Google’s Topaz subsea cable to link Canada and Japan
The submarine cable system will be the first to link Canada directly to Asia, aiming to provide additional capacity for Google services and to a variety of network operators in Japan and Canada. The cable will be ready for service in 2023.
In August last year, reports were beginning to surface that Canada’s Shaw Communications was building a submarine cable landing station in Port Alberni, on the country’s West coast, despite no new cable systems being formally announced at the time.
It seems that Google was the chairman of this mysterious cable project, announcing the creation of the Topaz system, the first submarine cable set to link Canada directly to Asia. The Topaz cable will take a short hop from Vancouver, Canada, to Port Alberni on Vancouver Island, before travelling West across the Pacific to Japan, where it terminates at the cities of Shima and Takehagi.
In both Port Alberni and Takehagi, landing stations for the cable will need to be built from scratch. Vancouver, on the other hand, having housed the now defunct copper-based Commonwealth Pacific Cable System, built back in 1963, already has a historic landing station available for the project. This facility will be upgraded to meet the needs of the Topaz cable. The final stop, Shima, is already a major hub for submarine cable activity, with three local cable landing stations collectively connecting to around 17 subsea systems.
The Topaz system will comprise 16 fiber pairs with a total capacity of 240 Tbps. It will also make use of Wavelength Selective Switch technology, a software-defined solution that allows greater flexibility when routing traffic on individual fibre pairs.
Google says its intention with the system is not only to allow for low latency access to its own services, like Google Cloud and YouTube, but also to offer capacity for network operators in Canada and Japan.
The company also reportedly intends to swap fiber pair capacity with other submarine cable operators on similar routes, thereby increasing what the company calls “the intercontinental network lattice for network operators”.
Google’s interest and investment in submarine cable projects in recent years cannot be underestimated. The company has announced participation in 20 submarine cable projects, connecting 29 cloud regions, 88 zones, 146 network edge locations across more than 200 countries and territories.
Network infrastructure investments like Topaz bring significant economic activity to the regions where they land. For example, according to a recent Analysys Mason study, Google’s historical and future network infrastructure investments in Japan are forecasted to enable an additional $303 billion (USD) in GDP cumulatively between 2022 and 2026.
The width of a garden hose, the Topaz cable will house 16 fiber pairs, for a total capacity of 240 Terabits per second (not to be confused with TSPs). It includes support for Wavelength Selective Switch (WSS), an efficient and software-defined way to carve up the spectrum on an optical fiber pair for flexibility in routing and advanced resilience. We’re proud to bring WSS to Topaz and to see the technology is being implemented widely across the submarine cable industry.
While Topaz is the first trans-Pacific fiber cable to land on the West Coast of Canada, it’s not the first communication cable to connect to Vancouver Island. In the 1960s, the Commonwealth Pacific Cable System (COMPAC) was a copper undersea cable linking Vancouver with Honolulu (United States), Sydney (Australia), and Auckland (New Zealand), expanding high-quality international phone connectivity. Today, COMPAC is no longer in service but its legacy lives on. The original cable landing station in Vancouver — the facility where COMPAC made landfall on Canadian soil — has been upgraded to fit the needs of modern fiber optics and will house the eastern end of the Topaz cable.
Traditional and treaty rights, and local communities, are deeply important to our infrastructure projects. The Topaz cable is built alongside the traditional territories of the Hupacasath, Maa-nulth, and Tseshaht, and we have consulted with and partnered with these First Nations every step of the way.
“Tseshaht is very proud of this collaboration and our partnership with Google, who has been very respectful and thoughtful in its engagement with our Nation. That’s how we carry ourselves and that’s how we want business to carry themselves in our territory.“ — Tseshaht First Nation – Elected Chief Councillor-Ken Watts
“The five First Nations of the Maa-nulth Treaty Society are pleased that we have concluded an agreement with Google Canada and have consented to the installation of a new, high-speed fiber optic cable through our traditional territories. This agreement, in which both Google Canada and our Nations benefit, is based on respect for our constitutionally protected treaty and aboriginal rights and enhances the process of reconciliation. We would also like to acknowledge the sensitivity that Google Canada expressed during our talks in regard to the pain and trauma experienced by our people as a result of residential school experience. We look forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship with Google Canada.” —Chief Charlie Cootes, President of the Maa-nulth Treaty Society
“Google’s respect towards our Nation is appreciated and has good energy behind it.” —Hupacasath First Nation – Elected Chief Councilor – Brandy Lauder
With the addition of Topaz, Google has announced investments in 20 subsea cable projects. This includes Curie, Dunant, Equiano, Firmina and Grace Hopper, and consortium cables like Blue, Echo, Havfrue and Raman — all connecting 29 cloud regions, 88 zones, 146 network edge locations across more than 200 countries and territories. Learn about Google Cloud’s network and infrastructure on our website and in the below video.
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India Telcos say private networks will kill 5G business
India’s top tier wireless network operators have called on the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) – India’s telecom sector regulator – to scrap the proposed move to administratively allocate 5G spectrum on demand for private enterprise networks through a publicized online portal-based process, warning that such a step could destroy the 5G business case in the country.
The businesses have mentioned that such a proposal, if accepted by the federal government, might probably rob telcos of their future 5G enterprise revenues – estimated at round 40% of the whole for 5G. Revenue loss to such an extent won’t justify needed capital expenditure in establishing 5G networks, they’ve argued.
In its newest suggestions on 5G spectrum pricing, the Trai has advised that non-public enterprises straight acquire 5G spectrum from the federal government and set up their very own captive wi-fi non-public community (CWPNs). It has additionally beneficial a “gentle contact’ on-line portal-based regime” for buying such permissions/licences for establishing CWPNs. Trai has additionally advised that non-public enterprises have the choice to lease spectrum from telcos to arrange their very own captive non-public 5G networks.
