Page 3 - Optical Ip News Today

Worldwide, operators of all types are turning up an increasing number of passive optical networks. Whether they are telcos transitioning off their legacy DSL platforms, overbuilders trying to reach multiple dwelling units, cable operators targeting greenfield builds or, increasingly, service providers entering currently underserved rural markets, there is an explosion in new fiber build activities. Given the timing to the market, these operators face a decision. Should they continue embracing ...

Under Rajeev Suri, its last boss, Nokia was always a bit cagey about discussing job cuts. Analysts and reporters had to wait until the publication of the Finnish vendors annual reports to see the workforce damage caused by restructuring. Pekka Lundmark, Suris successor, is not for hiding the ugly truth. In the full spirit of transparency, Nokia today revealed that between 5,000 and 10,000 jobs will disappear from its books over the next 18 to 24 months. That would leave Nokia with between 80,0...

Reflecting data demands seen during the pandemic, cable operator spending on upstream channel purchases climbed 96% in Q4 2020 versus 2019, according to fresh data from Jeff Heynen, VP, broadband access and home networking, at DellOro Group. By comparison, global spending on cable network downstream channel purchases climbed just 3% during the period. For all of 2020, upstream channel purchases by cable operators rose 43%, while downstream channel purchases actually dipped 8%. Heynen said thos...

BT Groups boardroom bust-up is reaching the boil, with a chairman having resigned, and CEO Philip Jansen confronting restive non-execs as he tries to swiftly overhaul the operator. Jansen told directors they would need to choose between either Jan du Plessis – BTs City grandee chairman – or him, according to a report by the Financial Times (paywall applies). And Jansen would not stay unless BT found itself a new chairman who would accelerate the pace of change, the CEO added. Glory days: It...

O2 has named Omar Calvo its director of radio engineering following the departure of Brendan OReilly, its chief technology officer (CTO), in January. The UK mobile operator owned by Spains Telefónica is splitting the CTO role in two, Light Reading has learned. Calvo will have full responsibility for the radio part of the network while Jorge Ribeiro oversees core network and IT infrastructure, a job he was previously doing under OReilly. The update comes after OReilly left O2 at the start of ...

With little to no opportunities to grow the company through acquisitions of sizable cable operators, extending Charter Communications network through regular edge-outs in rural areas coupled with a wave of new Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) commitments has emerged as the next best option. "I think that rural build is like cable M&A," Chris Winfrey, Charters chief financial officer, said Monday at the Deutsche Bank Media, Internet & Telecom Conference. "Youre essentially building a cabl...

Also in todays EMEA regional roundup: Vodafone talks up open RAN; Deutsche Telekom teams up on electric vehicle charging tech; whats Welsh for "your call is important to us"? CityFibre is to raise hundreds of millions of pounds to help fund its ambitious fiber rollout program by selling a minority stake in the company to a new shareholder, according to a report on Sky News. The UK alternative network provider, says the report, has appointed two investment banks to seek out a third heavyweight i...

Even as Starlink pushes toward a commercial launch of its fixed broadband satellite service, its parent company, SpaceX, is also pursuing a plan to connect Starlinks network to trucks, planes, ships and other types of relatively large moving vehicles. Starlinks mobile-facing interests were outlined in an application for blanket-licensed Earth Stations in Motion, or ESIMs, filed on March 5 with the FCC. SpaceX believes authorization for a "new class of ground-based components" that would expand...

Italian incumbent looks to trim workforce by up to 1,300 through voluntary scheme.

For nearly 20 years, Thermo Companies has been quietly making investments in the telecom space by mixing together a blend of 5G assets that includes midband spectrum holdings, fiber transport and technologies related to spectrum efficiency. However, its unclear what the investment firms end goal is. "These investments dont work together like a perfect puzzle at this point. We are trying to get them to be, but we arent there yet," said Kyle Pickens, VP of strategy at Globalstar and a partner at ...