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CompTIA has provided details on its new learning and certification programs for its Essentials and Expansion training programs for the burgeoning AI job market. The goal is to train people already working in the IT industry on various AI disciplines without requiring them to spend time dealing with material with which they already are familiar.

The initial focus of the new program is on six job roles. Four are existing job clusters: software development, cybersecurity, systems operations (SysOps) and data analytics. The AI educational roadmap also looks deeply at two emerging job roles: prompt engineering and AI systems architects.

The organization provides nine courses, each with an intended job role. They are: AI Essentials (aimed at any occupation); Sec AI+ (security engineers); PenTest AI+ (penetration testers); CySA AI+ (security analysts); data AI+ (data analysts); AI SysOp+ (systems operations); AI Scripting+ (tech support, network operations); AI Architect+ (AI systems architects); and AI Prompt+ (prompt engineers).

All but the AI Essentials are classified as CompTIA Expansion series courses. The program is scheduled for release in July.

The CompTIA Expansions series aims to build advanced skills for specific industries and job roles. The idea is to enable those enrolled to learn about technical advances without revisiting skills that the individual already possesses and practices frequently.

“The crossing of the AI chasm means workers and companies need to quickly hone their skills-building strategies across AI domains,” CompTIA Chief Product Officer Thomas Reilly said in a press release issued today. “CompTIA’s investments in these areas confirm our commitment to delivering best-in-class competency-based learning and certifications designed for the age of AI.”

The Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) is an international IT certification and training body.

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5G connections will comprise more than half (51%) of all global mobile connections by 2029, according to new research from GSMA Intelligence (GSMAi). Increasingly, the networks are based on standalone 5G (5G SA).

Standalone 5G networks do not rely on previous-generation technology but instead have a dedicated core network. They support certain capabilities not available with non-standalone 5G networks.

As of the first month of this year, 261 operators in 101 countries had launched commercial 5G services, and at least 90 operators from 64 markets had committed to rollouts, the researchers said. Forty-seven of the 261 commercial services are provided via 5G SA networks. Another 89 5G SA deployments are planned.

One key driver of 5G SA deployments is network slicing. Slicing enables providers to offer tailored services to customers with different performance parameters to support different applications such as internet of things or videoconferencing applications.

Other key 5G SA drivers include a simplified network architecture and “ultra-reliable low-latency communications,” GSMAi said.

The availability of 5G SA networks, as well as more private and dedicated networks, is expected to fuel strong connected device adoption. A ”massive number of connected devices” are expected, GSMAi said.

There currently exist 10.7 billion IoT connections in the enterprise segment, according to GSMAi data. Enterprise connections are expected to more than double to 38.5 billion by 2030. A big chunk of those originate from smart buildings and smart manufacturing, which account for 34% and 16% of total enterprise connections, respectively.

“The early success of 5G was driven by enhanced mobile broadband (EMBB) and EMBB-related network traffic requirements,” said Peter Jarich, head of GSMAi, in a prepared statement about the 5G mobile connections research. “Yet, while consumer requirements will continue their trajectory, we’re now seeing use cases beyond that.”

“Opportunities are now appearing in areas including API monetization and 5G RedCap for enterprise IoT – all supported by 5G-Advanced and 5G SA networks. 5G SA brings home 5G’s early promise, particularly where slicing, low-latency and massive IoT capabilities tied to enterprise service needs can be met. 5G-Advanced will only extend that further.”

In terms of sheer numbers, 5G connections surpassed 1 billion at the end of 2022, rose to 1.6 billion at the end of 2023, and are expected to reach 5.5 billion connections by 2030, GSMAi said.

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Leader AT&T and five other service providers earned a spot on Vertical Systems Group (VSGs) 2023 U.S. Carrier Ethernet Leaderboard.

The overall category rose 2.4%. The direct Internet access (DIA) sector drove the growth. It was somewhat offset, however, by the declining demand for switched service, according to VSG principal Rick Malone.

Malone called the year “challenging” and said that providers were dealing with “(T)he ongoing transition from legacy wireline data services to SD-WAN/SASE architectures.”

The Leaderboard, which consists of service providers with 4% or more of the retail Ethernet services market in the U.S. are, in order, AT&T, Lumen, Spectrum Enterprise, Verizon, Comcast Business and Cox Business.

The Challenge Tier notes companies that have between 1% and 4% of the market. They are, in order, Altice USA (including Optimum and Lightpath), Cogent, Frontier, GTT, Windstream and Zayo.

