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DT, Red Hat and IBM complete multi-vendor cloud RAN trial

Annie Turner
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DT, Red Hat and IBM complete multi-vendor cloud RAN trial

This is part of Deutsche Telekom’s plan for an O-RAN-based deployment for networks in Europe

In a blog on the Red Hat website, the authors explain that Deutsche Telekom’s (DT) goal is to establish multi-vendor O-RAN as a solution for high-power, large-scale macro network deployment as part of its network modernisation activities in Europe.

The blog says DT has defined three key pillars in its O-RAN approach to support more options and flexible deployments and advanced automation:

• Open fronthaul to implement and enable RAN disaggregation;

• cloud-based modular workloads with hardware and software separation, via Deutsche Telekom’s O-Cloud blueprint; and

• vendor-independent service management and orchestration (SMO) for consistent, unified control.

    Ecosystem collaboration

    To these ends, DT is cultivating close industry partnerships and has multiple activities in play both in the lab and live in the field. For example, working with Red Hat and IBM, DT has successfully completed its independent O-Cloud proof of concept (PoC) for RAN.

    IBM Consulting helped DT kick off the project in March 2024, aligning the scope alignment with DT’s goals and managing the project, solution design and implementation of essential features of the O-Cloud. They include automation and monitoring of hardware and system integration to achieve integrated, zero-touch provisioning (ZTP). IBM supported the rapid deployment of the solution in DT’s O-Cloud Lab.

    Red Hat OpenShift provides the underlying application platform serving as the operating system and container-as-a-service (CaaS) layer. This enables DT to integrate cloud-native network functions (CNFs) from multiple vendors.

    DT also used Red Hat’s Advanced Cluster Management, OpenShift GitOps, Topology-Aware Lifecycle Manager and integrated observability to manage and control fleets of workload clusters, in a streamlined way, across their lifecycle.

    Red Hat’s Ansible Automation Platform support zero-touch hardware provisioning to speed up DT’s deployment and simplify management. Red Hat’s OpenShift has integral security features such as network and container isolation, and controlled access to application data across the entire software lifecycle.

    The trial was completed as planned within six months, demo’ing automated lifecycle management and observability capabilities.

    Benefits so far

    DT proved that the independent O-Cloud is a robust foundation for its open RAN solution. The PoC fulfilled automation and monitoring requirements for rapid provisioning and deployment with minimal human intervention. The platform integrated hardware and software using open interfaces. The multi-vendor infrastructure gives DT the permanent option of picking the best performing solutions.

    Also, the parties gained a shared understanding of what is needed to build out a full cloud RAN stack adhering to DT’s blueprint (see schematic above) with O-Cloud as its target, end-to-end platform for countries in Europe. Ongoing open RAN development is focused on automating onboarding of the centralised unit (CU) and distributed unit (DU), and optimising operational aspects.

    AST SpaceMobile and Vodafone sign long-term deal

    Simon Dux
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    AST SpaceMobile and Vodafone sign long-term deal


    The long-term partners entered into a definitive long-term commercial agreement through 2034

    Space-based cellular broadband network builder AST SpaceMobile has entered into a definitive long-term commercial agreement with Vodafone Group that runs through to 2034. Since 2018, Vodafone has been a three-time investor in AST SpaceMobile, and is a key technology partner in AST SpaceMobile’s development, including several world’s firsts in direct-to-device connectivity with everyday smartphones that confirmed 2G, 4G and 5G capabilities.

    This agreement establishes the framework for Vodafone to offer space-based cellular broadband connectivity in its home markets, as well as to other operators via its Partner Markets program.

    AST SpaceMobile’s tie-up with Vodafone follows a six-year deal in June with AT&T to provide space-based broadband services, which was quickly followed by a strategic partnership with Verizon. With the size of the backers, it helps the satellite company push through with its crazy-large array BlueBird satellites which would otherwise be deemed a fairly risky approach to building a space-based mobile network. On the other hand, the attractiveness of the subsequent service it will provide is centred on the fact you can use unmodified mobile handsets.

