Sunday, October 5, 2008

Telefónica to Incorporate Facebook into Mobile Portals

Telefónica announced a deal to integrate access to Facebook's mobile service and applications from all of Telefónica's mobile portals. This agreement will expand the current relationship between the companies in the UK into a worldwide agreement.


Facebook claims more than 100 million registered users. This agreement will enable Telefónica's more than 171 million mobile subscribers to stay in touch with their friends on Facebook and take part in one or more social networks, depending on their work, academic, or leisure interests, at any time and from anywhere.


Incorporation into the agreement will take place in two stages, both for Europe and for Latin America. The first stage includes Ireland, Germany, Spain, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Chile and Colombia. The second encompasses Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador, Central American countries, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.http://www.telefonica.comhttp://www.facebook.com

Cisco Releases IP Wireless Surveillance Camera

Cisco released its latest IP camera, the Linksys by Cisco Wireless-G PTZ (Pan, Tilt and Zoom) Internet Camera with Audio (WVC210). It features video monitoring software and is designed for business and security applications. The wireless camera mounts on a desktop or wall-mount, allowing small business owners to monitor and protect their premises remotely with live streaming video and two-way audio, and receive real-time email alerts when motion is detected.http://www.cisco.com

Deltacom Deploys Additional Infinera Platforms

ITC^DeltaCom announced a $20 million network upgrade initiative to begin in 2008 and be completed in 2009. The upgrade will involve the deployment of additional Infinera DTN optical networking systems in key markets across North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Alabama and Georgia to enable high capacity DWDM services with speeds up to 10Gbps. SONET equipment will also be added to deliver service capabilities ranging from DS-3 to OC-192. Additionally, Deltacom will build out a number of metro markets, bringing on-net services closer to its customer base.

http://www.deltacom.com

Eutelsat Prepares for Launch of HOT BIRD 9 and W2M Satellites

Arianespace confirmed the upcoming launch of Eutelsat's HOT BIRD 9 and W2M satellites during the last week of November 2008.


Construction of HOT BIRD 9 was completed in July by EADS Astrium and the satellite arrived in Kourou from Toulouse on September 16 to be prepared for launch. Designed for consumer broadcasting to satellite and cable homes across Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, the high-power Ku-band HOT BIRD 9 satellite, equipped with 64 transponders, will join Eutelsat's 13 degrees East position to increase in-orbit sparing at the Group's premium video neighborhood. HOT BIRD 9 is identical to HOT BIRD 8 which was launched to 13 degrees East in August 2006 and HOT BIRD 10 which will be orbited by Arianespace beginning of 2009.


W2M, which is built by EADS Astrium / ISRO, is due to be shipped from Bangalore (India) to Kourou by mid-October to initiate final preparations for launch. W2M will be positioned at Eutelsat's 16 degrees East for digital broadcasting in central Europe and Indian Ocean islands. Equipped with 26 Ku-band transponders and up to 32 depending on operational modes, the new satellite will replace W2 and provide additional capacity for further service expansion.http://www.eutelsat.com

U.S. Supreme Court Decision Denies EchoStar's Appeal

The U.S. Supreme Court has denied an appeal by EchoStar Communications to review the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit unanimous ruling that upheld the District Court judgment of willful patent infringement, full award of damages, and a permanent injunction against EchoStar's infringing DVR products.


TiVo said it expects an expeditious receipt of damages awarded by the District Court covering the period through September 8, 2006 and remains confident that the District Court will enforce the injunction and award further damages from EchoStar's continued infringement of the Time Warp patent.http://www.tivo.com

Verizon Adds 77 New Channels to FiOS TV Lineup

Verizon has added a total of 77 new channels, including 57 additional high-definition (HD) channels, to its FiOS TV line-up in Texas. FiOS TV customers in the area now have more than 780 HD choices available at any time, with 87 HD channels and more than 700 HD video-on-demand (VOD) titles offered each month.


Verizon is also offering a year's free use of either an HD DVR (digital video recorder) or an HD Home Media DVR to consumers who sign up for FiOS TV by October 31. With Verizon's unique Home Media DVR, customers can use one DVR to record programming that can be watched on up to six other TV sets in the home. http://www.verizon.com

Equinix Adds Data Center in Paris

Equinix has signed a long-term lease for a 116,800 square foot property in Paris adjacent to one of the company's existing Internet Business Exchange (IBX) data centers in the Saint-Denis region. The new property, which will become Equinix's third data center in the Paris market, will have capacity for two phases, the first of which is expected to open in Q2 2009 with a total capital investment of approximately $30 - $35 million.http://www.equinix.com

Tiscali Expand its Network to Over 100 Gbps with Hibernia

Tiscali International Network (TINet), a global carrier dedicated exclusively to the wholesale IP-MPLS market, has chosen Hibernia Atlantic to deliver numerous 10 Gbps wavelengths of capacity to and from Montreal, Dublin, London, Frankfurt, New York City, Ashburn, Chicago and other major metro areas across North America and Europe. The companies said this mammoth increase in capacity reflects wholesale customers' growing needs to deploy IP-based, next generation services and applications over a secure and global cable network.


TINet is one of the first companies worldwide to have a truly global multi-service carrier network in actual production that implements a full suite of service-enabling protocols, including MPLS CoS, IPv6, Ethernet private lines and Multicasting. Hibernia Atlantic operates the only undersea cable that crosses directly from Ireland to Canada and the U.S, thereby avoiding any one single point of failure, landing point and backhaul route, such as in and around New York and London.


http://www.hiberniaatlantic.comhttp://www.tiscali.net

Convergys Acquires Ceon for BSS/OSS

Convergys has acquired Ceon Corporation, an which specializes in product lifecycle management and multi-play fulfillment software for communications service providers, for an undisclosed sum.


