Nokia said Wednesday that it's working with Datwyler IT Infra, Intel and the Switzerland Innovation Park Biel/Bienne on an industrial testbed allowing startups and nonprofits to trial real-time AI and private 5G solutions without infrastructure costs. “The new trial site enables several industrial use cases, including predictive maintenance powered by real-time analytics to minimize downtime and material waste, push-to-talk and video communication tools to keep teams connected without on-site travel and AI-enhanced safety monitoring to improve situational awareness and worker safety.”
Failure to tackle digital transformation could cost the EU more than $1.5 trillion in lost GDP by 2033, Vodafone said in a report released Sunday. The report, titled “A Bridge Across Communities,” said Europe’s “entrenched digital divide -- from gaps in skills and coverage to unequal access to devices and digital public services -- is now a strategic vulnerability for the continent’s economy, society, and democratic resilience.” While connectivity has become “as fundamental to daily life as electricity or heating, millions remain excluded,” with 44% of EU citizens lacking “basic digital skills” and 20% of rural households still without 5G coverage last year.
Nokia announced Friday the opening of an R&D and manufacturing campus in Oulu, Finland, where it will “design, test and deliver next-generation networks built for AI.” The new campus is “home to around 3,000 experts and boasts some of the world’s most advanced radio network laboratory and manufacturing technology.”
Roughly $4 billion worth of submarine cable projects worldwide are expected annually for the next three or so years, TeleGeography analyst Lane Burdette said Thursday. Speaking on the TeleGeography Explains the Internet podcast, Burdette said there are more than 70 systems planned for the next several years. Who builds those networks has changed over the past 15 years, she noted: Around 2010, internet backbone providers such as AT&T used 75% of international capacity and were the builders of most subsea cable projects. They often collaborated on those projects, pooling costs and splitting the capacity, Burdette said. Today, edge providers are using 75% of that international capacity and often are building submarine cable systems by themselves to meet their massive bandwidth needs, instead of in consortia, she said. Burdette added that a trans-Atlantic system of 7,000 kilometers could cost $250 million, while a trans-Pacific system could cost $400 million.
Indiana Gov. Mike Braun (R) on Wednesday directed the state's Office of the Utility Consumer Counselor to "evaluate utilities' profits and find cost-saving measures," adding that Abby Gray will serve as the office's next commissioner. "I would also like to see the utilities' investors bear more of the cost of doing business," Braun said.
Mavenir said Tuesday it completed the launch of a converged charging system for Setar, the telecom provider for Aruba. Setar will use the system to offer a “charging as a service” solution for mobile operator KLA in Bonaire, a neighboring island. The “open and interoperable system” replaces Setar's “legacy, island-specific charging infrastructure with a unified, multi-tenancy system,” Mavenir said.
Distributed-denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks saw an “unprecedented escalation” in the first half of the year, with more than 8 million recorded, NetScout said in a report released Wednesday. The attacks are becoming “precision-guided weapons of geopolitical influence, capable of destabilizing critical infrastructure at the most crucial moments,” the report said. The India-Pakistan conflict saw groups “target the Indian government and financial sectors in May, while the Iran-Israel conflict generated more than 15,000 attacks against Iran and 279 against Israel in June.”
The U.S. and the E.U. agreed to address digital trade barriers as part of a joint statement released Thursday. The agreement laid out in more detail the informal arrangement made between President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at an impromptu summit in July.
China's State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) disputed proposals in the FCC’s “bad labs” Further NPRM in a filing posted Wednesday in docket 24-136 (see 2508190051).
Canada's Rogers on Tuesday unveiled Rogers Satellite, its direct-to-device service. It said that a beta version of the service is available free to all Canadians and that the service -- which currently supports texting, including text-to-911 -- will expand to support apps, data and voice service. It said the beta trial will end in October and then be available at no additional cost for Rogers Ultimate Plan subscribers and $15 monthly for other Canadians. Rogers told us Wednesday it's taking a multi-vendor approach regarding low earth orbit satellite services, with the launch of Rogers Satellite coming via SpaceX's Starlink. It said it plans to work with other satellite-to-mobile vendors, including Canadian ones, as the technology advances.