    In April 2023, AST SpaceMobile and its partners completed the first-ever space-based voice call to an unmodified phone. That was followed a 4G download speed above 10 Mbps in June 2023 and a 5G voice call in September 2023. Ultimately, the company and its partners have demonstrated over 20 Mbps download speeds to unmodified phones on a 5 MHz channel.

    Vodafone has placed an order for its first Block 1 BlueBird gateway, marking a milestone in the deployment of AST SpaceMobile’s global network infrastructure. Users outside traditional cellular coverage will be able to connect their smartphones directly to AST SpaceMobile’s satellites in low Earth orbit, which in turn will route the data to the gateway. These gateways will then connect to Vodafone’s existing network infrastructure to route the broadband data to users’ devices, as well as to access third-party apps and the internet.

    Don’t forget Kuiper

    Vodafone is not putting all of its eggs in the AST SpaceMobile basket having signed Amazon’s Project Kuiper as LEO partner in September 2023 with Vodacom. Vodafone was Amazon’s second big telco partner after Verizon went early, signing a deal in 2021. But the ties to AST run deep given Vodafone Group’s former CTO Johan Wibergh has joined AST SpaceMobile’s board of directors in June and Kuiper is still a long way off. 

    AST SpaceMobile’s next-generation Block 2 BlueBirds featuring up to 2,400 square foot communications arrays, are designed to deliver up to ten times the bandwidth capacity of the BlueBird satellites in orbit today, enabling peak data transmission speeds up to 120 Mbps, supporting voice, full data, and video applications.

    During 2024, AST SpaceMobile said it had secured additional strategic investment from AT&T, Verizon, Google and Vodafone, and new contract awards with the United States Government, directly and through prime contractors. 

    The company has agreements with more than 45 mobile network operators globally, which have over approximately 2.8 billion existing subscribers total, including Vodafone Group, AT&T, Verizon, Rakuten Mobile, Bell Canada, Orange, Telefonica, TIM, Saudi Telecom Company, Zain KSA, Etisalat, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison, Telkomsel, Smart Communications, Globe Telecom, Millicom, Smartfren, Telecom Argentina, MTN, Telstra, Africell, Liberty Latin America and others. AT&T, Verizon, Vodafone, Google, Rakuten, American Tower, Cisneros Group and Bell Canada are also existing investors in AST SpaceMobile.

    French operators jointly launch network APIs

    Annie Turner
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    French operators jointly launch network APIs

    The APIs are intended to help online businesses combat fraud and stop digital identity theft

    France’s four main mobile operators – Bouygues Telecom, Free, Orange and SFR – are joining forces to help app developers and enterprises tackle online fraud and protect mobile customers’ digital identities. This is part of the global GSMA Open Gateway initiative.

    The operators are launching two network APIs for the French market – know your customer (KYC) Match and SIM Swap. Both comply with the new CAMARA standard designed to align specifications across mobile operators.

    According to the publicity, France is the first country in the world where all four major operators are launching the API called KYC Match, which strengthens how online businesses can verify new customers’ identities. Some of the operators are also making Number Verification available to the developer community.

    Booming market

    France has seen a 37% increase in online transactions since the Covid pandemic, totalling €2.35 billion in 2023, with 77% of them were carried out on mobile devices. Alongside this, 80% of French companies say they have experienced attempted online fraud and 45% f the companies said online fraud has increased over the last year.

    The number of digital identity thefts has risen by 40% over the past four years according to the French Ministry of Interior. The new APIs will help protect consumers’ mobile identities by adding an additional layer of defence against fraudsters.

    The APIs have been developed and tested in the French market with financial institutions, such as BforBank (the online branch of Credit Agricole) or Fortuneo, (subsidiary of Credit Mutuel Arkéa) which use KYC Match to screen new customers in partnership with DQE Software. More than 20 companies in France already use telco APIs to help prevent fraud in the shape of taking over accounts and check customer identities during transactions and onboarding.

