Veridium raises $16.5 million for biometric authentication

Veridium, a start-up based in Quincy, Mass., announced $16.5 million in Series B funding for its biometric authentication solutions.

Veridium offers a software-only biometrics platform that enables users to replace passwords, tokens, OTPs or swipe cards with multiple biometrics from their smartphone. The solutions include native device sensors such as face and fingerprint, and Veridium’s 4 Fingers TouchlessID. The result is increased security, improved convenience and user experience; all while reducing fraud at a lower total cost of ownership than traditional multi-factor authentication (MFA) solutions.

The investment round was led by UK entrepreneur and philanthropist, Michael Spencer, with participation from Citrix Systems, Inc. and financial services executive and investor Michael Powell.

“In today’s digital age, global organizations are challenged to secure their most critical assets against advanced threats in a way that’s both convenient and secure,” said Michael Spencer. “Veridium is unique in the industry because it provides organizations an enterprise-ready authentication solution to address those problems with the adoption of biometrics – while increasing security and convenience.”

https://www.veridiumID.com

• In May, Veridium announced that it had been selected by a multinational Swiss bank to replace passwords, tokens and swipe cards, validating the need for stronger more user-friendly authentication processes.

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C Spire expands footprint with acquisition of TekLinks

C Spire has acquired TekLinks, a cloud, managed and professional services provider based ub Birmingham, Alabama. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Founded in 2001, TekLinks has primary operations in three states – Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee. Many of its eight offices operate in fast growth markets in the Southeast U.S., including Birmingham, Huntsville, and Nashville.

In 2016, TekLinks bought Nashville-based Guidant Partners, a leading managed services firm. In 2015, TekLinks acquired fast-growing cloud services player Claris Networks, based in Knoxville and in 2013, the company merged with health-care managed services provider ClinicAnywhere formerly ETG.

"We're excited about becoming part of a company that shares our long tradition of passionate focus on superior customer service, "best in class" IT expertise, and the delivery of outstanding services," said TekLinks President Don Monistere.  "With this combination, C Spire is poised to lead the next wave of professional and managed IT services for companies."

"We share the imperative of putting customers first, providing world-class service and great overall value," said C Spire President Stephen Bye.  "We are excited to build upon the strength of the two teams as we come together as one, never losing sight of our customers. Allen McIntosh will continue to have a key leadership role on the Business Solutions team working very closely with Don."

Last fall, C Spire launched an initiative to bring fiber-based 1 Gbps fiber-based ultra high-speed internet access to up to 250,000 small and medium-sized businesses in Mississippi. 

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Comcast suffers big outage after fiber cuts

On Friday, 30-June-2018 Comcast suffered a major outage impacting users across the United States. The disruption appeared to last 4-5 hours. There was no word on how many of Comcast's 26 million broadband customers were affected.

In a statement, Comcast said: "We identified 2 unrelated fiber cuts to our network backbone providers. Our engineers are restoring services to business & residential internet, tv & voice customers. Apologies to those affected."

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Keysight supplies 5G protocol tester to MediaTek

Keysight Technologies is extending its collaboration with MediaTek to accelerate 5G New Radio (NR) chipset development and testing of 5G NR protocol stacks.

Specifically, MediaTek will use Keysight’s 5G Protocol R&D Toolset for Layer 2 and Layer 3 protocol development, pre-silicon deployment, and full stack chipset validation across sub-6GHz and mmWave frequencies using the latest 3GPP Release 15 5G NR standards.

“Keysight is excited to offer our industry leading 5G expertise and elevate our long-term collaboration with MediaTek in 5G wireless technologies to speed up deployment of 5G NR technologies and products to the market,” says Kailash Narayanan, vice president and general manager of Wireless Devices and Operators at Keysight Technologies.

http://www.keysight.com/find/5G

Keysight announces 5G NR Emulation

Monday, April 30, 2018  5G, Keysight, Test  No Comments

Keysight Technologies announced its PROPSIM F64 5G Channel Emulation Solution – the industry’s first 5G New Radio (NR)-ready channel emulation solution. Keysight’s PROPSIM F64 5G Channel Emulation Solution enables chipset, device, and network equipment manufacturers to characterize end-to-end system performance of the latest 4G and 5G base stations and mobile devices by emulating real-world radio conditions in the lab.

Keysight said its PROPSIM F64 5G Channel Emulation Solution supports all 5G NR signal bandwidths, carrier aggregation (CA) schemes, and offers the highest number of channels for massive MIMO channel emulation and testing. The solution integrates channel modeling tools for user-defined 3D spatial scenarios and dynamic modeling of movement. It supports both conducted and Over-The-Air (OTA) testing across sub 6 GHz and mmWave frequencies.

“With the PROPSIM F64 5G launch, Keysight is the first to deliver a portfolio of 5G NR-ready channel emulation solutions across all 5G new radio signal bandwidths and carrier aggregation schemes,” said Kailash Narayanan, vice president and general manager for Wireless Device and Operators at Keysight. “The new 5G Channel Emulation solution delivers end-to-end realistic and repeatable real-world performance testing in the lab, and enables real world emulation of networks essential for 5G deployment.”

http://www.keysight.com/find/5G

• In December 2017, Keysight was also first to introduce a 5G NR-ready network emulation solution which allows the entire mobile ecosystem to benefit from a common scripting engine that uses interactive 5G stack and tools, breaking down the silos and disconnected workflows between teams, and achieving cost-efficient testing.

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Finland's Elisa claims commercial 5G launch

Elisa Oyj, a Finnish telecommunications company based in Helsinki, is the first operator in the world to begin a commercial 5G service. Elisa's 5G networks now operational in Tampere and Tallinn.

On 27-June-2018, Elisa announced that it had begun to sell 5G subscriptions.

The first person to use the 5G network was Anne Berner, Minister of Transport and Communications, who made a video call to Kadri Simson, Minister of Economic Affairs and Infrastructure in Estonia.

Elisa noted that the first GSM telephone call in the world was also made using its network.

However, Finland has yet to officially issue 5G licenses.

