Verizon delivers managed Private Wireless for NFL

Verizon Business announced a five-year partnership deal with the National Football League (NFL) to deliver a Managed Private Wireless Solution across each of the 30 U.S. NFL stadiums. 

This solution includes full support for coach-to-coach communications on the field .

Verizon said its Managed Private Wireless solution was successfully piloted during all five international NFL games this season spanning across the UK, Germany and Mexico. This included deployment and management of the private wireless technology, testing and coordination and in-game operational support.

“In an NFL game, every moment matters – seconds matter – as the margin between winning and losing is miniscule. The backbone of world-class play on-the-field is communication,” said Sowmyanarayan Sampath, CEO, Verizon Business. “The NFL understands and leans into the power of innovation and technology and this Managed Private Wireless solution deployment is a testament to how the NFL uses the latest technology for the game.”

Verizon will showcase this solution in a 30-second commercial spot “Next Season Starts Now,” slated to air immediately following the Super Bowl LVII broadcast on Feb. 12. 

This solution is part of the broader Verizon Business Connected Venue approach, which is rooted in its 5G investment in more than 75 large public venues in the United States, including some of the most iconic major sports and music venues. 

https://www.verizon.com/about/news/verizon-named-nfls-official-private-wireless-network

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Dell'Oro: Private Wireless projections revised downward again

Private wireless is not materializing as fast as initially expected, leading Dell'Oro Group to again revise its projections downward. This time the primary source is the traditional wide-area private wireless segments. On the bright side, private small cell RAN revenue projections remain on track to surpass $1 B by 2027.

"Even with revenues coming in below expectations, our long-term position remains unchanged – we still firmly believe that private wireless is a massive opportunity," said Stefan Pongratz, Vice President at Dell'Oro Group. "At the same time, market opportunity is not the same as a forecast and given the current progress, it will clearly take some time for the private wireless market to reach its full potential.  In fact, our current forecast is for private wireless to reach roughly 10 percent of its potential by 2027," continued Pongratz.

Additional highlights from the Private Wireless Advanced Research Report:

• Total private wireless RAN revenues – including wide-area (traditional and new) and small cells – are projected to grow at a 24 percent CAGR between 2022 and 2027. For reference, public RAN (Total RAN minus private RAN) is projected to decline at a 2 percent CAGR over the same time period.
• 5G is dominating in China while LTE is currently dominating outside of China – 5G NR is projected to surpass LTE by 2026.
• Preliminary findings suggest the largest public RAN suppliers, including Huawei, Ericsson, and Nokia, are well positioned in this initial private LTE/5G phase. Meanwhile, enterprises and operators appear more willing to try out non-traditional RAN suppliers in some private wireless settings.
• Risks are broadly balanced. On the upside, the 5G enterprise puzzle has still not been completely solved. The successful launch of private 5G services by suppliers with strong enterprise channels and/or the successful introduction of a new device could accelerate the demand for 5G in the enterprise. On the downside, 5G awareness is improving but it will take some time for enterprises to fully understand the value of private LTE/5G. Pricing also needs to evolve as the competitive landscape for turnkey solutions improve – some of the price points we see right now for 3- and 5-year leases run the risk of squelching penetration, especially in the mid-market Wi-Fi like segment. 

https://www.delloro.com/news/private-wireless-projections-revised-downward-again/

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Qualcomm debuts 5G NR-Light modem

Qualcomm introduced its Snapdragon® X35 5G Modem-RF System, the first 5G NR-Light modem-RF system design for the gap in between high-speed mobile broadband devices and extremely low-bandwidth NB-IoT devices. 

NR-Light is targeted at 5G peripherals, including wearables, requiring long battery life.

In addition to Snapdragon X35, Qualcomm Technologies also announced Snapdragon X32 5G Modem-RF System, a modem-to-antenna solution built to lower complexity and fuel cost-efficient NR-Light devices.

Qualcomm claims 200 Mbps down and up to 100 Mbps up.

“Snapdragon X35 brings together key 5G breakthroughs expected from the world’s leading wireless innovator,” said Durga Malladi, senior vice president and general manager, cellular modems and infrastructure, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “The world’s first 5G NR-Light modem features a cost-effective, streamlined design with leading power efficiency, optimized thermal, and reduced footprint. Snapdragon X35 is poised to power the next wave of connected intelligent edge devices and empower a wide spectrum of uses. We look forward to working with industry leaders to unleash what’s possible with a unified 5G platform.”

https://www.qualcomm.com/news/releases/2023/02/qualcomm-introduces-the-world-s-first-5g-nr-light-modem-rf-system

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Dell'Oro: Campus switch sales to approach $100B over 4 years

Nearly $100 billion will be spent on campus switches over the next five years, according to Dell'Oro Group, which is now forecasting a “digestion period” in 2024, followed by a quick recovery and long-term growth.

