Editor’s Note: RCR Wireless News goes all in for “Throwback Thursdays,” tapping into our archives to resuscitate the top headlines from the past. Fire up the time machine, put on those sepia-tinted shades, set the date for #TBT and enjoy the memories!
Crown Castle to buy Lightower
Shared network infrastructure provider Crown Castle announced plans to nearly double its fiber optic holdings with the acquisition of Lightower for $7.1 billion. Crown Castle CEO Jay Brown said in a statement: ““We are excited about the addition of Lightower given its attractive fiber footprint and the value we believe it will create for our shareholders. Lightower’s dense fiber footprint is well-located in top metro markets in the Northeast and is well-positioned to facilitate small cell deployments by our customers. Following the transaction, we will have approximately 60,000 route miles of fiber with a presence in all of the top 10 and 23 of the top 25 metro markets.” Small cells are seen as a key infrastructure element for bolstering LTE network capacity and coverage, particularly in dense urban markets, as well as central to operators’ plans for deploying 5G. According to Lightower, its fiber network provides connectivity to more than 22,000 service locations, 275 data centers and 7,000 macro towers and small cells. Crown manages and services more than 40,000 cell towers and, prior to the combination, with 71% in the top 100 domestic markets. … Read more
Comcast expands machineQ
Comcast announced plans to expand its enterprise internet of things (IoT) service, dubbed machineQ, to 12 major U.S. markets. MachineQ is an enterprise IoT network service and platform that uses low power wide area network (LPWAN) technology based on the LoRaWAN protocol to build and deploy solutions for businesses and municipal organizations. Comcast said the enterprise IoT service is rolling out in Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Denver, Detroit, Indianapolis, Miami, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Oakland, Pittsburgh, Seattle, and Washington D.C. “We believe that Comcast has a unique opportunity to leverage our existing network assets and Semtech’s LoRa technology, to fuel IoT innovation with disruptive new business models and smarter cities,” said Alex Khorram, general manager of machineQ. “We’ve seen excitement about a Comcast solution that is opening a whole new world of use cases that were previously not commercially viable due to the cost of connectivity and end devices, limited battery life, and inability to get coverage.” As a part of the machineQ service, Comcast is working with its commercial partners to enable businesses and cities to gather, transmit, and analyze data about the operation of connected devices distributed throughout their locations. … Read more
Google offers new Glass
Google has unveiled the new version of its Google Glass product called Google Glass Enterprise Edition. The new glasses have seen improvements to the design and hardware to make them more lightweight and comfortable for long-term wear. The new offering also features better battery life and more power. Jay Kothari, Product Lead for Glass, said Google has been working on the Google Glass Enterprise Edition for the past two years. The executive said that the new product has been available to a small number of enterprises in a limited program. These firms include AGCO, DHL, GE, Samsung, Sutter Health, and Volkswagen. The company said that the Google Glass Enterprise Edition is now available to more enterprises through the firm’s network of expert partners. “Workers in many fields, like manufacturing, logistics, field services, and healthcare find it useful to consult a wearable device for information and other resources while their hands are busy,” the executive said. “That’s why we’ve spent the last two years working closely with a network of more than 30 expert partners to build customized software and business solutions for Glass for people in these fields,” Kothari added. Workers at AGCO, an agricultural machinery manufacturer in Jackson, Minnesota, are using Glass Enterprise Edition. … Read more
Five virtualization trends in 2017
July marks the second half of the year, making it an ideal time to reflect upon what the journey through 2017 has been like and where it is going. With respect to virtualization, developers have played an increasingly important role in how companies deal with network agility, flexibility and security. While the direction data centers will head over the next six months remains open, a handful of virtualization trends are shaping the path forward. More and more companies are leveraging open source software, which refers to software that can be copied, modified and distributed for free. A resource and community website like Wikipedia is a prime example, which enables users of various backgrounds to contribute to and update a single body of knowledge. In particular, open source software is spearheading efforts in the security of the internet of things (IoT). The model allows thousands of developers to review, spot and patch errors in code in real time. Some of the open source projects to gain momentum in 2017 include TensorFlow, Vault and Kubernetes. … Read more
The smallest nationwide 5G
