Mobile & Wireless Roundup No. 114

Welcome to the 114th edition of this newsletter. This week, I had the chance to attend Telecom Infra Project’s Fyuz 2024 after a brief hiatus, and it certainly lived up to expectations. It wasn’t just a fantastic venue for networking with like-minded individuals but also an excellent opportunity to gain insights into the evolution of the Open Ecosystem.

One session that stood out focused on the RAN Intelligence Controller (RIC). The moderator explored the history of how early Self-Organising Network (SON) pioneers often ended up being absorbed by major incumbent vendors. In some cases, this was because a particular operator heavily relied on their solutions, making acquisition a strategic way for a large vendor to gain a foothold with that operator.

There were other drivers too. For example, when a rival incumbent acquired a small, innovative vendor, it often provided them with a significant competitive edge, making their offerings much more attractive. Over time, many small innovators were subsumed into the larger players, their solutions integrated into broader portfolios, and eventually, they faded from view.

The O-RAN approach is poised to shift this dynamic. With more options available to operators and incumbent vendors alike, the primary motivations for acquiring smaller innovators have diminished. While this might not be welcome news for many smaller vendors, it’s a potential relief for service providers. They’ll no longer need to worry about seeing their costs skyrocket after a smaller player gets absorbed by a big incumbent.

While this logic seems sound on paper, only time will tell how it plays out in practice.

For those of you who don’t know me, I am a technologist with over 25 years’ experience in mobile wireless technology, currently working as an independent advisor, analyst, consultant and a trainer. This newsletter is a summary of my posts and other news that caught my attention since the last newsletter.

⦿ 6G

• Telecomlead: Top tips for planning investment in 6G network by Chris Antlitz, Principal Telecom Analyst, at Technology Business (TBR) (link)
• Ericsson and e& UAE sign MoU for 6G collaboration (PR)
• RCR Wireless: LG Uplus said this test was carried out in collaboration with Infinera and Juniper Networks (link)
• Light Reading: China calls for unified 6G standard (link)
• Free 6G Training: Role of AI/ML in 6G RAN - B6GS 2024 (link)

⦿ 5G

• MWL – GSMA Intelligence Brief: What did we learn about AI, 5G-A at MBBF 24? (link)
• Tefficient on X: "The six fastest 5G operators in the world according to Speedtest…" (X post with photos)

⦿ 4G/LTE

• Tefficient on X: “South Korea's government met with SK, KT and U+ to demand that LTE plans no longer can be more expensive than 5G plans…” (link)
• Developing Telecoms: Orange acquires first 4G licence in Central African Republic (link)

⦿ Open & Disaggregated Networks (including Open RAN, vRAN, etc.)

• MWL: Vodafone hails open RAN as ready for big time (link)
• Dean Bubley on LinkedIn: "While I’m not as focused on #OpenRAN trends & technical minutiae as some of my analyst peers, I’ve noticed one particular thing here at #FYUZ24 - the potential for programmable RANs to host applications for “spectrum agility”…" (link)
• MWL: Parallel Wireless, Wind River execs tackle open RAN truths (link)
• TelecomTV: Rob Soni on AT&T’s Open RAN strategy (video)
• Light Reading: Mystery radio vendor in Telus open RAN is Canada's BMI (link)
• TMN: Amdocs warns operators of the dangers of RAN vendor SMO and RIC (link)
• James Crawshaw on LinkedIn: "Bernard Bureau from TELUS presented the Canadian operator's open RAN plans at Telecom Infra Project #FYUZ24 event…" (link)

• TMN: AT&T’s victory lap at FYUZ not the whole story (link)

⦿ Spectrum

• Andy Sutton on LinkedIn: "Here's a recent deployment feasibility study which is now published: Cell Site Densification Using mmWave and sub-THz Line-of-Sight Wireless Fronthaul…" (link)
• Total Telecom: UScellular sells spectrum to AT&T for $1 billion (link)
• Ofcom: mmWave spectrum auction moves a step closer (link)

⦿ Private Networks

• LG Accelerates 5G Private Network Business Expansion in Korea (PR)
• US DOD Releases Private 5G Deployment Strategy (PR)
• Example of Commercial Private 5G service cases (5G core control plane sharing type) in Japan and US (link)
• RCR Wireless: Nokia hails ‘unprecedented’ private 5G trial at vaccine plant in Brazil (link)
• Firecell: Benefits of Private 5G for Manufacturing (link)

⦿ Telecoms Infrastructure, Small Cells, Antennas & others

• Light Reading - Layoffs and bankruptcies: A historic traffic slowdown shakes CDN industry (link)
• Paul Rhodes on LinkedIn - Thursday School: Hidden in Plain Sight Mk III! (link)

⦿ IoT / M2M / Smart Homes

• Afzal Mangal on LinkedIn: What's going to happen with NB-IoT? (link) - AT&T are pulling NB-IOT in the US.

⦿ Security & Privacy

• Brian Krebs on LinkedIn: "My latest story revisits the problem of fake Emergency Data Requests (EDRs), where cybercriminals use hacked/phished police dept email accounts to request subscriber data from a range of tech/social media companies…" (link)
• Michal Wachowiak on LinkedIn: "To kick off the weekend on a positive note: #AI wasting #scammers time from O2 (Telefónica UK)…" (link)
• Silke Holtmanns on LinkedIn: "Just to state that clearly: Mobile data, SMS and voice if not protected by application layer (e.g., whatsapp, signal, TLS) are in clear text inside an operators core network and across the roaming network…" (link)
• Benzinga: T-Mobile Hit By Chinese Hackers After Rivals AT&T, Verizon Suffer Breach: Report (link)

⦿ Smartphones, Devices, Wearables & Gadgets

• Slides and videos from eSIM Summit at MWC24 Las Vegas: A Landmark gathering of Industry Leaders now available (link)
• Mohamed Abbas on LinkedIn: Why are eSIMs Important for Operators and How they Work (link)

⦿ AI, ML & Automation

• The 3G4G Blog: RAN, AI, AI-RAN and Open RAN (link)

• MWL: Nvidia reveals the killer app of 5G (link)
• RCR Wireless: How can AI improve the 5G and 6G air interface? (link)
• Dean Bubley on LinkedIn: “One of the keynotes at #FYUZ24 this week was NVIDIA Chris Penrose, talking #AI in #telecoms. He covered the role of #LLMs, plus a big focus on AI in the RAN…” (link)

⦿ Satellites, HAPS, Drones, UAVs & Space

• Nikkei XTech: Docomo's big increase in satellite phone rates causes controversy, shipping industry to consider using Starlink (link)
• Anp🅰️nman on X: “…Updated comparison of Direct-to-Device providers…” (X post)

⦿ Other News and Technology Stuff

• Operator Watch Blog: Namibia's Digital Transformation Journey Continues Unabated (link)
• TelecomTV: Vodafone hit by partial TV blackout in Germany (link)

⦿ Picture of the week: Came across this picture of life before the invention of AutoCAD and other drafting software’s on X post here. As the post says, prior to the release of AutoCAD in 1982, engineering drawings were all done by hand using different grade pencils, erasers, T-squares and set squares. Designs that took a week to make were done in couple of hours and ones that required a group could now be done by an individual. It’s not difficult to find posts lamenting the ‘Death of the Draftsman’ but this is how eventually everything that can be automated ends.

Happy to hear your thoughts. Feel free let me know what worked, what didn’t, how I can make this better, etc. Get in touch over LinkedIn!

PDF version of this and previous newsletters are available here.