T-Mobile has released its third-quarter results, and has turned in record-breaking numbers.
T-Mobile reported total revenue of $19.3 billion, with net earnings of $1.3 billion or $1.00 earnings per share. This was was substantially better than analyst consensus of $0.43 per share on $18.34 billion in revenue.
The company also added 2,035,000 new customers, including 1,979,000 postpaid net additions and 689,000 postpaid phone net additions, all representing best-in-industry results.
The company ended the third-quarter with a record number 100.4 million total customers.
“Last quarter T-Mobile overtook AT&T to become #2 in U.S. wireless and today we announced our highest ever postpaid net adds. Now, with over 100 million wireless customers and America’s largest 5G network, there is no doubt that we’re the growth leader in wireless,” said Mike Sievert, T-Mobile CEO. “Customers are choosing T-Mobile in record numbers because we are the only ones that can deliver this combination of value and experience with a true 5G network that is available to customers in every single state! We’re consistently and profitably outpacing the competition – and we’re just getting started!”
Dish Network has selected Intel for its 5G rollout, as the satellite company works to be the fourth nationwide carrier.
As part of T-Mobile’s purchase of Sprint, the magenta carrier sold portions of its spectrum to Dish. T-Mobile also agreed to allow Dish to piggyback off of its network for several years. The government’s goal in requiring these concessions was to help create a viable nationwide carrier to help fill the void left by the T-Mobile/Sprint merger.
Dish has been moving full-speed-ahead in its efforts to roll out its network, enlisting Nokia to provide the necessary software and now partnering with Intel to use its 5G infrastructure technology. Dish is attempting to create the nation’s first virtualized, O-RAN (open-radio access network), 5G network. O-RAN enables carriers to use equipment and hardware from multiple vendors, marrying the various components together using a set of defined interfaces.
“Fully virtualized, cloud-native networks, like the one DISH is building, bring the same server economics that transformed the datacenter,” said Dan Rodriguez, corporate vice president and general manager of Intel’s Network Platforms Group. “We are excited to partner with DISH to lay the foundation for a truly agile network and have already begun working with our OEM partners who have designed FlexRAN-based servers to enable a variety of new innovative use cases and services.”
As part of the partnership, the two companies are also working together to further the O-RAN standard.
The tests are in and the new iPhone 12’s “ceramic shield” screen appears to be the strongest iPhone screen yet.
While 5G may have received much of the attention, one of the major selling points of the iPhone 12 is the ceramic shield screen, the latest innovation coming out of Corning. Ceramic shield is a combination of glass and ceramics, giving the screen far more strength and resilience than glass alone, and even more than some metals, according to CNET.
CNET put the phone though its standard battery of drop tests, and the new screen passed with flying colors. The screen survived being jostled in a purse and slid across tile. It took rubbing the phone with 80-grit sandpaper to finally scratch it.
The new screen faired even better in drop tests, serving multiple falls from various heights without breaking. Even multiple drops from 9 feet was not enough to break the screen.
The back of the phone is still the old-style glass from the iPhone 11, also from Corning, which did not fair as well as the ceramic shield. Even so, the tests are a good sign for iPhone 12 users looking for extra durability.
IBM and AT&T have announced they are partnering to help bring 5G and open hybrid cloud services to enterprise customers.
Edge computing has become a critical component for many enterprises, as the amount of IoT devices multiples. As IBM points out, Gartner estimates that “by 2025, 75% of enterprise-grade data will be created and processed by devices at the edge.” Processing the data on the edge saves the time that would normally be required to send it back and forth to a data processing center.
5G is an important part of that process, as well as a way of improving the privacy and security for the enterprise. The creation of private 5G networks will power devices, while at the same time keeping the data from being transmitted over public networks.
As part of the partnership, IBM is building on its previous commitment to retool its software around Red Hat OpenShift. The company has been working with telcos all over the world, citing Verizon, Vodafone, Bharti Airtel and roughly 83% of the world’s largest telcos as its clients.
It’s not just telcos that benefit, however. IBM cites healthcare, manufacturing, retail, banking and finance as some of the principles markets that will benefit from its partnership with AT&T.
“The advancements in 5G and edge are impacting every industry, bringing the promise of enhanced experiences for consumers and new revenue opportunities for businesses,” said Howard Boville, senior vice president, IBM Hybrid Cloud. “Together with AT&T, we will be helping clients securely leverage 5G and edge offerings in any environment with IBM’s open and secure hybrid cloud platform. This marks a significant step forward increasing the possibilities of 5G and edge in the enterprise.”
T-Mobile has doubled the extent of its mid-band 5G coverage in just a month, with plans to provide coverage to 100 million by year’s end.
Mid-band 5G is considered the sweet spot by many experts, providing the range and coverage needed for optimal use. T-Mobile achieved gigabit speed with its mid-band 5G in May. While high-band mmWave is often associated with gigabit speeds, it’s hampered by notoriously short range and even worse building penetration.
