Blueprint column: Rise of cognitive self-organizing networks

by Yatin Dharamshi, Head of Digital Operations - Orchestration and Fulfilment Engineering, NokiaFor many communications service providers (CSPs), self-organizing networks (SON) have been the golden key to efficiently configure and optimize booming mobile networks with closed-loop automation. SON has brought tremendous value for earlier-generation mobile technologies. And if they were not already essential back then, they are undoubtedly going to...

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Microsoft outlines Azure for Operators service stack

In September 2020, Microsoft announced its Azure for Operators initiative promising to offer core infrastructure to both fixed and mobile network operators.Microsoft Azure for Operators is built on the company's recent acquisition of Affirmed Networks and Metaswitch, as well as on its development of Azure Edge Zones, which are local extensions of Azure, deployed with carriers or as private infrastructure.In a blog post, Yousef Khalidi Corporate Vice...

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Microsoft Azure enhances its global CDN

Microsoft is consolidating the capabilities of Azure Front Door, Azure Content Delivery Network (CDN) standard, and Azure Web Application Firewall (WAF) into a single secure cloud CDN platform with intelligent threat protection and a simplified pricing model.Azure Front Door standard is a content delivery service that offers both static and dynamic content acceleration, global load balancing, SSL offload, domain and certificate management, enhanced...

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Google Cloud improves VMware Engine for migrating from on-premise to cloud

Google Cloud released a series of improvements to its VMware Engine, which lets user migrate  VMware workloads from on-premises data centers directly into Google Cloud. New features include:Improved networking support: Multi-region networking, connectivity from multiple VPCs, Cloud DNS for management across global deployments, end-to-end dynamic routing, and support for reserved blocks as well as non-private addresses.Improved scalability and...

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FCC seeks expedited removal of Huawei and ZTE gear

Seeking to expedite the removal of equipment from Huawei and FCC from U.S. communications neteworks, the FCC is looking to modify its Secure and Trusted Network Reimbursement Program rules to align with the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, which appropriated $1.895 billion to remove, replace, and dispose of communications equipment and services that pose a national security threat. The FCC is seeking to raise the cap on eligibility for...

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A1 Austria awards 5G radio and core contract to Nokia

A1 Austria awarded a multi-year contract to Nokia to provide comprehensive 5G coverage across the country. Nokia will supply 5G radio access and core network services with its AirScale portfolio including 5G RAN, AirScale base stations, and Nokia AirScale radio access products. Financial terms were not disclosed.The deployment of products and services is underway with the core element expected to be rolled out in the first half of 2021. FinA1 will...

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