“By permitting non-public captive networks for enterprises, Trai is dramatically altering the trade dynamics and hurting the monetary well being of the telecom trade reasonably than bettering it,” the Mobile Operators Affiliation of India (COAI) said in an announcement Tuesday, April 12th.
The COAI represents Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Thought (Vi). It added that “enterprise companies represent 30-40% of the (telecom) trade’s total revenues…non-public networks as soon as once more dis-incentivises the telecom industry to spend money on networks and in addition proceed paying excessive levies and taxes.”
The COAI has urged Trai to revisit its newest suggestions and disallow non-public enterprise networks to make sure monetary viability and orderly progress of the telecom trade that, it mentioned, is greater than able to delivering these companies to companies.
India’s mobile carriers had earlier advised Trai that any proposal to put aside 5G spectrum for personal enterprise networks for captive use both at no cost or at an administrative worth would even be legally untenable.
Trai has beneficial that the spectrum for personal networks be assigned administratively on demand by way of a extensively publicized on-line portal-based course of in a good and clear method. However the regulator has left it to the telecom division to determine whether or not such administrative allocation can be legally tenable or not, based mostly on DoT’s spectrum allocation coverage.
In its 5G dialogue paper, Trai had mentioned the likes of Germany, Finland, UK, Brazil, Australia, Hong Kong and Japan had put aside spectrum within the mmWave band for personal captive 5G networks, whereas Slovenia, Sweden and Korea deliberate to put aside each mmWave and mid-band 5G spectrum for such captive networks.
Subsequently, Tata Communications (TCL), Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and cigarette maker ITC had strongly countered the telcos’ place, and known as on Trai to again earmarking devoted spectrum non-public captive networks and undertake international practices to create a personal 5G ecosystem for enterprises to drive the federal government’s Make in India imaginative and prescient.
However one other high telco government mentioned that if operators’ potential 5G income flows from the profitable enterprise enterprise vertical dry up, they might see little enterprise sense in bidding aggressively for 5G airwaves within the upcoming sale.
Bulk of the bidding urge for food for 5G airwaves, he mentioned, stems from the sturdy income potential of the B2B enterprise enterprise. But when that income stream disappears, telcos gained’t have a viable enterprise case to splurge huge cash on 5G spectrum, particularly as they’ve sufficient spectrum to proceed their current cellular broadband companies operations.”
Know-how corporations, although, have strongly backed Trai’s name to permit non-public enterprises to straight acquire 5G spectrum from the federal government by way of the executive route.
“By way of non-public networks, Trai’s suggestions handle the pursuits of TSPs (telecom service suppliers), enterprises and the general public as extra non-public networks would result in extra employment alternatives and enterprise, and translate into larger financial output and advantages,” mentioned the Broadband India Discussion board (BIF), which counts Cisco, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Fb-owner Meta, Qualcomm and Intel amongst its key members.
Earmarking unique spectrum for personal 5G networks, it mentioned, would additionally present an “enchancement over common SLAs (service level agreements) of public networks, moreover guaranteeing full lack of interference between them”.
BIF added that Trai’s name for task of spectrum administratively for personal 5G networks “is most acceptable” because it has thought of that captive wi-fi non-public networks should not public networks and don’t have any market prospects, and are restricted to a selected location.”
Trai chairman PD Vaghela termed the 5G spectrum rates “reasonable”, saying they have been arrived at after considering various factors including quantum of spectrum offered, competition in the market and profitability.
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April 18, 2022 Addendum:
Spectrum users have started squabbling over the telecom regulator’s recommendation to earmark certain bands for captive wireless private networks.
The cellular operators under the COAI have opposed regulator suggestions of allowing enterprises to build their own private 5G networks for captive purposes.
Technology players such as Facebook, Google, Indian Space Association (ISpA) want the 28.5GHz band spectrum to be reserved and allocated exclusively for satellite communications (satcom) services.
The COAI said “by allowing private captive networks for enterprises, telecom regulator Trai is dramatically altering the industry dynamics and hurting the financial health of the industry rather than improving it”.
“Telecom service providers have and going forward will invest lakhs of crore rupees in network rollouts. Enterprise services constitute 30-40 per cent of the industry’s overall revenues. Private networks once again disincentivises the telecom industry to invest in networks and continue paying high levies and taxes.”
The Broadband India Forum (BIF), the industry body of tech players such as Facebook and Google, welcomed the recommendations to allow private networks.
Telcos flay plan for private 5G networks
Spectrum users have started squabbling over the telecom regulator’s recommendation to earmark certain bands for captive wireless private networks.
The cellular operators under the COAI have opposed regulator suggestions of allowing enterprises to build their own private 5G networks for captive purposes.
The suggestion has been welcomed by the Broadband India Forum (BIF).
Technology players such as Facebook, Google, Indian Space Association (ISpA) want the 28.5GHz band spectrum to be reserved and allocated exclusively for satellite communications (satcom) services.
The COAI said “by allowing private captive networks for enterprises, telecom regulator Trai is dramatically altering the industry dynamics and hurting the financial health of the industry rather than improving it”.
“Telecom service providers have and going forward will invest lakhs of crore rupees in network rollouts. Enterprise services constitute 30-40 per cent of the industry’s overall revenues. Private networks once again disincentivises the telecom industry to invest in networks and continue paying high levies and taxes.”
The Broadband India Forum (BIF), the industry body of tech players such as Facebook and Google, welcomed the recommendations to allow private networks.
The Indian Space Association (IsPA) said “we welcome Trai’s recommendation that calls for coexistence of satellite communications and IMT in the 27.5-28.5GHz band. We also appreciate recommending an exclusion zone for satellite earth stations in the 27.5-28.5GHz band.”
IsPA opposed the inclusion of all spectrum in the 24.25-28.5GHz bands along with low and mid bands in the auction as it was a case of oversupply to the telecom operators at the cost of the satellite industry.
