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OAKLAND, California, April 19 (Reuters) - Silicon Valley 5G chip startup EdgeQ Inc said on Wednesday it raised $75 million to help fund a ramp up in production as the company starts selling its technology to customers, including telecom operators. EdgeQ makes semiconductors that power base stations for 5G telecom towers and for 5G access points that can be installed inside places like factories to run robots and autonomous vehicles wirelessly, said Vinay Ravuri, CEO and co-founder of EdgeQ. The fundraising shows that companies viewed as promising by investors are able to secure financing even though funding has dried up for many startups following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and the ensuing banking sector turmoil in March. EdgeQ has a valuation of "hundreds of millions of dollars", said Ravuri, adding it was "definitely less than" $1 billion. The recent advent of a new open standard chip architecture called RISC-V has made it possible to design its new 5G chip more cost effectively, he said.

☆ Here's when millions of UK phones will sound an emergency test alarm
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Hannah Ward-Glenton | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

All smartphones in the UK will sound an alarm later this month in emergency test. Most U.K. cell phones will sound an alarm for 10 seconds later this month as the government tests a new emergency alert system. A siren will go off at 3 p.m. local time on April 23 and last approximately 10 seconds on all 4G and 5G mobile phones. The system is designed to broadcast urgent messages to areas that are in danger, for example if there is severe flooding or a wildfire. "It could be the sound that saves your life," Oliver Dowden, a British government minister said in a press release.

☆ Nokia will launch 4G internet on the moon later this year to help expand lunar exploration
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Aidan Pollard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Nokia plans to put a 4G/LTE network on the moon later this year, CNBC reported. The network will help potential lunar explorations, including plans to look for ice on the moon. Nokia is set to launch 4G internet on the moon later this year, CNBC reported, part of the company's ongoing relationship with NASA. The Finnish telecommunication company intends to launch the network on a SpaceX rocket later this year, CNBC reported. Nokia's plan to introduce 4G to the moon includes an antenna-equipped base station on the moon and a solar-powered rover.

☆ Exclusive: EU patent body to be involved in tech-standard patent royalties -EU draft rule
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Standard-essential patents cover technology that devices must include to comply with international standards like 4G, Wi-Fi and USB. Some standards entail thousands of essential patents, and their owners are required to offer licenses on fair and reasonable terms. "The FRAND determination procedure should simplify and speed up negotiations concerning FRAND terms and reduce costs. FRAND (fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory) terms are often used in relation to technical standards that are developed through an industry-led standardisation process. "This is necessary because disagreements about the FRAND terms are the main reason to seek recourse in courts," the document said.

☆ Exclusive: EU patent body to oversee tech-standard patent royalties -EU draft rule
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Some standards entail thousands of essential patents, and their owners are required to offer licenses on fair and reasonable terms. The EUIPO should administer the procedure," said the European Commission document seen by Reuters on Tuesday. The draft regulation requires EUIPO to set up a register of standard essential patents (SEP) and companies to sign up if they want to charge patent fees or take legal action. European Commission Vice President Margrethe Vestager is scheduled to announce the draft regulation on April 26, according to a Commission agenda. The draft rules need to be agreed with EU countries and the European Parliament before they can become law.

☆ 4G internet is set to arrive on the moon later this year
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Nokia hopes to install a data network on the moon sometime in 2023, an executive told reporters. Nokia is preparing to launch a 4G mobile network on the moon later this year, in the hopes of enhancing lunar discoveries — and eventually paving the path for human presence on the satellite planet. The network will be powered by an antenna-equipped base station stored in a Nova-C lunar lander designed by U.S. space firm Intuitive Machines, as well as by an accompanying solar-powered rover. The infrastructure will land on the Shackleton crater, which lies along the southern limb of the moon. Nokia says the technology is designed to withstand the extreme conditions of space.

