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Top IT News of the Week (12/2022)

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Author: Boglárka Chamer

Date published: 21st March 2022

Category: IT Industry News

IT news #1: Vodafone and Ericsson carry out UK’s first 5G network slicing trial.

Topic: Telecommunications, 5G

Ericsson and Vodafone have completed the UK’s first 5G standalone network slicing trial to create on-demand 5G connectivity. The lab trial, which is the first of its kind for a communications service provider in the UK, demonstrated an on-demand premium 5G network slice using Ericsson’s 5G Standalone containerised core architecture and end-to-end automated orchestrated solution, including 5G RAN slicing. The network slice was configured to provide the low latency and high bandwidth experience required for a virtual reality use case. Andrea Dona, Chief Network Officer, Vodafone UK, says: “By segmenting our network, and customising different slices for different requirements, we can bring to life new ideas that would be impossible otherwise.” Network slicing is a new service for business customers and application developers, enabled by the deployment of 5G Standalone networks. The service allows CSPs to create multiple virtual network slices which operate across the same physical network. Each slice is isolated from other network traffic to give dedicated performance and eliminate the risk of network congestion, with the features of the slice tailored to the use case requirements.

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IT news #2: AWS invest £1.8bn in building out UK datacentre footprint until 2024.

Topic: Amazon Web Services, data centre

The public cloud giant announces plans to strengthen its digital infrastructure in the UK as demand continues to grow. Amazon Web Services plans to invest an estimated £1.8bn over the course of the next two years in building and operating data centres in the UK in an attempt to meet the increasing demand. The company opened its London region in 2016, before which UK clients were dependant on servers and services delivered from Dublin, Frankfurt or US East Coast data centres. It was confirmed the current investment would double its total UK investment to date. Since 2016, AWS has expanded its footprint by adding a third Availability Zone to the London Region in 2018. The whereabouts of the data centres are not yet revealed. The Register discovered earlier this year, it’s understood to be building at least three sites in England: one at Bracknell, another one at Burderop and a third one at the site of the former Didcot, Oxfordshire.

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IT news #3: South Korea to commercialise 6G services by 2028.

Topic: Mobile, 6G

The government of South Korea expects to launch a pilot project for 6G mobile services
in 2026. Local news agency Yonhap reported South Korea plans to commercialise 6G services by around 2028, citing the country’s science minister. “We are continuing our preparations for the 6G era with the aim of commercialising 6G from 2028 to 2030. [6G] will offer a network 50 times faster than the current service and an expanded coverage of up to 10 kilometres above the ground,” Science and ICT Minister Lim Hye-sook said during a recent speech at Mobile World Congress 2022. The minister added South Korea had made rapid progress in 5G network speed and coverage since becoming the first country to commercialise 5G services in 2019. It was also confirmed the country will push ahead to unfold a new age by implementing innovative digital technologies, including metaverse, blockchain, AI and Cloud.

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IT news #4: Apple launches new business features.

Topic: Apple, software update

Apple have released new versions of its operating systems across macOS, iOS, iPadOS and Safari, with business users benefiting from a range of new features. The most pertinent features for businesses come with macOS Monterey 12.3, iPadOS 15.4, and iOS 15.4, but Safari’s latest update may also be of interest. The newest feature for macOS Monterey 12.3 beta is the long-awaited beta of Universal Control that allows a single mouse and keyboard to be used across Mac and iPad devices. It is designed to improve user workflows running both types of devices or two Mac devices. Using Universal Control, users can type text and drag and drop files between Macs and iPads, each running their own operating systems. However, Macs will require macOS Monterey 12.3 installed, while iPads will need iPadOS 15.4 installed for the feature to work. A collection of bug fixes and miscellaneous system enhancements are also included, like Safari translation languages and saved passwords can now include notes. As part of the latest iOS for iPhones features, Face ID will now allow users to unlock their phones while wearing a mask, which has also been extended to Apple Pay.

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