During a Tuesday morning “disruptive collaboration” keynote at the Open Network Summit (ONS), John Donovan, Chief Strategy Officer at AT&T, revealed that the company had “software defined” 34% of its network by the end of 2016, which exceeded its goal of 30%.  This year’s goal of 55% network virtualization (via an overlay network*) will be a major milestone.

“When you get to 55% there’s no turning back,” said Donovan. “You’re more software-defined than you are not software-defined. When you hit that tipping point you start to say, OK, now what? Now what do we do when we have a software-defined network and how do we capitalize on it?”

*  Note: Network virtualization via an overlay network is to be contrasted with pure SDN which requires an entire new network infrastructure consisting of a centralized SDN controller for path computations and L3 packet/L2 frame forwarding engines.

The next step for AT&T is “Network 3.0 Indigo” which makes heavy use of ECOMP [1] – the orchestration platform AT&T created to power their version of software-defined network.  [See Andre Fuetsch’s comments below on current uses for ECOMP].

Donovan reminded the audience that in February 2017, AT&T announced it was moving its ECOMP platform code to the Linux Foundation where it was then merged with the Open Orchestrator (ON-O) initiative [one of two major Linux Foundation open source MANO (management and organization) projects] and is now called Open Network Automation Platform (ONAP) [2].

Andre Fuetsch, president of AT&T Labs and CTO, said during this same keynote, “We have over seven global operators representing nearly two billion mobile subscribers participating in the ONAP project.” Fuetsch also said there were significantly more operators planning to join the ONAP initiative in coming months, representing  another one-third of global operators.

“ONAP is about many things, but what is most important is about working together as a common aligned community to innovate and deploy faster,” Andre said. “It’s about working together to build new things and not the same things twice,” he added.

Fuetch also said that, “ECOMP is a model driven operating system for SDN automation.  It’s been in production for 2 1/2 years and supports over 100 different Virtual Network Functions (VNFs).”  He added that VoLTE calls were partly handled by ECOMP which also supports AT&T’s Mobile Packet Core (MPC) and manages wavelengths on the telco’s optical transport network.

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Note 1.  ECOMP = Enhanced Control, Orchestration, Management and Policy. It provides the necessary software automation platform that enabled AT&T to achieve aggressive network virtualization goals across enterprise, infrastructure, mobility and consumer use cases.

Note 2.  The Open Network Automation Platform (ONAP) Project brings together top global carriers and vendors with the goal of allowing end users to automate, design, orchestrate and manage services and virtual functions. ONAP unites two major open networking and orchestration projects, open source ECOMP and the Open Orchestrator Project (OPEN-O), with the mission of creating a unified architecture and implementation and supporting collaboration across the open source community. The ONAP Project is a Linux Foundation project. For more information on ONAP, please visit https://www.onap.org.

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This new ONAP project seems to be led by AT&T and China Mobile, but has gotten huge support from other telco’s and network equipment vendors.  At ONS this week, it was announced that group’s 27 members now include about 33% of global network operators, which deliver wireless services to 38% of the world’s mobile subscribers. China Mobile  is the world’s largest mobile operator with 800 million subscribers.  New ONAP member (see below for complete list of new members) Reliance Jio claims to be the largest 4G network operator in India with 100 million total subscribers.

Six new members announced at ONS are: platinum member Reliance Jio; silver members Ciena, Microsoft, H3C Technologies, and Wind River; and associate member Open Networking Foundation.

“We’re excited to see how developers and others in the industry contribute to the ONAP code,” said Chris Rice, ONAP Chair and Senior Vice President, AT&T Labs. “Today is an important day for ONAP and open networking. Collaboration is key in open source projects and we’re looking forward to the community’s efforts to harden the production-ready code.”

The ONAP code base was said to be production-ready and in use. Open source software developers are invited to access it at https://git.onap.org/.

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Harmonization of Open Source Projects:

ONAP represents a significant example of what the Linux Foundation calls “harmonization” – the coordinated collaboration and sometimes combination of what has become a plethora of open source networking groups, often with competing or overlapping objectives and functionality.   Therefore, it will be important to observe if the combination of the two approaches to network orchestration actually produces something stronger than the individual efforts, without losing momentum in the process.

