Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Cable Companies and Sprint Unwind Their "Pivot" Service

Sprint Nextel is unwinding the relationship under which Comcast, Cox and Time Warner bundled its mobile service under the "Pivot" brand. According to media reports, the partners found the operational details of the jointly marketed service to be too complex and will now transfer the existing customers directly to Sprint.http://www.sprint.com

Foundry Introduces Compact Routing Switch

Foundry Networks has expanded its line of FastIron Edge X Series of compact Layer 2/3 routing switches with the introduction of the FastIron Edge XE Series routing switches featuring IPv4 and IPv6 hardware-based routing capacity in a compact 1.5 rack unit (RU) platform.


The FES-XE series is available in three models including fiber and copper configurations and port densities of 24- and 48-ports. All three models are upgradeable with a two-port 10 gigabit Ethernet (10GbE) module.


Some technical highlights include:

  • Support for up to 512,000 IPv4 and up to 64,000 IPv6 routes in hardware forwarding memory

  • Up to 1,000,000 BGP route advertisements in software for storing and processing multiple views of the full Internet routing table
  • Wire-Speed Performance and Deep Packet Buffers with up to 88 to 136 Mpps forwarding throughput and independent IPv4 and IPv6 ,hardware forwarding tables


  • 32MB ingress and 32MB egress packet buffers deliver maximum performance under high traffic loads


  • IPv4: RIPv1/v2, OSPF, BGP-4, PIM, IGMP, ECMP


  • IPv6: RIPng, OSPFv3, IPv6 Static Routing, IPv6-to-IPv4 static tunneling to facilitate network transition and a range of IPv6 edge features including IPv6 extended ACLs.


  • Advanced Layer 2 Features: Metro Ring Protocol (MRP), Virtual Switch Redundancy Protocol (VSRP), IEEE 802.1s, IEEE 802.3ad, IGMP v2/v3 snooping, MLD v1/v2 snooping, etc.


The FastIron Edge XE series will be available May 2008 with U.S. list prices starting at $14,995.http://www.foundrynet.com

Telecom Italia Completes MBMS Field Trial with Huawei, Qualcomm

Telecom Italia has completed a field trial of MBMS (Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service) technology conducted with Huawei and Qualcomm. MBMS technology is based on 3GPP standards and supports multicast and broadcast innovative services, allowing speeds of up to 256kbps on a mobile device. The trial, which was conducted by means of Huawei MBMS solution together with the handsets powered by Qualcomm's MSM7201A chipset, demonstrated MBMS service deliveries of between 128kbps and 256 kbps under various indoor and outdoor MBMS channel conditions.http://www.huawei.com

Tata Introduces Global Suite of Security Services

Tata Communications introduced suite of security services designed to protect the applications, IT systems and networks that power its customers' critical business infrastructures. The managed security solutions are backed by performance-based Service Level Agreements (SLAs). The services are overseen by an experienced, globally distributed support team using state-of-the-art systems, processes and tools. Tata Communications' wide range of supported vendors and solutions, combined with its globally consistent and efficient service delivery model, meets the security needs for businesses.


The suite of security services, which includes managed and monitored Firewalls and Unified Threat Management (UTM) appliances, Intrusion Detection and Prevention systems, Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) Detection and Mitigation, and Penetration Testing, offers customers proactive detection and evaluation of information security threats, accompanied by swift incident response and remediation actions. Evaluation and response is based on Tata Communications' real time security incident and event analysis, which draws upon a global base of current activity and trends.http://www.tatacommunications.com

NextWave Considers Sale of Its Wireless Spectrum Holdings in the U.S.

Citing offers from several potential buyers, NextWave Wireless has retained Deutsche Bank and UBS Investment Bank to explore the sale of its extensive spectrum holdings in the United States.


NextWave's U.S. spectrum footprint covers over 251 million people, or pops, in the United States and includes major markets such as New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, Philadelphia, Denver, Houston, and Detroit. The company's holdings include licenses and lease rights for a total of 4.7 billion MHz/pops of spectrum comprised of 154 Advanced Wireless Service ("AWS") licenses in the 1.7/2.1 GHz band, 30 Wireless Communication Service ("WCS") licenses in the 2.3 GHz band, and 39 Educational Broadband Service ("EBS") and Broadband Radio Service ("BRS") licenses and spectrum leases in the 2.5 GHz band.