“When it comes to real-world 5G, the only way to get the kind of performance benefits we’ve been promised is through the critical mid-band spectrum,” noted Bob O’Donnell, President of TECHnalysis Research. “Sure, mmWave can be fast, but it’s nearly impossible to find, while low-band 5G is easy to find, but offers smaller improvement over existing LTE. With the 2.5 GHz spectrum being lit up by T-Mobile, however, you get the sweet spot of noticeably improved performance in a respectable coverage area. That’s the kind of 5G benefit that consumers are going to notice and appreciate.”
Thanks to T-Mobile’s Sprint acquisition, it has more mid-band spectrum than any US carriers, putting it in an excellent position to deliver on its promise.
“Mid-band is the only way to deliver super-fast 5G speeds that can reach for miles. And here’s the secret AT&T and Verizon don’t want you to know: T-Mobile is the only one with big swaths of mid-band dedicated to 5G. T-Mobile has more mid-band spectrum than anyone else,” said Neville Ray, President of Technology at T-Mobile. “We’re the only ones building a transformational 5G network built on dedicated — not shared — airwaves. And that means only T-Mobile is capable of making the world’s best 5G network a reality.”
Today’s announcement is good news for T-Mobile subscribers.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has established the 5G Fund for Rural America in a bid to close the digital divide.
Because of the sprawling nature of the US and its large geographic footprint, there is a long-recognized digital divide between urban areas and rural communities. While urban areas and cities often have access to multiple types of high-speed broadband, rural communities have few—or in some cases no—choices available.
The FCC is working to close that divide with a $9 billion fund aimed at improving 5G access.
The Federal Communications Commission today adopted rules creating the 5G Fund for Rural America, which will distribute up to $9 billion over the next decade to bring 5G wireless broadband connectivity to rural America. 5G represents the latest advance in mobile wireless technology, promising increased speeds, reduced latency, and better security than 4G LTE networks.
Carriers, especially T-Mobile and Verizon, have been deploying 5G home broadband in an effort to help cover these areas. T-Mobile, in particular, rapidly expanded its home 5G internet in the wake of AT&T’s announcement it was phasing out its DSL service, a move likely to widen the digital divide even more.
Verizon, Ericsson and Qualcomm have hit another major 5G milestone, delivering download speeds of 5 Gbps.
Verizon has mainly been focusing on mmWave 5G, the fastest variety of 5G. It promises speeds in the gigabits, with latency in the single digits, or low double digits at most.
Now, a week after announcing speeds of 4 Gbps, Verizon, Ericsson and Qualcomm have achieved 5 Gbps download speeds.
“We have been driving the evolution of 5G technology from the early days and we continue to aggressively drive innovation — pushing the limits of the technology farther and faster for our customers,” said Brian Mecum, Vice President of Device Technology at Verizon. “This latest achievement is yet another milestone in providing a genuinely differentiated service for our customers on mmWave.”
Verizon says that, when fully mature, its mmWave 5G will deliver speeds up to 10 Gbps, along with latency under 5 milliseconds.
“Our strategy from the beginning has always been to reshape the world by driving innovation and leading the way in deploying the keenly differentiated 5G Ultra Wideband experience customers can only get from the mmWave based 5G network. It is the 21st century infrastructure that will shape the future,” said Mecum. “Today’s demonstration shows the advancements we are making to provide our customers with the mobile technology and capabilities they don’t even yet know they need.”
The one issue Verizon still faces, however, is coverage. While it offers blazing speeds, mmWave has extremely short range and terrible building penetration. Verizon recently invested heavily in mid-band spectrum at the latest FCC auction. Prior to that, the company did not have enough mid-band spectrum to effectively compete with T-Mobile, especially since most experts consider mid-band spectrum to be the 5G sweet spot for both range and performance.
Similarly, the company does not have enough low-band spectrum to roll out a dedicated, nationwide 5G network. Instead, it has had to rely on Dynamic Spectrum Switching (DSS) to share the spectrum used by its 4G LTE network. Unsurprisingly, early reviews report less-than-impressive performance.
While Verizon’s 5G is the undisputed king of speed, it has a long way to go before it can effectively deliver that performance to the majority of its users.
T-Mobile has launched T-Mobile Ventures, a fund aimed at backing companies “developing transformative 5G products and services for the T-Mobile network.”
Carriers around the country are rushing to roll out 5G networks, while businesses and customers are eager to take advantage of the benefits it offers. T-Mobile is one of the leading 5G providers, offing the full range of 5G: low-band, mid-band and mmWave.
Because of the speeds 5G offers, it is opening up new opportunities in artificial intelligence, edge computing, cloud computing, machine learning and more. As a result, a new generation of companies are developing products and services that take advantage of 5G. T-Mobile Ventures’ goal is to help these companies succeed.
