5G Focus is a weekly global feature including notable 5G trials, launches, use cases and major equipment supply contracts. It also features in-depth analysis of strategies, expansion plans, business models and other related initiatives.
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Institutional investors eye data centers with higher risk tolerance
Powerful fundamentals like the growth of the cloud, 5G, artificial intelligence and augmented reality are all fueling long-term investor demand for data centers, with no sign of slowing down.
US AND CANADA
* Cloud and digital products provider Synchronoss Technologies Inc. unveiled Synchronoss Cloud for Home, an offering that allows 5G carriers to provide unlimited shared cloud storage as well as support mobile and fixed wireless connectivity for residential users.
* The U.S. Department of Defense, together with the Institute of Telecommunications Services of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, launched a competition dubbed "5G Challenge Preliminary Event: RAN Subsystem Interoperability." The contest will award up to $3 million to winning participants who submit proposals for hardware and/or software services for certain 5G network subsystems, in a bid to further speed up the development and adoption of an open 5G ecosystem.
* Northrop Grumman Corp. and AT&T Inc. will work together to power 5G-enabled defense capabilities, part of the Defense Department's work toward a command-and-control system that would connect all forces on the battlefield, Dow Jones Newswires reported.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* SoftBank Corp. will borrow a "social loan" of up to about ¥35.06 billion to spend on, among others, capex related to the construction of 5G base stations. The domestic telecom unit of SoftBank Group Corp. expects the move to further boost its 5G network, with its population coverage ratio in Japan already covering 90% as of end-March.
EUROPE, MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* Italy's industry lobby warned that a newly approved decree requiring telcos to provide details of their 5G infrastructure development plans yearly may likely cause bureaucratic delays for companies, Reuters reported, citing a document.
* Telenor ASA launched 5G across 2,000 base stations and is on track to meet its 5G rollout targets. The telco aims to deploy 5G for 50% of Norway's population this year and to all its customers by the first half of 2024.
* Germany's Vodafone GmbH and railroad company Deutsche Bahn AG closed gaps in the Vodafone mobile network along the country's rail routes amid an infrastructure partnership between the two companies. Vodafone is also making its 5G network available for intercity express routes in Germany until 2025.
* Estonia's Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority, or TTJA, recognized the validity of the applications filed by four potential bidders in its upcoming auction of 5G frequencies, Telecompaper reported.
* Hong Kong-based smartphone maker Infinix Mobility began accepting pre-orders for its Infinix Zero 5G smartphone in Kenya, Telecompaper reported.
* RADCOM Ltd., an Israel-based provider of 5G-ready cloud network services, renewed its multiyear contract with AT&T unit AT&T Services Inc. to provide automated service assurance and improve the quality of the latter's cloud network.
* Slovak mobile operator 4ka, a unit of Swan AS, launched a trial of 5G services in the city of Trnava, CommsUpdate reported, citing Zive.sk. The new network provided 5G download rates of around 300 Mbps.
* Czech national transmission company Ceské Radiokomunikace a.s. launched a 5G broadcast trial in Prague, broadcasting TV and radio content, Broadband TV News reported.
* Finnish operator DNA Oyj expanded its 5G coverage to 145 new locations, including the towns of Taivassalo and Tammela, Telecompaper reported.
* T-Mobile Netherlands BV removed the monthly €2 5G service fee for all customers, as its Go Unlimited subscriptions already included the fee, Tweakers reported.
* Telenet subsidiary BASE will offer 5G starting April 18 to customers with compatible smartphones in the regions of Antwerp, Leuven and the Belgian coast.
* Smartphone-maker Guangdong Oppo Mobile Telecommunications Corp. Ltd., or Oppo, launched its 5G-enabled Reno7 smartphone in South Africa, Telecompaper reported.
Featured research
Wireless Investor: Global mobile index: Data and analyst commentary in the profiles of mobile communications markets cover spectrum, towers, 2G-5G subscribers, services and trials, historical and projected country-level subscribers, revenue and average revenue per user and historical operator-level metrics.
Economics of Internet: Understanding OTT video growth opportunities in Asia-Pacific: Some of the OTT growth areas that streaming services are keeping an eye on in the region include OTT aggregation from telco and pay TV operators; the rise of addressable advertising and connected TVs; the migration of sports rights to streaming platforms; and other potential streaming use cases for 5G.
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