"Since the completion of the recent 700 MHz auction, we have received multiple offers for our U.S. spectrum assets. Given our continued success in developing highly differentiated wireless broadband and multimedia-enabled products, we no longer view our spectrum holdings as critical to reaching our product sales objectives, and believe that now is the perfect time for us to sell these valuable assets while network operators are trying to finalize their band plans and spectrum holdings for their continuing 3G and planned 4G rollouts," said Allen Salmasi, chief executive officer and president of NextWave Wireless. "Monetizing the value of our substantial spectrum assets would allow us to further strengthen our balance sheet, retire debt, and continue the commercial introduction of a wide range of innovative wireless broadband and multimedia solutions such as our high-performance WiMAX and RFIC chipsets, advanced multi-mode, multi-band TD-CDMA, WiMAX and LTE enabled base station platforms, breakthrough MXtv and TDtv mobile television systems, highly advanced mobile multimedia software solutions and platforms that we are now bringing into commercial deployments globally with many of the largest mobile operators and device manufactures in the world."http://www.nextwave.comEarlier this month, NextWave Wireless announced its NW2000 Wave 2-ready family of second-generation mobile WiMAX chipsets designed for high-volume, small form-factor wireless broadband subscriber stations, including CPE modems, PC card modems, laptops, multimode/smartphone handsets and mobile multimedia terminals. Specifically, the new mobile WiMAX chipsets include:

  • NW2100: NextWave's NW2100 is a family of 802.16e-based mobile subscriber baseband System-On-a-Chip (SoC) solutions designed for Wave 2 WiMAX Forum compliance. Integrating an ARM9 processor and memory, the NW2100 provides a complete self-hosted modem, enabling designs with minimum processing load on the host processor. The chip uses 65-nanometer CMOS process and includes integrated 802.11b/g MAC/BB, SIM controller, multiple host interfaces, an embedded device security/firmware authentication engine, support for optimum data throughput, and advanced proprietary techniques that significantly reduce the overall system power consumption.


  • NW2200: Designed to be used in conjunction with NextWave's NW2100 WiMAX SoC family, NextWave's NW2200 family of single-chip, highly integrated, multi-band Radio Frequency (RF) transceivers have dual independent receive chains optimized for mobile applications. The NW2200 provides a compact, ultra low-power, high-performance solution for manufacturers of wireless broadband mobile devices, and unlike competitor RF ICs it supports all major worldwide WiMAX bands and profiles. To further decrease total system cost and chip footprint, NextWave has deployed a direct-conversion architecture, integrated low-noise amplifiers, and integrated low-dropout voltage regulators for reduced external component count.

Ixia Debuts 10 GbE Load Modules for High Density Data Center Testing

Ixia introduced a layer 2-7, 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10 GbE) IP testing solution for high-density next-generation data center infrastructure.


The new 10 GbE IxYukon load module, which leverages Ixia's converged testing applications, IxLoad and IxNetwork, is aimed at testing for next generation data centers.


Ixia said the new 10 GbE IxYukon module provides four times the 10 GbE port density of its nearest competitor. When used with the Ixia XM12 chassis, the solution requires one-quarter of the laboratory space and one-half the power consumption. With the eight-port IxYukon, 96 10 GbE test ports fit in a standard 19-inch rack-mount Ixia XM12 chassis. The nearest competitor requires four fully loaded chassis to match Ixia's 96-port, single chassis 10 GbE solution.


Ixia's IxYukon 10 GbE load modules begin shipping at the end of Q2 2008.http://www.ixiacom.com

O2 Germany Selects Huawei for Base Stations

O2 Germany has chosen Huawei Technologies for the replacement of existing base stations and the planned construction of more than 8,000 base stations by Huawei for GSM and UMTS. O2 plans to expand its GSM coverage in Germany to almost 100 percent. At the same time, the infrastructure for the use of mobile data services will be expanded. O2 has plans to increase the UMTS supply in Germany to 60 percent. In addition, the company will expand the HSDPA network and implement HSUPA. Financial terms were not disclosed.

http://www.huawei.com

Nokia Siemens Networks Supplies Security for China Netcom

China Netcom has contracted Nokia Siemens Networks to guarantee information security for its data communication network (DCN) covering 31 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions of China. Specifically, Nokia Siemens Networks has built a complete information security management system for China Netcom covering assessment, consulting, design, systems integration and project management. The comprehensive portfolio of solutions will reduce potential losses caused by information security risks, support the stable development of China Netcom's services and will thus reduce operational expenditures (OPEX). Financial terms were not disclosed.
http://www.nokiasiemensnetworks.comhttp://www.chinanetcom.com.cn

Level 3 Cites Growth in Optical and IP Services

Level 3 Communications reported consolidated revenue of $1.09 billion for Q1 2008, an increase of 3 percent from $1.06 billion for the first quarter 2007. Fourth quarter 2007 consolidated revenue was $1.10 billion. The year over year growth rate for Core Communications Services revenue was 10 percent. The net loss for the first quarter 2008 was $181 million, or $0.12 per share, compared to a net loss of $647 million, or $0.44 per share for the first quarter 2007. In the first quarter 2007, excluding a loss on the extinguishment of debt of $427 million, the net loss would have been $220 million, or $0.15 per share. The net loss for the fourth quarter 2007 was $91 million, or $0.06 per share.