“T-Mobile Ventures is part of our mission to give customers the best 5G network in the country – one that will serve all Americans, stimulate competition and create tremendous economic value,” said Jason Young, Senior Vice President of Partnerships and T-Mobile Ventures. “With our 5G network at the foundation, we see massive opportunity across both business and consumer segments, and we’re excited to help fuel the wave of 5G applications coming to market in the years ahead.”
Sweden has joined the list of countries that are banning Chinese firms Huawei and ZTE from participating in the country’s networks.
Huawei was one of the world’s largest provider of telecommunications equipment, with carriers all over the globe relying on its technology. In recent years, however, there have been growing concerns that Huawei and ZTE represent a significant risk to other countries’ national security. Huawei has often been accused of being an extension of Beijing’s intelligence apparatus, a claim it has vehemently denied.
The US, in particular, has waged a successful campaign to isolate Huawei, pressuring its allies to ban the firm from their networks. The UK, Australia and New Zealand have all implemented bans.
Sweden is now the latest country to ban the two firms, citing the threat China poses. According to reports, wireless carriers bidding on 5G spectrum are prohibited from using the two companies. Even existing infrastructure must have any Huawei or ZTE gear removed if the infrastructure will be used for 5G.
“China is one of the biggest threats to Sweden,” said Klas Friberg, the head of SAPO, Sweden’s domestic security service. “The Chinese state is conducting cyber espionage to promote its own economic development and develop its military capabilities. This is done through extensive intelligence gathering and theft of technology, research and development. This is what we must consider when building the 5G network of the future.”
The move is another blow to Huawei, already reeling from existing bans and sanction, but will be a big win for Nokia and Ericsson.
Verizon and Nokia are working on private 5G networks, aimed at replacing WiFi networks for businesses.
There are a number of advantages to 5G over traditional networks. The fastest variety of 5G, mmWave, offers speeds measured in gigabits. In addition, latency is often measured in single digits, or very low double digits. Verizon is also touting the security benefits, as a private 5G network eliminates the need to transmit data through public networks.
“Today, we’ve announced the next phase of Verizon’s global 5G vision with the launch of private 5G for our international customers,” said Tami Erwin, CEO, Verizon Business. “If the past few months have taught us anything, it’s that there’s never been a more critical time for mobility, broadband and cloud products and services. Private 5G networks will be a transformative technology that will drive the new era of disruption and innovation for enterprises around the world.”
The joint effort will initially target enterprises in Europe and Asia-Pacific, although it wouldn’t be surprising if it expands to the US once 5G gains more ground. The two companies clearly see 5G as a transformational technology, with implications far beyond the basic cellphone.
“Private wireless connectivity has become central to many industries in realizing their long-term digital transformation goals. By delivering private 5G together with Verizon, we’re paving the way to accelerate digitalization for the most demanding industries who crave reliable wireless connectivity,” said Brian R. Fitzgerald, SVP Global Solutions at Nokia.
T-Mobile President Neville Ray says that Verizon’s speeds on 5G and LTE are about to hit a massive speed bump.He adds, “You can’t enjoy 5G if you can’t get 5G.” Ouch!
In a snarky blog post, T-Mobile says that new data released today from Ookla proves that T-Mobile customers get a 5G signal more often than anyone else. T-Mobile says that Verizon customers only connected to 5G a paltry 0.6% of the time.
“You can’t enjoy 5G if you can’t get 5G. I can’t believe I have to say this, but apparently, some providers think 5G you can’t find is perfectly OK. T-Mobile has America’s largest 5G network, and Ookla’s report shows T-Mobile customers get the benefits of 5G more often,” said Neville Ray, President of Technology at T-Mobile. “We’re building 5G for All on dedicated airwaves to deliver both coverage and speed … while Verizon and AT&T force 5G and LTE customers to share already-crowded bandwidth.”
The Un-carrier’s 5G network is the largest by far, covering 260 million people in more than 7,500 cities and towns. And thanks to the merger with Sprint, T-Mobile is rolling out the best spectrum for 5G — mid-band 2.5 GHz 5G — across the country. It’s already live today in 210 cities and towns and will be in thousands of cities and towns by the end of the year. Where mid-band is deployed, it can deliver average download speeds around 300 Mbps — that’s 7.5x faster than our LTE today — with peak speeds up to 1 Gbps. Verizon’s “Ultra Wideband” can only deliver fast speeds outdoors on specific street corners near base stations. T-Mobile’s mid-band 5G is the sweet spot, it can give customers fast speeds across broad geographies.
