Network evolution news from Brazil rolled in this month. Hispamar and Gilat have partnered to launch satellite-based broadband Internet access service for residential and corporate use in previously underserved regions of the country with poor or no connectivity. Brazilian telecom operator Embratel selected VMware NSX SD-WAN by VeloCloud to expand its portfolio of services and create new revenue streams. And Brazilian power distributor Elektro selected Nokia to deploy a private LTE network to increase the reliability and efficiency of the electrical grid in the City of Atibaia and surrounding areas in the state of Sao Paulo.

Road to 5G

In key 5G news, Vodafone Italy has acquired spectrum to enable the deployment of new 5G technology. The spectrum will deliver substantial network operating cost efficiencies to meet the expected future growth in data traffic. Total cost was 2.4 billion euros.

Augmented reality via mobile will get a boost with partnership news that broke this month. Deutsche Telekom, Niantic, and MobiledgeX will partner to pave the way for ready-for-5G augmented reality experiences via mobile technology. The partnership will bring Niantic’s Real World platform for AR gaming to DT’s edge servers and 5G network.

To enable cable network providers to launch new services, deliver consistent quality of service, and prepare for 5G, a new partnership will co-create virtualized LTE RAN for cable networks. The co-creator partners on this initiative are Aricent, Tech Mahindra, Benetel, and Phluido.

Cybersecurity

Vodafone’s new global cybersecurity report highlights that the more cyber-ready a business becomes, the better its overall business outcomes. Its research showed that only 24 percent of businesses globally could be reasonably deemed ‘cyber-ready,’ while also pointing to evidence that suggests that 48 percent of cyber-ready businesses report increases of more than five percent in annual revenue as well as higher stakeholder trust levels overall. 

Windstream Enterprises (WE) marked National Cyber Security Awareness Month this October with workshops, informative blogs, and an array of social media content intended to educate people on the options for and reasons to secure their digital lives and protect their identities and information from the dangers of cybercrime. The content and workshops focused on encouraging customers to create strong, unique passwords, be aware of the risks of using public Wi-Fi networks, examine social media habits and invest in cybersecurity software, such as a Windstream Shield and Security packages, equipped with identity theft protection and online data backup. 

ETSI had a busy month. The ETSI technical committee CYBER updated its five-part international compendium of Technical Reports to protect networks from cyberattacks. The Reports use the CIS Controls v7 recommendations to describe the prioritized set of actions that collectively form a defense-in-depth set of best practices that mitigate the most common attacks against systems and networks. ETSI’s Technical Committee Cyber Security (TC Cyber) published a new Technical Report that explores protocol requirements necessary to add quantum resistance to VPN technologies, including client, server and architectural considerations.

At MEF18, Colt Technology Services and Zeetta Networks plan to demonstrate a Proof of Concept to demonstrate a blockchain solution for carriers to buy and sell network services in a secure, distributed and trusted marketplace. The worldwide Proof of Concept (PoC) demonstration ‘Blockchain-Based Carrier Marketplace for LSO Sonata’ is slated to take place on October 29.

Cloud

In news that straddles both cloud and cybersecurity, Alibaba Cloud will provide improved security and privacy as a result of a new partnership it has announced with Fortanix, the leader in Runtime Encryption®. The cloud computing arm of Alibaba Group will integrate Fortanix’s Self-Defending Key Management Service (SDKMS) with Runtime Encryption key management in the cloud.

Nokia has unveiled the latest release of the Nuage Networks Virtualized Network Services (VNS). Nuage Networks SD-WAN 2.0 is the industry’s only automated and secure services platform for the delivery of enterprise IT services across any network and cloud. It offers connectivity, visibility and control at scale from a “single pane of glass” across the entire network, including data centers, public clouds and branches.