#TBT: Verizon goes after Awesomeness; Huawei’s revenues exceed Nokia, Ericsson; Brocade to purchase Ruckus … this week in 2016

Editor’s Observe: RCR Wi-fi Information goes all in for “Throwback Thursdays,” tapping into our archives to resuscitate the highest headlines from the previous. Hearth up the time machine, placed on these sepia-tinted shades, set the date for #TBT and benefit from the recollections!

Verizon needs to be within the AwesomenessTV enterprise

Verizon Communications plans to launch a brand new video service as a part of its Go90 platform, and is soar beginning its effort by shopping for a 24.5% stake in AwesomenessTV, a media firm managed by DreamWorks Animation. “AwesomenessTV has demonstrated a capability to zero in on programming that Gen Z and millennials need to watch,” mentioned Verizon EVP Marni Walden. “The content material AwesomenessTV has produced for Go90 has exceeded all our expectations with reveals corresponding to ‘Steerage’ and ‘High 5 Dwell’. That’s why we need to be within the AwesomenessTV enterprise.” Verizon mentioned its funding values AwesomenessTV at $650 million, implying a purchase order worth of $162 million for the 24.5% stake. DreamWorks Animation, which purchased the corporate in 2013, will stay its majority shareholder. The brand new video service is ready to function as an impartial model, based on Verizon, and have “premium transactional content material for quite a lot of audiences on par with the highest-end content material seen on tv at the moment.” Within the U.S., the service will solely be out there by the Go90 platform, which is on the market to prospects of different wi-fi carriers, not simply to Verizon Wi-fi prospects. … Learn extra

Huawei exceeds Nokia, Ericsson in revenues

Huawei recorded CNY 395 billion ($60.8 billion) in 2015 revenues, climbing 37% year-on-year. Web revenue for the yr was reported at CNY 36.9 billion, a 33% improve in comparison with the earlier yr. Huawei’s Service Enterprise Group generated CNY 232.3 billion in annual income, a 21% improve in comparison with 2014, with the corporate attributing many of the progress to the widespread rollout of LTE networks. Huawei’s Enterprise Enterprise Group generated CNY 27.6 billion in revenues final yr, surging 44% year-over-year. Huawei’s enterprise enterprise skilled speedy progress within the public security, finance, transportation and power sectors. In the meantime, Huawei’s Client Enterprise Group reported a 73% improve in income to CNY 129.1 billion ($19.9 billion). “Partially, Huawei owes its long-term progress to the sheer dimension of the ICT market, which is the driving pressure of digital economies world wide,” mentioned Guo Ping, deputy chairman and rotating CEO at Huawei. … Learn extra

Brocade to purchase Ruckus

Brocade Communications has agreed to purchase Ruckus Wi-fi in a deal value $1.2 billion, which the businesses say will create a “pure-play networking firm.” The purpose is to ship merchandise and options that span the continuum from the center of the information heart to the sting of the community. Brocade sells routers and switches and is targeted on storage space networking, software-defined networking and community capabilities virtualization. Ruckus sells Wi-Fi entry factors and routers and is targeted on cloud-controlled service supplier Wi-Fi options. Ruckus Wi-fi, which went public lower than 4 years in the past, noticed its inventory worth soar greater than 30% on the information. Ruckus shareholders are set to obtain 0.75 Brocade shares and $6.45 in money for every share of Ruckus inventory they personal. Shares of Brocade slipped greater than 14% this morning. The worth of the deal will fluctuate till closing based mostly on the worth of Brocade’s inventory. Brocade mentioned the mixed firm would be the market chief in storage space networking, service supplier Wi-Fi and hospitality Wi-Fi. The corporate additionally mentioned it’s not planning any instant modifications to the gross sales and repair channels. … Learn extra

AWS hits $10b in annual gross sales

Highlighting the growing significance of cloud-based computing and attendant information heart wants, Amazon Internet Companies hit $10 billion in annual gross sales in 2015, based on an organization submitting with the U.S. Securities and Trade Fee. The mark comes 10 years after the service was launched. In response to the April 5 submitting, Amazon.com as a complete generated $100 billion in gross sales with AWS, which supplies compute, storage, content material supply, networking and database companies, contributed a full 10% to that determine. Amazon Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, in commentary contained within the submitting, mentioned the “most noteworthy” side of AWS is “the tempo of innovation continues to speed up – we introduced 722 vital new options and companies in 2015, a 40% improve over 2014.” Bezos wrote a “customer-obsessed” method underlies the success of each Amazon and AWS. … Learn extra

Orange scuttles merger talks with Bouygues

French telecom operator Orange determined to place an finish to merger talks with smaller rival Bouygues Telecom, based on Orange. “After in-depth discussions, the board of administrators of Orange has concluded that an settlement concerning a attainable consolidation with Bouygues Telecom has not been reached. The choice has due to this fact been taken to finish the discussions with Bouygues,” the corporate mentioned in an announcement. The French telco mentioned it can pursue deployment of its strategic plan, launched in 2015, and centered on funding in high-speed broadband networks and offering an improved buyer expertise. Within the assertion, Orange additionally confirmed all of its monetary goals. Orange reached mentioned it reached 8 million LTE subscribers on the finish of 2015, posting 1.4 million web additions over the past quarter of the yr. The telco ended 2015 with 28.42 million cellular connections. … Learn extra

FCC strikes on USF reform, $20b over 10 years

The Federal Communications Fee accepted what it’s calling modernization and reform of its common service program in a uncommon unanimous vote. The FCC mentioned this system will present roughly $20 billion in assist over the subsequent 10 years to “small rural carriers” providing broadband companies in “high-cost areas.” The federal government company mentioned the reforms will higher goal monetary assist “to communities that want it essentially the most,” with claims that round 20% of all houses in areas served by “rate-of-return” carriers nonetheless lack entry to broadband companies. The FCC strikes embrace modernizing current Common Service program guidelines to encourage funding by rural carriers by offering larger capital expenditure allowances for operators with beneath common deployment and limiting allowable funding for these with above common deployment; require broadband deployment, based mostly on variety of areas missing service, the price of offering service and assist to be obtained; and directs Common Service funds to areas with out broadband competitors. For carriers, the FCC can be providing a voluntarily transition from legacy rate-of-return assist to a brand new model-based assist just like a mannequin used for the Join America Fund Part II. Carriers accepting USF assist should deploy service offering obtain speeds of a minimum of 10 megabits per second and add speeds of a minimum of 1 Mbps to all funded areas, with sooner 25 Mbps downlink and three Mbps uplink service required in areas of upper inhabitants density; with a 40% construct out requirement inside 4 years, growing by 10% annually till reaching 100% by yr 10. … Learn extra

Try the RCR Wi-fi Information Archives for extra tales from the previous.