Happy July to you and wishing our US readers a wonderful 4th of July! You may notice our revamped newsletter, aiming for a more reader-friendly format. Your feedback matters, so spare a minute of your time to take our survey. You can also drop us a line at [email protected]. Help us make this better for you!

Roy was at Cisco Live and TMForum’s DTW Ignite event, catching up with friends, partners, and telcos. Cisco continues to push into security with Hypershield, highlight observability through Splunk integration, and uplevel their digital experience management. Meanwhile, TMForum DTW continued to push autonomous networks with a heaping serving of GenAI and a dash of TelcoAPI. Read more about Roy’s recent travels in the next section. Key sections in this month’s issue:

Roy’s Travelogue — Notes from recent travel, conversations, events
Latest Reports — Telco APIs, Campus NaaS, Enterprise Networking Survey
Recent Articles— Non-Terrestrial Networks, Linux Foundation ONESummit
NextGenInfra — Campus NaaS Resource Site
June News Roundup —5G Advanced, more GenAI than you want, Private 5G lives!
Other Content — In the News, Webinars, Meet Us

Plenty to cover so let’s get going!

Roy’s Travelogue

Thoughts from Cisco Live 2024

Las Vegas continues to be a popular conference venue, and Cisco Live US was once again located in Sin City. Roy braved the unseasonably warm 100+F (38C) weather by hiding indoors, but he found avoiding second-hand smoke within the casino complexes to be an exercise in futility.

We can usually tell how Cisco is trying to position itself by the speaker order and duration of the opening keynotes: Chuck Robbins (CEO, talking about Hypershield and jumping into GenAI with $1B fund), Gary Steele (former CEO of Splunk speaking on observability and security), Jonathan Davidson (EVP networking on cloud, data center, Nvidia partnership, digital experience assurance), Jeetu Patel (EVP security and collaboration on XDR and more security), then Carrie Palin (CMO), along with a host of partners and customers. The Cisco story revolves around finding use for AI/GenAI, enabling observability by integrating all the data sources across Cisco to improve security, digital experience, resilience, and performance.

On the show floor, conversations with diverse teams across Cisco indicate an internal consolidation of functions for improved efficiency and an “all your data belong to us” approach by the Splunk team. Cisco-Splunk seeks to vacuum data across all sources to create a massive data warehouse yielding magic insights via AI/ML and GenAI. We’ll wait and see how that works out.

TMForum DTW Ignite 2024 Observations

In contrast, TMForum held DTW Ignite in Copenhagen a few days before Midsummer Day and we were blessed with mild weather and long days. Aside from Autonomous Networks, significant themes included AI and GenAI (no surprise) and our favorite telco and network APIs (read out the latest report on effective Telco API monetization — details in the next section). Kudos to the TMForum for continuing to encourage telcos to achieve modernization and transformation of their IT/OSS/BSS infrastructure and facilitate blueprint creation to guide the way. With 4,000 registrants (up from last year, though attendance on the ground felt about the same as in 2023) and about 50 proofs-of-concept Catalysts that involved carriers and vendors spanning North America, LATAM, EMEA, APAC, the show was buzzing.

(Photos: Ian Hood and Hanen Garcia of Red Hat with Roy on the show floor)

Nevertheless, we’re still concerned that not all the telcos who declared level 4 autonomy goals by 2025 will achieve them — there’s still a massive gap in capabilities. Even with advancements in AI/ML, much remains murky, just a little more than a year away from the targets. Still, it is better to try hard and miss than not to try at all. And on telco APIs — we’d like to remind all of us that it’s not the APIs but the services behind the API. Focusing on the API is like focusing on the HTTP(S) protocols instead of the extensive set of web applications or web services behind those protocols.

In any case, we’re looking forward to a summer without travel! The next events on our horizon are VMware Explore in Las Vegas at the end of August and FutureNet Asia in Singapore (17-18 September). Check out the rest of our Fall events lineup (more to be added soon). Use the buttons in the last section of this newsletter to request a meeting with us.

Enjoy the content below, and until we check in again next month, we wish you and your loved ones a wonderful Summer for those in the Northern Hemisphere and an uneventful Winter for those in the South.

— The AvidThink Team

2024 June News Roundup

5G

3GPP Completes Release 18, Paving Way for 5G Advanced
3GPP has finalized most of Release 18, also known as “5G Advanced,” making it available to vendors. This critical milestone allows equipment manufacturers to upgrade their products. Release 18 supports cutting-edge technologies like extended reality (XR) and reduced capacity (RedCap) devices while improving network efficiency.

