Huawei Finds a Home With Consumers, Says Q1 Revenue
Also in today's Broadband Bites, Algar Telecom digs into XGS-PON, career Chunghwa Telecom executive gets to the top of the ladder and nothing can stop smart speaker sales.
Despite scrutiny from the US and a number of Western governments, Huawei's first-quarter revenue grew 39% to $27 billion (179.7 billion yen), it announced today. Net profit was 8%, up slightly from the same quarter in 2018, according to the Chinese vendor. Although it did not break out earnings by segment, Huawei cited its continued "focus on ICT infrastructure and smart devices," along with opex cuts, for continued growth, stressing global consumers' adoption of its connected-home solutions.
Charter Communications avoided a potential legal battle and keeps the operator in New York when it came to a proposed agreement with the state's Department of Public Service late last week regarding its network-expansion plans. Under the prospective deal, Charter will expand its network and provide high-speed broadband to about 145,000 Upstate New York residences and businesses by Sept. 30, 2021 and pay $12 million to increase broadband to other under- and unserved regions of the Empire state. All these commitments will cost Charter more than $600 million, reported the Times Union of Albany. Like all deals, the Charter-New York DPS proposal is now in a 60-day public comment period and is subject to review and final action by the Public Service Commission.
Far From the Madding Crowd
Charter and Consolidated are expanding their networks in New York state, with Charter expressly extending services into rural regions if a prospective agreement is approved.
(Image source: Shane K/ Flickr)
Elsewhere in the state, Consolidated Communications today said it's completed an FTTP broadband network and launched a TV service in Ghent, NY (in Columbia County, found in the southeastern part of the state). The 1-gig all-fiber network carries a variety of triple-play packages, whole-home DVR and speeds of two- to three-times non-fiber offerings, said Rob Koester, vice president of consumer product management at Consolidated Communications. The upgrade is part of the operator's New York broadband expansion program.
Further south and a little earlier this month, Brazil's Algar Telecom said it will use XGS-PON to upgrade its enterprise-service networks. The operator is relying on long-time partner Nokia to deploy the upgrade, which will give businesses symmetric speeds up to 10 Gbp/s, according to the vendor.
The board at Taiwan's largest service provider, Chunghwa Telecom's board, today said it's appointed Chi-Mau Sheih as chairman and CEO. He succeeds Yu Cheng, effective today. Sheih will also remain president until his replacement is found. The CSP delivers fixed- and mobile broadband and Internet services, as well as enterprise services such as IT, big data, cloud, IoT and artificial intelligence. Sheih has held many executive and technology positions over his 40-year career at Chunghwa, and won multiple national and international awards for corporate and social responsibility.
Speaking to the Home Team
Smart speakers -- and smart assistants -- are quickly becoming popular among residential customers, with sales soon predicted to overtake those of tablets, Canalys's recent research finds.
(Source: Canalys)
Worldwide smart speaker sales will increase a whopping 82.4% between 2018 and 2019, from 114 million units in 2018 to 207.9 million units this year, according to a recent report by Canalys. The US continues to lead the way, representing 42.2% of the market by the close of 2019, the research firm said. Although China is expected to account for 59.9 million units by year-end, to date it's remained impenetrable for Amazon and Google, neither of which have a presence in the country, Canalys said. Local vendors meet China's market demands, wrote Senior Analyst Jason Low. Smart speakers are so popular, unit sales of these devices will overtake tablet sales by 2021 -- in part, because of the growing sophistication and adoption of smart assistants, Low added.
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— Alison Diana, Editor, Broadband World News. Follow us on Twitter or @alisoncdiana.
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Here's where you can find episode links for 'The Divide,' Light Reading's podcast series featuring conversations with broadband providers and policymakers working to close the digital divide.
As we have for the past two years, Light Reading will present our Cable Next-Gen Europe conference as a free digital symposium on June 21.
Charter has sparked RDOF work in all 24 states where it won bids. The cable op booked about $19 million in RDOF revenues in Q1, and expects to have about $9 million per month come in over the next ten years.
As we have for the past two years, Light Reading will stage the Cable Next-Gen Technologies & Strategies conference as a free digital event over two half-days in mid-March.
Launch of 2-Gig and 5-Gig FTTP tiers in 70-plus markets puts more pressure on cable ops to enhance their existing DOCSIS 3.1 network or accelerate their upgrade activity centered on the new DOCSIS 4.0 specs.
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