decades-long vendor lock held by router vendors over telecom operators. In Europe, Nokia announced a rollout agreement with Eurofiber Group to develop superfast, high-capacity fiber optic networks in Europe with the highest service standards possible. In related news, Keysight Technologies has signed an MoU with IBM to pursue accelerating open radio access network deployments in Europe. In Scotland, Lothian Broadband chose Adtran to close the fiber gap to deliver voice, video, and Internet service to residential and business customers in underserved areas.

Omnispace and GateHouse Satcom announced that they have successfully modeled the performance of 5G new radio non-terrestrial network waveform in an NGSO environment.

ADVA launched its AccessWave25, empowering network operators to easily migrate their 10Gbps access infrastructure to 25Gbps connectivity without a significant increase in footprint or major changes to the existing optical layer.

Innovation news

In innovation news, Intel Corporation and Broadcom showcased the industry’s first cross-vendor Wi-Fi 7 demonstration, with over-the-air speeds greater than five gigabits per second. The trial used an Intel Core processor-based laptop with a Wi-Fi 7 solution connected to a Broadcom Wi-Fi 7 access point.

At the SCTE Cable-Tec Expo, CableLabs announced the six winners of The 10G Challenge, a unique competition meant to inspire innovators to leverage the emerging 10G broadband network.

Niantic has created Lightship VPS for Web, a tool to enable developers to create immersive augmented reality experiences tied to real-world places—and a step toward advancing the reality of the metaverse.

ETSI has adopted the first O-RAN specification as ETSI TS 103 859, namely 'O-RAN Fronthaul Control, User and Synchronization Plane Specification v7.02'. The document focuses on Open Fronthaul, one of interfaces in the O-RAN Architecture for open and intelligent radio access networks. In other standards news, Broadband Forum and HomeGrid Forum have jointly developed a GHNA Certification Program to unlock greater interoperability and gigabit plus performance for service providers.

Vodafone and Topcon Positioning Group are developing a new mass-market precise positioning system that will locate Internet of Things devices, machinery, and vehicles with a greater degree of accuracy than using only individual global navigation satellites systems (GNSS).

In partnership news, C3 AI and Google Cloud are expanding their strategic partnership and joint customer pilot programs with Fortune 2000 companies. They will also co-develop new AI-driven applications, using Google Cloud’s Vertex AI, ML capabilities, and data analytics services.

In leaderboard news, Cogent Communications announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire T-Mobile's Wireline Business to focus on wireless solutions growth. 

AI and analytics news

The search for street parking may someday be a thing of the past. Nexar released a video demonstrating the first ever AI-powered parking space-finder app. Demonstrated with Oracle & KDDIs' mobile and edge infrastructure, the app reviews dash cam footage to detect on-street free curb space in Tokyo's busy streets using edge compute environments. In related connected car news, Cerence, Inc. introduced Cerence Exterior Vehicle Communication, a new suite of AI and voice-powered innovations that enables drivers to interact with their cars from the outside—enabling new use cases like illuminated door handles, self-closing trunks, and communication through closed windows. Promptlink has brought advanced AI to pinpointing DOCSIS network noise by releasing the enhanced, automated version of its AI-based network