Deutsche Telekom activates its Access 4.0 FTTH/B platform

Deutsche Telekom confirmed the commercial activation of its new Access 4.0 platform, a network service activation and management system based on open, disaggregated, and microservices technologies.

The first customer started using an FTTH line in Stuttgart via the new 4.0 platform just before Christmas. 

"Deutsche Telekom is reaching an important milestone in its transformation into a software-based telecommunications provider," explains Walter Goldenits, CTO Telekom Deutschland, adding, "We are thus consistently shaping the path taken by the industry toward solutions based on open and disaggregated components in the fixed network area as well."

Deutsche Telekom said its Access 4.0 is primarily tailored to Internet access for FTTH/B, but that the A4 platform should in future be able to support other applications at the network edge, especially in the 5G and Open RAN environment. The next step will see the project team focus on honing the platform for rollout in other regions.

Deutsche Telekom said its A4 team holds key roles in international collaborative projects such as the Broadband Forum (BBF), the Open Networking Foundation (ONF), the Open Compute Project (OC), and the Telecom Infrastructure Project (TIP). A strong team at Deutsche Telekom together with their partners, RtBrick, Reply, Broadcom, Adtran, Siticom, BISDN, Radisys, OneIT, Fibre Industries, and the Open Networking Foundation (ONF), are driving the philosophy of disaggregation and softwarization. The combination of open interfaces and innovative microservices creates more flexibility allowing Deutsche Telekom to roll out services faster on their customers’ premises.

https://www.telekom.com/en/media/media-information/archive/deutsche-telekom-s-access-4-0-platform-goes-live-615974

Deutsche Telekom selects ADTRAN's OLT for Access 4.0 network

Wednesday, April 29, 2020  ADTRAN, Deutsche Telekom, DT, SEBA  

Deutsche Telekom has selected ADTRAN’s SDX OLT solutions for deployment as part of its new Access 4.0 network, as well as to be deployed in its existing architectures along with ADTRAN’s SDN-enabled management system, Mosaic Cloud Platform.

As part of this partnership, Deutsche Telekom and ADTRAN have aligned joint developments for the Access 4.0 project, based on principles defined by the Open Networking Foundation’s SDN-Enabled Broadband Access (SEBA) reference architecture.

DT's Access 4.0 network is integrating SDN, disaggregated hardware components and network functions virtualization (NFV) technologies in an open ecosystem to gain flexibility while lowering overall deployment costs. In the first phase, Access 4.0 will focus on DT’s fiber access network that can scale to support a mix of residential, enterprise and backhaul services.

ADTRAN’s SDX OLT solutions integrate into Access 4.0’s SEBA-based architecture to provide carrier-grade GPON and XGS-PON service delivery in an open ecosystem.

ONF publishes SEBA, Trellis and ODTN reference designs

Thursday, April 04, 2019  ONF  

The Open Networking Foundation (ONF) released its first three Reference Designs (RD’s): SEBA, Trellis and ODTN. Each of these reference designs are backed by network operators and supported by supply chain partners. The reference designs are paired with an open source Exemplar Platform (EP).  Both the RD and EP proceed in parallel, and RDs are not released unless a paired EP is available to prove out the architecture and accelerate adoption.  Virtualized...

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Deutsche Telekom's Access 4.0 rethinks broadband access

Sunday, December 09, 2018  Deutsche Telekom, ONF  

Deutsche Telekom's Access 4.0 program rethinks broadband access in the context of the ONF's SEBA project, edge clouds, and FTTH/B. Presented by Robert Soukup, Program Manager. The project aims to lower OPEX by reaping the benefits of automation, breaking vendor lock-in, and accelerating time to market. 2019 will be decisive for Access 4.0, as the company plans limited field trials. https://youtu.be/9HpWuPg_...

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Deutsche Telekom and Telefónica / o2 to share infrastucture

 Deutsche Telekom and Telefónica / o2 agreed to share certain active network infrastructure to overcome "gray spots" in 4G coverage in Germany. The companies expect this sharing to cover  several hundred antenna sites in Germany before the end of the year.

Unlike previous joint projects, such as site sharing, no second separate wireless technology or additional antennas must be installed with this approach.

“Joint projects like this are becoming increasingly important to network build-out – in both broadband and mobile communication. Together with Telefónica / o2 we can make an important contribution to providing better, uninterrupted LTE coverage in Germany,” said Srini Gopalan, Managing Director of Telekom Deutschland. “We're teaming up with our competition to ensure that even more people in Germany can use a better network. This agreement further attests to our conviction that digitalizing Germany works best through cooperation.”