“The 24.25-27.5GHz bands along with 3.3-3.67GHz bands would be more than sufficient for 5G. Therefore, in line with the global best practices, the 28GHz band should be allocated exclusively for satellite communications,” it added.
In its recent recommendations, telecom regulator Trai said spectrum in three bands – 3700-3800MHz, 4800-4990MHz and 28.5-29.5GHz band – could be earmarked for captive wireless private networks which, it felt, could co-exist with non-IMT services.
In the 28.5-29.5 MHz band, Trai said: “A software based transparent system should be built to permit the establishment of private networks and satellite earth Stations based on the geo-coordinates of the proposed location on interference free co-existence basis.”
The regulator added: “DoT should develop a digital map with geographic coordinates of all the existing and future satellite earth stations as well as geographic coordinates of the premises of Private Network locations. Based on this database, permissions for establishment of new installations may be provided to the licensees.”
https://www.telegraphindia.com/business/telcos-flay-plan-for-private-5g-networks/cid/1861119
References:
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/telecom-regulatory-authority-of-india
Related: IEEE/SCU SoE Panel Session on Open RAN and 5G Private Networks:
IDC: Cloud Infrastructure Spending +13.5% YoY in 4Q-2021 to $21.1 billion; Forecast CAGR of 12.6% from 2021-2026
According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Enterprise Infrastructure Tracker: Buyer and Cloud Deployment, spending on compute and storage infrastructure products for cloud infrastructure, including dedicated and shared environments, increased 13.5% year over year (YoY) in the fourth quarter of 2021 (4Q-2021) to $21.1 billion. This marked the second consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth as supply chain constraints have depleted vendor inventories over the past several quarters. As backlogs continue to grow, pent-up demand bodes well for future growth as long as the economy stays healthy, and supply catches up to demand.
For the full year 2021, cloud infrastructure spending totaled $73.9 billion, up 8.8% over 2020. IDC predicts spending on cloud infrastructure services to increase 21.7% in 2022 to $90.0 billion.
The service provider category includes cloud service providers, digital service providers, communications service providers, and managed service providers. In 4Q21, service providers as a group spent $21.2 billion on compute and storage infrastructure, up 11.6% from 4Q20. This spending accounted for 55.4% of total compute and storage infrastructure spending. For 2021, spending by service providers reached $75.1 billion on 8.5% year over year growth, accounting for 56.2% of total compute and storage infrastructure spending. IDC expects compute and storage spending by service providers to reach $89.1 billion in 2022, growing at 18.7% year over year.
At the regional level, year-over-year spending on cloud infrastructure in 4Q21 increased in most regions.
- Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan and China) (APeJC) grew the most at 59.5% year over year.
- Canada, Central and Eastern Europe, Japan, Middle East and Africa, and China (PRC) all saw double-digit growth in spending.
- The United States grew 5.6%.
- Western Europe and Latin America declined for the quarter.
For 2021, APeJC grew the most at 43.7% year over year. Canada, Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa, and China all saw double-digit growth in spending. Japan grew in the high single digits, while Western Europe grew in the low single digits. The United States grew 1.5%. Latin America declined for the year. For 2022, cloud infrastructure spending for most regions is expected to grow with the highest growth expected in the United States at 27.8%. Central and Eastern Europe is the only region expected to decline in 2022 with spending forecast to be down 21.7% year over year.
Longer term, IDC expects spending on compute and storage cloud infrastructure to have a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.6% over the 2021-2026 forecast period, reaching $133.7 billion in 2026 and accounting for 68.6% of total compute and storage infrastructure spend. Shared cloud infrastructure will account for 72.0% of the total cloud amount, growing at a 13.4% CAGR. Spending on dedicated cloud infrastructure will grow at a CAGR of 10.7%. Spending on non-cloud infrastructure will flatten out at a CAGR of 0.5%, reaching $61.2 billion in 2026. Spending by service providers on compute and storage infrastructure is expected to grow at a 11.7% CAGR, reaching $130.6 billion in 2026.
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Separately, Amazon Web Services (AWS) led with 33% of spending on cloud infrastructure services in Q4 2021, according to a Feb 3, 2022 blog post from research group Canalys. Meta, previously known as Facebook, recently chose AWS as a long-term strategic cloud service provider and continues to deepen the relationship as Meta begins to move away from social media to become a broader metaverse company over the next five years. AWS also announced key customer wins across retail, healthcare and financial services and emphasized a key agreement with Nasdaq to migrate markets to AWS to become a cloud-based exchange.
Microsoft Azure was second with 22% of spending, followed by Google Cloud with 9%. The three companies accounted for 64% of total cloud investment for 2021.
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IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Enterprise Infrastructure Tracker: Buyer and Cloud Deployment is designed to provide clients with a better understanding of what portion of the compute and storage hardware markets are being deployed in cloud environments. The Tracker breaks out each vendors’ revenue into shared and dedicated cloud environments for historical data and provides a five-year forecast. This Tracker is part of the Worldwide Quarterly Enterprise Infrastructure Tracker, which provides a holistic total addressable market view of the four key enabling infrastructure technologies for the datacenter (servers, external enterprise storage systems, and purpose-built appliances: HCI and PBBA).
Taxonomy Notes:
IDC defines cloud services more formally through a checklist of key attributes that an offering must manifest to end users of the service.
Shared cloud services are shared among unrelated enterprises and consumers; open to a largely unrestricted universe of potential users; and designed for a market, not a single enterprise. The shared cloud market includes a variety of services designed to extend or, in some cases, replace IT infrastructure deployed in corporate datacenters; these services in total are called public cloud services. The shared cloud market also includes digital services such as media/content distribution, sharing and search, social media, and e-commerce.
