Tag Archives: eric

Verizon, Vodafone, China Mobile Surface in Different 5G Camps

Will Verizon Communications ( VZ ) and Vodafone Group, one-time partners, be on different sides in the 5G wireless standards debate? Next-generation 5G services were a hot topic at last week’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. Vodafone ( VOD ) surfaced as a surprise member of a group of wireless phone companies aiming to meld two variants of LTE (long-term evolution) technology as a path to 5G. Those companies include China Mobile ( CHL ), India’s Bharti Airtel, South Korea’s KT ( KT ), Japan’s SoftBank ( SFTBY ) and Vodafone. SoftBank controls U.S.-based Sprint ( S ). Verizon, on the other hand, said at the MWC that it will cooperate with Japan’s NTT Docomo ( DCM ), KT and SK Telecom on possibly different  5G specifications . Verizon in early 2014 bought out Vodafone’s 45% stake in their U.S. wireless joint venture, Verizon Wireless, for $130 billion. Two variants of LTE have existed in 4G networks worldwide. China Mobile, with the government’s backing, developed the “TD” variant, which stands for “time division” communications. Most of the world, including Verizon and Vodafone, used “FD,” or “frequency division” communications, in their networks, constructed starting in 2008. U.S. chipmaker Qualcomm ( QCOM ) has intellectual property tied to the “FD” LTE variant. China’s government, meanwhile, has been keen on harmonizing the TD and FD variants, aiming to help companies such as Huawei sell network equipment and mobile phones abroad. In India and China, mobile phone makers have sold 4G devices that support multiple transmission modes. India’s biggest wireless firm, Bharti Airtel, and Japan’s SoftBank were earlier adopters of TD-LTE. Vodafone, meanwhile, has been working with Sweden-based telecom gear maker  Ericsson ( ERIC ) and Huawei in some countries to meld the FD and TD technologies. At MWC, the five wireless firms — China Mobile, Vodafone, Bharti, KT and SoftBank — said they would support a five-year strategic plan to build a 5G “ecosystem” and converge the TD and FD technologies. Verizon, NTT and their partners, meanwhile, set technical trials for 2016 through 2018. Verizon’s 5G partners include Alcatel-Lucent ( ALU ), Ericsson, Cisco Systems ( CSCO ), Nokia ( NOK ), Qualcomm and Samsung.

AT&T Leads In Private Cloud, OpenStack Software: Goldman Sachs

AT&T ( T ) will likely be the biggest user of OpenStack cloud computing software worldwide, says a Goldman Sachs report on growth in private clouds. “AT&T will likely become the largest OpenStack environment in the world, as they expect to build out their private cloud to 500,000 nodes (servers) and span across hundreds of data centers,” said Heather Bellini, a Goldman Sachs analyst, in a research report. AT&T and Verizon Communications ( VZ ) in January joined Facebook ’s ( FB ) Open Compute Project , which helps companies design and build low-cost data centers with open-source software. Behind VMware ( VMW ) and Microsoft ( MSFT ), OpenStack is the third-most-popular software technology for private clouds  —  data centers that operate behind a corporate security firewall. OpenStack helps corporate IT departments manage data centers packed with computer servers. Rackspace Hosting ( RAX ) and government space agency NASA co-developed OpenStack in 2010, aiming to make the software a cloud computing standard. Many companies now back OpenStack, including Hewlett Packard Enterprise ( HPE ), Red Hat ( RHT ), Intel ( INTC ), IBM ( IBM ), Cisco Systems ( CSCO ) and Dell. AT&T plans to transform its massive network by 2020 — with software running on standard computing gear replacing specialized hardware. “AT&T hopes to run every call through its OpenStack infrastructure by 2020,” said the Goldman Sachs report. “The company believes it can take out  billions of dollars in capital spending and operating expenses from moving to private cloud as they can use commodity pizza boxes instead of proprietary Cisco boxes. The entire infrastructure will be automated, helping AT&T operate at a faster pace and bring in new services, which is easier to do when they are software-based.” AT&T is using OpenStack software provided by startup Mirantis, says Goldman Sachs. It says Verizon is also a Mirantis customer. Privately held Mirantis, based in Sunnyvale, Calif., says its investors include the venture capital arms of Intel, Ericsson ( ERIC ), Dell and Goldman Sachs ( GS ). Goldman Sachs says Red Hat and VMware are the leading providers of OpenStack software for private clouds. Image provided by Shutterstock .

Mobile World Congress: 5G, IoT, Virtual Reality Grab Spotlight

Next-generation 5G wireless technologies, the Internet of Things (IoT) and virtual reality are dominant topics at this year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, one of the biggest wireless industry trade shows. The 5G wireless networks are expected to be 50 to 100 times faster than the 4G LTE networks now utilized. IoT refers to wireless technology that connects industrial, medical, automotive and consumer devices to the Web. VR refers to computer-generated artificial environments. Among developments at the Mobile World Congress: — Sweden’s Ericsson ( ERIC ), Cisco Systems ( CSCO ) and Intel ( INTC ) said they would cooperate to develop a 5G network router for business and residential services. The three companies belong to Verizon Communications ’ ( VZ ) 5G technology forum . — Ericsson also said it’s collaborating with AT&T ( T ) to bring its “Digital Life” home security and automation platform to more service providers outside the U.S. AT&T recently licensed Digital Life to British wireless firm O2, owned by Spain’s  Telefonica ( TEF ). — China Mobile ( CHL ) and Nokia Networks demonstrated some industrial automation and robotics applications for 5G technologies. — Nokia ( NOK ) also demonstrated virtual reality applications for 5G technology. — Facebook ( FB ) CEO Mark Zuckerberg, appearing during Samsung’s keynote address at MWC, called VR the next big social network platform. “Zuckerberg thinks that VR can be a social platform, starting with 360 videos and pushing forward to more immersive content,” said Brian Pitz, a Jefferies analyst, in a research report about the Mobile World Congress.  “Zuckerberg discussed the partnership between Samsung and Facebook (through the Oculus platform) to bring the VR experience at a reasonable price point to consumers.”