“Despite rising concerns about the challenging macroeconomic environment and a tough comparison with the prior year, we expect campus switch sales to continue to grow in 2023, reaching a record revenue level by year-end,” said Sameh Boujelbene, Vice President at Dell’Oro Group. “ Extraordinary levels of backlogs and rising prices underpin our optimism for 2023. As we head into 2024, however, we expect the market to go through a correction period. Our most recent interviews with some of the Value-Added Resellers (VARs) and System Integrators (SIs) revealed that some of their customers have already started to ask them to put product delivery on hold until they “digest” the equipment they have on hand.

“Nevertheless, despite some short-term fluctuations in market performance caused by the unbalance between supply and demand, we expect sales to resume their long-term growth in 2024. Our interviews revealed that the fundamental growth drivers remain in place and that digital transformation initiatives will propel growth in the campus switch market for many years to come,” added Boujelbene.

Additional highlights from the Ethernet Switch – Campus 5-Year January 2023 Forecast Report:

• 5/5.0 adoption will accelerate but shipments are expected to comprise only less than 15 percent of total campus switch ports by 2027.
• Power-Over-Ethernet (PoE) ports are forecast to comprise more than half of the total campus switch port shipments by 2027.
• Despite some short-term headwinds, China is expected to gain four points of revenue share over our forecast period.
• The IT/OT convergence is expected to increase over our forecast horizon but adoption may take time given the very long 10-30 year lifecycle of industrial networking equipment.
• The introduction of artificial intelligence capabilities will continue to play a key role in vendors’ competitive positioning in the market.

https://www.delloro.com/news/campus-switch-sales-to-approach-100-b-between-2023-and-2027/

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Windstream powers Security Service Edge (SSE) with Cato

Windstream Enterprise introduced a managed Security Service Edge (SSE) solution powered by Cato Networks.

SSE can be quickly deployed to secure all endpoints, users and applications.

SSE from Windstream Enterprise, powered by Cato Networks, delivers the following integrated security capabilities:

• Secure Web Gateway (SWG), which protects users against phishing attacks and malicious websites.
• Firewall as a Service (FWaaS), which provides end-to-end traffic segmentation, restricting access to locations, applications and resources.
• Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA), which provides secure remote access to applications on-premises and in the cloud for every user, device and location.
• Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB), which controls access to cloud applications, extending enterprise security policies to the cloud and enabling regulatory compliance.
• Next-Gen Anti-Malware (NGAM) for protecting connected sites, cloud resources and users against known and unknown malware.
• Managed Detection & Response (MDR) for ongoing network monitoring and alerting on compromised endpoints.
• Data Loss Prevention (DLP) for detecting and preventing sensitive data from leaving the organization, protecting critical information, customer data and intellectual property, and complying with industry regulations.
• Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) for monitoring network traffic and blocking malicious content, providing protection against a wide range of cyberthreats such as ransomware, lateral movement, vulnerability exploitation and other network-based attack.

“Cato provides the world’s first SSE platform that converges the capabilities of SWG, CASB, DLP, ZTNA, and FWaaS into a single, cloud-native software stack, allowing full visibility and consistent policy enforcement other vendors are still working to develop,” said Shlomo Kramer, co-founder and CEO of Cato Networks. “The combination of Windstream Enterprise’s market-leading service portfolio and delivery capabilities with Cato’s proven and mature SSE platform will accelerate our joint customers’ security stack consolidation and transformation journey.”

“Windstream Enterprise can automate all the elements of a modern security framework and increase the value by further automating SD-WAN network control, unified communications and more, giving customers a simple, single-pane-of-glass understanding of their entire environment,” said Michael Fiacco, chief revenue officer, Windstream Enterprise. “It’s this comprehensive delivery of integrated technology—backed by our industry-first service guarantees and our dedicated team of cybersecurity experts—that creates real value for our customers and helps them succeed in their businesses, on their terms.”

https://www.windstreamenterprise.com/sse

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Nokia expands Lab-as-a-Service for enterprises

Nokia is expanding its Lab-as-a-Service (LaaS) solution to include the validation testing of industrial user equipment and third-party devices connecting people and machines over Nokia digital automation cloud (DAC) and modular private wireless (MPW) networks. T

Nokia LaaS, which is supported by a dedicated device testing facility in Bangalore, India, will enable enterprise customers to assess how devices and equipment working over 4.9G/LTE and 5G private wireless networks, will support their implementation of Industry 4.0 use cases. Leveraging Nokia Digital Automated Cloud (DAC) and Modular Private Wireless (MPW) customers will be able to see how enterprise, third-party or Nokia Industrial devices such as handhelds, fieldrouters, dongles and wearables will connect machines and people and how that can advance their digitalization journey.

Device validation consists of standardized testing packages. Vertical segments will benefit from Nokia’s extensive network, connectivity knowledge and rapid access to a range of pre-tested validation services. Enterprises can ensure any device functions well within a Nokia private wireless environment, and guarantee they meet the performance requirements of any use case.

