Network Evolution News

The FCC took steps to make additional spectrum available to AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon and US Cellular to boost wireless connectivity during the coronavirus pandemic to accommodate the additional remote working, learning and communicating Americans are undertaking during social distancing. This special spectrum access was also extended to AT&T to serve Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.

The Federal Communications Commission authorized more than $240 million in funding over ten years to expand rural broadband deployment in Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York, Oklahoma, and Wyoming. These investments will connect more than 100,000 unserved rural homes and businesses in these states. Broadband providers will begin receiving funding later this month. The FCC’s Office of Economics and Analytics (OEA) also released updated data showing that the digital divide substantially narrowed during the first two years of Chairman Ajit Pai’s leadership. Specifically, from December 2016 to December 2018, the number of Americans without any options for at least 250/25 Mbps fixed terrestrial broadband service plummeted by 74 percent, from 181.7 million to 47 million.  And during that same time period, the number of Americans with no options for at least 25/3 Mbps fixed terrestrial broadband service fell by 30 percent, from 26.1 million to 18.3 million.

Orange Business Services has chosen Ekinops and Dell Technologies as partners for a new universal customer premise equipment (uCPE) solution. This platform plays a key role in network transformation, including software defined networking (SDx), providing customers with increased business agility, flexibility and simplicity in service deployment.

Infinera and Corning Incorporated announced the achievement of delivering an 800 gigabits per second (800G) single wavelength with Infinera’s sixth-generation Infinite Capacity Engine (ICE6) technology across 800 kilometers (km) on Corning’s TXF® optical fiber. The trial demonstrates the benefits of a solution with superior fiber designed to help meet growing bandwidth demands for network operators from metro to subsea network applications.

AI News

A new study from Juniper Research has found that total operator spend on AI solutions will exceed $15 billion by 2024, rising from $3 billion in 2020. The research identifies network optimization and fraud mitigation solutions as the most highly sought-after AI based services over the next four years. AI-based solutions automate network functionalities including routing, traffic management and predictive maintenance solutions.

In related AI news, another Juniper Research report found that consumer retail spend over chatbots will reach $142 billion by 2024, rising from $2.8 billion in 2019—an average annual growth of 400 percent over the next four years. The research identified the retail sector as a key beneficiary of advances in NLU (Natural Language Understanding) technologies.

New AI-powered offerings were announced in telecom industry news this month. ADVA has launched the industry’s first centralized GNSS monitoring and assurance tool. Using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) for comprehensive predictive maintenance, it addresses the key concerns of GNSS users around the globe and protects networks from GNSS vulnerabilities, including jamming and spoofing attacks. Ericsson has launched two new AI offerings in its Network Services portfolio, Network Intelligence and Omni Network Channel. They employ AI, automation and predictive analytics to address the complex reality faced by communications service providers: exponential data growth and the continuous introduction of new technologies such as 5G, digital transformation, and scattered information sources and insights. In addition, Ericsson announced its selection by Japanese communications service provider NTT DOCOMO as its AI-based optimization solution vendor for its nationwide radio access network (RAN).

Cloud News

Partnerships dominated cloud news in February and March. SADA and Google Cloud have announced they are extending their partnership through a new, multi-year, $500 million agreement to drive adoption of Google Cloud’s platform and technologies through SADA’s expertise as a Managed Services Provider (MSP). Synchronoss Technologies, Inc. announced that it is powering AT&T Personal Cloud, a new service for AT&T Mobility wireless customers. The Synchronoss solution will integrate into a suite of selected AT&T services, using the cloud to vastly improve the subscriber’s overall experience.