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Today’s topics include AT&T’s announcement that it will initiate 5G service in 12 U.S. cities by the end of 2018; how rising data center demand is pushing up server DRAM revenue; Microsoft’s $500 million startup assistance program; and the opening of a tech-focused charter school on Oracle’s California headquarters campus.
AT&T announced Feb. 21 that Dallas, Waco, Texas and Atlanta will be the first U.S. cities to get advanced 5G wires services in 2018. AT&T plans to initiate 5G service in a total of 12 cities in 2018 and will announce the next nine in the coming months.
Igal Elbaz, the senior vice president of wireless network architecture and design for AT&T said “After significantly contributing to the first phase of 5G standards, conducting multi-city trials, and literally transforming our network for the future, we’re planning to be the first carrier to deliver standards-based mobile 5G – and do it much sooner than most people thought possible.”
To support the development of the company’s 5G strategy and network, AT&T is opening a new 5G lab in Austin, Texas, where it will conduct stress tests using mobile 5G network equipment and devices from a range of vendors before releasing the devices to customers.
Revenue generated by the top three DRAM suppliers, Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron, rose by 14 percent year-over-year in the 2017 fourth quarter, according to DRAMeXchange the memory and storage research division of TrendForce.
Average prices rose steadily in the quarter because the supply of server DRAM has not kept up with the demand, even though suppliers have assigned more capacity to their server product lines, the DRAMeXchange market report found.
In addition, TrendForce said large data center projects in North America have been contributing to the strong demand growth. DRAMeXchange analyst Mark Liu said that tight supply will persist during Q1 2018 because server shipments and sales of server DRAM modules continue to show sales strength
Microsoft is pouring $500 million over a two-year period into a program called Microsoft for Startups, which will help startups accelerate the commercialization of their products and grow their customer bases.
The program will “offer co-selling options to startups as well as access to technology and new community spaces that promote collaboration within local ecosystems,” said Microsoft.
The company will offer startups up to $120,000 in credits for Azure cloud services, along with software development tools and premium technical support.
Some may also be entitled to access the Office 365 and Microsoft Dynamics 365 business cloud software suites. Other resources available include access to Microsoft Reactors, which are physical locations where entrepreneurs can gather to network, attend hackathons and other events.
A few weeks ago, 550 high school students started attending daily classes on Oracle’s Redwood City, Calif. campus at a new charter-school called d.tech High School.
Design Tech is a tuition-free, ninth grade-through-12th grade charter school that incorporates technology, design thinking and problem solving skills to help students prepare for successful careers.
The huge database and cloud services provider announced in October 2015 that it would build the 64,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art school to be used by 550 students and 20 faculty members, as well as the local community.
Oracle CEO Safra Catz said “Seventeen years ago, Larry Ellison told me that he’d love to have a school where students learn to think. Our support of d.tech reflects Larry’s vision for a unique high school founded on principles we believe in: innovation, creativity, problem-solving and design-thinking.”