As the 5G arms race continues in earnest around the world, an unlikely contender is poised to boast the title of world’s first nationwide 5G network. Telecom Italia has launched the “operational phase” that the company says will lead to nationwide 5G coverage in the microstate of San Marino, a 24-square-mile microstate totally surrounded by Italy. Telecom Italia plans to start by deploying 4×4 MIMO, multi-channel carrier aggregation, advanced modulation and a cloud-based architecture. That will be complemented by a fiber-fed small cell deployment across the country. According to Telecom Italia, “The particular geographical shape of this territory, and the distribution of its industries, favor the use and development of innovative technologies.” Using the updated infrastructure, the plan is to essentially use the entire country as a testbed for the emerging 5G New Radio (NR) specification. The “San Marino 5G” project encompasses consumer and enterprise connectivity and is working to increase network capacity 10x as compared to what’s available with LTE, as well as support massive internet of things. … Read more
More states opt into FirstNet
The First Responders Network Authority is gaining momentum as states begin to declare their official decisions to opt in to the national public safety LTE network build: Virginia kicked things off on Monday as the first state to opt in, followed rapidly by Wyoming, Arkansas and Kentucky. A map of states and their status with FirstNet is available at FirstNet.gov. FirstNet and AT&T have released 53 out of 56 plans for states and territories (three territories’ plans have yet to be released), have plan reviews scheduled with 42 out of the 56, and have four opt-ins and no opt-outs thus far. Public safety users in states that opt in to FirstNet can become FirstNet customers and immediately access priority service on AT&T’s current LTE network, with “full local control to identify their responders and assign priority as needed based on the circumstances,” AT&T and FirstNet have said. Preemption capabilities are expected to be implemented by the end of the year, according to AT&T. … Read more
T-Mo tests NB-IoT in Las Vegas
In the crowded landscape of connectivity protocols for the internet of things, T-Mobile U.S. is betting on narrowband-internet of things (NB-IoT) given a successful test project in Las Vegas, Nev., that will give way to broader smart city initiatives. From a cost perspective, LTE Cat M1 and NB-IoT are the least expensive LTE-based IoT technologies. In the broader context of low power, wide area connectivity, NB-IoT goes head-to-head with proprietary tech like LoRa and Sigfox. T-Mobile completed with the testing with Qualcomm and Ericsson and used a 200 kilohertz channel of AWS spectrum. The carrier’s CTO Neville Ray said the trial work will enable customer “to bring their products to market faster with better performance, vastly improved battery life and big cost savings–all on a dedicated highway that’s purpose-built for connected devices.” In terms of growth trajectory, T-Mobile will work with Las Vegas city leaders on flood abatement based on early warning and fault detection systems; smart, LED lighting, and sensor-based monitoring of temperature, humidity and gases. Side note: T-Mobile, like many other carriers, is using smart lighting deployments to serve as a sensor platform, which has proved a tidy way to deploy quickly and cost-effectively. … Read more
Inside AT&T’s 5G FWA trials
5G fixed wireless access has emerged, particularly in the United States, as the likely first phase of commercial 5G services. This presents operators with the opportunity to offer 5G services as 3GPP continues to standardize the technological aspects of 5G, while gaining better insight into the characteristics of mobile 5G, especially as it relates to tapping into high capacity millimeter wave spectrum. Another key factor underpinning the interest in fixed wireless 5G relates to the business case in that a gigabit per second signal can be delivered without the costly and time consuming process of running fiber to every home, apartment or business, effectively addressing the lingering last mile problem with fiber. AT&T and AT&T Labs have a big presence in Austin, Texas, where the telco offers gigabit-speed home and business fiber broadband, as well as its 5G Evolution service, which uses three channel carrier aggregation, multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) and 256 QAM to double the speeds of its regular LTE speeds and is only available on Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ devices. In addition to these mobile-related initiatives, AT&T is using Austin as a testbed for its 5G fixed wireless access services. In partnership with Ericsson and Intel, AT&T last year used millimeter wave spectrum in the 15 GHz and 28 GHz bands, to test enterprise 5G applications at one of Intel’s local offices. That trial pushed more than a gigabit per second in support of enterprise apps including internet access, virtual private network connections, 4K video streaming, delivery of DirecTV and VoIP. The field trial extended lab testing in several frequency bands and involving not only Ericsson, but also Samsung and Nokia. … Read more
Check out the RCR Wireless News Archives for more stories from the past.