Key findings of the latest U.S. Ethernet Leaderboard:

• Lumen remains in second position based on port share that accounts for its spinoff of U.S. assets to Brightspeed, European assets to COLT, and South American assets to Stonepeak.
• Shares are tightening between several Leaderboard companies. This may impact mid-2024 rank positions.
• Rank positions changed for several companies cited in the Challenge Tier.
• Dedicated Internet/Cloud Access (DIA) is the top U.S. Ethernet service. Following it are Ethernet Private Lines, Ethernet Virtual Private Lines, E-Access to VPN, Metro LAN and WAN VPLS.
• Ethernet pricing has stabilized for lower speed services. Price compression persists for gigabit speed offerings.
• AT&T, Lumen and Verizon are the three LEADERBOARD companies with MEF 3.0 Carrier Ethernet (CE) certification.

The Market Player tier consists of providers below 1% of the retail Ethernet services market.

A non-exhaustive list of firms in this category, in alphabetical order: ACD, AireSpring, Alaska Communications, Altafiber, American Telesis, Arelion, Armstrong Business Solutions, Astound Business, Breezeline, Brightspeed, BT Global Services, Centracom, Consolidated Communications, Conterra, Crown Castle, Douglas Fast Net, DQE Communications, Exa Infrastructure, ExteNet Systems, Fatbeam, FiberLight, First Digital, FirstLight, Flo Networks, Fusion Connect, Global Cloud Xchange, Granite Telecom, Great Plains Communications, Hunter Communications, Intelsat, Logix Fiber Networks, LS Networks, MetTel, Midco, Momentum Telecom, NTT, Orange Business, Pilot Fiber, PS Lightwave, Ritter Communications, Segra (including UPN), Shentel Business, Silver Star Telecom, Sparklight Business, Syringa, Tata Communications, TDS Telecom, TPx, Uniti, US Signal, WOW!Business and Ziply Fiber.

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New Parks Associates research found that almost half of pay TV subscribers — 46% — find home control and interactive features provided through their television to be appealing or very appealing.

The research found that the most popular advanced feature is the ability to stream content from an online video service through a pay-TV service. Overall, 66% of respondents find this appealing, with 49% ranking it very appealing.

TV Smart Home Control

Other tasks that resonated with respondents (in order): Smart home/home security, cloud gaming, buying products (T-Commerce), interactive polls and sports betting.

More than a third of respondents said they found controlling smart home devices and home security systems appealing or very appealing. More than a third also said that about playing video games on the TV from a cloud gaming service. Another capability that appealed to at least a third of respondents was shopping for outfits, items and other goods seen in TV shows.

“This data highlights a significant interest in smart home technology integration within the pay-TV market,” Parks Associates’ President and CMO Elizabeth Parks said in a press release. “The home ecosystems continue to overlap, creating new opportunities to expand control and enhance the user experience. Consumers expect and want more interconnected and technologically advanced home entertainment systems.”

The survey covered 8,000 internet households in the U.S.

Overall, smart devices are proliferating. Last April, Parks Associates found that in the fourth quarter of 2016, 7% of households with smart devices had three or more. That segment increased to 14% in the fourth quarter of 2018, to 23% during the fourth quarter of 2020 and 28% in the fourth quarter of 2022.

In a report that rained a bit on the smart device parade, IDC said late last March that smart TVs fell 4.3% worldwide in 2023. Reasons included macroeconomic factors and the strong performance in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Telecom providers should be aware of a new security rating system that has been developed by supply chain security firm SecurityScorecard in cooperation with providers. The application is underpinned with artificial intelligence (AI) and is designed to assign a cybersecurity rating to providers.

According to SecurityScorecard, 85% of telecom companies in the U.S. and five European countries suffered third-party data breaches during the past year. SecurityScorecard hopes to reduce that percentage by enabling providers to understand and address their vulnerabilities.

AI Security Rating

Key elements of the telecom and cloud provider rating system include:

• Industry-specific scoring: Specific industries have distinctive complexities. SecurityScorecard cites open DNS resolvers as an example. The algorithms used by the scorecard account for “unique security landscapes and operational processes.”

• Network partitioning: Wireless providers traditionally are evaluated on all elements they own, such as IPs and domains. However, in many cases the customers control these assets. The platform now can exclude customer-controlled assets from digital asset scores.

• AI detection and categorization of assets leased to third parties: The proprietary AI models automatically detect and categorize assets leased to third parties. This enables organizations to gain insight into how these assets impact their overall score.

• Posting score with user-contributed data:  Organizations can supplement security ratings with internal data, certifications, penetration testing and cybersecurity training.

More than 60,000 organizations participate in the SecurityScorecard platform, according to the company. Providers can access their security rating at no cost, the company said.

“We refine and improve our algorithm continuously to ensure that our ratings provide the most accurate reflection of a company’s cybersecurity,” said Christos Kalantzis, chief technology officer for SecurityScorecard, in a prepared statement. “We believe that together, we will transform cybersecurity for the benefit of all.”