"Over the last several quarters, a growing number of telecommunications industry participants have noted the growth in the demand for optical and IP services," said James Q. Crowe, president and CEO of Level 3. "We certainly benefited from that trend during the quarter, driven by growth in the delivery of video and other media over the Internet. Additionally, the pricing environment for our Core Communications Services continued to be positive.


  • During Q1, Core Network Services revenue increased by 8 percent from the first quarter 2007, primarily from increased demand for IP and optical services across the business.


  • Wholesale Voice Services revenue increased by 23 percent from the first quarter 2007, primarily due to growth from cable and wireless customers.
http://www.level3.com/

SureWest Deploys Alcatel-Lucent IMS-based Solution

SureWest Communications has deployed Alcatel-Lucent's IMS-based VoIP for Consumers solution to support its newly launched SureWest Digital Phone VoIP service in the Northern California region. SureWest is migrating its network from a traditional Class 5 switch-based infrastructure to an IP network, including IMS, for advanced services. The Alcatel-Lucent solution deployed by SureWest consists of an IMS-based telephony application server (TAS), the Alcatel-Lucent 5420 Converged Telephony Server and Alcatel-Lucent 5420 Personal Communication Manager fully integrated with the Alcatel-Lucent IMS core architecture, which is built around Alcatel-Lucent 5450 IP Session Control. It includes the Alcatel-Lucent 5020 Media Gateway Controller-8 and Alcatel-Lucent 7520 Media Gateway. Financial terms were not disclosed.


Currently available, SureWest Digital Phone enables SureWest subscribers to use a web-based interface to customize their calling services online, including:

  • Caller ID, Call Waiting with ID, Find Me/Follow Me, sequential ringing, simultaneous ringing and Selective Call Screening, which allows customers to choose what numbers can call in, and more


  • 911/E911 and unlimited local and domestic long distance direct-dial calling from home to anywhere in the United States, with competitive international rates


  • Home alarm system compatibility

  • Ability to retain existing telephone numbers when switching from another provider


SureWest Communications provides local telephone, long-distance, Internet, wireless, digital TV and commercial high-speed data services in Northern California and in the metropolitan Kansas City area.
http://www.alcatel-lucent.comhttp://www.surewest.com

Qualcomm's Quarterly Revenue Reaches $2.61 billion, up 17% YoY

Qualcomm reported quarterly revenue of $2.61 billion, up 17 percent year-over-year and 7 percent sequentially. Net income was $766 million, up 6 percent year-over-year and even sequentially.


"We delivered another strong quarter as worldwide adoption of 3G CDMA- based products and services continues to accelerate," said Dr. Paul E. Jacobs, chief executive officer of Qualcomm. "Together with our partners, our ongoing focus on innovation, execution and quality provides compelling solutions for the global wireless market. Our financial results reflect another record quarter of both MSM chipset and CDMA-based device shipments."http://www.qualcomm.com

Extreme Networks Posts Revenue Decline YoY

Extreme Networks announced net revenue of $82.0 million for its fiscal third quarter of 2008, ended March 30, 2008. This compares with $85.1 million in the year-ago quarter. Net loss on a GAAP basis was $0.2 million or a loss of $0.00 per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $2.4 million or a loss of $0.02 per diluted share in the year-ago quarter.


"We started to see the first effects of more cautious spending late in the quarter, which directly impacted order closures, especially in the Americas," said Mark Canepa, president and CEO of Extreme Networks. "We experienced growing demand throughout most of the quarter, particularly for our newer products, but were impacted by what we believe were customer delays in purchases in the last two weeks of the period. We continue to invest for the long term as we position ourselves to take advantage of a rebound in the global economy."http://www.extremenetworks.com

Microsoft Unveils Live Mesh Software-plus-Services Platform

Microsoft unveiled a beta version of its "Live Mesh" software-plus-services platform aimed at making PCs and other devices to "come alive" by making them aware of each other through the Internet. The Live Mesh platform uses a common API to expose a number of core services, including Microsoft Live services like Storage (online and offline), Membership, Sync, Peer-to-Peer Communication and Newsfeed.


Microsoft envisions several key roles for "Live Mesh", such as:

  • "Unified Device Management" - enabling your devices to report into a common service, for status, for health, or to report their location.


  • "Unified Data Management"- or the transparent synchronization of files, folders, documents & media, the bi-directional synchronization of arbitrary feeds, of all kinds, across your devices and the web.


  • "Unified Application Management" - for centralized web-based deployment of apps across the devices you own.

  • "Centralized Management" - where you could configure and personalize your devices and remote control into them from just about anywhere.
http://dev.live.com/blogs/devlive/archive/2008/04/22/279.aspx