After several rounds of rigorous testing and evaluation, Huawei’s 5G NR products have passed TUV SUD’s—the EU’s certification authority’s—strict verification requirements to achieve CE-TEC. Huawei has also signed a joint innovation agreement with China Unicom on 5G network slicing, which entails plans to carry out research, demonstration, and application to develop key technologies and solutions for China Unicom’s 5G network slicing services and applications.

Ericsson and the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology have teamed up to explore and develop 5G industrial applications. The first use case—the use of low latency to improve production of jet engine components for MTU Aero Engines—was presented during the last week of April at the Hanover Fair in Germany. Over in Italy, Ericsson was selected by Italian operator Wind Tre to virtualize its core network as part of the evolution of Wind Tre’s network to 5G Core. 

NTT DOCOMO welcomed the xRAN Forum’s release of the xRAN Fronthaul Specification in mid-April. The release sets the foundation for open radio access network (RAN) architecture, which contributes to further advancing the RAN and expanding the ecosystem in the 5G era. In further 5G-related cooperation, NTT DOCOMO is collaborating with Nokia to showcase a 5G technology innovation that will deliver massive capacity to address the ever-increasing demand in video data and applications. And, Nokia and SFR have successfully completed a 5G radio call using the 3GPP-compliant 5G New Radio (NR) system over-the-air on the 3.5GHz frequency band—making them the first in France to do so. The test took place May 3 at the Nokia 5G Test Network and Competence Center in Paris-Saclay, France.

Network News

News of developments in Latin America percolated this month. Telia Carrier announced an expansion of its global IP backbone into Mexico to provide wholesale IP Transit, Ethernet, IPX and Cloud Connect for Internet Service Providers (ISPs), content and cloud providers in the region. GlobeNet deployed new submarine cable linking Argentina to Brazil, using infrastructure already deployed in Bermuda, Brazil, Colombia, the United States and Venezuela. The expansion is intended to attract OTTs, cloud providers and carrier customers looking to enhance their reach throughout the region. And, Latin America now has an open network, thanks to InterNexa and Coriant, which together announced the successful completion of an open optical transport field trial featuring disaggregated 100G and 200G transmission over third-party optical infrastructure. 

In May, US network expansion and infrastructure improvement news rolled in. Spectrum Enterprise, a part of Charter Communications, announced an investment of more than $1 billion in new fiber infrastructure in 2018. The improvements will increase the density of its national fiber network and allow the deployment of new tools, training and resources required to provide a differentiated client experience. Declaration Networks Group (DNG) and Microsoft have entered an agreement to deliver broadband internet access to rural areas of Virginia and Maryland. The service will benefit approximately 65,000 people on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, including Accomack and Northampton Counties, and Garrett County, Maryland, over the next three years. Southern Telecom, Inc. (STI) announced Georgia System Operations Corporation (GSOC) has entered a leasing agreement for dark fiber on STI’s Atlanta central business district fiber ring. Bluebird Network, a Midwest telecommunications company, announced an expansion of its fiber-optic network with 45 fiber route miles in the St. Louis metropolitan area and St. Charles County. The new network build, which began this month, is projected to be complete by year’s end. 

The FirstNet Association announced three initiatives to support public safety and give back to causes dear to the first responder community: the APCO Sunshine fund, which provides financial aid to telecommunicators and immediate family members who are in need of support; the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial, which provides programs and resources for the families for fallen firefighters and for the fire service; and the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, which aims to make life safer for those who serve.