Telecom Vendors

While Apple's iPad lineup is struggling to grow, Samsung's premium tablet lineup is doing just that, which is why the company announced during MWC on Sunday a premium tablet, and two all-in-one PCs.

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.

China's Huawei unveiled a new smartphone with a better camera on Sunday as it tries to fill the void left by Samsung's withdrawal of  its flagship device due to problems with the battery.

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.

Nokia has developed a solution that will allow operators to rapidly address the huge demands of connected people and industries. Nokia 5G FIRST comprises its radio access network (RAN) including Nokia AirScale massive MIMO Adaptive Antennas, packet core and mobile transport solutions as well as a full service offer using Intel architecture and the Intel 5G modem for initial deployments starting in 2017.

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.

Huawei held a pre-MWC 2017 briefing in London, during which Huawei Carrier BG President Zou Zhilei noted that a Better Connected World is fast approaching. He emphasized that Huawei is committed to becoming a partner of operators and an enabler for their digital transformation and business success so as to jointly achieve value-driven growth.

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

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.