Telecom Ramblings

This article was authored by Jouko Ahvenainen, and was originally posted on telecomasia.net.

When you start a new business or go to work in an industry or business sector that is new to you, one challenge is to understand the ecosystem. What all different roles are in the ecosystem, who are the key players, what would your role be, who is more a [Read more →]

It’s time for a set of quick takes on news from the first part of this week: [Read more →]

Two months ago, we learned that Hutchison Whampoa was making a bid for Telefonica’s O2 in a bid to take the market leadership spot in the UK.  It seems the due diligence went well, as the word now is that an announcement of a finalized £10.5B deal is in the offing. [Read more →]

As expected, emerged challenges to the FCC’s implementation of Net Neutrality regulations via Title II have emerged. Yesterday two petitions were filed in two different federal courts.  [Read more →]

EdgeConneX continued the rapid expansion of its data center footprint this morning with plans to go live in Q2 with three new facilities down in Florida. They’ll be bringing edge data centers online in Miami, Tallahassee, and Jacksonville.  [Read more →]

Today we’re going to look at the side of telecom and fiber that by some measures we hear from the most, and yet by others also the least.  It has now been 10 years since Jaymie Scotto Cutaia founded the marketing, PR, and event planning firm JSA.  Focusing from the beginning on the telecom sector, she and her team have played an outsized role in driving the sea change in public perception about the infrastructure it depends on.  But do you know what she herself thinks?  I thought it was about time I asked: [Read more →]

Three new job listings this past week on the Ramblings Jobs board. I’m currently upgrading the jobs board with a few new features, a process which has led to a few bugs.  All should be in good shape now though! [Read more →]

Now that the FCC has applied Title II to the internet in order to enforce network neutrality and the dust has had a week or so to settle, it’s time for a Friday poll.  Not about network neutrality directly though, I’m curious about whether readers think using Title II to get it done is going to have other negative impacts beyond the intended regulatory scope of the current FCC chairman and his allies. [Read more →]

The city of Peterborough in eastern England has a newly operational core fiber network to get use to using. CityFibre has completed the construction of its 90km buildout there, starting off by hooking up 107 public sector sites for the city’s IT services arm, Serco. [Read more →]

Zayo announced an agreement with Interxion this morning, through which they will expand their fiber network into Interxion Dublin. The move takes advantage of the dark fiber route to Ireland they acquired in the deal for Geo a little less than a year ago, and which they just lit up just last month. [Read more →]

Now that the details on FCC’s new network neutrality are out, the aftermath is getting interesting. It was clear that Obama’s choice to come out in public support of applying Title II to the internet was a key moment, but according to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s testimony before Congress the effect was indirect. [Read more →]

Vendors have been busy around the world this week, here’s a quick look at several items of interest: [Read more →]

The pan-European fiber operator Interoute added a bit more fiber to its network at its southern frontier this  morning.  They’ve added a new route to the rest of Europe from their landing stations in Mazaro del Vallo on the island of Sicily and Bari on the Adriatic Sea. [Read more →]

Here’s a quick look at some interesting news from the data center world over the past few days. [Read more →]

China’s telecommunications market is immense, but has been a tough nut to crack for outsiders.  This morning, Ericsson has taken another swing at it with a definitive agreement to acquire Sunrise Technology. [Read more →]

Vonage has made another acquisition, as the company continues to expand its presence in the business market.  They have announced an agreement to acquire the privately-held UCaaS provider SimpleSignal for $25.25M. [Read more →]

As last week ended, some major competitive fiber M&A news came out down in Australia. TPG plans to buy iiNet in a AU$1.4B deal that could create a stronger #2 to the incumbent, Telstra just as the evolving NBN attempts to level the playing field. [Read more →]

This article was authored by John C. Tanner, and was originally posted on telecomasia.net.

If we learned anything at this year’s Mobile World Congress, it’s this: 5G, the Internet of Things and net neutrality are more deeply interconnected topics than you might have previously thought. [Read more →]

Yesterday the FCC finally gave us the details on its big move to enforce network neutrality by selectively applying Title II.  The 400 page order was more about rationale and objections than actual rules (just 87 of them).  And of course it was immediately followed by a variety of opinions, most of which were surely written in advance.  Here’s a quick selection, accompanied by my translation of the lawyer-speak into English: [Read more →]

Reports this morning suggest that Charter has found a new target for its consolidation goals. They are said to be in talks to acquire Bright House Networks in a deal that could be worth $12B. [Read more →]

In what will probably become a familiar type of press release this year, a service provider is launching NFV service to the enterprise. In this case, it’s CenturyLink making its move, and it is a big Tier 1 win for Cyan. [Read more →]

Two metro fiber contracts, some subsea backhaul, and a contract over in Iraq for this Thursday morning: [Read more →]

After a quiet spell following the acquisition and integration of Sidera, Lightower has made another inorganic move at last. They’ve acquired ColocationZone out in Chicago, giving their metro customers there some new options for connectivity. [Read more →]