    The two services, or APIs, that the French operators are making available to enterprise developers, are:

    • KYC Match allows businesses to cross-check information provided by customers against verified records maintained by the user’s mobile network operator, as part of their know your customer process. This cross-check can include details like mobile phone number, name, post code, address, birth date and email address. Importantly, no Personal Identifiable Information (PII) is shared in the process, ensuring users’ privacy while enabling secure and accurate verification.
    • SIM Swap is to check whether a given phone number has recently changed SIM cards. This helps mitigate account takeover attacks, in which fraudsters take control of the account owner’s SIM card using social engineering techniques and stolen personal data. For example, at the time of a financial transaction, a financial institution can check whether the relationship between the customer’s phone number and SIM card has been recently changed, helping them decide whether to approve the transaction or not.

    The operators intend to include a third API in their joint effort, which some are already providing, called:

    • Number Verification can be “seamlessly and automatically activated” to verify a user’s identity instead of relying on SMS. This is improves the user’s experience and mitigates potential issues, like users not receiving the SMS or struggling to implement the code sent via SMS while engaged in another activity on their phone.

    The French operators are aiming for a commercial launch in the first half of 2025. They will be discussing their launch plans today with the GSMA at the Apidays Paris 2024 developer conference, as well as at MWC Barcelona in March 2025.

    GSMA Open Gateway

    The GSMA Open Gateway initiative is intended to facilitate the design of digital products so they can operate seamlessly on all devices, regardless of the country or operator. Since launch last year, 67 mobile network groups, representing a total of 278 networks and three-quarters of mobile connections have joined the initiative alongside 26 channel partners.

    Developers can take advantage of the network capabilities offered by mobile operators using APIs which allow developers to easily plug their services into these network capabilities. The service APIs are available through the CAMARA repository, an open-source project run by the Linux Foundation which is a fundamental part of the GSMA Open Gateway initiative.

    EU to stump up another €142mln funding for 21 subsea cables

    Annie Turner
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    EU to stump up another €142mln funding for 21 subsea cables

    This brings the total funding to for phase one of the Connecting Europe Facility Digital Work Programme to €420m, with second two about to begin

    The European Commission has signed 21 grant agreements for €142 million with backbone cable projects, bringing total funding to €420 million under the first Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Digital Work Programme.

    The Commission says backbone networks, including submarine cables, are critical infrastructures that play an essential role in ensuring high-capacity connectivity as well as improving resilience and security of digital connectivity, as stressed in the Safer Together report.

    Moreover, in the White paper on how to master Europe’s digital infrastructure needs and the Recommendation on the security and resilience of submarine cable infrastructures, the Commission set out actions to assess and improve coordination between the Union and its Member States regarding the security and resilience of existing and future submarine cable infrastructure.

    This includes mapping cables and related risks. CEF Digital is one of the funding instruments mentioned in the Recommendation to support the deployment of strategic cable projects.

    Submarine cables around the world have been attacked, including in northern Europe in the last weeks and the Red Sea. The latter caused disruption to European as well as Asian, Middle Eastern and African connectivity. Some of the sabotage is believed to be state-sponsored, some that of terrorist groups. Moody’s Ratings has put telecoms in the Very High Risk category in its annual cybersecurity heatmap.

    Third set

    The projects financed under the third set of calls of CEF Digital are intended to boost global connections between Europe and Africa (for example, the Medusa Africa or Canalink-Morocco projects), Middle East (such as the BlueMed East project) and Asia (Arctic connectivity). The funding is also intended to strengthen connections between Member States in the Mediterranean, the Atlantic, the Baltic Sea and Continental Europe (including Central and Eastern Europe).

    More information on the cable development projects can be found in the Annex (PDF).

    The new projects will also support connectivity in Outermost Regions and Overseas Countries and Territories, like in the Pacific Ocean (such as the NUANUA project), the Caribbean (for instance, the BCA project), the Canary Islands (for example, the PENCAN-X project) and the Azores-Madeira area (like the Atlantic CAM – CM project).

    Security and monitoring

    All beneficiaries of CEF grants are EU-controlled entities and the cables to be deployed must be built with secure technology. Besides guaranteeing the secure transmission of terabytes of data per second, almost all the funded cables include SMART technologies, which act as large geographical sensors to monitor nearby activities, acting as early warning systems to protect the infrastructure itself.

