AvidThink September 2024 Analyst Update

AvidThink's September 2024 News Update

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AvidThink Analysts
October 03, 2024

AvidThink 2024 September Update

Fall travel is in full swing, packed with major conferences and vendor events. In the meantime, we're working hard on a series of reports about the rise of carrier NaaS (network as a service) in the middle mile, telco cloud and edge, and soon SASE and SD-WAN. We'll have more to say when we launch them, so stay tuned. Interested in sponsoring any of those? Drop the AvidThink team a note at [email protected].

Our two recent reports on Campus NaaS and AI in Networking continue to rack up downloads and video views. If you haven't yet read either one, please feel free to download and give them a read. BTW, we hit the 25K subscribers milestone on our joint NextGenInfra YouTube channel (with our media partner, Converge Digest) — hurray!

Check out the rest of our newsletter for updates from the AvidThink team:

  • Roy’s Travelogue — FutureNet Asia, TM Forum Innovate Amerricas

  • Latest Reports — AI in Networking, Campus NaaS

  • Recent Articles— NaaS Evolution (MEF Blog)

  • NextGenInfra — AI in Networking Resource Site - it’s definitely still hot!

  • September News Roundup — Verizon’s new CTO, Ericsson’s run at Telco APis, T-Mobile embraces AI in so many ways (Jensen, Sam, and more)

  • Other Content — AvidThink in the News, Webinars, Meet Us Live!

Roy’s Travelogue

Wheels up, heads down travel season is here. Since the start of the Fall, I've been to Madrid, Singapore, and Dallas (yes, Texas is a whole different country, so it counts).

I had a great time at FutureNet Asia in Singapore, arriving right after the Pope did (heightened airport security), and leaving the day the F-1 craziness started (road closures). Learned a lot moderating a panel with Randeep Sekhon, CTO, Airtel, Thomas Hundt, Group Chief Strategy & Technology Officer, Axiata, Yu Leong Lim, Vice President, Group Strategy, Engineering and Innovation (Group Technology and Networks), Singtel, and Joe Hogan, Networks CTO, Amdocs. Likewise, I enjoyed my chat with Ken Tan, CTO of Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB Malaysia), and Sam Keys-Toyer, Head of Business & Portfolio Development at Ericsson, about the role of automation in networking in Malaysia's unique 5G infrastructure. You can watch the on-demand versions in the links below in the webinar section of the newsletter.

The following week, I had a blast at TM Forum's Innovate Americas 2024 in Dallas, Texas, where I caught up with friends on the expo floor and Andy Tiller of TM Forum in the green room (cool location) of Gilley's. Thanks to the Amdocs team for hosting me and other analysts at their Analyst Day in Dallas after the TM Forum event.

Featured Upcoming Events

Jim Carroll (our media partner, Converge Digest) and I just spent a day at Meter Up — a fun event in San Francisco by campus NaaS upstart vendor, Meter. It featured panels of experts, their staff presentations, Jay Parikh (former VP of Engineering at FaceBook), and Michelle Zatlyn (COO, Co-Founder, and President of CloudFlare).

Next up is the OCP Global Summit in San Jose (15-17 October), and BTW, Jim is capturing videos for our NextGenInfra.io site at MWC Americas in Las Vegas next week (8-10 October) —drop us a note if you'll be there. Later in October, we will both be at the MEF Global NaaS Event held in Dallas, the week after 5G Americas Analyst Day (also in Dallas — I sense a trend). Check out AvidThink's perspectives on driving NaaS adoption on our latest blog on the MEF site: Analyst Insights: NaaS Evolution.

Rounding out the year will be Upperside Conferences' SD-WAN and SASE 2024 Summit, held earlier than usual from 12-13 November in Paris. That's followed by the Network Automation Forum's AutoCon 2 in Denver, Colorado (20-22 November), and AWS re:Invent 2024.

September saw interesting news on the telco API front, with the move by Ericsson and numerous telcos forming a joint venture — feel free to ask me what I think about it (drop me a note) and what I'm hearing at recent telco events on the API topic. Meanwhile, there's no new news on Samsung + Nokia, but swirling rumors on Qualcomm + Intel (unlikely, but you never know). And there are changes afoot at BT, with Harmeen Mehta leaving, and at Verizon, where Yago Tenorio (formerly Vodafone) is joining as CTO. In addition, DirecTV's surprise move to purchase Dish's satellite TV business for $1, along with the assumption of its huge debt load. Perhaps this will improve the chance of a viable 4th operator in the US. Never a dull moment, even in the world of telecom! Check out the full slate of significant news stories below.

Until next time, I hope to see you on the road somewhere!

