Network News

Korean Telco SK Telecom has become the latest telco to announce plans for a nationwide low-powered wide area network based on the LoRaWAN technology.

Hutchison Global Communications Limited (HGC), the fixed-line division of Hutchison Telecommunications Hong Kong Holdings, has become the first telco to deploy the Infinera TM-Series Mobile Fronthaul Solution. It has been deployed across HGC's optical network in Hong Kong.

The Indian Government is to issue eight experimental licenses in the 470-582MHz band for trials of white space technology. The move has been welcomed by the Dynamic Spectrum Alliance, a global organization advocating for laws and regulations that will lead to more efficient and effective spectrum utilization.

Indosat Ooredoo is to expand its 4G/LTE network to 16 cities across Indonesia this year, the Jakarta Post reports. Indosat Ooredoo CEO, Alexander Ruslie, was reported saying the expansion would be done gradually over the course of the year. Currently, the company's 4G network is available in 27 cities.

Singtel has selected capacity on global satellite operator Eutelsat's 70B satellite to support network connectivity in South-East Asia. Eutelsat said: ""Singtel is establishing a new relationship with Eutelsat through a flexible contract that enables it to progressively ramp up capacity over the coming 12 months as demand grows.""

Ericsson has been selected by Indonesian operator XL Axiata, to supply network functions virtualization (NFV) technology. Ericsson will deploy its full stack cloud solution, including the Ericsson Hyperscale Datacenter System 8000 based on Intel Rack Scale Architecture, and virtual network functions (VNFs) as part of XL Axiata's cloud evolution and realization of NFV. Separately, Ericsson has announced an NFV deal with Korean telco LG.

Cambodia is to get a connection into the 25,000km AAE-1 cable being built by a consortium of 19 global telcos to link Asian, African, Middle Eastern and European nations.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector investment arm of the World Bank Group, are to each provide $150m loan funding to Ooredoo Group's fully owned subsidiary Ooredoo Myanmar to expand its mobile network in Myanmar.

Satellite services provider SpeedCast International has announced a multi-million dollars agreement with Pakistan telco Multinet Pakistan that will enable Multinet to add satellite communications to its private network offerings. SpeedCast has also announced a deal to use the O3b satellite network to provide services to Kiribati.

Energia Communications (EneCom) - a telco providing Internet and communication services to residential and corporate customers in Hiroshima and the surrounding Chugoku region of Japan - is to launch the first commercial deployment of G.fast technology in Japan using technology from Nokia.