Optimistic 5G forecasts assume that telcos’ spectrum needs are met Ericsson recently predicted that by 2024 5G subscriptions will reach 1.9 billion, 35 percent of traffic will be carried by 5G networks and up to 65 percent of the global populati...read more
Huawei has dominated telecom news since the arrest last December of the Chinese vendor’s CFO in Vancouver. Since then, the US Commerce Department has restricted Huawei’s access to US-built tech components, including Google’s Android ecosystem. ...read more
For most of my career, I’ve been focused on the telecom industry and its components. I’ve been to dozens of telecom-focused conferences & exhibitions, in Asia and the Americas. I had never been to a consumer-focused show, though. In order to ...read more
Globally, operators are experiencing a rough patch, with sliding core revenues combined with an ongoing need to invest and maintain their networks. The wide usage of apps and services provided by OTTs, purchased easily from a smartphone or other devi...read more
Faced with tough competition and high debt, Indian telecom operators are spinning off their tower assets to investors or independent tower companies to improve their financial situation. The 2016 sale of Tata Teleservices’ tower business (Vio...read more
Fidelity’s “Communications Equipment” index is up nearly 11% so far this year, tracking just a few points behind the S&P 500’s YTD gain of about 15%. Looking ahead, though, the communications equipment sector remains challenged, something...read more
Reliance Communications’ (RCom) long-planned merger with Aircel, part of Maxis, fell apart last week in the face of legal and regulatory hurdles. This news comes as multiple operators in India are struggling with debt and declining margins. Both...read more
If you follow telecom closely yet haven’t heard of Comtech, that’s no surprise. Acquisition of TCS in 2016 doubled the company’s size Comtech Telecommunications Corp. is far smaller than the biggest vendors in the market (Huawei, Ericss...read more
Buying opportunities During the 2008-9 financial crisis, some wondered (including me) if the relatively flush Chinese operators would use the downturn as a buying opportunity into overseas telco markets. China Mobile seemed promising, given its (n...read more
Tata Group is looking for a clean break Tata Teleservices (TTSL) has family ties to one of India’s biggest industry groups, but that hasn’t helped it escape the “Jio effect” in recent years. With just 8.7 million subscribers and a (uni...read more