Ericsson and Telia offer Northstar 5G for industrial enterprises

Telia and Ericsson are launching NorthStar – a 5G innovation program for industrial enterprises.

NorthStar aims to accelerate the 5G adoption and transformation of industries, thereby strengthening the country’s international competitiveness. 

The program will initially focus on customers´ innovation and R&D units in the automotive and transportation sectors and the first customer is AstaZero, an independent test environment for automated transport systems.

NorthStar’s 5G network utilizes Ericsson’s dual-mode 5G Core, and connects to Telia’s existing public 5G network, currently being rolled out across Sweden. Additionally, customers will be able to build their own networks at their own locations, for example test sites and R&D facilities, and connect them to the NorthStar network.

Anders Olsson, CEO at Telia Sweden, says: “Sweden is an industrial powerhouse with iconic brands that reach around the globe. Scaling digital solutions and turning new technologies into tangible business benefits is critical if these companies, and Sweden as a nation, are to remain competitive. Without access to robust and secure digital infrastructure, businesses risk falling behind. Through the NorthStar program, we welcome industrial players to collaborate and trial their solutions using the latest 5G technology, which will help accelerate the development of smart and sustainable transport solutions.”

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Telefónica to open 5G mmWave at MWC Hall 3

Telefónica will operate a live 5G mmWave base station at its stand in the upcoming MWC 2023 in Barcelona. 

The 5G mmWave deployment will cover Hall 3 of the MWC Barcelona event using ample mmWave spectrum bandwidth secured by Telefónica from the recent Spanish spectrum auction. Ericsson is providing its mmWave radio AIR 5322 and high-capacity RAN Processor 6651 to enable the 5G millimeter coverage. The radio access network equipment is powered by Ericsson Silicon chipset. 

Qualcomm Technologies will showcase the broad range of global 5G mmWave devices powered by Snapdragon mobile platforms. 

Gerardo Rovira, director of Radio Access Telefónica Spain, says: “This first commercial deployment of 5G mmWave services we are launching together with Ericsson and Qualcomm, along with the massive spectrum that Telefónica has obtained in the last auction, is the last milestone in a series of 5G long term projects that Telefónica has been developing in collaboration with enterprises and institutions in the last 3 years, and it goes a long way in showing the commitment that Telefónica has in the development and leadership of a strong 5G ecosystem that will be a key factor in bringing compelling services for both the public and private sectors”

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Equinix builds 2nd data center in Barcelona

 Equinix disclosed plans to open a second data center in Barcelona to serve as a hub for the growing subsea cables landing in the region. 

Major cables include: 2Africa, connecting key coastal metros around the entire African continent and Arabian Peninsula; Aqua Comms' Europe Middle East India cable, due to link Barcelona with Salalah and Mumbai; Medloop by Sipartech, connecting Barcelonato Ajaccio, Genoa and Marseille; and the Medusa cable, due to link Barcelona with Lisbon and a number of important Mediterranean, European and African metros.

Equinix already operates hubs inkey Mediterranean metros such as Bordeaux, Genoa, Lisbon and Milan.

Jim Poole, Vice President at Equinix, noted: "Subsea cables play a vital role in enabling the modern digital world, and we anticipate much progress in the next couple of years following the pandemic-induced backlog. Subsea cables provide the underlying capacity between metros on different continents, while Equinix democratizes that capacity, making it easily accessible to a wide range of businesses and enabling rapid international expansion without the need for significant CAPEX investment."

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Dell'Oro: Nokia and Samsung are on the rise in RAN

Preliminary findings from Dell'Oro show that the slower momentum that has characterized the broader 2G-5G Radio Access Network (RAN) market since 4Q 2021 extended to 4Q 2022, with four out of the six tracked regions declining on a year-over-year basis.

"The results in the quarter further validate the reduced growth scenario we have discussed now for some time, reflecting more challenging MBB comparisons in the advanced 5G markets," said Stefan Pongratz, Vice President at Dell'Oro Group. "At the same time, even if the gap between the early adopters and the laggards is generally smaller with 5G than it was with LTE, the state of 5G still varies significantly across the globe," continued Pongratz.

Additional highlights from the 4Q 2022 RAN report:

• Top 5 RAN 2022 RAN suppliers include Huawei, Ericsson, Nokia, ZTE, and Samsung.
• Top 4 RAN 2022 RAN suppliers outside of China include Ericsson, Nokia, Huawei, and Samsung.
• Nokia and Samsung recorded the strongest RAN revenue growth out of the top 5 suppliers
• Short-term RAN revenue prospects have been revised downward to reflect the lower starting point, however, relative growth rates are now more favorable, with global RAN revenues expected to be flat in 2023 as surging investments in India is offset by more challenging comparisons in North America and China.

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Dell'Oro: SASE to exceed $60B 2022-2027

The modernization of networking and security for enterprise branches and hybrid workers is expected to drive the total SASE revenue to surpass $60 B between 2022 and 2027.  The report further divides the total SASE market along its two components, Security Service Edge (SSE) and SD-WAN, and details how the strong demand for security is expected to fuel SSE revenue to double between 2022 and 2027.

“The last three years of the pandemic, and the subsequent need to modernize enterprise branches and address hybrid work needs, have fueled great interest in SASE as evidenced by the total SASE market to double in size to over $6 B in 2022,” said Mauricio Sanchez, Research Director, Network Security, and SASE & SD-WAN at Dell’Oro Group. “While angst about the macroeconomic environment is starting to lead to some belt-tightening, we expect growth in SASE to continue unabated and double again by 2027,” added Sanchez.

Additional highlights from SASE and SD-WAN 5-Year Forecast Report:

• SD-WAN and SSE revenues are expected to see a double-digit compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) over the 2022 to 2027 timeframe.
• Unified SASE revenue is anticipated to grow 5X by 2027.

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Frontier opens Fiber Innovation Labs

Frontier opened a Fiber Innovation Lab in Lewisville, Texas to test and learn new methods in real-world environments to install and maintain its fiber-optic network.

The facility is designed as a miniature suburban neighborhood with roads, sidewalks, a state-of-the-art central office, a small house and a reconstructed manhole system. It also simulates weather elements and temperature changes. Here, the Frontier team can 

Frontier hopes Fiber Innovation Labs will identify new ways to drive efficiencies and improve the customer experience as the company transforms with its fiber-first strategy. For example, the team will invent and test next-generation technology for fiber deployment and connectivity while also looking for more efficient ways to do installation and repairs.

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