Dedicated cloud services are shared within a single enterprise or an extended enterprise with restrictions on access and level of resource dedication and defined/controlled by the enterprise (and beyond the control available in public cloud offerings); can be onsite or offsite; and can be managed by a third-party or in-house staff. In dedicated cloud that is managed by in-house staff, “vendors (cloud service providers)” are equivalent to the IT departments/shared service departments within enterprises/groups. In this utilization model, where standardized services are jointly used within the enterprise/group, business departments, offices, and employees are the “service users.”
For more information about IDC’s Enterprise Infrastructure Tracker, please contact Lidice Fernandez at [email protected].
References:
https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS48998722
Gartner: Accelerated Move to Public Cloud to Overtake Traditional IT Spending in 2025
Strong growth for global cloud infrastructure spending by hyperscalers and enterprise customers
Gartner: Global public cloud spending to reach $332.3 billion in 2021; 23.1% YoY increase
Moody’s skeptical on 5G monetization; Heavy Reading: hyperscalers role in MEC and telecom infrastructure
In a recent “Top of Mind” series report, Moody’s said, “The adoption of 5G is gaining momentum. Yet we question how fast companies can roll out 5G and the ability to generate revenue from applications based on 5G technology.”
“We do not expect material revenue increases in the global telecom sector from 5G in the 2022-2025 period. This is because 5G will mainly evolve around enhanced mobile broadband, which will be broadly similar to 4G.”
Wireless network operators have invested heavily in 5G spectrum, network infrastructure upgrades and the credit rating and financial research firm concludes global carriers’ capex will continue to rise through 2025. That’s despite more tepid carrier capex forecasts from Dell’Oro Group and others.
“Global capex growth is expected to moderate from 9 percent in 2021 to 3 percent in 2022, before tapering off in 2023 and 2024,” wrote Stefan Pongratz of Dell’Oro.
Wireless carriers’ capex as a share of revenue leveled off at 16% globally in 2019 and 2020, inched up to 17% in 2021, and is expected to hit 18% for the next four years, according to Moody’s.
Wireless telcos have cumulatively spent $200 billion globally on 5G spectrum to date, according to Moody’s, and GSMA predicts operators will invest about $510 billion on 5G-related infrastructure and services from 2022 to 2025.
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On the income side of the ledger, wireless carriers have experienced a prolonged period of flat to declining revenue. Rising costs and flat revenue portends a rough four-year stretch for operators, and there’s little to suggest that dynamic will change by 2026. One analyst said the only real revenue generator for wireless telcos in the last few years has been selling their cell towers!
The largely unmet promise of 5G, with no real “killer apps,” follows previous disappointments for carriers in the 3G and 4G time periods. Indeed, they did not make any money of mobile apps, cloud computing/storage, interactive gaming, edge computing or really any value added services.
“This phase carries the greatest uncertainty about companies’ capital spending. As a result, we remain cautious when projecting revenue growth derived from 5G until there is clarity on the business case, especially given the lessons of limited monetization of 4G and 3G,” Moody’s analysts wrote.
Specialized services for enterprises continue to be the most compelling use cases for 5G, and additional IoT applications could drive incremental revenue gains after 2025 but those are unlikely to justify carriers’ significant 5G investments, the financial research firm said.
While ultra low latency might be important (assuming 3GPP release 16 “URLLC in the RAN” spec is completed, performance tested and deployed), the resulting “almost immediate network response time is only relevant in specialized use cases, Indeed, it has become apparent that the most compelling use cases for 5G revolve around businesses rather than residential consumers,” the Moody’s analysts wrote.
“The wide array of potential applications — such as autonomous vehicles, robotics, and smart homes — places different demands on networks in terms of speed and latency, in contrast to previous generations that focused on one major advance, such as broadband mobile video with 4G or web browsing with 3G,” the analysts wrote.
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Moody’s missed a very crucial point related to 5G revenues: that the hyperscalers (Amazon, Microsoft, Google) will get an increasing share of 5G SA core network services and MEC revenues. That’s because of the partnerships wireless carriers have made with the big cloud service providers.
Heavy Reading noted that in a recent blog post. Heavy Reading conducted a survey in collaboration with Accedian, Kontron and Red Hat. The survey questioned 82 communications service providers (CSPs) that have launched edge computing solutions or are planning to do so within 24 months. One of the objectives of the survey was to examine the go-to-market strategies of the CSP and the role the hyperscalers have assumed in those strategies.
Hyperscalers have introduced dedicated edge products and embedded their software stack into operator infrastructure, including Internet of Things (IoT) devices and network gateways. They have introduced products dedicated to the telco market, such as Wavelength from Amazon Web Services (AWS), Azure Edge Zones from Microsoft and Anthos for Telecom from Google Cloud. According to Heavy Reading’s survey results, their efforts have paid off, as CSPs have unquestionably decided to partner with hyperscalers in their multi-access edge computing (MEC) services.
Q: Why do you plan to partner with a hyperscaler to deliver your edge computing? Select up to three. (n=82)
Source: Heavy Reading
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Heavy Reading’s most recent edge computing survey determined that the pivot to improved customer experience is the key goal of edge network deployments and that CSPs must clear new paths to achieve this goal. They must do so by:
- Leaning into automation, particularly in overall lifecycle management.
- Building in comprehensive security protections from the design phase forward.
- Enhancing performance control through automation and AI. CSPs’ growing collaborations with hyperscalers are key to achieving these goals and improving ease of deployment, accelerating time-to-market and enhancing cloud-based security.
Heavy Reading’s survey results show that carriers have committed to edge computing and are progressing rapidly with implementations. The deployment of edge computing brings with it issues of scale and complexity. CSPs are most concerned with overall network performance and security. In fact, those companies that have already deployed the edge have a heightened concern about these issues. They are looking for help from their traditional vendor and integrator partners, from their network monitoring and assurance tools and from the hyperscalers.
