Networking

The HPE-owned company Aruba on Tuesday is rolling out a new networking solution that promises to bring office-level networking capabilities to home offices via a single Wi-Fi access point (AP).  The new EdgeConnect Microbranch solution is designed for hybrid work operations that require robust connectivity for at-home workers — such as contact center operations, telehealth, and IT management. The new service adds capabilities delivered through Aruba’s existing Remote Access Points (RAPs). It adds SD-WAN and SASE services to the capabilities RAPs already deliver, such as connectivity, identity-based access control, management, and analytics. With EdgeConnect Microbranch services, customers can use policy-based routing, which enables IT to optimize how application traffic is routed to a destination, to complement existing services such as Air Slice, which dynamically allocates AP radio resources to specific applications. For example, video conferencing call quality can be improved by prioritizing that traffic over video entertainment, and then routing the video conferencing traffic directly to a trusted SaaS vendor, bypassing an unnecessary trip to the data center for inspection.”While some may believe that the only network service that can be extended to the home office AP/router is security — and even that requires an extra box — EdgeConnect Microbranch demonstrates that, with a cloud-based approach, all critical network services can be extended to the home office solely through an access point,” Larry Lunetta, VP of Solutions Portfolio Marketing at Aruba, said in a statement. In addition to policy-based routing, the service delivers capabilities including tunnel and route orchestration, SASE integration to directly leverage cloud security services like Zscaler, and enhanced WAN visibility. The Aruba EdgeConnect Microbranch service is available in Early Access and will be generally available in March 2022 for any AP running ArubaOS 10 with a Foundation AP License.

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The rise of remote work has made one fact glaringly clear: If you work from home, you need a reliable, affordable, and user-friendly video chat app. Video chat apps are an excellent form of communication, whether it’s used for a job interview, a work meeting, or simply a hangout with friends. Poor connections, subpar audio, and frozen video, however, can all wreak havoc on your video calls. It makes finding the best video chat app challenging.Here are our picks for the best video chat apps in 2021. 

Best for gamers

Discord

CompatibilityAndroid, iOS, Linux, WindowsPriceBasic: FreeUpgraded: $9.99/mo. or $99.99/yr.At a glanceFounded in 2015, Discord boasts 150 million active users each month spread across 19 million active servers. The app holds four billion server conversation minutes each day. One reason is its wide availability, servicing 11 countries including Brazil, India, Russia, South Africa, and South Korea. It is especially popular with college students, and it’s used by over 200 colleges and universities. Discord offers a combination of communication services, including text and video chat. It has convenient features like screen-sharing and a way to see who in your network is available to chat in real-time. If you are looking for topic-specific resources, Discord organizes them neatly into a database, keeping everything you need readily available with just a touch of a button. With additional community management, you can moderate your space by assigning members specific roles or creating private channels just for leadership. Ever reliable, Discord also has excellent transparency, sharing real-time stats for all countries and third parties Cloudfare and Tax Calculation Service. When we checked, Discord’s servers showed the following: API: 99.5% uptimeMedia Proxy: 100% uptimePush Notifications:  100% uptimeSearch: 100% uptimeProsConsVery reliable servers with real-time reportingIndividual and team toolsTopic-specific channels and resourcesPaid plan required for extra featuresSet up can be trickyBusy interface can be difficult to navigate

Best for social media enthusiasts

Facebook

CompatibilityFacebook, Android, Instagram, iOS, Oculus, Portal, WhatsAppPriceFreeAt a glanceFacebook is the go-to social media app for millions of users across the globe, so its Messenger feature has become a regular way for users to interact with family, friends, and their local communities. Messenger offers text, voice, and video chat, plus the option to create or join exclusive Messenger Rooms. These Rooms offer a private space to have conversations, collaborate on projects, and hang out with friends. To personalize your experience, you can choose from fun filters and effects to bring some excitement to your chats. If you have guests to invite, you can share a link to your Messenger Room that allows them to join without a Messenger account. You do not need a Facebook account to use Messenger; you just need to sign up for a free Facebook Messenger account.ProsConsEasy social media integrationFree international callingCustomer service chatbot for business Well-publicized privacy concernsNotifications can be distractingDesktop app limits users in chat 

