Sintetiche riflessioni sulla evoluzione della tecnologia e dell’Industry A cura di CT.TA.STC Numero 15 – 19 luglio 2019 L’Archivio delle Triggering News è a questo link 5G, FutureNet e Tecnologie • Google to Spend $1.1 Billion on New Data Centers in Netherlands • IDC: Cloud infrastructure spending to cool down • IBM e Cisco insieme per Hybrid Cloud • AT&T signs multi-year deal with IBM worth 'billions' • AT&T & Microsoft Ink 'Extensive' Deal for Cloud, 5G, AI & Edge • Artificial Intelligence per combattere il mail d'auto • Riassicurazioni su Emissioni elettromagnetiche e 5G: figure molto belle • Here's a look at how banks can use AI to transform the front-end customer experience... • Amazon Internet via Satellite con oltre 3200 nuovi satelliti annunciati • Report: US could lose over 1.5M jobs to automation by 2030 • Huawei ha il 20% degli "essential patent" per 5G • Access Gateway ibrido con 5G e FTTH da ZTE • SK Telecom and DT’s venture to initially target 5G in-building solutions • University Hospitals Birmingham, BT and WM5G demonstrate UK’s first remote ultrasound over a public 5G network Servizi e Terminali • Court: Deutsche Telekom must change zero-rating service • Concorrente di Android: Huawei eyes Harmony in Europe • Google Home Speaker spia gli utenti • La città di Amsterdam blocca la costruzione di nuovi data center per l'alto consumo di energia elettrica • YouTube’s pushing augmented-reality ads • Virgin delivers full fibre trial to Greenham using wireless backhaul
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Sintetiche riflessioni sulla evoluzione della tecnologia e dell’Industry A cura di CT.TA.STC Numero 15 – 19 luglio 2019 L’Archivio delle Triggering News è a questo link 5G, FutureNet e Tecnologie
• Google to Spend $1.1 Billion on New Data Centers in Netherlands • IDC: Cloud infrastructure spending to cool down • IBM e Cisco insieme per Hybrid Cloud • AT&T signs multi-year deal with IBM worth 'billions' • AT&T & Microsoft Ink 'Extensive' Deal for Cloud, 5G, AI & Edge • Artificial Intelligence per combattere il mail d'auto • Riassicurazioni su Emissioni elettromagnetiche e 5G: figure molto belle • Here's a look at how banks can use AI to transform the front-end customer
experience... • Amazon Internet via Satellite con oltre 3200 nuovi satelliti annunciati • Report: US could lose over 1.5M jobs to automation by 2030 • Huawei ha il 20% degli "essential patent" per 5G • Access Gateway ibrido con 5G e FTTH da ZTE • SK Telecom and DT’s venture to initially target 5G in-building solutions • University Hospitals Birmingham, BT and WM5G demonstrate UK’s first remote
ultrasound over a public 5G network
Servizi e Terminali • Court: Deutsche Telekom must change zero-rating service • Concorrente di Android: Huawei eyes Harmony in Europe • Google Home Speaker spia gli utenti • La città di Amsterdam blocca la costruzione di nuovi data center per l'alto consumo
di energia elettrica • YouTube’s pushing augmented-reality ads • Virgin delivers full fibre trial to Greenham using wireless backhaul
Google to Spend $1.1 Billion on New Data Centers in Netherlands The expansions would bring its total Netherlands data center investment to 2.5 billion euros.
Alphabet Inc.’s Google said it would invest 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) to expand its data center infrastructure in the Netherlands. A new facility will be built in Agriport, about 30 miles north of Amsterdam, while an existing site about 130 miles further north, in Eemshaven, will be expanded. In a statement Monday, Joe Kava, vice president of Google’s Global Data Centers, noted that the Netherlands was attractive for its "ample sustainable energy sources." Tech companies are choosing to locate their data centers in regions of the world with access to renewable power, reducing their reliance on fossil fuels. Rich wind and hydroelectric resources, as well as cooler climates that help save on air conditioning, make places like the Netherlands prime destinations. Facebook Inc. has a facility in Lulea, northern Sweden, and Microsoft Corp.’s data center in the Netherlands is a regional hub for its cloud computing services. Google didn’t specify what its new facilities would be used for. In 2018, the search giant announced it had invested 1.5 billion euros into its Netherlands data center operations. The expansions announced Monday would bring that total to 2.5 billion euros, it said.
IDC: Cloud infrastructure spending to cool down Il cloud cresce un po' meno del previsto Vendor revenue from the sales of IT infrastructure products (server, enterprise storage, and Ethernet switch) for cloud environments, including public and private cloud, grew 11.4% year over year in the first quarter of 2019 (1Q19), reaching $14.5 billion, according to IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Cloud IT Infrastructure Tracker. IDC lowered its forecast for total spending on cloud IT infrastructure in 2019 to $66.9 billion – down 4.5% from last quarter's forecast – with slower year-over-year growth of 1.6%. "As the overall IT infrastructure goes through a period of slowdown after an outstanding 2018, the important trends might look somewhat distorted in the short term," said Natalya Yezhkova, research vice president, Infrastructure Systems, Platforms and Technologies at IDC. "IDC's long-term expectations strongly back continuous growth of cloud IT infrastructure environments. With vendors and service providers finding new ways of delivering cloud services, including from IT infrastructure deployed at customer premises, end users have fewer obstacles and pain points in adopting cloud/services-based IT."
Some highlights from IDC:
• Vendor revenue from hardware infrastructure sales to public cloud environments in 1Q19 was down 13.4% compared to the previous quarter (4Q18) but increased 8.9% year over year to $9.8 billion. This segment of the market continues to be
highly impacted by demand from a handful of hyperscale service providers, whose spending on IT infrastructure tends to have visible up and down swings.
