Author: Alan Weissberger
T-Mobile shutters Sprint’s 5G network; OpenSignal 5G User Experience report highlights
As expected following the April 1st close of T-Mobile’s acquisition, Sprint’s 5G network (which uses 2.5GHz mid-band spectrum) has been deactivated while the “new T-Mobile” works to re-deploy it across its own network.
The integration of the Sprint mid-band spectrum is a key part of T-Mobile’s 5G strategy, which aims to combine low-band 600MHz spectrum for broad, nationwide 5G coverage with faster but lower-range midband (Sprint’s 2.5GHz network) and short-range mmWave networks for a balance of coverage and speed.
T-Mobile has already deployed its new 2.5GHz spectrum in New York, the first market to benefit from the wireless network operator’s spectrum in low-, mid-, and millimeter wave bands. The operator’s 2.5GHz 5G is also live in “parts” of Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, and Philadelphia.
Most existing Sprint customers won’t be able to use their current devices going forward to access 5G. Newer devices that feature Qualcomm’s X55 modem, like the Galaxy S20 5G lineup, will still be able to access the 2.5GHz 5G when they relaunch as part of the new T-Mobile’s 5G network (along with the rest of T-Mobile’s low-band and mmWave 5G spectrum). T-Mobile is offering credits for affected customers to lease a new 5G device.
“We are working to quickly re-deploy, optimize and test the 2.5 GHz spectrum before lighting it up on the T-Mobile network. In the meantime, legacy Sprint customers with compatible devices can enjoy T-Mobile’s nationwide 5G network,” a T-Mobile spokesperson said.
According to data from a new Opensignal 5G User Experience report, customers using T-Mobile’s mid-band 5G are benefitting from average download speeds of around 330Mbps. The mobile analytics company ranks T-Mobile first for 5G availability; with customers receiving a 5G signal around twice as often as AT&T and 56 times more than Verizon.
T-Mobile’s press release about the Opensignal report said customers are seeing average download speeds of 330 Mbps on its mid-band 2.5 GHz network.
From that OpenSignal report:
T-Mobile wins the 5G Availability award, as its 5G users spend 22.5% of time connected to 5G:
The time connected to a 5G service is extremely important if users are to enjoy all of 5G’s benefits. In the U.S., T-Mobile won the 5G Availability award by a large margin with Sprint and AT&T trailing with scores of 14.1% and 10.3%, respectively. Verizon users saw their extremely fast 5G service 0.4% of the time because of the limited geographical reach of the mmWave wireless technology Verizon currently relies upon for 5G and the early stage of the 5G deployment.
Sprint’s 5G users’ experience is already changing as new T-Mobile combines its network capabilities:
When we previously looked at the 5G Download Speed of Sprint’s users some time ago we saw average 5G speeds of 114.2 Mbps reflecting the mid-band 5G wireless spectrum Sprint relied upon. But following the completion of T-Mobile’s acquisition of Sprint, the new T-Mobile is starting to provide Sprint 5G users with access to old T-Mobile’s 600MHz spectrum and so average 5G speeds are now 49.5 Mbps but 5G Availability has risen from 10.3% to 14.1% of time. T-Mobile is still in the process of merging its original network with Sprint and we expect the mobile network experience of Sprint users will continue to change for some time.
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“Building the fastest 5G network is easy if you only cover less than 50 square miles. Opensignal’s report shows that only T-Mobile is doing the hard work to deliver BOTH 5G coverage and speed. And we’re just getting started,” said Neville Ray, President of Technology at T-Mobile.
“With the addition of Sprint, the Un-carrier’s 5G is getting bigger, better and faster every day, moving quickly on our mission to build the world’s best 5G network, one unlike any other, to people all across the country!”
T-Mobile and Sprint were finally cleared to merge on April 1st, following discussions which began in 2013.
To appease regulators, T-Mobile agreed to sell Sprint’s prepaid business, Boost Mobile, and Virgin Mobile to Dish network for $1.4 billion. The deal also included selling Sprint’s entire 800 MHz portfolio of spectrum to Dish. Those deals formally completed yesterday.
Last month, T-Mobile asked California’s Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to ease other conditions it agreed to in order for the merger to be granted – including job creation promises following the COVID-19 pandemic, average 5G coverage and speed commitments, and to remove a “burdensome” third independent test of its network.
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References:
T-Mobile switches off Sprint’s 5G network following $26.5 billion merger
https://www.opensignal.com/reports/2020/06/usa/mobile-network-experience-5g
ETNO, GSMA: EU should adopt “fresh approach” to support fiber & 5G investments; GSMA says 5G SA coming soon?
The European telecom network operators industry group ETNO together with the GSMA have called on the EU to make support for fiber optics communications and 5G investments part of the bloc’s economic recovery plans. In a joint statement to mark the start of the German presidency of the EU, the associations said a fresh approach is needed to ensure the focus is on closing the digital divide and that plans to alleviate that should not become bogged down in regulatory discussions.
“We encourage all institutions to take stock of the socio-economic context and shift regulatory modes from ‘business-as-usual’ to a fresh and comprehensive approach aimed at unleashing the full power of network investment, at full scale and at full pace,” the statement said.
The joint communique then delineated ways policymakers can support the investment in improved connectivity for the EU:
- Spectrum auctions are timely and conditions for spectrum assignment support network deployment. This includes taking a long-term view to spectrum prices, rather than imposing punitive fees that hamper 5G investment. Also, access and coverage obligations should not diminish the speed and scale of investment in network roll-out;
- Sharing agreements for Radio Access Network (RAN) are supported and incentivised, so that they contribute to a speedy 5G deployment;
- All fibre investment models are adequately incentivised at the national level, including co-investment and other forms of partnerships;
- Innovative infrastructure solutions, such as cloud, edge and quantum computing, are given the appropriate support;
- Future EU initiatives dramatically reduce roll-out costs for both mobile and fixed networks. This should tackle, for example, unreasonable costs for using public ground as well as complex authorization procedures for both fixed and mobile networks;
- Open and interoperable interfaces in the RAN are supported. Initiatives such as Open RAN have the potential to support Europe’s multi-vendor approach, while reducing deployment costs, further strengthening the security of the equipment and unleash more network innovation.
The most important thing is helping grow adoption of the new technologies by citizens and businesses, the statement said. This includes supporting digital skills education and training. “Finally, workers of all ages should be put in the condition to develop the necessary digital skills – both through upskilling and reskilling – to thrive in innovative and fast-paced markets.”
Demand stimulus measures can also help bring digital services to public sector organizations like schools, hospitals and local administrations. That would not only support Europe’s economic recovery, but also can contribute to the EU’s climate goals.