Best for Google devotees

Google

CompatibilityAndroid, iOS, Linux, Mac, WindowsPriceThere are three plans available for Google Meet, depending on your specific needs.At a glanceWith enhanced security measures, such as encrypted video conversations, Google Meet uses the same security protocols as Gmail and other Google services. It also benefits from Google’s impressive reputation, attracting clients like Airbus, BBVA, Salesforce, Whirlpool, and even Twitter. For the free account, Google Meet offers up to 100 guests with 60 free minutes, but you will need to upgrade your account if you want to take advantage of the additional features. That gives you access to meetings with guest lists of up to 250 people, plus screen-sharing capabilities to simplify presentations. It also has the capability of broadcasting live streams to up to 100,000 viewers, making it perfect for businesses and schools that offer frequent webinars. Google Meet offers the option of live captions through speech recognition technology with AI enhancements for enhanced clarity. Guests have the option to use Google Nest Hub Max to join a meeting, or they can access the audio-only format using a convenient dial-in number offered in the invitation.ProsConsWorks easily with Google SuiteAvailable closed captioningUnlimited meetingsMust have Gmail for video chatFree plan limits meeting timeMust upgrade for more participants

Best for confidential meetings

GoToMeeting

CompatibilityiOS, Android, WindowsPriceGoToMeeting offers several plans that you can choose from based on your specific needs. At a glanceAvailable in over 190 countries, video chat app GoToMeeting hosts over 80 million meetings each year. It boasts features like HD video and screen sharing with additional keyboard and mouse sharing. Up to 250 people can join meetings, and GoToMeeting will prepare reports and analytics afterward to help you improve before the next one. It also offers unlimited cloud recording and an available transcription service. GoToMeeting integrates with LogMeIn for its communication and collaboration tools, giving account owners the option to assign roles and restrict access. Hosts have peace of mind with 99.95% service uptime and enhanced security measures with encrypted meetings. There is no reason to worry about accessibility because users do not need to download software to join a meeting. Commuter mode allows you to join meetings from the road due to its enhanced audio and background noise suppression that features VoIP and Toll. ProsCons99.95% service uptimeEncrypted meetingsNo account necessary Minimal integrationsSome lagging connection issuesLong-distance calls subject to restrictions

Best for corporate groups

Microsoft

CompatibilityAndroid, iOS, WindowsPrice Microsoft Teams is available in a free version for individual use with the option for paid personal and business plans.At a glanceMicrosoft Teams is known as one of the best video conferencing apps for both businesses and schools, and it has over 250 million users. You still have text, voice, and video chat, but it goes one step further to offer advanced tools that encourage collaboration, file-sharing, and integrations with popular apps. Cloud storage keeps all of your information safe and easily organized.In addition to its business tools, Microsoft Teams has tools for personal and home use. Lounge mode is available for more casual hangouts; you can join family and friends at a virtual cafe. You can also have fun and add a splash of personalization with features like emojis, memes, and GIFs. Under the free account, you can meet for up to 60 minutes.NOTE: In light of COVID-19, Microsoft Teams has temporarily extended meeting times to 30 hours each. You can either use Microsoft Teams as part of Microsoft 365, or you can create a free Teams account. There’s also an option to invite people without a Teams account to join Microsoft Teams video chats.  ProsConsIntegrates with Microsoft OfficeIncludes presentation modeCloud transcription storageLimited minutes with free plan Better suited toward teamsHigh system requirements