• After a strong performance in 2018, IDC expects the public cloud IT infrastructure segment to cool down in 2019 with vendor revenue dropping to $44.5 billion, a 2.2% decrease from 2018. Although it will continue to account for the majority of spending on cloud IT environments, its share will decrease from 69.1% in 2018 to 66.5% in 2019. In contrast, spending on private cloud IT infrastructure has showed more stable growth since IDC started tracking sales of IT infrastructure products in various deployment environments. In the first quarter of 2019, vendor revenues from private cloud environments increased 16.9% year over year reaching $4.7 billion. IDC expects spending in this segment to grow 10.1% year over year in 2019.
• Overall, the IT infrastructure industry is at a crossroads in terms of product sales to cloud vs. traditional IT environments. In 3Q18, vendor revenues from cloud IT environments climbed over the 50% mark for the first time but has since fallen below this important threshold. In 1Q19, cloud IT environments accounted for 48.8% of vendor revenues.
• For the full year 2019, spending on cloud IT infrastructure will remain just below the 50% mark at 49.4%. Over the long-term, however, IDC expects that spending on cloud IT infrastructure will grow steadily and will sustainably exceed the level of spending on traditional IT infrastructure in 2020 and beyond.
• Spending on the three technology segments in cloud IT environments is forecast to deliver growth for Ethernet switches and storage platforms while compute platforms are expected to decline in 2019. Ethernet switches will be the fastest growing at 20.9%, while spending on storage platforms will grow slightly at 1.9%. Meanwhile, compute platforms will decline by 2.8% in 2019 but will remain the largest category of spending on cloud IT infrastructure at $34.2 billion.
• Sales of IT infrastructure products into traditional (non-cloud) IT environments remained flat compared to 1Q18. For the full year 2019, worldwide spending on traditional non-cloud IT infrastructure is expected to decline by 3.5%, as the technology refresh cycle that drove market growth in 2018 is winding down. By 2023, IDC expects that traditional non-cloud IT infrastructure will only represent 42.4% of total worldwide IT infrastructure spending (down from 51.9% in 2018). This share loss and the growing share of cloud environments in overall spending on IT infrastructure is common across all regions.
• Most regions grew their cloud IT Infrastructure revenues in 1Q19. Middle East & Africa was fastest growing at 35.3% year over year, followed by Western Europe at 25.4% year-over-year growth. Other growing regions 1Q19 included Central & Eastern Europe (18.3%), Canada and Japan (both at 14.6%), the United States (10.7%), and China (5.4%). Cloud IT Infrastructure revenues were down slightly year over year in Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) (APeJ) by 1.2% and in Latin America by 0.2%.
Cisco and IBM are building on a joint hybrid cloud partnership to deliver a common developer experience across on-premise and cloud environments. The companies had previously committed to a joint Kubernetes experience across on-premise and cloud environments. The goal is to allow developers to quickly build, test and deliver microservices applications across a hybrid cloud infrastructure. IBM Cloud Private will now be supported on Cisco HyperFlex and HyperFlex Edge hyperconverged infrastructure. Cisco and IBM are also working together on a broader hybrid cloud architecture that will leverage expertise from both partners:
• Cisco’s enterprise-class data center, networking, and analytics • IBM’s hybrid cloud solutions that include open source components such as
containers, Kubernetes, Open Whisk, KNative, Istio, Cloud Foundry, and Prometheus, as well as an extensive catalog of IBM enterprise software and open source software, VMware services, virtual and bare metal servers.
AT&T signs multi-year deal with IBM worth 'billions' AT&T aveva venduto i suoi data center ad Equinix qualche tempo fa. Ed AT&/T ha appena fatto un accordo anche con Microsoft Azure (vedi sotto)
IBM and AT&T said Tuesday's agreement is worth "billions," but didn't specify how much. File Photo by Shutterstock/UPI July 16 (UPI) -- AT&T announced a new partnership worth billions Tuesday that will allow the mobile carrier to host business data on IBM Cloud servers. The companies said it's a multi-year, multi-billion-dollar agreement. An IBM spokesperson told CNBC it will last for "several years" -- but didn't say exactly how much AT&T will pay to use the IBM Cloud, or when it will start. Under the deal, AT&T will modernize business software applications. The deal also builds on AT&T's existing relationship with IBM as its strategic global network provider. Tuesday's is IBM's second major deal in a week. The company completed a $34 billion deal on July 9 with open source software firm Red Hat. As part of that agreement, AT&T will use Red Hat's platform to manage work loads and applications. Tags: Cloud Data Center
AT&T & Microsoft Ink 'Extensive' Deal for Cloud, 5G, AI & Edge Importante accordo segue quello fatto con IBM AT&T and Microsoft "are embarking on an extensive, multiyear alliance" encompassing the cloud, AI, 5G and the edge, the two companies said Wednesday. This follows a broad cloud deal that AT&T announced with IBM Tuesday. Terms of the AT&T and Microsoft deal were not disclosed, but Reuters and CNBC both put the value at $2 billion. As part of the Microsoft deal, AT&T names Microsoft as the "preferred cloud provider for non-network applications." Additionally, Microsoft will support AT&T consolidation of data center infrastructure and operations, the two companies said in a joint statement Wednesday. AT&T is becoming a "public cloud first" company and plans to migrate most non-network infrastructure applications to the Microsoft Azure cloud platform by 2024, the companies said. Over that time, AT&T will focus on "core network capabilities," customer innovation and "empower[ing] its workforce while optimizing costs." AT&T will also deploy Microsoft 365 to its employees. Microsoft 365 is a bundle of Microsoft products and services, including Windows 10, Office 365, mobile device management and security. The deal goes two ways As AT&T consumes Microsoft technologies, Microsoft gets access to the AT&T network, particularly 5G, AT&T CEO John Donovan said in a statement on Microsoft-owned LinkedIn. Additionally, AT&T and Microsoft will collaborate on 5G and edge computing to enable low-latency connections that will allow devices to process data closer to where decisions are made. AT&T and Microsoft will work on