— Roy for the AvidThink Team

2024 Campus Network-as-a-Service

How are incumbent networking vendors reacting to enterprises adopting NaaS. Who are the NaaS upstarts that collectively raised ~$500M in venture financing? There’s a $35B campus networking market at stake.

Recent Articles

(posted on MEF blog)

NaaS promises agility and cost-effectiveness in an increasingly complex IT environment. However, AvidThink advises the industry to avoid over-inflating expectations and learning from past successes in rolling out networking changes.

Latest at NextGenInfra

NextGenInfra is our collaboration with media partner, Converge Digest

Subscribe to our videos at @NextGenInfra YouTube Channel

If you’re one of our few remaining subscribers who have yet to download our AI in Networking report, what are you waiting for? Grab your copy today! And if you’re shy, know that you no longer need to provide any personal information to download this UNLOCKED report.

2024 September News Roundup

5G

T-Mobile Launches Dedicated 5G Network Slice for First RespondersT-Mobile has introduced T-Priority, a 5G network slice for first responders using its 5G standalone core network. Developed with New York City, T-Priority aims to maintain minimum service levels during extreme congestion. T-Mobile claims it’s the world’s first 5G network slice for first responders on a 5G SA network.

EE Activates 5G Standalone Service in 15 UK CitiesBT has launched 5G standalone (5G SA) in 15 UK cities through its EE brand, covering about 18 million people. The deployment involves allocating spectrum across multiple bands for standalone services while maintaining sufficient capacity for 4G and non-standalone services.

Nokia Secures 5G Deal with Vietnam’s ViettelNokia has signed a deal with Viettel Group to deploy 5G nationwide in Vietnam, covering 22 provinces with 2,500 sites. The project will use Nokia’s 5G AirScale portfolio and locally manufactured equipment, marking Vietnam’s first 5G network with domestic hardware.

Global 5G Connections Surpass 2 Billion5G connections exceeded 2 billion globally at the end of Q2 2024, according to 5G Americas and Omdia. North America added 23 million new 5G connections, totaling 242 million. By 2029, global 5G connections are expected to reach 8.6 billion, accounting for 59% of all cellular technologies.

Free Becomes First Operator in France to Offer Nationwide 5G SAFrench operator Free has launched 5G SA on its public network nationwide, using 3.5 GHz spectrum. The company also introduced Voice over New Radio (VoNR) support. Free claims to operate the largest 5G network in France with over 20,000 5G sites, covering nearly 95% of the population.

FCC Grants EchoStar Extension for 5G Buildout RequirementsThe FCC has approved EchoStar’s request for extended 5G buildout deadlines. In exchange, EchoStar agreed to accelerated deployments in certain markets, a low-cost wireless service plan, and nationwide availability of 5G devices. Construction milestones for various spectrum blocks have been extended to December 2026 and June 2028.

DirecTV’s Acquisition of Dish’s TV Business to Boost 5G Network DevelopmentDirecTV’s $1 purchase of Dish’s satellite TV business will significantly reduce EchoStar’s debt by $11.7 billion. This deal, along with $2.5 billion in new financing, is expected to accelerate Dish’s nationwide 5G network buildout, which has already reached 70% completion.

6G

6G Development Expected to Build on 5G TrendsAt the 6G Symposium, experts discussed the evolution of 6G technology. FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks emphasized that 6G will likely continue trends from 5G, such as network disaggregation and open RAN. The integration of AI in 6G was highlighted, along with challenges in energy consumption and spectrum availability.

Open RAN

Vodafone’s Santiago Tenorio Reportedly Joining Verizon as CTOSantiago ‘Yago’ Tenorio, former network architecture director at Vodafone Group, is reportedly leaving to join Verizon as CTO. Tenorio, who served as chairman of the Telecom Infra Project (TIP) for five years, has been a key figure in Vodafone’s Open RAN initiative. This move could signal increased interest in Open RAN from Verizon.

Open RAN Showing Potential for Improved Energy EfficiencyExecutives in the wireless industry suggest that O-RAN-compliant radios may offer energy efficiency advantages over traditional radios. Orange Group’s head of radio innovation, Atoosa Hatefi, highlighted advancements in cloud RAN ecosystems and faster development cycles for cloud infrastructure as key factors contributing to open RAN’s potential environmental benefits.

T-Mobile Partners with Nvidia for AI-RAN DevelopmentT-Mobile and Nvidia are collaborating on integrating artificial intelligence into Radio Access Networks (RAN). Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang emphasized the complexity of wireless networks and the potential for AI to revolutionize RAN. The companies are working with Ericsson and Nokia to implement AI in RAN for real-world applications.

APIs

Ericsson Remains Optimistic About API PotentialNiklas Heuveldop, Vonage’s new CEO, expressed confidence in Ericsson’s $6.2 billion Vonage acquisition. Ericsson is part of a venture with major telecom operators to combine and sell network APIs globally. The venture gives Ericsson a 50% stake, with participating operators splitting the other half.

