Author: Desmond Dallen

  Nokia secures 50th 5G deal with Spark New Zealand  Spark New Zealand selects Nokia radio access network technology for its roster of preferred suppliers for its 5G rollout Brings Nokia’s 5G commercial contract count to 50 19 November 2019 Espoo, Finland – Nokia has been selected by New Zealand operator Spark for its roster of 5G suppliers. The deal, announced yesterday, will see Nokia’s 5G technology deployed across New Zealand as part of Spark’s 5G network, delivering faster speeds, enhanced response times and more bandwidth to Spark’s customers. As one of the radio access network (RAN) equipment suppliers for Spark’s 5G upgrade, Nokia will deploy its AirScale RAN solution at more than 200 sites, allowing Spark to target both consumers and enterprises with new services and offers. Nokia will also deploy other products and services from across its end-to-end portfolio including digital design and deployment services. Spark New Zealand and Nokia have a long-standing relationship, which crosses multiple domains, including IP, optical and wireless. This new commercial 5G partnership marks the next chapter of the relationship between Spark and Nokia, providing New Zealanders with the technology that enables them to benefit from the fast-evolving digital world economy and applications. The agreement follows the launch earlier this year of New Zealand’s first 5G trial customer service. The trial, which took place in Alexandra, South Island, used the latest Nokia...

 Versa Networks takes SD-WAN to the next level with role in two MEF19 PoCs   Joins leading service and technology providers in demonstrating multi-vendor solutions   Versa Networks is participating in two Proof of Concept (PoC) demonstrations at the sixth annual MEF 3.0 PoC Showcase. Versa’s presence at MEF19, held from 18-22 November at the JW Marriott LA LIVE in Los Angeles, confirms its status as a leading SD-WAN innovator and caps off a momentous year rich in milestones. The Showcase brings together 46 of the world’s leading service and technology providers to present ground breaking demonstrations of SD-WAN, inter-provider and intra-provider service automation with LSO APIs, AI/ML, security, intent-based networking, Blockchain, Carrier Ethernet, satellite services, 5G, network slicing, IoT, private cloud, service assurance, and more. In the first of its two PoC collaborations, Versa is partnering with NTT Communications, Netcracker, Spirent, Adva, and Silver Peak to showcase how multi-vendor SD-WAN services can be orchestrated, activated, assured and managed using zero touch provisioning and end-to-end service automation. Powered by a unified marketplace, self-service portal and NFV-based uCPE platform, the PoC will show how MEF 70 compliant SD-WAN services from different vendors can be selected independently of the CPE hardware and seamlessly deployed with little-to-no intervention from the service provider or end-user. Through this new “digital user experience”, SD-WAN services are orchestrated, activated, assured and managed using zero touch provisioning...

  Swisscom Launches First Wi-Fi 6, 10 Gbps Gateway and Repeater in Europe, Powered by SoftAtHome Software The Swiss incumbent operator innovates with its new Internet-Box 3 combining 10Gbps and Wi-Fi 6 and its WLAN-Box 2 Wi-Fi 6 repeater, powered by SoftAtHome’s Smart Wifi’ON and Connect’ON software products Colombes (FRANCE) – 18 November 2019 – SoftAtHome, an independent software company for broadband, video, and analytics, is powering Swisscom’s European premiere launch of Wi-Fi 6 and 10 Gbps home connectivity. Swisscom’s customers will enjoy next-gen Wi-Fi services thanks to the new Wi-Fi 6 standard’s higher performance. An increasing number of mobile phones, including the Galaxy S10 or the iPhone 11, support the new IEEE standard, also known as Wi-Fi 802.11ax, bringing faster and smarter Wi-Fi connections, in particular for congested areas such as high-rise buildings. SoftAtHome’s Wifi’ON delivers an ambient connectivity in the home and drastically improves customer experience. Swisscom’s WLAN-Box 2 Wi-Fi repeaters, also powered by the latest Wifi’ON software, can easily extend Wi-Fi coverage creating a smarter Wi-Fi network in the home. The gateway, called “Internet-Box 3”, algorithmically selects the best Wi-Fi channel and optimizes band usages (2.4 GHz or 5 GHz) by forcing Wi-Fi devices to connect to one band or the other (band steering). Thanks to Wifi’ON, Swisscom’s new Wi-Fi 6 Home Gateway and repeaters are fully interoperating with Wi-Fi 5. Swisscom’s new Home Gateway hardware...

MTN South Africa selects Ericsson for commercial 5G Core and Radio 5G commercial contract is part of MTN South Africa’s network modernization Contract includes supply of Ericsson radio access network, core, and transport products and solutions MTN and Ericsson are working together to identify and develop 5G use cases and applications to drive industry digital transformation Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) has been selected by MTN South Africa as a 5G network modernization vendor. Ericsson will supply 5G products and solutions from its Radio Access Network (RAN), transport and Core portfolios, with commercial rollout expected to start in 2020. As part of its transformation strategy, MTN South Africa is upgrading its core network to support 3GPP-compliant 5G Non-Standalone (NSA) architecture. 5G commercialization is planned between 2020 and 2022, with a focus on use cases and applications relevant in the South African context. These include: Enhanced Mobile Broadband, Fixed Wireless Access, and the Internet of Things (IoT). MTN and Ericsson are working together to identify and develop 5G use cases and applications that will contribute to the digital transformation of industry verticals. In addition to providing end-to-end 5G capabilities, Ericsson has been chosen to modernize MTN South Africa’s existing LTE and legacy radio access networks as part of a three-year deal signed earlier this year. This is aimed at accelerating MTN South Africa’s digitalization ambitions in the expanding South African market. MTN...

Bango enables carrier billing subscriptions for YouTube TV Cambridge, UK, 14 November 2019 – Bango (AIM: BGO), the mobile commerce company, has launched carrier billing payment services for the monthly subscription based YouTube TV package. Following an initial launch with a leading mobile operator in the USA, customers can now conveniently subscribe to YouTube TV paying on their monthly bill. YouTube TV is the live streaming subscription service owned by YouTube, a subsidiary of Google. Subscribers to YouTube TV can watch live TV streamed from over 70 major broadcast and popular cable networks on mobile, desktop, TV, games consoles and many other connected devices. In addition to live TV, subscribers can stream popular movies and shows on-demand. A subscription to YouTube TV is $49.99 a month, for which the customer also receives cloud-hosted, Digital Video Recorder storage for their own video content.  Add-ons to the YouTube TV package are also available, including premium TV networks. “With the roll out of 5G wireless networks underway, the move to ‘cable-free’ TV is a logical step, re-establishing how customers access online entertainment. We are excited to be a part of this step change”, said Anil Malhotra, Chief Marketing Officer at Bango.   About Bango App developers, stores and payment providers cross the threshold into the Bango ecosystem to converge, grow and thrive. By bringing businesses together and powering e-commerce with unique data-driven...