Networking

When we think about 5G, we think about the last mile: The actual 5G wireless technologies between our devices and the internet. But there’s another equally important part: The edge and cloud computing that connect the 5G access points with the rest of the internet. Now Google and Intel have joined forces to improve your edge software services once you’re hooked up with the internet.

As Shailesh Shukla, Google Cloud VP and Networking general manager, said, “We believe that by partnering across the telecommunications stack — with application providers, carriers and Communications Service Providers (CSP), hardware providers, and global telecoms — we can decrease the cost and time-to-market needed for the telecommunications industry to shift to cloud-native 5G, and open new lines of business for CSP as they deliver cloud-native 5G for enterprises.”
Special report: 5G: What it means for edge computing
How? By working with Intel to develop reference architectures and technologies to accelerate their deployment of 5G and edge network solutions. “5G,” said Dan Rodriguez, Intel corporate VP and general manager of the Network Platforms Group, “is driving a rapid transition to cloud-native technologies. Our efforts with Google Cloud and the broader ecosystem will help them deliver agile, scalable solutions for emerging 5G and edge use cases.” 
Specifically, they’ll be helping CSPs deploy Virtualized RAN (vRAN) and Open Radio Access Network (ORAN) solutions
VRAN you ask? In vRAN, the baseband unit, traditionally a digital signal processor that processes voice and data to smartphones and back again, is replaced by software running commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware. This enables CSPs to use generic software and hardware.
In Google and Intel’s plan, 5G vRAN will be deployed using Google Cloud’s Anthos application platform with Intel cloud-native platforms and solutions. On this platform, you’ll be running Intel’s FlexRay reference software. The win for CSPs here will include improved network performance and spectral efficiency, cost efficiencies, and flexible deployment models.

On the same platform, the pair will also use Intel’s cloud-native Open Network Edge Service Software (OpenNESS) deployment model. OpenNESS is a Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC) software toolkit. It enables highly optimized and performance edge platforms to onboard and manage applications and network functions with cloud-like agility across any type of network. 
The OpenNESS open-source distribution makes it easier for cloud and Internet of Things (IoT) developers to create edge computing applications. Specifically, it offers capabilities to speed up application development by:

Abstracting out the network complexity for Cloud and IoT developers making migration of applications from the cloud to the edge easier.

Enabling secure onboarding and application management with an intuitive web-based GUI.

Providing a modular, microservices-based architecture for building functionalities such as access termination, traffic steering, multi-tenancy for services, service registry, service authentication, telemetry, application frameworks, appliance discovery, and control. 

Finally, it’s built on top of consistent, standardized APIs.

It does this on top of Intel’s Data Plane Development Kit (DPDK) and Intel Xeon processors to make sure whatever you built on this all works in the field as expected from your testbed operations. The two also provide a Google Cloud-based Network Functions Validation Lab.
To back this up with both business and software support, Google also recently announced an initiative to deliver over 200 partner applications to the edge via Google Cloud’s network and 5G.
Sound interesting? Both Google and Intel will be happy to talk to you about how you can work with them to deliver your 5G applications to your customers.
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Australian carrier Vocus has reported recurring revenue increased by 2% to AU$896 million while underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) remained steady, hovering around AU$192 million, which the company credited to “disciplined overhead reductions”.
Underlying net profit after tax was AU$45.4 million, which was a 11% year-on-year dip.
Broken down by division, Vocus Network Services (VNS) chipped in AU$340.2 million of the carrier’s overall revenue, which was an 11% improvement from its performance in the year prior. This was primarily comprised of revenue from data networks, which accounted for 63% of VNS’ recurring revenues and 77% of its gross margin.
VNS’ EBITDA also increased by 8%, driven by higher margin data network revenues despite its large infrastructure revenue dropping from AU$25.5 million to only AU$1.4 million.
Vocus’ New Zealand arm also delivered growth in the half, with both revenue and EBITDA up by around 5%. The addition of Stuff Fibre helped its consumer and business division grow by 11%, with underlying EBITDA growing by 5% largely driven by growth in Ultra-Fast Broadband and the bundling of energy services.
Vocus Retail, however, continued to see its overall revenue decline. During the half, overall revenue dropped by 6% to AU$350 million. Retail’s EBITDA also declined 20%, which was slightly less than the 22% decline experienced in the year prior.
The company said it remained optimistic about its retail business as consumer revenue returned a 1% year-on-year growth.