    Additional funding

    The second CEF Digital Work Programme 2024-2027 makes available additional €542 million to co-fund backbone connectivity projects, meaning that the Union’s investment plans in these critical infrastructure over the current financial framework will amount to almost €1 billion.

    The fourth call under the second CEF Digital is currently open for submissions until 13 February 2025.

    Belgian data centre market to grow 50% in 2025

    Simon Dux
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    Belgian data centre market to grow 50% in 2025


    Belgium has become an attractive alternative location for data centre operators that struggle with Europe’s congested Tier 1 data centre markets

    According to a new report by the Belgian Digital Infrastructure Association (BDIA), The Belgian data centre market is on track for a 50% IT capacity increase by 2025, driven by innovation, international investments, increase of shift to private and public cloud, and the unstoppable rise of cloud and AI technologies.

    Challenges in Tier 1 European data centre hubs have prompted international providers and tenants to explore new regions, including Brussels. This has positioned Belgium as an emerging player in the international colocation market. Moreover, Belgium is home to one of Google’s largest hyperscale data centre campuses, with a second campus on the way.

    The impact of regulations such as the European Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) is also shaping market strategies, as data centres will have to prioritise energy efficiency and sustainability measures even more to comply with the directive’s requirements. According to the BDIA, these factors collectively underscore Belgium’s expanding role as an emerging Tier 2 data centre hub, catering both to local enterprises and an increasingly international client base

    Google isn’t alone with Microsoft continuing to build on expanding the Belgian region that was launched in 2023 and is fitting out its data centre white space in three separate colocation facilities of different data centre operators in the bigger Brussels Capital Region. The construction phase of these data centre facilities that will service Microsoft has been finalised but fit-out works are still ongoing. Brussels’ largest data centre project that currently is under construction and maturing concerns the Kevlinx BRU01 campus. This first development phase consists of a 16MW data centre and a front of the house including office and logistics. 

    In terms of IT power, colocation data centres in Belgium have crossed the major milestone of 100MW. The three largest data centre operators in Belgium with capacity live are Digital Realty, LCL, and Datacentre United [Proximus included in Datacentre United capacity]. Based on IT power, these parties currently are responsible for 72% of all available IT Power. Penta Infra currently covers 1.5MW live capacity out of 7MW IT load in total. The landscape will continue to evolve rapidly over the coming years. Kevlinx and EdgeConneX will have significant data centre capacity live in the coming months as well, according to the report.

    Wallonia versus Flanders

    Data centre allocation in Belgium is concentrated directly in the City of Brussels and around the Brussels capital region, with a significant cluster located near Zaventem, close to Brussels Airport. The Brussels capital region itself continues to decrease in its share of Belgian data centre ‘white space’, down to 19% from 26% just two years ago. In contrast, the broader metropolitan area of Brussels now accounts for 62% of the nation’s data centre floor space, a further increase compared to last year.

    Interestingly , there is a big imbalance between the Wallonia and Flanders regions. When excluding data centres in the Flemish part of the Brussels metropolitan area, Wallonia houses a mere 4% of the nation’s data centre IT power, while Flanders, if we exclude Flemish Brabant – since it holds most data centres of the Brussels Metro Region, holds 20%. This figure will even rise to 77% if BDIA includes Flemish Brabant. 

    BDIA admits is was too optimistic for 2024 when it forecast growth to 125MW – it will finish at about 103MW. The key reason is the delays in the Ready-For-Service (RFS) dates for some facilities. On some occasions, construction started later than planned or is taking more time to complete. 

    “As a result, the biggest contributor to the growth of 10%, or 10 MW, was not the data centres for the new Microsoft cloud region, but the Nexus data centre that opened in the first quarter and was acquired by Penta Infra,” said BDIA. “We expect to see more RFSs for data centres from Kevlinx, EdgeConneX, Datacentre United, and LCL in 2025. Assuming that most of these RFS dates will be in 2025, we expect the market to grow by more than 50% to 162 MW across the coming year. Looking beyond 2025, we have identified concrete plans for 80 MW and see interest from potential new entrants into the Belgian market.”

    As a result, BDIA estimates that by 2029, the Belgian market will hit 261 MW – a compound annual growth rate of 20.5%. 

