Day: November 9, 2017

Looking at the Good & Bad News in Q3 2017 Telecom Vendor Financial Results

by John Byrne, posted in Vendor Transformation
John Byrne – Service Director, Service Provider Infrastructure

Summary Bullets:

  • Revenue was down year-to-year for Ericsson, Nokia, Cisco and even ZTE, which had carried positive growth for H1 2017. But, vendors are generally doing a good job driving out costs in order to increase profitability.
  •  On their face, Ericsson’s Q3 2017 results reflected a company facing multiple challenges and a lengthy road to recovery. However, there were signs of light indicating that the fundamental business may return to solid footing once painful restructuring initiatives are completed.

The Bad News: Revenues Down

With the results now in for Q3 2017, it’s clear it was a rough quarter for many vendors. Results were perhaps most striking for ZTE (consolidated results shown), which experienced a nearly 8% decline compared to the prior year quarter. ZTE’s results were a distinct reversal from the first half of 2017, in which the company grew revenue 13% year-to-year. Continue reading “Looking at the Good & Bad News in Q3 2017 Telecom Vendor Financial Results” →

What’s Wrong with AT&T’s Silicon Valley Edge Computing Test Zone?

by Peter Jarich, posted in Internet of Things, Net Transformation, Ultra Broadband
Peter Jarich
Peter Jarich – VP, Consumer Services and Service Provider Infrastructure

Summary Bullets:

  • AT&T announced that it is building an “Edge Computing Test Zone” in Palo Alto, Calif to support developers and other AT&T partners in rolling out a diverse set of edge applications.
  • Given AT&T’s support for edge computing, the move isn’t surprising. However, it does raise questions about the set of use cases highlighted, and a specific call-out to wireless networks as well as the lack of any reference to network slicing are disappointing.

As a member of ETSI’s Multi-Access Edge Computing group (MEC) and a prime driver of the ONF’s CORD (central office re-architected as a data center) specifications, AT&T’s interest in edge computing is no secret. Combined with a penchant for announcing its networking innovations and achievements, the carrier’s announcement of an Edge Computing Test Zone should have surprised nobody.

In very real terms, then, there’s nothing wrong with AT&T’s forthcoming “Test Zone” in Palo Alto, California. It aligns with AT&T’s interests and makes sense for any carrier planning to integrate edge computing into its network architecture in the future. It’s a good idea; getting developers engaged is critical for ensuring that they will be ready to support AT&T’s network evolution plans with compelling applications. But it also falls short in a number of fundamental ways. Continue reading “What’s Wrong with AT&T’s Silicon Valley Edge Computing Test Zone?” →