TELECOM – THIS WEEK (2447)
1. Rural connectivity: Māori-US telco partnership to help extend 5G coverage to rural communities
Rural areas underserved by existing telecommunications providers are poised to benefit from a new Māori-led initiative. The initiative is driven by a newly announced partnership between Tū Ātea, which manages the Māori-owned spectrum assets, and Mavenir, a leading US telecommunications software provider, to enable faster internet and improved mobile services through advanced 4G and 5G technology.
2. Huawei Introduces GigaGear: Accelerating the Future of 5G & 5.5G Networks
Huawei has launched GigaGear, the world’s first 5G/5.5G experience accelerator. This innovative solution combines software and hardware to enhance new real-time services such as New Calling, live streams, robotaxis, and human-like AI agents, which are critical for improving Net Promoter Scores (NPS) and optimizing network resource utilization.
3. Ericsson boss opens door to future US relocation
Ekholm told in an interview Europe is falling behind and lawmakers in the continent must prioritise consolidation and reduce regulation to improve the situation. “The natural conclusion of that is we’ll be shrinking in Europe and growing in North America,” he said.
4. Nokia Partners with Vi to Enhance India’s 4G Network and Prepare for 5G Transition
Nokia has secured a significant deal with Vodafone Idea Limited (VIL) to enhance the telecom operator’s 4G infrastructure across India. Under the agreement, Nokia will supply Baseband and Radio modules to expand Vi’s network. By March 2025, Nokia aims to deliver almost 3,300 new sites and upgrade more than 42,000 technology sites, along with 25,000 spectrum expansions to increase bandwidth and data capacity. As of now, significant progress has been made, with 100% of spectrum bandwidth expansion, 40% of technology additions, and 15% of new sites already completed.
5. China Unicom Beijing and Huawei Announce World's First Large-Scale Integrated 5G-Advanced Intelligent Network
China Unicom Beijing and Huawei held an event, "5G Capital on the Way – Lighting Up Beijing with 5G-Advanced," to announce their deployment of the world's first large-scale integrated 5G-Advanced intelligent network. The network supports a world-leading 5G-Advanced smart commercial complex, with high- and low-band integrated networking, at the Workers' Stadium. Furthermore, a benchmark was set for the industry's first large-scale 10-gigabit 5G-Advanced network featuring air-ground integrated communications at the Great Wall scenic area, establishing the low-altitude economy innovation base. These developments will bring a better user experience to users in Beijing.
6. Nokia wins 4G and 5G extension deal from Bharti Airtel for India operations
Nokia has bagged a multi-year, multi-billion extension deal from Bharti Airtel to deploy 4G and 5G equipment across Indian cities, the Indian telecom major informed exchanges on November 20.
7. Nokia's new API strategy does not 'feed developers the telco story'
Nokia’s purchase of Rapid’s API technology and hub is all about reaching developers on their own terms — a completely different approach. Traditionally, exposing network application programming interfaces (APIs) to developers was done under telecom industry terms. But that needs to change if operators are going to connect with developers and ultimately make money through network APIs, according to Shkumbin Hamiti, head of Network Monetization Platform, Cloud and Network Services at Nokia.
8. Is satellite broadband good enough to deliver internet for all?
Is satellite broadband a reliable method of closing the digital divide? If you were to consult the BEAD program’s rules, the answer would be no. But Donald Trump’s second term could flip that equation if the new administration determines fiber is no longer the preferred technology.
9. Rakuten Mobile turns to its RIC for energy-efficiency gains
As Japan’s newest telco, Rakuten Mobile, continues to grow its customer base and network data traffic, it is introducing multiple green network initiatives, including the commercial deployment of its RAN intelligent controller (RIC) platform, that it hopes will lead to energy savings of between 15% and 20%.
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10. Japan chips in with $65bn AI-fuelled support package
The Japanese government has earmarked ¥10tn ($65bn) of state funding by 2030 to strengthen Japan’s semiconductor and AI chip sector, partly to help secure the country’s supply chains and avoid future global disruptions, and partly to ensure sustainable growth within Japan’s critical semiconductor and technology sectors.
11. FPT and Ericsson join forces to propel 5G-driven digital transformation
Global technology corporation FPT and Global ICT leader Ericsson have entered a partnership to accelerate 5G adoption and drive advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and digital transformation. This collaboration is set to create a foundation for an international partnership to accelerate 5G adoption across enterprises.
12. Swisscom deploys Netcracker’s cloud-native intelligent automation solutions
Netcracker Technology announced today that long-standing customer Swisscom will leverage Netcracker’s cloud-native OSS and operations solutions to support its strategy of adopting TM Forum’s Open Digital Architecture to achieve decoupling and autonomy of architectural domains.
13. China’s GDS expands its datacentre empire into Thailand
Up-and-coming China-based datacentre developer and operator, GDS International, is to invest up to $1bn in a hyperscale datacentre park in Thailand’s Chonburi province, just south-east of the country’s capital Bangkok, as part of its regional expansion plans.
14. SK Telecom to introduce AI-powered customer service using proprietary Telco LLM and LMM
SK Telecom announced the successful completion of its AI Customer Service Support System beta service, marking a significant milestone in the evolution of its customer service technology. The system, powered by SK Telecom's proprietary telecommunications-specialised large language model (Telco LLM) and large multimodal model (LMM), has been delivering solid results since its mid-October launch.
15. Nokia wins multi-billion 5G extension deal from Bharti Airtel for its India operations
Nokia has been awarded a multi-year, multi-billion USD extension deal by Bharti Airtel (Airtel) to deploy 4G and 5G equipment across key Indian cities and states. As per the contract, Nokia will deploy equipment from its cutting-edge 5G AirScale portfolio including base stations, baseband units and the latest generation of Massive MIMO radios, all powered by its energy-efficient ReefShark System-on-Chip technology. These solutions will enhance Airtel’s network with exceptional 5G capacity and coverage and support its network evolution. Furthermore, Nokia will modernize Airtel's existing 4G network with multiband radios and baseband equipment, which can also support 5G.
16. Report: T-Mobile may be the next operator to drop Nokia for Ericsson
Wireless expert and telecom analyst Earl Lum told Fierce this afternoon that he thinks that T-Mobile US will ditch Nokia for its Nordic rival Ericsson because of a multitude of technical issues with its cellular equipment. If it happens, this would mean that Nokia has been dropped by all three of the major mobile operators in the United States and Ericsson had largely locked up the North American market.
17. Ericsson and Orange Belgium complete groundbreaking 5G slicing automation project
Ericsson and Orange Belgium have announced the successful completion of an innovative 5G slicing automation project. Funded by the Belgian State Federal Public Service Economy (FOD/SPF Economie) as part of its “Telecom to the next level - towards sustainable and innovative solutions” program, the pioneering initiative represents a major leap forward in 5G network orchestration, delivering end-to-end automation of network slices– a key enabler for future enterprise applications.
18. Mavenir risks default or restructuring after failure to crack 5G
Among the various western challengers to the giant vendors of radio access network (RAN) products, Mavenir has perhaps been the noisiest and looked the most promising. A dedicated practitioner of open RAN, the Frankenstein-like stitching together of different vendor parts, it used to revel in denunciations of proprietary technologies and their owners, pushing hard to gain industry acceptance and land deals with major telcos. Operators bold enough to combine openness with virtualization could pocket gazillions in cost savings, the vendor previously claimed.