"We aim to make Finland the leading nation as a developer of 5G mobile services. The Ministry of Communications is ready to allocate the first 5G licenses to the 3,400–3,800 megahertz frequency band in autumn, which will make Finland among the first countries in the world to start building 5G networks, says Anne Berner, Minister of Transport and Communications.

• On 14-May-2018, Ooredoo claimed to be the first operator in the world to launch a live 5G network. Its deployment runs on the 3.5GHz spectrum band. Ooredoo announced that its first 5G site was activated just days are its 5G commercial core came online.
  
  The first stage of Ooredoo’s 5G Supernet deployment will cover an area from The Pearl Qatar to Hamad International Airport, with Lagoona, Katara Cultural Village, West Bay, the Corniche and Souq Waqif also included in the initial commercial launch coverage area.
  
  The carrier did not say whether it had begun to sell 5G subscriptions, 5G smartphones or 5G CPE.
  
  Speaking at the event, Waleed Al Sayed, Chief Executive Officer, Ooredoo Qatar, said: “Today, Ooredoo and Qatar make history. We are the first company in the world to offer access to 5G technology and services, and the people of Qatar are the first to have access to the incredible benefits this technological upgrade will bring. We dedicate this important milestone to the people of Qatar and to our beloved leaders, who have encouraged this step in building the knowledge-based economy of Qatar.”  

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AT&T hits gigabit speed with fixed 5G pilot service

AT&T is seeing peak wireless downlink speeds nearing 1 Gbps and latency rates less than 20 milliseconds in its field trials of fixed 5G service.

The results were achieved in AT&T's 5G pilot in South Bend, Indiana.

AT&T updates its 5G and FTT rollout plans

Thursday, January 04, 2018  5G, ATT, G.Fast  No Comments

AT&T confirmed plans to roll out mobile 5G service in a dozen U.S. markets by late 2018, making it the first U.S. carrier to do so. The initial launch is aimed at consumers. Trials of 5G business applications are also planned this year.

The company also updated its plans in the following areas:

• LTE-LAA - AT&T, which deployed its first commercial LTE-Licensed Assisted Access (LTE-LAA) site in downtown Indianapolis in November 2017, now says it intends to launch the technology in at least 2 dozen additional metros this year. LAA offers theoretical peak speeds of up to 1 Gbps. In previous field tests, AT&T observed actual peak wireless speeds of 979 Mbps. 
• AT&T 5G Evolution - this series of upgrades based on LTE-Advanced technologies launched in 23 major metros in 2017. Further rollouts are underway. 
• LTE-M - AT&T's nationwide, low-power, wide-area LTE-M network went live in 2017. LTE-M supports large-scale IoT applications, like smart city services, smart metering, asset tracking, supply chain management, security and alarm monitoring, and personal wearables. 
• Fixed Wireless Internet - in 2017, AT& launched high-speed internet access to over 440,000 locations across 18 states in mostly rural areas through technologies like Fixed Wireless Internet, as part of the FCC Connect America Fund. In 2018, AT&T plans to reach over 660,000 total locations in 2018 and 1.1 million locations by the end of 2020 in those 18 states.
• Fixed 5G and AirGig - AT&T has pre-standard 5G fixed wireless trials underway in Austin, Texas; Waco, Texas; Kalamazoo, Michigan and South Bend, Indiana with residential, small business, and education customers. The company has also announced 2 trials of its AirGig technology, which targets transport for ultra-fast low latency internet over power lines. 
• Fiber for Consumers and Businesses - AT&T Fiber currently reaches more than 7 million locations across 67 metros nationwide. This year, AT&T plans to add 3 million more locations on. By mid-2019, AT&T Fiber should reach at least 12.5 million locations across at least 82 metro area/ 
• G.fast - In 2017, AT&T launched G.fast service supporting Internet speeds up to 500 Mbps for multifamily properties across 8 metro areas outside of its 21-state traditional service area. AT&T now to extend G.fast to apartment communities.

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Nuro tests its autonomous vehicles for grocery delivery

Nuro, a start-up based in Mountain View, California, will work with Kroger, one the largest grocery store chains in the U.S., to test a fully-autonomous vehicle for home delivery service.

Nuro said this is the the first application test for its autonomous vehicle hardware and software. The pilot testing is expected to begin this fall.

"Unmanned delivery will be a game-changer for local commerce, and together with Kroger, we're thrilled to test this new delivery experience to bring grocery customers new levels of convenience and value," said Dave Ferguson, Co-Founder, Nuro. "

https://nuro.ai/

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Sierra Wireless intros FirstNet vehicle router

Sierra Wireless unveiled its AirLink MG90 High-Performance Multi-Network Vehicle Router supporting FirstNet’s First Priority – which includes priority and pre-emption for first responders – and FirstNet’s 700MHz Band 14 spectrum. The router supports LTE-Advanced Pro (Cat-12 speeds) and can switch seamlessly between FirstNet Band 14 wireless spectrum and other U.S. commercial mobile networks, with dual concurrent Gigabit Wi-Fi and Gigabit Ethernet and extensions to Land Mobile Radio (LMR) and satellite systems.  This is the first device of its kind to achieve the FirstNet Ready designation.

The router is based on Sierra Wireless' AirPrime EM7511 LTE-Advanced Pro embedded module, which was also recently approved by AT&T and is the first embedded module available for the FirstNet network.

“We’re pleased to welcome Sierra Wireless to the FirstNet ecosystem,” said Chris Sambar, senior vice president, AT&T – FirstNet. “The more tools public safety has access to on their network, the more we can help them achieve their mission. Sierra Wireless already has a well-established relationship with the first responder community, and with the FirstNet Ready designation, first responders can be confident that Sierra Wireless’ AirLink MG90 router is a trusted solutioand performance.”
n that meets FirstNet’s standards for relevancy, high security

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SM Optics debuts WSS-free metro ROADM

SM Optics, a start-up with operations in Italy and China, introduced a new WDM ROADM solution combining the flexibility of a disaggregated platform with the cost-effectiveness of WSS-free architecture.

SM Optics' LIGHTMODE LM-1 micro ROADM open line system is a disaggregated WDM functional block offering in a single rack unit a multi-degree ROADM.

