More companies suspend business with Huawei

Arm will suspend business activity with Huawei due to the U.S. blacklisting, according to the the BBC. Arm's core designs and intellectual property are fundamental to many of Huawei's own semiconductor products. Some news reports claim that existing semiconductor designs currently under license and in production may not be affected. ARM is based in the UK and is owned by Softbank, which is based in Japan. The BBC report speculates that Arm uses "U.S. origin technology)" and thus falls under the export ban. EE has announced its intention to replace Huawei equipment in the core of its network.
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-48363772

Bloomberg reported that operators in Japan, Taiwan, and the UK stopped pre-orders for Huawei's latest smartphones. This includes BT and Vodafone, both of which are preparing to launch initial 5G commercial service in the next 2 weeks.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-22/japan-s-biggest-phone-companies-look-at-pulling-huawei-handsets?srnd=markets-vp

Panasonic also confirmed that it is suspending business with Huawei and its subsidiaries.

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CenturyLink adds multipoint-to-multipoint to Ethernet E-Services

CenturyLink has added multipoint-to-multipoint capabilities to its Ethernet E-Services portfolio to help enterprises simplify bandwidth needs and create seamless, multinational WANs.

E-LAN enhances CenturyLink’s E-Services that provide point-to-point, point-to multi-point and multi-point network configurations. The services are MEF CE 2.0-certified and available in nearly 300 markets for on-net and off-net retail and wholesale customers.

CenturyLink’s E-LAN can be used to connect multiple locations across Ethernet-enabled markets globally, regionally or in a single metro location. It leverages SDN capable network components and can be easily configured with CenturyLink Cloud Connect Dynamic Connections, Dynamic Capacity and Enhanced Management solutions, allowing enterprise networks to respond to business-specific connection needs in real time. E-LAN also supports single and multi-Class of Service (CoS) options for flexibility of network design to help support the demands of a customer’s data applications.

“Our global Ethernet Services platform delivers flexibility, simplicity and scalability so customers can design their network to meet their needs today and in the future,” said Chris McReynolds, vice president, core network services, CenturyLink. “The reliability of Ethernet and customization driven by our mature SDN platform provides a strong foundation for adaptive networking, hybrid IT and cloud connectivity.”

CenturyLink's network includes approximately 450,000 global route miles of fiber, with services in more than 60 countries and more than 150,000 on-net buildings, including connectivity to more than 2,200 public and private data centers across the globe.

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EE confirms 5G launch, plans 5G fixed broadband

EE will launch commercial 5G in six cities across on 30th May 2019: London, Birmingham, Cardiff, Manchester, Edinburgh and Belfast.

EE says users should experience an increase in speeds of around 100-150Mbps even in the busiest areas. Some customers will break the one gigabit-per-second milestone on their 5G smartphones. The fastest speed possible when EE launched 4G in 2012 was just 50Mbps.

From today, EE customers can pre-order a 5G smartphone on EE’s new 5G Smart Plans. Plans start from 10GB (£54 per month) and extend up to 120GB (£74 per month). EE is also rolling out the UK’s first 5G SIM only plans, offering Swappable benefits, inclusive Service Pack benefits, and a range of great 5G data allowances starting at 20GB per month (£32 per month) and rising to 100GB (£52 per month). EE will offer a 5GEE WiFi plan with the HTC 5G Hub at an upfront cost of £100 and with 50GB of data per month for £50 per month, or for £75 per month with 100GB of data per month.

EE is offering several 5G smartphones including Samsung (Galaxy S10 5G) as well as UK exclusives with Oppo (Reno 5G), LG (V50 ThinQ) and One Plus (7 Pro 5G).

In addition to the six launch cities, in 2019 EE will also be introducing 5G across the busiest parts of Bristol, Coventry, Glasgow, Hull, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield. And in 2020, even more towns and cities will get 5G sites including: Aberdeen, Cambridge, Derby, Gloucester, Peterborough, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Southampton, Worcester and Wolverhampton.

EE is also preparing to launch a 5GEE WiFi and 5GEE home broadband service month. Pricing has not been disclosed but the company says it will be beat fibre broadband.

Marc Allera, CEO of BT’s Consumer division, said: “This is the start of the UK’s 5G journey and great news for our customers that want and need the best connections. We’ve started with 5G in some of the busiest parts of the UK, the widest range of 5G devices in the UK, and plans that give customers the best mobile connection and great benefits.

EE is launching 5G in the busiest parts of the UK, where 5G can really make a difference by providing a more reliable data connection to businesses and consumers. EE is upgrading more than 100 sites to 5G every month whole continuing to expand 4G coverage into rural areas.

EE 5G rollout

• Phase 1: a ‘non-standalone’ deployment focused on using the combined power of 4G and 5G to give customers the fastest, most reliable mobile broadband experience they’ve ever had.
• Phase 2: from 2022, will introduce the full next generation 5G core network, enhanced device chipset capabilities, and increased availability of 5G-ready spectrum. Higher bandwidth and lower latency, coupled with expansive and growing 5G coverage, will enable a more responsive network, enabling truly immersive mobile augmented reality, real-time health monitoring, and mobile cloud gaming. Phase 2 is also a vital step on the journey to the convergence of network technologies.
• Phase 3: from 2023, will introduce Ultra-Reliable Low Latency Communications (URLLC), Network Slicing and multi-gigabit-per-second speeds. This phase of 5G will enable critical applications like real-time traffic management of fleets of autonomous vehicles, massive sensor networks with millions of devices measuring air quality across the entire country, and the ‘tactile internet’, where a sense of touch can be added to remote real-time interactions.

http://www.ee.co.uk/5G

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Mobile data jumped 65% YoY in France in 2018

In 2018, operators in France invested €9.8 billion (excluding spending on frequencies), which is €200 million more than in 2017, according to new metrics published by Arcep, the official telecoms regulator. Total investments have increased by 40% over four years.