☆ Lula to seek Chinese semiconductor technology, investment in Beijing
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Lisandra Paraguassu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BRASILIA, March 24 (Reuters) - Brazil will seek Chinese technology and investment to develop a semiconductor industry in the South American country despite U.S. attempts to discourage association with China in this area, a senior presidential adviser told Reuters. Semiconductors will be a priority on President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's visit to China next week. Lula's trip will seek Chinese cooperation in fostering Brazil's sustainable development and digital economy. We are not afraid of the big bad wolf," he commented, when asked about U.S. discouragement of technology deals with China. Lula is expected to visit the factory of Huawei Technologies, the Chinese telecommunications giant that has been operating in Brazil for 20 years.

☆ Reliance Jio's new 5G plans may impact Bharti Airtel's key metrics- JP Morgan
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BENGALURU, March 23 (Reuters) - The launch of cheaper postpaid plans with unlimited 5G by Reliance's Jio has put rival Bharti Airtel (BRTI.NS) on the back foot in the Indian market and may delay recovery in its key profit metric, JP Morgan analysts said on Thursday. Jio, the telecoms unit of Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries (RELI.NS), launched new postpaid plans last week, starting from 399 rupees ($4.85) that included over-the-top (OTT) packages, forcing Bharti Airtel to roll out similar plans. Analysts kept their "under weight" rating on Bharti Airtel, saying that ARPU expansion for Bharti was at risk and could even reduce over 2024-25 as 5G price wars take place. Both, Jio and Bharti Airtel have been rolling out 5G services across the country. ($1 = 82.2100 Indian rupees)Reporting by Nallur Sethuraman in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'SilvaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Huawei touts camera on latest premium smartphone without 5G
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Huawei, also a major supplier of equipment used in 5G telecommunications networks, has been the target of successive rounds of U.S. export controls since 2019. The company's former budget unit Honor claimed 18% of the market last year, with 30% annual growth, Canalys said. Huawei sold Honor to a consortium of over 30 agents and dealers to keep it alive in late 2019. Huawei also launched the more premium P60 Pro and foldable Mate X3, with prices starting at 6,988 yuan and 12,999 yuan respectively. ($1 = 6.8230 Chinese yuan renminbi)Reporting by David Kirton; editing by Christian SchmollingerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Huawei Bets on Another Premium 4G Phone
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Dan Strumpf | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A Huawei store in Hangzhou, China, earlier this year. HONG KONG—Would you buy a premium-priced smartphone that doesn’t have 5G? Huawei Technologies Co. thinks its customers will, at least in China. More than two years after U.S. sanctions wrecked the Chinese tech giant’s once-dominant global smartphone business, Huawei has stuck with a regular schedule of new flagship phone launches and is gearing up to debut its latest on Thursday.

☆ Lenovo must pay $138.7 mln for InterDigital patents - London court
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, March 16 (Reuters) - China's Lenovo Group Ltd (0992.HK) must pay U.S. technology firm InterDigital Inc $138.7 million for a licence for its portfolio of telecommunications patents, London's High Court ruled on Thursday in the latest round of a long-running dispute. InterDigital (IDCC.O) brought the lawsuit against Lenovo in 2019 over the terms on which Lenovo should take a licence of its patents which are essential to 3G, 4G and 5G standards. The litigation, which has so far featured five separate trials, centres on the fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms of a licence for InterDigital's patents. He said Lenovo should pay a $138.7 million "lump sum" to cover past and future sales of mobile devices from 2007 until the end of 2023. Marfe added that "all eyes will be on the Unified Patent Court", a common patent court for European Union member states which opens in June, to see whether it takes a similar approach.

A DB spokesperson told Reuters that under current IT security legislation it did not have to run network components by Germany's cybersecurity office, the BSI, unlike public telecoms network operators. A BSI spokesperson said it was not aware of any law that determined the DB IT systems as "critical components". A Huawei spokesperson said the firm would never harm any nation or individual. The December contract with Deutsche Telekom Business Solutions, a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom, is for Huawei tech like switches and routers. A government source said it had detected some operators had already built in Huawei critical components without waiting for a BSI green light and could be required to replace those.

