To provide cloud connectivity, DataMSP has made Megaport—a leading NaaS provider—available at its purpose-built, state-of-the-art, fully tier-III compliant data center facility in Minnesota. Megaport’s Software Defined Network (SDN) enables customers to connect directly to cloud service providers on-demand and with elastic capacity that aligns to cloud-usage models. 

IoT

With a doubt, we are in the midst of a technological revolution that is reshaping our homes, workplaces and cities while also redefining how we think about communication, productivity and safety. To delve into the IoT revolution and the changes it is bringing, Mouser Electronics, Inc. and celebrity engineer Grant Imahara released a new video introducing “All Things IoT.” This video is the latest in Mouser’s award-winning Empowering Innovation Together™ program.

As the IoT and the number of connected devices grow, mobility-as-a-service business opportunities expand. A new study from Juniper Research—Why Mobility-as-a-Service is the Future of City Transport—notes that revenues generated by the use of MaaS (Mobility-as-a-Service) platforms, which integrate multi-modal transport services (including buses, taxis, rail and metro), will exceed $11 billion by 2023.

Building on their two-year partnership, Twilio, the leading cloud communications platform, and T-Mobile announced that Twilio has created Twilio Narrowband. It is the first developer platform for NB-IoT in the US. NB-IoT is a cellular low-power wide-area network technology that will substantially reduce prices and increase battery life for intermittent low-bandwidth connections.

To accelerate IoT connectivity in enterprises, Orange Business Services is introducing IoT Connect Anywhere, its low power wide area network (LPWA) connectivity offering based on LoRa ^TM open standard technology. IoT Connect Anywhere provides private on-premise connectivity suitable for a range of applications, including energy and fluid management, on-site tracking, geo-fencing, waste control, environmental metering, lighting and parking monitoring in smart cities. Growing interest in IoT and demand for solutions has prompted Kerlink to launch a Japanese subsidiary to support LoRa^TM network deployments and accelerate the company’s growth in the Asian market. And, global communications service provider Epsilon took a step forward to meet the demands of IoT. Epsilon will deploy Juniper Networks’ Metro Fabric solutions to support global network upgrades to power future IoT applications and robust enterprise services.

Customer Experience

Verizon’s response in the wake of Hurricane Michael demonstrates its commitment to putting customers first. In addition to its round-the-clock efforts to restore wireless services to affected Florida customers, Verizon is donating $1 million to organizations focused on hurricane relief assistance. Donations will include contributions to the Red Cross Hurricane Michael relief fund. In addition, Verizon will offer three months of free access to its customers in the nine counties most heavily impacted by the storm.

United Arab Emirates-based telecommunications service provider du from the Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company is collaborating with Nokia on various elements of the Nokia Autonomous Customer Care solution. Nokia’s solution will help provide new levels of intelligence and automation in du’s workforce, enhancing customer experience. Du showcased Nokia’s solution during GITEX Technology Week 2018 in Dubai.

In another example of a focus on bettering the customer experience, BEK Communications has tapped Calix Support Cloud. Newly enhanced visibility is helping BEK to reduce the time to diagnose issues and the self-healing capability can implement fixes before subscribers are even aware of issues.

To improve operational efficiency and enhance customer experience, LOGIX Fiber Networks has gone live with the full Omnia360 suite. LOGIX joins a rapidly growing list of transformative broadband, telecom and electric coop providers to implement Omnia360 for billing and operational needs. 

Innovation and Events

Data centers are projected to consume as much as 20 percent of the world’s energy resources in the near future—dire news indeed. Taking energy efficiency to a new level, EcoDataCenter has taken a leadership stance and launched the world’s first carbon-positive data center in Falun in central Sweden.