Telecom EIIR (Engineering R&D Industry 4.0) Trends Q-3 2019

How are telecom enterprises leveraging EIIR service providers? (Deals/Contracts/ Partnerships)

• 1

  LTTS has been selected by a global semiconductor OEM to set up a center of excellence as part of a two-year embedded systems program with a value of USD 15 million in the first phase of the project.

• 2

  A European media and communications conglomerate has awarded a Digital Rights Management (DRM) contract to LTTS. Under the engagement, LTTS will develop next-generation Hybrid Boxes that support 4K used Widewine as the DRM solution for linear and OTT STB’s.

• 3

  AT&T and IBM strike a major cloud and networking alliance. IBM is starting to reap benefit of RedHat acquisition.

• 4

  AT&T, Commnet Wireless sign $167.5M network construction outsourcing deal. The duration of contract is 25 years.

• 5

  Tech Mahindra secures large multi-year AT&T deal.

• 6

  LTTS has partnered with Zodiac Systems to provide a comprehensive software upgrade solution for set-top boxes (STB). Under the partnership, both companies will provide advanced software solutions to more than 150 million STB devices that LTTS supports globally for video operators and OEMs.

• 7

  Tata Elxsi helps NOS, biggest telecom group in Portugal, build its first ever RDK-B DOCSIS 3.1 Router

How are telecom enterprises organizing their EIIR activities? (GICs/ R&D Best Practices/Solutions)

• 1

  Microchip Technology sets up R&D Centre in Chennai. The new centre can accommodate up to 1,200 employees. The centre would catalyse the development of local ecosystem for integrated circuit design and specialised embedded systems development. Microchip has development centres in Bengaluru and Hyderabad and has around 1,800 employees.

• 2

  Vivo is planning to setup an R&D center in India.

• 3

  SK Telecom and LG Electronics have announced plans to jointly develop autonomous robots connected to a 5G-based cloud platform. The 5G business robots are envisioned to provide physical security and guidance services and will be deployed to diverse facilities to detect abnormalities. Moreover, the partners said they are building eSpace, a hyperspace platform for replicating the real world in cyberspace, by collecting spatial data and precise photos. This is expected to enable the provision of high quality virtual space services at minimal additional cost.

• 4

  OPPO broke ground with its new research and development (R&D) center in southern Chinese city of Dongguan. With a total investment of 2.2 billion yuan (about 324 million U.S. dollars), the center will focus on developing and testing smartphones and their accessories.

• 5

  Xiaomi opens its camera R&D center in Tampera, Finland.

• 6

  Toyota partners with AI startup Preferred Networks on building helper robots. Toyota will offer its Human Support Robot (HSR) robotics platform.

• 7

  Apple confirms $1 million reward for anyone who can hack an iPhone. A big bug bounty.

• 8

  Huawei launches its homegrown Android rival — HarmonyOS

• 9

  8×8, a leading cloud provider of voice, video, chat and contact center solutions for over one million users worldwide, tis acquiring Wavecell, a Singapore-based global Communications Platform-as-a-Service (CPaaS) provider, for approximately USD $125 million. The acquisition provides 8×8 with an established technology platform to pursue CPaaS globally and represents a natural expansion of 8×8’s cloud business from Unified Communications-as-a-Service (UCaaS), Contact Center-as-a-Service (CCaaS), and Video into the CPaaS market. The acquisition expands 8×8’s presence into the rapidly growing Southeast Asian market, including Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, and Hong Kong, with a talented employee base and more than 500 enterprise customers.

• 10

  NetDragon to open an R&D center in Serbia. As the bridge and intersection between Western Europe, Central Europe, Eastern Europe, and the Near East and the Middle East, Serbia plays an important role for China.

• 11

  TSMC to hire over 3,000 people by year-end. The 7nm process is the latest technology for which TSMC has begun commercial production. Mass production of the 5nm and 3nm processes are expected to begin in 2020 and 2022, respectively.

• 12

  Huawei is looking to open a new R&D centre in Vienna

• 13

  Micron Technology to quadruple its strength in India from current 500 to 2000 in next couple of years.

• 14

  Huawei’s three closest rivals Xiaomi , OPPO and Vivo forms rare partnership. They will introduce protocol which will allow wireless file transfer between phones without any third party app.

• 15

  Spotty indoor coverage is one of the biggest issue in 5G. Verizon is teaming with Boingo Wireless to expand coverage in hard to reach spots, including stadiums, offices, hotels and airports.

• 16

  Intel unveils its first AI chip Springhill.

• 17

  Huawei has announced a 70-million-euro investment into Ireland. The investment will be used to support R&D in the Irish telecommunications sector during the next three years. Huawei has moved a mobile software services unit from its headquarters in Shenzhen to a Dublin. This unit will oversee mobile services for users outside of the Chinese mainland, Japan and South Korea.

• 18

  Huawei will open three more R&D centres in Russia and hire additional 1500 professionals. Currently Huawei has two centres in Russia with 550 people. Geopolitics determining R&D locations.

• 19

  Apple has filed a patent for a watch band which can ID you from your wrist skin.

• 20

  Astrum unveils a dedicated R&D center to provide end-to-end solutions in India. The Astrum’s R&D centre in India will focus on revamping the existing products as well as developing new designs, ideas and smart technology.