References:
China’s state policy: shape global tech standards to increase influence and enhance global reputation
In line with China President Xi Jinping‘s goal of making the country a ‘major power with pioneering global influence’ by 2049, China has been leveraging its technological prowess and geopolitical heft to shape the global technological environment and standards to serve its commercial and strategic interests, a media report said.
China has adopted a state-directed strategy to influence international standards setting, and use them as a foreign policy tool to enhance its global standing, the Times of Israel reported, adding that, the Xi administration has employed a dual-track approach to set the international technological standards.
On the one hand, it seeks to influence both the multilateral (governmental) and the multi-stakeholder technical Standards Development Organizations (SDOs) by placing Chinese nationals in senior leadership positions (like in 3GPP and ITU-R WP5D) and larger representation of Chinese tech companies (the three China state owned network providers, Huawei, ZTE and smaller players like Nufront with its own 5G RIT spec), and other Chinese companies, with guidance from the Party-State (CCP), are creating standards utilizing the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and Digital Silk Road (DSR).
With respect to 5G radio interface technology (RIT) standards, three China ministries (MIIT, NDRC and MOST) jointly established the “IMT-2020(5G) Promotion Group” in February 2013. The objectives have been met:
– Promote the development of 5G technologies in China.
– Facilitate cooperation with foreign companies and organizations MIIT Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
– Drive China’s contributions to ITU-R WP5D 5G standards (M.2150 and revisions of M.1036) and 3GPP release 15 and 16 specifications (a Chinese national heads up the critical 3GPP “URLLC in the RAN” project).
The Group helped progress the ITU-R M.2150 standard for 5G RAN/RIT/SRITs. Initially China had it’s own 5G RIT spec, but it was later merged with 3GPPs as was South Korea’s.
At the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the involvement of Chinese commercial entities have increased after the impetus provided by ITU‘s current Secretary-General, Zhao Houlin who has served two terms as Director of ITU’s Telecommunication Standardization Bureau (STB). China is second only to the U.S. in the number of entities registered as ITU members, according to the referenced Times of Israel blog.
In 2021 alone, Chinese entities backed 145 new standards at the ITU, up from 46 in 2015 and six times more than Western entities.
The number of Chinese nationals in secretariat and leadership positions in critical multi-stakeholder SSOs such as the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electro-technical Commission (IEC) has also surged in the past decade.
Beyond the IEC, ISO, and ITU, Chinese actors are also active in other SDOs including the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) that develops 5G technical specifications, as well as Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), the report said, adding that the companies such as Alibaba, Baidu, Huawei, Tencent and ZTE are advanced members of the IEEE Standards Association.
Not only do Chinese firms ‘flood’ committees with a huge volume of standards proposals and contributions, but they also typically vote as a single bloc. Beijing also has a tendency to use its debt and trade leverage to influence the votes of a number of countries in favour of its proposals. This produces a strikingly high rate of success in the number of Chinese submissions at the ITU, the Times of Israel blog noted.
Another emerging facet of China’s approach to technology standards setting is the Digital Silk Road (DSR) initiative, which is one of the primary vehicles delivering Chinese technology to BRI partner states. By signing agreements with BRI partner governments, Beijing is propagating its own technology standards in project host states, creating dependencies that lock these countries into using Chinese vendors and standards.
Beijing’s moves are aimed at setting global standards for the next-generation technologies, the report said, adding, that it wants to gain control over key technologies like the Internet of Things, Cloud Computing, Big Data, 5G and artificial intelligence.
In light of above, it is apparent that Beijing’s moves are aimed at setting global standards for the next-generation technologies. The CCP wants to gain control over key technologies like Internet of Things (IoT), Cloud Computing, Big Data, 5G and artificial intelligence.
International organizations need to be wary of these maneuvers in order to prevent Beijing from dominating global technology standards and thus gaining a monopoly over the world’s future-shaping technologies, the Times of Israel report concluded.
References:
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/double-standards-chinas-influence-in-international-standards/
https://www.ifri.org/sites/default/files/atoms/files/seaman_china_standardization_2020.pdf
https://techblog.comsoc.org/2018/11/18/with-no-5g-standard-imt-2020-china-is-working-on-6g/
https://techblog.comsoc.org/tag/chinas-imt-2020-promotion-group/
5G tech to improve health care access in Zimbabwe; new cyber risks require “zero trust” policies from telcos
Speaking at the ICT conference in the capital of Harare yesterday, Zimbabwe Information Communication Technology minister Jenfan Muswere said the 5G technology promises to provide essential levels of connectivity to enable a new health ecosystem.
“In telemedicine today, we can consult a doctor anywhere in the world through a video call over the Internet. But the connection is still not good enough for that doctor to perform surgery remotely. 5G will change that. One that can meet patients and provide needs accurately, efficiently, conveniently, cost-effectively and at substantial scale. (Note that 5G will only improve the access over 3G/4G, but not the metro or core network performance which could be a bottleneck).
This will lead to faster medical services and better patient outcomes. The new and reliable network also means that large files can be transmitted quickly between doctors and hospitals.
“The reduction in time that 5G brings means more timely diagnostics, second opinions, treatment starts and adjustments since the medical data can be transmitted and consumed by doctors faster than ever before, whether at home or in the office,” Muswere said.
Jenfan Muswere, Zimbabwe ICT Minister
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The ICT Minister added that Zimbabwe’s economic resilience and competitiveness lay in digitalization, hence the need for the adoption of emerging technologies.
“According to the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSMA), the number of global Internet of Things (IoT) connections between 2019 and 2025 will more than double to almost 25 billion. New products and services in IoT, as well as other areas like autonomous vehicles and robotics, and augmented reality will create new revenue streams that are expected to add USD 2.2 trillion to the global economy by 2034.
For businesses and industry, 5G and IoT will provide a wealth of data allowing them to gain insights into their operations like never before. Businesses will operate and make key decisions driven by data, innovate in agriculture, smart farms and manufacturing, paving the way for cost savings, better customer experience and long-term growth,” Muswere said.