Mid-Band 5G Boosts Upload Speeds, Improves US Global Ranking
An Ookla study shows that the mid-band 5G spectrum significantly improves network performance. US operators prioritize download speeds but upload, and latency improvements are expected as latency-sensitive applications gain popularity. The US ranks 11th globally in 5G download speeds, up from 20th a year ago.

Reliance Jio’s 5G Performance Declines Amid Rapid Expansion
India’s largest wireless operator, Reliance Jio, experienced a decline in 5G performance as its network traffic and user base grew. OpenSignal reports Jio’s 5G speed dropped from 323.6 Mbps in Q1 2023 to 261.8 Mbps in Q1 2024, while 5G availability increased from 34.9% to 64.9% in the same period.

US Wireless Operators Resist Expanded Outage Reporting Rules
US wireless operators are opposing FCC proposals to increase network outage reporting requirements. The FCC is considering mandating more detailed information about temporary equipment deployment and “after-action” assessments following outages. Industry group USTelecom argues that strict reporting could impede recovery and create confusion.

Vodafone Spain and UPV Collaborate on 5G SA Open RAN Research
Vodafone Spain is partnering with UPV University’s iTEAM to study 5G standalone networks using Open RAN equipment. The collaboration will expand UPV’s 5G laboratory and utilize Vodafone’s O-RAN expertise. The project will employ low-power indoor 5G base stations developed by Vodafone and Lime Microsystems using software-defined radio technology.

Ericsson Forecasts 5.6 Billion 5G Subscriptions by 2029
Ericsson’s latest Mobility Report predicts 5G subscribers will reach nearly 5.6 billion by 2029, an increase of 300 million from previous forecasts. The revised outlook is attributed to improved prospects in Africa, including greater spectrum availability and affordable 5G devices. Currently, only 50 operators have launched 5G standalone networks globally.

6G

South Korea Pushes for 6G Leadership with Service Mesh Technology
South Korean researchers from ETRI are advancing 6G technology, showcasing service mesh technology at the 6G Symposium Spring 2024. This approach simplifies network structure and separates communication logic in network functions, potentially reducing networking procedures by over 80% and minimizing communication delays.

AI, ML, GenAI

Nokia’s Network as Code Platform Leverages Google Cloud and AI
Nokia’s Network as Code API platform now runs on Google Cloud, utilizing Vertex AI and Gemini 1.5 Pro for machine learning and generative AI capabilities. This partnership grants Nokia access to Google’s developer community and enhances the platform’s ability to assist developers in writing code and answering product documentation queries.

Cisco Launches $1 Billion AI-Focused Investment Fund
Cisco has introduced a $1 billion investment fund to expand AI products and technologies. The company has already committed nearly $200 million, including investments in AI startups like Cohere, Mistral AI, and Scale AI. Cisco plans to develop AI products, invest in AI companies, and forge AI-focused partnerships focusing on enterprise markets and cybersecurity.

AWS Challenges Nvidia with AI-Powered Trainium3 Chip
Amazon Web Services is set to compete with Nvidia in the AI chip market with its Trainium3 chipset. AWS VP Prasad Kalyanaraman revealed that Trainium3 will feature liquid cooling for chips using over 1,000 watts. The chip is expected to be available later this year, potentially rivaling Nvidia’s next-generation Rubin chip and Intel’s rumored 1,500-watt chip.

McDonald’s Terminates AI Partnership with IBM Over Drive-Thru Order Inaccuracies
McDonald’s has ended its global partnership with IBM following issues with IBM’s AI-powered Automated Order Taker (AOT) technology in drive-thrus. The AOT, which incorporated WatsonX generative AI, reportedly struggled with interpreting various accents and dialects, affecting order accuracy. McDonald’s plans to discontinue using AOT by the end of July.

Cloud

Nokia and AWS Challenge Ericsson for Telefonica’s Cloud Infrastructure
Telefónica Germany is diversifying its cloud partnerships, working with Nokia, AWS, and Ericsson for critical network functions. This shift from relying solely on Ericsson aims to make public cloud more economical for operators while reducing dependence on a single vendor. The collaboration involves sharing infrastructure, software, and energy resources within Telefonica’s data facilities.

