AT&T acquires AlienVault; says its customers demanded NB-IoT

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1. AT&T buys AlienVault:

AT&T has announced plans to acquire cybersecurity company AlienVault. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Founded in 2007, AlienVault offers a number of tools for detecting and responding to security threats through its Unified Security Management (USM) platform, while its Open Threat Exchange (OTX) platform serves as an online community where security professionals and researchers can share their latest findings and threat data.

2.  AT&T to offer NB-IoT:

AT& already offers cellular LPWAN services (LTE Category 1 and LTE Category M1) for its IoT customers who want to connect devices, assets and equipment to the cloud.  Now, AT&T says NB-IoT opens up new use cases for IoT.  However, the company did not reveal pricing for its NB-IoT data plan(s).

“We already are using LTE-M, and based on a lot of customer feedback we felt that we needed complementary services for other use cases, such as in a fixed asset tracking environment with very low bandwidth uses,” said Shiraz Hasan, VP, IoT solutions at AT&T. “The motivation is cost savings primarily, and the other thing is the ability to utilize the tech a little better because it penetrates even better than LTE-M.”

Shiraz said AT&T has a lot of customers in the security and alarm industries, and that many of these companies are evaluating IoT technology and learning that NB-IoT may serve their needs best. Alarms and locks are often located deep within buildings, so using cellular connectivity to monitor equipment health requires radio transmissions that can penetrate thick walls.

https://www.fiercewireless.com/wireless/at-t-says-customer-demand-prompted-nb-iot-launch

 

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    https://www.lightreading.com/mobile/5g/atandt-adds-trio-of-new-cities-for-5g-launch-in-2018/d/d-id/744830?

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