The minister further said the country is already making significant strides in its digital transformation journey but service providers should tighten cyber security as it is vulnerable to crime.
“We have already developed a 5-Year Strategic Plan that promises to revolutionize government services and bring connectivity to under-served rural communities.”
Telecom operators under the ministry have already started rolling out 5G network, which are quite fast, with peak data rates of up to 100 times faster than 4G-LTE networks. 5G will support ultra low latency, once the 3GPP Release 16 URLLC in the RAN spec has been completed and performance tested. That will minimize 5G RAN delay in sending and receiving information between devices.
“However, as we expand the adoption of 5G, we must be mindful of the potential for new cyber risks. Consumers and businesses must have confidence that our 5G networks are resilient. With that in mind, telecom operators must commit to adopt a ‘zero-trust’ posture. Telecom operators must first verify all activity before trusting it. There must also be constant monitoring and vigilance for suspicious activities,” Muswere concluded.
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This comes as Zimbabwe is moving towards embracing 5G to facilitate a competitive digital economy. Econet Wireless, one of the few network providers in Zimbabwe, launched a 5G network earlier this year using Ericsson network equipment. Ericsson will support Econet with its latest energy-efficient and high-performing Radio Access Network (RAN) and 5G Evolved Packet Core (EPC) solutions for 5G deployment in the capital Harare. The solutions will boost Econet’s capacity and user experience with significantly faster network speeds, which are up to 10 times the speed of 4G technology.
Econet CEO Douglas Mboweni said: “Working with Ericsson to launch 5G in Zimbabwe is an important milestone in our digital transformation journey. As we deploy the network across the country, our goal remains that of meeting and addressing our customers’ needs using the latest technology available. We are certain that Ericsson’s industry-leading and energy-efficient 5G solutions will help us achieve that goal, and significantly improve our customer experience through reliable connectivity to our subscribers.”
Todd Ashton, Vice President and Head of Ericsson South and East Africa said: “We continue to strengthen our long-term partnership with Econet by providing Ericsson’s latest technology in Zimbabwe. 5G will play a critical role in accelerating the digitalization of the economy, increase financial inclusion and stimulate next-generation innovation for consumers and enterprises in the country. With our commitment to enhancing the digital infrastructure on the continent, we look forward to accelerating Zimbabwe’s digital future together with Econet and bring the benefits to the entire continent of Africa and in line with our #AfricaInMotion campaign, which focuses on empowering a connected and sustainable Africa.”
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References:
https://www.ericsson.com/en/press-releases/1/2022/econet-and-ericsson-launch-5g-in-zimbabwe
ZTE PON ONT obtains EasyMesh R3 certification from WiFi Alliance
ZTE announced that its ZXHN F8648P became the first PON ONT in the industry to pass the EasyMesh R3 certification of the Wi-Fi Alliance. This certification is a validation of the product’s abilities to help operators remove the interoperability barrier between devices from different vendors in a smart mesh network, improving operational efficiency, and enhancing security guarantees.
Before this R3 certification, ZTE has also achieved other industry-first EasyMesh certifications, with its ZXHN F680 passing the R1 certification in June 2019 and its ZXHN F689 securing the R2 designation in September 2020. According to these certifications, ZTE proved that its home networking products have interoperability and technological functionalities to let operators provide multi-access point home network services.
During the EasyMesh R3 certification, the ZXHN F8648P PON ONT passed all the key functional tests in one go, including general EasyMesh items like link establishment, device discovery, topology display, automatic configuration and wireless roaming, as well as R3-specific items like Device Provisioning Protocol (DPP) authentication, network Quality of Service, mesh functionality extension through the addition of Wi-Fi 6 support, and network security.
Although the WFA has not officially issued EasyMesh R4, ZTE is carrying out research and verification of the new requirements that may be incorporated into the new specifications, such as Wi-Fi 6 adaptation, air interface QoS, and parameter collection for remote diagnostics.
The WFA EasyMesh certification program is a standards-based approach to multi-AP Wi-Fi networking products. It aims to promote industry standardisation and the rapid development of the home networking market by enabling multi-vendor interoperability and making possible the installation and use of mesh Wi-Fi networks.
Although the WFA has not officially issued EasyMesh™ R4, ZTE is carrying out research and verification of the new requirements that may be incorporated into the new specifications, such as Wi-Fi 6 adaptation, air interface QoS, and parameter collection for remote diagnostics.
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References:
ZTE obtains industry-first EasyMesh™ R3 certification for PON ONT
https://www.telecompaper.com/news/zte-obtains-first-easymesh-r3-certification-for-pon-ont–1420525
U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and NTIA Launch 5G Challenge: RAN subsystem interoperability
The DoD, in collaboration with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s (NTIA) Institute for Telecommunication Sciences (ITS) [1.] have launched the 5G Challenge Preliminary Event: RAN Subsystem Interoperability. This competition aims to accelerate the development and adoption of open interfaces, interoperable components, and multi-vendor solutions toward the development of an open 5G ecosystem.
Note 1. ITS, the Nation’s Spectrum and Communications Lab, supports the Department of Defense 5G Initiative through a combination of its subject matter experts in 5G and its research, development, test, and evaluation (RDT&E) laboratory infrastructure in Boulder, Colorado, including the Advanced Communications Test Site at the Table Mountain Radio Quiet Zone.
“The Department is committed to supporting innovation efforts that accelerate the domestic development of 5G and Future G technologies. 5G is too critical a technology sector to relinquish to countries whose products and technologies are not aligned with our standards of privacy and security. We will continue our support of all necessary efforts to unleash innovation while developing secure 5G supply chains,” said Amanda Toman, Acting Principal Director, 5G-Future G.