Best for families

Skype

CompatibilityAlexa, Android, iOS, Linux, Windows, XboxPriceWhen you use the Skype-to-Skype calling feature, calls are free. You will need a subscription, however, if you want to call a mobile phone or landline. Skype offers several plans based on where in the world you want to call, and they all have a free one-month trial.At a glanceSkype has long been the go-to for video chat, and it still continues to improve upon its model. It recently revamped its messaging, featuring improved speed and reliability with a more modern interface. It’s available as an app and as a fully-powered browser version.Skype offers features like call recording, live subtitles, and end-to-end encryption to secure your conversations. If you need to find media you shared, there is a helpful Media Gallery with a search function for your previous conversations. Skype assigns you a personal invitation link that will never expire, making it significantly easier to meet with the same people over and over. It’s free to call other Skype users, with calls available for up to 24 hours each. However, rates will apply when calling landlines or mobile numbers. You can also add a local phone number in your choice of area code or country, so you can get your calls on Skype. ProsConsMultiple video and text chat optionsEasily connect with Skype communityQ&A session capabilityLong-distance and international calls extraCalls can blur and dropTechnical glitches fairly common

Best for international communication

WhatsApp

CompatibilityAndroid, iOS, Mac, WindowsPriceFreeAt a glanceWhatsApp has made a name for itself in the international arena with its worldwide calling and video chat. Today, it has more than two million users across more than 180 countries. Created as an SMS alternative, WhatsApp far exceeds the capabilities of the standard text messaging service. It offers enormous chats with up to 256 people, which is far more than the average competitor. Security concerns are soothed by the built-in end-to-end encryption for secure messaging and video chats. If you prefer to move your data to your personal computer or phone, WhatsApp makes it easy to make transfers with its sync option, allowing PDFs, slideshows, and spreadsheets up to 100 MB. A convenient extra feature is the optional Disappearing Messages mode that will automatically delete messages after your choice of either 24 hours, 7 days, or 90 days.Also available is WhatsApp Business, which is free to download and offers an excellent forum to advertise your products. It integrates with your Facebook storefront for easy maintenance, and you have the option to create an exclusive WhatsApp QR code for customer and staff communication. Plus, added tools make it easy to respond to customers instantly and sort previous messages.WhatsApp is free when you message family and friends, even for international calls. It is also free for businesses. ProsConsUser-friendly formatLive location trackingEnd-to-end encryptionNo secret messagingLimited file sizes for sharingNot available in all countries

How did we choose these products?Video chat apps pop up all the time, but they do not always deliver the reliability, performance, and consistency users need. When choosing the best video chat apps, we considered these factors:Cost: While some video chat apps are free, others may require a paid plan or charge on a per-minute basis. Compatibility: We focused on video chat apps that work with most popular devices.Features: User favorites, like fun GIFs, automatic syncing, and closed captioning, helped us narrow down the options.Security: Private information is exchanged over these apps, so we took security protocols, such as end-to-end encryption, into consideration.Which video chat app is the right one for you?It can be hard to differentiate between all of the video chat apps available, so consider our expert recommendations to help you decide. You should also look at the factors listed above and decide which ones are important to you.
What is a video chat app?

A video chat app is an internet-based service that offers text messaging and video chatting options, either in one-on-one or group formats.

Why should I use a video chat app?

A video chat app helps you spend face-to-face time with your loved ones. Many companies also use video chat apps for employee interviews and meetings, while schools use them for webinars and lectures.

What is the best video chat app?

The best video chat app depends on your specific needs. For example, if you have a lot of family abroad, it’s important to find a video chat app with free or cheap international calls. This list of 2021’s best video chat apps is a great place to start.

Are there alternatives worth considering?In our search for the best video chat apps, we came across several options that may also be worth your consideration.For more tools to equip your home or office, consider our picks for the best video conferencing apps, best smart displays, and the best webcams!

