Sunday, October 2, 2022

GSMA Post-Quantum Telco Network Taskforce gets underway

A new GSMA Post-Quantum Telco Network Taskforce has been established with a mission to help define policy, regulation and operator business processes for the enhanced protection of telecommunications in a future of advanced quantum computing. Organizers believe that without quantum-safe controls in place, sensitive information such as confidential business information and consumer data could be at risk from attackers who harvest present-day data for later decryption. 

IBM and Vodafone are initial members.

“The GSMA Taskforce’s goal is to bring together leading global communication services providers with experts from IBM, Vodafone and other operators and ecosystem partners to understand and implement quantum-safe technology. By working together to establish consistent policies, we can define quantum-safe approaches that protect critical infrastructure and customer data, complementing our ongoing security efforts to increase resiliency in future networks,” said Alex Sinclair, the GSMA’s Chief Technology Officer.

To address the challenges presented by emerging quantum technology, the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announced in July 2022 that it had chosen the first four post-quantum cryptography algorithms to be standardised for cybersecurity in the quantum computing era. These algorithms are designed to rely on the computational difficulty of problems from the mathematical areas of lattices, isogenies, hash functions and multivariate equations — and protect today’s systems and data from future quantum computers.

IBM, a leader in cryptography and pioneer in quantum technology – with the world’s largest fleet of cloud-accessible quantum computers – contributed to the development of three of NIST’s four chosen post-quantum algorithms.

https://www.gsma.com/newsroom/press-release/gsma-ibm-and-vodafone-establish-post-quantum-telco-network-taskforce/

IQM and QphoX to develop optical interface for quantum computers

IQM Quantum Computers is collaborating with QphoX, a start-up based in The Netherlands, to  develop an optical interface for scaling quantum computers.IQM provides on-premises quantum computers for supercomputing data centres and research labs and offers full access to its hardware. IQM delivers these machines as a full-stack system integrator with its own quantum processors using superconducting qubits.QphoX specializes in photon wavelength...


Ericsson and O2 Telefónica demo 5G microwave backhaul at 10 Gbps

Ericsson and O2 Telefónica demonstrated 5G wireless backhaul at speeds of up to 10 Gbps over a distance of more than 10km.

Ericsson said the demo showed that microwave backhaul over traditional bands can support the continued build-out of high-performing 5G networks and enhanced mobile broadband services from urban to suburban and rural areas – one of the key challenges facing communications service providers in scaling up their 5G deployment.

“We deliver fast mobile 5G connections to millions of customers across Germany. Bringing digitalization to suburban and rural areas through mobile connectivity and fast 5G network rollout has therefore priority for us,” says Aysenur Senyer, Director of Transport Networks at O2 Telefónica.

“Together with our partner Ericsson, we are pioneering new powerful microwave solutions using Carrier Aggregation and MIMO technology to backhaul 5G traffic over long distances in rural areas, when fiber is not an option. This type of technology enables us to deliver fiber-like connectivity via microwave and further accelerate our 5G deployment.”

https://www.ericsson.com/en/news/2022/9/ericsson-and-o2-telefonica-demo-5g-wireless-backhaul-for-non-urban-areas

Mavenir now runs on Google Cloud

Mavenir's cloud-native 5G solutions will now be available with public cloud infrastructure on Google Cloud.

The company has previously announced integration on AWS.

Mavenir said this collaboration demonstrates true cloud-native Open RAN products in production deployment on Google Distributed Cloud. Open RAN technology separates software from hardware, meaning more flexibility for mobile operators and customers. The Open RAN approach will see many companies providing the components that make up a mobile network site, where previously one vendor would have delivered a closed solution.