    Power problem

    Like much of the world, BDIA said negative perceptions of data centres in the public were not widespread and so “questions from federal to local policymakers regarding energy consumption, sustainability, and the broader societal value of hosting data centres are expected to become more frequent.” Quite. The association outlines various EU steps that may mitigate thing like the introduction of the data centre publication obligation for the EED.

    With this, data centres with installed IT power of 500 kW or more are required to report on their footprint in terms of (renewable) energy usage and efficiency, water usage, heat reuse, and circularity. For now, it means that data centres will have to start reporting on actual performance as opposed to design statistics that only look at the optimal situation.

    Even so, the tech giants are carrying on relentlessly. BDIA reflects this stating “In terms of energy consumption, Google’s data centres in Saint-Ghislain have a notable impact, utilising an amount of energy comparable to the entire contracted power capacity of all Belgian colocation data centres and matching their collective floor space.” As a result, hyperscalers will impact the renewal of each nation’s energy grid, irrespective of actions by other data centre rivals. 

    Nokia, du deploy first commercial cloud RAN in MEA with OpenShift

    Annie Turner
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    Nokia, du deploy first commercial cloud RAN in MEA with OpenShift

    Another advantage of one vendor providing open RAN? Nokia’s common RAN software ensures consistency of features and performance across the hybrid footprint

    Nokia and du announced they have deployed the first commercial 5G cloud RAN solution in the Middle East and Africa. The partnership underlines du’s hybrid RAN strategy intended to leverage purpose-built and cloud-native infrastructures for greater flexibility and scalability.

    The deployment “supports the [United Arab Emirates’] evolving digital requirements as well as advanced use cases, including AI, machine learning and industry-specific applications in manufacturing, energy, and logistics,” according to the press statement. 

    The 5G Cloud RAN site is in Abu Dhabi and based on Nokia’s anyRAN with the Finnish vendor’s virtualised Distributed Units (vDU) and Centralised Units (vCU) running on Dell PowerEdge XR8620 servers, and Red Hat OpenShift.

    OpenShift is “the industry’s leading hybrid cloud application platform powered by Kubernetes”, to support cloud-native RAN functions across the network. The plan is that by integrating OpenShift, service providers such as du can better scale their 5G network footprint and quickly introduce new services. The UAE deployment also used Nokia’s AirScale Massive MIMO Radios operating in the 3.6 GHz spectrum, using 5G Standalone architecture.

    Download MOBILE EuroPe’s New RESEARCH REPORT, Open RAN, evolving to fulfil its promise from HERE

    Nokia says its commercial Cloud RAN solution can co-exist with purpose-built networks in hybrid environments and evolve to full cloud-native networks, supporting RAN cloudification. Common Nokia RAN software ensures consistency of features and performance consistency of both kinds of RAN across the entire footprint.

    Saleem Alblooshi, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of du, said, “Our collaboration with Nokia represents a major leap forward in du’s mission to deliver exceptional network performance and innovative services. Leveraging 5G Cloud RAN will not only enhance our network’s efficiency and flexibility but also enable us to explore new opportunities and services that can deliver genuine value to our customers and society at large.”

    Mark Atkinson, Head of RAN at Nokia, said, “This strategic partnership with du is much more than an infrastructure deployment. Both companies are committed to driving innovation by developing pioneering use cases that leverage the transformative power of AI and private wireless networks.

    “Under our anyRAN approach, we bring together Nokia’s expertise, trusted performance, and innovation in radio networks with best-in-class partner solutions to offer true flexibility and scalability to operators and enterprises. This collaboration will enable the development of innovative services that empower businesses and individuals alike.”

    Proximus launches Gaia-X Digital Clearing House

    Simon Dux
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    Proximus launches Gaia-X Digital Clearing House

    In an increasingly protectionist world, data is sovereign but still needs to be exchanged between countries and this is the role for digital clearing houses for the Gaia-X data space

    Belgian operator Proximus has launched its Gaia-X Digital Clearing House (GXDCH), a pivotal element in the Gaia-X initiative. Originally misunderstood as being a “European cloud” to challenge the hyperscalers the open source project Gaia-X, which has had more than €3.5bn in funding from the EU and member states, is essentially a public-private association that aims to automate regulations, keep data flows compliant and enforce “European values” in the digital space.