integrated solutions for a number of areas: voice-based collaboration and conferencing; intelligent edge and networking; IoT; public safety; and cybersecurity. "The companies already have joint enterprise solutions for networking, IoT, and blockchain in market, and expect to announce additional services later in 2019," according to the AT&T/Microsoft statement. Additional applications will be "aimed at social good," the companies said. Both companies have been focused on such issues as improving sustainability, accessibility and homelessness. Additionally, AT&T is working on addressing violence and unemployment. AT&T and Microsoft previously announced a deal in February. The two companies then said they'd test deploying Microsoft Azure compute on AT&T's 5G edge network to reduce latency for both enterprise and consumer applications. As part of that deal, AT&T and Microsoft are working with Israeli startup Vorpal on a public safety application to detect drones in flight in restricted locations such as around aircraft and airports. AT&T's Microsoft deal isn't exclusive. On Tuesday, AT&T and IBM announced a deal where IBM will provide cloud resources and Red Hat Kubernetes to support AT&T Business applications, while AT&T helps bring
software-defined networking to IBM, part of a 20-year relationship between those two companies. AT&T is "playing the field," says Heavy Reading analyst James Crawshaw, noting an earlier deal that AT&T did with Mirantis to provide Kubernetes and OpenStack as a cloud foundation for AT&T's 5G network. Mirantis described the agreement as an "eight-figure" multi-year deal when the companies announced it in February. Crawshaw says he expects AT&T is also working with Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud Platform. AT&T sees strategic importance in integrating edge and centralized cloud capabilities to improve responsiveness for emerging applications, such as the Internet of Things. The cloud is "fragmenting again," moving workloads out to the edge, and AT&T sees taking advantage of that trend as crucial, Roman Pacewicz, AT&T Business chief product officer, told Light Reading at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona earlier this year. "Public cloud first" for non-network applications is not a new priority for AT&T, says Heavy Reading analyst Gabriel Brown. "I interviewed John Donovan on stage at MWC 2016 and asked him about his propensity to use public cloud for AT&T applications, half expecting him to dismiss it in favor of in-house. To my surprise, three and a half years ago, he was open to the idea, in the right circumstances, and had clearly already been giving it serious thought," Brown says. The AT&T deal is a big win for Microsoft, which is the second-largest cloud provider by market share and is hustling to catch up with first-ranked Amazon Web Services, says Ovum analyst Roy Illsley. Winning "big name accounts" like AT&T is part of that initiative. Retailers are already moving to Azure, and now a big telco makes a prominent endorsement. Tags: AI
Artificial Intelligence per combattere il mail d'auto
Summer is here and half of Europe is on holiday. A frequent but unpopular side effect of travelling by car is travel sickness - especially the back seat passengers often suffer from dizziness, headaches and nausea. Together with neurotechnologists, the automotive supplier ZF Friedrichshafen now tackles this business damaging phenomenon. ZF wants to solve the problem of travel sickness and goes beyond a purely vehicle-related approach: "We focus on the occupants themselves and their individual driving experience," says Florian Dauth, responsible for activities in the area of Human Centered Vehicle Motion Control at ZF advanced research. "Our goal is to individually diagnose travel sickness and develop measures based on the passenger's current condition. Together with the Systems Neuroscience & Neurotechnology Unit (SNNU) at the University of Saarland and HTW Saar, the scientific basis for this concept is provided by test person studies conducted in which the physiological reactions of test persons to different driving situations were investigated. "Our joint research with ZF covers areas of neurotechnology, psychophysiology, artificial intelligence, and vehicle dynamics," explains Prof. Dr. Daniel J. Strauss, Director of SNNU. The travel or motion sickness, in technical terms kinetosis, is caused by a discrepancy in perception: The organ of balance located in the inner ear feels a movement that is not confirmed by other sensory organs such as the eyes - this happens in particular when the passenger looks concentrated at a screen or a book. In this situation, the human body reacts similarly to poisoning. Symptoms range from mild discomfort to severe nausea. Tags: AI Source: https://www.eenewsautomotive.com/news/zf-fights-travel-sickness-ai
Riassicurazioni su Emissioni elettromagnetiche e 5G: figure molto belle articolo rassicurante con molte slide molto significative e molti riferimenti
Every time a new generation of mobile technology is being rolled out, there are scare stories about the radiation, cancer, etc. I last wrote a post on this topic back in 2011 and also in 2009. The main thing that has changed since is that 5G is being rolled out today as 4G was being rolled out then. The Australian operator Telstra recently completed extensive testing of their 5G network infrastructure in real-world settings using commercially available 5G devices, and their data confirms two things. Firstly, the 5G technology produces electromagnetic energy (EME) levels at around 1000 times below the safety limits in many cases. Secondly, all the testing has found 5G EME levels to be similar to 3G, 4G and Wi-Fi. You can read the details and complete report here.
Last month I went to a seminar titled 'Update on Current Knowledge of RF Safety', organised by CW Radio Technology Group and National Register of RF Workers. Richard Hargrave from BT explained the challenge with compliance when a 5G carrier is added. The implications as he said are:
• Some sites in urban areas become increasingly difficult to provide required capacity while maintaining compliance using standard designs
• Significant time and cost can be associated with works necessary to ensure compliance – new planning permissions, physical structures, new site acquisition etc
• As 5G is deployed further, particularly as additional spectrum is auctioned in 700MHz and 3.6-3.8GHz bands these problems will be exacerbated
His presentation is available here. Another presentation from Moray Rumney, asking some tough question on 5G safety is available here. Simon Rockman has written a summary of this seminar on Forbes, here.