The company says its stackable design can expand to cover any capacity growth and cost-effectively cope with any configuration, as well as supporting any lambda capacity rate as it operates on a grid-less and filter-less optical multiplexer.

“Highly compact, extreme versatile and cost-effective are what our customers are asking us to update and upgrade their transport network with” says Stefano Schiavoni Sales General Manager in SM Optics, adding “with the introduction of this open line system we are offering an open line system with ROADM capabilities at a fraction of traditional vertical integrated solutions”

https://www.sm-optics.com/index.php/news-events/item/10-sm-optics-launches-its-new-wss-free-metro-wdm-roadm-platform

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Silver Peak adds $90 million in funding for SD-WAN

Silver Peak, which specializes in broadband and hybrid WAN solutions, announced a $90 million strategic investment from TCV.

"It’s rare that we see an opportunity to disrupt a massive, entrenched $100 billion technology category supporting mission-critical applications and communication,” said Tim McAdam, general partner at TCV. “After researching all the players in the multi-billion-dollar SD-WAN market and speaking with enterprise CIOs, it is clear that Silver Peak has the most complete solution, clear market differentiation and traction, and a unique vision for the future of the new WAN edge. We look forward to working with the team to rapidly grow the business."

"With more than $100 billion spent on the WAN every year by enterprises, much of it on technology that pre-dates the cloud, Silver Peak has an enormous opportunity as we deliver disruptive new WAN edge solutions for enterprises,” said Silver Peak Founder and CEO, David Hughes. “TCV has a proven track record for identifying high-growth markets and investing in those innovative companies with the right solution and the right team in place to achieve market leadership. Our partnership with TCV will help accelerate our growth trajectory, increase our competitive advantages and extend our market leadership. We are excited to work with the TCV team."

Silver Peak is based in Santa Clara, California.

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Viasat launches 35-100 Mbps business Internet across U.S.

Viasat began offering a nationwide, business-class Internet service with a variety of unlimited and metered data plans featuring download speed options ranging from 35 Mbps to 100 Mbps across U.S. Maximum speeds vary by location.

Viasat broadband business internet will also provide a more resilient secondary/backup connection for businesses in urban locations.

The new business Internet service is delivered via the ViaSat-2 satellite system, which was launched on June 1, 2017 by Arianespace.  The Ka-band satellite was built by Boeing.

"Businesses across the U.S. expect an internet service that can support their sales and operational needs—anywhere they are based," said Cody Catalena, vice president and general manager, Global Business Solutions, Viasat. "With our new ViaSat-2 service for business, we’re now able to provide broadband speeds across all plans and even more coverage to enable businesses to stay connected, productive and profitable.”

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Belgium's KU Leuven selects ADVA's FSP 3000 CloudConnect

The Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Leuven), a leading research university in Flanders, Belgium, has deployed ADVA's FSP 3000 CloudConnect to enable 32Gbit/s Fibre Channel and 100Gbit/s Ethernet services.

KU Leuven's research and education (R&E) network is the first in the region to support Gen 6 Fibre Channel technology.

The deployment uses ADVA's FSP 3000 CloudConnect platform along with its QuadFlex line card and OpenFabric cross-connect – two technologies optimized for maximum flexibility and efficiency in metro data center interconnect networks.

ADVA’s Elite partner Arcadiz Telecom, which played a key role in the rigorous planning and smooth installation of the transport system, will also provide ongoing maintenance support.

“Through our close partnership with Arcadiz Telecom, we’ve been able to work with KU Leuven to push the boundaries of possibility for R&E networks. We’ve created a transport system capable of carrying much higher data volumes than has ever been achieved in this area before. It’s also a future-proof investment ready to scale even further in years to come,” commented Yann Evain, sales director, Benelux, ADVA. “One of the advantages of this network is that it enables KU Leuven’s data centers to maximize the performance of flash-optimized storage arrays. Having rapid access to phenomenal amounts of data frees academics to achieve even more. The new solution also delivers huge energy savings and, with its incredibly small footprint, occupies very little rack space. Its inherent scalability protects KU Leuven’s investments, helping the university maintain its reputation as a global technology leader and its top position in Reuters’ rankings of Europe’s most innovative universities.”

https://www.advaoptical.com

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India's Sify picks Ciena

Chennai-based Sify Technologies Limited has selected Ciena’s converged packet optical for its backbone.

Sify's network reaches more than 1,400 cities and towns in India. Its Data Center Interconnect footprint covers more than 40 data centers in India and its Cloud Interconnect service provides on-demand access to leading public cloud and SAAS providers in India.

Ciena said its Waveserver Ai and 6500 Packet-Optical Platforms enable Sify to program its network to adapt to changing service requiremand Plan (MCP) software will give Sify real-time software control and improve network visibility.
ents in real-time while supporting large capacities in the metro networks. Ciena's PinPoint software will allow Sify to address with precision any potential trouble spots, while Ciena’s Blue Planet Manage, Control

“As Sify Technologies supports more users, digital applications and connected things across India, they face the challenge of adapting to the demands being placed on their network. Ciena is committed to supporting Sify Technologies through its extensive experience and expertise, to deliver a more programmable infrastructure aided by software control and analytics to respond to changing network demands intuitively,” stated Ryan Perera, Vice President and General Manager, Ciena India.

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JASK raises $25M for Autonomous Security Operations Center platform

JASK, a start-up founded in 2015 with dual headquarters in San Francisco and Austin, announced $25 million in series B funding for its Autonomous Security Operations Center (ASOC) platform.

The funding round was led by Kleiner Perkins with participation from early investors, including Battery Ventures, Dell Technologies Capital, TenEleven Ventures and Vertical Venture Partners. This brings JASK’s total funding to $39 million.

JASK’s mission is to modernize security operations by delivering an asset-independent, open platform that provides prioritized threat information with an autonomous workflow of what, where, why and how SOC analysts should take action.

The JASK ASOC platform automates much of the work of a tier one security analyst by correlating and analyzing vast amounts of data and summarizing the important information via JASK Insights™, streamlined notifications that indicate a combination of events or activities that should be investigated. JASK Insights contain all of the information in one actionable interface to help speed investigation and response times.