“Vocus group and the Australian retail business can now see a clear path to an end of legacy products decline. Legacy gross margin in the half now represents 15% of the retail business; the majority of this lies within the small and medium business standalone voice products,” Vocus CFO Nitesh Naidoo said in the half-year results presentation.
“With consumer now returning to growth, there is a clear line of sight to a stable retail business.”
Providing an update about its New Zealand IPO at the results presentation, Vocus CEO Kevin Russell said the IPO is still on track to be completed by the end of the 2021 financial year. He added that the carrier is still planning to exit its New Zealand business post-IPO.
With Vocus currently in talks to be sold to Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets Holdings (MIRA), the carrier was scant in providing additional details about the proposed deal during the results presentation. 
Yesterday, the carrier revealed that Aware Super joined MIRA’s bid for the company under the same AU$5.50 per share terms.
“Vocus has been advised by MIRA that it has entered into a co-operation agreement with Aware Super … to progress its proposal via a consortium,” Vocus told the ASX.
“The consortium’s due diligence investigations are continuing. The Vocus board notes that there is no certainty that the proposal will result in a binding offer.”
Meanwhile, Webcentral, which is still being pursued by 5G Networks, reported in its interim results for the half year to December that revenue declined due to the impact of COVID-19 and poor customer experience, posting AU$31.5 million in total revenue, a drop of 15% year-on-year.
The company said poor customer experience was spread across three main areas: Support services, console experience, and technical stability.
“We’ve undertaken a number of initiatives to address these issues. Management is confident that revenue growth will return across all four core services as these short-term issues are resolved,” the company said.
Underlying EBITDA also more than halved year-on-year, going from AU$7.6 million to AU$3.7 million.
The 5G Networks deal has not yet been finalised as there is still a takeovers panel application being processed, which has impeded the deal from crossing the finish line.
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Image: Spark
Spark New Zealand reported its revenue decreased by 1.5% to around NZ$1.8 billion for the half year to December 31, attributing the drop to sustained COVID-19 border closures.
According to the telco, broadband and prepaid markets were heavily impacted by COVID-19 as approximately 44,000 fewer people migrated to New Zealand during the six months to December when compared to the period immediately prior. As a result, the telco’s mobile services revenue declined by 1.2% year-on-year to NZ$5 million.
Spark said it was optimistic about its mobile business’ future outlook, however, as mobile services revenue increased by 3.8% year-on-year when the impact of the loss of roaming is excluded.
“The broadband market was impacted during the half as COVID-19 border closures reduced the number of people moving to New Zealand and needing a connection. While this has impacted our growth aspirations in the short term, our longer-term wireless ambitions have not changed,” Spark CEO Jolie Hodson said.
“There remains a significant addressable market, which continues to grow as we roll out 5G, and precision marketing is helping us to identify customers who are best suited to wireless broadband and provide them compelling, tailored offers.”
Spark’s cloud, security, and service management business, meanwhile, continued to chug along, with revenue growing by 4.6% to NZ$229 million.
Despite the drop in overall revenue, earnings before finance income and expense, income tax, depreciation, amortisation, and net investment income (EBITDAI) remained flat at NZ$502 million as operating expenses decreased by NZ$30 million during the period.

Net profit after tax reduced by 11.4% to NZ$148 million, driven by a NZ$29 million increase in depreciation and amortisation charges which resulted from the shorter asset lives of new digital technologies, and an increase in depreciation related to customer and property leases. 
Looking ahead, Spark said it has revised its EBITDAI guidance as the implications of border closures have become clearer when compared to six months ago.
Spark’s FY21 EBITDA impact has now been set at NZ$50 million, down from the previous NZ$75 million estimate. As a result, Spark’s EBITDA guidance range has been changed to NZ$1.1 billion to NZ$1.13 billion. The guidance range was previously NZ$1.09 billion to NZ$1.13 billion.
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SpaceX’s satellite broadband service Starlink will begin delivering download speeds of 300 Mbps, or double the top speeds users can currently get on the beta service, at some point this year, according to its CEO Elon Musk.
The Starlink beta is advertised as having data speeds that vary from 50Mb/s to 150Mb/s and latency from 20ms to 40ms. It’s targeted at regional areas with poor coverage. Since October it’s been charging a fixed fee of $499 for the Wi-Fi router, power supply, cables and mounting tripod, and then a $99 monthly subscription for the satellite broadband service.  

