NEWS
Telefónica and Vodafone release RFIs for OpenRAN technology
The Telecom Infra Project( TIP) has announced that two of its members, Spanish multinational broadband and telecommunications provider, Telefónica, and Vodafone, have each issued a Request for Information( RFI) for OpenRAN solutions.
The RFIs will identify vendors of Radio Access Network( RAN) equipment and assess their ability to meet requirements for RAN platforms as established by TIP’ s OpenRAN Project Group.
The objective of the OpenRAN Project Group is the development of fully programmable RAN solutions based on General Purpose Processing Platforms( GPPP) and disaggregated software.
The project group was formed to harness the benefits that softwaredriven development can bring to RAN, including greater network flexibility and a faster pace of innovation.
The scope of the RFIs is a RAN platform that could extend operators’ 4G network coverage. Other technologies including 2G and 3G are also included in the RFIs.
Following the OpenRAN Project Group’ s vision, the RFIs will collect information, allowing Vodafone and Telefónica to evaluate solutions that are aligned with the OpenRAN principles of RAN on GPPP platforms using disaggregated software.
Respondents are invited, through Vodafone and Telefónica’ s RFI processes, to submit information related to solutions both current or in development that meet specifications outlined in the RFIs. The results of the RFI process will be presented at the TIP Summit 2018 in London on October 16 – 17 and identify vendors that meet RFI requirements.
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Criminal groups dismantled for laundering € 2.5 million through smurfing and cryptocurrencies
Europol has supported the Spanish Guardia
Civil and the National Police of Colombia in dismantling two criminal organisations involved in large-scale money laundering. It is estimated that the € 2.5 million has been laundered by using methods, such as smurfing and cryptocurrency exchanges.
Europol supported the operation by facilitating information exchange and by deploying four experts to Spain equipped with a mobile office and a Universal Forensic Extraction Device( UFED).
This allowed for real-time cross-checks of the data gathered during the course of the actions against Europol’ s databases, as well as the extraction of data from the mobile and computer devices seized for its posterior analysis.
The investigation began when Colombian authorities were alerted of a Colombian family with links to drug trafficking, operating in the Spanish city of Zaragoza. The Spanish Guardia Civil verified the existence of a criminal organisation operating in Spain and dedicated to laundering the money earned by other criminal groups who were operating in various locations in Spain and France. The criminal network picked up the illicit proceeds, split them and sent them in small remittances – a criminal method known as smurfing.
Investigators also identified a second network operating in Madrid( Spain). The network was also involved in collecting large sums of cash from other criminal groups linked to illicit activities such as drug trafficking or crimes against Spain’ s heritage.
The group used cryptocurrency exchanges to convert large amounts of money from cash into cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoins and Altcoins, and later transferred them to other virtual wallets controlled by the Colombian organisation, which allowed the return of the illicit proceeds to South America, thus disguising the origin of the money.
12 INTELLIGENTCIO www. intelligentcio. com