T-Mobile has dedicated spectrum for 5G across low, mid and high bands. And that’s important because 5G devices will use a lot of capacity. Verizon and AT&T are stealing LTE spectrum from their existing customers to broaden their 5G coverage. Using Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS), Verizon and AT&T force 5G and LTE customers to share bandwidth, splitting up the capacity so each technology only gets part of it. DSS is an important network feature and should be used in limited scenarios — not to provide an entire nationwide footprint. So, what’s the problem with Verizon’s broad use of DSS? Well, they are already spectrum-constrained and have limited sub-6 GHz spectrum. And now, they’re forced to share that limited resource with their 5G customers too. More traffic, same roads – sounds like a slowdown ahead.
“The physics are simple. When you force more devices to share crowded airwaves, speeds decrease. I predict Verizon’s speeds on 5G and LTE are about to hit a massive speed bump,” added Ray.
“By contrast,” says Ray, T-Mobile is building 5G on free and clear dedicated spectrum in all bands with its “layer cake” multi-band strategy. With all three major bands dedicated to 5G, only T-Mobile has wide open freeways ready to take on massive amounts of 5G traffic. And with more low and mid-band spectrum than anyone else, T-Mobile is building an even wider and faster freeway.”
Verizon partners with Microsoft to create new ways for enterprises to accelerate the delivery of fast and secure 5G applications to enable state of the art low-latency IoT solutions.
Verizon’s on-site 5G Edge network integrated with Azure edge services can enable ultra-low latency, many times faster than the blink of an eye, according to Verizon, which can help businesses tap into real-time data analysis and delivery. Applications incorporating computer vision, augmented, mixed and virtual reality, digital twins or machine learning can be enhanced with 5G and MEC on the customer premise, helping transform the way industries such as retail, transportation, and logistics operations.
Think of automated high-precision asset localization, tracking and positioning in manufacturing. In healthcare, the increased speed, reduced latency and high bandwidth connectivity of 5G networks could enable real-time precision medicine leveraging mixed reality and AI capabilities as well as seamless and fast sharing of large files to improve patient care.
“We have built a network that provides real-world, 5G-enabled solutions TODAY,” said Rima Qureshi, EVP and Chief Strategy Officer at Verizon. “By bringing together Verizon’s 5G network and on-site 5G Edge platform with Microsoft’s expertise in cloud services, we will enable the development of the next-generation technologies everyone has been envisioning.”
The collaboration brings Azure cloud and edge capabilities together with Verizon’s on-site 5G Edge, a mobile edge computing platform designed to enable developers to build applications for mobile end-users and wireless edge devices with ultra-low latency. By utilizing on-site private 5G, businesses will be able to realize increased power efficiencies and reduced costs of end user devices while addressing their privacy and security needs.
Logistics and supply chain solutions company Ice Mobility is already testing on Verizon’s on-site 5G Edge platform, integrated with Microsoft Azure. The company is using 5G and MEC to help with computer vision assisted product packing. By gathering data in near real-time on product packing errors, the company has the potential to improve on-site quality assurance and save 15% to 30% in processing time.
“We are especially excited to join Verizon and Microsoft to test how 5G and MEC can improve the quality assurance process,” said Mike Mohr, CEO of Ice Mobility. “They truly have listened to our needs to provide automated real-time quality oversight and feedback, which will enable us to cost-effectively launch unique new products, while maintaining the highest execution standards, significantly increasing throughput and reducing costs. And, this is just the beginning.”
“By leveraging Verizon’s 5G network integrated with Microsoft’s cloud and edge capabilities, developers and businesses can benefit from fast, secure and reliable connections to deliver seamless digital experiences from massive industrial IoT workloads to precision medicine,” said Yousef Khalidi, corporate vice president Azure for Operators at Microsoft.
Moving forward, Verizon will explore opportunities to co-innovate with Microsoft to deliver new value to industries ranging from manufacturing to healthcare.
Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband network enables throughput at least 25 times faster than today’s 4G networks*; delivers ultra-low latency; and offers very high bandwidth. Verizon 5G Ultra Wideband is expected to eventually enable 100 times larger data volumes than 4G; and the ability to connect more than a million devices per kilometer. Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband service is available to people in 55 cities and its 5G Nationwide service is available to more than 200 million people in more than 1,800 cities around the U.S.
In combination with Apple’s 5G iPhone 12 launch, Verizon has announced the immediate availability of its nationwide 5G network.
As US carriers have rolled out their 5G networks, Verizon has taken a much different approach than AT&T and T-Mobile. Until now, Verizon has largely focused on its high-band, mmWave 5G. AT&T and T-Mobile, while deploying mmWave of their own, were quick to roll out nationwide 5G networks using low-band spectrum. AT&T used its 850 MHz spectrum, while T-Mobile used 600 MHz.
While low-band spectrum doesn’t offer nearly the same speed as mmWave, it offers much better coverage and building penetration. In many cases, low-band 5G matches or exceeds 4G LTE’s range and penetration, much of which is in the 700 MHz range. Verizon now joins the other two carriers with a nationwide 5G network using its low-band spectrum.
Unfortunately, unlike T-Mobile and AT&T, Verizon does not have enough low-band spectrum to create a dedicated, nationwide 5G network. Instead, it has to use Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS) to share the same spectrum between its 4G LTE and nationwide 5G networks. In pre-launch tests—the couple of days before the announcement when 5G started showing up on Verizon devices—the new network was actually slower than Verizon’s 4G LTE.
“I wouldn’t worry too much about the 5G being slower than 4G yet,” write Sascha Segan & Steven Winkelman for PCMag. “This is pre-launch and either our devices or the network may not have been fully configured. But I think 5G being the same speed as 4G is more relevant, because DSS 5G is really just a shell game. You get faster speeds when you add spectrum to a carrier’s pool. The power of 5G comes from its ability to use wider channels than 4G—up to 100MHz each where 4G channels max out at 20MHz.
“DSS simply shifts some existing 4G channels to 5G when they aren’t being used by 4G phones. So you’re going to end up with narrow odds and ends of airwaves that don’t expand the carrier’s portfolio any, but let it show a “5G” indicator for marketing purposes.”
It remains to be seen how Verizon’s nationwide 5G network will stack up now that it’s officially launched. If the early tests are to be believed, however, it shows why T-Mobile is widely considered the 5G carrier to beat, especially with its acquisition of spectrum-rich Sprint.
Apple CEO Tim Cook announced today the launch of iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro with 5G:
Today we’re bringing 5G to iPhone. This is a huge moment for all of us and we’re really excited. 5G will bring a new level of performance for downloads and uploads, higher quality video streaming, more responsive gaming, real-time interactivity, and so much more. 5G networks are more advanced with lower latency and less network congestion so you can get higher network speeds even in densely populated areas. 5G even helps protect your privacy and security since you won’t need to connect to unknown unsecured public wi-fi hotspots as often.
Each generation of cellular network technology on the iPhone has enabled breakthrough innovations and entirely new opportunities for our developers and our users. 5G is the most exciting step yet. For so many people this all becomes real with 5G coming to iPhone.
Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg also spoke at Apple’s launch event about the impact of 5G for the iPhone:
5G just got real. Of course, what’s the most exciting part for me as a guy who has worked in networking for 25 plus years? The fact that for the first time ever iPhone can now access Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband. It’s built with large quantities on millimeter wave spectrum that enable unprecedented performance. 5G Ultra Wideband has already been recognized as being the fastest 5G in the world and it’s getting even faster. Our 5G network now gives you double the peak download speeds, over 4 gigabits per second today in ideal conditions. And even higher over time.
It also gives you double the upload speeds at over 200 megabits per second. So whatever you’re watching, a high definition movie or you’re planning business workflows with real-time augmented reality, you can be sure that there’s no faster 5G anywhere on earth. 5G Ultra Wideband has also a massive capacity. We’re building it to help remove bottlenecks in crowded places where thousands of people use their phones at the same time. Because one day we’ll be safely back in those places.
T-Mobile has announced it is expanding its home internet to 450 markets in an effort to offer service to customers “left high‑and‑dry by AT&T.”
AT&T made headlines when it announced it was shuttering its DSL service. While the company said it would continue to offer service to existing customers for the time being, it is no longer taking new customers and considers DSL a legacy technology to be phased out.
T-Mobile started offering wireless home internet in 2019, and has been slowly expanding its service. Following AT&T’s announcement, however, T-Mobile has kicked its expansion plan into high gear.
“We can’t stand idly by while AT&T leaves potentially millions with fewer home Internet options at a time when our connection to the Internet is so vital — for work, remote school, connection with family and friends. That’s why we’re undertaking this massive expansion,” said Mike Sievert, CEO of T-Mobile. “The Carriers and the Cableopoly have consistently over-promised and under-delivered when it comes to broadband access. Thanks to our merger with Sprint, we can end this and give millions in underserved communities more choices and competition for high-speed home broadband.”
The company’s service is $50 a month and, unlike many standard internet providers, has no equipment leases. The $50 also includes taxes and fees, much like T-Mobile’s phone plans. The service has no data caps, no two-year contracts and no “introductory prices” that rapidly expand once the introductory period is over.
It’s a safe bet those terms will make it a hit with customers who are tired of traditional internet options.
Apple has announced its upcoming ‘Hi, Speed’ event, in which it plans to unveil its 5G iPhone 12.
As carriers continue rolling out 5G across the country, the lack of a wide variety of quality 5G phones is one of the factors holding back widespread adoption. Apple’s iPhone is considered by many analysts to be one of the lynchpins necessary for the new technology to truly take off.
Analysts believe Apple will release iPhone 12 models supporting both mmWave and the slower, but far more available, low and mid-band 5G. This could give a big boost to T-Mobile and AT&T, since both companies have invested heavily in low-band rollouts. T-Mobile has also rolled out mid-band 5G in a large portion of the US, providing speeds in excess of 1Gbps, while still providing decent coverage.
