Uganda Telecom Deploys UMTS/HSPA from Alcatel-Lucent

Uganda Telecom has deployed a UMTS/HSPA network from Alcatel-Lucent in time for this month's Summit of Head of States of the Commonwealth. As announced earlier this year, Uganda Telecom Ltd chose Alcatel-Lucent for the extension of its GSM/EDGE mobile network and for the deployment of the first third-generation UMTS/HSPA network in Uganda, one of the first such deployments in the East Africa region.



Under this contract, Alcatel-Lucent has provided Uganda Telecom with its comprehensive radio networking solution including base stations, radio network and base station controllers (RNC/BSC), wireless network management system solutions and engineering tools. Alcatel-Lucent was also responsible for network design and complete network deployment, including network integration and maintenance services. Additionally Alcatel-Lucent has supplied a new generation of microwave systems to optimize the transmission of voice and data traffic from the base stations to the core network, with the capability to adapt quickly and efficiently to the growth in traffic and services.

http://www.alcatel-lucent.com

http://www.utl.co.ug

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European Operators Take Skeptical View of Proposed EU Telecom Reforms

At the 5th annual conference of the European Telecommunications Network Operators' Association (ETNO) last week in Brussels, the CEOs of leading EU telecoms operators held a debate on the recent European Commission proposals for a review of the EU telecoms rules. The CEOs agreed that EU policy makers would do better by focusing on how to encourage private investment in high-speed broadband access networks rather than focusing mainly on how to achieve functional separation of the incumbent operators' wholesale and retail operations.



Speaking at the conference Mr. Bojan Dremelj, President of the Management Board of Telekom Slovenije, raised a number of serious questions regarding the direction where regulation is going and stated: "There is no need for overregulation which will reduce all of us to a 'grey average'. How can we ever become the most competitive economy in the world if we are stifling innovation? If we cut the wings of our big players, aren't we cutting the 'branch on which we are sitting'? Is this what Europe is aiming for?"



ETNO members welcomed the proposal by the European Commission for a more flexible management of radio spectrum to boost the deployment of wireless applications. They also noted the reduction in the number of markets to be subject to regulatory intervention but regretted that at the same time the European Commission is extending regulatory intervention to new technology, including risky fibre-based broadband access networks.

http://www.etno.be/

• Earlier this month, The European Commission officially adopted proposals for a reform of the EU telecoms rules with the aim of creating a single European telecom market with a consistent set of regulations covering consumers in all 27 EU Member States. The plan calls for a new European Telecom Market Authority to govern national telecoms regulators in ensuring that market rules and consumer regulation are applied consistently, independently and without protectionism. To become law, the Commission proposals will now need to be approved by the European Parliament and the EU Council of Ministers. The European Commission believes the approval could be attained by the end of 2009.

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Alvarion to Supply Mobile WiMAX Gear in Nigeria

Monarch Communications, a privately owned company and WiMAX license holder in several different states in Nigeria, has selected Alvarion's "4Motion" 802.16e Mobile WiMAX solution. Rollout is planned to begin in Lagos and later in Abuja and Port Harcourt. Financial terms were not disclosed.
http://www.alvarion.com

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Celtel Nigeria Selects Motorola for $70 Million GSM/EDGE Expansion

Celtel Nigeria awarded a US$70 million contract to Motorola to expand and enhance its GSM coverage in the southern part of the country. The deployment features the latest Motorola Reach GSM solutions, including EDGE capability for mobile data, and will provide comprehensive network expansion planning, integration, support and optimization services to Celtel as it extends network coverage.
http://www.motorola.com

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Danaher Completes Acquisition of Tektronix

Danaher completed its previously announced acquisition of Tektronix. The deal was first announced in October.




Tektronix, which has annual revenues of approximately $1.1 billion, is a leading supplier of test, measurement, and monitoring products for networking.



Tektronix now becomes part of Danaher's Electronic Test platform, joining Danaher's Fluke and Fluke Networks businesses, and nearly doubling the platform's revenues.

http://www.danaher.com

http://www.tektronix.com/

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Belgium's De Persgroep Selects Cisco Data Center Network Architecture

De Persgroep, a leading media group in Belgium, is using Cisco data center virtualization technology in its data center. The deployment comprises both network switching equipment and the Application Control Engine (ACE) switch, which virtualizes the data center application infrastructure. De Persgroep is deploying the Cisco Data Center Network Architecture to connect two data centers with more than 300 servers in Brussels to seven additional sites across Belgium and Holland. The solution includes Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Switches, Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series Switches and Cisco Catalyst 3750 Series Switches to form a core network capable of supporting Cisco data center services as well additional applications in the future.



Cisco Application Control Engine (ACE) modules in the data center will support a range of data center operations, including firewall management, application switching and streamed media. The virtual partitioning technology in the Cisco ACE segments and isolates applications, enabling them to act as individual modules on a single server so that applications can be distributed across data center hardware, making more efficient use of computational resources. Web and business applications will be protected by Cisco PIX 500 Series Security Appliances and the Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Firewall Services Module.



Cisco said a virtualized data center application infrastructure will help enable De Persgroep to manage the large fluctuations in Web traffic generated by the rolling news agenda, by sharing Web server resources more effectively as well as by "ring-fencing" other business applications against peak demand. Hits on the company's flagship website can vary by 60 percent from day to day, reaching 525,000. In two years the company expects the site to garner a million hits a day.



The Cisco data center solution at De Persgroep is being implemented by Telindus, a Cisco Gold Certified Partner.
http://www.cisco.com

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France Telecom Secures Fixed-Mobile-Internet License in Niger

A consortium controlled by France Telecom was awarded a new global fixed-mobile-internet license in Niger for EUR 48 million. France Telecom has joined forces with Mr. Mohamed Rissa, a business leader from Niger , specialized in the Internet and telecommunications services sector, and Mr. Moctar Thiam, a long-standing investor in Orange Mali. Niger has a growing population of around 13 million people and a mobile penetration rate of under 5%.



France Telecom noted that it is already present in 12 African countries including five in West Africa.

http://www.francetelecom.com

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