Telcos Explore Cloud Model to Enhance Network Profitability
Some telcos are adopting cloud-like models to increase network profitability. Colt Technology Services is promoting the concept of “telcos as hyperscalers” to offer elastic network capabilities. Colt’s On-Demand platform allows customers to automatically provision and scale circuits within minutes, mirroring the flexibility of cloud hyperscalers.

Companies Reevaluate Cloud Strategies, Consider Workload Repatriation
Many companies are reassessing their cloud strategies due to unrealized financial benefits and concerns over security and control. Some are considering “repatriating” critical workloads back to private cloud environments. Experts advise a nuanced approach to repatriation, emphasizing the importance of understanding data access needs and protection requirements.

KT and Microsoft Partner on AI and Cloud Initiatives in South Korea
South Korean operator KT has allied with Microsoft to develop AI, cloud computing, and IT services for the Korean market. The partnership includes investments in AI GPU farms and data centers, as well as the establishment of an AI and Cloud Innovation Center. This collaboration may give Microsoft a strategic advantage in the South Korean market.

Open RAN

AT&T CTO Defends Ericsson Deal as Multi-Vendor Strategy
AT&T SVP and Network CTO Yigal Elbaz claim the company’s $14 billion deal with Ericsson is a move towards a multi-vendor platform, not a single-vendor approach. Elbaz states that the agreement will enable more vendors to enter the ecosystem, with AT&T aiming to scale its open RAN deployments in collaboration with multiple vendors over time.

1&1’s Open RAN Network in Germany Experiences Major Outage
Germany’s 1&1, which deployed Europe’s first fully virtualized 5G network using open RAN technology, suffered a significant outage in May. The company attributed the issue to a technical fault caused by a software upgrade. By the end of March 2024, 1&1 had deployed 1,334 sites, 530 equipped with 5G base stations, and 227 linked to fiber operated by sister company 1&1 Versatel.

Telco and Network APIs

US Wireless Operators Remain Flexible on Network API Business Models
Major US wireless operators are exploring network API opportunities while keeping their options regarding business models open. Verizon and AT&T expect different consumption models to evolve. The GSMA’s Open Gateway Initiative, with 47 mobile operator members, is working to standardize network APIs. Operators are optimistic about API adoption across various vertical markets.

SD-WAN, SASE, ZTNA

Cato Networks Launches Managed SASE Partner Platform for MSPs
Cato Networks introduced a Managed SASE Partner Platform to help channel partners efficiently deliver its SASE cloud platform. The platform offers multi-tenancy, immediate access to new features, and centralized management capabilities for MSPs. Cato will provide training and onboarding to accelerate customer value delivery.

Tata Communications Partners with Versa Networks on Hosted SASE Solution
Tata Communications is collaborating with Versa Networks to offer a hosted SASE platform. The solution combines SD-WAN with secure service edge (SSE) to deliver single-pass technology. Tata will host and manage the service on its global network, providing carrier-grade performance to support hybrid work and digital transformation initiatives.

SASE Market Reaches $8.4 Billion in 2023, Reports Dell’Oro Group
The Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) market grew by 31% to $8.4 billion in 2023, according to Dell’Oro Group. The growth is driven by businesses adapting to digital-first environments and investing in integrated security frameworks. The SD-WAN segment surpassed $3 billion in revenue, though its growth rate slowed to 28% in 2023 after six years of 30%+ annual growth.

Private Networks

Verizon Introduces Private Network-in-a-Box System
Verizon has launched a private network-in-a-box system targeting sports venues, media production teams, and enterprises. The system supports up to 50 cellular radios, uses shared or licensed spectrum, and can connect to on-premise fiber networks. It supports 4G and 5G technologies and can utilize Verizon’s or locally available spectrum.

GlobalData Study Finds Private 5G Networks Delivering on Promises
A GlobalData report commissioned by Nokia reveals that private 5G networks successfully positively impact early adopters. The study surveyed over 100 organizations globally and found that most users had positive experiences and are benefiting from private 5G networks. Many enterprises are scaling their networks and expanding the number of industrial sites covered.

Private 5G Networks Predicted to Grow 42% Annually Through 2027
SNS Telecom & IT forecasts that demand for 3GPP-defined 5G private networks in vertical industries will grow 42% CAGR between 2024 and 2027, reaching nearly $3.5 billion by 2027. Growth is expected in geographically limited networks for Industry 4.0 applications and wide-area networks for critical communications transitioning from 4G to 5G.