German carriers collaborate on 6,000 new cell sites

Monday, November 11, 2019  Deutsche Telekom  

Deutsche Telekom, Telefónica Deutschland, and Vodafone are joining forces to set-up and operate up to 6,000 new cell sites. 1&1 Drillisch AG has been invited to participate in this network expansion collaboration.

Following a total investment of around 6.5 billion euros for the auction of the new spectrum licenses in summer 2019, the agreed cooperation serves to largely close white spots in sparsely populated regions and along traffic routes in an economically viable way. 

"The planned collaboration is a milestone for network expansion in Germany”, states Telekom Deutschland’s Managing Director Dirk Wössner and adds,  “Our common goal is to eliminate coverage gaps in the mobile network as soon as possible. Sharing infrastructure is nothing new for us. Sharing it at this scale, however, is a major step in the right direction. After all, high-speed internet and excellent voice quality on road, rail and water are vital for an industrial country like Germany that relies on mobile communications”.

“Mobile communications will be the most important technology in the coming decade. And we are pooling our resources to put Germany in an ideal position”, says Markus Haas, CEO of Telefónica Deutschland, and elaborates, “This collaboration is an outstanding example of intelligent cooperation towards taking the next logical step. We must join forces if we are to consolidate Germany’s position as a leading business location that is ready to take on future challenges. Together, we will take digital transformation in Germany to the next level”.

“Today, we are forging an alliance to combat dead spots and increase mobile communications coverage even in areas where it is not profitable”, explains Vodafone Deutschland CEO Hannes Ametsreiter, adding, “In future, hundreds of thousands will benefit from this – people in small rural communities, people on roads, people traveling by train. Together, we operators will construct and share a common infrastructure in dead spots – and of course continue to be rivals in a competitive infrastructure market in the rest of the country. This is good for the network, good for customers and good for Germany’s digital future”.

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Deutsche Telekom and Cellnex to combine Dutch tower portfolios

 Deutsche Telekom and Cellnex Telecom will merge their respective Dutch mobile communications infrastructure companies into Cellnex Netherlands BV (Cellnex NL). Both companies will also become anchor investors in the newly established and independently managed Digital Infrastructure Vehicle (DIV), an investment fund focused on European digital infrastructure.

• Deutsche Telekom operates its Dutch telecommunications tower business in T-Mobile Infra BV, with ca. 3,150 towers and rooftop sites. 
• The business of Cellnex NL, a subsidiary of Cellnex, comprises 984 cell sites. 

The enlarged company, with ca. 4,310 sites including planned new build of 180 sites, will be the largest independent cell mobile tower company in the Netherlands.

T-Mobile Netherlands will continue to have full access to the contributed infrastructure through a long-term service agreement at arm’s length.

In a first step Deutsche Telekom is transferring T-Mobile Infra to the newly established and independently managed fund Digital Infrastructure Vehicle (DIV). 

Deutsche Telekom will receive a EUR 250 million cash payment out of the transaction and a shareholding in DIV in exchange for the T-Mobile Infra business. This translates into a capital commitment of Deutsche Telekom of ca. EUR 400 million to the fund. Cellnex has also agreed, as part of the transaction, to commit EUR 200 million of capital to DIV.

In a second step, DIV will contribute the received T-Mobile Infra business to Cellnex NL. In return, DIV receives approximately 38 percent economic interest in Cellnex NL.

In addition to the anchor investors Deutsche Telekom and Cellnex, DIV will be open to institutional investors. Deutsche Telekom intends to hold a limited partner stake of around 25 percent in the fund after the envisaged third-party investments.

"DIV is a newly established and independently managed fund that will identify and promote exceptional digital infrastructure projects in partnership with Europe's leading telecommunications group and the leading tower company”, said Vicente Vento. “We have an exciting pipeline of projects. Our focus will be on investments that offer attractive risk adjusted returns to investors by bringing together a lean and disciplined investment approach with the strengths of our corporate partners.”

https://www.telekom.com/en/media/media-information/archive/combine-tower-business-in-the-netherlands-616306

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Verizon deploys Samsung’s virtualized 5G RAN

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. confirmed that Verizon has now commercially deployed its vRAN 2.0 solutions.

