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Five interesting items focused on regional and metro projects and events around the US: … [visit site to read more]
BT Group have struck a deal with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to manage the decommissioning of over 70% of the Digital Units legacy technology estate, with an aim of delivering annualised savings of £65 million by end of FY25.
The deal forms part of BT’s modernisation and simplification programme and will play its part in achieving £3bn in gross annualised savings by the end of FY25.
The programme should speed Digital’s transition to a new technology architecture whilst reducing the risks associated with transition from legacy systems. Around 400 BT Group employees worldwide may join TCS during the transition.
Harmeen Mehta, Chief Digital and Innovation Officer, BT Group said of the partnership “It removes complexity and intensifies our strategic focus on delivering the leading-edge tech to meet our customers’ needs and drive growth.”
Whilst Debashis Ghosh, President, Business Transformation Group, TCS highlighted that “This is a truly innovative and ground-breaking deal that presents a replicable model for other large enterprises seeking to pivot into the new, while mitigating operational risks.”
![[blog]cvx-expo-recap](https://i2.wp.com/blog.bicomsystems.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/blogcvx-expo-recap.jpg?fit=1200%2C630&ssl=1)
Bicom Systems has been a long-term partner of ChannelVision Magazine for many years. Over the time of our relationship, we have contributed to several editorials, podcasts, webinars, and more. When the CV team announced they were putting together a trade show, we knew the Bicom Systems team had to be there!
CVx Expo was the first trade show that brought together the ChannelVision Magazine audience in person. The vendors and attendees were a mix of channel partners and providers looking to “sell and celebrate the technologies and tools that are driving digital transformations.” Bicom Systems attended the show as a Silver sponsor and was one of the hundred vendors on the exhibit floor.
Our team was greeted with an extremely welcoming atmosphere when we arrived at the show. Tons of organizers were available to answer questions and distribute materials like brochures, pamphlets, and booth information. We especially liked the reading corner near the main entrance with each exhibitor’s brochures! Like many vendors, we are still finding our footing regarding trade shows after the pandemic. However, the Bicomers who attended CVx are happy to report it was a successful three-day show.
Our booth was equipped with two demo stations, covering PBXware and gloCOM Meeting. When demoing the new features in gloCOM Meeting, we were sure to use products by our partner, Poly! Attendees saw the clarity of the video when pairing gloCOM Meeting with the Poly Studio P15 Camera. On top of that, they heard excellent call quality from the Poly Sync 20 Speakerphone and Poly 6220 Voyager Headset. (A personal favorite of Business Success Manager, Patrice Bramat!)
Aside from the ongoing demos, we also had live presentations playing for our audience. Pairing the presentations and the brochures ensured our attendees had enough information about our products to dive into a live demo. It also attracted visitors who have yet to consider adding telephony or UCaaS to their offering.
One of our Account Managers, Saulio Reyes, had an exclusive interview with CVTV. He shared the current offerings and promotions we have going on and also discussed the opportunities in the current business market. Do you want to watch the interview? Head over to our YouTube channel!
Although one of the main reasons we attend trade shows is to meet with prospects, we never miss an opportunity to celebrate our current partners. As part of our sponsorship, we were gifted passes to the show and reached out to a few partners in the area to see if they would be interested in attending.
To name a few:
Overall, our time at CVx Expo was great! We met some incredible businesses ready to enhance their offering. The traffic on the exhibit floor was sparse, but the lead quality was tremendous.
We are looking forward to building new relationships with them. Save the date for CVx 2023!
What trade show are we attending next? Keep an eye out for an official announcement on our socials!
ST Telemedia Global Data Centres (STC GDC), a leading data centre provider, has announced the structural completion of its first data centre facility in Indonesia – STT Jakarta 1.
The new facility is the first building in a data centre campus developed under a joint venture with leading Indonesian conglomerate Triputra Group and global investment company Temasek. Once completed, the data centre campus will support up to 72 megawatts of critical IT capacity, with STT Jakarta 1 supporting up to 19.5 megawatts when fully operational in Q2 2023.
STT Jakarta 1 is strategically located in Bekasi Regency, close to Jakarta’s eastern border and has a gross floor area (GFA) of 18,000 square metres. Catering to hyperscalers alongside Indonesian and multi-national businesses across the banking & finance, content, gaming and e-commerce industries, the facility will help to provide the digital infrastructure needed to meet the ever-increasing demand for digital and cloud services. As part of its ongoing expansion plans, PT STT GDC Indonesia has inked a land contract to build a second data centre facility at the campus.
PT STT GDC Indonesia has also signed an MoU with PT Mora Telematika Indonesia (Moratelindo), one of Indonesia’s largest telecommunications infrastructure and network providers. As part of this MoU, Moratelindo will set up a point of presence (PoP) in STT Jakarta 1 to serve the domestic, regional and international connectivity needs of customers in the data centre campus.
STT Jakarta 1’s data centre operations will be carbon-neutral from day one, a reminder of the importance of energy management in modern data centres. In fact STT GDC recently announced that it was investigating the use of cold energy from liquefied natural gas (LNG) transportation – energy that might otherwise be wasted – to cool a data centre in Thailand.
STT GDC has signed an agreement with PTT Digital Solutions, the IT services arm of Thailand’s state-owned oil and gas company PTT, to carry out a feasibility study on harnessing the cold energy released from the regasification of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to produce electricity and chilled water for cooling a data centre.