GSMA Seeks Reliance Jio’s Participation in Open Gateway InitiativeThe GSMA is in talks with Reliance Jio, India’s largest service provider, to join the Open Gateway initiative. Currently, Bharti Airtel is the only Indian telco participating in this framework of common network APIs. Over 50 global service providers have joined Open Gateway since its launch last year.

Oracle’s Enterprise Communications Platform Enters API MarketOracle has announced its first use case for the Enterprise Communications Platform (ECP), enabling critical IoT connectivity via API connection to AT&T’s network. The company plans to expand ECP applications to various sectors, including public safety, food and beverage, healthcare, and energy.

AI

T-Mobile and OpenAI Collaborate on AI-Powered Customer ServiceT-Mobile is partnering with OpenAI to develop IntentCX, an AI platform aimed at improving customer service and reducing churn. The system will analyze customer issues and automatically engage with current customers to prevent problems leading to churn.

Telecom Managers Expect AI to Boost Network EfficiencyA Ciena survey found that over half of telecom and IT engineers believe AI will improve network operational efficiency by 40% or more. However, 99% of respondents anticipate that fiber network upgrades will be necessary to support increased AI traffic.

AI-Powered Apps Predicted to Cause Surge in Uplink TrafficMobile Experts predicts that AI-powered applications will significantly increase uplink traffic on 5G networks, potentially causing capacity issues as early as 2027. Network optimization will become crucial for managing resources efficiently and enhancing performance in response to AI-driven traffic growth.

Direct-to-Device (D2D)

Verizon and Skylo Partner on Direct-to-Device CommunicationsVerizon and satellite startup Skylo are collaborating on direct-to-device (D2D) communications, focusing initially on emergency SOS texting. Unlike T-Mobile and SpaceX’s approach, Skylo’s system uses satellite spectrum from companies like Viasat and Ligado, not requiring mobile network operators' terrestrial spectrum.

Cloud

IBM Acquires Kubecost to Enhance FinOps CapabilitiesIBM has acquired Kubernetes cost management platform Kubecost to strengthen its FinOps offerings. While there’s some overlap with existing IBM assets, the company views Kubecost as complementary to its portfolio. IBM plans to hire more engineering talent to focus on FinOps opportunities.

AT&T and Intel Executives Appointed to Top Roles at Telecom Infra ProjectAT&T VP Rob Soni will succeed Santiago Tenorio as chair of the Telecom Infra Project (TIP), while Intel VP Caroline Chan becomes TIP’s new president. These appointments come at a critical phase in open RAN deployment, with both executives bringing extensive experience to their new roles.

Private Cloud Gaining Traction Due to AI ApplicationsEnterprises are increasingly turning to private cloud solutions for handling sensitive AI-generated data. Options include virtual private clouds within public cloud environments, private clouds in multi-tenant data centers, and on-premises infrastructure. This trend is driven by data privacy concerns and the need for customized AI deployments.

SASE

SASE Market Growth Slows in Q2 2024The global SASE market experienced a 10% year-over-year revenue growth in Q2 2024, its lowest since Q1 2019, according to Dell’Oro Group. Economic pressures and tighter budgets led enterprises to focus on maximizing existing investments. However, the market is expected to rebound as companies shift towards long-term investment in cloud-based security and networking.

Netskope Enhances SASE Platform with Focus on User ExperienceNetskope has updated its SASE platform, Netskope One, to improve network visibility and user experience. New features include a digital experience management tool for proactive problem-solving and Netskope Cloud TAP for forensic analysis in cloud environments. The company emphasizes the importance of user experience in driving adoption of security solutions.

AvidThink in the News

Upcoming and On-Demand Webinars

AvidThink’s Roy led a discussion on how carriers can realize 5G promise in their journey toward highly autonomous networks. Together with Ken Tan, CTO of Digital Nasional Berhad, and Sam Keys-Toyer, Head of Business & Portfolio Development at Ericsson, they explored the importance of automation and value of AI.

Roy facilitated an engaging and candid panel discussion on "The Future Telco," exploring what services telcos will offer in the next 5 years. Joined by Randeep Sekhon, CTO at Airtel, Thomas Hundt, Group Chief Strategy & Technology Officer at Axiata, Yu Leong Lim, Vice President at Singtel, and Joe Hogan, Networks CTO at Amdocs, the panel covered key topics like the future of apps, AI’s impact, platform businesses, and value of partnerships.

Meet Us at Upcoming Events

2024 OCP Global Summit

15-17 October

San Jose, California

Global NaaS Eventby MEF

28-30 October

Dallas, Texas

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