The new Nokia LaaS device validation capabilities complement an already extensive range of services supporting chipset, device manufacturers, communication service providers (CSPs) and enterprises who want to introduce new elements in their devices and networks. These include the development testing of equipment and applications, certification, proof of concept testing of solutions and features and factory acceptance testing.

Stephan Litjens, Vice President of Enterprise Campus Edge Solutions of Nokia, said: “Nokia is committed to supporting our enterprise customers to achieve their digitalization goals in the most intuitive ways. Device validation will be an essential part of Lab-as-a-Service, allowing them to accelerate service adoption. Enterprises will be able to experiment with devices, use cases, with no up-front investment, to see how they deliver the greatest value from their operations over private wireless networks using Nokia DAC or MPW. In addition, by opening the dedicated facility in Bangalore, we can extend these capabilities to even more enterprise customers across the world.”

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Lumen trims its fiber rollout target

Lumen Technologies reported revenue of $3.800 billion for the fourth quarter 2022, compared to $4.847 billion for the fourth quarter 2021 and compared to Modified1 Revenue of $4.022 billion for the fourth quarter 2021.

The company reported a net Loss of $(3.069) billion for the fourth quarter 2022, which included a non-cash goodwill impairment charge of $3.271 billion, compared to reported Net Income of $508 million for the fourth quarter 2021. The reported diluted loss per share was ($3.08) for the fourth quarter 2022, compared to diluted earnings per share of $0.50 for the fourth quarter 2021. 

“This year brings significant change for Lumen as we pivot to growth with a new leadership team and an energized group of highly skilled employees to execute on our plan,” said Kate Johnson, president and CEO of Lumen. “In 2023 we will be investing in and optimizing Lumen as we drive our five core priorities: develop customer obsession, innovate and invest for growth, build a reliable execution engine, radically simplify Lumen, and further develop our culture.”

On a conference call, Lumen executives said the company is lowering its residential Quantum Fiber expansion target from 12 million to between 8 million and 10 million lines. The new plan is to focus on markets where the company can be profitable, rather than deploying fiber as quickly as possible.

Lumen also confirmed that Colt has exercised its option to acquire the Lumen EMEA business following the completion of a French consultative process. The parties expect to enter into adefinitive purchase agreement in the next couple of days. 

https://ir.lumen.com/events-and-presentations/event-details/2023/Lumen-Technologies-Inc-Q4-2022-Earnings/default.aspx#events-presentation

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Ekinops announces MEF 3.0 certification for Ethernet portfolio

Ekinops' entire Ethernet Access Device portfolio, supported by its unique OneOS6 network operating system, has been certified under the MEF 3.0 Carrier Ethernet compliance program of the Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF).

This certification marks an important milestone in the validation of Ethernet related services supported by the OneOS6 network operating system, confirming its status as a uniquely consolidated system to support Layer 2 (L2), Layer 3 (L3), Voice, SD-WAN and Virtualized services.

MEF 3.0 certification is now available for various 1647 and 1651 platforms, supporting E-Line, E-Lan, E-Tree, E-Access and E-Transit services. Depending on the platform, it is possible to use the same hardware platform to deliver L2, L3 or SD-WAN services, thus reducing the amount of equipment which must be validated and maintained for various services.

“MEF certification is an important signal to the market that Ekinops’ family of Ethernet Access Devices conforms to some of the highest standards in the telecoms industry.” said Sylvain Quartier, VP Marketing and Product Strategy for Access at Ekinops. “Demonstrating that our devices are certified by independent and international standard bodies has never been more important. MEF 3.0 certification is a powerful hallmark that will instill confidence in our worldwide operator customer base.” 

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Bermuda's Paradise Mobile deploys Mavenir

Paradise Mobile, a newly established cloud-native Communications Service Provider (CSP) in Bermuda, is powering its 4G and 5G network with Mavenir.

Paradise Mobile’s brand new network is being built from the ground up with containerized, open, interoperable components and O-RAN based radios. Mavenir is providing Paradise Mobile a complete end-to-end network, including system integration. The network is being built with software components from Mavenir’s comprehensive portfolio, including:

• MAVcore: IMS, Voice, Converged Packet Core, and Messaging
• MAVapps: Digital BSS – Mavenir’s Digital Enablement Platform (MDE)
• MAVair: Open Virtualised Radio Access Network (Open vRAN), and the OpenBeam radio portfolio

Antonio Correa, Senior Regional VP at Mavenir, said, “Mavenir is pleased to be enabling Paradise Mobile to create an advanced, agile, and fully automated network that delivers increased efficiency and capacity across the markets that Paradise is launching in. Mavenir’s software driven, cloud-native mobile network components can be deployed with ease and flexibility, giving Paradise Mobile the ability to deploy new monetizable services with a quick time-to-market.”

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