Apple’s even is scheduled for October 13, and will be broadcast from Apple Park.
“The barriers have broken down now in digital transformation because of people working from home and the need to adopt faster,” says Brenda Harvey, General Manager at IBM Asia Pacific. “We see continued growth of hybrid cloud and of cloud services after the pandemic. It’s touching every element of a company’s business processes from the inside out and the outside in.”
The benefits coming from new personalized services, workflow automation, infusing AI to help drive this more personal experience, are actually driving better business impact. When we think about hybrid cloud which enables you to leverage all of your investments across your infrastructure we’re actually seeing two and a half times value than traditional models. We’re also seeing the benefits from regulatory cloud and capabilities that we’re putting into our platforms. We just announced a financial services cloud and we’ll do the same with insurance and healthcare.
We’ll take the costs out of the regulatory risk and compliance while providing more value from a business perspective. We’ve had a number of relationships across multiple industries including BNP Paribas, MUFG Bank, Adobe, across telecom with Vodafone Idea, Bharti Airtel, Verizon, and even Schlumberger and Ernst & Young. Companies are seeing the value of these platforms. In fact, in the study, 94% of the respondents said that by 2022 they would have a new business platform model that would continue to power their business.
Barriers To Digital Transformation Have Broken Down
We see continued growth of hybrid cloud and of cloud services after the pandemic. It’s touching every element of a company’s business processes from the inside out and the outside in. The inside out includes HR, finance, risk compliance, procurement, supply chain. Then the outside in, marketing, sales, customer engagement, and customer service. With marketing at marketing events, we saw a 3X response into our Think Digital than previous years because we could have more reach. So now marketing is taking into account a digital transformation of the clients’ needs.
Customer service and engagement are the number one priority of our clients. They are building and investing in the contact center to improve the experience and drive more value. This cloud platform will bring in new capabilities with 5G such as IoT (internet of things), blockchain, and of course quantum capabilities. We’ll see the technology advance while the cultural change is advancing too. The barriers have broken down now in digital transformation because of people working from home and the need to adopt faster.
IBM: Barrier To Digital Transformation Have Broken Down
“Today starts a new chapter in our close collaboration with the telecommunications industry to unlock the power of 5G and bring cloud and edge closer than ever,” said Microsoft Azure Executive Vice President Jason Zander in a blog announcement. “We’re building a carrier-grade cloud and bringing more Microsoft technology to the operator’s edge. This, in combination with our developer ecosystem, will help operators to future proof their networks, drive down costs, and create new services and business models.”
Jason Zander, Executive Vice President, Microsoft Azure, announces new collaborations with the telecommunications industry that will unlock the power of 5G and bring cloud and edge closer than ever:
The increasing demand for always-on connectivity, immersive experiences, secure collaboration, and remote human relationships is pushing networks to their limits, while the market is driving down price. The network infrastructure must ensure operators are able to optimize costs and gain efficiencies, while enabling the development of personalized and differentiated services. To address the requirements of rolling out 5G, operators will face strong challenges, including high capital expenditure (CapEx) investments, an increased need for scale, automation, and secure management of the massive volume of data it will generate.
Today starts a new chapter in our close collaboration with the telecommunications industry to unlock the power of 5G and bring cloud and edge closer than ever. We’re building a carrier-grade cloud and bringing more Microsoft technology to the operator’s edge. This, in combination with our developer ecosystem, will help operators to future proof their networks, drive down costs, and create new services and business models.
In Microsoft, operators get a trusted partner who will empower them to unlock the potential of 5G. Enabling them to offer a range of new services such as ultra-reliable low-latency connectivity, mixed reality communications services, network slicing, and highly scalable IoT applications to transform entire industries and communities.
By harnessing the power of Microsoft Azure, on their edge, or in the cloud, operators can transition to a more flexible and scalable model, drive down infrastructure cost, use AI and machine learning (ML) to automate operations and create service differentiation. Furthermore, a hybrid and hyper-scale infrastructure will provide operators with the agility they need to rapidly innovate and experiment with new 5G services on a programmable network.
More specifically, we will further support operators as they evolve their infrastructure and operations using technologies such as software-defined networking, network function virtualization, and service-based architectures. We are bringing to market a carrier-grade platform for edge and cloud to support the operator’s goals to future proof their infrastructure with disaggregated, and containerized network architectures. Recognizing that not everything will move to the public cloud, we will meet operators where they are—whether at the enterprise edge, the network edge, or in the cloud.