ZDNet sister site CNET notes that SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has now said that Starlink will double the available speeds within the next year. 
SEE: IoT: Major threats and security tips for devices (free PDF) (TechRepublic)
Musk confirmed the speed boost in a tweet responding to a user who tapped Netflix’s broadband speed test site fast.com after installing the Starlink dish and reported a speed of 130 Mbps. 
“Speed will double to ~300Mb/s & latency will drop to ~20ms later this year,” Musk replied. 
Starlink users need to install a mobile app and ensure the Starlkink dish has a direct field of view to Starlink’s satellites.

“If any object such as a tree, chimney, pole, etc. interrupts the path of the beam, even briefly, your internet service will be interrupted,” SpaceX notes.   
Latency, a measure of how long it takes your internet signal to travel to space and back, will also drop to around 20ms this year, according to Musk. Latency of less than 100 ms was one of the key measures SpaceX had to reach in order to participate in the Federal Communication Commission’s up to $16bn Rural Digital Opportunity Fund. 
Starlink currently has over 10,000 users in its North American beta program, according to recent filings with the FCC. It’s also delivering services to users in the UK.
SEE: 10 tech predictions that could mean huge changes ahead
“Over 10,000 users in the United States and abroad are using the service today. While its performance is rapidly accelerating in real time as part of its public beta program, the Starlink network has already successfully demonstrated it can surpass the Commission’s “Above Baseline” and “Low Latency” performance tiers,” SpaceX said in the document. 
It claims to be able to meet or exceed 100/20 Mbps throughput to individual users, and attaining performance of 95% of network round-trip latency measurements at or below 31 milliseconds. It has also successfully tested a standalone voice service over the Starlink network.

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M1 has unveiled a new brand strategy that promises to deliver more personalised customer experience and services that more closely leverage its ties with parent company, Keppel. The move comes almost two years after the Singapore telco delisted and, during which, moved to a new technology that now runs 90% on the cloud. 
This was part of a various digital transformation initiatives that were necessary to enable M1 to transition from a pure mobile operator to a more wholistic technology provider, said its CEO Manjot Singh Mann, who was speaking to local media via video Tuesday. He championed the “brand refresh” as a way to “revolutionise” communications in Singapore with “made to measure” offerings, and address rapid shifts in customer behaviour as well as demand for service personalisation. 
It required significant transformation on M1’s part, including a move to a new digital tech stack that now ran 90% on the cloud, compared to 12% previously, and streamlining its applications to 30, down from 150 before. It also slashed more than 200 databases to a single centralised data lake. 

In response to ZDNet’s question on the challenges it faced prompting the transformation, Mann said M1 had “a long legacy” of disrupting the market, but the way technology developed over the years meant it did not have the best infrastructure to adapt to customers’ changing needs fast enough. 
The transformation was needed to provide more agility to create new services quickly and engage customers digitally, he said.
The new tech platform would provide real-time data analytics and deeper insights that better matched up to customers’ needs contextually and instantaneously. It also would facilitate a fully automated frontend offering more self-service options for customers as well as better integration with M1’s business partners, Mann added. 
“Now we have the ability to hyper-personalise products and services and business solutions more rapidly, accurately, and contextually, catering to customers’ specific needs,” he said, noting that the telco had delivered on its original goal of “linking anyone and anything, anytime and anywhere”. 