“Over the past 20 years, the challenge of sifting through the deluge of alerts has been like finding the needle in a haystack,” said Greg Martin, CEO and co-founder of JASK. “SOC teams now deal with a stack of needles and need to find the sharpest one. Technology can no longer hinder them, but rather support their workflows and improve their efficiency. Our Series B funding and partnership with Ted and Kleiner Perkins will help us accelerate our mission to deliver this technology.”

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MEF adds AT&T exec to its Board

Roman Pacewicz, Chief Product Officer at AT&T Business, has joined the MEF Board of Directors.

The MEF Board of Directors now includes:

• Roman Pacewicz, Chief Product Officer, AT&T Business
• Aamir Hussain, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, CenturyLink
• Kevin O'Toole, Senior Vice President, Product Management, Comcast Business
• Shawn Hakl, Senior Vice President Business Products, Verizon
• Michael Strople, President Enterprise Networks, Zayo Group
• Shahar Steiff, Assistant Vice President New Technology, PCCW Global
• Gabriel Kerner, Vice President Network Products and Offerings, Amdocs Technology
• Scott Mansfield, Standardization Researcher, Development Unit Network Products,Ericsson
• Ralph Santitoro, Head of SDN/NFV/SD-WAN Services, Fujitsu Network Communications
• Nan Chen, Executive Vice Chairman, CENX

"As a leader in software-defined networking, AT&T shares in the MEF 3.0 vision to enable application-aware, leading-edge network services that provide a truly dynamic cloud-centric experience,” said Roman Pacewicz. “As businesses around the globe continue their digital transformation, they need edge-to-edge capabilities to integrate their networks. Businesses looking to provide a seamless connected environment for their customers will benefit greatly from a unified industry ecosystem that’s focused on interoperability. I look forward to collaborating with MEF to help accelerate the rollout of MEF 3.0 services and technologies on a global basis.”

www.mef.net

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Huawei launches its FDD LTE "SPACE"

Huawei introduced its FDD LTE SPACE solution for improving LTE coverage, capacity, user experience, and service innovation.

The SPACE solution adds new capabilities to Huawei's platform based on the latest 3GPP Release 15.  SPACE is an acronym standing for  Services, Pervasive Coverage, Automation, Capacity Boosting, and Smooth Evolution.

S = Service. With cellular IoT technologies (enhanced NB-IoT and eMTC), a single cell is able to maintain a maximum of 50,000 connections. By using unique CPE and achieving a maximum of 5-time increase in spectrum efficiency by MIMO technology, site capacity will be increased by 10 times. WTTx suite enables precise provision and expansion on-demand, and helps operator quickly launch services. Now, WTTx is exploring the business like WTTe, WTTc, and WTTs.  The average air interface latency of services is reduced to 50ms. By introducing Short TTI, the scheduling period for the air interface frames is further shortened, reducing the average air interface latency to 20 ms. Latency will become the third important user experience KPI after capacity and coverage. Shorter latency will greatly improve user experience of mobile games, red envelop grabbing, remote driving, LTE-V, and additional services, and support more low-latency services (such as remote control and V2X).

P = Pervasive Coverage. SPACE incorporates the ‘AnySite‘ solution for coverage availability in five typical scenarios, including urban hotspot, residential area, indoor coverage holes, rural area and Railway, realize ubiquitous LTE coverage and lower the cost of new building site.  AnySite is characterized by 3 highlights. First, it features easy site acquisition, small size, easy deployment, and environment friendliness; Second, Hybrid wireless backhaul (Licensed Plus unlicensed) will be introduced for density coverage; Third, innovative Bridge RU will increase the signal quality and benefit for depth indoor coverage (like high-rise elevator rooms).

A = Automation. Based on Huawei's unparalleled SingleRAN Pro platform, SPACE realizes intelligent wireless networks enabled with automatic management.

C = Capacity Boosting. Future. SPACE increases the network capacity by 10 times, dependent on the key technology, like multi-antenna (including 4T4R, 8T8R, and Massive MIMO), multi-band, multi-sector, and site densification.  4T4R has become the basic configuration for 5G-oriented networks. Operators will benefit from early deployment. With the six-sector solution, the capacity is further improved. 4T4R and the six-sector solution release the traffic in hotspot areas. Massive MIMO and TM9 fulfill traffic requirements in ultra-high hotspot areas.

E = Evolution. Based on the SingleRAN Pro platform, SPACE provides a unified hardware platform to quickly and efficiently build 5G target networks that are backward compatible with 2G, 3G, and 4G networks, so as to maximize return on investment of operators' live networks. In addition, it supports flexible network architecture in non-standalone (NSA) networking. Flexible spectrum sharing between LTE and 5G new radio (NR) maximizes resource efficiency and ensures excellent service experience in the 5G era.

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Huawei signs 5G strategic agreement with China Unicom

Huawei sealed a 5G strategic partnership agreement with China Unicom. Financial terms were not disclosed.

As part of the partnership, Huawei and China Unicom will fully leverage their respective innovative strengths in 5G and focus on cooperation in E2E 5G technical verification, cooperation with vertical industry partners, building of the 5G ecosystem, and 5G service incubation and promotion.

"A decade ago, network evolution from 2G to 3G brought dramatic changes to the mobile Internet,” said Shao Guanglu, Vice President of China Unicom Group. “The next decade will witness 4G evolution to 5G. 5G technologies will usher in a fully-connected, intelligent world, in which there will be a faster and more extensive industrial revolution. China Unicom and Huawei will continue to deepen their cooperation in the 5G domain, focusing on 5G networking and business ecosystem construction to drive 5G development and the prosperity of 5G ecosystems and create a better-connected 5G world."

"5G will be the cornerstone of a fully connected, intelligent world. Integrated innovation of industry + technology + applications will drive the development of 5G. Huawei will continue to innovate in 5G technical solutions and applications and work with China Unicom to jointly build the 5G ecosystem alliance. We are committed to partnering with all industry players to pave the information highways of the digital era," Ryan Ding, Huawei's Executive Director and President of Huawei’s Carrier Business Group.

