Whitepaper on 5G Security

A newly published whitepaper on The Evolution of Security in 5G, explores improvements in 5G technologies encryption, authentication, integrity protection, privacy and network availability of:

• the unified authentication framework that enables seamless mobility across different access technologies and support of concurrent connections
  
• User privacy protection for vulnerable information often used to identify and track subscribers
• Secure Service-Based Architecture (SBA) and slice isolation optimizing security that prevents threats from spreading to other network slices
• Improving SS7 and Diameter protocols for roaming
• Adding native support for secure steering of roaming (SoR), allowing operators to steer customers to preferred partner networks – improving the customer experience, reducing roaming charges, and preventing roaming fraud
• Improved rogue base station detection and mitigation techniques
• And even more proprietary operator and vendor analytics solutions that offer additional layers of security

 The 60-page whitepaper was created by a working group of 5G Americas’ Board of Governors member companies and project leaders Sankar Ray from AT&T and Mike Geller from Cisco.

https://newsroom.ibm.com/2019-08-01-IBM-Transforms-Its-Software-to-Run-on-Any-Cloud-with-Red-Hat

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Huawei joins Paris Call for cybersecurity

Huawei announced its commitment to the Paris Call, a declaration aimed at spurring collective action toward securing cyberspace.

Launched by the French government in November 2018, the Paris Call is a declaration of commitment to work collaboratively on cybersecurity. Other signatories to the Paris Call include 67 states, 139 international and civil society organizations, and 358 private-sector companies.

“The quest for better security serves as the foundation of our existence, said John Suffolk, Global Cyber Security & Privacy Officer at Huawei. “We fully support any endeavor, idea or suggestion that can enhance the resilience and security of products and services for Governments, customers and their customers. We support global collaborative action on improving defenses against cybercrime, including openness, transparency and internationally agreed standards”.

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TIM Brazil deploys Nokia AirFrame servers at the edge

TIM Brazil has selected Nokia AirFrame servers featuring new, 2nd generation Intel Xeon Scalable processors to virtualize its datacenters by the end of 2021.

Nokia confirmed that TIM is the first operator in Latin America to adopt the AirFrame technology for its data centers. The deployment consists of 1000 state-of-the-art AirFrame servers, virtualizing network functions to guarantee better customer experience. Alongside the creation of edge datacenters, the agreement with Nokia also signals important progress for TIM Brazil as a company as it moves towards 5G, a requirement of which is evolving to a cloud core for network activities.

The 2nd generation Intel Xeon Scalable processors were launched globally on 2 April 2019, and this agreement marks the first use of the new generation in Latin America.

Leandro Monteiro, Nokia Sales Director in Brazil, said: “Nokia’s unique solution, designed to support precisely this evolution to 5G, will give TIM Brazil a crucial ongoing competitive advantage as they evolve their core networks into cloud. Nokia is proud to partner with TIM as it invests in cloud native technologies to maintain its position as one of Latin America’s most efficient networks.”

Leonardo Capdeville, TIM CTIO, said: “Virtualization is important to improve user experience in our network, which will count with more speed and data usage stability. With this core virtualization, TIM is leading with a 5G pilot project over the network. This process also allows us to strengthen our customers’ data protection.”

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Verizon's CAPEX amounted to $8 billion in 1H2019

Last week, Verizon reported wireless service revenue growth, but lower wireless equipment revenue and wireline service revenue.

Consolidated Q2 operating revenues amounted to $32.1 billion, down 0.4 percent from second-quarter 2018.  EPS was 95 cents, compared with $1.00 in second-quarter 2018. On an adjusted basis (non-GAAP), second-quarter 2019 EPS, excluding a special item, was $1.23, compared with adjusted EPS of $1.20 in second-quarter 2018. Verizon’s second-quarter 2019 EPS included 28 cents in early debt redemption costs.



First half 2019 capital expenditures totaled $8.0 billion -- a figure that reflects the launch and build-out of its 5G network, the growth in data and video traffic on the company's 4G LTE network, the deployment of significant fiber in markets nationwide and the upgrade to Verizon's Intelligent Edge Network architecture.

