Unlike Rakuten, most operators are burdened with legacy and must pay suppliers for network software. If the Japanese firm is struggling with margins, what hopes do its prospective customers have?
Also in today s EMEA regional roundup: CityFibre and Toob strike network-sharing deal; Nokia upgrades Balitower network; Prysmian settles patents dispute with FiberHome.
Open RAN that collection of obscure wireless networking specifications on Wednesday was the topic of another Congressional hearing. US lawmakers and executives from all over the world debated during a virtual event whether the technology could impact issues ranging from national cybersecurity to the digital divide.
It s no surprise though that open RAN continues to generate so much interest across so many areas of the telecom industry. After all, President Biden has proposed up to $100 billion for broadband across the US. And that s in addition to the billions of dollars already allocated for projects focused on helping poor Americans pay for Internet connections and funding the replacement of Huawei equipment in US networks.
There s plenty of talk about how edge computing could eventually change the very nature of the Internet s architecture by rerouting data traffic through smaller, local computing facilities instead of massive, far-flung data centers. Doing so, according to proponents, could give Internet services cat-like response times.
Already some massive telecom players have been investing in this opportunity. For example, AT&T and Verizon have begun lighting up public edge computing services with the likes of Microsoft and Amazon. Meantime, tower companies like SBA Communications have been purchasing data centers, while fiber providers like Lumen Technologies have been building out edge computing platforms with various partners such as IBM.