“Today, we want to be measured by a different and higher bar. We want to deliver products that are unique and as personal as they can get, bespoke and tailored…we want to be the brand that is made to measure,” the CEO said.
Apart from a redesigned website and mobile app, M1 is looking to do this through three new mobile plans — Bespoke Contract, Bespoke SIM, and Bespoke Flexi — the last of which is touted to allow customers to decide, amongst others, how much upfront payment they want to give, the device they want to purchase, and how much data or voice minutes they require.
In fact, some 6 million permutations could be created from the Bespoke Flexi service plan, Mann noted. “The idea here is that once we create this model, we can create ecosystems of other services that can be accessed through our app, which will be tailor-made and personalised for our customers.”
All nine M1 retail shops also were transformed to be in line with the new branding.
Betting on Keppel ties, product synergies
The rebranding is a culmination of a two-year journey that saw the Singapore telco’s delisting in March 2019 and buyout deal with Keppel, which has been a shareholder since M1’s inception in 1994. 
The second telco at that time, in a market held by incumbent Singtel, M1 had to be an “insurgent”. And as the market changed, M1 has had to reinvent itself and business, according to Keppel CEO Loh Chin Hua, who was also present at the media briefing, 
This need to transform led to the decision to delist, giving M1 a private setting to be remade, Loh said. 
In particular, he noted that connectivity was going to be an important growth engine for Keppel’s own Vision 2030 strategy. Here, M1 played a “pivotal role” alongside Keppel’s data centres. 
“More and more world is connected. You need data, and data needs to be stored and devices to be connected. You need to be able to provide data analytics and actionable insights. It’s clear to us connectivity is going to be a key growth sector for the group,” he said.
He said the two companies over the past two years had worked to identify potential areas to collaborate that included tieups with Keppel Electric and Keppel Offshore & Marine, the latter of which involved tests that used autonomous vessel technology on M1’s network. 
Such partnerships would further expand with the impending rollout of M1’s 5G standalone network, Loh said, adding that the group’s Vision 2030 strategy aimed to the organisation as an integrated business providing services on urban development, asset management, connectivity, and energy and environment.  
Products and services that both companies developed in Singapore could potentially be rolled out globally, he noted. He pointed to Keppel’s development of Saigon Sports City as a potential development testbed for smart urban products.
Mann added that Keppel provided an “in-house” lab that M1 could tap to develop use cases as well as test and learn how 5G could be used to build applications for various industry segments.
Loh said: “There are clearly opportunities for some of our painpoints to be shared with M1 and how M1 can provide potential solutions. Keppel will be the starting point and once we find appropriate 5G solutions for Keppel, our ambition is that this can then be rolled out to other players in the industry.”
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Spirit Technology, the company formerly known as Spirit Telecom, reported record results for the six months to December 31.
Total revenue for the company was up 253% to AU$44 million compared to the same time last year, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) spiked 320% to AU$2.6 million, and net profit shifted from a AU$700,000 loss to a positive AU$500,000.
The company’s revenue number consisted of AU$21 million from recurring revenue and AU$22 million allocated as solution and project revenue. The former was up 246% year-on-year and the latter increased by 132%.
Of its recurring revenue, data services had the largest share with AU$7.9 million recorded, AU$7.7 million was from managed services, AU$2 million was from cloud solutions, and almost AU$1 million was due to security services. From its more traditional offerings, the company had AU$2.4 million from voice services.
“It is particularly pleasing to deliver a profitable H1 21 in a period of investment in scaling up the business, building a national brand, and integrating multiple acquisitions,” managing director Sol Lukatsky said.
The company added its acquisitions were ahead of schedule.
Also providing first-half numbers on Tuesday was Superloop, which reported a 4.8% increase in revenue to AU$53 million and an almost doubling of EBITDA to AU$8.15 million. In net terms, the company posted another loss, this time closing the loss by 11.7% to AU$18.9 million.

Superloop said its connectivity revenue was up 15% to AU$30.2 million, while its broadband revenue jumped 27% to AU$18.5 million, and services revenue fell 55% to AU$4.5 million as it experienced an accelerated decline with the retirement of “non-core cloud managed services”.
The company said it added 9000 customers to its NBN plans during the period, but its guest Wi-Fi at student accommodation offering suffered as international borders remained closed due to the pandemic.
The company said it saw growth across its Australian, Singaporean, and Hong Kong-based core fibre connections as the segment reported a revenue increase of AU$5 million to AU$22.3 million, while home broadband jumped from AU$8.76 million for the first half last year to AU$14.9 million.
On Monday, Superloop also announced it had picked up a AU$25 million contact from MNF Group company Symbio to be the exclusive wholesale NBN aggregator.
“Under the contract, Symbio will migrate its existing and future supply arrangements from various providers of NBN aggregation services onto the Superloop Connect platform,” the company said.
“The contract also anticipates Superloop expanding its existing use of Symbio’s range of voice offerings and including elements within its own portfolio of offerings.”
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Following its series of acquisitions in the back half of 2020, Uniti Group now says it has transformed into a core infrastructure owner.
For its first half results to December 31, the company posted record revenue of AU$54.6 million, up 148% compared to last year. It also tripled earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) to AU$29.3 million which does not take into account shared based payments, acquisition, and restructuring costs.
During November and December, Uniti picked up Telstra Velocity for AU$140 million, paid AU$9.25 million for Harbour ISP, and ended the saga to acquire Opticomm.
Broken down by business unit, wholesale and infrastructure increased revenue from AU$6.6 million to AU$30 million with EBITDA growing from AU$4 million to AU$20 million. Extrapolating its December numbers, as well as adding some acquisition synergies and Telstra Velocity revenue, the company said it would see revenue of AU$141 million for a full year and EBITDA of AU$100 million. The unit has 438,000 connected premises on its wholesale networks, and a further 152,000 premises are slated to come online in the next five years.
The company said its market share in the full-fibre greenfields market stands just below the 20% mark.
In its consumer and business division, Uniti saw revenue increase 44% to AU$17.4 million and EBITDA drop 17% to AU$2 million. The EBITDA fall was pinned on having more customers on offnet infrastructure and the coupled increase cost of access. Using the December run rate figures, the company said it expects AU$52 million of revenue and AU$6 million in EBITDA.
For the communications platform-as-a-service segment, Uniti reported revenue increased 144% to AU$15 million and EBTIDA tripled to AU$10 million.