Mazin Gilbert, VP of advanced technologies and architecture at AT&T, will head the ONAP Technical Steering Committee.  He said that ONAP will issue its first software release in the fourth quarter of 2017.  Gilbert noted the modular approach each project has taken will make it easier to merge them.

“You have to realize with ECOMP you have about 8.5 million lines of code,” said Gilbert. “Open-O is the same caliber. By definition, it’s complicated. We have spent a lot of time working with the Linux Foundation. We agree on the principles. Now we go into the details. As a community we, by the last quarter of this year, will make a release, and it will be a joint release.”

Yachen Wang, deputy director of network technology at China Mobile Research Institute said,  “On behalf of ONAP members, I would like to welcome the new members to the team. We anticipate close collaboration that will further the automation of SDN and NFV networks, and will enable all the community to take advantage of the best architectural components and implementation from ONAP.”  Yang also said that developing a target architecture that considers OSSs as well as NFV/SDN and service delivery is another major issue.

Margaret Chiosi (x-AT&T lifer, NFV pioneer and now with Huawei) said during her Wednesday morning keynote:

“You have all these open source pieces — they are great initial pieces, but you can’t just clean it up and run it, because it’s not complete,” Chiosi said, in an interview following her keynote presentation here. “The challenge for the industry is how do we get from here to production — there are a lot of gaps.”

There are two open source projects devoted to SDN controllers — OpenDaylight and ONOS — and Huawei participates in both, but has created its own controller, taking what it sees as the best of breed from both projects.

During a Thursday morning ONS panel session on Harmonizing Open Source Networking, Linux Foundation Networking General Manager (long time friend of IEEE and this author) Arpit Joshipura noted that AT&Ts ECOMP framework consisted of eight modules, while the work done by Open-O resulted in code that’s been consolidated into three additional modules. Both ECOMP and Open-O had orchestrators – ECOMP had a master service orchestrator while Open-O had a global service orchestrator. The way to blend them is to combine all the orchestration ECOMP provides with Yang models and all orchestration from Open-O with its Tosca data model.  Arpit believes these two orchestration methods are complementary.

Moving forward, in terms of who wins when there are disputes about code, Joshipura said, “Linux has set governance. It’s always meritocracy. The right answer wins.”  We couldn’t agree more!

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Finally, the ONAP Governing Board members this week elected the following individuals to serve as officers:

• Chair: Chris Rice, SVPYachen Wang of AT&T Labs
• President: Yachen Wang, deputy director of the Network Technology Department at China Mobile Research Institute
• Treasurer: Vincent Danno, director of Wireline Standards of the Innovation Technical & Marketing at Orange

In closing, Arpit said: “We congratulate the Governing Board officers on their election to serve.  They will be responsible for working with other members to support the ecosystem growing around the project, while technical governance remains separate in the hands of the developer community.”

References:

http://about.att.com/innovationblog/onap

Open Network Automation Platform (ONAP) Project Releases Code, Expands Membership and Announces Board Positions

http://about.att.com/story/indigo_redefining_connectivity.html

Comcast has outlined details for the Xfinity Mobile cellular service it plans to introduce for current subscribers, with unlimited data plans ranging from $45 to $65 per month. As the new Xfinity Mobile service will use Verizon’s cellular network, Comcast will become a MVNO.  Comcast will sell handsets made by Apple, Samsung and LG.

Many subscribers will save money, especially if they don’t use a lot of data. The catch: Only Comcast cable Internet customers can sign up for the Xfinity Mobile service.

Comcast, which has nearly 25 million high-speed internet customers, said its wireless service is aimed at holding onto its customers. Comcast’s key competitors — AT&T’s DirecTV and Verizon’s FiOS — are part of companies with wireless offerings.

“We’re not getting into the mobile business to be the number one carrier,” said Sam Schwartz, chief business development officer with Comcast Cable. “It’s to benefit our existing core business. We’re not going to make billions of dollars in profit.”

