Telecom Vendors

Nokia showcased the use of drones to facilitate efficient rescue operations for first responders at the third consecutive UAE Drones for Good showcase held in Dubai Feb. 17-18 in Dubai Internet City. The Finnish vendor's low weight communication equipment capable of being carried via drones won the international category prize, honored by Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai Crown Prince. Nokia project manager Colin Graf von Hardenberg spoke to Telecom Review about the Nokia Saving Lives initiative.

Al Jazeera Media Network and Huawei have entered a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to explore possible avenues of cooperation to transform the Network's online platform using media cloud solutions, in a bid to increase the Network's online viewership and revenues.

For a digital service provider, virtualization promises the creation and deployment of new services in shorter time periods, down from a few months to a few days. NFV technology offers the required agility in creation, modification and retiring of services. However, to assure the QoS of NFV-based services, the role of an enhanced Service Quality Management (SQM) system is key.

Nokia, Alphabet's Access Group and Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. joined forces to demonstrate the first live demo of a private LTE network over CBRS (Citizens Broadband Radio Service) shared spectrum at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The companies built a virtual reality zone inside stock car race cars operating at the Richard Petty Driving Experience, with 360° video streaming to provide an "in car" experience in real time. The demonstration, which achieved speeds in excess of 180 mph, showed not only how the combination of a new CBRS band and innovative technologies can offer new audience experiences, but also how shared spectrum can be used by venues and enterprises to deploy their own private LTE network to offer new services.

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. announced an end-to-end 802.11ax portfolio, which includes the IPQ8074 system-on-chip (SoC) for network infrastructure and QCA6290 solution for client devices, making Qualcomm Technologies the first company to announce end-to-end commercial solutions to support 802.11ax. As Wi-Fi networks become more crowded, dense and diverse, Qualcomm Technologies' 802.11ax solutions are designed to improve connected experiences, delivering up to 4x greater capacity to make Wi-Fi traffic more efficient, resulting in up to 4x faster user throughput and longer battery life for Wi-Fi devices. Qualcomm Technologies expects to sample the IPQ8074 and QCA6290 in the first half of 2017.

In an interview with Charles Yang, President Huawei Middle East, he explains how digital technologies are driving the commercial propositions and innovations in wireless technology and the digital ecosystem as a whole.

Mobile voice revenues are declining and CSPs (communication service providers) are finding ways to reduce the impact. Data revenues are increasing, but they are unable to compensate for a loss in voice revenues by identical measure. As competition intensifies, CSPs must tailor their offerings so as to offset competitive pressures.

Apple is to start making iPhones in India this year, a local government official said, as the company seeks to tap into a booming middle class while sales in China slow.

Ericsson announced the appointment of Indranil Das as Head of IT & Cloud for region Middle East.

Nokia and Orange Group are to collaborate on the development of services that will allow industries and consumers to take advantage of the unprecedented efficiencies and business models made possible by 5G.