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Just as The International School of Yangon (ISY) in Myanmar was preparing to reopen and return to face-to-face learning following COVID-19 lockdowns, the country was forced to grapple with widespread political unrest after military forces seized control in a coup d’état on February 1.For an initial period, it was relatively peaceful, but that all changed when the army was deployed, John Whalen, director of health, safety and security at ISY, told ZDNet, describing how he periodically heard gunfire and explosions from his house in Yangon.”It was almost like the gloves were off and that’s when there were nighttime raids, shootings at checkpoints, lots of arrests … it was bad. [The military] was cracking down on the actual protests, so you had an armed army going after unarmed civilians,” he said.In the wake of the military coup, the ISY was forced to reconsider the way its 200-plus faculty and staff would communicate during such emergencies.”For the past couple of years, we have been, as a school, discussing various mechanisms to communicate in case of emergency and had never really come up with [one]. We’ve come up with a lot of solutions, but not really the ideal solution,” said Whalen, who was formerly head of the Office for the US Drug Enforcement Administration in Yangon.”At the time, and up until the coup happened, our solution was a WhatsApp group. It’s very simple and the level of security on it is not great … of course, we also have school emails and we put out email blasts. “But what we were really looking for was something that we could get something out and not only be able to broadcast out, but also have some sort of accountability as well. Knowing where people are was important and knowing whether or not people are in trouble was important.”

The other consideration as part of this upgrade, according to Whalen, was to look for an alternative that was not dependent on the internet. Following the military coup, the country suffered internet and phone disruptions. The country’s telco giant Telenor Myanmar then confirmed it was ordered by the Myanmar Ministry of Transport and Communications to temporarily shut down its data network in Myanmar, while voice and SMS services remained open. “Initially, when the coup happened, the internet was up and running … but at some point, they took mobile data down because the military realised everybody was communicating on Facebook, WhatsApp … but [the faculty] still had access to the internet using foreign SIM cards … and our school still had fixed fibre,” Whalen said.While leveraging mesh networking could have been an option, Whalen said getting the right equipment would have been “almost impossible”. The other solution, which was what ISY opted for, was Blackberry’s AtHoc critical event management platform that coincidentally was also a system that was used by his former workplace, the US Embassy, in Yangon. “I’m sitting having lunch with a friend of mine from the US Embassy and he starts getting an alert on his phone and the US Embassy was using that system, so he showed it to me and so that kind of sold me on the demonstration,” he said. ISY rolled out the system just as ISY staff were being evacuated out of the country in March. “We didn’t have a chance to really use it that much, but it did give me an opportunity to test it with our local staff, which we continue to do,” Whalen said. “Even though I’m [in the US] at the moment, we’re using it now for … informational news segments of what’s actually happening within the country, so that when our local staff returns there, they have some situational awareness of what’s going on.”Using the AtHoc system, the messages are being delivered in various formats, including email, SMS, through the AtHoc app, and as phone calls. These messages are also being sent in Burmese, Whalen added. With hopes that ISY will see all faculty return to Yangon and in-person learning resume by January, Whalen wants to incorporate the AtHoc system to be able to track student school buses.”When everybody is back, and with everything that’s going on, we’re going to be very attentive to making sure that we can account for everybody all the time,” he said.Related Coverage  More

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The AU$79.7 million in net profit that Cisco Australia claimed last year has been shown in its most recent financials to have had no basis in reality, with the local arm of the networking giant actually posting a AU$16.7 million loss. On 31 January 2020, Cisco Australia purchased Zomojo, which traded under the Exablaze label and designed and built field programmable gate array network devices, for AU$118 million. It included four entities — Zomojo, Zomojo Services, Exablaze, and Zomojo Staff Holdings — which became subsidiaries of Cisco Australia. On 18 November 2020, Zomojo Staff Holdings was deregistered from Australian Securities and Investment Commission, and Zomojo Services followed on 25 March 2021. In stating its latest earnings, Cisco said it needed to restate the carrying value of Zomojo as of its 2020 year end. “During the period it was discovered that impairment charges over the carrying value of the investment in subsidiaries had not been recorded appropriately and accordingly the carrying value of investment in Zomojo of has been restated from AU$116,206,000 to AU$28,037,000 as at 25 July 2020,” it said. “Additional impairment charges of AU$88,168,000 recognised in the comparative period have resulted in the net profit for the period ended 25 July 2020 of the Parent entity being restarted from AU$68,467,000 to a net loss for the period of AU$19,701,000.” That was not the only restating Cisco Australia needed to make for 2020, as a review of its transfer pricing policies found incorrectly values there as well. Consequently, Cisco Australia restated its 2020 revenue was AU$5.7 million lower, had AU$39.6 million increase in cost of sales, and paid AU$13.6 million less in income tax. For its 2021 fiscal year that ended on July 31, Cisco Australia reported revenue was down by AU$121 million to AU$1.87 billion, consisting of AU$1.08 billion in product revenue, which was down from AU$1.21 billion, and service revenue of AU$466 million which represents a AU$31 million increase on 2020.