The service Comcast is selling will be essentially the same as a Verizon plan, though Comcast will reduce speeds on unlimited plans after 20 gigabytes. Verizon’s threshold is higher, at 22 gigabytes, and reduced speeds apply only when there is network congestion.

Comcast will initially require customers to buy phones through the company. It’s offering iPhones, Samsung Galaxy phones and one budget model from LG. Customers can pay in full up front or in monthly installments, just as they would through a traditional carrier.

Comcast’s pay-per-gigabyte approach is similar to what Google is doing with its wireless service, Google Fi. Customers don’t need to guess ahead of time how much data they plan to use; both plans charge them only for what they use. With traditional carriers, unused data might get carried over to the following month; even if not, the customer still pays for the unused amount.

But Google Fi hasn’t caught on, in part because it works with only a few Google-branded phones and uses networks from T-Mobile, Sprint and U.S. Cellular, which aren’t as robust as Verizon’s. Comcast says it can also take advantage of vast array of marketing channels for internet and voice services.

Read entire AP story here.

AT&T has been selected by the U.S. Commerce Dept. to build the first nationwide wireless broadband network dedicated to America’s first responders.  This record-breaking public-private partnership is a significant investment in the communications infrastructure that public safety desperately needs for day-to-day operations, disaster response and recovery, and securing of large events. It will also make 20 MHz of prime broadband spectrum available for private-sector development.

“Today is a landmark day for public safety across the Nation and shows the incredible progress we can make through public-private partnerships,” said U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. “FirstNet is a critical infrastructure project that will give our first responders the communications tools they need to keep America safe and secure.  This public-private partnership will also spur innovation and create over ten thousand new jobs in this cutting-edge sector.”

The broad terms of this 25-year agreement between FirstNet and AT&T are:

• FirstNet will provide 20 MHz of high-value, telecommunications spectrum and success-based payments of $6.5 billion over the next five years to support the Network buildout – FirstNet’s funding was raised from previous FCC spectrum auctions;
• AT&T will spend about $40 billion over the life of the contract to build, deploy, operate and maintain the network, with a focus on ensuring robust coverage for public safety;
• Additionally, AT&T will connect FirstNet users to the company’s telecommunications network assets, valued at more than $180 billion.

The FirstNet network will be designed to give priority to first responders, said FirstNet President T.J. Kennedy. Through special SIM cards inserted in their phones, police, fire and medical officers will be better able to communicate with one another. Much like current technology, the new network will allow them to send and receive video, data and voice calls before they reach a crisis area. But that information will arrive uninterrupted and in real time.

“They will always be prioritized. They’re always at the front of the line,” Kennedy said. “This happens inside the network at the millisecond level.”

FirstNet is administered by the U.S. Commerce Department and was proposed in the years after Sept. 11, 2001, when emergency workers responding to the day’s terrorist attacks struggled to communicate across clogged channels and incompatible technologies.

Under the contract, AT&T will spend $40 billion of its own money deploying FirstNet. It will also receive $6.5 billion from the federal government at the end of five years if it successfully meets a number of milestones designed to fast-track the project. The government is awarding the company with as much as 20 megahertz of new wireless airwaves that AT&T intends to integrate into the service. That “spectrum,” will expand the network’s capacity and help ensure that communications do not fail.

The ability to communicate seamlessly across jurisdictions is critical for law enforcement, fire, and emergency medical services (EMS) when securing large events or responding to emergencies and disasters.  In those instances, networks can become overloaded and inaccessible, limiting responders’ use of vital communication technologies, such as smartphones and applications dedicated to public safety services.

That will change with a high-speed network built specifically for the millions of public safety users in all 50 states, 5 U.S. territories and the District of Columbia, including those serving rural communities and tribal lands.  The Network will modernize first responders’ communications and deliver specialized features that are not available to them on wireless networks today.

“This public-private partnership is a major step forward for the public safety community as we begin building the broadband network they fought for and deserve,” said FirstNet Chair Sue Swenson.  “FirstNet and AT&T will deliver high-speed connectivity to help millions of first responders operate faster, safer, and more effectively when lives are on the line.”

