BROWSING: EMEA

EMEA: Huawei Innovation Day round two

MUNICH – Building on the update from the first day of Huawei Innovation Day, the second day was all about the connected world. Topics included connected cars, smart cities and wearables. The connected car Audi presented on the topic of the connected car, talking about the...

EMEA: Huawei Innovation Days Round One

MUNICH – This week Munich was host to Huawei’s annual Innovation Day event, kicking off two days of packed topics for media, customers and partner attendees. This is the third year for this event and speakers included members of the Huawei executive team, customers,...

EMEA: Diversity in telecommunications with the GSMA

As a follow-up to last month’s article related to connected women, or the lack thereof in emerging markets, we now move to the second in this series of topics from the GSMA Connected Women program – diversity in the telecommunications industry. Although the statistics were...

EMEA CEOs: BICS looks to the future

I recently had the opportunity to speak with Daniel Kurgan, CEO of BICS, about the company’s current strategy and his view of the opportunities and risks in the markets the company addresses. But first, a few words about what BICS is in case you aren’t following...

ZTEsoft ZSmart Cloud Enabler launched at TM Forum

ZTEsoft's ZSaaS solution provider NICE, France – ZTEsoft today announced ZSmart Cloud Enabler, a software as a service platform designed to provide solutions to both service providers and enterprises that offer an end-to-end option including support services, if desired. The ZSmart SaaS offering, “ZSaaS” will offer...

Highlights from the day at TM Forum, with a twist

NICE, France – As TM Forum Live draws to a close, it’s time to highlight some of the interesting discussions I had while navigating the event, which feels larger this year, and from what I’ve heard attendance is up. Big data and all forms...

European telecom investment on a long-term decline

Between 2006 and 2013, telecom investment by seven major European operators, including such giants as Orange, Deutsche Telecom and Vodafone, fell 5%. In contrast, the four U.S. operators – AT&T, Verizon Communications, Sprint and T-Mobile US – increased investment by 39%. French media outlet Les Echos...

Nokia Networks flies into data centers

Nokia today announced its entry into the data center market with the launch of the AirFrame solution set, billed as integrating the worlds of IT and telecommunications to create an answer for telco IT, and built for telcos running mobile virtual network functions within...

Freitag: Bits & Pretzels founders festival

Helsinki has Slush, so why shouldn’t Munich have Bits & Pretzels. The difference is that Slush takes place in Finland in November – hence the very appropriate name – and Bits & Pretzels in Munich during Oktoberfest. But in all seriousness, these are two very important events...

AOptix laser-radio technology connects underserved markets

AOptix solutions provide ultra-high-capacity wireless communications through the use of laser-radio technology, which the company invented. LRT integrates free space optics with millimeter wave radio frequency technology, allowing for carrier-grade performance with 2Gbps throughput capacity to be supported for up to 10 kilometers. Initially developed and...

EMEA: Germany starts Europe’s first 700 MHz auction

Germany’s telecom regulator, the Bundesnetzagentur, this week began the bidding process for spectrum licenses in the 700 MHz band, becoming the first European country to open up the spectrum band deemed ideal for broad LTE deployments. Also on the block are spectrum licenses in the 900...

EMEA: TM Forum talks the digital business landscape

I recently had an opportunity to speak with Nik Willetts, chief digital officer for the TM Forum organization about its vision for the digital business landscape. If you aren’t familiar with the TM Forum, it is a nonprofit industry association focused on working with its...

EMEA: Vodafone posts first quarterly growth in three years

Vodafone, the world's second-largest carrier, reported revenue gains on May 18 for the fourth quarter of its fiscal year ending March 31, 2015 – the first such growth in almost three years. The Britian-based multinational telecom group posted quarterly service revenue of $14.87 billion up...

EMEA: TU Auto Berlin roundup part two

Building on yesterday’s highlights from TU Auto’s event in Berlin this week, there are even more highlights and observations to share. There was a battle of local startups participating at the event; the following four made presentations: Eluminocity combines LED street lighting with electric vehicle charging....

EMEA: TU Auto Berlin roundup part one

This week Berlin played host to TU Auto’s latest event to discuss key topics in the connected car space – big data, autonomous driving, car security and electric vehicles. The speakers represented a mix of established companies and local Berlin startups, raising a lot of...

EMEA: Deutsche Telekom profit rises thanks to T-Mobile US

Deutsche Telekom, Europe's largest carrier by revenue, saw increasing profits in the first quarter of 2015, exceeding expectations. Revenue rose 13.1% to $18.84 billion, and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization increased 11% to $5.16 billion, beating the $4.98 billion predicted in a...

EMEA: The eCall 2018 reality

The European Parliament has approved the requirement for eCall by March 2018. The implications of the ruling will impact automotive and telecommunications players along with the potential for new options to save lives. Let’s start with an overview of what eCall is: A European Union initiative to...

EMEA: EU lays out plans for digital single market

The European Commission unveiled plans  on May 6 to create a single market for digital technologies across the 28-member European Union. The plan, which took six months to develop, is comprised of 16 initiatives organized around three goals: to create better access for consumers...

Nokia/Alcatel-Lucent tie-up will change markets worldwide

Nokia's offer to buy France's Alcatel-Lucent for $17.5 billion represented further consolidation of the telecom infrastructure market. The joining of these two European network giants appears to have left only three global players: Ericsson, Huawei and the new Nokia to be created by this acquisition. But oddly...

EMEA: EE claims LTE leadership in Europe

U.K. operator EE, whose brand is built around LTE, announced soaring user numbers for the technology. With the release of first-quarter results for 2015, EE said that it added 1.7 million LTE connections during the quarter, with 9.3 million users now on its LTE network. The...

EMEA: Dubai lays claim to world’s smartest map system

Soon it will be nearly impossible to get lost in Dubai. The largest city in the United Arab Emirates recently launched the Makani e-map “the smartest map system in the world.” Makani, a solution that is both digital and analog is the answer. Every building...

EMEA: Digital pioneer Norway sees shrinking mobile competition

Telenor, Teliasonera rapidly expanding LTE networks The country of Norway likes to be first in the digital world. Together with Sweden, it was the first to debut LTE when TeliaSonera launched the service in Oslo and Stockholm in 2009. And this spring, the country announced...

EMEA: Vodafone and MTN partner on mobile money

Vodafone and MTN, two of the largest mobile money providers in Africa, announced plans to interconnect their services in seven East African countries. The partnership will allow M-Pesa and MTN Mobile Money customers to transfer money to each other using their mobile devices in Kenya,...

EMEA: OpenCloud virtualizes VoLTE

OpenCloud touts "the power of open." Being open is an important concept, but is not necessarily a new topic. Consider the context in which "open" plays a role in this specific discussion. Networks today are pretty much standardized. Although services are different from a packaging...