I heard the Swiss operator Sunrise mentioning in a presentation at 5G World 2019 that the EMF limit in Switzerland is 10 times stricter than the rest of the world. This implies that 5G in Switzerland is extremely safe. The slide from the presentation can be seen in the pic above. We also have couple of related videos on this topic, maybe of interest:
• Non millimeter Wave (mmWave) 5G • 5G Spectrum - Short Version • 5G Spectrum - Long Version
Further Reading:
• Electromagnetic energy (EME) - Telstra Consumer Advice • 5 surveys of 5G show EME levels well below safety limits - Telstra • Is 5G Dangerous? - Simon Rockman, Forbes • 5G Dangers: Myth or Science? - Apis Training • 5G health risks: What's the evidence? - BBC
Here's a look at how banks can use AI to transform the front-end customer experience... chatbot, reccomendation, autenticazione biometrica
AI has the potential to fundamentally transform the customer experience by enabling frictionless, 24/7 customer interactions across a variety of channels, including web, mobile, and smart home devices, as well as tailoring to each individual client with insights generation, proactive advice, and personalized recommendations. Here's a look at how banks can use AI to transform the front-end customer experience. Selected use cases are presented in order of most to least mature, with maturity level based on analyst insights, available research on the subject, and interviews with industry experts.
• Chatbots and voice assistants. Conversational banking enables customers to interact with their bank via chatbots or voice assistants and is the front office's most mature case of AI deployment. Chat- or voice-based banking simulates conversations with human customer service agents. Unlike rule-based chatbots, smart chatbots and voice assistants use NLP and ML to improve with each customer interaction and offer a more personalized experience over time. And by 2022, conversational assistants could allow for operational cost cuts of over $8 billion across global banks, compared with only $20 million in 2017, per a Juniper Research study.
• AI in biometrics. AI-enabled biometrics solutions fall into two categories, physical and behavioral, and allow banks to improve speed and efficiency in authenticating and identifying customers. The technology will be used by 1.9 billion consumers globally by the end of 2020, including for mobile app authentication, ATM cash withdrawals, and digital onboarding, per a Goode Intelligence projection cited by Biometric Update.
Personalized insights. AI also holds significant potential when it comes to delivering personalized insights to customers, whether with advanced chatbots that manage
budgets, wealth management apps, or personal finance management (PFM) solutions offered via mobile banking apps, as examples. AI-enabled insights can also be used to provide personalized product offers and recommendations to clients. Further, advanced knowledge management can allow call center employees to more quickly deliver the insights their customers are looking for, allowing them to spend more time on other tasks, such as building customer relationships, Dominic Venturo, chief innovation officer at U.S. Bank, told Business Insider Intelligence. And AI-driven insights improve over time as more data is gathered and analyzed.
Amazon Internet via Satellite con oltre 3200 nuovi satelliti annunciati
Amazon filed an application with the FCC to launch up to 3,236 low-Earth orbit satellites for delivering advanced broadband services. Amazon's Project Kuiper proposes up to 3,236 Ka-band satellites in 98 orbital planes with an apogee of 630km. Each satellite would have an estimated life of 7 years. The company says its Kuiper System will deliver satellite broadband communications services to tens of millions of unserved and underserved consumers and businesses in the United States and around the globe. The Kuiper System includes high-performance satellites, terrestrial gateways, internetworking technologies, and a range of customer terminals. The Kuiper System will be capable of providing continuous coverage to customers within approximately 56˚N and 56˚S latitude serving the continental United States, Hawaii, U.S. territories, and other regions of the world.
Amazon also noted that its proposed Kuiper System would leverage its own secure, high-quality global networking and cloud infrastructure (AWS). Tags: Mobile Broadband
Report: US could lose over 1.5M jobs to automation by 2030 tutto sommato numeri piccoli in 10 anni di tempo , rispetto a scenari catastrofici sulla automazione e AI
Dive Brief:
• A new report from Oxford Economics predicts the U.S. could lose over 1.5 million jobs to robotics and automation by 2030. Globally, China stands to be hit the hardest, losing almost 12.5 million jobs over that same period.
• According to the report, manufacturing, logistics, maritime shipping and port operations will be hit hardest over the next decade as increasingly specialized robots and driverless vehicles become more efficient than their human counterparts.
• Higher income demographics will be less impacted by the shift as the creation of higher-skilled jobs will help compensate for those lost to automation. Lower income demographics will be hit the hardest, however, permanently losing almost twice as many human-held jobs.,
Dive Insight: Two factors are driving the explosive growth in robotic adoption. Robots are getting faster, smarter and more specialized, and their costs are plummeting. "In China, for example, unit labor costs in manufacturing have increased by more than 65 percent since 2008. Wage rates have also been rising consistently in Korea, Japan, the U.S. and Germany," according to the report. For this reason, China and other Southeast Asian nations that depend on low-wage manufacturing business won't be immune from the impact of automation. Their robust manufacturing sectors and cheap labor give them a competitive advantage and make them among the most vulnerable to losing greater numbers of jobs. In the U.S., the most vulnerable states are those that rely on manufacturing for a significant portion of their job markets. Oxford Economics predicts Oregon and Louisiana will be the hardest hit, followed by Texas, Indiana and North Carolina. States with a greater reliance on business services and tourism like Hawaii and Florida, along with the District of Columbia, are least vulnerable.