With much lower impairment expenses in 2021, pre-tax profit was reported as AU$55 million and after a AU$17 million income tax charge, gave net profit of AU$37.8 million. Cisco Systems Australia has an immediate parent of Cisco Systems Netherlands Holding B.V. before reaching its ultimate parent Cisco Systems Inc in the United States. In 2021, Cisco Australia paid a AU$70 million dividend to its owners, compared to AU$43.4 million paid out last year. Over the course of the year, Cisco Australia was charged a total of AU$1 billion in service fees and cost of sales expenses by its parents and related parties, with AU$299 million flowing in the opposite direction to the Australian arm, both numbers are down on last year. The company said it also purchased over AU$45 million in “various goods and services” from its ultimate parent and related entities throughout the fiscal year. As of July 25, Cisco Systems Australia had 1,392 employees, a mild increase on last year’s 1,378, however its wages and salaries line item grew from AU$395 million to AU$410 million. Related Coverage More

Huawei Technologies is keen to tap growing demand for clean energy and IT sustainability, as organisations and nations across the globe set carbon neutrality goals. The Chinese technology giant has carved out a new subsidiary with dedicated resources to develop low-carbon systems, which can be deployed in various market segments such as data centres and electric vehicles.Set up in June 2021, Huawei Digital Power Technologies is tasked with driving clean energy and the digitalisation of traditional energy, It will work to build products that integrate digital and power electronics technologies, said Sun Bohan, Asia-Pacific president of Huawei Digital Power, in a video interview with ZDNet.He noted that carbon neutrality had become a shared target for more than 140 markets, of which 12 had issued new laws to achieve their goals, while four had proposed similar legislations and another 37 had issued related policies. 

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These global targets as well as market demand had guided Huawei Digital Power to work on products that facilitated low-carbon environments across different scenarios, including green data centres, cities, campuses, buildings, and factories,  Sun said. He noted that 60% of Huawei’s overall research and development (R&D) team are part of Digital Power. Setting up a separate business unit enabled the vendor to establish specific R&D work and integrate product features that catered to specific deployment requirements across various markets, so they could better meet their carbon neutrality targets, he said. Asked about the subsidiary’s revenue and customer base since its inception in June, the Huawei executive declined to provide details, but said he hoped to provide some indicative figures next year.  Speaking at COP26 last month, Huawei Digital Power’s vice president and CMO Fang Liangzhou said technology advancements were integral to combating climate change and decarbonisation. 

