Networking
Microsoft announces Azure Databricks
NEW DELHI: Microsoft has announced the availability for Azure Databricks, a fast, easy, and collaborative Apache Spark-based analytics platform optimized for Azure.
The service combines the best of Databricks and Azure to help customers accelerate innovation with one-click set up, streamlined workflows, and an interactive workspace that enables collaboration between data scientists, data engineers, and business analysts.
As an Azure service, customers automatically benefit from the native integration with other Azure services such as Power BI, Azure SQL Data Warehouse and Azure Cosmos DB, as well as from enterprise-grade Azure security, including Azure Active Directory integration, compliance, and enterprise-grade SLAs.
With Azure Databricks and its native integration with other Azure services, Azure is the one-stop destination to easily unlock powerful new analytics, machine learning, and AI scenarios.
Over the past five years, Apache Spark has emerged as the open source standard for advanced analytics, machine learning and AI on Big Data. With a massive community of over 1,000 contributors and the rapid adoption by enterprises, Spark’s popularity has been rising rapidly. Our goal with Azure Databricks, designed in collaboration with the founders of Apache Spark, is to help customers accelerate innovation and simplify the process of building Big Data & AI solutions by combining the best of Databricks and Azure.
There are three basic design principles with Azure Databricks:
Drive innovation and increase productivity – Azure Databricks interactive notebooks enable data science teams to collaborate using popular languages such as Python, Scala and SQL and create powerful machine learning models by working on all their data. Native integration with Azure services further simplifies the creation of end-to-end solutions. These capabilities have enabled companies such as renewables.AI to boost the productivity of their data science teams by over 50%.
Scale without limits – Azure Databricks not only provides an optimized Spark platform which is much faster than open source Apache Spark, but it also simplifies the process of building batch and streaming data pipelines and deploying machine learning models at scale. Customers can now accelerate innovation by analyzing terabytes of data in minutes vs. hours.
Build on a secure, trusted cloud – Azure Databricks protects customers data with enterprise-grade SLAs, simplified security and identity & role-based access controls with Azure Active Directory integration.
NEW DELHI: Ericsson and Three Ireland have combined to launch 5G in Ireland, bringing comprehensive 5G coverage and network capacity to every county.
Three Ireland’s 5G customers in rural and urban areas will benefit from the delivery of vital connectivity across the country.
The close working relationship between the two companies began last year with the aim of achieving rapid 5G deployment and best-in-class network performance. Through this successful partnership, 5G has been rolled out on 315 sites across Ireland, offering 35 percent population coverage with a further 500 sites set to be deployed in 2021.
Powered by Ericsson’s fully virtualized 5G Core and the latest products and solutions from the Ericsson Radio System portfolio, Three Ireland’s new 5G network brings enhanced network coverage and capacity to customers across Ireland and supports Three’s ongoing commitment to increase nationwide connectivity. It also provides a platform for innovation, with the flexibility needed to empower new services across the country and build new use cases for people, businesses, and society at large.
John Griffin, Head of Ericsson Ireland and David Hennessy, Chief Technology Officer, Three Ireland.
Robert Finnegan, CEO of Three Ireland and Three UK said: “As Ireland’s largest mobile data network, carrying 68% of all mobile data, I am delighted that Three is now launching Ireland’s largest 5G network, which will be available to Three customers in every county from today. We started our 5G rollout with Ericsson last year, building our network to bring customers in both rural and urban areas the best possible experience of 5G from the very beginning, which includes providing superfast broadband to remote areas in Ireland.”
“With our nationwide 5G footprint now in place and a variety of 5G enabled devices on the market, we believe now is the right time to launch. Connectivity is vital to our everyday lives, so we wanted to be the first in the country to offer Prepay customers as well as Bill pay customers a 5G experience. 5G is transforming how we connect, work, are entertained and how we live our lives. Having seen what 5G can do and the latency it provides, I am excited to see the economic developments and opportunities this brings to Ireland as we strive to compete in a global environment where connectivity is crucial,” he added.
Arun Bansal, President of Europe and Latin America, Ericsson says: “With this extensive 5G roll-out, our partners at Three are showcasing their leadership as 5G innovators. Three has made significant developments since we became the technology partner for 4G and 5G last year. With us, they now have a best-in-class 4G network and will be ahead in 5G too, thanks to Ericsson’s leading 5G RAN and state-of-the-art virtualized Core Network. As our partnership strengthens, expansive 5G across Ireland will boost economic development and mean many fantastic new opportunities.”
NEW DELHI: Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel on Thursday reported a whopping combined loss of nearly Rs 74,000 crore in the September quarter as the leading telecom players were hit by statutory dues arising from a recent Supreme Court ruling.