Validation of Mavenir’s Open RAN product in Google Cloud allows CSPs to deploy Mavenir’s 5G Open RAN products with Google Distributed Cloud Edge, global infrastructure and state-of-the-art unified container platform Anthos. The fully containerized Distributed Units (DUs) and Central Units (CUs) software run on Google Distributed Cloud Edge, enabled by Anthos, and Mavenir’s Webscale Telco PaaS to deliver ORAN-compliant RAN networks. Validation testing includes end-to-end UE calls with other simulated 5G network components. The critical DU components are incorporated with Google Distributed Cloud Edge’s new OS and RT kernel.

“Working with Google Distributed Cloud Edge enables us to bring innovative 5G products to a broader customer base at faster pace with unique capabilities to realize true 5G potential leveraging strength within the Mavenir portfolio,” said Bejoy Pankajakshan, Mavenir’s Chief Technology & Strategy Officer. “Mavenir’s 5G solutions are proven to support full public cloud as well as hybrid cloud deployments.”

“We’re delighted to collaborate with Mavenir to offer Open RAN solutions for 5G networks,” said Amol Phadke, GM: Global Telecom Industry, Google Cloud. “Combining Mavenir’s expertise in Open RAN, 5G core, and IMS with Google Distributed Cloud Edge and global infrastructure, we look forward to providing cloud-native solutions that improve agility, scale, slicing, and resiliency for our CSP customers.”

https://www.mavenir.com/press-releases/mavenir-to-deliver-cloud-based-5g-solutions-on-google-cloud/

Mavenir now offers its Converged Packet Core on AWS

Mavenir announced support for deployments and integration of cloud-native telecom network functions with telco infrastructure solutions on Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS).Mavenir's 5G solutions on AWS include its Converged Packet Core, IMS, Messaging, Orchestration, AI and Telco Analytics and Open RAN products.“The collaboration with Mavenir and AWS allows us to build out our 5G network and messaging platforms in a true cloud-native manner, harnessing...

Telefónica builds cloud native IoT with Mavenir packet core and AWS

Telefónica is preparing to launch a managed IoT connectivity service based Mavenir’s packet core solution and AWS’s cloud infrastructure. Mavenir's cloud native functions will be hosted in AWS. Mavenir said the use of the cloud enables advanced, new functionalities for end users that were not previously possible: local data processing/storage, direct connectivity to other cloud services, and global low latency. The new service is managed...


FCC: Florida cell sites recover from Hurricane Ian

A total of 444 cell sites remained out-of-service in Florida as of 02-October-2022, representing 5.5% of the state's cell sites. The down significantly from the peak of 1,552 cell sites out of commission on Thursday.

Cable and wireline companies reported the following number of subscribers out of service by state in the disaster area; this may include the loss of telephone, television, and/or Internet services:

Florida: 606,553 

South Carolina: 9,845

https://www.fcc.gov

Ericsson to supply 5G FWA in Greenland

Ericsson is expanding its partnership with Tusass for the joint vision of a wireless Greenland. The partnership started in 2017 with a complete modernization of the mobile network while simultaneously adding high-quality 4G services across all populated areas in Greenland.

Now non-standalone (NSA) Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) 5G will be rolled out in Sisimiut, Maniitsoq, and Narsaq, before it is realized in several places in the rest of the country.

Tusass’ CEO Kristian Reinert Davidsen says: “By deploying 5G we will touch the daily life of all Greenlanders. Mobile connections are extremely important in the Arctics and to many families and households in Greenland it is the only line of contact.” 

Jenny Lindqvist, Head of Northern and Central Europe, Ericsson says: “With our resilient 5G technology, the people of Greenland will be able to connect over vast distances, bringing people closer to each other and to the rest of the world. From a broad perspective, this partnership serves the digitalization of Greenland, from enabling use cases for control of critical infrastructure and remote devices to bringing new entertainment services for the people. Regardless of how challenging the project is or extreme the weather conditions, Ericsson remains committed to create a wireless Greenland together with Tusass.” 

  • TELE Greenland A/S was rebranded as Tusass in 2021. Tusass is Greenlandic slang for "talk to you later".

