Fierce Network

EPB is a visionary company that created a fiber network to manage its electric grid, and then began also offering fiber broadband service to consumers Soon, EPB CEO David Wade will retire, and Janet Rehberg will take over as CEO The company's latest vision is to become a leader in quantum EPB, the Chattanooga, Tennessee, electric utility company has long been a hero in the broadband world because it was the first electric utility to offer 1 Gbps broadband to consumers.

Wecom is building a repeatable operating model for rural fiber expansion Broadband has become critical infrastructure that customers expect to work 24/7 Operational Sovereignty doesn't require owning everything — but it does require maintaining control I recently sat down with Rachel Solomon, the new CEO of Wecom Fiber, and the conversation went somewhere I wasn't entirely expecting.

GSMA warns telcos that today’s frontier AI models still fall short on telecom-specific tasks Open telco AI models could be critical to autonomous networks AT&T, SoftBank, China Telecom and others are already using GSMA’s Open Telco AI work to fine-tune models, benchmark performance and build in-house AI muscle For operators betting AI will help automate their networks, GSMA’s Director of AI Technologies Louis Powell has a warning: the biggest models on the market still don’t really understand...

The new company will transition its name to Cox Communications within one year Charter's CEO said there would be some layoffs for "same-type of titles," but it would be "de minimis" to the overall company The combined company will start rebranding its customer facing services to "Spectrum" within a month Charter Communications today announced it has completed its transaction with Cox Communications, and it’s also completed its acquisition of Liberty Broadband Corporation.

Broadcom’s switches play a key role in connecting data centers together The vendor said hyperscalers often want to own and control these important connections Inside AI data centers, AI NICs are key to GPU coordination Telcos worldwide are eager to help hyperscalers and neoclouds create fast fiber connections between data centers, and a handful of deals are in place already.

Data center backlash is becoming an election issue that has political operatives worried AI data center growth is colliding with local power, permitting and public sentiment concerns Still, the hyperscale data center pipeline remains strong Data centers are so unpopular they could end up swinging elections, the National Republican Senatorial Committee warned in a memo obtained by Axios. The memo is focused on the Ohio Senate race between Republican candidate Jon Husted and Democrat Sherrod Brown.

OVHcloud’s data center strategy centers on reuse and retrofits, turning former offices, factories and industrial sites into cloud infrastructure OVHcloud’s Northern Virginia site earned local praise for its low community and environmental impact Redeveloped sites may offer a path for AI infrastructure growth as data center backlash grows The public at large has had it with data centers – so much so that a Fierce story from 2023 about the top 10 ugliest data centers in the world is suddenly...

Nokia's reported R&D retreat from China is the latest in a series of adjustments the vendor has made to shift focus to its faster-growing units The vendor has sold off other under-performing assets, including its FWA CPE unit to Inseego Nokia’s optical networks business is currently its crown jewel Nokia’s reported abandonment of its Chinese business is the latest in a series of pivots by the vendor, as it cashes in on what CEO Justin Hotard calls the “AI supercycle.” During Nokia’s second...

Lumen stopped providing wholesale phone services to a Nebraska CLEC, causing it to go out of business in several states Cable company Optimum is discontinuing broadband service in some rural areas And AT&T is trying to get out of its carrier of last resort obligations in California Telecom providers and cable companies are ditching areas where they no longer want to serve customers.

North America | 4-5 Nov | Times Square, New YorkFutureNet North America brings together telecom leaders shaping the Ffuture of connectivity with AI and automation. Hear insights from senior leaders at T-Mobile, AT&T, Comcast, EchoStar, Boost Mobile, Lumen Technologies, TELUS and more. | Meet the leaders shaping the future of telecoms in North America.