The GSMA and ETNO also called on the EU governments to combat the attacks against telecom infrastructure and misinformation surrounding 5G. To date they have counted over 180 arson attacks against mobile antennas in 11 countries.
Media Inquiries:
Alessandro Gropelli, ETNO – [email protected] 0032 476 9418 39
Noelle Knox, GSMA Europe – [email protected] 0032 470 45 2941
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Separately, GSMA says “5G Stand Alone to Become Reality“:
“The deployment of fully virtualized networks using 5G Stand Alone Cores, thereby facilitating Edge Computing and Network Slicing, will enable enterprises and governments to reap the many benefits from high throughput, ultra-low latency and IoT to improve productivity and enhance services to their customers,” said Alex Sinclair, Chief Technology Officer, GSMA.
“5G Stand Alone Option 2 can meet various and more stringent requirements and provide optimal and differentiated solutions, thereby empowering more businesses and unlocking the potential of many services. 5G is changing our society and life,” said Liu Guiqing, Executive Vice President of China Telecom.
“NTT DOCOMO has been actively promoting virtualisation of our core network; we believe that this virtualisation technology is already mature and that our operational know-how will be our advantage. In the future we expect to build dedicated networks, optimised for consumer use cases, such as AR /VR and gaming,” said Hiroyuki Oto, General Manager of Core Network Development Department, NTT DOCOMO, Inc.
The latest version of the 5G SA guidelines ‘5G Implementation Guidelines: SA Option 2 will be released 30th June at 17:00 Beijing time during Thrive China, a new virtual event from the GSMA.
NOTE that those GSMA guidelines come before 3GPP Release 16 5G Architecture (including 5G Core) spec 23.501 is finalized/frozen at 3GPP’s July 2020 meeting. It seems there will be many versions of 5G core networks:
Alex Quach, VP of Intel’s Data Platforms Group: “The way different service providers implement their 5G core is going to vary. Every service provider has unique circumstances. The transition to a new 5G core is going to be different for every operator.”
Asked if SK Telecom has now completed its 5G Standalone core network, the South Korean carrier was vague in an email reply to FierceWireless. “To commercialize standalone 5G service in Korea, we are currently making diverse R&D efforts including conducting tests in both lab and commercial environment. Our latest achievements include the world’s first standalone (SA) 5G data session on our multi-vendor commercial 5G network.
fiercewireless.com/operators/sk-t
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GSMA also states that:
Mobile connections, including cellular IoT as of 1 July 2020 =8,805,024,140 (not the 20B Ericsson and others predicted for 2020)
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References:
https://etno.eu/news/all-news/8-news/678-joint-statement-telecoms-eu-recovery.html
https://etno.eu/news/all-news.html
MTN 5G launch at 100 sites in South Africa using multiple frequency bands and DSS
MTN South Africa has officially launched its 5G network, a first for its 21 operations across Africa and the Middle East. The 5G network covers areas of Johannesburg and Cape Town, as well as Bloemfontein and Port Elizabeth. The operator used various spectrum bands, including temporary spectrum assigned by communications regulator Icasa during the Covid-19 state of disaster, to launch the network. See video interviews in References, directly below this article.
The launch comes after the South African government’s allocation of temporary spectrum and extensive 5G trials and testing. One of the key innovations driving the broad roll-out by MTN has been the adoption of Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS) to overcome the lack of dedicated 5G spectrum.
“Our 5G strategy has been years in the making and we are confident that we have built a strong foundation to grow and support our 5G ecosystem…,” said chief technology and information officer Giovanni Chiarelli.
“One of the key innovations driving the broad roll-out by MTN has been a strategic approach to dynamic spectrum sharing, as these deployments overcome the challenges of lack of dedicated 5G spectrum,” he added.
MTN will deliver 5G connectivity on the 3.5 GHz band at 58 sites including Johannesburg, Cape Town and Bloemfontein, as well as use the 2,100 MHz and 1,800 MHz bands at 35 sites. The operator is re-farming some 4G spectrum to allow it to run 4G and 5G services at the same time, in the same band. This allows for easier migration of network technology from LTE to 5G and allows the company to deploy 5G using existing spectrum assets in the absence of additional high demand spectrum. MTN deployed 5G sites on the 2,100 MHz band in Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth.
In addition, it will use the 700 MHz band (which analog TV broadcasters are still using) at five sites for extensive coverage in small towns, including Port Alfred, Hopetown, Virginia Queenstown and Tsantsabane.
The South African operator will also deploy 5G in the 28 GHz frequency at three sites in Hatfield (Pretoria), Edenvale and Durban.MTN was the first in the southern hemisphere to demonstrate AAA game streaming over its 5G network.
MTN South Africa 5G Coverage map, courtesy of Tech Central.
In a partnership with Emerge Gaming, MTN demonstrated GameGloud on 5G streamed to a Huawei P40 Pro phone.nch comes on the back of government’s allocation of temporary spectrum and extensive 5G trials and testing. One of the key innovations driving the broad roll-out by MTN has been the adoption of Dynamic Spectrum Sharing to overcome the lack of dedicated 5G spectrum.
“We are extremely encouraged by the release of the temporary spectrum by Icasa. Our call to the regulator and government is to release permanent 4G and 5G spectrum as a matter of urgency so that we can fuel the digital revolution our nation needs to bridge the digital divide that currently deepens the gap between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’,” said MTN South Africa CEO Godfrey Motsa.
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References:
https://www.telecompaper.com/news/mtn-launches-first-5g-network-at-100-sites-in-south-africa–1344595
https://techcentral.co.za/mtn-5g-launch-everything-you-need-to-know/99224/
https://techcentral.co.za/this-is-where-you-can-get-mtn-5g-coverage/99203/
GreyB study: Huawei undisputed leader in 5G Standard Essential Patents (SEPs)
Market research firm GreyB cooperated with Amplified, which develops software for intellectual property research, to publish a “preliminary” report named ‘Who Owns Core 5G Patents? – A Detailed Analysis of 5G Standard Essential Patents (SEP)s.’ The stated aim of the project is ‘to bring greater transparency to the landscape of 5G standard essential patents.’
The caveat is that the data used for the study in this report is from March 2019 and its taken from the ETSI website, rather than ITU-R WP5D–IMT 2020 website. Note that 3GPP members declare IPR not to 3GPP (which is not a legal entity but is a collaborative activity between several SDOs), but to their regional standard bodies for which they are participating. Many of the 3GPP members are also ETSI members, so they declare their IPR to ETSI.
For info on 3GPP IPR handling: https://www.3gpp.org/about-3gpp/legal-matters
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From the report authors:
The report is the first of a series of collaborations between Amplified and GreyB that aim to bring greater transparency to the landscape of 5G standard essential patents. The data is large, opaque, and highly technical. Our focus will be on making the data involved more accessible and understandable. The issues are nuanced and complicated. We hope that this report and the following reports enable the many stakeholders involved to have more effective discussions and make better decisions.