“Increasing the resilience and security of our supply chain is at the heart of NTIA’s work to incentivize open and interoperable 5G networks and increase the diversity of suppliers in the 5G ecosystem,” said Alan Davidson, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information and NTIA Administrator. “NTIA and ITS are excited to collaborate with the Department of Defense on the 5G Challenge because it reinforces our joint understanding that cost-effective, secure 5G networks are key to both national and economic security.”
Today, most wireless networks are operated by mobile network operators and composed of many vendor-specific proprietary solutions. Each discrete element typically contains custom, closed-source software and hardware. This industry dynamic increases costs, slows innovation, and reduces competition, often making security issues difficult to detect and resolve. The 5G Challenge aims to foster a large, vibrant, and diverse vendor community dedicated to advancing 5G interoperability towards true plug-and-play operation, and unleashing a new era of technological innovation based on this critical technology.
This 5G Challenge Preliminary Event: RAN Subsystem Interoperability will award up to $3,000,000 to participants who submit hardware and/or software solutions for any or all of the following 5G network subsystems, which must be compliant with the 3GPP Release 15 and O-RAN Alliance specifications: Distributed Unit (DU), Central Unit (CU), and Radio Unit (RU). Interoperability is open for applications through May 5, 2022. For applications and additional information on this 2022 contest, please visit www.challenge.gov.
About NTIA:
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), located within the Department of Commerce, is the Executive Branch agency that is principally responsible by law for advising the U.S. President on telecommunications and information policy issues. NTIA’s programs and policymaking focus largely on expanding broadband Internet access and adoption in America, expanding the use of spectrum by all users, and ensuring that the Internet remains an engine for continued innovation and economic growth.
About USD(R&E):
The Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (USD(R&E) is the Chief Technology Officer of the Department of Defense. The USD(R&E) champions research, science, technology, engineering, and innovation to maintain the United States military’s technological advantage. Learn more at www.cto.mil, follow us on Twitter @DoDCTO, or visit us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/ousdre.
Synopsys and Juniper Networks form new company to pursue “open” silicon photonics platform
Synopsys Inc. and Juniper Networks announced that they have closed a transaction to form a new, separate company that will provide the industry with an open silicon photonics platform to address the growing photonic requirements in applications such as telecom, data communications, LiDAR, healthcare, HPC, AI, and optical computing. The new company’s open silicon photonics platform will include integrated lasers, optical amplifiers, and a full suite of photonic components to form a complete solution that will be accessible through a Process Design Kit (PDK). The platform will enable a new level of integration at an unmatched price point, with the lowest power consumption for high-performance Photonic Integrated Circuits (PICs). The name of the new company will be announced at a later date.
The terms of the agreement have not been disclosed at this time. The new company will be jointly owned by Synopsys and Juniper, with Synopsys as the majority owner. The new company’s results will be consolidated into Synopsys financials. While Synopsys expects the investment to be slightly dilutive to fiscal 2022 earnings, the investment is not material and will not affect Synopsys’ fiscal second quarter and full year 2022 guidance ranges provided on February 16, 2022. There is no change to Juniper’s full year financial outlook as a result of this transaction.
The new company is being formed, in part, from the carve-out of integrated silicon photonics assets from Juniper, which includes more than 200 patents on photonic device design and process integration. While part of Juniper, the new company has closely collaborated with Tower Semiconductor to develop and qualify Tower Semiconductor’s PH18DA process technology to enable the industry’s first “laser-on-a-chip” open silicon photonics platform. To demonstrate capabilities of this platform and accelerate customer adoption of the technology, the new company has created 400G and 800G photonics reference designs with integrated lasers and expects first samples to be available in summer 2022.
“Silicon photonics is a rapidly growing market that is transforming many industries and creating exciting opportunities for new applications in the future,” said Sassine Ghazi, president and chief operating officer at Synopsys. “The new company’s open silicon photonics platform, combined with Synopsys’ existing investment in a unified electronic photonic design automation solution consisting of OptoCompiler™, OptSim™, PrimeSim™, Photonic Device Compiler and IC Validator™ products, will help reshape the optical computing industry, enabling companies to cost-effectively shift to integrated lasers and significantly accelerate development of photonic IC designs.”
“This revolutionary technology will change the economics of how people are going to build photonic systems,” said Rami Rahim, CEO of Juniper Networks. “We have been strong supporters of integrated silicon photonics and we believe the new company will drive development of these systems by using an advanced open platform that will dramatically reduce costs and increase the performance and reliability of designs across multiple use cases. We are excited to continue to collaborate with the new company to enable a broad ecosystem to efficiently develop next-generation optical transceiver and co-packaged designs.”
A key challenge for silicon photonics has been the cost of adding discrete lasers, which includes the manufacturing as well as the assembly and alignment of those lasers onto the photonic chip. This becomes more important as the number of laser channels and the overall bandwidth increases. By processing the Indium Phosphide (InP) materials directly onto the silicon photonics wafer, the PH18DA platform reduces the cost and time of adding lasers, enabling volume scalability and improved power efficiency. In addition, monolithically integrated lasers on silicon wafers improves overall reliability and simplifies packaging. This “Laser-on-a-Chip” open silicon photonics platform will bring integrated photonics to a host of new applications and markets that were previously not thought possible. The first Multi-Project Wafer (MPW) is scheduled to be taped out in Q2 2022.
“We have had a long history of successful collaboration with Juniper Networks on integrated photonics. The new company formed by Synopsys and Juniper will strengthen and accelerate the adoption of the silicon photonics platform,” said Russell Ellwanger, CEO of Tower Semiconductor. “Providing an open silicon photonics platform consisting of integrated lasers that has been qualified on Tower’s process will enable customers to create innovative products with the potential to transform the industry.”
Editor’s Note:
Intel has been working on Silicon Photonics for almost two decades.
- In 2004, Intel scientists created the first transistor-like device able to encode data onto a light beam.