In addition to manufacturing writ large, the report also focuses on automation's implications for the trucking, maritime shipping and port operations sectors. While driverless trucks have yet to cause significant job losses in the U.S., a growing number of trials are underway. Oxford Economics predicts this will start forcing millions of drivers out from behind the wheel within the next five years as the industry continues to struggle with a shortage of human operators. In the maritime sector, automation has been steadily increasing as well. Carriers and ports are experimenting with small-scale autonomous shipping trials to explore the feasibility of reducing crew sizes, or removing the need for human crews altogether. Some ports are in conflict with workers' labor unions to introduce robots to the yards. According to Moody's, labor can account for 50 percent of port operations costs, with "automated terminals have[ing] 40 percent to 70 percent lower labor requirements than conventional terminals."
The report's analysis of 35,000 workers found workers who lose their jobs to automation are most likely to go into transportation, construction and office administration, three industries the report believes automation will target next. Tags: AI, Automation
Huawei ha il 20% degli "essential patent" per 5G superando di poco nokia e samsung e di molto Qualcomm A recently published white paper from Huawei shows why it terrifies US opponents. After China abandoned efforts to develop "homegrown" mobile technologies in the days of 3G, the Chinese equipment giant muscled into international standards groups. Today, it claims a 10% share of the "standard-essential patents" (SEPs) used in 4G technology. But that figure has doubled to 20% in 5G, it says, citing data from the European Standards Telecommunications Institute (ETSI). Its "approved" 5G contributions make it the world's largest contributor, it boasts. That's been a lucrative sideline for the company. Since 2015, Huawei has been able to extract about $1.4 billion in licensing revenues from organizations in the US as well as Europe and Asia. Like it or not, the US is helping to fund China's 5G research. Meanwhile, the US lacks any significant 5G infrastructure vendors of its own. The purpose of the white paper, of course, is to prove that Huawei is a decent global citizen that respects others' intellectual property and plays fairly in multinational associations. To emphasize this point, Huawei says it has paid out roughly $6 billion in licensing fees in the last 20 years. Much of that may have flowed toward companies like Qualcomm, the US semiconductor firm whose chips power many of Huawei's smartphones. But for how long? The recent inclusion of Huawei's name on the US "Entity List" forbade US companies from dealing with it. Although US President Donald Trump appeared to ease some restrictions after his weekend G20 meeting with Chinese ruler Xi Jinping, Huawei is spending more on R&D than ever before as it tries to become self-reliant (or, at least, not reliant on the US). HiSilicon, its own chips business, cranks out similar technology to Qualcomm's. This does not mean Huawei's royalty payments to US firms will dry up if the underlying technology is based on US patents. Yet what cannot be denied is that Huawei's growing influence over international standards bodies has come at the expense of once-dominant Western firms. Recent data from IPlytics, an independent market-research firm, backs this up. Huawei tops rankings for 5G SEPs ownership, 5G technical contributions and attendance at 5G meetings (measured by number of attending employees), according to a paper from IPlytics published in April this year.
Source: IPlytics. Note: Figures show number of patent families. Besides investing more in R&D, Huawei admits to exerting its influence over the legislative process in China, where it has also recently sued InterDigital, a US owner of 5G patents, over royalty payments. That dispute appeared to center on the rates InterDigital charged for its intellectual property. While not confirmed, Huawei seems likely to be the company behind a similar Chinese case against Ericsson. In April, the Swedish equipment maker confirmed that its Beijing offices had been raided by Chinese officials after complaints were made about its licensing fees. Huawei is also seeking about $1 billion in patent fees from US telco giant Verizon, according to a report last month from the New York Times. The negative publicity this generated seems largely responsible for Huawei's white paper on intellectual property. One source involved in litigation, who spoke with Light Reading on condition of anonymity, doubts Huawei's chances of a favorable outcome in the US court system. But he also doubts any Western firm would succeed against Huawei in a Chinese court. That is a worry given the size and importance of the Chinese market, and the current trade conflict between the US and China. Want to know more about 5G? Check out our dedicated 5G content channel here on Light Reading.