Patents, which help protect the rights of the innovators who contribute to building the standard, may be declared as potentially essential and relevant to the standard. These are known as SEPs. Declaration does not require verification. Verifying that a patent is essential to a particular standard is a complex task
requiring significant time from experts in the field.
Importance of Standards:
Standards benefit businesses, policy makers, and society in general.
• They promote innovation in the market through rewarding R&D
• Help to commercialize the technology and bring products to market faster
• Ensure and define interoperability and interchangeability which gives manufacturers and consumers more choice
• Encourage improvement and competition in the market
• Help protect consumer safety
They balance cooperation and competition among innovative companies such that the net benefit is greater than the sum of their individual parts.
Manufacturers who implement standardized technology get an even playing field – a blueprint from which they can all build from at a predictable cost. This encourages more companies to participate in a market and innovate around the core technology.
Standards provide the ground rules for different devices, systems and processes to work together. Interoperable and interchangeable products gives consumers more choice and that encourages market pressure towards better, safer, and cheaper products.
Finally, standards provide policymakers with well-documented baselines and rules for implementation which helps them to understand the implications of new technology and take action to protect consumer, business, societal interests
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5G Patent Leaders:
The strong conclusion of the report is that Huawei is the 5G SEP leader, and not just by a little bit. As you can see in the chart below, Huawei accounts for 19% of core (used in 5G standards/3GPP specs) patents, followed by the two Korean tech giants, which are surprisingly ahead of Huawei’s main rivals in this case.
GreyB originally got in touch with Telecoms.com after reading an article there titled: 5G patent chest-beating is an unhelpful distraction. The purpose of the research is an attempt to cut through the noise created by various competing claims and get to the heart of the matter.
“5G is going to be next disruptive technology,” report co-author Muzammil Hassan of GreyB, told Telecoms.com. “And going by all the fuss around, it is important to know where each of the top contributors of 5G technology stand in terms of quality of innovation. Some may want to switch gears and file better inventions.”
One other metric GreyB was keen to flag up was ‘essentiality ratio,’ which seeks to illustrate the proportion of filed patents that make it into the core standard. Once more, in the chart below, Huawei comes top, but it should be noted that the ratio is derived from only those patents analyzed.
As a proportion of all declared patents Huawei is among the lowest at 13%, compared to the leader Nokia with 20%. Ericsson has the lowest ranks of all by this metric with 11%. The Sweden based company is also the lowest in SEPs with only 9%.
Problems and pitfalls:
Reviewing historical work done in this field we’ve identified the following pitfalls which we seek to avoid:
• Extrapolating conclusions done from a small sample size
• Using proxies from 4G and projecting those onto 5G
• Taking declared numbers at face-value
• Implicitly framing all patents as equal by focusing on patent quantity only without accounting for quality
The complex nature of patent data analysis simply makes it impossible to address these issues completely so unfortunately it may be impossible to avoid all of these in entirety. However, it is our goal to create a reliable report and therefore we believe it is critical to acknowledge and account for them transparently and to the best of our ability. Our methodology is detailed in the appendix and we invite corrections, additions, criticism, and contributions.
Patent Source and Study Methodology:
The data covered was all patents from the ETSI website 5G declaration list March 2019 version. This covers any patent or patent application declared to the ETSI 5G standard. Essentiality evaluation involves significant time and effort so there is a lag between release date of our report and data covered. We’ll issue updates as we continue to analyze the data.
• All patents declared to relevant 5G specifications and projects were selected resulting in 63,985 individual patent documents (granted patents, published patent applications, and non-public patent applications)
• ~500 Non-public patent documents, unavailable for inspection, were removed
• The remaining ~63,500 patent documents were grouped into 12,002 patent families.
• 6,402 of the 12,002 patent families with a granted patent having live legal status as of 31st December 2019 were kept, the rest were removed
• We determined our understanding of each of the 6,402 patent families by reading the claims and related embodiments from these granted patents and checked the correspondence history and documentation at the patent office to understand each patent.
• We determined essentiality for each patent family as a Core SEP or not by checking any specifications declared to be relevant by the patent holder to the SEP and compared the specific sections of these to compare overlap of the patent claims with those sections. If partial or no overlap was found, we then broadened our comparison to the wider group of all other specifications to repeat this process.
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References:
2021: Who Owns Core 5G Patents? – A Detailed Analysis of 5G SEPs
5G Patent Wars: Are Nokia’s 3,000 “5G” Patent Declarations Legit?
Strategy Analytics: Huawei 1st among top 5 contributors to 3GPP 5G specs
Opinion: How virtualization and open source are upending the entire telecom industry
Article below written by Liliane Offredo-Zreik and Dr. Mark H Mortensen of ACG Research
[Note that the IEEE Techblog content manager (since April 2009) does not agree with the theme of this article. We believe that the only really big customers of virtualization and open source hardware/software are the largest tier 1 telcos (like AT&T, Telefonica, etc) and the big cloud companies (like Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Alibaba, Tencent, etc).
- One of the big problems with network virtualization is that you have a single point of failure (the server running virtual network functions) and also a much larger attack surface for cyber attacks.
- The biggest obstacles to using open source hardware and software are systems integration, multi-vendor interoperability and compatibility and tech support, especially related to failure isolation and recovery. Other issues with deploying open source include performance (vs purpose built hardware/firmware/software) and OPEX associated with integrating and maintaining hardware/software from multiple vendors.
However, we like to present different views and provide balanced coverage of telecom tech topics like open networking and open source hardware/software. So please enjoy the below article and comment in the Comment box below it.]
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Posted by: Anasia D’mello. Article written by Liliane Offredo-Zreik and Dr. Mark H Mortensen of ACG Research.
Until recently, network technology vendors to communication service providers (CSPs) had a well-established competitive market position with brand loyalty, long-standing customer relationships, and well entrenched proprietary solutions. However, an inexorable move to software-based (virtualised) solutions, combined with the increasing prevalence of open-source resources, is disrupting the market dynamics and will have profound implications for the industry structure.
Traditionally, telecom network technology vendors supplied bespoke solutions, typically consisting of hardware racks populated with purpose-built circuit boards that performed highly specialised tasks, complemented by highly customised software, with complex back office systems to manage these systems and the applications that run on them. These solutions were supplemented by extensive professional services resources, and typically involved regular software upgrades, and, less frequently hardware ones.
This, combined with the long cycles involved in introducing new solutions, or in upgrading existing ones due to long testing cycles, created a relatively closed ecosystem with high barriers to entry and high switching costs. It also drove costs up, as it increased the bargaining power of suppliers; it limited the number of competitors and stifled innovation because younger companies with fewer resources found it difficult to penetrate the ecosystem.
