• Dish preps Open RAN-enabled 5G in 260 cities
• Brookfield looks to offload its TDF stake
• PLDT builds a 5G test bed with Cisco

In today’s industry roundup, Dish gets ready for its big 5G push as its pay-TV and MVNO customer numbers plummet, a slice of French infrastructure firm TDF is up for grabs for those with a few billion to spare, and PLDT attracts 5G hopefuls with a service test platform built with help from Cisco.

Dish really needs its Open RAN-enabled 5G service to be a success once it gets off the ground at any scale. The US service provider is currently losing customers in both its pay TV and retail wireless (MVNO) service sectors: In the first quarter of this year its pay TV subscriber base dipped by 462,000 to 10.24 million, while it lost 343,000 retail mobile customers to end March with 8.2 million, it noted in its earnings report. Earlier this week, Dish launched its first 5G service in Las Vegas and intends to launch in a lot more locations in the coming weeks to help meet its licence obligation to cover 20% of the US population with its 5G service by 14 June. In its Q1 filing with the SEC, Dish notes it is currently building out its 5G network in 260 cities with population of at least 50,000 and that its “volume of construction activities is beginning to shift from markets we intend to light up before June 14, 2022 (in conjunction with the 20% population coverage requirement) to market areas we intend to light up before June 14, 2023 (in conjunction with the 70% population coverage requirement).”

A slice of French digital infrastructure firm TDF Group could be up for grabs, according to a report from Reuters that suggests that Brookfield Asset Management is looking to sell its 45% stake in the company in a deal that would value TDF at more than €5 billion. TDF manages mobile towers (it had about 1,130 at the end of 2021), fibre access networks and broadcast infrastructure. Read more.  

Filipino telco PLDT has worked with Cisco to build a 5G standalone (SA) service platform in Manila that can be used by enterprises of any size and from all vertical industries to develop and test 5G-enabled use cases. The platform will use PLDT’s 5G TechnoLab in Makati City as a foundation, providing an “end-to-end network sandbox of the latest private 5G standalone service architecture,” the operator explained in its statement announcing the tie-up. It deems its “open and secure” network will help accelerate the value of 5G and digitalisation across the Philippines and address challenges, such as the shift towards hybrid work. As part of the partnership, Cisco will contribute not only its 5G SA core technology but also its “global 5G experience” in various industry verticals, including Industry 4.0 and deploying 5G-enabled manufacturing. You can find out more here.

Meanwhile, Amdocs has opened its Americas 5G Experience Lab in Dallas, Texas. This lab will “enable creative organizations serving our connected society to come together and create innovative services leveraging the power of 5G networks,” the vendor noted. The 5G Experience Lab is a “sandbox where industry-leading service providers, enterprises, Amdocs and its 5G edge applications stretch the limits of connected experiences, unlocking new opportunities across industries. Amdocs’ 5G solutions and services provide a platform for network access and capabilities “as-a-service,” ensuring ecosystem components from diverse partners are interoperable and scalable and can be brought to market quickly and monetized effectively.” The location, of course, is right on the doorstep of AT&T’s headquarters. Read more. 

Only days after its betrothed, ADVA, reported record first quarter sales, broadband access equipment vendor ADTRAN posted a 21% year-on-year increase in first quarter sales to $154.5 million. “We continue to experience unprecedented demand for our solutions with revenue up 21% year-over-year,” noted CEO Tom Stanton. “We had another quarter with strong order bookings, paired with high growth in our fiber access, connected home and cloud software solutions. Our fiber access platforms led the way with an impressive 61% year-over-year growth rate. Our continued success with fiber footprint capture, customer diversification, and the portfolio synergies offered by the announced ADVA combination provides an optimistic outlook for continued growth.” Read more. 

ADVA, meanwhile, is currently highlighting its increasing presence in the increasingly important quantum network security sector: It says it’s involved in three R&D projects that are “building future-proof secure communication networks based on quantum key distribution (QKD).” Read more.