Some additional stats for 2018:

• Voice calls increased 3.7%
• Mobile data increased by +65% YoY. 
• There are 47.7 million active 4G customers in France (+6.1 million) who consumed an average 6.7 GB of data a month in 2018. 
• French customers’ data consumption when travelling abroad doubled in 2018 thanks the European “roam like at home” regulation that was introduced in June 2017.
• Last year’s spending increase can be attributed almost entirely to the rise in operators’ investments in FTTH: 13.6 additional premises are now eligible to subscribe to a fibre access plan, which represents 7.9 million additional access lines deployed in three years (+3.2 million additional homes passed in 2018). 
• 4.8 million households have now adopted fibre technology, and at a steadily increasing pace (+1.5 million YoY).

Additional market data for France is posted online.

https://en.arcep.fr/news/press-releases/p/n/the-telecoms-market-in-france.html

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Champion ONE intros XGS-PON Optical Transceivers

Champion ONE announced commercial availability of a new line of XGS-PON transceivers for delivering symmetrical 10G service in fiber-to-the-premises (FTTx) networks.

This product line conforms to the ITU standards G.987.2 and G.9807.2. It includes both SFP+ and XFP transceivers for OLT applications, and SFP+ transceivers for ONU applications over 20km rated distances.

Champion ONE notes that XGS-PON deployments will enable telecom network operators to converge services over a common fiber infrastructure, with legacy 1G GPON service and new 10G XGS-PON service over the same fiber.

“Network operators are deploying deeper fiber, copper/coax optimization, and next-generation radio access upgrades to support growing bandwidth demand among end-users,” said Champion ONE CEO John Jutila. “Our network architecture workshops with telecom infrastructure operators highlighted XGS-PON as one of several planned access technology upgrades. We are proud to be an integral partner with our customers to enhance their networks with this new application in our expanding portfolio of open port solutions.”

Champion One is based in Cleveland, Ohio.

https://www.championone.com/

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Luna Innovations debuts high-res analyzer for silicon photonics

Luna Innovations introduced its next generation, high-performance, high-resolution analyzer for optical components and networks. The new product extends the optical frequency domain reflectometry (OFDR) platform from Luna Innovations to manufacturing test and quality control applications.

The new Luna 6415 features an integrated tunable laser that provides fast and accurate information at a fraction of the cost of multi-unit test systems. The company says that unlike traditional passive component testers, the Luna 6415 measures and analyzes the Insertion Loss (IL) and Return Loss (RL) distribution, as well as length, working in either reflection or transmission.

“Today’s extreme expansion in communications bandwidth and capacity depends on rapid advancements in fiber optic component and network technology. A high-speed, economical and scalable optical network is the backbone of our communications infrastructure and forms the basis for everything from cloud computing to ultra-fast 5G mobile networking,” Scott Graeff, President and CEO of Luna Innovations, said. “The 6415 gives our customers the power to develop, test and manufacture the next generation optical network components that fuel this global demand for bandwidth.”

https://lunainc.com/product/luna-6415/

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Spirent intros NFV test solution

Spirent Communications introduced a test solution for assuring NFV performance as specified in ETSI GS NFV-TST 001.

Spirent CloudSure, which is the first commercially-available standards-based NFV test solution, is designed to benchmark and validate performance and allow service providers to confidently rollout NFV deployments.

Spirent CloudSure offers test packages, consisting of a set of templates that can be easily configured and customized to match service providers’ unique NFV deployments. Configuration is possible via both a graphical user interface (GUI) and an application programming interface (API) for automation users, with Spirent TestCenter Virtual ports and Spirent CloudStress agents generating realistic, multi-dimensional workloads to assess cloud performance.

“Spirent CloudSure takes a new approach to measuring performance of virtualized infrastructure, with a test framework which addresses operators’ key NFV concerns,” said Abhitesh Kastuar, General Manager of Spirent’s Cloud and IP business. “Focused on benchmarking and validating NFV ecosystems in line with ETSI GS NFV-TST 001, Spirent CloudSure is a uniquely flexible and adaptable framework which can also address other cloud testing challenges, such as comparing cloud performance, cloud workload migration, and capacity planning.”

https://www.spirent.com/products/cloudsure

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Qualcomm loses in antitrust case brought by FTC

U.S. District Court Judge Lucy Koh ruled against Qualcomm in an antitrust case filed by the Federal Trade Commission in 2017.

The ruling cites anticompetitive behavior by Qualcomm in its technology licensing practices. The requires Qualcomm to rethink its business model and renegotiate the fees its charges to smartphone manufacturers.

Qualcomm is expected to appeal.

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Malaysia's U Mobile picks Nokia for Single RAN

U Mobile awarded a three-year contract to Nokia to deploy a Single Radio Access Network (RAN) network as well as microwave and IP-based mobile transport technologies across Malaysia.

U Mobile is a current provider of 3G and 4G mobile services via a combination of its own network and through a RAN sharing agreement.

Specifically, Nokia will deploy a Single RAN Advanced network in greenfield locations across Malaysia, facilitating U Mobile's aggressive network expansion.

The companies will also collaborate on a 5G live network trial later this year.

Woon Ooi Yuen, CTO of U Mobile said: "U Mobile has been aggressively expanding our network across Malaysia in our drive to bring our customers a superior experience. We are delighted to be able to leverage on Nokia's expertise in our network expansion journey. We are of course also looking forward to working with Nokia as part of our Road To 5G Strategy. We have in our plan to conduct several 5G live trials with Nokia later this year for various use cases. Currently, we already have in place Nokia's AirScale base stations which are 5G-ready and hence, ready for trials.''

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