“It’s not going to be a build-from-scratch type of thing,” said FirstNet chief executive Mike Poth. “So it’s a win for us and public safety because it’s going to accelerate the time to market.”

To take advantage of the network’s capabilities, public safety departments will need to buy a subscription to FirstNet. Automatically included is the preemption feature, which is among the most-requested by first responders, said Chris Sambar, AT&T’s senior vice president for FirstNet.  Mr. Sambar declined to say how expensive the rate plans will be but said that they would be priced “below market [rates].”

Designing a system such as FirstNet has taken years because of the sheer number of public safety departments in the United States who expect to use the network, according to an industry official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because details of the project remain private.

“It’s been a long hard slog, because it’s complicated technically to think about building a network like this,” the official said. “We’ll see how it goes, but obviously AT&T’s serious about it and it has the potential to be a big win for public safety.”

References:

https://www.commerce.gov/news/press-releases/2017/03/firstnet-partners-att-build-465-billion-wireless-broadband-network

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2017/03/30/att-is-building-a-new-cell-network-thatll-give-cops-and-firefighters-priority-over-regular-people/?utm_term=.3415812d6d7a

https://morningconsult.com/2017/03/30/att-firstnet-partner-building-46-5-billion-public-safety-network/

On March 31st, Verizon said it will launch a U.S. nationwide Category LTE M1 (Cat M1) wireless network designed to help developers, businesses, utilities and municipalities deploy secure internet-of-things (IoT) devices at lower cost.  The LTE Cat M1 network will span 2.4 million square miles and will be the first of its kind, the company said.   Cat M1 is competing head on with other Low Power Wireless Wide Area Networks (LPWANs) like LoRa, Sigfox, NarrowBand (NB) IoT, Weightless SIG, and various proprietary specs.

“We are very proud to again demonstrate our innovative leadership by providing this commercially available network for our customers, an industry first,” said Mike Haberman, Network Vice President at Verizon. “As the natural shift from CDMA-based IoT solutions to the more robust and cloud-based LTE technology occurs, it’s important we stay ahead of that technology evolution for our customers so we can continue to provide them service on the best and most advanced wireless network. Our commercial deployment of the nationwide LTE Cat M1 network does just that.”

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LTE Cat 1 vs other LPWANs:

Many IoT network technologies have been slow to catch on, due to hype and confusion caused by too many alternatives.  As noted above, LTE Cat M1 is a low-power, LPWAN technology that competes most directly with other LPWAN networks like LoRa, Sigfox and NB IoT. Cat M1 and Narrowband run on licensed spectrum, while the others run on unlicensed spectrum which is inherently prone to interference.

Verizon believes Cat M1 will also compete against Bluetooth, ZigBee and Z-Wave, wireless local area network (WLAN) technologies that connect to devices like thermostats and a wide array of appliances, such as washing machines and dryers.

Steve Hilton, an IoT analyst at Machnation thinks Verizon’s Cat M1 and similar networks will be game changers for IoT deployments.  “Cat M1 competes directly with Zigbee, Z-Wave and … Bluetooth,” said Mike Lanman, Verizon senior vice president for IoT, in an interview. He added, however, “there will always be other connecting technologies, and some might make more sense economically.”

Hilton agreed that some companies and utilities might want to deploy a Cat M1  approach and pay Verizon a monthly charge for the wireless service instead of managing a WLAN themselves.

“It really depends on how long the enterprise expects the device to live, how much management control the enterprise wants over the IoT network and relative prices,” Hilton said.

LTE Cat M1 Silicon:

Sequans, Altair Semiconductor, Qualcomm, Telit,  are among the LTE Cat M1 chip makers.

Verizon’s LTE Cat M1 partners include industry leaders including Sequans, Telit, U-Blox, Sierra Wireless, Gemalto, Qualcomm Technologies, and Altair, who together with Verizon are solving for the next generation of IoT use cases. Today, Verizon offers certified chipsets, modules and devices for Cat M1 from Sequans, Telit, Qualcomm Technologies, Encore Networks, Link Labs, and NimbeLink.

