• Connected cars are vulnerable to the same threats facing any Internet user or device
• Deutsche Telekom proposes its Car SOC to the industry, but as of today no one is responsible for protecting drivers from cyber attacks
Connected cars, like anything else using the Internet, are exposed to a range of vulnerabilities most drivers dare not even contemplate. Even without being connected, the digital technology in place is at risk from attackers, whether through the cloning of remote control key entry and engine starting, or from malware introduced to internal systems via infected diagnostic tools at the local garage. Continue reading “Deutsche Telekom’s Car SOC is Ready to Protect Drivers—Is the Auto Industry?”→
Kathryn Weldon – Research Director, Business Network and IT Services – Americas
ary Bullets:
• Mobile operators are hoping to generate substantial revenues from in-building 4G/5G networks; 5G in particular provides an opportunity to replace legacy WiFi and DAS systems and support both fixed and mobile use cases.
• However, private network initiatives from infrastructure vendors, coupled with a scramble for CBRS licenses, as well as DIY plans from companies and commercial landlords imply fierce competition for the operators. Can they win the battle?
Nearly every mobile operator touting future 5G use cases has discussed support for private “in-building” networks as a substantial opportunity, especially in industrial environments in which every machine and environmental parameter sensor will be connected and transmitting data in real-time. While some operators already offer private networks using 4G LTE, many are scoping out future 5G offerings which focus on IoT use cases in industrial environments. Continue reading “Are Private 4G/5G Networks a New Battleground for Operators?”→
Traditional thinking around campus networking as ‘wired’ and ‘wireless’ is holding back transformational change.
The business needs campus networks to be agile, secure, and operationally efficient, meaning wired and wireless networks must be considered as a whole rather than as individual parts.
We all need to begin thinking about the campus network as a holistic combination of LAN/WAN, wireline, and wireless access components, rather than as separate parts. For decades, we’ve looked at ‘wired’ and ‘wireless’ as separate and disparate buying decisions, sometimes even when purchased from the same vendor. As an industry, wired and wireless are still treated as separate markets: in analyst reports, in market shares, and by the press, customers, and vendors. Even the vendors on the forefront of combined campus networking still have separate engineering and sometimes even business units for these functions. The growing need to automate common tasks, apply policy across the network, and integrate security means we need an upgrade to how we think about campus networking. Continue reading “Traditional Thinking About the Campus Network Is Holding It Back”→
Maxis redefined its enterprise strategy to grow its business in the managed services market.
The provider needs to tackle the real needs of enterprises instead of just replicating best practices.
The practice of consumer telcos entering the enterprise managed service market is not uncommon, especially for telcos playing in a mature market. Telcos are looking to expand their revenue streams, as business from the traditional services (e.g., data, broadband, voice) is no longer growing. Maxis, a leading consumer mobile provider in Malaysia, started this journey as early as 2010, although the consumer mobile market was still growing at that time and there was no critical need for the service provider to look for new business areas. The move was mainly driven by technology leadership, following ‘best practice’ from other global leaders at that time. Today, while the provider is still playing in the enterprise managed service market, the driver has shifted from technology leadership/innovation to a real need to grow revenue in the segment and hence the overall business. Without much success in the past (with only 1.4% growth in 2017 and 3.1% decline in 2018), Maxis recently shared its new strategy to grow its enterprise service (managed services, cloud and IoT) by threefold in five years, focusing on leveraging connectivity assets and replicating industry best practice. While the strategy looks promising, will it work for Maxis in the Malaysia market? Continue reading “Will Maxis’ New Enterprise Strategy Work?”→
Telekom Malaysia (TM) survived a challenging 2018 with stable business performance despite a huge decline in net profit.
TM is expected to bounce back in 2019 with growth in enterprise, driven by PIP 2019 and a vertical focus.
2018 was a challenging year for telcos in Malaysia. The Mandatory Standard on Access Pricing (MSAP), set by the new government, has pushed down connectivity prices in the country. As the domestic fixed-line market leader with a connection share of 66% (source: GlobalData Malaysia Telecom Forecast Q4 2018), Telekom Malaysia was heavily impacted by this new regulation. The provider had to reduce its connectivity service price by around 40% whilst offering up to 10 times the speed for some of its packages in order to meet the new regulation. As a result, credit rating agencies such as Fitch revised the company’s outlook from ‘stable’ to ‘negative’ and the S&P changed TM’s profile from ‘intermediate’ to ‘modest’ last year. Its share price went down by 57.0%, from RM6.18 (at the beginning of 2018) to only RM2.66 at the end of the year. (It has gone back up since November and closed at RM3.18 on March 8, 2019.) Continue reading “Regulation Change Did Not Impact Telekom Malaysia’s Overall 2018 Business Performance, but Pushed TM to Accelerate Its Transformation”→
• Optus has partnered with Cisco to launch two new offerings at Cisco Live 2019 – Optus Cloud Calling (BroadCloud) and Managed Cloud networking (Meraki).
