.
- SD-WAN and SASE (Updated for 2021) — Recently refreshed, so check it out!
Up next Network Automation, Edge Computing, and more; please contact us at [email protected] if you are interested in participating or sponsoring those. On to our news summary for October!
5G News and Updates
Rogers debuts first standalone 5G network in Canada
Rogers Communications rolled out Canada’s first national standalone 5G (5G SA) core in the country. In the U.S. T-Mobile is the only operator with a commercial 5G SA network. However, the operator has been relatively quiet about the advantages of its 5G SA network. AT&T and Verizon have said they intend to deploy 5G SA but so far are still in the test phase of the technology.
AT&T is still testing standalone 5G
AT&T is still in the testing phase of standalone 5G (5G SA) and is not saying when it will deploy the technology. Speaking at the Brooklyn 6G Summit virtual event earlier this month, Andre Fuetsch, EVP and CTO at AT&T Services, said that the operator is currently testing a 5G SA core network that will enable cloud-native functions and network slicing but he didn’t say when it would actually launch 5G SA. This is a departure for the company, which said in September 2020 that it planned to fully deploy 5G SA in 2020.
Taiwan Mobile is working on a 5G standalone core network
Taiwan Mobile is deploying a 5G standalone (5G SA) core network using Nokia’s equipment. In 2020 Nokia announced that it had a three-year deal as the sole supplier of Taiwan Mobile’s 5G radio access network, core and IMS. The mobile operator deployed non-standalone 5G in 2020 and is now in the process of upgrading to 5G SA. The two companies said they hope to migrate customers to 5G SA by mid-2023.
Samsung and Ciena collaborate on 5G transport, radio and core
Samsung and Ciena are joining forces to offer an end-to-end 5G solution to service providers to provide transport, radio and core. The pre-integrated solution includes Ciena’s xHaul routing and switching platform and Samsung’s 5G core and RAN portfolio, including vitualized RAN, baseband units and radios.
DT and Ericsson demonstrate 5G end-to-end network slicing
Deutsche Telekom (DT) and Ericsson demonstrated using 5G end-to-end network slicing for video streaming where the customer, presumably a service provider, can control and adapt the slice performance based upon demand. The demonstration shows how 5G network slicing can enable flexibility and control for enterprise customers.
T-Mobile is working on Voice over New Radio
T-Mobile President of Technology Neville Ray told FierceWireless that the operator is working on Voice over New Radio (VoNA) so that its 5G network will be able to handle voice calls as well as data. Currently when a 5G smartphone user makes a call, it is over the operators’ LTE network, not its 5G network. T-Mobile is currently testing VoNA and new smartphones that incorporate VoNA that will be available in 2022.
Open RAN
VMware adds a RIC to its Telco Cloud Platform
VMware is planning to add a radio access network intelligent controller (RIC) to its Telco Cloud Platform that will add flexibility into how operators build and manage their radio access network (RAN). The VMware RIC uses specifications from the O-RAN Alliance and includes a centralized RIC for functions that don’t require latency response greater than one second and a distributed RIC for functions that require low-latency in the range of a few milliseconds.
Rakuten, Intel and Juniper develop edge appliance to ease O-RAN deployments
Rakuten Symphony partnered with Intel and Juniper to develop an edge appliance that is intended to ease the deployment of O-RAN by requiring less hardware at each site. Called Symware, the companies say this edge appliance combines a containerized cell site routing function that will work with Altiostar software on a single general purpose server platform with Intel technology. The edge appliance is based on Kubernetes and supports zero-touch provisioning.
PAWR demonstrates RAN slicing in O-RAN
The Platforms for Advanced Wireless Research (PAWR) demonstrated radio network access (RAN) slicing in an open RAN environment at the Mobile World Congress Los Angeles trade show earlier this month. PAWR hosts a fully programmable wireless testbed in Salt Lake City and this demonstration showed how RAN slicing can be implemented on an open source platform using a RAN intelligent controller.
Samsung and Ciena collaborate on 5G transport, radio and core
Samsung and Ciena are joining forces to offer an end-to-end 5G solution to service providers to provide transport, radio and core. The pre-integrated solution includes Ciena’s xHaul routing and switching platform and Samsung’s 5G core and RAN portfolio, including vitualized RAN, baseband units and radios.
U.S. House passes bills related to telecom security, open RAN
The U.S. House of Representatives passed four bi-partisan communications and technology bills. Those bills will now move to the Senate for consideration. HR 3919, the “Secure Equipment Act of 2021,” would prohibit the FCC from reviewing or approving any authorization for wireless equipment from a provider that is on the list of those that pose an unacceptable risk to national security. H.R. 4032, the “Open RAN Outreach Act,” would require the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information to conduct outreach and provide technical assistance to small communication network providers to raise awareness about open radio access network (RAN) technology. H.R. 4028, the “Information and Communication Technology Strategy Act,” would require the Secretary of Commerce to report on and develop a whole-of-government strategy with respect to the economic competitiveness of the information and communication technology supply chain, and for other purposes. And H.R. 4067, the “Communications Security Advisory Act of 2021,” would direct the FCC to make permanent a recently re-charted council to make recommendations on ways to increase the security, reliability, and interoperability of communications networks.