Our approach is built on the acquisitions of industry leaders in cloud-native network functions—Affirmed Networks and Metaswitch and on the development of Azure Edge Zones. By bringing together hundreds of engineers with deep experience in the telecommunications space, we are ensuring that our product development process is catering to the most relevant networking needs of the operators. We will leverage the strengths of Microsoft to extend and enhance the current capabilities of industry-leading products such as Affirmed’s 5G core and Metaswitch’s UC portfolio. These capabilities, combined with Microsoft’s broad developer ecosystem and deep business to business partnership programs, provide Microsoft with a unique ability to support the operators as they seek to monetize the capabilities of their networks.
Your customer, your service, powered by our technology
As we build out our partnerships with different operators, it is clear to us that there will be different approaches to technology adoption based on business needs. Some operators may choose to adopt the Azure platform and select a varied mix of virtualized or containerized network function providers. We also have operators that have requested complete end-to-end services as components for their offers. As a part of these discussions, many operators have identified points of control that are important to them, for example:
Control over where a slice, network API, or function is presented to the customer.
Definition of where and how traffic enters and exits their network.
Visibility and control over where key functions are executed for a given customer scenario.
Configuration and performance parameters of core network functions.
As we build out Azure for Operators, we recognize the importance of ensuring operators have the control and visibility they require to manage their unique industry requirements. To that end, here is how our assets come together to provide operators with the platform they need.
Communication Service Providers
Interconnect
It starts with the ability to interconnect deeply with the operator’s network around the globe. We have one of the largest networks that connect with operators at more than 170 points of presence and over 20,000 peering connections around the globe, putting direct connectivity within 25 miles of 85 percent of the world’s GDP. More than 200 operators have already chosen to integrate with the Azure network through our ExpressRoute service, enabling enterprises and partners to link their corporate networks privately and securely to Azure services. We also provide additional routes to connect to the service through options as varied as satellite connectivity and TV White Space spectrum.
Edge platform
This reach helps us to supply operators with cloud computing options that meet the customer wherever those capabilities are needed: at the enterprise edge, the network edge, the network core, or in the cloud. The various form factors, optimized to support the location in which they are deployed, are supported by the Azure platform—providing virtual machine and container services with a common management framework, DevOps support, and security control.
Network functions
We believe in an open platform that leverages the strengths of our partners. Our solutions are a combination of virtualized and containerized services as composable functions, developed by us and by our Network Equipment Provider partners, to support operators’ services such as the Radio Access Network, Mobile Packet Core, Voice and Interconnect services, and other network functions.
Technology from Affirmed and Metaswitch Networks will provide services for Mobile Packet Core, Voice, and Interconnect services.
Cloud solutions and Azure IoT for operators
By exposing these services through the Azure platform, we can combine them with other Azure capabilities such as Azure Cognitive Services (used by more than 1 million developers processing more than 10 billion transaction per day), Azure Machine Learning, and Azure IoT, to bring the power of AI and automation to the delivery of network services. These capabilities, in concert with our partnerships with OSS and BSS providers, enables us to help operators streamline and simplify operations, create new services to monetize the network, and gain greater insights into customer behavior.
In IoT our primary focus is simplifying our solutions to accelerate what we can do together from the edge to the cloud. We’ve done so by creating a platform that provides simple and secure provisioning of applications and devices to Azure cloud solutions through Azure IoT Central, which is the fastest and easiest way to build IoT solutions at scale. IoT Central enables customers to provision an IoT app in seconds, customize it in hours, and go to production the same day. IoT Plug and Play dramatically simplifies all aspects of IoT device support and provides devices that “just work” with any solution and is the perfect complement to achieve speed and simplicity through IoT Central. Azure IoT Central also gives the Mobile Operator the opportunity to monetize more of the IoT solution and puts them in a position to be a re-seller of the IoT Central application platform through their own solutions. Learn more about using Azure IoT for operators here.
Cellular connectivity is increasingly important for IoT solutions and represents a vast and generational shift for mobile operators as the share of devices in market shifts towards the enterprise. We will continue our deep partnership with operators to enable fast and efficient app development and deployment, which is critical to success at the edge. This will help support scenarios such as asset tracking across industries, manufacturing and distribution of smart products, and responsive supply chains. It will also help support scenarios where things are geographically dispersed, such as smart city automation, utility monitoring, and precision agriculture.
Where we go next
Our early engagement with partners such as Telstra and Etisalat helped us shape this path. We joined the 5G Open Innovation Lab as the founding public cloud partner to accelerate enterprise startups and launch new innovations to foster new 5G use cases with even greater access to leading-edge networks. The Lab will create long-term, sustainable developer and commercial ecosystems that will accelerate the delivery of exciting new capabilities at the edge, including pervasive IoT intelligence and immersive mixed reality. And this is just the beginning. I invite you to learn more about our solutions and watch the series of videos we have curated for you.
Microsoft is partnering with the telecom industry to power 5G, cloud and edge technologies.
Microsoft Azure is currently the second most popular cloud platform. Despite this, Microsoft has been making inroads into a number of industries, and has set its sights on the telecom industry.
