News of Note—AT&T takes AI, machine learning to the field; China Unicom, China Telecom mull merger and more

Here are the other stories we're following today:

>  AT&T Chief Data Officer Steve Stine wrote about how his company is using artificial intelligence and machine learning to find the best routes for the telco's field technicians. AT&T blog

> China is reportedly mulling the merger of wireless telecommunications giants China Unicom and China Telecom in order to speed up the development of 5G technologies. Bloomberg article

> Orange is set to issue a request for proposal to equipment suppliers that will include provisions for 5G, more automated processes and ONAP specifications as some of the key requirements. Light Reading article

> According to a survey sponsored by systems integrator Teneo, more organizations have moved beyond the proof-of-concept stage and into real-world deployments of SD-WAN. Cloud Tech article