    Gaia-X runs decentralised data spaces, which are shared zones where participants, typically grouped by industry, can trade data, knowing that everything in the space meets the same compliance standards. 

    The core principle behind Gaia-X is that participants should retain control over their data. Every data exchange between parties are fully aligned with European privacy and sovereignty requirements. To ensure this, participants must be certified against these criteria. This task is performed by the Gaia-X Digital Clearing Houses, of which Proximus is now one. The Clearing Houses are key to establish trust in digital cooperation within supply chains and industries, as envisioned by Gaia-X, no matter the infrastructure they’re using or their physical location.

    Gaia-X Digital Clearing Houses are networks of execution nodes that ensures decentralised compliance across the Gaia-X ecosystem. These nodes safeguard the distributed and transparent nature of Gaia-X’s compliance framework, ensuring that it is not centrally operated by the association but open for use by anyone.

    They apply compliance measures automatically. When data is exchanged between companies in different countries, the clearing house will automate data standards to ensure regulatory compliance across territories. In theory, this will standardise data flows and allow global organisations to deal digitally with one another more easily.

    One of the most advanced industry-specific data spaces is Catena-X the first end-to-end, collaborative and open data ecosystem for the automotive industry. Featuring almost 200 members, Catena-X is Gaia-X compliant and also serves as a model for all Manufacturing-X initiatives and is shaping the development of standardised data ecosystems in other industries as well. 

    T-Systems has been a champion of Gaia-X for a number of years and in February, was selected as the first vendor to support Catena-X’s clients with connecting to the secure data ecosystem – after a testing phase comprising approximately 50 participants. Moreover, as a “Trust Anchor” for Gaia-X Digital Clearing House, T-Systems was also entrusted with the task of verifying new participants for Catena-X. This set the operator up to provide its services to operating companies or to data spaces – that are registered with Catena-X – to sublicense the services to their operating companies. 

    Going global

    In October, NTT Data deployed a testbed for a Gaia-X Digital Clearing House in Japan – the first outside Europe. The deployment in Japan is part of a data space test bed project led by the University of Tokyo, with active participation from industry giants including Toshiba, SoftBank, NTT Data and NTT Communications. The purpose of this deployment is to create a development and testing environment that will facilitate the operation of interoperable Data Spaces within Japan’s digital ecosystem.

    Proximus role

    Gaia-X provides European technical standards that enable secure, transparent, and sovereign data exchange within industries. In this context, Proximus said it ensures decentralised compliance of secure data exchanges within the Gaia-X ecosystem.

    With its “advanced technological architecture”, Proximus said it strengthens the European network of Digital Clearing Houses (e.g. Aruba, OVHcloud or T-Systems), and allows the Gaia-X initiative to reach the common objective: to advance open-source collaboration for resilient, decentralised and trusted data exchanges.

    “Whether you’re a data provider aiming to share valuable data or a data consumer in search of reliable and compliant data sources, Proximus provides the federated infrastructure and technology essential for secure, efficient, and future-proof data exchanges within Gaia-X,” said Proximus digital & IT lead Antonietta Mastroianni.

    Berg estimates private LTE/5G market will reach $8.9bn in 2029

    Annie Turner
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    Berg estimates private LTE/5G market will reach $8.9bn in 2029

    There were 4,700 such network deployments, and a market value of $1.8 billion, in 2024; a 38% CAGR is expected over the next five years


    A new research report from the IoT analyst firm Berg Insight found there were 4,700 private LTE/5G networks deployed across the world at the end of 2024, excluding proofs of concept. The market value for private LTE/5G network solutions reached an estimated $1.8 billion (€1.73 billion) in 2024.

    Berg Insight believes that the market value for private LTE/5G network solutions will grow steadily over the next five years, largely driven by new network deployments. Revenue growth will also be driven by upgrades and expansions of existing networks, as enterprises add new applications and transition from LTE to 5G. Growing at a CAGR of 38%, the total market value for private LTE/5G network solutions is forecasted to reach $8.9 billion in 2029.
     