Standards groups are understood to be nervous about the ramifications of that conflict. If Huawei is so integral to 5G -- as the data suggests -- its misfortunes could slow down the 5G standardization process. Even worse would be a schism along geopolitical lines. The various regional technologies that once existed have coalesced into a single 5G standard, bringing convenience, economies of scale and business benefits for organizations inside and outside the telecom industry. All this could be undone in a worst-case scenario. For the same reasons that China gave up on homegrown technologies, the industry will seek to avoid this bifurcation. If 5G is eventually used to connect billions of objects -- and not just the smartphones that have taken over in the 4G era -- the revenue opportunity for licensors of 5G patents could be massive. "The target market for licensing 5G patents will even increase since 5G patent holders will be able to extend their licensing program to various use cases beyond smartphones," says IPlytics. Both its white paper and Huawei's own show the Chinese vendor is well and truly in the hotseat. Tags: 5G, Patents
Access Gateway ibrido con 5G e FTTH da ZTE La banda non basta mai ... dopo i modelli LTE + xDSL sul mercato anche prototipi 5G e FTTH! ZTE Corporation has launched the world’s first 5G/FTTH dual-mode home gateway at Mobile World Congress Shanghai 2019. Compatible with the 5G networks of high bandwidth, low latency and massive connections, as well as high-speed, stable and economical FTTH networks, ZTE’s 5G/FTTH dual-mode home gateway is committed to delivering users a gigabit broadband experience. ZTE’s 5G/FTTH dual-mode home gateway allows for broadband access in multiple scenarios to achieve full coverage of gigabit broadband. In areas not covered by fiber, users can connect to the 5G network to access broadband services. Under this scenario, it takes only around 35 seconds to download a 3 GB movie, which is 46 times faster than that in the current 4G LTE networks. In areas covered by fiber, users can switch to the more stable and economical FTTH network. On the user side, ZTE’s 5G/FTTH dual-mode home gateway supports Wi-Fi 6 and 12 Wi-Fi spatial streams, providing physical rates of up to 6 Gbps, which is five times the speed of mainstream AC1200 home gateways. The product also supports Bluetooth and Zigbee and can be easily connected to a large number of devices to offer smart home services. In terms of hardware design, ZTE’s 5G/FTTH dual-mode home gateway adopts an advanced antenna array so that different RF signals, including 5G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Zigbee, do not interfere with each other. Tags: 5G, Accesso, FTTH Source: https://www.zte.com.cn/global/about/news/20190626e2.html
SK Telecom and DT’s venture to initially target 5G in-building solutions
A new venture created by Korean carrier SK Telecom and German telecommunications giant Deutsche Telekom will initially develop 5G-based in-building solutions, the two companies said in a joint statement. In a recent meeting in Seoul, Korea, the two partners agreed to establish a joint venture company, which will be first tasked with developing new 5G technologies, including a 5G repeater and a 5G in-building solution, as well as a Multipath UDP solution and MPEG Media Transport (MMT) technology for low-latency media streaming. “Through partnerships with companies throughout the world, SK Telecom aims to expand beyond the realm of mobile communications to become a global ICT company,” said Park Jung-ho, president and CEO of SK Telecom. “And I expect this, in turn, will lead to the revaluation of assets and competitiveness of SK Telecom.” “This partnership continues to be of strategic importance for both Deutsche Telekom and SK Telecom,” saaid Timotheus Höttges, CEO of Deutsche Telekom. “We want to work together to make tangible [results] and strengthen our partnership also with closer technical cooperation.” Additionally, SK Telecom has committed $30 million to DTCP’s $350 million venture and Growth Fund II. The company’s decision represents an additional measure to secure future growth engines by making proactive investments in promising high-growth companies in the 5G era, the Korean carrier said. DTCP is an investment management group with $ 1.7 billion assets under management and advisory from Deutsche Telekom and other corporate and institutional investors, and a portfolio of over 60 companies. The group is dedicated to providing venture and growth capital, private equity investments, and advisory services to the technology, media and telecommunication sectors. It operates and invests in Europe, the U.S. and Israel. Tags: 5G
University Hospitals Birmingham, BT and WM5G demonstrate UK’s first remote ultrasound over a public 5G network wearable + 5G + ambulanza
University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHB), BT and WM5G are today showcasing how 5G can transform healthcare and the emergency services - with the UK’s first demonstration of a remote-controlled ultrasound scan over a public 5G network. The demonstration is being hosted by the Medical Devices Testing and Evaluation Centre (MD-TEC) in UHB’s prestigious simulation lab located in the Institute of Translational Medicine. The showcase brings the concept of a 5G Connected Ambulance to life and provides new technologies to front-line staff to create a facility for patients to be diagnosed and triaged in the most appropriate settings. It enables remote diagnostics performed by paramedics who are supported by clinicians based in the hospital. This is a real-world example of how 5G will support digital transformation in the delivery of public services. It is one example of how activities which can only be performed in static environments today can become mobile tomorrow and which will enable care delivery to be streamlined. The demonstration simulates a paramedic in the field performing an ultrasound scan on a patient, under the remote guidance of a clinician who is able to interpret the ultrasound image in real-time. The ultrasound sensor is manipulated locally by the paramedic under the remote direction of the clinician. This is done using a joystick operated remotely by the clinician which sends control signals over the live 5G network to a robotic or ‘haptic’
glove worn by the paramedic. The glove creates small vibrations that direct the paramedic’s hand to where the clinician wants the ultrasound sensor to be moved. This allows the clinician to remotely control the sensor position, whilst seeing the ultrasound images in real-time. In addition, there is a camera in the ambulance which transmits in high definition a view of the inside of the ambulance covering the patient and paramedic to a second screen located on the clinician’s workstation. The images are relayed over a high-bandwidth 5G connection, so the clinician is able to view both the ultrasound examination performed by the paramedic and keep an eye on the overall scene inside the ambulance. The superfast speeds of 5G ensure sharper and more reliable imagery for the clinician than could previously be achieved. Enabling ultrasound scans to be performed by paramedics in the field and reviewed remotely by an expert clinician should bring a number of advantages to patients and to the NHS. As well as speeding up diagnoses for patients, it has the potential to reduce the number of ambulance journeys and emergency department visits. This will improve the overall experience for patients while freeing up ambulance resources and reducing pressure on emergency departments. Faster diagnoses can also assist in triaging patients, ensuring more