The telecom industry promises to be a lucrative market for cloud providers, especially with the rollout of 5G. The new wireless technology promises to revolutionize cloud computing, as well as edge computing.
Today starts a new chapter in our close collaboration with the telecommunications industry to unlock the power of 5G and bring cloud and edge closer than ever,” writes Jason Zander Executive Vice President, Microsoft Azure. “We’re building a carrier-grade cloud and bringing more Microsoft technology to the operator’s edge. This, in combination with our developer ecosystem, will help operators to future proof their networks, drive down costs, and create new services and business models.
In Microsoft, operators get a trusted partner who will empower them to unlock the potential of 5G. Enabling them to offer a range of new services such as ultra-reliable low-latency connectivity, mixed reality communications services, network slicing, and highly scalable IoT applications to transform entire industries and communities.
Should Microsoft gain significant traction in this market, it will be another arena where it will be able to substantially challenge market-leader AWS.
Dish Network has chosen Nokia for its 5G core network software as the satellite company rolls out its wireless network.
Dish Network has been working to expand beyond its core satellite business to become a major wireless carrier. The company received a major boost due to the T-Mobile/Sprint merger. In order to assuage concerns from regulators, T-Mobile agreed to sell spectrum to Dish Network, and provide the company with several years of access to T-Mobile’s network. The goal was to create a fourth major carrier, essentially replacing the ailing Sprint post-merger.
It appears Dish is moving full-steam-ahead in its efforts to roll out its network, and has tapped Nokia to provide the software for its standalone 5G network. The software will handle device management, subscriber data management, integration services, packet core, voice and core. Nokia’s software will also provide standalone 4G and 5G, as well as voice over WiFi access.
“This is an important step in bringing to life DISH’s plans to deliver the first open, agile, virtualized 5G network in the U.S.,” said Marc Rouanne, DISH Chief Network Officer. “Nokia’s new release is cloud-native, standalone and ready for full automation, providing DISH the software capabilities required to deliver thousands of network slices with low latency and SLA on demand.”
“The benefits of Nokia’s industry-leading, cloud-native standalone 5G Core products built on our proven Common Software Foundation — near-zero-touch automation capabilities, high-level operational efficiencies, scale and performance – continue to set us apart from the competition,” said Bhaskar Gorti, President of Nokia Software and Nokia Chief Digital Officer. “DISH has great ambition and we are both excited and laser-focused on helping them deliver on that.”
PCMag has released its 11th annual testing data of US wireless networks, and it doesn’t paint a pretty picture for the state of 5G.
Each of the three major carriers are rushing to get on the 5G bandwagon, although each of them are taking different approaches. Verizon has been focused almost exclusively on high-band, mmWave spectrum. This is the fastest variety of 5G, with speeds measured in gigabits. Unfortunately, it has very limited range and building penetration, making it hard to find.
T-Mobile and AT&T have both rolled out mmWave networks in urban areas, much like Verizon. Both of them, however, have also rolled out low-band nationwide 5G networks. This variety of 5G is only marginally faster than 4G LTE, but has excellent range and penetration.
Mid-band spectrum promises to offer the best of both worlds, with decent range and penetration, combined with speeds in the 700 Mbps range. T-Mobile has a wealth of this spectrum, thanks to its merge with Sprint, but has yet to fully repurpose it.
PCMag’s report falls largely inline with what one would expect, given the technologies in use. Of the three, PCMag’s Sascha Segan says “Verizon’s 5G is often mind-blowing, but very difficult to find.” This is exactly what one would expect from a 5G rollout focused exclusively on mmWave.
T-Mobile, on the other hand, has the largest nationwide, low-band 5G network. At the same time, its speeds have not increased as fast as either AT&T or Verizon. This is believed to be the result of T-Mobile absorbing millions of Sprint customers post-merger, resulting in added congestion on the network. T-Mobile says it will be able to deal with the congestion once it finished integrating Sprint’s spectrum.
On the other hand, Segan said, “AT&T 5G right now appears to be essentially worthless.” This is largely because of how AT&T has chosen to roll out its nationwide 5G. As Sagan explains:
”AT&T’s 5G slices off a narrow bit of the old 850MHz cellular band and assigns it to 5G, to give phones a valid 5G icon without increasing performance. And because of the way current 5G phones work, it often reduces performance. At locations with both 4G and 5G, our 5G phone was slower than our 4G phone in 21 out of 22 cities.”
In many ways, this is reminiscent of how AT&T labeled souped up 4G LTE as “5G Evolution,” a claim the BBB’s National Advertising Review Board (NARB) and National Advertising Division (NAD) found misleading. Similarly, in the transition from 3G to 4G, AT&T drew criticism for labeling souped up 3G as 4G.
While offering some nuggets of hope for the state of the US 5G market, PCMag’s report illustrates that it still has a long way to go before it reaches the level of maturity needed to compete with existing 4G networks.