While Vodafone Idea posted a loss of Rs 50,921 crore — the highest-ever quarterly loss by any corporate in India — Airtel reported loss to the tune of Rs 23,045 crore.
In 2018 December quarter, Tata Motors logged biggest quarterly loss of Rs 26,961 crore.
Vodafone Idea and Airtel have made provisions for their liabilities arising from the Supreme Court order in their latest September quarter results.
The apex court has upheld the government’s position on including revenue from non-telecommunication businesses in calculating the annual Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) of telecom companies, a share of which has to be paid as licence and spectrum fee to the exchequer.
Stung by colosal losses, Vodafone Idea said its ability to continue as a going concern is dependent on obtaining relief from the government and positive outcome of the proposed legal remedy.
The company is also in the process of filing a review petition against the Supreme Court order.
Vodafone Idea has estimated a liability of Rs 44,150 crore post the apex court order, and made a provision of Rs 25,680 crore in the second quarter of the current fiscal.
The company said it has “accounted for the estimated liability of Rs 27,610 crore related to license fee and Rs 16,540 crore related to Spectrum Usage Charges up to September 30, 2019, including the interest, penalty and interest… of Rs 3,3010 crore”.
In the second quarter of 2018-19, Vodafone Idea reported Rs 4,874 crore loss.
The company’s revenue in the three months ended September 2019 rose 42 per cent to Rs 11,146.4 crore.
Meanwhile, Bharti Airtel posted a staggering Rs 23,045 crore net loss in the latest September quarter due to provisioning of Rs 28,450 crore in the aftermath of the Supreme Court ruling.
The company said its net loss were on account of exceptional charge pertaining to provisioning of Rs 28,450 crore towards the AGR dues, that included principal of Rs 6,164 crore, interest of Rs 12,219 crore, penalty of Rs 3,760 crore, and interest on penalty of Rs 6,307 crore.
Airtel CEO for India and South Asia, Gopal Vittal hoped that the government will take a considerate view on the adjusted gross revenue (AGR) matter given the “fragile state of the industry”.
“On the AGR verdict of the Supreme Court, we continue to engage with the government and are evaluating various options available to us,” he said.
The consolidated revenue of Bharti Airtel was up by 4.7 per cent at Rs 21,199 crore in the just-ended quarter.
As per latest estimates by Department of Telecommunications, Bharti Airtel faces a liability of around Rs 62,187 crore (including share of Tata Group of companies and Telenor India), while Vodafone Idea may have to pay about Rs 54,184 crore.
The remaining liability is with state-owned BSNL/ MTNL and some of the shut/ bankrupt telecom companies.
On Wednesday, the DoT shot off notice to telecom operators to pay their revenue share dues within three months as directed by the Supreme Court.
The DoT has given option to telecom operators to clear all the dues on self-assessment basis.
Source: Press Trust of India
NEW DELHI: Nordic communications service provider Telia has selected Ericsson as its sole 5G radio access network (RAN) vendor for its next-generation nationwide network in Norway.
Hardware and software products and solutions from Ericsson Radio System, including 5G New Radio (5G NR), will be deployed across the network. Ericsson will also modernize Telia Norway’s entire radio network as part of the move to 5G, including deployment of the industry-unique Ericsson Spectrum Sharing software, which will enable Telia to share its spectrum between 4G and 5G use.
Both partners anticipate that 5G rollout will begin in 2020, and that the first 5G commercial services will be available next year too. Ericsson and Telia aim to provide nationwide 5G coverage in Norway by end of 2023.
In addition to enhanced mobile broadband, Telia Norway is exploring the potential of 5G to enable sustainable new opportunities, including in the Internet of Things (IoT), Industry 4.0, for enterprises, the home, and smart cities. Telia Norway and Ericsson are already partnering on 5G pilot network in Trondheim, Norway, incorporating smart transport, automation and artificial intelligence (AI) functionalities.
Abraham Foss, CEO, Telia Norway, says: “In short, the realization of 5G will enable us to be at the forefront of digitalization. It will help us to transform both industry and infrastructure in Norway and bring the next generation of possibilities into reality. For this reason, our goal is to bring nationwide 5G coverage within the next four years, and we’re very pleased to be taking a leading role in this continued development of Norway with our partner Ericsson.”
Arun Bansal, President of Europe and Latin America, Ericsson, says: “We are pleased to strengthen our position in the Nordic countries through this landmark 5G deal with Telia Norway. We will work closely in partnership with Telia Norway to bring the best possible commercial 5G experiences to their customers. This includes working with Telia Norway to enable the innovative Internet of Things (IoT) and Industry 4.0 benefits that this new connectivity platform will bring to Norway as the country embraces digitalization.”
Ericsson is currently live with commercial 5G in 19 customer networks across 15 countries, spanning four continents.