effective outcomes for the patient, and increasing overall efficiency for the hospital. Tim Jones, Chief Innovation Officer at UHB, said: “We are immensely excited about the potential of 5G to support transformation in healthcare. As a Global Digital Exemplar, we are always looking into new technologies and how we can use them to improve patient care. 5G will help us to roll out this next generation of healthcare technologies. Our clinicians will in the future be able to deliver holistic specialist advice in real time, potentially forming virtual multi-disciplinary teams to provide the best patient care using intelligent IT links. Information would be accessible at the point of need, ensuring informed decision making leading to improved patient safety, quality of care and patient/clinician experience.” The demonstration follows a decision by Government to select the West Midlands as the UK’s first multi-city 5G test bed. As part of the multi-million pound project, the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has set up WM5G to develop a large scale 5G pilot across the region to trail new 5G applications and service at scale. Tags: 5G, eHealth
Court: Deutsche Telekom must change zero-rating service Importante per la discussione su NN
German telco Deutsche Telekom is no longer allowed to continue operating its controversial zero-rating tariff option StreamOn in its current form. The Higher Administrative Court for the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia decided this in an urgent procedure, thus confirming the first-instance decision of the Administrative Court of Cologne. Despite the court ruling, Telekom intends to continue offering StreamOn – with adjustments, a Telekom spokesman told Broadband TV News, stressing that there would also be no additional charge for StreamOn in future. “We will now examine how we deal with the ruling,” said the spokesman. “We expect that the Federal Network Agency will allow the necessary adjustments to be made within a reasonable implementation period. We remain convinced of the legality of StreamOn and will continue to make full use of all legal possibilities in the future.” StreamOn is a free additional offer for Telekom’s mobile services customers. When booking, the data traffic for audio and video streaming from Telekom’s content partners is not offset against the data allowance contractually agreed in the mobile tariff. For certain mobile rates, however, the customer agrees to a general bandwidth limit for video streaming of a maximum of 1.7 Mbit/s, which is no longer sufficient for resolution in
HD quality. Moreover, StreamOn is only intended to be used within Germany. Data traffic for audio and video streaming abroad is always deducted from the data allowance. The Federal Network Agency concluded that StreamOn violates the principle of net neutrality anchored in European law as well as European roaming regulations through these restrictions and prohibited the zero-rating service’s continuation in the current form. The Administrative Court in Cologne rejected an appeal by Telekom against the regulator’s decision. In its ruling of July 12, 2019, the Higher Administrative Court now also dismissed Telekom’s complaint against the lower-instance court decision. The judges explained that the principle of net neutrality obliges internet service providers to treat all data traffic equally. This is violated if the video streaming speed is deliberately throttled compared to other services or applications. Since the principle of neutrality protects a fundamental functional principle of the internet for the benefit of all users, it is also irrelevant whether the customer has agreed to the throttling by signing up for StreamOn. Furthermore, under European roaming rules, it is prohibited to charge an additional fee for roaming services in other European countries compared to the domestic retail price. Telekom violated this prohibition as it deducts the data traffic for audio and video streaming for use in other European countries from the data allowance, in contrast to use in Germany. This would result in a less favourable pricing structure for customers using the service in other European countries. Since the decision of the Federal Network Agency was likely to be lawful for these reasons, it could also be implemented ahead of a final decision in the main case, according to the court ruling. The decision is final. Tags: network Neutrality
Concorrente di Android: Huawei eyes Harmony in Europe Un temibile concorrente per android e potenzialmente per iOS o troppo difficile ricostruire un ecosistema?
The company's own operating system will be launched as an alternative to Google's Android OS platform Huawei has applied to trademark the name "Harmony" for its own brand operating system in Europe, according to reports in the press. Also named Ark OS and Hong Meng, Huawei's own operating system is being developed as a backstop, in case the company's on-again off-again ban in the US continues to affect its access to Google's Android operating system. Huawei's preference is to continue to use Android services for its mobile phone handsets and tablets, however, President Trump's decision to use a ban on Huawei to gain leverage in his trade talks with China has forced the company to ramp up development of its own operating system. In an interview with French news site, Le Point, Huawei's founder Ren Zhengfei said that his company's new operating system would be around 60 per cent faster than Android, when it launched. Zhengfei conceded that Huawei does not currently have a viable alternative to the Google Play Store, the Android based platform for app purchases, but that the company was considering all options open to it at this stage. Huawei has already trade marked the name Hong Meng for its operating system – the name it is expected to use for its product in China.
Google Home Speaker spia gli utenti i dipendenti google ascoltano cosa si dice a google home, l'intelligent assistant, di nascosto agli utilizzatori
• Google Home enabled without the use of the "wake word" • Conversations recorded without users knowing - and then "reviewed" by
Google employees • Evident and continued breach of Europe's GDPR privacy law • Google's reaction? To get the whistleblower for "breach of Google's data
protection policies" Staff at the Belgian public broadcast organisation, VRT NWS (Vlaamse Radio en Televisieomroeporganisatie News) have discovered that Google employees and contractors all over the world routinely eavesdrop on audio recorded by Google Home speakers, Google's voice-activated, AI-enabled, 'virtual assistant". The audio is recorded without the user having said the magic words, "OK Google" which is supposed to turn on Google Home in the first place and thus illicit recordings are made without either the knowledge or permission of the private individuals using Google Home or other Android devices, something that must surely be a complete breach of Europe's GDPR regulations. It's a classic story of applied journalism. VRT reporter Tim Verheyden received over a thousand audio files from an anonymous, whistle-blowing Google contractor, whose job is to "review" audio recorded via smart speakers, handsets, security camera and domestic "smart" IoT devices. One of the recordings, captured by Google Home on a smartphone, carried the names and address of a couple from the Waasmunster area of eastern Flanders as well as the voices of their son and baby grandchild. Tim Verheyden followed up with some investigative reporting and this resulted in the publication on Wednesday of a report showing that some 150 of the recordings he was sent were made when Google Home "incorrectly activated" them. Considerable public
