Monthly News Digest - June 2016
By: Jim Schakenbach
The pace of news slowed just a bit during May as if the telecommunications industry was skipping spring and settling in for a long, hot summer. Here’s a look at what went on.
FCC activities
The FCC considered a few major issues this month, such as reforming and modernizing the 45 billion dollar business data services market, also known as special access, in an effort to boost competition among carriers. Business data services are critical in the day-to-day life of consumers, business and industry, and are integral to the competitiveness of the U.S. economy. Users include banks and retailers connecting ATM machines and credit card readers, government and corporate users connecting branch offices and data centers, and mobile phone providers offloading calls and data from wireless networks.The need for business data services is expected to grow exponentially with the deployment of advanced 5G wireless service.
The commission also announced that it has reached its target goal to auction off the 126MHz spectrum to mobile carriers, paving the way for 5G service. Television stations have volunteered to sell off 126MHz of “beach front” wireless spectrum to mobile carriers in an ongoing FCC auction, potentially bringing higher speeds and more reliable networks to customers. The 126MHz of spectrum was the highest amount anticipated by the commission in the so-called incentive auction.
The FCC also tackled the expansion of rural broadband access, establishing rules for the allocation of over $2 billion in Connect America Fund Phase II support for rural networks over the next decade. The action will enable competitive bidding in an auction that will harness market forces to expand broadband in targeted rural areas.
The open set-up box controversy continued to get play this month. Consumer advocacy group Consumer Watchdog announced that the FCC’s plan to open set-top box competition would save consumers money, but there are a host of privacy concerns that need further privacy protection regulations. The group recognizes that the plan would increase competition and cut costs, but should not be enacted unless a number of privacy issues are solved.
Virtualization
Software defined networks (SDN) and network functions virtualization (NFV) made the news as they continue to gain the interest of providers and carriers.
Telco Systems announced the release of its new CloudMetro 10 metro edge 1 GE virtualization platform designed to help telcos and other CSPs transition their networks to SDN and NFV infrastructures. The company claims the new platform, which recently completed a series of commercial trials with Tier 1 service providers around the world, will help CSPs achieve carrier-grade performance through a unique acceleration technology.
To ensure that CSP BSS/OSS platforms are ready to operate effectively and efficiently in a NFV/SDN world, Intraway introduced a new automated BSS/OSS provisioning solution that enables service providers to accelerate and scale business services deployment.
Virtualization is gaining so much industry traction that a new study released this month by digital communications services provider Xura reveals that 70 percent of all communications service providers plan to virtualize part or all of their messaging services over the next four years.