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Google signs up for platinum membership at Linux Foundation

Google has become a Platinum member of The Linux Foundation, and captured a board seat at the foundation in the process.

Sarah Novotny, the head of open source strategy for Google Cloud Platform, will join The Linux Foundation Board of Directors as Google’s representative.

“Google is one of the biggest contributors to and supporters of open source in the world, and we are thrilled that they have decided to increase their involvement in The Linux Foundation,” said Jim Zemlin, executive director, The Linux Foundation. “We are honored that Sarah Novotny, one of the leading figures in the open source community, will join our board – she will be a tremendous asset.”

“Open source is an essential part of Google’s culture, and we’ve long recognized the potential of open ecosystems to grow quickly, be more resilient and adaptable in the face of change, and create better software” said Sarah Novotny, head of open source strategy, Google Cloud. “The Linux Foundation is a fixture in the open source community. By working closely with the organization, we can better engage with the community-at-large and continue to build a more inclusive ecosystem where everyone can benefit.”

Some of The Linux Foundation open source communities Google supports include Cloud Foundry, Node.js and the Open API Initiative.

Google was also a founding member of the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF), having created and open sourced CNCF’s popular Kubernetes container orchestration platform, and is a founding member of the Core Infrastructure Initiative, which takes a proactive approach to securing some of the more important software technologies in the world, and the TODO Group, which collaborates on practices, tools, and other ways to run successful and effective open source projects and programs. Moreover, Google has been a leader in Software Defined Networking and other open source networking projects.

In a blog posting, Google highlighted the following open source project it backed:

Google regularly open-sources internal projects

• Kubernetes – container orchestration (github)
• TensorFlow – #1 machine learning repository on github
• BBR congestion control algorithm – your Internet just got faster (github)
• Open compute project rack – efficient data center for everyone (pdf)
• gRPC – high performance RPC framework (github)
• Bazel – continuous integration system (github)
• VP9 – royalty free video encoding format (project)
• Chromium – the most popular browser (github)
• Android – the most popular smartphone operating system (website)
• Golang -- develop simple, efficient and reliable software at scale (github)
• V8 -- high-performance JavaScript engine (github)

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Microsoft enables Azure IoT Hub automatic device management,

Microsoft announced commercial availability of Azure IoT Hub automatic device management.

Automatic device management automates many of the repetitive and complex tasks of managing large device fleets over the entirety of their lifecycles.

Microsoft said the release provides the ability to perform IoT device configuration at scale including updating settings, installing software, and updating firmware with reporting and conflict resolution automatically handled.

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/automatic-device-management-module-identity-and-module-twin-are-now-generally-available/

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Google Cloud offers hardware data transfer appliance for postal shipping

Google Cloud Platform announced two hardware appliances for helping users transfer large quantities of data into their service. The appliances slide into a 19" rack and can be used for migrating data center stores to the Google Cloud.

The service comes in two configurations: 100TB or 480TB of raw storage capacity. The 100TB model is priced at $300, plus express shipping (approximately $500); the 480TB model is priced at $1,800, plus shipping (approximately $900).

https://cloudplatform.googleblog.com/

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2-min video: SSL Decryption presented by @A10Networks

A10 Networks discusses its SSL Insight technology for decrypting traffic. Rather than decrypting traffic at every single hop, enterprises can now decrypt once and send to multiple devices.

Presented by Paul Nicholson, Director of Product Marketing, and Parth Jagirdar, Product Marketing Manager, at A10 Networks.

https://youtu.be/DFDfOmTXths

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Puppet raises $42 million for its DevOps automation software

Puppet, which develops software automation tools, announced $42 million in funding led by Cisco Investments along with EDBI, Kleiner Perkins, True Ventures, and VMware.

In the last year, Puppet opened five new offices in Seattle, Singapore, Sydney, Timisoara and Tokyo to meet the increasing demand for DevOps and automation throughout the world. The most significant expansion was in Asia-Pacific and Japan (APJ) where Puppet opened a new regional headquarters in Singapore. As part of today’s announcement, Puppet is excited to add EDBI as a new investor, focused on the Singapore and APJ markets.

“Our rapid growth and international expansion is a testament to the rising demand for DevOps transformation, software automation and the pressing need for enterprises to navigate the new world of software delivery. That’s why we’ve been so focused on expanding our product portfolio—to empower customers to discover, deliver and operate software across their cloud and containerized environments,” said Sanjay Mirchandani, CEO, Puppet. “I’m thrilled by the momentum we’re experiencing. It helps us better support our customers’ journey to pervasive automation.”

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CloudBees raises $62 million for enterprise DevOps

CloudBees, which offers a DevOps suite for enterprises, closed $62 million in growth funding comprised of $37 million of equity led by Delta-v Capital and $25 million of growth financing from Golub Capital’s Late Stage Lending business.

CloudBees Suite builds on emerging DevOps practices and continuous integration (CI) and continuous delivery (CD) automation adding a layer of governance, visibility and insights necessary to achieve optimum efficiency and control new risks.

"In the few, short years since founding CloudBees, we have become the recognized DevOps leader. Global enterprises have rapidly adopted our DevOps suite due to its alignment with strategic business objectives and the enterprise-grade scale and governance demanded by today’s CIOs,” said Sacha Labourey, founder and CEO, CloudBees. “We see a world where businesses either deliver faster and continually improve or they fail. Thanks to this new funding, we are accelerating on our vision to become the ERP of IT and orchestrate the key processes that bring innovation through software to production.”

The new equity financing included strong participation from existing investors Matrix Partners, Lightspeed Venture and Verizon Ventures, alongside new investors Delta-v Capital, Golub Capital and Unusual Ventures. CloudBees has previously raised $49.2 million since its founding in 2010, bringing total funding to date over $100 million.

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Qualcomm and Gizwits target field upgrades to LTE IoT

Qualcomm is working with Gizwits, a global leader in Internet of Things (IoT) development platforms, to deliver the world's first commercial 2G cellular modules with field upgrades to LTE IoT (eMTC/Cat-M1 and NB-IoT/Cat-NB1).

