What’s up with… Cisco and Acacia, O-RAN Alliance, Nokia

• Cisco and Acacia renew vows (but at a higher price)
• O-RAN Alliance has new specs
• Nokia lands US 5G Cybersecurity Project gig

Renewed vows between Cisco and Acacia and the latest software release from the O-RAN Alliance lead the way in today’s race for the news finishing line.

• Having seen its $2.6 billion deal to acquire optical components specialist Acacia all but scrapped at the end of last week, Cisco Systems has managed to retrieve the situation and strike a renewed deal to acquire Acacia… except this time the price tag is $4.5 billion, or $115 per share. The news lifted Acacia’s share price by almost 33% to $114.55 but left Cisco’s largely unchanged at $45.32. The deal isn’t done yet, though, as it still requires clearance from the Chinese authorities – both Cisco and Acacia will be hoping that the new, incoming Biden administration in the US might help thaw relations with China and help this deal over the line. See this press release for further details.
• The O-RAN Alliance, working with the Linux Foundation, has published its third open software release, dubbed Cherry, which “features significant advancements in the end-to-end integration of O-RAN Architecture components to meet the needs of early adopters.” The new release includes a host of new use cases, which you can see in this official announcement. And you can find out more about the new release in this blog authored by Jack Murray of AT&T Labs, Jinri Huang of China Mobile Research Institute, and Su Ru, also of China Mobile Research Institute.
• Nokia has had a busy few days: As well as announcing a significant partnership with Google Cloud, it has: Been selected as a technology provider and collaborator by the National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (NCCoE) 5G Cybersecurity Project; extended its long-standing radio access network engagement with T-Mobile US by five years, during which it will deliver multiple systems to support the operator’s ongoing 5G rollout; landed a 5G core deal with Singapore’s M1; and won an IP/MPLS data networking equipment deal with the Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK) via its Nokia Shanghai Bell unit.
• T-Mobile US isn’t building its 5G network with just one RAN partner, of course… Ericsson has also announced a new five-year contract with the operator. Neville Ray, T-Mobile President of Technology, says: “This agreement takes our twenty-year relationship with Ericsson to build, expand and enhance the T-Mobile network even further into the 5G era, enabling us to bring more 5G coverage, speed and capacity to more people across the country.” 
• BNP Paribas has chosen Orange Business Services to deploy an SD-WAN solution in more than 1,800 bank branches across France. See this press release for further details.
• Alex Choi, SVP, Strategy and Technology Innovation at Deutsche Telekom, has shared his view on the ‘Perfect Storm’ that telecoms is now facing. See this LinkedIn post for more. 

- The staff, TelecomTV