• 21

  Huawei pushes ahead with US$1.4 billion R&D centre in Shanghai. New R&D centre will be located in Shanghai’s Qingpu district and house 30,000 to 40,000 employees.

• 22

  Molex opens optical R&D facility in New Jersey. The facility features eco-friendly clean rooms and extensive capabilities for designing and prototype manufacturing of optical solutions for the metro and long-haul telecommunications networks.

• 23

  OnePlus inaugurated its first R&D center in India. The center, located in the Hyderabad, will initially focus on software features and cover areas such as AI, 5G, and IoT along the way. The company said this is its biggest R&D facility yet, and it plans to host over 1,500 employees there within a couple of years. OnePlus will spend $138M on its new software R&D center in India over 3 years.

• 24

  Xiaomi patents a Smart Scarf that heats up and adjusts its tightness automatically

• 25

  Samsung has teamed up with SK Telecoms to develop what they claim will be the world’s first 5G 8K TV.

• 26

  Astrum opens R&D centre in India which will focus on revamping the existing products as well as developing new designs, ideas and smart technology in order to cultivate a comfortable and stylish future.

• 27

  Infineon and Synopsys partner to develop AI chips for automotive applications.

• 28

  Lam Research to move R&D center to S. Korea. The plan entails 180 billion won ($150 million) of investments over the next three years and recruitment of 500 research personnel in Korea. This is part of the company’s strategy to develop next-generation technology in the semiconductor industry in tandem with the country’s leading chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK hynix. South Korea will become the hub for the DRAM industry.”

• 29

  While Lam Research is transferring its R&D center to South Korea, Applied Materials is planning to construct a R&D center specialized for South Korean semiconductor companies in South Korea.

• 30

  MediaTek invests over NT$100 billion on 5G chip development. MediaTek opened a wireless communications R&D center in the Hsinchu Science Park in northern Taiwan. The newest R&D center is equipped with a simulation smartphone base station, which will be used to test whether smartphones function well in various environments, including on a high speed train or in a basement.

• 31

  DriveNets is opening a new R&D center in Romania. DriveNets’ Network Cloud is the cloud-native disaggregated router software.

• 32

  Content Discovery Company Taboola to Set Up Jerusalem R&D Center

How are telecom EIIR providers building their solutions and capabilities?

• 1

  Semiconductor engineering companies SmartSoC and Insilico officially announce their merger. Combined, the companies have more than 150 technology professionals

• 2

  TCS launches RPA solution for the semiconductor industry to drive greater accuracy and better quality in chip fabrication. The solution will leverage insights derived from fab production data to trigger appropriate business workflows, significantly reducing the response time to anomalies in the production of semiconductors. RPA use cases are emerging in engineering.

• 3

  Wipro joins hands with Indian Institute of Science (IISc) for research in emerging tech including 5G, AI, V2X, Robotics.

• 4

  Affirma Capital invests in Prodapt a niche service provider focusing on telecom space.

• 5

  HCL augments its semiconductor practice with the acquisition of Sankalp Semiconductor.

• 6

  Tata Elxsi launches ETSI NFV/ OSM based Management and Orchestration (MANO) solution for operators.

• 7

  TCS partners with Cisco by setting up a Center of Excellence (CoE) to develop digital solutions that leverage Cisco’s DNA-C platform.

• 8

  Tech Mahindra partners with Keysight to support leading mobile operators achieve their goals of successfully deploying new 5G devices. Tech Mahindra will leverage Keysight’s 5G protocol and radio frequency/radio resource management (RF/RRM) carrier acceptance toolsets which are part of the Keysight’s suite of 5G network emulation solutions. The solutions will be offered to communication service providers (CSPs) and telecom equipment manufacturers (TEMs) which will help leading 5G mobile operators deliver a superior subscriber experience.

Telecom industry news

• 1

  Apple and Intel have signed an agreement for Apple to acquire the majority of Intel’s smartphone modem business. Approximately 2,200 Intel employees will join Apple, along with intellectual property, equipment and leases. The transaction, valued at $1 billion. Combining the acquired patents for current and future wireless technology with Apple’s existing portfolio, Apple will hold over 17,000 wireless technology patents, ranging from protocols for cellular standards to modem architecture and modem operation. Intel will retain the ability to develop modems for non-smartphone applications, such as PCs, internet-of-things devices and autonomous vehicles.

• 2

  Another victim of trade war. This time this Korean semiconductor firm, SK Hynix. Sales declines 38% and profit declines 88%.

• 3

  Nokia beats forecast as 5G starts to kick in. Obviously Nokia is gaining from Huawei’s situation but recent data suggests Nokia is taking market share from Ericsson as well.

• 4

  Cisco is in talks to acquire security startup Signal Sciences.

• 5

  VMware acquires Bitfusion for virtualizing hardware accelerators.

• 6

  With Indian government serious about data localization, data center space in India is seeing a great boom, a triple digit growth. Adani and Hiranandani are doubling down on this space.

• 7

  IBM patents smartwatch that folds out into a smartphone and tablet

• 8

  Cisco intends to acquire Acacia Communications for $2.6 billion.

• 9

  The US Navy will replace its touchscreen controls with mechanical ones on its destroyers

Telecom resources: consultant/ analyst updates

• 1

  Google falls to third place after Baidu, in worldwide smart speaker market in Q2 201. Amazon is number one. Overall 55% yoy growth by shipments. (Link)

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