The deployment included Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS) technology in Verizon’s 5G Nationwide network – enabling 5G and 4G LTE to work simultaneously in the same spectrum band.

Samsung said its fully virtualized 5G RAN solution takes all of the radio network functions that can be software-enabled and breaks them down into a virtualized Central Unit (vCU) and Distributed Unit (vDU), as well as a range of radio units. 5G vRAN, with its cloud-native, container-based architecture, replaces dedicated baseband hardware with software elements that can be operated on Common Off-The-Shelf (COTS) servers, an advancement over static, hardware-bound networks.

“We are committed to providing reliable, secure, and flexible network solutions that deliver the power of 5G around the world,” said Magnus Ojert, Vice President, Networks Division, Samsung Electronics America. “We believe vRAN’s next phase of innovation will accelerate what’s possible for society and look forward to collaborating with an industry-leader like Verizon to make 5G a reality for millions in 2021.”

“Verizon is committed to delivering the most advanced technology in the industry for our customers,” said Bill Stone, Vice President of Planning and Technology for Verizon. “We continue to push the boundaries of innovation in 5G, and deploying virtualization into our network from the core to the far edge is yet another way we are making our network more scalable and programmable to deliver the many promises of 5G.”

Samsung has also just posted a white paper on DSS.

https://news.samsung.com/us/samsung-expands-5g-technology-leadership-with-fully-virtualized-commercial-5g-ran/

Samsung wins huge 5G contract with Verizon

Monday, September 07, 2020  Samsung, Verizon  

Samsung Electronics America has won a contract valued at approximately US$6.6 billion (7.9 trillion won) to supply network infrastructure to Verizon. The announcement was made in a financial disclosure posted by Samsung in Korea. The contract runs through 2025.

The contract is likely the largest 5G infrastructure deal to date for Samsung and likely comes as a loss to one of Verizon's European suppliers.

http://dart.fss.or.kr/dsaf001/main.do?rcpNo=20200907800091

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Intel posts Q4 revenue of $20 billion, exceeding guidance

Intel reported Q4 2020 revenue of $20.0 billion, exceeding October guidance by $2.6 billion and down 1 percent year-over-year (YoY). Full-year revenue set an all-time Intel record of $77.9 billion, up 8 percent YoY. Earnings per share (EPS) amounted to $1.42 ($1.52 on a non-GAAP basis, exceeding October guidance by 42 cents).

“We significantly exceeded our expectations for the quarter, capping off our fifth consecutive record year,” said Bob Swan, Intel CEO. “Demand for the computing performance Intel delivers remains very strong and our focus on growth opportunities is paying off. It has been an honor to lead this wonderful company, and I am proud of what we have achieved as a team. Intel is in a strong strategic and financial position as we make this leadership transition and take Intel to the next level.”

Q4'20 Business Highlights

• Started production of 10nm-based 3rd Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors (“Ice Lake”), ramping in Q1.
• Launched 11th Gen Intel Core processors ("Tiger Lake"); announced 11th Gen Intel Core™ S-Series desktop processors ("Rocket Lake"), now shipping.
• Entered discrete graphics market with Intel Iris Xe MAX graphics, Intel’s first Xe-based discrete GPU.
• Announced Amazon Web Services selected Intel's Habana Gaudi AI processors for EC2 training.
• Delivered gold release of Intel oneAPI developer toolkit.
• Announced expanded network infrastructure solutions portfolio.
• Introduced new Intel Optane SSD series and 3rd gen Intel Optane persistent memory “Crow Pass” for enterprise and cloud customers.

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Edgecore releases TIP-compliant Disaggregated Cell Site Gateway

Edgecore Networks announced the general availability of its AS5915-18X Disaggregated Cell Site Gateway (DCSG), an entry-level compact, temperature hardened router optimized for communication service providers and mobile network operators upgrading capacity in brownfield transport networks.

The AS5915-18X supports a flexible mix of 1G and 10 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) ports for existing base stations for mobile backhaul in the transport network. The AS5915-18X provides support for Sync-E and IEEE1588v2 PTP, and the flexible design allows for the support of multiple vendor’s PTP stack.

The new platform is based on the Telecom Infra Project (TIP) DCSG requirements document and is the result of Edgecore’s active participation in the TIP Open Optical & Packet Transport group. Edgecore’s other DCSG platforms have been contributed and accepted by TIP and the Open Compute Project (OCP).

