What’s up with… Altiostar, KDDI, Nokia, IP Infusion

• Altiostar tests multi-vendor 5G vRAN with NEC and Rakuten Mobile
• KDDI sets up vRAN PoC with record-breaking Nokia
• IP Infusion offers plug-and-play edge system 

Today’s news niblets are brought to you by an increasingly silver-haired team of software-defined hacks…

• Virtualized radio access network (vRAN) vendor Altiostar has collaborated with Japanese operator Rakuten Mobile and partner NEC to conduct what it claims is the first test of “O-RAN Alliance-compliant multi-vendor massive-multi-input, multi-output (mMIMO) 5G with vRAN.” Altiostar is integrating its O-RAN Distributed Unit (O-DU) functionality with NEC’s O-RAN Radio Unit (O-RU) using protocols based on O-RAN Alliance guidelines. Altiostar notes that the 5G layer is “built using container network functions (CNF) that leverage Rakuten Mobile’s cloud infrastructure platform that is part of its 4G network build out.”
• The move comes only days after Rakuten Mobile, which recently switched on its greenfield 4G network, announced that its plans to launch 5G services in June have been delayed by three months due to the operational impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. In the meantime, the disruptive CSP has been sharing details of its multifunctional app called Rakuten Link, developed in partnership with Mavenir.
• In related news, Japanese operator KDDI is planning a vRAN proof of concept (PoC) in partnership with Nokia as part of its 5G planning. Speaking of Nokia, it is also claiming to have set a new world record for a 5G connection speed (4.7 Gbit/s in case you were wondering). Frankly, the team at TelecomTV would be more than happy with any service that guaranteed a 25 Mbit/s mobile data connection 24x7…    
• IP Infusion has unveiled a software-defined edge platform suitable for use in universal CPE (customer premises equipment) rollouts. The pitch includes white box hardware, the DANOS-Vyatta operating system software (which is already being used by AT&T) and virtual network functions (VNFs) for SD-WAN, routing and VPN capabilities. “This eliminates the need for stacks of proprietary equipment and software that require specialized IT skills to install, configure, and maintain,” boasts IP Infusion in this announcement.
• Private equity firm General Atlantic has become the latest investor to take a stake in Jio Platforms, nabbing a 1.34% stake for the princely sum of INR 65.98 billion ($871 million). General Atlantic joins Facebook, Silver Lake and Vista Equity Partners in becoming a stakeholder in the Reliance Industries subsidiary that runs Indian mobile giant Reliance Jio.
• After more than six years as a leading communications and media executive at Accenture, George Nazi has become the latest big name in telecoms circles to join a webscale giant. His new role is as Global VP, Telco Media and Entertainment Industry Solutions at Google. His CV also includes stints at Alcatel-Lucent (now part of Nokia), BT (as one of the 21CN crew) and Level 3 (now part of CenturyLink). The webscale companies have been strengthening their telecoms teams for a few years, but the trend has intensified recently with Microsoft’s acquisitions of Affirmed Networks and Metaswitch (and all the talent that comes with them), while Deutsche Telekom’s Axel Clauberg made the move to the cloud side when he joined Amazon Web Services (AWS) at the start of this year.
• BSS specialist Openet has teamed up with Aria Systems to target digital service providers with a combination of Openet’s charging and data management tools with Aria’s cloud-based billing system. For more details, see this press release.
• In a move it says continues the “legacy of the Sprint Accelerator,” T-Mobile US has chosen six companies to participate in its T-Mobile Accelerator, a “program that will drive development in AI, drones, robotics, autonomous vehicles and more on the Un-carrier's nationwide 5G network.” To find out about the lucky six, see this press release.
• The cost of telecoms services is going down but that isn’t leading to a significant increase in Internet penetration rates: That’s the main conclusion of a monster report from the ITU.    
• The venture capital unit of Liberty Global, the parent of British cable operator Virgin Media, has formed a joint venture with Zouk Capital called Liberty Charge. The JV will use Virgin Media’s existing infrastructure (street cabinets) to help roll out residential electric vehicle charging points across the UK. For more details, see this announcement.
• Telefónica UK (better known as O2) is swapping out its legacy TDM-based gear for some shiny new packet transport boxes from Ciena that, the companies claim, will enable the operator to introduce “innovative network automation capabilities.”
• The current global pandemic is leading to a re-evaluation of enterprise ICT priorities, with three quarters of C-suite, IoT and DevOps decision-makers in the US and China saying that Covid-19 has led to a change in their technology strategies, according to research commissioned by Wind River.  
• The staff, TelecomTV