Industry News

Cisco has announced plans to invest $100m in India, including $40m to fund early-stage and growth-stage companies and train 250,000 students in India by 2020.

KT, NTT DOCOMO, SK Telecom and Verizon have agreed to form a new global initiative, the 5G Open Trial Specification Alliance, to develop an aligned 5G trial specification that will serve as a common, extendable platform for different 5G trial activity around the world. It will focus on technical fundamentals and promote a more inclusive, open and collaborative approach to the development of 5G trial networks, including 5G radio interface trial activities and providing the ability to test and validate key technical components.

Ericsson has signed a business support systems (BSS) transformation contract with Bhutan Telecom, Bhutan's largest telecom service provider, under which it will convert Bhutan Telecom's billing systems into a convergent environment supporting mobile, fixed line and DSL broadband subscribers.

Japan's largest mobile network operator, NTT Docomo has set up Docomo Digital in London as a new global business operation that ""brings together key assets and capabilities to enable m-commerce for mobile network operators, digital and real-world service providers, merchants and regulators.""

Indosat Ooredoo and IBM have announced a five year, $200m partnership under which IBM and Indosat Ooredoo subsidiary, Lintasarta, will develop and deliver solutions on the IBM Cloud to help businesses streamline processes and improve productivity.

 IDC forecasts spending on public cloud services in the Asia Pacific region excluding Japan (APeJ) to grow at a 22.9 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) - almost six times the rate of overall IT spending growth - from nearly $7b in 2015 to $15b in 2019, exceeding its predicted growth rate of 19.4 percent CAGR for the global market in the same period.

Huawei has announced, at the CeBIT show in Hannover Germany, the global marketing theme for its Enterprise Business Group: ""Leading New ICT, Building a Better Connected World."" It says the theme defines how the company is enabling enterprises to transform and thrive in the digital era.

Wide area network technology vendor Silver Peak has appointed Netpoleon as its distributor for ASEAN, giving companies in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, and Myanmar direct access to its Unity EdgeConnect SD-WAN technology.

Marc Halbfinger has been chief executive officer of PCCW-HKT subsidiary PCCW Global since July 2007 and is responsible for the integrated global communication solutions business at PCCW Global. Marc sat with Telecom Review to update us on why MWC is such an important event to attend, and where PCCW Global stands in an industry that is shifting at an unprecedented velocity.

Indonesia's quest to build a robust digital economy and ecosystem will get a boost in August with the launch of a dedicated series of industry events comprising the inaugural Indonesia ICT Summit, Communic Indonesia and Broadcast Indonesia 2016, to be held from 31 August - 3 September at the Jakarta International Expo, Kemayoran.