Sprint prioritizes safety, Foxconn may target service providers

In wireless infrastructure news this week, Sprint is demanding more accountability of its tower crews, and Foxconn will reportedly target service provider networks with server hardware.
Sprint prioritizes tower crew safety and accountability
Sprint is making some changes as it wraps up its Network Vision build and shifts resources to Sprint Spark. The nation’s third largest carrier is working directly with some of the contractors that were previously hired by the Network Vision OEMs (Ericsson, Alcatel-Lucent and Samsung). Sprint wants more accountability, particularly when it comes to safety.
To that end, Sprint has contracted with PICS Auditing to vet its vendors and evaluate their safety records. Vendors have to pay PICS to audit them, but cannot win Sprint’s business without going through the process. Sprint will not hire vendors that do not receive PICS’ highest safety rating.
PICS handles safety auditing around the world for companies in many industries, including mining and chemicals. The firm has demonstrated dramatic reductions in accident rates and death rates. Sprint worked with PICS for almost a year to make sure that its own practices were in line with PICS’ safety protocols, then late last year the carrier contracted with PICS to review vendor safety records and work with vendors to improve outcomes.
Huawei tests LTE-A Cat 6
Huawei has successfully tested LTE-A Cat 6 connectivity using its SingleRAN solution, which enables carriers to support multiple wireless standards with the same equipment. The company said the test achieved download speeds of up to 300 megabits per second. Huawei conducted the test in partnership with Qualcomm, and used a Qualcomm Gobi Qualcomm Gobi 9×35 LTE modem.
“The successful test marks an important step for LTE-A commercialization,” said David Wang, president of Huawei’s wireless network product line. LTE-A networks are already live in several parts of the world, including Russia and South Korea.
Foxconn may target service providers
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., better known as Foxconn, is reportedly teaming up with HP to make servers to support cloud data applications for service providers. The news follows reports of Foxconn’s acquisition of Socle, a Taiwanese maker of ARM-based chips. Together, the two developments point to a new direction for the world’s largest contract manufacturer of electronics. Foxconn is clearly interested in developing products for corporate customers, instead of just manufacturing goods for others to sell.
The server business may become increasingly commoditized as more network functionality moves to the cloud, and Asian manufacturers who specialize in high volume production are ready. Lenovo recently bought IBM’s low-end server business, and Taiwan’s Quanta has also entered the server business.
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