The Quectel BG36 module –aimed to be compatible with China Mobile's network and manufactured by Quectel based on the Qualcomm MDM9206 LTE IoT modem– will be powered by the Gizwits IoT cloud services and designed to help developers, device manufacturers and service providers to create economical 2G solutions, which are also designed to be flexible and long-lasting by supporting future over-the-air activation of NB-IoT and eMTC as the cellular ecosystem transitions toward the latest LTE IoT standards.

“The expansion of the IoT depends on the ecosystem’s ability to deliver vast amounts of solutions featuring edge intelligence and flexible connectivity that stays current through the device life,” said Serge Willenegger, senior vice president and general manager, 4G/5G and Industrial IoT, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “We are grateful of the opportunity to work with Gizwits, China Mobile Shandong Branch and Quectel. Our focus is to offer the technology solutions that the IoT ecosystem requires to grow, helping manufacturers and solution providers connect and manage massive amounts of devices in a trusted, security-rich and scalable manner. This is the vision behind our Qualcomm wireless edge services.”

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Gigalight Launches Low-Cost 40G QSFP+ LR4

Gigalight introduced a new, lower cost 40G QSFP+ LR4 10km optical transceiver.

The company said it has optimized the cost this new generation 40G transceiver by applying its mature 100G optical engine technology to the development of the 40G optical module. Previously, Gigalight has been producing the 40G QSFP+ LR4 optical modules through external sourcing of TOSA and ROSA.

The transmitter of the new generation 40G QSFP+ LR4 optical module adopts Gigalight’s self-made Mini TO and AWG chip, and the receiver adopts the COB packaging technology, which greatly optimizes the cost.

The new generation of 40G QSFP+ LR4 optical module supports both 40GE and OTU3 dual-rate applications and fully supports no error optical transmission over a single mode fiber link of up to 10km distance.

http://www.gigalight.com/news_detail/newsId=457.html

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A10 Networks appoints Webb as VP of sales EMEA

A10 Networks appointed Anthony Webb as VP of sales in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).

Before joining A10, Webb served as vice president EMEA of Ixia Technologies. Prior to joining Ixia, he held positions at the vice president and managing director level for Juniper Networks, running sales organizations across EMEA and in the UK. In 2000, he joined Cisco as sales manager for service provider and enterprise verticals in the UK, before serving as enterprise sales director emerging markets with Cisco in MEA, then collaboration sales director emerging markets. He left Cisco in 2011 to return to the UK.

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Optical Internetworking Forum tests SDN transport API

Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF), in collaboration with MEF, successfully concluded its 2018 Software-Defined Networking (SDN) Transport Application Programming Interface (T-API) multi-vendor interoperability demonstration.


The multi-vendor demo led by four network operator labs included lab deployed and cloud deployed systems testing new dynamic behavior use cases and deployment scenarios. The demo also incorporated service provisioning scenarios at the LSO Presto reference point in the MEF LSO architecture, using the MEF NRP Interface Profile Specification (MEF 60), which defines extensions to T-API in support of Carrier Ethernet services.

“The OIF SDN Interoperability demonstration has successfully brought together carriers, vendors and integrators with a common goal of moving to an open API (TAPI),” said Jack Pugaczewski, Distinguished Architect, CenturyLink. “T-API is a key enabler for providing automated service fulfillment and assurance. We have tested the Connectivity, Topology and Notification software patterns that T-API provides. Common APIs reduce design, development and deployment cycles for all involved, thus getting to market faster and realizing the financial benefits of automation.”

Participating network operators were CenturyLink, China Telecom, SK Telecom and Telefónica and vendors included ADVA, Coriant, Infinera, NEC/Netcracker, Nokia and SM Optics. Centre Tecnològic de Telecomunicacions de Catalunya (CTTC) was a participating academic institution and TELUS Communications participated as a consulting network operator.

“The OIF’s goal for interop events is to improve the quality and clarity of specifications being tested,” explained Jonathan Sadler, OIF VP and Networking & Operations Interoperability Working Group Chair. “As the tests were performed, we noted possible points for misunderstanding and places where the specifications may be enhanced. These results will be liaised to ONF and MEF for review at future meetings.”

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Google Cloud readies launch in Los Angeles

Google Cloud Platform is ready to launch a new Los Angeles cloud region next month, joining its current regions or Oregon, Iowa, South Carolina and northern Virginia.

The new Los Angeles cloud region will target the aerospace, music, media and entertainment industries of southern California.

"Los Angeles is a global hub for fashion, music, entertainment, aerospace, and more—and technology is essential to strengthening our status as a center of invention and creativity,” said Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. “We are excited that Google Cloud has chosen Los Angeles to provide infrastructure and technology solutions to our businesses and entrepreneurs.”

https://cloudplatform.googleblog.com/

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SSE Enterprise Telecoms deploys Infinera for "dark fibre-like network’

SSE Enterprise Telecoms, which operates a 13,700km private telecoms network and an estate of 15 data centres across the UK, has selected Infinera's XTM Series to deliver a resilient, ‘dark fibre-like’ network across the UK.

Specifically, SSE Enterprise Telecoms' network will provide fibre connectivity from BT exchanges to more than 80 commercial data centres. The extensive network promises access to multiple services with speeds of up to 100 Gbps to each BT exchange.

Infinera said it was selected for this deployment by SSE Enterprise Telecoms over incumbent vendors due to its unique combination of layer 1 and 2 packet optical and Ethernet services – serving as a credible alternative to customers laying costly dark fibre cabling.

Conrad Mallon, Chief Technical Architect, SSE Enterprise Telecoms says: “We’re working with Infinera because they have an elegant product set that scales effectively, and a unique approach to layer 1 and 2 connectivity. A network project on this scale makes us one of the few providers that can offer multiples of 100Gbps services between exchanges, commercial data centres and across our core, at an accessible price point. The network expansion deal is also paving the way for our ambitious roadmap which will see SSE Enterprise Telecoms investing more in network reach over the next five years.”