- In 2011, the company announced a 50 Gb/s silicon photonics link created by multiplexing four hybrid silicon lasers.
- In December 2021, the company launched a Research Center for Integrated Photonics for Data Center Interconnects. The center’s mission is to accelerate optical input/output (I/O) technology innovation in performance scaling and integration with a specific focus on photonics technology and devices, CMOS circuits and link architecture, and package integration and fiber coupling.
“At Intel Labs, we’re strong believers that no one organization can successfully turn all the requisite innovations into research reality. By collaborating with some of the top scientific minds from across the United States, Intel is opening the doors for the advancement of integrated photonics for the next generation of compute interconnect. We look forward to working closely with these researchers to explore how we can overcome impending performance barriers.” –James Jaussi, senior principal engineer and director of the PHY Research Lab in Intel Labs
Intel has recently demonstrated progress in critical technology building blocks for integrated photonics. Light generation, amplification, detection, modulation, CMOS interface circuits and package integration are essential to achieve the required performance to replace electrical as the primary high-bandwidth off-package interface.
Additionally, optical I/O has the potential to dramatically outperform electrical in the key performance metrics of reach, bandwidth density, power consumption and latency. Further innovations are necessary on several fronts to extend optical performance while lowering power and cost.
The Intel Research Center for Integrated Photonics for Data Center Interconnects brings together universities and world-renowned researchers to accelerate optical I/O technology innovation in performance scaling and integration. The research vision is to explore a technology scaling path that satisfies energy efficiency and bandwidth performance requirements for the next decade and beyond.
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About Synopsys:
Synopsys, Inc. is the Silicon to Software™ partner for innovative companies developing the electronic products and software applications we rely on every day. As an S&P 500 company, Synopsys has a long history of being a global leader in electronic design automation (EDA) and semiconductor IP and offers the industry’s broadest portfolio of application security testing tools and services. Whether you’re a system-on-chip (SoC) designer creating advanced semiconductors, or a software developer writing more secure, high-quality code, Synopsys has the solutions needed to deliver innovative products. Learn more at https://www.synopsys.com
About Juniper Networks:
Juniper Networks is dedicated to dramatically simplifying network operations and driving superior experiences for end users. Our solutions deliver industry-leading insight, automation, security, and AI to drive real business results. We believe that powering connections will bring us closer together while empowering us all to solve the world’s greatest challenges of well-being, sustainability, and equality. Additional information can be found at Juniper Networks (www.juniper.net) or connect with Juniper on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.
Juniper Networks, the Juniper Networks logo, Juniper, Junos, and other trademarks listed here are registered trademarks of Juniper Networks, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.
References:
Silicon Photonics – Cisco and Intel see “Light at the End of the Tunnel”
Capgemini: Enterprises with spectrum to have better control with 5G Private networks
French technology company Capgemini said that enterprises owning 5G spectrum will give them better control over their plans, thereby reducing dependency. It added that telecom operators will have a role to play for private enterprise networks as managing networks aren’t core competencies of enterprises.
“…even if the spectrum is available with an industry player, I don’t see the situation where the telcos will not be working with the industry in facilitating that. The industry will use 5G as a connectivity, and it’s just not 5G, it is with hybrid cloud, edge computing, IoT, and all other technologies together,” said Monika Gupta – Vice President, Group 5G & Edge lead for Industries & Partnerships, Capgemini.
Industries have key requirements which are very specific including safety, security and the protection of their data. A 5G private network is one solution which ensures that all the data with the connectivity which is there in the particular enterprise campus stays within the campus and doesn’t go out.
Ms Gupta added: “This is not possible in a macro network or in a telco network because in a telco network, it will be ubiquitously available, and anybody can use it or latch it. And hence private networks are one of the key solution offerings with respect to 5G for its adoption towards industries. 5G connectivity is not their [enterprises’] core operations or their core business. And the telcos will always have a role and some contribution to make in this irrespective of whether they own the spectrum, or the spectrum is with the industry. The adoption of 5G for industries is an ecosystem play.”
Capgemini is currently working with Bharti Airtel under a strategic partnership to develop 5G use cases for enterprises. “…two of our use cases have actually been deployed in Airtel Manesar’s lab,” Gupta said.
Capgemini also works with many of the industry clients in India, many of them being our global MNC clients who have large R&D setups, global R&D IT hubs or operations based out of India, she informed.On 5G, she said that while the launch has been delayed, India can still leverage 5G adoption-related learnings from other countries in terms of adopting certain use cases by localizing.
“…the advantage which India has both for telcos and industries is that there is so much learning which can come to India. Capgemini and many of these global MNCs play a crucial role because when we work on similar projects in other countries and in other regions like Europe, America and Asia Pacific, all of this knowledge is then kind of readily available to us in India,” she added.
A lot of 5G projects in other countries have been delivered out of India, she said, adding that the country already has skill sets and people’s capability for 5G deployment.“…the fine tuning which is required is what works for India. The local customization will happen. India has had a very short phase of 5G trials. Now whenever 5G is commercially available India will go straight into a rollout of 5G and will see a quick adoption,” she added.
Capgemini has a global network of labs. It recently opened a 5G lab in a strategic partnership with Swedish telecom gear maker Ericsson to test enterprise use cases.The company also has a similar lab in Paris, which is our headquarters. It has the third lab in Portugal, while the fourth one is coming up in America. Capgemini has developed the 5G Labs to help strategize, build and monetize what 5G brings next for their businesses.
“All of these labs are primarily industry focused labs. With the industry focus lab, we are primarily experimenting with innovating the application of 5G into industrial operations. So these labs actually replicate a lab environment of an enterprise architecture and 5G becomes an integral connectivity piece in that architecture,” Gupta concluded.
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References:
Video of IEEE ComSoc/SCU SoE panel on Open RAN and Private 5G: