Monday, May 16, 2022

U.S. kicks off $45B “Internet for All” Initiative

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina M. Raimondo kicked off the Internet for All initiative, which will invest $45 billion under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law signed by President Biden earlier this year.

The goal of the Internet for All initiative is to provide affordable, reliable, high-speed internet for everyone in America by the end of the decade. The initiative will be administered and implemented by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).

“In the 21st century, you simply cannot participate in the economy if you don’t have access to reliable, affordable high-speed internet,” said Secretary Raimondo. “Thanks to President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Americans across the country will no longer be held back by a lack of high-speed internet access. We are going to ensure every American will have access to technologies that allow them to attend class, start a small business, visit with their doctor, and participate in the modern economy.” 

The Internet for All has three Notices of Funding Opportunity: 

  • Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program ($42.5 billion);
  • Enabling Middle Mile Broadband Infrastructure Program ($1 billion); and, 
  • State Digital Equity Act programs ($1.5 billion).

To participate in the BEAD Program, states and other eligible entities must submit a letter of intent and a planning funds budget, which will unlock $5 million in planning funds and allow states to begin creating their five-year action plan. Each state will have direct support from dedicated NTIA staff through every step of the process. Each participating state is guaranteed a minimum $100 million allocation, with additional funding determinations made based on the forthcoming coverage maps from the Federal Communications Commission.  

The Enabling Middle Mile Broadband Infrastructure Program will award grants on a technology-neutral, competitive basis to eligible entities for the construction, improvement, or acquisition of middle-mile infrastructure. 

The State Digital Equity Planning Grant Program kicks off a series of Digital Equity Act steps that will invest $1.5 billion to heighten adoption and use, like digital literacy training, for those who need it most, including communities of color, rural communities, and older Americans. 

https://www.ntia.doc.gov/press-release/2022/biden-harris-administration-launches-45-billion-internet-all-initiative-bring

U.S. Infrastructure bill directs $65 billion for broadband and middle mile

The U.S. House of Representative passed and President Biden signed the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package, which includes $65 billion to expand high-speed broadband across the country.The funding will be directed at areas that are unserved or underserved in broadband availability. Grants will also be available for connectivity projects in tribal areas, and for enabling middle mile broadband infrastructure."Unserved" is currently defined...


Applications open next month for $1 billion in Middle Mile projects

Funding applications will be open from June 21, 2022 until September 30, 2022 for the $1 billion available under the Middle Mile (MM) Program, as included under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

Middle mile infrastructure broadly refers to the mid-section of Internet infrastructure connecting local broadband network to major carriers.

Grants can be used for the acquisition of facilities and equipment; tngineering design, permitting and work related to project reviews; personnel costs, incl. salaries and benefits for staff and consultants.  

Eligible entities include states and territories, tribal governments, local governments, electric utilities, etc.


https://www.internetforall.gov/program/enabling-middle-mile-broadband-infrastructure-program


NTT cites growth with Private 5G and IoT

Albemarle Corporation, a specialty chemicals company with leading positions in lithium, bromine, and refining catalysts, has selected NTT Ltd. to deploy a pilot private LTE/5G and Wi-Fi network at Albemarle’s lithium mine in Kings Mountain, North Carolina. The network will enable engineers to connect with technicians for remote site surveys and assists. Previously, it was difficult for global engineers to visit Albemarle’s site due to Covid-19 travel restrictions, which significantly impacted the process of decision making and timing. The use of private LTE/5G will enable Albemarle to enhance its hybrid working process and reduce the amount of global travel needed to operate.

“To enable collaboration and digital applications at our mining and processing sites, we require widespread, high-speed connectivity,” said Chuck Holley, Global Manager of IT Network Infrastructure, Albemarle. “A private LTE/5G network is a great way we can do this cost-effectively, and NTT was our first choice to pilot a design, prove the technology and show the value. With a private LTE/5G network, we’re able to continue to seek out innovative solutions to some of our most pressing challenges.”

“We’re incredibly proud to be partnering and consulting with Albemarle on this innovative pilot,” said Parm Sandhu, Vice President, Enterprise 5G Products and Services, NTT. “A private LTE/5G network will continue to transform business outcomes in mission-critical environments for Albemarle, and this is just the start of their journey. We look forward to working closely with the manufacturer as it continues to digitally transform its business for the future.”

In addition, Transatel - subsidiary of NTT since 2019 - announces the worldwide deployment of a new 5G IoT solution for the industrial, IT and automotive sectors. After France, Belgium and Japan, Transatel’s global 5G IoT services is now available in the USA and will be extended to the rest of the world in the coming months. The announcement follows the recent launch of NTT’s breakthrough Private 5G Network as-a-service platform.

Starting May 12, NTT will be offering both private and public 5G connectivity in the USA. This mobile broadband continuity of service will prove to be critical for many industries, as IIoT applications process an ever-growing volume of data. Public 5G service will be available through Transatel’s global cellular IoT connectivity platform.

“The Transatel SIM is already an integral part of the NTT Ltd enterprise focused Private 5G solution, giving NTT P5G customers the benefit of having a single SIM serving both their private network needs while also enabling global roaming for enterprises requiring this feature beyond factories and campuses.” said Shahid Ahmed, NTT Ltd. EVP New Ventures and Innovation. The announcement of Transatel’s 5G offer further enhances the NTT P5G offering by allowing continuous 5G coverage between private and public networks. In the past only 4G public coverage was available, thereby limiting the potential business benefit and use case development. "We are excited to launch 5G IoT in the USA and abroad. NTT’s cellular networks hybridation capabilities demonstrates the strong synergies within the group." added Jacques Bonifay, CEO of Transatel, NTT’s global MVNO.

NTT’s global MVNO offers 3G, 4G, LTE-M and now 5G networks agreements with hundreds of mobile carriers around the world.

NTT launches Private 5G Network-as-a-Service

NTT is launching a Private 5G platform (P5G) Network-as-a-Service on a globally-available basis.NTT P5G helps enterprises supplement their Wi-Fi connectivity with an integrated, private 5G network running on a cloud-native architecture. The platform can be delivered via cloud, on-premises, or at the edge. The platform is pre-integrated with leading network and software partners, allowing enterprises to secure, scale and segment their network flexibly....

Celona raises $60 million for private cellular

 Celona, a start-up based in Cupertino, California, closed a $60 million Series C financing round for its solutions aimed at bridging the gap between LTE/5G cellular wireless and enterprise IT infrastructures.Celona says that since launching its integrated 5G LAN platform in November 2020, it has seen strong demand from a range of enterprises, managed service providers and mobile network operators. The company’s customer base includes Verizon,...


IDC offers conservative growth forecast for telecom services market

Worldwide spending on Telecom Services and Pay TV Services reached $1.566 billion in 2021, an increase of 1.6% year over year, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Semiannual Telecom Services Tracker. 

  • IDC expects worldwide spending on telecom and pay TV services to increase by 1.4% in 2022 and reach a total of $1,588 billion.
  • Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) market grew 0.2 percentage points faster than forecast in October 2021 Asia/Pacific grew 0.5 percentage points faster 
  • The Americas grew 1.0 percentage points faster 

Some additional observations from IDC:

Inflation should nominally have a positive impact on this market: the operators will be increasing their tariffs, clients will be paying more, and the total value of the market should be growing faster than previously expected. However, inflation also generates a deterioration of consumers' and businesses' purchasing power, thus causing a decrease in demand. It is to be noted that the impact of inflation in the telco services market will be stretched over the next several years. This is because a high proportion of users have two-year contracts with operators that guarantee stable fees until their contracts expire. That also means that the effects of inflation will initially be higher in the markets with a higher proportion of prepaid customers.

War in Ukraine will have a negative effect on the market for communications services in EMEA. It will primarily hit the Ukrainian market, which will see a considerable decline due to destroyed network infrastructure and a huge number of people leaving the country. The Russian market will also decline as local demand will be under pressure due to the recession caused by international sanctions. On the other hand, the war will positively impact the markets of neighboring countries (Poland, Slovakia, and Romania) that are hosting large numbers of Ukrainian refugees.