The disruptive nature of virtualization
The inexorable migration to software-based, virtualized solutions is disrupting this ecosystem, with profound long-term consequences. Increasingly, telecom operators are introducing virtualized software solutions in their operating environments. Their long-term goal is of a fully software-driven ecosystem with software-only network elements running on commodity off-the-shelf servers (COTS) or open source hardware, hosted in local offices, in distributed data centres or in a cloud-compute environment.
The software-based systems are not less complex, and the incumbent vendors are rushing to either port their existing solutions on COTS or redeveloping parts of those systems to become software based. It also allows new software vendors to enter the market without the long design, manufacturing, and logistics supply chains of traditional hardware.
At the same time, the CSP traditional development/deployment paradigm, which was largely based on the waterfall model and involved protracted cycles, is slowly making way to an agile framework, based on the Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment model where incremental changes are introduced on an on-going basis, enabled by a microservices-based, modularised architecture.
This paradigm allows minimally viable products to be introduced and then rapidly enhanced, reducing the entrenched foothold of existing suppliers and opening the way for new entrants, further transforming the market dynamics.
By reducing the barriers to entry, virtualization is adding new vendors and new delivery mechanisms that bypass the traditional supply chains: New virtual network software companies, public cloud companies, and the network operators themselves.
- New virtual network software companies: New software-centric companies have entered the market over the last several years. Examples include Affirmed Networks, Altiostar and Parallel Wireless that offer a software-based mobile core solution, Etiya that provides a nearly fully virtualised mobile solution (running on an AWS public cloud infrastructure), and Metaswitch that offers a wide range of mobile and fixed network software-based network technologies. Other traditional software vendors to operators, such as HPE, are also entering the virtualised network equipment market.
- Public cloud companies: Cloud providers are increasingly tapping into the convergence of cloud and communication networks. Recently, Microsoft bought Affirmed Networks, which offers fully virtualized, cloud-native mobile network solutions for telecom operators. This acquisition will enable Microsoft to become a major telecom vendor in the mobile and nascent private 5G markets. In days past, communication service providers (CSP) used to build their own data centres, but virtualisation technologies enable cloud providers, such as Microsoft, to offer the same capabilities, mostly as services, on their public computing and storage infrastructure at much lower initial cost and with more flexibility.
- DIY: Some CSPs are hiring software developers in droves and are beginning to develop their own solutions. Not only that, but some operators are also transforming themselves into vendors, offering their solutions to their peer operators. A case in point is Comcast Corp. The company’s mantra has become “software eats the world.” Its newly opened Comcast Technology Center serves as “the dedicated home for our company’s growing workforce of more than 4,000 technologists, engineers and software architects.” Comcast has developed its Xfinity X1 entertainment service in-house; it is also syndicating it to cable operators, including Cox and Shaw and Rogers of Canada. At the same time, the company has developed a software-defined platform (ActiveCore) to power its business services, and it is not unfathomable that it would look to syndicate it at some point in the future.
Others CSPs are expanding their software capabilities for internal, and external, use. Reliance Jio’s parent company, Reliance Industries, bought Radisys, a US-based provider of open telecom solutions, while AT&T’s expansion of its software capabilities is well-known in the industry.
The role of open-source collaboration
Most operators do not have the capacity nor the ability to undertake massive development efforts, particularly because some of the solutions they need are highly complex. However, open-source hardware and software and disaggregated network elements go a long way to alleviate the need to undertake end to end developments.
Recent disaggregated network element (DNE) projects, some including open-source hardware and software, have been created by CSPs throughout the various telecom equipment domains, from radio backhaul to the core networks, optical access and transport equipment, and edge computing environments, among many others. DNEs are essentially public open source Lego-like building blocks that run on standard computing and storage hardware or programmable ASICs that standardise designs and that can be used to create solutions. They enable CSPs to select the best combination of commoditised hardware and specialised software components. DNEs are designed to reduce vendor lock-ins and further lower the barriers to entry for new vendors, increasing competition in sales and support.
The operator–vendor new relationship framework
New engagement models are emerging. The traditional supplier/customer relationship is making way to a cooperative engagement model, where the operator and the vendor work hand in hand on developing solutions. Furthermore, unlike traditional models where the vendor is paid upfront and is further compensated for on-going support, new frameworks are emerging where the vendor is compensated based on the success of the operator. One such arrangement was the Infinite Broadband Unlocked that Cisco introduced in 2018 where it charged cable operators based on broadband consumption over their networks, rather than upfront licenses. Such arrangements are facilitated by software-based solutions and are likely to become more prevalent over time, further disrupting market dynamics.
Toward the future
The commoditisation of the hardware components of the network will reduce the vendors’ margins and potentially reduce overall CSPs’ costs. However, the CSPs will have to bear the additional costs of testing multivendor arrangements, configuring, and managing the larger number of network components, as well as securing the entire network.
These additional costs will eat into the potential savings and are expected to require a hefty dose of automation. Such automation will come from vendors, systems integrators, as well as from additional open-source initiatives such as the ONAP program, the open-source version of the AT&T ECOMP home-grown system that seeks to provide real-time, policy-driven software automation of AT&T’s network management functions.
It is too early in the game to scope the full impact of this unfolding transformation. It is likely that it will increase the speed of innovation and improve the cost structure for operators. At the same time, intense competition may reduce vendors’ margins, decreasing their ability to invest in R&D. However, an increasingly symbiotic relationship between operators and vendors will improve industry dynamics, overall, as it will lead to better targeted solutions, more cost efficiency and improved customer experience.
Conclusion
Technological changes and industry realignment are enabling CSPs to gain greater market control and to reap larger efficiencies by replacing monolithic hardware and software solutions from major vendors with disaggregated networking elements with open-source software on commoditised, standardised hardware, and by adopting co-development models. This will reduce the pricing power of major vendors and compress their margins but may lead to greater innovation in the industry.
The authors are Liliane Offredo-Zreik and Dr. Mark H Mortensen of ACG Research.
Liliane Offredo-Zreik
Dr. Mark H Mortensen
About the authors
Liliane Offredo-Zreik ([email protected] @offredo) is a principal analyst with ACG Research. Her areas of coverage include the cable industry, SD-WAN, and communications service provider digital transformation. Prior to her analyst work, she held senior roles in major telecom and cable companies, including Verizon and Time Warner Cable (now Charter) as well as with industry vendors and has been an industry advisor in areas including marketing, strategy, product development and M&A due diligence.
Dr. Mark H Mortensen ([email protected] @DrMarkHM) is an acknowledged industry expert in communications software for the TMT sector, with over 40 years of experience in OSS and BSS specifications, network operations, software architecture, product marketing, and sales enablement. His work has spanned the gamut of technical work at Bell Labs, strategic product evolution at Telcordia, CMO positions at several software vendors, and as a research director at Analysys Mason. He is currently the Communications Software Principal Analyst at ACG Research focusing on network and business automation.