Devices running Cat M1, such as water and power meters and asset trackers,  will get longer battery life and can be left unattended for up to a decade, Lanman said. The Cat M1 network will also provide broader and more consistent coverage, reaching areas like basements, and devices that are in-ground or behind walls.

Cat M1 operates at lower bandwidth than 4G LTE, usually between 300Kbps and 400Kbps. Verizon typically provides 4G LTE bandwidth download speeds of 5Mbps to 12Mbps.

Cat M1 would be suitable for wireless connections to devices like water meters that need to send their on-off status or usage readings on an hourly, weekly or monthly basis. It would be unsuitable for connecting to video monitors or devices needing fast video streams, Lanman said.

References:

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/verizon-launches-industrys-first-lte-category-m1-cat-m1-nationwide-network-for-iot-300431812.html

http://www.computerworld.com/article/3186656/internet-of-things/verizon-to-launch-wireless-cat-m1-network-nationwide-to-juice-iot.html

A Comparison of LPWAN Technologies

Sprint Business President Jan Geldmacher detailed the carrier’s vision for the Internet of Things (IoT) in a speech this week, saying the company needs to prepare for a future in which 1 trillion devices can connect to the web. Geldmacher spoke of a converging network in which half a dozen platforms will support IoT, adding:

“Our network infrastructure is not really prepared to deal with all these trends yet.”

Author’s Note:  

That’s after at least seven years of a M2M/IoT R&D lab and showcase center in Burlingame, CA which was massively scaled down a couple of years ago.  Sprint was a featured speaker at the IEEE ComSocSCV 2010 seminar on IoT/M2M.

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Geldmacher said the network of the future will be a converged network, combining wireless, wireline, Bluetooth, LoRa, Sigfox and unlicensed spectrum. He said mobile networks are about to be part of a sea change that will impact all of society, which he described with a quote from Son.

“The boom in the rate at which we are starting to collect, analyze and ultimately glean knowledge from data is like the Cambrian explosion, the period during which prehistoric creatures developed the five senses,” Geldmacher said in quoting Son.

“When you think about what’s next you really need to think about the megatrends,” Geldmacher said, noting demographic changes, globalization and digitization are all impacting network traffic. “Our network infrastructure is not really prepared to deal with all these trends yet.”

“We are talking about an explosion of data volumes of probably a factor of 2,400.  We are talking about creating latencies that come close to the reaction time of a human being,” he said.

Geldmacher compared today’s internet of things to the internet in 1997, meaning the basic technology is falling into place but people have not really figured out all the things they can do with it.

“It’s time to innovate now,” Geldmacher said. “If you talk about how the market is divided in the IoT space I think it’s not relevant, because we’re just beginning.

“I offer to those in the room that want to partner, we are ready to partner,” Geldmacher said, adding he encouraged companies that want to make IoT technology part of their business to be brave and to believe the future is not as unpredictable as it may seem. “I think the future looks predictable if you just anticipate what’s happening in technology and apply it in the right way.”

Geldmacher said 94% of IoT investments yield some return on investment. Geldmacher also shared results from a recent survey of enterprises looking at IoT deployments, and listed the benefits that companies say they expect. The expectation named most often was streamlined operations, followed by higher productivity; better safety, security and monitoring; better customer service; improved automation; and increased revenue.

References:

Building the Internet of Things could be risky business

https://business.sprint.com/solutions/internet-of-things/

https://business.sprint.com/tag/internet-of-things/

http://www.iotglobalnetwork.com/companies/single/id/277/sprint

http://www.rcrwireless.com/20170329/internet-of-things/sprint-outlines-vision-for-iot-network-tag4

On March 28th, Vertical Systems released their 2016 Leaderboard for U.S. competitive carrier, cable/MSO, and incumbent carrier Ethernet service providers.

The leaderboards ranks companies in order based on U.S. retail Ethernet port share. Sources for share calculations include Vertical’s base of enterprise installations, plus direct input from its biannual surveys of network providers selling data network services in the U.S.  Let’s zero in on competitive carrier Ethernet service providers in this post.