Nick Walden, SVP, EMEA, Infinera says: “The UK market has never been more dynamic, now facing exponential bandwidth growth coupled with a renewed focus on connectivity services from both enterprises and carriers due to the recent DFA activities. Infinera is delighted to partner with SSE Enterprise Telecoms on this significant project to rapidly scale network capacity and service differentiation for its customers with our leading XTM Series packet optical solutions.”

http://www.ssetelecoms.com/ 
https://www.infinera.com/sse-enterprise-telecoms-implements-infinera-platform-across-uk
/

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Google Clouds adds high-performance file storage

Google Cloud Platform (GCP) announced a new high-performance storage service for users who need to create, read and write large files with low latency.

The new Cloud Filestore is managed file storage for applications that require a file system interface and a shared file system. It gives users a simple, integrated, native experience for standing up fully managed network-attached storage (NAS) with their Google Compute Engine and Kubernetes Engine instances.

Two tiers are offered. A high-performance Premium tier is $0.30 per GB per month, and the midrange performance Standard tier is $0.20 per GB per month in us-east1, us-central1, and us-west1 (Other regions vary).

https://cloudplatform.googleblog.com/

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Coriant intros Vibe X90 white box for disaggregated routing/switching

Coriant introduced the first in a series of "Vibe" carrier-class white boxes for service aggregation from access to the core.

The new, 2RU Coriant Vibe X90 Programmable Packet Platform, which is a key component of the Coriant Hyperscale Carrier Architecture, is a cost-optimized white box solution for IP transport network applications where cost-efficient Layer 2/3 service aggregation is required for a dense mix of 1G, 10G, 25G, and 100G interfaces, including in Provider Edge and Central Office environments. It supports 900 Gbps of full-duplex switching capacity in single node configurations and scalability up to 2.7 Tbps in stacked configurations, with further scalability enabled in POD configurations.

Key features include:

• Carrier-class performance – to ensure a best-in-class customer experience as IP traffic and services scale, the Vibe X90 system architecture is purpose-built for telco environments and supports a wide breadth of carrier-grade operations, including packet synchronization (IEEE 1588, SyncE), large packet buffers, ETSI-standard rack sizes, node stacking, and control and data plane redundancy
• Open, agnostic software control – to break vendor lock-in and accelerate innovation cycles, the Vibe X90 is built upon Open Network Install Environment (ONIE) and Open APIs, enabling flexible software portability with compatible NOS software, such as the Coriant NOS, and SDN/NFV orchestration in multi-vendor, multi-layer environments
• Cost-efficient IP network scalability – single and stacked configuration node options, coupled with support for horizontal scalability enabled by leaf and spine POD architectures, provide the foundation for flexible and cost-efficient multi-unit scalability, with full resilience for control and data plane traffic
• Application-optimized features – the Vibe X90 supports important networking features such as advanced timing capabilities that enable a variety of mobile and converged applications where flexible scaling and accurate packet synchronization is critical to service availability   

https://www.coriant.com

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Acacia offers Coherent ZR Optics for CFP and CFP2 Pluggable Modules

Acacia Communications announced the general availability of two new high-speed coherent optical interconnect products for “ZR” applications in access, edge, and enterprise campus networks.

Acacia's new 100G/200G CFP2-DCO ZR and next generation low power 100G CFP-DCO ZR are enabled by the company's proprietary digital signal processor (DSP) and silicon photonic technologies.

Acacia said its new products support the requirements of unamplified applications beyond the 40km reaches standardized in the industry and extend to 80km and beyond.

Acacia’s CFP-DCO ZR module is capable of supporting the 18W power class that was widely deployed for 10km client applications. Both modules also offer high-capacity and low-power consumption solutions designed to reduce the complexity, power usage and cost of high-bandwidth interconnects.

“Traditionally, coherent optical transmission was primarily used for longer reach applications, but traffic patterns are changing in ways that are leading to the need for high capacity interconnects that target shorter reaches in a power efficient and cost effective manner. ZR optics address this need,” said Tom Williams, Senior Director of Marketing for Acacia Communications. “Acacia pioneered the coherent ZR offering with our industry first CFP-DCO form factor and our vision is to continue to expand the use of coherent technology in shorter reach applications.”

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IEEE adopts OpenFog Reference Architecture

The IEEE Standards Association (IEEE-SA) has adopted The OpenFog Consortium’s OpenFog Reference Architecture for fog computing as an official standard.

The new standard, known as IEEE 1934™, relies on the reference architecture as a universal technical framework that enables the data-intensive requirements of the Internet of Things (IoT), 5G and artificial intelligence (AI) applications.

“We now have an industry-backed and -supported blueprint that will supercharge the development of new applications and business models made possible through fog computing,” said Helder Antunes, chairman of the OpenFog Consortium and senior director, Cisco. “This is a significant milestone for OpenFog and a monumental inflection point for those companies and industries that will benefit from the ensuing innovation and market growth made possible by the standard.”

The OpenFog Consortium, which was founded more than two years ago, describes fog computing as a system-level horizontal architecture that distributes resources and services of computing, storage, control and networking anywhere along the cloud-to-things continuum. It supports multiple industry verticals and application domains, enables services and applications to be distributed closer to the data-producing sources, and extends from the things, over the network edges, through the cloud and across multiple protocol layers.

“The reference architecture provided a solid, high-level foundation for the development of fog computing standards,” said John Zao, Chair, IEEE Standards Working Group on Fog Computing & Networking Architecture Framework, which was sponsored by the IEEE Communications Society's Edge, Fog, and Cloud Communications Standards Committee. “The OpenFog technical committee and the IEEE standards committee worked closely during this process and benefited from the collaboration and synergies that developed. We’re very pleased with the results of this standards effort.”

OpenFog Consortium Releases its Reference Architecture

Wednesday, February 08, 2017  Fog  No Comments

The OpenFog Consortium, whose founding members include ARM, Cisco, Dell, Intel, Microsoft, and Princeton University, published its OpenFog Reference Architecture, a universal technical framework designed to enable the data-intensive requirements of the Internet of Things (IoT), 5G and artificial intelligence (AI) applications.