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Futurium: 2020 SD-WAN market set to accelerate
Despite no standards for multi-vendor operator (UNI) or network-to-network (NNI), Futurium projects continued growth in SD-WAN through at least the next 3-5 years. Enterprises and service providers alike are interested in deploying SD-WAN technology in services to deliver cloud-based orchestration and automation of networking and security.
Based on a survey of 100 end users as well as dozens of interviews with professionals in the IT and networking markets, Futurium forecasts the SD-WAN tools and software market will increase to $4.6 billion by 2023 as enterprises increasingly move their IT and networking services to a cloud infrastructure.
In the nearer term, Futuriom’s founder and principal analyst, Scott Raynovich, expects a market growth rate of 34% CAGR to hit $2 billion this year and reach $2.85 billion in 2021 as more enterprises demand “agile, high-performance, and secure connections to cloud applications.”
Cloud-delivered SD-WAN, a growing technology domain that enables enterprises and organizations to set up and manage secure WAN connections using cloud software deployment and management approaches, is gaining and increasing role to speed up and secure cloud connectivity. Enterprises are buying SD-WAN to reduce the complexity in configuring branch-office devices, routing schemes, and network addresses. With SD-WAN, many of these functions can be abstracted into the cloud and managed by the service provider or an enterprise manager using a cloud interface, rather than using proprietary networking equipment.
The report was sponsored by Aryaka Networks, Citrix Systems, Fortinet, Nuage Networks, Silver Peak, Versa Networks, and VMware (VeloCloud).
Report highlights:
- Momentum in the SD-WAN market continues. Despite a slight slowdown in the 1H due to pandemic-related supply chain and sales challenges, the market is likely to accelerate in 2H 2020 and into 2021 as the features of SD-WAN serve growing cloud demand.
- Futuriom expects the SD-WAN tools and software market to accelerate to a growth rate of 34% CAGR to reach $2.0 billion in 2020, $2.85 billion in 2021, and $4.6 billion by 2023. The acceleration will be spurred by demand for more agile, high-performance, and secure connections to cloud applications.
- The top four benefits of SD-WAN adoption include improved security, better management/agility, bandwidth optimization/cost savings, and faster cloud applications performance. These benefits were picked in our Futuriom 2020 SD-WAN Infrastructure Survey of 100 enterprise end users, which also indicated broadening use cases and adoption in the market.
- Awareness of SD-WAN is growing as the market matures. In the Futuriom 2020 survey, 92% of respondents said they are evaluating SD-WAN services and/or software.
- The Work from Home (WFH) trend is giving the SD-WAN market a boost. SD-WAN integrates virtual private networking (VPN) functionality for both remote workers and enterprises branches, which is a key feature demand.
- As predicted in 2019, M&A and consolidation has continued and is likely to continue. The acquisition leaves fewer players on the dance floor. Aryaka, Cato Networks, FatPipe, Silver Peak, and Versa Networks are all strong candidates for M&A or IPO. (Last year, CloudGenix was on this list – Palo Alto Networks announced earlier this year that it’s acquiring the startup.)
- Companies featured in this report: Adaptiv Networks, Aryaka Networks, Bigleaf Networks, Cisco Systems (Viptela), Cato Networks, Citrix Systems, CloudGenix (Palo Alto Networks), HPE, FatPipe Networks, Fortinet, Juniper Networks, Nuage Networks (Nokia), Riverbed, Silver Peak, Versa Networks, VMware (VeloCloud).
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In April, Omdia released similar predictions for the SD-WAN market, reporting that SD-WAN revenue reached $2 billion in 2019, up from $1.1 billion in 2018. Omdia predicts SD-WAN revenue will hit $4.8 billion in 2024.
While the COVID-19 pandemic slowed SD-WAN market momentum in the first half of 2020, Raynovich forecasts a pickup in the market in the second half of 2020 and into 2021 as more enterprise employees are working from home and require secure, remote access services.
“Enterprises aren’t going to pay for people to have MPLS in their home, it’s too expensive. SD-WAN is serving its role as a quick, secure VPN for work-from-home situations. That’s a driver of growth,” Raynovich told Light Reading. SD-WAN is continuing to reduce dependence on MPLS and is becoming “one of the go-to solutions to work from home where there is no alternative,” he said.
IT and networking professionals cited “improved security tools and orchestration” (64%) as the top benefit of utilizing SD-WAN in their networks, according to a Futuriom survey of 100 networking and cybersecurity professionals. About 55% of respondents also cited improved management/automation/agility; better utilization of bandwidth/lower cost; and higher performance of cloud applications as the primary benefits of SD-WAN. As network security is a top priority for enterprises, the majority of SD-WAN vendors have added cloud security and next-generation firewall products from security suppliers such as Check Point, Zscaler and Palo Alto, according to the report.
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Separately,
Market Research Inc has recently published a new market assessment report titled “Global SD-WAN Market – Growth, Future Scenarios, and Competitive Analysis, 2019 – 2025”. The market study provides an extensive understanding of the present-day and forthcoming stages of the industry market based on factors such as major sought-after events, research ingenuities, management stratagems, market drivers, challenges and visions and all-encompassing industry subdivision and regional distribution.
A key utilization of SD-WAN is to enable organizations to fabricate higher-execution WANs utilizing lower-cost and economically accessible Internet get to, empowering organizations to mostly or entirely supplant progressively costly private WAN association innovations, for example, MPLS. The global market is forecasted to expand rapidly at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of +35%.
Request a Sample of this Report and Analysis of Key Players at https://www.marketresearchinc.com/request-sample.php?id=15951
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References:
https://www.lightreading.com/sd-wan/sd-wan-market-to-exceed-$4b-by-2023—report/d/d-id/761907?
New T-Mobile no longer the “uncarrier”: layoffs, network outage, challenge integrating Sprint network
T-Mobile US Inc. is cutting jobs faster than initially planned after its April merger with rival Sprint Corp. created a company with about 80,000 employees. Before regulators signed off on T-Mobile’s $26 billion merger with Sprint, executives like former CEO John Legere said that the merger would create many new jobs from “day one.” With the ink barely dry on the deal, it’s abundantly clear that is NOT happening.
T-Mobile said in a securities filing late Wednesday that it expects to spend about $300 million more than initially projected on merger-related costs, primarily on severance expenses, to accelerate expected cost benefits from the deal. The company now expects merger costs before taxes to total $800 million to $900 million during the June-ended quarter. The “new T-Mo” didn’t detail the number of jobs being cut. T-Mobile ended 2019 with 53,000 workers. Sprint last reported 28,500 employees in early 2019.