“In order to compete with incumbents and MSOs, competitive providers must excel in key areas like network scalability, dynamic service features, fiber reach, SLAs or network resiliency,” said Rick Malone, principal at Vertical Systems. “Because of these distinctive competencies, it is no surprise that top companies like Level 3 and XO, as well as others in this segment, have been prime acquisition targets for larger service providers.”

Last month, Verizon completed its $1.8 billion purchase of XO Communications’ fiber-optic network business after the Federal Communications Commission’s approval of the deal last November. Year-end 2016 U.S. Ethernet share figures for XO and Verizon are reported separately. CenturyLink is in the process of acquiring Level 3.

Here are Vertical’s rankings:

Other companies in the competitive-provider segment include (in alphabetical order): Alpheus Communications, American Telesis, Birch Communications, EarthLink Business, Electric Lightwave, Expedient, FiberLight, Global Cloud Xchange, GTT, Integra, Lightower, LS Networks, Lumos Networks, Masergy, MegaPath, NTT America, Orange Business, Tata, TelePacific, Telstra, Unite Private Networks and US Signal.

2016 U.S. Competitive Provider Ethernet LEADERBOARD

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Here’s Vertical’s 2016 Cable/MSO Ethernet Service Leaderboard leaders:

2016 U.S. Cable MSO Ethernet LEADERBOARD

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Finally, Vertical’s 2016 U.S. Incumbent Carrier Ethernet LEADERBOARD leaders:

2016 U.S. Incumbent Carrier Ethernet LEADERBOARD

Google Fiber’s video growth dropped to 57.8% in 2016 from 78.8% the previous year, as per a Moffett-Nathanson analysis based on fresh data from the U.S. Copyright Office.  Google Fiber ended 2016 with 84,232 pay TV subs, marking a sharp decline in the rate of growth, Moffett-Nathanson found in an analysis

Across all Google Fiber U.S. markets, year-on-year growth declined to 57.8%, from 78.8% a year ago, the market research firm found. But Google Fiber’s video business is still growing amid a rising cord-cutting trend that is affecting most major U.S. pay TV providers.

Update: Google Fiber hasn’t released sub numbers, but a person familiar with its business noted that the unit did double its Internet subs in 2016 compared to all previous years combined that Google Fiber has been in business, and that Google  Fiber has generally been seeing strong growth for Internet-only subs, including those that are coming way of Webpass, which is being offered in markets such as San Francisco, San Diego, Chicago, Miami and Boston. Webpass does not provide video service alongside its baseline high-speed Internet offering.

Even without any specific broadband subscriber results provided by either the U.S. Copyright Office or Google parent Alphabet, Moffett said Google Fiber’s video numbers speak volumes about its efforts to make a mark in the broader pay TV industry. It’s not succeeding.

“Seven years after breaking ground in their first broadband market, Google Fiber still accounts for only 0.1% of the U.S. Pay TV industry,” Moffett explained.

Among Google Fiber’s largest individual markets, MoffettNathanson found that the company ended 2016 with 45,096 video subs in its largest market, Kansas City, MO, compared to 28,941 in Kansas City, KS; 5,889 in Austin, Texas; and 2,914 in Provo, Utah.

References:

http://www.multichannel.com/news/content/google-fiber-ended-2016-84232-pay-tv-subs-study/411758

Google Fiber Proposed for Santa Clara; AT&T bids to build CityLinkLA

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/Construction-on-backbone-of-Google-Fiber-10851778.php

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/03/google-fiber-reportedly-canceling-installations-in-kansas-city/

http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2016/10/26/499451974/google-fiber-wont-accept-any-new-cities-for-its-superfast-internet-network

Source: Economic Times Telecom

Google Inc is looking to bring more Indian telecom operators on board its software defined networking (SDN)-based platform. The internet search giant says its SDN-based platform enables telecom networks adapt to new services and traffic patterns efficiently.

The company has already teamed up with Bharti Airtel and South Korea’s SK Telecom to pursue this  networking initiative.