In addition, the COVID-19 saga has not ended yet. The current lockdowns in China and a possible emergence of new variants of the virus in the rest of the world might bring additional impacts to the market, primarily in the business fixed data services section. Although the previous waves of COVID did not drastically affect the global market for telecom services, the related global supply-chain disruptions are already causing shortages of end-user and network equipment and thus create new concerns for supply side participants. This all contributes to IDC's conservative forecast.

https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS49090722

University of Technology Sydney builds private 5G with Nokia

Nokia and the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) are now operating a private 5G installation supporting a connected digital microbrewery. It utilizes a cloud-based digital twin of an actual brewery to optimize the brewing process.

UTS’s Industry 4.0 Nano-Brewery, is part of its new Advanced Manufacturing and Industrial Data Science testbed developed at the UTS Tech Lab. The Nano-Brewery forms part of an international production network, with an identical physical twin set up in TU Dortmund University in Germany. The 5G connected brewery captures and monitors production data at every step of the brewing process and uses this data, together with data from the physical twin in Dortmund and a digital twin in the cloud, to optimize the process.

5G connectivity is provided by Nokia’s FastMile 5G Gateways connected to a campus-wide Nokia Digital Automation Cloud 5G Standalone private wireless network. The 5G private wireless network is delivered using multiple Nokia AirScale Indoor Radio (ASiR) small cells positioned throughout the UTS Tech Lab campus. The private wireless 5G network forms part of the on-site Nokia 5G Futures Lab opened in November 2021 and is already being used to support other Industry 4.0 projects within Tech Lab such as the Australian Government-funded Nokia/UTS 5G Connected Cobots project.

Tommi Uitto, President of Mobile Networks at Nokia, said: “UTS’s Industry 4.0 facility is an exciting environment for developing and testing new 5G use cases. In the digital microbrewery, we showcase how 5G private wireless networks and cloud-based technologies help optimize the brewing process and move ever closer to achieving the perfect pint.”

https://www.nokia.com/about-us/news/releases/2022/05/15/nokia-and-university-of-technology-sydney-target-the-perfect-pint-with-worlds-first-5g-connected-microbrewery/

Romania's GTS Telecom taps Ciena for network upgrade

GTS Telecom, an information technology and communications service provider in Romania and member of Deutsche Telekom AG, will deploy Ciena’s 6500 Packet-Optical Platforms and flexible grid ROADMs tp upgrade its national network from 10G to 100G. GTS will use WaveLogic Encryption for customers in the public sector who require enhanced security. GTS is also leveraging Ciena Services for remote service migration and commissioning.

“It was vital to us that our customers could benefit from high-performance connectivity across the country, and Ciena made it possible for us to make good on this aim,” said Răzvan Stoica, Managing Director at GTS Telecom. “The network provides improved scalability, security, capacity and low latency to support the growing high-bandwidth requirements of our customers. It’s also a real benefit to be able to increase capacity quickly going forward, to meet future demands.”

Virginie Hollebecque, Vice President and Leader of EMEA at Ciena, added: “GTS Telecom is seeing exponential growth in the demand for capacity across Romania. We designed a network that allows GTS to meet customers’ immediate and future needs, while also enhancing performance and security to support an increasing number of customers and use cases.”



OneWeb reaches deal with Telefónica

OneWeb and Telefónica Global Solutions (TGS), the subsidiary of global telecommunications company Telefónica that manages the international Wholesale, Global Roaming, Multinationals and USA businesses, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to improve connectivity services across Europe and Latin America. 

OneWeb’s low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite service will complement Telefónica’s existing offering in Europe and Latin America, enabling Telefónica to reach remote regions that they have not previously been able to serve. TGS will offer its expertise to promote and supply OneWeb’s low latency cellular backhaul services that can be deployed to help improve existing backhaul and support network upgrades to 4G/5G, while also providing backhaul backup for critical sites and infill capacity for special events. Where backhaul does not currently exist, OneWeb’s service will help expand Telefónica’s mobile coverage and extend enterprise connectivity. 

OneWeb’s Chief Executive Officer, Neil Masterson, said “This arrangement is fantastic news for communities across Europe and Latin America, who will benefit from better and enhanced network coverage. OneWeb believes that our unique network has a crucial role to play in providing connectivity for the hardest-to-reach areas globally, so we look forward to working with Telefónica to deliver enhanced internet performance and availability to customers.”