T-Mobile Chief Executive Mike Sievert said Tuesday the company seeks to hire workers in 5,000 new positions like retail and engineering over the next 12 months. “As part of this process, some employees who hold similar positions are being asked to consider a career change inside the company, and others will be supported in their efforts to find a new position outside the company,” Mr. Sievert said.
The savings estimates T-Mobile provided investors suggest several thousand jobs are being eliminated, according to Jonathan Chaplin, a telecom analyst for New Street Research. Those cuts don’t include stores run by third-party dealers, some of which will switch to other brands, he added. “They will be cutting redundant positions, but adding other positions as they invest for growth,” Mr. Chaplin said.
T-Mobile last year told lawmakers that the then-proposed merger of the two wireless giants would yield more jobs at the combined company by 2024 than each business would employ on its own.
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Back Story:
Last month, T-Mobile laid off an estimated 6,000 employees from its Metro prepaid division, layoffs that had everything to do with the merger, and nothing to do with the COVID-19 crisis. And on June 15th, hundreds of Sprint employees were unceremoniously fired as part of a six minute conference call during which nobody was allowed to ask questions:
“In a conference call on Monday lasting under six minutes, T-Mobile vice president James Kirby told hundreds of Sprint employees that their services were no longer needed. He declined to answer his employees’ questions, citing the “personal” nature of employee feedback, and ended the call.”
On June 19th, Tech Dirt’s Karl Bode wrote:
This was all ridiculously predictable. There’s 40 years of documented US telecom history showing that the elimination of a major competitor reduces competition and raises prices (oh hi, Comcast). Global markets (Canada, Ireland) have also made this clear. Such deals almost universally result in thousands of layoffs as redundant retail, support, and management positions are culled. It’s why similar deals of this type (AT&T’s 2011 acquisition of T-Mobile, T-Mobile’s 2014 acquisition of Sprint) were blocked. This isn’t a debate topic. It’s not a murky subject. Telecom consolidation routinely ends badly for employees and customers.
Economists made all of these points to the DOJ and FCC, but they were unceremoniously ignored. First by an FCC that couldn’t bother to even read its own staff analysis before rubber stamping the a merger it helped cook up behind closed doors, then by a DOJ whose “antitrust” boss personally escorted the deal to fruition while ignoring all criticism.
If you go back and look at some of ex-CEO John Legere’s blog posts from a few months ago (which I’m sure won’t be around much longer), the CEO repeatedly promised that the merger would be “job positive” from “day one”:
“So, let me be really clear on this increasingly important topic. This merger is all about creating new, high-quality, high-paying jobs, and the New T-Mobile will be jobs-positive from Day One and every day thereafter. That’s not just a promise. That’s not just a commitment. It’s a fact. To achieve what we’re setting out to do – become the supercharged Un-carrier that delivers new value, ignites competition and delivers nationwide real 5G for All – the New T-Mobile will provide an amazing and compelling set of services for consumers.”
Legere was so breathlessly offended by statements to the contrary, he tried to insist that union officials were lying — before reminding everybody he testified under oath about the deal’s looming job explosion:
“We also keep seeing the opposition try to use projected layoff numbers from an analyst’s projections that were based on a completely different deal at a completely different point in time to discredit this merger. It’s SO bad that the head of the Communications Workers Association (CWA) was bold enough to refer to those completely unrelated numbers in a CONGRESSIONAL HEARING. I guess if the real numbers don’t tell the story you want, you can just make up new ones? It’s actually offensive. At the hearings, I raised my right hand and swore under oath to tell the TRUTH… and the truth is that the New T-Mobile will CREATE JOBS.”
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Network Outage:
T-Mobile network suffered a nationwide service failure on Monday. Federal regulators said they would investigate the incident, which led to intermittent voice and data coverage for about 12 hours. Company chief technology officer Neville Ray later said the problems stemmed from a supplier’s fiber optic circuit going down. But what happened to automated failure detection and recovery/restoral?
Cellphone carriers’ network backbones usually have several fallback routes should one path get severed. Mr. Ray said that “redundancy failed us and resulted in an overload situation that was then compounded by other factors.” The company said its Sprint customers weren’t affected and vowed to put new safeguards in place.
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Integrating Sprint’s 3G and 5G networks:
The “new T-Mo” also faces the challenge of integrating Sprint’s 3G CDMA network with its own 3G GSM network. Also the two former carriers were designing different 5G NSA networks, albeit both using 3GPP Release 15 “5G NR” for the data plane.
T-Mobile has had difficulty integrating Sprint’s customers and network assets and building out a faster 5G network throughout the country, The Wall Street Journal reported in May.
Despite pandemic-related challenges, T-Mobile has begun the process of integrating Sprint into the new stand-alone company and tapping into the trove of airwaves it acquired as part of the deal. Many of T-Mobile’s current executives remain in charge, though some Sprint leaders including technology chief John Saw hold key posts in the combined company.
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Separately, AT&T has outlined plans to cut more than 3,400 jobs in the coming weeks, according to the Communications Workers of America, which represents a large share of the telecom and media giant’s 244,000 employees. Those cuts exclude hundreds of other positions potentially eliminated through store closures.
AT&T said it will make “targeted, but sizable reductions in our workforce across executives, managers and union-represented employees” as it overhauls its employee base. The carrier also is closing more stores to cater to online shoppers, a shift the company said it accelerated in response to the coronavirus crisis.
“Reducing our workforce is a difficult decision that we don’t take lightly,” AT&T said in a statement.
In light of the tens of thousands of AT&T layoffs the last few years, does anyone seriously believe that statement?
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References:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/t-mobile-and-at-t-are-cutting-thousands-of-jobs-11592501203
https://www.wsj.com/articles/t-mobile-to-feel-coronavirus-pain-through-2020-11588799462
Ericsson: U.K. Telecom Rules May Hinder Country’s 5G Opportunity
Bloomberg reports that the U.K. risks missing the benefits of fifth-generation (5G) wireless networks, because of policies that could lead to an expensive and inefficient roll-out, according to Swedish telecommunications equipment giant Ericsson AB.
“Decisive action is needed — uncertainty is not good for business and it could delay the roll-out of the U.K.’s 5G network, putting the country’s long-term competitiveness at risk. The U.K. was late in adopting 4G and largely missed the economic opportunity that came with it. There is a real possibility of history repeating itself.” said Arun Bansal, head of the wireless equipment supplier’s European and Latin American operations.
Bansal identified several concerns with U.K. policy. He said there’s a risk the airwaves (frequency spectrum) owned by different carriers could be fragmented and inefficient. International cooperation is required so the same frequency bands are used within the country.