outrage ensued and Google found it necessary to confirm and defend the recordings on the grounds that staff and contractors listen to and transcribe and retail "just" 0.2 per cent of all Google Home interactions to "improve our automated voice-processing technology." Can anyone believe a word of what this company says? Consumer and privacy organisations are demanding a full-blown EU investigation into Google's unadvertised attempt to circumvent GDPR law which is designed to protect private data from exploitation and which requires complete transparency on the collection, processing and use of personal information. Tags: AI, GDPR, Privacy Source: https://www.telecomtv.com/content/privacy/definitely-not-ok-google-35757/
La città di Amsterdam blocca la costruzione di nuovi data center per l'alto consumo di energia elettrica Amsterdam è un hub mondiale per i data center, e un'area in espansione ... richiesta una moratoria perchè il 37'% dell'eneriga elettrica di Amsterdam potrebbe servire a far funzionare i DC! The Dutch hosting sector is surprised by the moratorium on new data centres announced by the Amsterdam region, ICT news platform Ag Connect reports. Industry groups Dutch Datacenter Association (DDA), Dutch Hosting Provider Association (DHPA) and ISPConnect said they are disappointed by the decision. The region has suspended any new applications for data centres while it works out a new policy for the sector, taking into account the high energy demands of data centres and their impact on the environment. The aim is to use more of the excess heat generated by the data centres to power other services, such as heating. The DDA said its members are crucial to the Netherlands' leading digital position in the world. It disagrees with the city's claim that data centres take up too much space and burden the electricity grid. It noted that the heat generated is free to any takers and it's ready to develop solutions. The grid operator Liander earlier estimated that as much as 37 percent of energy used in the Amsterdam metro area could go to data centres by 2030. The DHPA said it understands that the limits on space and energy are important issues for the city. However, it stressed that data centres are built to be as climate-neutral and energy-efficient as possible. ISPConnect also said the moratorium is no solution, as every sector in the economy is digitising quickly. Tags: Data Center
YouTube’s pushing augmented-reality ads un passo avanti per la diffusione di AR Google announced last week, timed with Cannes, that brands can now create AR for YouTube. The company’s launch partner was MAC Cosmetics, where YouTube users could virtually try-on lipstick while watching creators’ makeup tutorials. The offering will be available to brands later this summer through YouTube’s FameBit, its influencer marketing platform. YouTube opening up to AR comes as interest in the format among brands is increasing, agency executives say. The experience was once most popular among Hollywood studios, and it was quite limited to niche platforms like Snapchat. But now with the rise of web-based AR along with Facebook and Instagram investing in the format, advertisers in more categories have been experimenting with it. Alper Guler, co-founder of QReal, an augmented-reality-focused subsidiary of the Glimpse Group, recently renamed his company to align with the growth in the AR industry. Kabaq was known for its work in 3D and AR food, such as with Bareburger on Snapchat. But now the company is working with brands in fashion, CPG and automative. “For years, we perfected our modeling process to present dishes that look completely real, are platform agnostic and optimized for AR. We knew the same process would work for a whole myriad of brands and items,” Guler said. AR makes sense for the beauty industry, Guler said. The experience aligns with consumers’ love for selfies and AR lenses, available previously on Snapchat and Instagram. And the technology for facial recognition is strong, compared to image recognition of feet, arms and the rest of the human body. Guler said he expects that to improve in the coming years where there will then be more virtual try-ons for jewelry and clothing. Patrick Givens, vp of VaynerSmart, said his agency has seen increased interest in AR from clients in beauty, fashion and CPGs. These categories are looking to AR as a way to provide some utility to customers, but it’s been difficult to get these experiences in front of customers at scale, Givens said. YouTube helps with that scale problem. “Brands want to support a good shopping or product usage experience and ultimately build relationships, and often AR would be a great way to do so. As the YouTube and MAC collaboration demonstrates, the platforms are starting to lean in to use cases that might provide a bit more value to users beyond simple entertainment,” Givens said. For QReal, Snapchat has been its main platform for distributing AR. But the company has been working more with web-based AR via Apple and Google. Guler said his company also plans to work more with Instagram once it also opens itself up to more brands later this summer. Now with YouTube, a platform with 2 billion monthly active users, that potential for reach with AR only grows. Through YouTube’s FameBit, advertisers can track brand interest, lift and view-through-conversion as well as impact on Google search. Tags: advertising, AR
Virgin delivers full fibre trial to Greenham using wireless backhaul non il solito FWA - un bell'esempio di pensiero laterale Point to point microwave wireless links are nothing new, Openreach has used this technology for a small number of VDSL2 cabinets and plenty of other links are in use across the UK but Virgin Media is claiming a first for the combination of protocols and technologies involved in a trial covering parts of Greenham (Berkshire). 12 homes on the outskirts of Newbury now have a Gigabit download and 150Mbps upload service via fibre into the home (as well as Internet they also get the standard Virgin Media TV channels), the difference compared to other Virgin Media RFOG (FTTP) deployments is the use of a microwave point to point link that is backhauling data over a 10 Gbps link some 3km into the centre of Newbury. The frequencies used are in the 70 to 80 GHz band and this means the signal is line of sight and this wireless link with upgrades can support 20 Gbps. The current 10 Gbps link is expected to be able to support some 500 premises and we have asked if the final fibre drop will expand to more homes in Greenham, with the full spec 20 Gbps supporting 2,000 premises. The contention ratio works out at the very old fashioned 50:1 (100:1 in fully expanded mode) giving you some idea how backhaul rather than the final drop to homes may prove to be the differentiator between services in years to come. The hardware in the homes is the standard Virgin Media TV set top box and cable modem with the conversion from fibre optic to coax happening in a small converter usually located on the outside wall of the home. WIth the what can be called a fibre and full fibre connection debate being one of those ongoing social media debates, inserting 3km of wireless link into the mix adds an interesting point for anyone considering what is FTTP. Though at the end of the day does the public care if it is getting a reliable Gigabit based service? Update 2pm: The trial is set to last 12 months and no decision has been taken yet on what will happen. Obviously for residents taking part falling back from a Gigabit connection to what they had previously will not be popular. Tags: FWA