Some highlights

• Verizon Consumer revenues were $22.0 billion, flat year over year, reflecting continued strong growth in wireless service revenue and Fios service offerings, offset by declines in wireless equipment and legacy wireline services.
• Verizon Consumer Group reported 126,000 wireless retail postpaid net additions in second-quarter 2019, consisting of 73,000 phone net additions and tablet net losses of 134,000, offset by 187,000 other connected device net additions, primarily wearables. 
• Postpaid smartphone net additions were 209,000, up 17 percent year over year, driven by a 5 percent year over year increase in phone gross additions.
• Consumer wireless service revenues increased 2.5 percent in second-quarter 2019, driven by customer step-ups to higher-priced plans and an increase in connections per account.
• Total retail postpaid churn was 0.97 percent in second-quarter 2019, and retail postpaid phone churn was 0.72 percent.
• In second-quarter 2019, Verizon Consumer Group reported 28,000 Fios Internet net additions and 52,000 Fios Video net losses, reflecting the ongoing shift from traditional linear video to over-the-top offerings. Fios revenues increased by 1.2 percent, primarily due to the demand for broadband offerings.
• Segment operating income was $7.3 billion, an increase of 3.9 percent year over year, and segment operating income margin was 33.4 percent. Segment EBITDA (non-GAAP) totaled $10.2 billion in second-quarter 2019, an increase of 1.6 percent year over year. Segment EBITDA margin (non-GAAP) was 46.5 percent, including approximately 100 basis points in headwinds from the deferral of commission expense and the lease accounting standard.
• Total Verizon Business revenues were $7.8 billion, down 1.1 percent year over year, as growth in wireless services and high quality fiber products was offset by declines in legacy products.
• Verizon Business Group reported 325,000 wireless retail postpaid net additions in second-quarter 2019, consisting of 172,000 phone net additions, 90,000 tablet net additions and 63,000 other connected device additions.
• Total retail postpaid churn was 1.21 percent in second-quarter 2019, and retail postpaid phone churn was 0.97 percent.
• Segment operating income was $1.1 billion, a decrease of 2.7 percent year over year, and segment operating income margin was 13.8 percent. Segment EBITDA (non-GAAP) totaled $2.1 billion in second-quarter 2019, a decrease of 2.0 percent year over year. Segment EBITDA margin (non-GAAP) was 27.3 percent, down 20 basis points year over year due to declines in legacy wireline product revenues.

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Sprint's CAPEX amounted to $1.2 billion in Q2

Sprint reported stable wireless service revenue for Q2 2019 but said the pending merger with T-Mobile would help address on-going structural challenges with its business.

"While we delivered good results in the first quarter relative to expectations, the business still faces several structural headwinds and I remain convinced the merger with T-Mobile is the best outcome for our customers, employees, industry and all stakeholders," said Sprint CEO Michel Combes. "With the recent clearance of our merger by the Department of Justice, and the anticipated approval from the FCC, we are moving one step closer to building one of the world's most advanced 5G networks and providing American consumers a better network and overall experience at New T-Mobile." 

Sprint's total wireless service revenue for the quarter was $5.3 billion, a decline of 3 percent year-over-year. The company cited continued amortization of prepaid contract balances as a result of adopting the new revenue standard last year. Excluding this non-operational impact, total wireless service revenue would have been relatively flat year-over-year.

Sprint's quarterly network investments, or cash capital expenditures excluding leased devices, of $1.2 billion grew year-over-year for the fourth consecutive quarter as the company made continued progress on executing its Next-Gen Network plan. Sprint nearly doubled the number of Massive MIMO radios on-air during the quarter and currently has about 3,000 units deployed.

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BT posts flat Q2 revenue

BT reported Q2 revenue of £5,633m down 1% with decreases in its Consumer, Enterprise and Global divisions. Adjusted EBITDA was also down 1% at £1,958m driven by lower revenues and higher spectrum fees and content costs, partly offset by reduction in costs from restructuring and transformation programmes. The company is maintaining its financial outlook for the remainder of the year.

Philip Jansen, Chief Executive, stated "BT delivered results in line with our expectations for the quarter, with adjusted EBITDA declines in Consumer and Enterprise partly offset by growth in Global. We are on track to meet our outlook for the full year. We made good progress during the quarter, including launching the UK’s first 5G network, delivering an improvement to our group net promoter score for the twelfth consecutive quarter, announcing the first nine cities in our consolidated office footprint, and being named the major broadband universal service obligation provider for the UK."

Openreach continues FTTP rollout at c.20k premises passed per week with 267k premises passed in the quarter; 3.7m ultrafast (FTTP and Gfast) premises passed to date
Consumer fixed ARPC £37.9 flat year on year; postpaid mobile ARPC £20.7, down 4.6% on Q1 2018/19 due to the impact of regulation and lower RPI price increases
Fixed churn down to 1.3% following customer experience improvements; postpaid mobile churn remains at 1.1%

https://btplc.com/News/#/pressreleases/trading-statement-for-the-first-quarter-to-30-june-2019-2902785

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CableLabs appoints Mariam Sorond as Chief R&D Officer

CableLabs appointed Mariam Sorond as Senior Vice President and Chief Research & Development Officer, reporting to President and CEO Phil McKinney. Previously, Sorond served at DISH Network for more than 24 years, including as Chief Wireless Architect and Vice President of Technology Development. Sorond led the R&D effort for an innovative 5G network and created the next-generation network architecture, as well as spectrum technology, technology policy, standards development and the negotiation of technical agreements across government agencies and industry partnerships.

Prior to joining DISH, Sorond worked for several operators, including Nextel, ICO and PrimeCo, and vendors such as Lucent Technologies (now Nokia). She has served as a member of the NTIA's Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee since 2014.

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