Lumen said yesterday that it plans to significantly increase its potential capacity nationwide. The company plans to add 6 million fiber miles to its intercity fiber network over the next several years. The move takes advantage of Lumen’s existing extra conduits, meaning they don’t have to dig, just pull. … [visit site to read more]
Total Access Communication PLC (dtac) has entered into a strategic partnership with Telenor and Google Cloud to help Thai businesses accelerate digital transformation. Together, the organizations have developed and launched dtac B-LAB – a one-stop solutions platform – to help businesses connect, learn, and grow. dtac B-LAB is designed to empower local small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to fully digitalize their businesses and achieve profitable growth, by providing access to a knowledge hub and tailored software as a service (SaaS) and mobile connectivity solutions.
How B-LAB began
B-LAB is the brainchild of dtac, Telenor, and Google Cloud, as a part of their shared commitment toward holistically addressing businesses’ dynamic needs in today’s digital-first landscape. What started as a joint internal transformation project quickly evolved into a new vision for better serving and supporting Thai SMEs. The combined expertise of Google Cloud teams across Europe and Asia, Telenor teams in Norway and Poland, and the full dtac business team in Thailand was required to bring this project to life.
Research by dtac revealed that one of the biggest barriers holding back businesses’ digital adoption is the shortage of relevant competencies and skills. The three organizations have therefore built a rich community ecosystem on dtac B-LAB that offers educational content, certification courses, and seminars focusing on digital skills, emerging business trends, and future readiness. To further enable digital transformation powered by best-in-class cloud and connectivity technologies, a wide range of tailored solutions have also been made available on the platform’s digital marketplace.
Mr. Sadat Ibne Zaman, Chief Business Officer, Total Access Communication PLC, said: “dtac Business’ vision is to go beyond mobile connectivity, by working with world-class technology providers to curate the right products and services for businesses to thrive in today’s digital era. A deep understanding of our customers’ pain points has helped us develop solutions that are easily accessible, user friendly, and customer-centric. For instance, what we’re hearing from startups is they need new options to reduce costs, improve team collaboration and data storage security, and insights to help them stay ahead of current and future market trends.
B-LAB can be leveraged by single proprietorships like online retailers, freelancers, content creators, lawyers, accountants, or consultants. It’s great for businesses that work in teams, such as media agencies, health clinics, or car dealerships with several branches. It meets the needs of businesses large or small in any industry, regardless of whether you are a manufacturer, distributor, wholesaler, or retailer.”
Ms. April Srivikorn, Country Manager, Thailand, Google Cloud, said: “Efforts that support the growth of small and medium businesses will be an essential driver of Thailand’s future economic development. SME owners have also been seeking three things that are essential for growth: tools to establish or reinforce their online presence, capabilities to deliver personalized engagement to digital-first users, and the right skills to put these tools and capabilities to effective use. This is why we have been collaborating very closely with dtac and Telenor to build and bring to market B-LAB, an all-in-one platform that provides the necessary data-powered capabilities, employee communication and collaboration tools, and digital skills for SMEs in metro and non-metro areas to become tomorrow’s established enterprises – at a scale only made possible by combining market-leading cloud and connectivity technologies.”
B-LAB’s Three Key Pillars:
Built on Google Cloud’s industry-leading cloud-native communication and collaboration platform, Google Workspace brings together the applications people know and love – like Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Chat, Meet, and more – into a single, integrated workspace, with built-in enterprise-grade access management, device management, data protection, and data encryption, to establish a secure remote working environment from anywhere, on any device.
Also in the news:
SKT takes its Ifland metaverse platform global
CMA probes Apple and Google over browser “duopoly”
Vodacom launches National Relay Service to boost digital inclusion
It looks like Indian operator Vodafone Idea’s plans to pay at least some of its outstanding debts may have run into trouble.
As we reported last month, Vodafone Idea (aka Vi) seemed to have found a way to solve at least one of its debt issues after announcing plans to issue debentures worth 16 billion rupees (about US$195.6 million) to American Tower Corporation (ATC).
However, Vodafone Idea has now said that the planned preferential bonds issue could not be concluded. That’s because a key condition was government conversion of the 161.3 billion rupees (about US$1.96 billion) accrued interest on the operator’s deferred AGR-related dues into equity.
Vodafone Idea says it has not received any communication from the government on such a conversion, so according to an exchange filing, “the issuance of OCDs (optionally convertible debentures) to ATC has not been completed within the validity period of the shareholders’ resolution (i.e. 15 days from the date of passing of the resolution).”
Vodafone Idea is now in discussions with ATC for an extension of the agreement, which may require a new shareholders’ approval.
This follows recent news that the operator had been in talks with State Bank of India (SBI) for a 150-160 billion rupee loan ($1.94 billion), though here too, the need for clarity on the government’s potential shareholding in Vodafone Idea, as well as the operator’s business scale-up plans could be issues.
However, ironically, the government itself also seems to be waiting for a clear fund-raising plan, which puts Vodafone Idea in a very difficult position.
Vodafone Idea needs external funding to clear its over 120 billion rupees (US$1.45 billion) of dues to large vendors such as Indus Towers, ATC, Nokia and Ericsson, besides funding its pending 5G services rollout and bolstering its 4G coverage.
Vodafone Idea still apparently plans to raise Rs 200 billion rupees (US$2.43 billion) via a mix of debt and equity, but without clear signals from the government, that could be difficult.
The new year will see a changing of the guard over at euNetworks. The Western European bandwidth infrastructure company’s board of director has agreed to the appointment of a new Chief Executive Officer. … [visit site to read more]
This Industry Viewpoint was authored by Erik Nordquist, Global Managed Security Product Director at GTT
As ransomware and data breaches have been grabbing headlines for the past few years, distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks have stopped being top of mind for many CIOs, but they’re still more dangerous than ever and companies cannot neglect the necessary steps for prevention and securing internal traffic. In fact, Google Cloud recently recorded the largest DDoS attack ever of 46 million requests per second in an offensive that lasted 69 minutes. … [visit site to read more]