    “The increased availability of dedicated spectrum and emergence of new use cases open up a wide range of opportunities for the cellular ecosystem”, said Melvin Sörum, IoT analyst at Berg Insight. “The shift is fuelling a new wave of investments by established network equipment vendors while also attracting new entrants into the space. The historically supply-driven market is today also increasingly driven by organic demand from end users”, continued Sörum.
     
    The major RAN vendors (Ericsson, Nokia and Huawei) all play significant roles as end-to-end solution providers and are challenged by a number of smaller RAN equipment providers. The vendors increasingly pursue channel-led sales strategies, and have developed ecosystems of mobile operators, system integrators, VARs and consulting partners to bring solutions to market. Berg Insight ranks Nokia as the largest private LTE/5G network solution vendor with about 800 customers and over 1,500 private network deployments at the end of 2024.
     
    A number of small cell and other RAN equipment providers offer competitive LTE/5G radio products and in some cases complete private network offerings, including Airspan Networks, Askey, Baicells, Benetel, Cablefree, Celona, Firecell, GXC, JMA Wireless, Mavenir, Samsung Networks, Sercomm, Star Solutions and ZTE. Important specialised core network software vendors include Cisco, Cumucore, Druid Software, Expeto, Highway 9, HPE and Microsoft. In total, RAN and EPC/5GC offerings for private networks are available from over 60 vendors.
     
    According to Berg Insight, the introduction of as-a-service business models is currently one of the strongest trends, along with the increased virtualisation of network functions, implementation of the O-RAN concept in radio products and launch of neutral host network solutions. Other key trends identified by the research firm that could significantly impact private LTE/5G network adoption include regulatory changes and emerging technologies such as Wi-Fi 7 and network slicing, which may serve as potential substitutes for private cellular networks.
     
    Download report brochure: The Private LTE/5G Network Market
     

    Telecoms fraud and cyber risks | White paper by We Are CORTEX

    admin
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    Telecoms fraud and cyber risks | White paper by We Are CORTEX

    Telcos face an increasingly complex cybersecurity threat surface due to technologies like IoT, 5G, and cloud computing, which introduce new vulnerabilities and increase data volumes.

    Organisations must contend with threats from malicious actors, state-backed attacks, human error, and stricter compliance requirements like the EU’s NIS 2 Directive and the UK’s Telecoms (Security) Act. Proactive, holistic strategies, including continual audits and rapid threat reporting, are essential to address emerging and unknown risks.

    Automation is a critical solution, enabling organisations to monitor, test, and defend against threats effectively. Over time, AI will enhance these efforts, though adversaries also stand to benefit from its capabilities. The CORTEX platform delivers a cross-domain approach to security, eliminating human error and providing continuous protection and compliance. By addressing existing vulnerabilities and building future-ready defences, CORTEX enables telcos to secure their networks and consumers while preparing for tomorrow’s unknown cybersecurity challenges.

    Italy’s Wind Tre acquires wholesaler OpNet

    Annie Turner
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    0
    Italy’s Wind Tre acquires wholesaler OpNet

    The plan is for the wholesaler to progress to offering Network-as-a-Service and the monetisation of APIs

    In Italy, Wind Tre has acquired wholesaler OpNet. The parties say [translated from the Italian], “This investment aims to ensure operational continuity and enhance the dynamic model and specialist skills that have always distinguished OpNet in the wholesale market.

    “The integration with Wind Tre is part of a broader strategy of consolidation and strengthening of operational synergies. An integration process has been started that will lead to the creation of a single and strong point of reference for the market”

    As Wind Tre’s wholesale unit, OpNet continues to offer customers neutral access to its “technologically advanced infrastructure”, plus Wind Tre’s mobile networks and access to third-party infrastructure via the Wind Tre ecosystem.

    The wholesale offers include solutions for mobile and fixed services, wired and wireless, MVNO, IoT connectivity and dedicated fibre and microwave connections. In future, the plan is to evolve to provide Network-as-a-Service and monetisation of APIs to optimise the provisioning processes for wholesale customers and simplify their operational management.

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