Private 5G/LTE
Ericsson unveils software suite designed for public and private 5G networks
Ericsson rolled out a new software suite that is designed to help both public and private 5G networks rollout time-critical applications that require low latency delivery with no fluctuations. The software is currently being tested by customers and commercial availability is scheduled for the first quarter of 2022.
SD-WAN and SASE
Cato Networks gets $200M in funding to enhance its SASE platform
Cato Networks secured $200 million in funding, its largest round to date, to help it further develop and scale its cloud-based secure access service edge (SASE) platform. This brings the company’s total financing to more than a half a billion dollars. The round was led by private equity firm Lightspeed Venture Partners with contributions from previous investors Greylock, Aspect Ventures/Acrew Capital, Coatue, Singtel Innov8 and Cato Networks Co-Founder and CEO Shlomo Kramer.
Windstream partners with VMware on SASE
Windstream Enterprise today added VMware’s secured access service edge (SASE) platform to its managed service portfolio. The partnership combines VMware’s Velocloud SD-WAN and SASE with Windstream’s cloud core backbone network, which covers more than 170,000 miles in the U.S.
Verizon expands SD-WAN offering with Fortinet
Verizon Business is expanding its SD-WAN portfolio to include Fortinet’s secure SD-WAN platform. The offering is designed to help enterprises deal with hybrid and remote workers by offering a converged networking and security solution. According to Verizon, Fortinet’s SD-WAN adds another layer of security for customers.
Telefónica Tech is using Fortinet SD-WAN
Telefónica’s digital business unit, Telefónica Tech, will offer Fortinet’s SD-WAN to enterprises that need help connecting hybrid and remote workers. Specifically, Telefónica Tech will offer Fortinet’s flexWAN solution and it will first be launched in Spain and then extended through Telefónica’s footprint in Europe and the Americas.
Cloud Computing
Amazon, Google, Microsoft agree with trusted cloud principles
Amazon, Google and Microsoft joined companies like IBM, Salesforce, SAP and Cisco, in agreeing to the Trusted Cloud Principles, a set of principles that say these companies are committed to protecting the privacy and security of customer data. The principles were developed to address the industry’s concern that certain regulations will make it hard to do business.
Cisco and Lumen work together on cloud-based unified communications
Cisco and Lumen Technologies partnered to deliver a unified communications product that combines Cisco’s enterprise-grade calling and collaboration services and Lumen’s global fiber network. Features include calling, messaging, Cisco Webex integration, mobile and remote access and more.
The public cloud providers are courting wireless operators
Representatives from public cloud providers Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services were out in full force at Mobile World Congress Los Angeles in an attempt to work more closely with the telecom operators, whether its hosting network functions in the cloud or working on the distributed cloud edge.
Microsoft soars on cloud performance in fiscal Q1
Demand for Microsoft’s cloud-based services resulted in a strong fiscal 2022 first quarter for the company. The cloud division generated $20.7 billion in revenue, an increase of 36% year-over-year. In addition, Microsoft Azure, which is part of the company’s Intelligent Cloud segment, rose 31% to $17 billion in revenue, which was higher than analyst expectations. Microsoft attributed the surge in its cloud business to more enterprises making their digital transformation as the Covid-19 pandemic forced employers to move to a hybrid work environment.
Google Cloud revenue rose 45% to $4.99B in the quarter
Alphabet’s Google Cloud unit posted strong year-on-year sales growth in the third quarter of 2021, but remained in the red despite nearly halving its operating loss. Google Cloud revenue rose 45% in the quarter to $4.99 billion, up from $3.44 billion in the same quarter of 2020. But it still failed to turn a profit, posting an operating loss of $644 million.
AWS to the rescue with 3Q revenues of $16.1B
Amazon Web Services (AWS) came to the rescue of parent company Amazon in the third quarter. The retail giant reported lower-than-expected third-quarter profit and revenue but its AWS cloud business saw its revenue jump 39% to $16.11 billion, which was better than analyst estimates of $15.48 billion. AWS reported an operating profit of $3.5 billion, which was an increase of 38% from the same quarter in the previous year. It was also higher than the 37% increase in operating profit that AWS reported in the second quarter.
Edge and Edge Cloud
Google unveils distributed cloud infrastructure geared to telcos
Google released a cloud edge product that is targeted at telcos because it provides them with an edge offering that allows them to run 5G network functions and enterprise applications closer to the user. Called the Google Distributed Cloud Edge, the platform is fully managed and includes both hardware and software components, artificial intelligence and analytics capabilities.
Verizon makes 5G Edge with AWS Outposts available in U.S.
Verizon 5G Edge with AWS Outposts is now available to U.S. enterprise customers. The offering, which was announced earlier this year, is designed to be deployed at the customer premises and will help enterprises with low-latency solutions to support applications such as robotics, factory automation, intelligence logistics and more.
And that’s it for now. Check out our Private Mobile Networks, Service Assurance, and SD-WAN and SASE Refresh sites and watch out for our Open RAN site this week!