Fog computing is the system-level architecture that brings computing, storage, control, and networking functions closer to the data-producing sources along the cloud-to-thing continuum. The new reference architecture aims to enable high-performance, interoperability and security in complex digital transactions.

In brief, the OpenFog Reference Architecture contains a medium- to high-level view of system architectures for fog nodes (smart, connected devices) and networks, deployment and hierarchy models, and use cases. It is based on eight core technical principles, termed pillars, which represent the key attributes that a system needs to encompass to be defined as "OpenFog." These pillars include security, scalability, openness, autonomy, RAS (reliability, availability, and serviceability), agility, hierarchy and programmability.

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ADVA delivers fiber assurance for Holland's TReNT

TReNT, a leading Netherlands-based fiber solutions provider, has deployed ADVA's ALM assurance technology across its dark fiber network.

The ADVA ALM is a plug-and-play fiber assurance device, It provides TReNT with continuous in-service monitoring, immediately alerting operators to any faults or potential fiber degradation.

ADVA said real-time data is key to assuring world-class dark fiber services and maintaining valuable SLA promises through rapid repair cycles. The device is also non-intrusive as it operates independently of transported data.

“The ADVA ALM is helping us maximize the potential of our fiber plant and bring added value to our customers. With this assurance solution, our operators are able to detect any issues in an instant. That means no more wasted hours finding faults, no more futile repair visits and altogether simpler maintenance,” said Harmen ten Kate-Busschers, project manager, TReNT.

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SD Express memory cards integrate PCIe and NVMe for up to 985 MB/sec

The next generation of SD Express memory cards will use the well-known PCIe 3.0 specification and NVMe v1.3 protocols defined by PCI-SIG and NVM Express, respectively. The PCIe interface delivering a 985 megabytes per second (MB/s) maximum data transfer rate and the NVMe upper layer protocol enables advanced memory access mechanism, enabling a new world of opportunities for the popular SD memory card. In addition, the maximum storage capacity in SD memory cards grows from 2TB with SDXC to 128 TB with the new SD Ultra Capacity (SDUC) card. These innovations maintain the SDA’s commitment to backward compatibility and are part of the new SD 7.0 specification.

A new white paper, “SD Express Cards with PCIe and NVMe Interfaces,” provides more details on the new capabilities and features found in the SD 7.0 specification. More information is available on our website.

“With SD Express we’re offering an entirely new level of memory card with faster protocols turning cards into a removable SSD,” said Hiroyuki Sakamoto, SDA president. “SD 7.0 delivers revolutionary innovations to anticipate the needs of forthcoming devices and content rich and speed hungry applications.”

“PCI-SIG is pleased to have teamed with the SDA to collaborate on this innovation for the world’s leading removable memory card – SD,” said Al Yanes, PCI-SIG president and chairman. “PCIe specification conformance tests are available today by major test vendors, offering a significant advantage for any new PCIe adopter.”

https://www.sdcard.org/

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China Mobile and NTT DOCOMO back IoT Multi-vendor eSIM

China Mobile and NTT DOCOMO will launch an eSIM(1) solution to enable cross-vendor SIM profile switching from DOCOMO to China Mobile.

This allows DOCOMO customers from Japan with IoT equipment in China to switch the mobile numbers (profiles) of their IoT equipment from DOCOMO to China Mobile even with different SIM vendors adopted by the two operators, thus eliminating the need to replace physical SIM cards.

DOCOMO commercialized the eSIM solution in 2014 and launched a commercial service with Telefonica Brasil S.A. (Vivo) in 2015.

DOCOMO and China Mobile International signed an IoT Service Agreement including eSIM solution in November 2017.

DOCOMO has also been pursuing various eSIM projects through partnerships with international mobile operators including IoT World Alliance, SCFA and Conexus
. Gradual expansion to Europe, Asia, Middle East and America is planned.

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Telefónica publishes Digital Manifesto for democracies

Telefónica published the second edition of its Digital Manifesto, which defines the fundamentals that should guide public policy in democracies of the digital era to ensure that the benefits of digitalisation reach everyone in a rapidly changing technological, political and social environment.

Its Digital Manifesto revolves around five main principles to guide the debate on a New Digital Deal:

1. Digitalisation must be an inclusive process in which we can all participate. Billions of people around the world are still not connected, and without connectivity there is no digitalisation. To achieve this, the deployment of broadband should be a priority for public administrations. 
2. Social and fiscal policies must adapt to the current digital companies. Governments must adopt the necessary policies to ensure that citizens are ready to navigate in the new digital environment. It is very important that they also implement a clear tax system that obliges global digital service platforms to pay the corresponding local taxes and contribute fairly to the development of the countries in which they operate.
3. Users must have transparent knowledge of their data and have control over how and when to use them. This is the only way to earn their trust and to exploit all the potential of data as the promoter of positive social change in areas such as health, education, transport and climate change. To achieve this trust, it is necessary to guarantee the security and privacy of the data. 
4. For the sustainability of the internet, global platforms of digital services that are responsible and committed to social development are needed. In this regard, governments and regulators must ensure the application of existing values and laws. In turn, data have become a great competitive asset, and this should be considered by the authorities in the supervision of the markets to avoid positions of dominance and to prevent large global internet platforms from becoming the de facto guardians of users' digital experience. To guarantee its sustainability, it is also necessary to ensure the ethical use of artificial intelligence and algorithms, especially by these large platforms. 
5. The modernization of social policy and the rights of citizens in the digital world are required as well. To this end, Telefónica advocates for a Digital Bill of Rights created with people in mind, that also protect its values and fundamental rights in the digital world. 

"We need a new regulatory paradigm that applies the same rules to the same services and that guarantees that all companies have the same opportunities to innovate. The authorities must intervene with agility when necessary to guarantee fair competition and the rights of users", underlined Pablo de Carvajal, Group General Council, Public Affairs, Regulation and Responsible Business, at the presentation of the manifesto. The presentation event was closed by Ignacio Moreno, member of the Board of Directors of Telefónica SA and chairman of its Regulation and Institutional Affairs Committee.

https://www.telefonica.com/es/web/public-policy/manifiesto-digital

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