In terms of net profit, Uniti increased its final line item from AU$3.4 million to AU$17.3 million.
“We are today a core infrastructure business, generating operating free cash flow exceeding 60% of our earnings, after investing in the further expansion of our fibre telecommunications infrastructure,” group managing director and CEO Michael Simmons said.
“We are privileged to be in operating in a segment of the telecommunications industry experiencing once-in – a-lifetime favourable market and economic conditions and investing in fibre infrastructure, which delivers a highly demanded essential commodity to consumers and business, which is able to accommodate very long term demand growth with minimal incremental capital or operating expenditure.”
In the bidding war for Opticomm, Uniti stared down Aware Super, which on Wednesday was revealed to have joined the Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets Holdings (MIRA) bid for Vocus under the same AU$5.50 a share terms.
“Vocus has been advised by MIRA that it has entered into a co-operation agreement with Aware Super … to progress its proposal via a consortium,” Vocus told the ASX.
“The consortium’s due diligence investigations are continuing. The Vocus board notes that there is no certainty that the proposal will result in a binding offer.”
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Chorus on Monday reported net profit after tax (NPAT) of NZ$24 million and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) of NZ$323 million for the half year to December 31.
These were both year-on-year decreases from NZ$31 million and NZ$332 million, respectively, with Chorus attributing the drops to the continued migration of customers from legacy copper services to alternative networks in non-Chorus fibre network areas and fewer people migrating to fibre connections than expected as a result of COVID-19.
Operating revenue for the period was NZ$473 million, down from NZ$483 million, while operating expenses essentially remained flat at NZ$150 million. Depreciation and amortisation was NZ$209 million for the half and EBIT jumped by NZ$20 million year-on-year to NZ$114 million.
Network performance was steady, Chorus CEO JB Rousselot said, with fibre uptake improving from 60% to 63% with 62,000 fibre connections added during the six months, which brought the total of its fibre connections to 813,000. Of those connections, 17% were on gigabit plans, the telco said.
Across its wider footprint, the company now has almost 1.37 million fixed-line connections, a decrease of 50,000 from the year prior, along with 966,000 premises passed in total, meaning the Ultra-Fast Broadband (UFB) network is now 92% complete.
Rousselot added that the second phase of its UFB fibre build, UFB2, is still on track. In the six-month period, fibre was added to Fox Glacier, National Park, and Mokau.
“As in the larger centres, those upgrading to fibre in these communities can typically get fibre installed for free and comparison websites highlight the diverse range of sharp retail offers available to new fibre customers,” Rousselot said.

Chorus also announced it will start cutting copper services from September, with the switch-offs to first commence in areas where fibre uptake is “already high”.
Around 5,000 customers, which comprises less than 1% of Chorus’ copper network customer base, will have their services withdrawn by the end of the year. The decision to cut off copper networks was in response to the Commerce Commission’s final Copper Withdrawal Code being released in December, the telco said.
Customers using Chorus’ copper network will be given a six-month notification period before the first set of switch offs start in September.
“Outside of these limited initial trial areas, no one should feel under any pressure to move from copper. There is no overnight switch-off of the copper network. Our plans in the next 12 months are expected to affect less than 1% of the half million customers still on copper today,” Rousselot said.
For the year ahead, Chorus said its EBITDA guidance remained the same despite COVID impacts, but the company is tracking towards the lower half of the guidance’s range of NZ$670 million to NZ$700 million.
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