He noted that electricity and transportation were amongst the main sources of global carbon emissions, accounting for 40% and 21%, respectively, of total emissions. Citing figures from International Energy Agency, Fang added that the ICT industry consumed 4% of global electricity. This underscored the importance of low-carbon power generation and electric energy consumption in achieving carbon neutrality, he said, adding that Huawei Digital Power aimed to drive clean power generation. This included smart photovoltaic (PV) systems designed for renewable energy technologies such as solar, wind, and energy storage. According to Sun, the Chinese vendor currently is working with several customers in this region on the development of smart PV farms. In Singapore, for example, Huawei’s string inverters were installed on Sunseap Group’s floating solar platform, next to the PV panels, which bypassed the need for a direct current (DC) cable line and DC combiner boxes. This reduced costs and deployment time, Huawei said. The five-hectare Sunseap floating solar farm comprises 13,312 panels, 40 inverters, and more than 30,000 floats. It is projected to generate up to 6.02 million kWh of energy per year, enough to power 1,250 four-room HDB flats in Singapore and offset  an estimated 4,258 tons of carbon dioxide. Huawei Digital Power also recently inked a deal with Thai conglomerate Charoen Pokphand (CP) to install PV panels on the rooftops of 1,300 7-Eleven stores. CP is the sole operator of the convenience stores in Thailand. Towards zero-carbon data centresAsked what were key barriers to achieving carbon neutrality, Sun said the long process of developing and replacing traditional energy with clean energy alternatives would prove challenging for many markets, especially developing nations. He added that the cost of producing clean energy components, especially solar and wind, would need to be reduced to accelerate adoption. Noting that the cost of materials had increased recently, he said the price of PV panels, for instance, had more than doubled year-on-year and this had a significant impact on the industry. He also pointed to the need to bring down the cost of energy storage systems, so the industry could move from unstable to stable power, which was an important component for clean energy materials. Developing low-carbon energy sources and technologies that consumed less power were key to achieving carbon neutrality targets, Sun said, adding that this drove much of Huawei Digital Power’s research efforts. Data centres, in particular, was a key focus, as these facilities consumed large amounts of electricity and more would need to be built to support growing adoption of online services, he said. Power tariffs and energy consumption account for more 60% of the overall cost of running a data centre, he added.Responding to ZDNet’s question on whether it was possible to operate zero-carbon data centres, Sun said the key catalyst for this would be the ability to power these facilities completely on clean energy such as solar or wind. However, he noted that Huawei’s internal research revealed it currently would require significantly large hectares of PV plants just to power one data centre. While existing technology meant it would be challenging to run zero-carbon data centres, he said this might be possible in future as the technology continued to advance. Overall efficiencies of operating these sites and system-level capabilities also would need to be improved, he added. Artificial intelligence (AI), for instance, should be tapped to help enhance operational efficiencies and reduce energy consumption. He noted that telcos currently use AI to better optimise their base stations to user demand, hence, reducing power consumption and cutting their annual electricity tariffs by 15% to 17%. In addition, systems deployed in data centres could be more compact, with higher density, so the overall efficiencies of a data centre could be improved. According to Huawei, as of June 2021, it helped its customers generate 403.4 billion kWh of green power, save 12.4 billion kWh of electricity, and reduce carbon emissions by 200 million tons.RELATED COVERAGE More

Amazon Web Services on Thursday launched a preview of AWS Cloud WAN, a service to build, manage, and monitor global private wide area networks (WAN) using AWS. The service is for organizations that need to manage globally dispersed networks. “Imagine you’re a large global company with dozens of manufacturing sites round the world… — you need to connect them all to AWS,” Amazon CTO Werner Vogels said during his re:Invent keynote address. Cloud WAN provides a central dashboard where customers can define network policies for a global network spanning multiple locations and networks. Customers can specify whether their Amazon Virtual Private Clouds (VPCs) and on-premise locations should connect through AWS VPN or third-party software-defined WAN (SD-WAN) products. Cloud WAN “actually builds it for you in minutes using the big AWS backbone for you, to give you a highly reliable, highly available, software-defined wide area network running over AWS infrastructure,” Vogels said. Customers also segment pieces of their SDN, creating one network, for example, for manufacturing sites and one for offices. These segments would not be able to communicate with each other unless explicitly allowed. The service includes a dashboard for monitoring network health, security, and performance.

