BROWSING: Opinion

Semtech/Sierra, Telit/Thales set ground for new east-west IoT clash (Analyst Angle)

There were two high profile pieces of M&A news in the IoT hardware space in the last week. First up, on Friday 29th July, Telit and Thales announced that they were combining the assets of Telit with those of Thales’ IoT hardware business into...

What is 5G RedCap, and will it save cellular IoT? The skinny on the (skinny) new 5G tech

The latest release of the 5G New Radio (NR) standard has, at last, fixed a problem for cellular-based sensor comms with the emergence of a cut-down version of 5G for massive-scale IoT deployments. On paper, anyway; in reality, the news only confirms a waypoint...

Mobilizing the future of 5G with no-code orchestration (Reader Forum)

5G holds promises we never imagined for our personal and professional lives. Through ultra-low latency, higher speeds, and ability to partition, or slice, network resources, businesses and industries are changing the way they operate and now how we live. And, of course, Telcos are...

Five reasons why partnerships will define the private wireless network era (Reader Forum)

A mining engineer, a 5G wireless technology provider, a value-added reseller and an excavation equipment manufacturer walk into a bar. No, it’s not the set-up for a joke. It’s a description of the kind of partnerships we can expect to see more often as we...

Why telcos must transform into techcos — and how to do it (Reader Forum)

Technology revolution is littered with success and failure stories; the first movers set the agenda and it is innovation in process as that generates lower cost, faster time to market and better quality. An analogy is something we take for granted today — robots...

Switch, conserve, diversify – the global IoT project to change the energy mix (Analyst Angle)

The war in Ukraine is being fought through many unconventional means. One of the most prominent relates to energy supply and dependence. In 2021, about two-fifths of the gas that Europeans burned came from Russia. The war has boosted already high prices of oil...

How enterprises are cutting emissions with smart building technology (Reader Forum)

We are in the middle of a climate crisis, and enterprises must take swift action to reassess their energy consumption and carbon emissions. Thirty-four percent of energy consumption in the U.S. is wasted, and something needs to be done. How are businesses cutting emissions with...

Reimagine mobile customer experience with cloud (Reader Forum)

Year after year, in survey after survey, consumers overwhelmingly prefer self-service options over calling, chatting or face-to-face interaction with a business. These preferences grew with the pandemic, especially among Zoomers (Gen Z) and Millenials, who say they are using help centers, knowledge bases and...

How CBRS is bringing connectivity to school districts across the states (Reader Forum)

For students, having reliable internet connectivity is essential to ensure that they can access educational online content, both at school and when they’re at home. However, the pandemic highlighted the breadth of the digital divide and that many school districts across the States suffered...

Looking in the eyes of enterprise – four key requirements for private 5G (Reader Forum)

Operators and vendors alike have stars (and more than a few dollar signs) in their eyes as they gaze longingly at the private wireless opportunity. It’s true; enterprises across industry verticals want to unleash a range of next-gen, connectivity-driven use cases. Finally, a market...

Pardon the PON: How passive optical networks may solve the last mile conundrum (Reader Forum)

The term “last mile” typically evokes images of exhausted marathon runners somehow finding their second wind to stumble across the finish line. It’s the last expulsion of energy required to finish the race, and while the elite can do it, others slow to a...

Addressing the global rise of the SIM card swap (Reader Forum)

SIM card fraud unfortunately manifests itself in a number of ways, but one of the most pernicious forms is the SIM card swap. SIM card swapping is the process by which a hacker or bad actor obtains the personal information and mobile number of...

What value can fixed wireless access bring to mobile operators? (Analyst Angle)

Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) is a method of providing last-mile wireless connectivity to campuses, industrial facilities, Small Office/Home Office (SOHO), residential estates, etc., and has been growing in popularity since the introduction of 5G, which was commercially launched in 2H 2019. According to the...

IoT is good for the planet, but trade-offs are necessary (Analyst Angle)

The use of IoT hardware and software applications will have a very positive impact on global sustainability but the trend masks significant variations between use cases, and over the lifecycle of the device. This was one conclusion from a recent report from Transforma Insights,...

How the mobile phone is at the center of security technology for businesses (Reader Forum)

IHS Market estimates that around 120,000,000 mobile access credentials will be downloaded by 2023. Businesses are moving away from traditional access control methods like keycards and are investing in mobile-first technology. Why is mobile-first technology becoming so popular in the security sphere? Keep reading as...

RF Coherency technology drives 5G RAN innovation (Reader Forum)

5G is fast becoming a reality driving new use cases and business models across industries, from cognitive technologies and robotics to industrial IoT, telemedicine and self-driving vehicles. However, the telecoms industry is at a crossroads — it needs to accelerate the 5G rollout while...

Supply chain issues & the chip shortage: How dealers can navigate a changing landscape (Reader Forum)

The global microchip shortage has had a serious impact on the automotive industry over the last two years, and the pandemic's effect on supply chains have turned the scarcity of inventory into a bigger challenge than many expected. While there’s no definite timeline, analysts...

Six key elements of an optimized 5G architecture (Reader Forum)

With the evolution from 4G to 5G, communication service providers (CSPs) are finding that it’s not enough to just replicate a 4G network with newer technology — 5G requires new approaches and new ways of thinking. This includes the introduction of a 5G Core...

Finding efficiencies in the wireless space (Reader Forum)

The wireless revolution has arrived, so much so that many forms of popular technologies are now referred to by their “generation” — Wi-Fi 6E, 802.11ax, Next Generation Internet of Things, etc. Work has begun developing standards for 6G, the sixth generation of wireless communications...

Why AI at the edge is the future of smart homes (Reader Forum)

Forget the cloud; more and more devices today are connecting at the edge. Better yet, they’re more powerful thanks to artificial intelligence and machine learning. This one-two punch of smarter, nearer devices is transforming what devices can do in the Internet of Things (IoT). The...

AI will take SD-WAN to the next level (Reader Forum)

Over the past few years, companies have had to adapt to remote work environments, hybrid work environments and everything in between. Organizations across industries managed the transition by accelerating digital transformation efforts, rapidly adopting new tools and technologies. While this combination of new technologies has...

The new device experience: How mobile carriers successfully ‘get in’ on the app economy (Reader Forum)

The prominence and dominance of mobile devices in the world needs no intro. But what about the actions that are taken on those devices once purchased? Americans check their phones approximately 96 times a day equating to 4.8 hours daily, of which 88% is...

Integration, simplification, multiplication – three signs private 5G has come of age

This is a rehash (and extension, in the end) of a previous post, to an extent; but it distils the message from before, and says there are sure signs, at last, that the private cellular market, covering localised installations of enterprise-geared 5G, nominally, has...

How CBRS is closing the digital divide in rural communities (Reader Forum)

Remote communities stand to benefit from new era in network technology The digital divide is a serious issue in the U.S., with millions of people still unable to experience the benefits of reliable, high-speed broadband access. As a result, those without an internet connection can...