Tariffs and telcos: Uncertainty and long-term moves
No one can foresee how and when import tariffs will stabilise – but some
long-term implications are starting to arise.
Tag: Huawei
The future of (really) useful smartphone personal assistants
Who is most likely to win the battle for contextually aware personal assistants on smartphones – and is there an opportunity for telcos?
MWC 2025: A tech show, not a telecom one
It was no surprise that AI dominated MWC this year. But there were lots of other notable trends on the rise – including cybersecurity and data centres – and some that were disappointingly overlooked. Find out what the STL Partners team saw and missed at MWC 2025.
Private networks: Trends in commercial deployments
Ten years of private network deployments tracked in our global insights tool.
Telco Cloud Deployment Tracker Q2 2024: Is AWS winning in hyperscale telco cloud?
Telco cloud deployment activity slowed down in Q2 2024 with only 20 deployments added to the tracker, eight of which were completed in earlier years. The remaining 12 included five 5G NSA cores (four already launched) and three SA cores, all of which we expect to go live by the end of 2024. In this report we analyse the prospects for 5G SA including a deep-dive on the state of deployments on the public cloud.
Fixed broadband access network disaggregation: State of play
Fixed operators see network disaggregation as a way to reduce deployment and operational costs, remove vendor lock-in, and combine residential, business and other types of access into a single infrastructure. This report examines progress and learnings from early movers.
Automation: Reaching full potential
The maturity of telco automations in the network OSS and BSS varies significantly. Some telcos are reporting significant headcount reductions from mature automations while others are still in the early stages of simple automation deployments. There are important steps telcos must consider if they are to reach maximum automation.
Telco Cloud Deployment Tracker: Will vRAN eclipse pure open RAN?
In this update, we present data and analysis on progress with deployments of vRAN and open RAN. It is fair to say that open RAN (virtualised AND disaggregated RAN) deployments have not happened at the pace that STL Partners and many others had forecast. In parallel, some very significant deployments and developments are occurring with vRAN (virtualised NOT disaggregated RAN). Is open RAN a networking ideal that is not yet, or never will be, deployed in its purest form?
Telco Cloud Deployment Tracker: 5G core deep dive
In this update, we present granular data on the 5G core, tracking the progress of deployments of both Non-standalone (NSA) and Standalone (SA) network cores. We recorded 49 5G core deployments so far in 2022, 24 of which are SA launches.
Why the consumer IoT is stuck in the slow lane
For uptake of Massive IoT connectivity to meet expectations in the B2C and B2B2C markets, telcos will need to dramatically improve coverage and simplify their propositions.
Fixed wireless access growth: To 20% homes by 2025
Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) is becoming a mainstream proposition across urban, rural and developing environments. 5G is an important enabler but not the only one. Unusually, FWA will benefit almost all market players – fixed and mobile operators, vendors, investors and regulators. This report contains our 5-year forecast and recommendations for all players.
5G: Bridging hype, reality and future promises
What should telcos do to bridge the gaps between current hype, actual performance, and future promises on 5G? We argue that a data-driven and forensic approach to roll-out and marketing will be the key, particularly in the uncertain economic environment driven by the COVID-19 pandemic, and review the timelines for future applications.
5G strategies: Lessons from the early movers
Telcos in South Korea and China have seen strong early demand for new 5G services. Where else is 5G commercially available, and what are the key lessons from early movers on 5G investments and positioning?
5G: The first three years
After considerable hype and uncertainty, the near term developments for 5G are now much more apparent, including which nations will go first, chip and handset availability, and the use of different spectrum bands.
Huawei’s choice: 5G visionary, price warrior or customer champion?
Huawei’s business performance in recent years has been impressive, based on sticking closely to what its customers wanted and making the results easy to buy. But fierce price competition will challenge near-term profit ambitions, and Huawei’s 5G vision is ahead of the market. So could things be about to change?
Facing Up to the Software-Defined Operator
We see five major trends leading towards the overall picture of the ‘software defined operator’ – an operator whose boundaries and structure can be set and controlled through software. This presents threats as well as opportunities for industry players selling and wanting to sell to telcos.
Smartphones: when will Huawei be No.1?
We were surprised to hear Huawei’s objective of becoming the world’s No.1 Smartphone maker at last year’s Mobile World Congress, and somewhat dubious whether it would achieve that goal. However, at this year’s show Huawei demonstrated impressive progress, and we consider it is no longer a question of if, but when it will achieve its goal. In this analysis we explore industry scenarios and their consequences. (March 2013, Executive Briefing Service).
Huawei Ascend Smartphone