NOTE: It is the job of ITU-R WP5D to update ITU-R M.1036 Frequency arrangements for implementation of the terrestrial component of International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) in the bands identified for IMT in the Radio Regulations. WP 5D gets spectrum recommendations inputs from WRC 19 meeting outputs from last Fall. A new version of M.1036 must be completed before IMT 2020 (5G) RIT/SRIT specs are approved.
The telecom regulator in each country is then responsible for assigning frequencies to each IMT service, e.g. 4G and 5G within their country. The U.K. telecom regulator is OFCOM. In the U.S. it’s the FCC.
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Bansal also noted the country’s required planning approvals are slowing engineers’ work and making it more expensive, Bloomberg reported He urged the government could do a better job at supporting 5G as a potential replacement for landline broadband, the report said.
Britain’s government rejected the criticisms and said reforms have made network deployment cheaper and easier.
In a statement, the U.K. Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport told Bloomberg that the country’s campaign to roll out gigabit-capable broadband nationwide “is technology neutral, and we would be happy to meet with the supplier to discuss the role of 5G.”
Ericsson has been positioning itself to supply British carriers with billions of pounds’ worth of 5G equipment. With U.K. officials now looking to curtail the role of its Chinese rival Huawei Technologies Co. amid growing tensions with Beijing, that potential opportunity has grown — as long as Ericsson can show it’s able to match Huawei’s technological edge.
Bansal didn’t mention Huawei by name. However, he denied claims that Ericsson was technologically behind any other player, and said it’s ready for whatever approach Britain chooses. “We ship enough 5G-ready radios to cover the greater London area every single day,” he said.
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Bansal’s allegations comes one week after O2, the London-based telecommunications services provider owned by Telefónica, selected Ericsson to deploy its 5G across the UK and upgrade the existing 2G/3G/4G sites as part of a major network modernization program.
In April, BT said it would use Ericsson equipment for the core of its 5G network. Ericsson would provide a “cloud native, containerized” core for 4G, non-standalone 5G, and eventually 5G standalone services, which will become a converged IP network.
NOTE that there are no standards or specifications for such a core network. The only 5G core spec we know of is 3GPP Release 16 specification TS.23501 5G Systems Architecture-V16.4.0 (27 March, 2020) which does not specify how to build a cloud native containerized core network.
“The containerization of core network functions will enable BT to benefit from greater industry innovation in many areas, including automation, orchestration, network resilience, security, and faster upgrade techniques,” Ericsson said at that time. “This means increasing overall network availability for customers and services while being cost-effective.”
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Last month, PYMTS reported COVID-19 has prompted Ericsson to update its forecast for worldwide 5G subscriptions to 2.8 billion by 2025 from 2.6 billion, the company said in a webinar.
“We’re witnessing transformative changes just in the last two months,” Patrik Cerwall, Ericsson’s head of strategic marketing, said in the “Unboxed Office” event that was broadcast live on Periscope.
Amy McCune, Ericsson North America’s vice president and chief operations officer, told PYMNTS in May that shifts in lifestyle, work and healthcare are accelerating the demand for the next generation of wireless communications technologies.
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References:
Ericsson Says UK Telecom Rules Are Slowing 5G Installs And Driving Up Costs
NeoPhotonics demonstrates 90 km 400ZR transmission in 75 GHz DWDM channels enabling 25.6 Tbps per fiber
NeoPhotonics completed experimental verification of the transmission of 400Gbps data over data center interconnect (DCI) link in a 75 GHz spaced Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) channel.
NeoPhotonics achieved two milestones using its interoperable pluggable 400ZR [1.] coherent modules and its specially designed athermal arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) multiplexers (MUX) and de-multiplexers (DMUX).
Note 1. ZR stands for Extended Reach which can transmit 10G data rate and 80km distance over single mode fiber and use 1550nm lasers.
- Data rate per channel increases from today’s non-interoperable 100Gbps direct-detect transceivers to 400Gbps interoperable coherent 400ZR modules.
- The current DWDM infrastructure can be increased from 32 channels of 100 GHz-spaced DWDM signals to 64 channels of 75 GHz-spaced DWDM signals.
- The total DCI fiber capacity can thus be increased from 3.2 Tbps (100Gbps/ch. x 40 ch.) to 25.6 Tbps (400Gbps/ch. x 64 ch.), which is a total capacity increase of 800 percent.
NeoPhotonics said its technology overcomes multiple challenges in transporting 400ZR signals within 75 GHz-spaced DWDM channels.
The filters used in NeoPhotonics MUX and DMUX units are designed to limit ACI [2.] while at the same time having a stable center frequency against extreme temperatures and aging.
Note 2. ACI stands for Adjacent Channel Interface; it also can refer to Application Centric Infrastructure.
NeoPhotonics has demonstrated 90km DCI links using three in-house 400ZR pluggable transceivers with their tunable laser frequencies tuned to 75GHz spaced channels, and a pair of passive 75GHz-spaced DWDM MUX and DMUX modules designed specifically for this application. The optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) penalty due to the presence of the MUX and DMUX and the worst-case frequency drifts of the lasers, as well as the MUX and DMUX filters, is less than 1dB. The worst-case component frequency drifts were applied to emulate the operating conditions for aging and extreme temperatures, the company said in a press release.
“The combination of compact 400ZR silicon photonics-based pluggable coherent transceiver modules with specially designed 75 GHz channel spaced multiplexers and de-multiplexers can greatly increase the bandwidth capacity of optical fibers in a DCI application and consequently greatly decrease the cost per bit,” said Tim Jenks, Chairman and CEO of NeoPhotonics. “These 400ZR coherent techniques pack 400Gbps of data into a 75 GHz wide spectral channel, placing stringent requirements on the multiplexers and de-multiplexers. We are uniquely able to meet these requirements because we do both design and fabrication of planar lightwave circuits and we have 20 years of experience addressing the most challenging MUX/DMUX applications,” concluded Mr. Jenks.
About NeoPhotonics
NeoPhotonics is a leading developer and manufacturer of lasers and optoelectronic solutions that transmit, receive and switch high-speed digital optical signals for Cloud and hyper-scale data center internet content provider and telecom networks. The Company’s products enable cost-effective, high-speed over distance data transmission and efficient allocation of bandwidth in optical networks. NeoPhotonics maintains headquarters in San Jose, California and ISO 9001:2015 certified engineering and manufacturing facilities in Silicon Valley (USA), Japan and China. For additional information visit www.neophotonics.com.
References:
U.S. Commerce Dept NO-OP rule allows U.S. companies to work with Huawei on 5G & other standards
by Karen Freifeld (Reuters) with Opinion by Alan J Weissberger (does not reflect any IEEE position)
The U.S. Department of Commerce on Tuesday posted a new rule that allows U.S. companies to work with China’s Huawei to develop standards for 5G and other cutting-edge technologies, despite restrictions on doing business with the world’s top telecommunications equipment maker.