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One of the notable announcements at Amazon Web Services’ re:Invent 2021 conference today was the unveiling of AWS Private 5G, a fully-managed service enabling businesses to deploy their own high-capacity mobile networks. The service is designed to be used inside buildings as an augmentation of — and eventual replacement for — Wi-Fi. 

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Businesses have a strong interest in 5G, but the deployment model is challenging. Racking and stacking equipment from carrier-class companies is overkill for most businesses and takes months to get up and running. Using a service provider might be easier, but that has its challenges — such as data ownership, the cost of the service, and the carrier’s footprint. A better approach is private 5G, where the IT department can deploy and manage the networks itself, but few options have been available. Until now.The newly announced Private 5G product is a turnkey service that’s managed through the AWS console. Users specify where they want to build a network and what capacity is needed, and AWS ships the required hardware and SIM cards. The network auto-configures and can be used anywhere from traditional corporate offices to factory floors to large campuses. As is the case with all things AWS, the company has attempted to take the complexity and unnecessary costs out of the infrastructure they sell. The portal-based approach removes the long planning cycles and multi-vendor integrations usually required. As for costs, AWS has disrupted markets with utilization-based pricing, and they’re doing the same here. Provision as many devices as needed, pay only for bandwidth

Customers can provision as many 5G connected devices as they want, they will only pay for the bandwidth they use. The traditional pricing model would be a per-SIM fee, but that can be highly inefficient for IoT because many devices use very little bandwidth. For example, a connected industrial copier might only send toner volumes once a day. With a per-month cost model, the business may be paying $10 per month. With capacity pricing, this cloud costs as little as a couple of cents a day. During his first re:Invent keynote as CEO, AWS’s Adam Selipsky talked about the importance of this approach. “AWS Private 5G is a one-stop shop to manage private cellular networks,” Selipsky said. “It lets customers start small and scale up as needed with a pay-as-you-go pricing model. You just pop the SIM cards into your devices and, voila, everything is connected.”As is the case with most AWS technologies, one of the first customers is Amazon itself. The Private 5G service is used in the Amazon Fulfillment Centers (FCs) to speed up product delivery. 

Amazon uses robots to scan packages and manage millions of items daily. Before 5G, the company had to deploy Wi-Fi; while that technology is common, it’s notoriously flaky. It can also be expensive to extend to outdoor locations, since it requires cables and power lines to be run to light poles to connect the APs. With 5G, outdoor small cells can be mounted in the corner of a warehouse, for example, making deployment faster but also resulting in more consistent performance. Cellular is considerably more reliable than Wi-Fi. At re:Invent, AWS also announced Private 5G networks for Koch Industries and Dish Network. There weren’t many details on the deployments, but both companies talked about wanting the benefits of 5G without the deployment headaches. In the short term, I do not expect private 5G to “globally displace Wi-Fi” as Pat Gelsinger predicted in his last VMworld keynote. I do expect to see it being used in mission-critical environments where Wi-Fi is too unreliable; 5G also will take wireless to places where Wi-Fi cannot be easily extended.Long term, as the cost of SIM-connected devices decreases and eSIMs become more common, the industry could see an even bigger move from Wi-Fi to 5G. Stay tuned.

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Image: Starlink
The India Department of Telecommunications has warned its citizens on Friday evening not to purchase Starlink services as SpaceX is not licensed to sell satellite internet on the subcontinent. The warning was issued after the department noted that SpaceX was pre-selling Starlink services in India on its site. “Accordingly, the government has asked the company to comply with the Indian regulatory framework for rendering the satellite based communication services and refrain from booking/rendering the satellite internet services in India with immediate effect,” it said. “Given the fact that Starlink is not a licensee, the public is advised not to subscribe to Starlink services being advertised.” During 2021, SpaceX has missed its own deadlines for September and October to exit its beta phase. The company currently states that users should “expect” speeds of 100Mbps to 200Mbps down, and latency of 20 milliseconds “in most locations”. Sometime next year, Japanese telco KDDI is set to use Starlink to provide backhaul service for some of its mobile towers.

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