• The combination of NBN, LTE, SD-WAN, and cloud UC will meet the needs of many SMBs and branch office scenarios.
Optus and Cisco continue to strengthen their relationship. At the Cisco Live 2019 event in Melbourne, Australia, Optus was the key sponsor and it used the event to announce new Cisco-based solutions. The first solution is Optus Cloud Calling which is a unified communications (UC) service based on Cisco’s (formerly Broadsoft) BroadCloud platform. This is cloud-based UC solution hosted by Cisco. The service offers telephony, native mobility, and advanced conferencing and collaboration tools. BroadCloud is integrated with Webex solutions to assess audio/video conferencing and team collaboration applications. Optus Business is providing this service as a managed service bundled with its Evolved Voice SIP trunking and business mobile services. Continue reading “Optus and Cisco Join Forces to Target SMBs in Australia”→
Vocus’ results for the first half of the financial year do not look great. Revenue is stagnating and EBITDA is declining.
There is, however, some optimism as the company embarks on its three-year turnaround journey. The company has a new leadership team and its network assets remain a key differentiator.
Vocus has reported its results for the first half of the financial year (H1 FY 2019) and updated investors on the outlook for the company. Revenue for H1 FY 2019 was flat (growth of barely 1% YoY) and underlying EBITDA dropped 10% compared to H1 FY 2018. Consequently, underlying NPAT declined 29% and net leverage ratio increased to 3.1x. Net debt increased $88 million to $1,089 million. The company grew revenue from its New Zealand operations, its enterprise, government and wholesale (the bulk of the growth is from the project revenue associated with the construction of the Coral Sea cable system). However, the growth was offset by the decline in its retail business in Australia; consumer declined 12% and SMB declined 27%. Overall, the financial results are not looking too good for the first half of the financial year. Continue reading “Vocus Looks Like a New Company Starting Out on a Three-Year Turnaround Journey”→
IT services players must change their ways to be more effective partners to their clients.
At the NASSCOM Technology & Leadership Forum (NTLF) 2019, held in Mumbai, India in late February, Indian and international industry leaders shared best practices for managing AI’s impact on staff, reskilling teams, developing deeper customer relationships, and cultivating a culture that embraces change.
It’s not only about finding the right technology, curating large amounts of data, or identifying the best use cases. Successful AI depends on changing business processes. We often focus on the change that needs to take place at the enterprise, but what about the changes that IT services providers need to make in order to better serve their customers? IT services players must also change their ways to be more effective partners to their clients. Continue reading “At NASSCOM 2019, Executives Shared Best Practices for Addressing New Opportunities”→
While mobile operators certainly made a lot of announcements (and showed a lot of demos) about trials, use cases, and upcoming plans for 5G, there were also a lot of other topics on the table.
Other announcements focused not only on existing services (e.g., 4G, IoT), but also on changes deemed necessary for operators’ future success, focusing on collaboration, simplification, and internal transformation.
MWC was expected to focus on 5G, with new buildout plans and service trials, a sprinkling of new 5G devices, and titillating demos of AR/VR applications, AI-powered use cases, and self-driving cars. As expected, leading infrastructure vendors including Huawei, Nokia, Ericsson, and Cisco were touting 5G deals with leading operators and showcasing technology enhancements to support new 5G-powered applications. Continue reading “Operators at MWC: It’s Not Only About 5G”→
Dole Food is committed to IBM Food Trust to revamp its supply chain operations.
Hyperledger Fabric and Ethereum are moving towards interoperability via new alliance.
Industry travelers can no longer attend conferences or mega tradeshows such as this week’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona without being hit with the virtues of blockchain during keynotes and vendor demos. Earlier this month, a Dole Food Company executive offered a sobering account of just how intolerable the food supply chain has become among corporations running their operations on antiquated methods. Continue reading “Dole Provides Sober Perspective on Blockchain’s Importance in Avoiding Food Contamination”→