“We are happy to share our knowledge and capabilities with operators. We are very open to talking about our capabilities on both client and application sides and cloud technologies to carriers across the spectrum,” Gulzar Azad, country head for connectivity at Google India, told ET. “We believe there will be more engagements as we move forward in India as well.”

Google’s (proprietary) SDN-based platform comes at a time when telecom networks are dealing with a huge upsurge in data consumption. The platform also aims to create richer APIs that will enable new operational models and help operators bring new features (such as Smart Offline) to consumers.

“Information on the Android side or devices side and information on app side need to come together with all the data availability on the carrier side to make smarter and intelligent networks in India,” Azad said.

“That’s the future we see where two worlds are coming together and make better experience for users and make much productive data consumption by the users,” he added.

According to Azad, more industry players need to contribute for network infrastructure and optimisation to ensure efficient running of applications and client devices, besides ensuring existence of public WiFi.

“This needs to be there to fulfill the government’s vision and create an environment where data revolution is fulfilled by way of consumption, which is 10 times higher than it is today,” Azad said, adding that the industry is moving towards a data revolution.

Meanwhile, Google is on track to equip another 400 railway stations in India with high-speed WiFi network. With the help of RailTel and Indian Railways, it is currently providing WiFi services at 115 stations.

The company recently won its first city Google Station WiFi deal from Pune Smart City Development Corporation Limited, a special purpose vehicle formed for the smart city mission in the city. The project will be executed in collaboration with companies like IBM, Larsen & Toubro and RailTel.

References:

http://telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/google-aims-to-transform-telecom-networks-in-india-eyes-new-telco-partnerships/57810536

Google’s Internet Access for Emerging Markets – Managed WiFi Network for India Railways

http://community.comsoc.org/blogs/alanweissberger/google%E2%80%99s-internet-access-emerging-markets-managed-wifi-network-india-railways

Less than one year after AT&T took its Central Office Re-architected as a Data center (CORD) to the Linux Foundation, which then produced a reference design, CenturyLink, Inc.  says it is the first carrier to use its own virtualized Broadband Network Gateway (vBNG) to support broadband services using the a CORD based design.

AT&T and IBM have teamed up to give enterprise developers a cloud-based tool to analyze data coming from internet of things (IoT) devices. The companies hope to “leverage the data that’s coming off of these devices and create an analytics-as-a-service solution combining the IBM Watson capability sets with our capability sets at AT&T to provide those real meaningful insights across a number of vertical solutions,” said Chris Penrose president of IoT Solutions at AT&T Inc, in an interview with Light Reading. (See IBM to Use AT&T Flexware.)

The impetus behind the development of this new technology stemmed from business customers’ demand for faster data generation from IoT devices as well as rapid, meaningful analysis to make near real-time decisions for process improvements. (See AT&T Introduces IoT Solution Powered by IBM Watson on the Cloud.)

AT&T has connected over 30 million IoT devices globally on its network, and with the new IoT analytics solution, customers can not only connect devices, but also take action and gain insight on transforming their business, reduce costs and create new revenue opportunities, said Penrose.

Customers from a variety of verticals can utilize the technology for uses like detecting anomalies and predicting potential malfunctions in oil and gas wells, analyzing error codes in connected vending machines and determining if the machine is in an ideal location, and monitoring pallet and product location in real-time. The technology isn’t limited to industrial IoT applications, and can be utilized in other verticals such as healthcare, said Penrose.

“A lot of this, whether it’s in heavy equipment machinery or asset tracking, all of these spaces where you get can information off the machine to know if it is operating effectively, potentially diagnose the issue and predict future issues, are great areas of opportunity and we’re mining that data to make it a better solution,” said Penrose.

According to the release, the new analytics technology uses AT&T’s M2X, Flow Designer and Control Center; the IBM Watson IoT portfolio and Data Platform; and IBM’s Machine Learning Service.

References:

http://www.lightreading.com/iot/industrial-iot/atandt-and-ibm-partner-for-new-iot-analytics-tech/d/d-id/731349

AT&T and IBM partner for analytics with Watson

IBM Cloud and AT&T partner on IoT analytics