TELE Greenland rules out Huawei for 5G

TELE Greenland said in a statement that it has ruled out Huawei as a supplier for a future 5G rollout. Currently, the carrier has some Huawei gear in its network, although Ericsson is the principal supplier of its 4G network. TELE Greenland is able to provide mobile broadband to 92% of the population. The population of Greenland is approximately 56,000. https://telepost.gl/da/nyheder/tele-greenland-as-om-4g-mobile-first-og-5g-i-groenland Subsea...

Subsea connectivity restored to northern Greenland

Following repairs to a subsea cable linking Greenland and Canada, connectivity has been restored to customers north of the town of Sisimiut. The population of South Greenland will have to wait for another 15-20 days before the southern branch of the damaged subsea cable is repaired. Greenland is an autonomous territory of Denmark with a population of about 56,000, most of whom live along fjords in the southwest. TELE-POST is the service provider...


Nokia deploys IP/MPLS for Poland’s nationwide TV network

Nokia, in collaboration with Emitel and Oscilloquartz, completed the deployment of Poland’s most advanced IP transport and synchronization network for the nationwide coverage of digital TV broadcast services. 

The IP/MPLS network supports the nationwide infrastructure for Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) and multimedia distribution. Digital Terrestrial Television (DVB-T2) is the primary TV source for over 13 million Polish viewers. This transport network, comprising over 500 Nokia IP/MPLS routers across 300 locations and more than 130 advanced Primary Reference Timing Clocks by Oscilloquartz simultaneously with other infrastructure and network elements, is one of the most advanced IP/MPLS transport networks supporting time synchronization distribution in Europe today.

The strategic decision by the Polish government and regulators to upgrade all broadcast systems to the new DVB-T2 standard required upgrading the transport network in order to increase capacity, support new applications, and ensure very high synchronization accuracy and resilience, providing viewers with consistently excellent sound and video quality. Since DVB-T2 broadcasting involves very stringent time synchronization requirements, the transport network plays a key role in ensuring network time synchronization with sub-microsecond accuracy for each DVB-T2 transmitter, protecting against signal interference and spoofing.

Marcin Guzy, Customer Team Head Poland at Nokia, said: “We are very excited to be a part of this project, bringing next-generation TV services to millions of households in Poland. This was one of the most technically advanced projects we have deployed recently. Thanks to the professionalism of the Emitel, Nokia and Oscilloquartz teams, we have proven that even the most complex network infrastructure can be put into operation within one year.”

https://www.nokia.com/about-us/news/releases/2022/09/29/nokia-deploys-state-of-the-art-network-to-support-polands-nationwide-tv-broadcasting-infrastructure/

Mavenir offers 2G, 4G and 5G Open RAN radios made-in-India

Mavenir commenced the production of 2G, 4G and 5G Open RAN Radios for the OpenBeam portfolio in India, for Indian and other prominent worldwide bands.

The OpenBeam portfolio includes massive MIMO, mmWave and multi-band remote radio heads (RRHs). The OpenBeam Open RAN radio solutions are available across all frequency bands and can be used for a wide range of use cases, including enterprises and public settings across urban or rural environments.

“Our manufacturing partner network is very well positioned for the sustainable and rapid scaling of Open RAN volumes and made in India requirements. With these new production sites coming online, we have reached another important milestone in our strategy to expand and evolve the Open RAN ecosystem”, said Ramnik Kamo, EVP, CIO and CPO of Mavenir.


STL develops multicore fibre and cable in India

STL introduced a line of multicore fibre and cable products developed at its Centre of Excellence in Maharashtra, India.

STL's Multiverse leverages Space Division Multiplexing to gain 4X transmission capacity per fibre, within the same diameter.

Speaking at the launch, Randeep Sekhon, CTO, Bharti Airtel, said: "I am excited to see this optical fibre innovation from a homegrown company. STL's Multiverse fibre and cable will enable 4X capacity and play a vital role in 5G scale-up. I wish STL all the very best for their efforts towards supporting network build outs."

https://www.stl.tech/