"But after years of dithering, the German 5G network is deeply dependent on Chinese suppliers. Huawei, ZTE and China's government reject these claims, saying that they are motivated by a protectionist desire to support non-Chinese rivals. GERMANY LAGGINGWhile several countries across Europe are still formulating telecom policies, only Britain and Sweden have so far banned Huawei and ZTE from supplying critical 5G network equipment. The German government was last month unable to answer a parliamentary request about how many Huawei components operators were using in their 5G networks, filed in part in response to the report. The deadline to remove all Huawei gear from Britain's 5G networks by the end of 2027 remains unchanged.

☆ Next-gen mobile internet — 6G — will launch in 2030, telecom bosses say, even as 5G adoption remains low
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

"We have not completed the deployment of 5G yet," Ha Min Yong, chief development officer of SK Telecom , told CNBC last week. However, after hundreds of billions of dollars of investment into 5G networks, carriers have struggled to see the return. I don't see any use cases today that we can't do with 5G or its immediate evolutions," Watson told CNBC last week. Many of the current 5G networks are built on top of equipment and technology from 4G. There will also be more software that powers 5G networks helping with efficiency such as the management of data traffic.

"But after years of dithering, the German 5G network is deeply dependent on Chinese suppliers. Huawei, ZTE and China's government reject these claims, saying that they are motivated by a protectionist desire to support non-Chinese rivals. The government would ban operators from using certain controlling elements from Huawei and ZTE in 5G networks. The German government was last month unable to answer a recent parliamentary request about how many Huawei components operators were using in their 5G networks. The deadline to remove all Huawei gear from Britain's 5G networks by the end of 2027 remains unchanged.

☆ Germany planning to ban Huawei, ZTE from parts of 5G networks -paper
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BERLIN, March 6 (Reuters) - Germany's government is planning on forbidding telecoms operators from using certain components from Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE in their 5G networks, German paper Zeit Online reported on Monday. The ban could include components already built into the networks, requiring operators to remove and replace them, Zeit Online wrote, citing government sources. Huawei, ZTE and the Chinese government reject these claims, saying that they are motivated by a protectionist desire to support non-Chinese rivals. Germany passed an IT security law in 2021 setting high hurdles for makers of telecommunications equipment for next-generation networks, but stopping short of banning Huawei and ZTE as some other countries have done. The government would ban operators from using certain controlling elements from Huawei and ZTE in 5G networks.

☆ 2 Volcom execs attempt to surf, skate, snowboard, and work all in one day. Here's how they pulled it off.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Sponsor Post | Created Insider Studios With Dell Technologies | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The challenge: Attempt a surf, skate, and snowboard "trifecta" in the middle of a busy work dayOver the past few years, remote work has become a routine part of our lives. This is the case for the sales teams at Volcom, a global lifestyle apparel brand based in Costa Mesa, California. Two Volcom sales executives, Brent Lantz and David Jurusik (or BL and Nook, respectively), embrace this — whether it's taking a call on a ski slope or discussing inventory with retailers on the road. Dell Technologies and Intel teamed up with Volcom to see if they could improve and optimize their on-the-go sales efforts and work connectivity. The challenge: Attempt a southern California "trifecta" — surfing, skateboarding, and snowboarding within a 12-hour period — all while completing a full day of work.

☆ Exclusive: Nvidia's plans for sales to Huawei imperiled if U.S. tightens Huawei curbs-draft
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-04 | by ( Alexandra Alper | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/3] The logo of Nvidia Corporation is seen during the annual Computex computer exhibition in Taipei, Taiwan May 30, 2017. Nvidia's plans to sell to Huawei have not been previously reported. Reuters could not learn the details of the specific policy change whose impact was being assessed in the report. The report suggested Qualcomm would likely suffer a "moderate economic impact" from the change in policy, in contrast to Huawei. Indeed, the loss of access to Qualcomm's modem chips would have a bigger impact on Huawei, the report forecast, since Huawei "relies heavily on Qualcomm's modem chips to support its smart phone offering."