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Personal Opinion:
This new rule accomplishes NOTHING and may even backfire according to some analysts. First and foremost, the U.S. government has no authority to dictate whether or not U.S. companies are permitted to attend and contribute to international standards committee meetings that are attended by non-U.S. companies deemed to be a threat. It is up to each individual standards body to grant or deny membership to a company. Once that company becomes a member of the committee then NO GOVERNMENT ENTITY can block other companies from working with it on various standards.
Today (June 16th), a joint ITU-R WP5D contribution from Nokia Corporation, Telefon AB – LM Ericsson, Qualcomm, Inc., Samsung Electronics contribution asks WP5D to delete China and Korea IMT 2020 RIT submissions as they are technically identical to 3GPP’s IMT 2020 RIT submission.
Did the Korea government prevent Samsung (#1 company in Korea by far) from co-authoring that contribution, even though it is NOT in the best interest of Korea to have their national 5G (IMT 2020 RIT) standard withdrawn/deleted? Of course not, because they don’t have the authority to do that!
Separately, the U.S. government is dogmatic in destroying Huawei to end that company’s dominance of global telecom equipment, especially 5G where the U.S. wants to encourage (now non-existent) 5G equipment companies. The only U.S. 5G technology company we know of is Qualcomm. The others just do software for so called “Open RAN” (which can’t really be open if two companies have to spec out the radio and radio interface to the digital baseband unit).
“The United States will not cede leadership in global innovation,” said Wilbur Ross, the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, in his statement about the decision. “The Department is committed to protecting U.S. national security and foreign policy interests by encouraging US industry to fully engage and advocate for U.S. technologies to become international standards.”
Light Reading also take a negative view of the U.S. announcement. Iain Morris wrote in a blog post today (Bold font added for emphasis):
If the US is to remain a part of the global standards community, as it inevitably decided it would this week, the only way it can become less dependent on Chinese knowhow is to make the Chinese firms less influential in the standards groups. That could mean imitating China’s strategy of trying to shape the international standard and essentially crowd out the other players.
How successful that strategy has been is up for debate. Huawei undoubtedly plays a more prominent role in the 5G standard than it ever did in 3G or 4G. Yet critics believe the company’s influence has been overstated in the media. Its vast array of patents, they say, includes relatively few that are genuinely “standard-essential,” despite the findings of several studies that tout Huawei’s significance.
Richard Windsor, an analyst with Radio Free Mobile, thinks US semiconductor giant Qualcomm has “a much stronger position in 5G” than one high-profile study gives it credit for. The 3GPP, for its part, remains tight-lipped on this entire subject. Revelations could be awkward.
Whatever transpires in the world of standards, no one should seriously expect a rapprochement between the US and Huawei after all that has already happened. Meng Wanzhou, the Chinese firm’s chief financial officer (and daughter of its founder), remains under house arrest in Canada, awaiting possible extradition to the US to face charges of fraud. Countries including the UK are still under US pressure to ban Huawei from their 5G networks. And trade sanctions have not been eased.
Quite the opposite, in fact. A recent tightening-up of Commerce Department rules will stop Huawei from buying any components made with US technology. Previous restrictions covered only US components made on US soil, inflicting limited damage on Huawei and disappointing its US antagonists. Unable to procure equipment from important suppliers like Taiwan’s TSMC, Huawei could be finished within a year as a result of the latest measures, according to some analysts. If that happens, any concern about US firms working alongside their Chinese counterparts in standards groups would be largely academic.
People walk past a Huawei shop, amid an outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Beijing, China, May 18, 2020. Photo Credit: REUTERS/Thomas Peter …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Reuters reported on Monday that the rule had been approved and sent to the Federal Register, the official U.S. publication for rules. It was posted for public inspection on the Federal Register’s website on Tuesday and is scheduled to be formally published on Thursday.
The rule amends the Huawei “entity listing,” which restricts sales of U.S. goods and technology to the company. The United States placed Huawei on the list in May 2019, citing national security concerns.
The amendment authorizes the release of certain technology to Huawei and its affiliates if it contributes “to the revision or development of a ‘standard’ in a ‘standards organization.’”
Industry and government officials have said the entity listing backfired in standards settings. With U.S. companies uncertain what technology they could share, some U.S. engineers did not engage, and Huawei gained a stronger voice, they said.
Huawei and 114 of its foreign affiliates on the Entity List “continue to participate in many important international standards organizations in which U.S. companies also participate,” the new rule says.
“As international standards serve as the building blocks for product development and help ensure functionality, interoperability and safety of the products, it is important to U.S. technological leadership that U.S. companies be able to work in these bodies in order to ensure that U.S. standards proposals are fully considered.”
Naomi Wilson of the Information Technology Industry Council, which represents tech companies, said the rule was a “long-awaited step to clarify that U.S. companies can participate in international standards bodies – even where certain listed entities are present.”
Boston lawyer Andy Updegrove, who has represented over 150 standards organizations, said he found one catch: Not all standards consortiums may meet the requirements in the rule.
To do so, he said, some may change the way they work, but other foreign ones may not. “Overall, it’s a big improvement, but it’s not going to help U.S. companies in every case,” Updegrove said.
Huawei said in a statement it wants to continue standards discussions with counterparts, including those in the United States, and that “inclusiveness and productive dialogue will better promote” their formulation and encourage development.
References:
ADDENDUM: The Dispatcher- Sept 2020:
After the U.S. Commerce Department last year put HUAWEI on a list of companies that it considered unsuitable for U.S companies and government—and the companies and governments of all its allies—to do business with, engineers in most U.S. technology companies stopped engaging with HUAWEI to develop standards. Since the standards train was going to go down the tracks with or without the U.S. on board, and Europe’s, Japan’s and the rest of the world’s companies were continuing to occupy their seats, the absence of U.S. engineers put the U.S. at a severe disadvantage, said QUALCOMM, Intel, AMAZON and many others. 10 HUAWEI had a louder voice at the table with the U.S. sitting outside.
“Confusion stemming from the May 2019 entity list had inadvertently sidelined U.S. companies from some technical standards conversations, putting them at a strategic disadvantage,” said a representative for the Information Technology Industry Council, a Washington, DC-based trade association that represents the companies making the complaint. After a year, the Commerce Department drafted a new rule which states that if HUAWEI is sitting at any standards table (not just 5G), the U.S. needs to be there. On June 15th, the rule was approved. In confirming the rule’s passing,
U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said:
“The United States will not cede leadership in global innovation. The department is committed to protecting U.S. national security and foreign policy interests by encouraging U.S. industry to fully engage and advocate for U.S. technologies to become international standards.”