“As a provider of open network solutions to tier one operator worldwide, and the leading contributor to OCP, ONF, and TIP open communities, Edgecore Networks fully understands operator’s requirement to reduce the cost of network deployments while moving toward a more consistent and open infrastructure across mobile broadband and transport networks. The availability of the new entry-level cell site gateway will speed up brownfield deployments quickly increasing network capacity,” said Matt Roman, VP of Product Management and Marketing, Edgecore Networks.

https://www.edge-core.com/productsList.php?cls=291&cls2=342

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Telstra tests record 5Gbps download with Ericsson, Qualcomm

 Telstra achieved a new 5G maximum download speed record on a commercial network of 5Gbps for a single user in tests over its commercial production network. The previous record was 4.2 Gbps.

The 5G NR data call was performed at the 5G Innovation Centre on the Gold Coast using the commercial production network.

The tests used the Ericsson Radio System complete base station for millimeter wave (mmWave), the Streetmacro 6701. The throughput was achieved via NR carrier aggregation (CA) of eight 100MHz n257 mmWave carriers combined with LTE CA of two 20MHz Band 7 carriers – in total 840MHz spectrum was used for single user. The device used was a smartphone form factor mobile test device, powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon X60 5G Modem-RF System with 3rd generation Qualcomm QTM535 mmWave antenna modules.

Nikos Katinakis, group executive networks and IT, Telstra says, “We’re pleased to have yet again increased our existing network peak speed record as we deploy 5G and ready ourselves for this year’s upcoming mmWave spectrum auction. In an era of increased demand for flawless connectivity, it gives us great pleasure to provide our customers with enhanced network capabilities such as the use of mmWave and our other spectrum assets.”

Emilio Romeo, head, Ericsson Australia and New Zealand says, “Since achieving a world-first milestone with the 2Gbps LTE technology back in 2018, we have worked tirelessly with Telstra and Qualcomm Technologies to consistently innovate and provide Australians with the best 5G technology. This announcement today is a testament to that dedication, and we look forward to seeing Australians reap the benefits as we move into 2021.”

Durga Malladi, senior vice president and general manager, 4G/5G, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. says, “We are proud to have been a part of this significant mmWave milestone of reaching download speeds of 5 Gbps. 5G mmWave will enable many new use cases for consumers and businesses as well as enable many of today’s mobile devices to take advantage of its enhanced network capacity, multi-gigabit speeds and low latency. We look forward to our close, ongoing collaboration with Telstra and Ericsson in driving commercial 5G mmWave in Australia in 2021.”

Verizon, Ericsson and Qualcomm hit 5.06 Gbps

Tuesday, October 20, 2020  5G, Ericsson, Qualcomm, Verizon  

Verizon, Ericsson and Qualcomm Technologies demonstrated 5G peak speeds of 5.06 Gbps using 5G mmWave spectrum with carrier aggregation.The demonstration, completed in a lab environment, used 5G infrastructure equipment from the Ericsson Radio System portfolio and a 5G smartphone form factor test device powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon X60 5G Modem-RF System featuring 3rd-generation Qualcomm QTM535 mmWave antenna modules.  The set-up used...

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Biden names Jessica Rosenworcel as Acting Chairwoman of FCC

 President Biden named Jessica Rosenworcel to serve as acting chair or the FCC until an official chair is confirmed by the Senate.

Rosenworcel was first appointed as an FCC Commissioner by President Obama. She replaced long-term FCC Commissioner Michael Copps when his term ended in December 2011. She previously was the Senior Communications Counsel for the United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Before that, she worked for Senator Jay Rockefeller IV, and at the FCC from 1999 to 2007, serving as Legal Advisor and then Senior Legal Advisor to Commissioner Michael J. Copps (2003-2007), Legal Counsel to the Bureau Chief of the Wireline Competition Bureau (2002-2003), and as an Attorney-Advisor in the Policy Division of the Common Carrier Bureau (1999-2002). She holds a B.A. from Wesleyan University and a J.D. from New York University School of Law. 

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Sweden completes auction of 3.5 GHz and 2.3 GHz bands

Sweden completed its auction of the 3.5 GHz and 2.3 GHz bands. Three bidders won licenses in the 3.5 GHz band and one bidder won the entire 2.3 GHz band. 

The total auction proceeds amount to SEK 2,317,000,006 (approximately US$279 million). 

https://www.pts.se/en/news/press-releases/2021/the-auctions-in-the-3.5-ghz-and-2.3-ghz-bands-are-concluded/

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