☆ Verizon finance chief Matt Ellis to depart in top management rejig
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 3 (Reuters) - Verizon Communications Inc finance chief Matt Ellis will leave the wireless carrier in May, it said on Friday in a slew of senior leadership changes. Senior Vice President Tony Skiadas will replace Ellis, the company said while announcing new leaders to its key verticals. Sowmyanarayan Sampath, who leads Verizon Business Group, will be executive vice president and chief executive of Verizon Consumer Group. Joe Russo, senior vice president and chief network officer, will replace Malady as president of Global Networks and Technology, which looks over 5G, 4G, Fiber and Edge computing services. In its latest quarterly report in January, Verizon forecast annual profit below expectations hurt by higher costs, tepid growth in wireless customers and high competition.

☆ There’s hope beyond moaning for European telcos
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Pierre Briancon | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

The annual Barcelona tech fest this week was in line with tradition, but a different mood music could also be heard beyond the bleatings of European telco executives. The good news for them is that European competition authorities seem to have been mollified by the constant pleading, and could take a softer approach to consolidation in the industry. Höttges compared the 55 billion euros invested by European telcos on infrastructure last year to the 1 billion euros invested in connectivity by those he calls the “hyperscalers”. The hope is now that, considering the European telcos’ low return on investment, European competition authorities will review their strict stance on consolidation in the sector. But European telcos also have means to address some of the problems they are facing without giving the impression that everything depends on forces beyond their control.

☆ Huawei Export Licenses Could be Revoked by U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Ian Talley | Asa Fitch | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The Biden administration is considering revoking export licenses issued to U.S. suppliers for sales to Chinese telecom company Huawei Technologies Co., according to people familiar with the matter, part of a broader tightening of technology trade over national security concerns. The administration previously indicated that it was considering not granting any new export licenses to companies such as Qualcomm Inc. and Intel Corp., which provide chips needed for smartphones and other devices. The action would cover products that use advanced 5G technology as well as older 4G products.

☆ Huawei Export Licenses Could Be Revoked by U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Ian Talley | Asa Fitch | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Feb 28 (Reuters) - The Biden administration approved more than $23 billion worth of licenses for companies to ship U.S. goods and technology to blacklisted Chinese companies in the first quarter of 2022, a Republican lawmaker said on Tuesday. The data comes amid growing pressure on the administration of Democratic President Joe Biden to further expand a broad crackdown on shipments of sensitive U.S. technology to China from Republican lawmakers, who now control the House of Representatives. The data comes a week after the Biden administration added new Chinese companies to the trade blacklist for aiding Russia’s military and months after announcing a sweeping new policy aimed at dramatically curbing shipments of chips and chipmaking tools to China. Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies Co Ltd was added to a trade blacklist known as the entity list by former Republican President Donald Trump in 2019, amid allegations of sanctions violations, spying capabilities, and intellectual property theft. Reporting by Karen Freifeld and Alexandra Alper; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Marguerita Choy and Leslie AdlerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Russia has been able to keep its most effective drone flying over Ukraine thanks to Western-made parts
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Stavros Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Ukraine and Russia have employed an array of drones since Moscow attacked in February 2022. Despite sanctions imposed by the US and its allies, Russia has been able to keep its most effective drone flying over Ukraine thanks to Western-made parts. The Orlan-10's specifications and characteristics in a graphic published by the Royal United Services Institute in December 2022. Russian intelligence services are likely involved in sourcing this technology through contacts and front companies around the world. Western-made components found in the Orlan-10, according to the Royal United Services Institute.

☆ Nokia signs deal with MTN to expand 5G in South Africa
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

JOHANNESBURG, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Nokia (NOKIA.HE) said on Monday it has been selected by MTN South Africa (MTNJ.J) for the first time ever as one of its 5G radio access network equipment providers, as the mobile carrier expands next-generation wireless services across the country. "Under the deal, Nokia will modernise the existing 2G, 3G, 4G radio network and expand MTN's 5G radio network across 2,800 sites in the central and eastern part of the country," Nokia said in a statement. Nokia did not give financial details of the deal. MTN South Africa, the second biggest carrier in the country, snapped up airwaves worth 5.2 billion rand ($282.66 million) in a 14.4 billion rand spectrum auction in March last year. Even before the auction it had launched 5G services in select cities.

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