Ceon, a privately held company founded in 1999, maintains a principal office in Redwood City, California, with satellite offices in France and the UK. Last January, Convergys and Ceon announced a strategic alliance for which Convergys issued convertible debt with the right to acquire the company. Convergys expects this small but strategic acquisition to be accretive beginning 2009 on a GAAP basis.


Convergys said Ceon's product management assets are at the heart of its strategy to help clients more effectively manage new and advanced value-added services. The new capabilities, delivered as Convergys Enterprise Product Management Solutions, enable Convergys clients to more effectively manage their entire product lifecycle across all network domains, shortening time to market for new convergent offers, improving quality, and reducing the costs associated with managing a large product portfolio. Convergys continues to enhance its capabilities to enable service providers to better construct, manage, and deploy a layered catalog that includes the full technical and commercial definition of products and services.http://www.convergys.comhttp://www.ceon.com/

Ixia Tests Energy Efficiency of D-Link's Switch

Andorra--based Broadband-Testing Labs has used Ixia's IxGreen Proof-of-Concept testing solution to determine the energy efficiency of layer 2, IP network switches from D-Link.


The energy-efficiency tests performed by Broadband-Testing Labs involved D-Link's line of Enterprise-level 24-port, X-Stack DGT-3627, DGT-3426 Layer 2/3 Gigabit Ethernet switches and the "Web Smart" 24-port, layer-2 DGT-1224T Gigabit Ethernet switch from D-Link's "Green Ethernet" range. Testing was conducted at Ixia's test labs in Marlow, U.K.


The maximum power consumption was 50.35 watts, recorded with traffic running into the DGT-3627 and through the 10Gbps uplink into the DGT-3426 -- essentially an absolute maximum load. Meantime, the "green" DGT-1224T, consuming a mere 9.3 watts in 10/100 idle mode, maxed out at 23.65 watts when fully loaded at Gigabit line speed.


Ixia said its IxGreen Proof-of-Concept solution will help data center managers to achieve their eco-efficient data center goals.http://www.ixiacom.com

Taiwan Looks to Innovation and Investment to Weather Financial Storm

"Taiwan is back in the game," said the recently inaugurated President Ma Ying-jeou, speaking at the 2008 Taiwan Business Alliance Conference in Taipei. After decades of strong economic growth, especially in the electronics sector, Taiwan was hit hard by the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997. This was followed by years of confrontational politics with mainland China under the previous government, said President Ma, which led to lost opportunities while others in the region prospered. He hopes to reverse this trend by opening the doors to Cross-Straights talks and supporting foreign investment in Taiwan. Two companies recognized for expanding their investments in Taiwan include Corning Display Glass (LCD panels) and Texas Instruments (network semiconductors).


Taiwan's exporters will be hit by the developing global financial crisis, said Taiwanese Vice President Vincent Siew. The mission will be to turn these challenges into new opportunities. One way the government hopes to counter the effects of storm will be with its "iTaiwan" national infrastructure projects. Siew believes these investments will help stabilize the economy while positioning the island as a springboard to growth once the crisis abates.http://www.broadbandtaiwan.com.tw/

ECI Supplies 9000 CESR and XDM Platforms in Caribbean

Triton Telecom, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cobian International Group Inc., has selected ECI Telecom's 9000 Carrier Ethernet Switch Router (CESR) family and the XDM Multi-Service Provisioning Platform (MSPP) for a multi-million dollar network project spanning the distance of Florida, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica. This network is the first in the region to use submarine cable based on a native 10 G system, supporting up to 40G per channel, and significantly improving bandwidth capacity and service delivery to customers. In addition to supplying the infrastructure, ECI is also contributing to the overall design and planning of the project. The project is expected to be completed in May 2009.


The platforms, both part of ECI's 1Net business framework, will deliver IP traffic across the Caribbean, supporting the growing bandwidth requirements in the region.http://www.ecitele.com

FCC Grants Spectrum License Extensions and Renewals to FiberTower

FiberTower announced that all of its Area-Wide licenses in the 38.6 to 40.0 GHz spectrum bands received either renewals for another 10 years or construction extensions until June 1, 2012 from the FCC.

These 566 licenses, coupled with 103 licenses for 24 GHz spectrum, allow FiberTower's hybrid microwave/fiber network to extend over virtually the entire continental U.S. covering 284 million people.


"We are extremely pleased by the FCC's action as it enables us to continue leveraging our spectrum, which represents one of our primary assets," said Kurt Van Wagenen, FiberTower's President and Chief Executive Officer. "With these licenses secured, we will continue building our hybrid backhaul network in support of our customers' growing capacity demands."http://www.fibertower.com

Verizon Business Adds IP Termination Capability

Verizon Business is adding an IP termination service to its switchless-termination and dedicated-termination toll free services, which use traditional telephony technology.


This service comes with new online features -- via Verizon's wholesale Web portal, Portfolio -- that allow access to electronic order-entry systems, call-detail records and online bill presentation.


With these enhancements to Advanced Toll Free service also come new rating options: Access-Based Billing and Operating Company Number (OCN)-Based Billing. OCN rates are based on the underlying local exchange carrier (LEC) and geographic region for delivering voice and IP calls over the Verizon Business global network. Both these billing services enable wholesale customers to better manage costs. Advanced Toll Free service also now provides electronic call-detail records, available either through Portfolio (on a daily or more frequent basis) or through a direct network connection that allows continuous streaming of information.http://www.verizonbusiness.com/

Verizon Says 100G Trial with Nortel Demonstrates Commercial-Quality

Commenting on a recent trial of Nortel's 100 Gbps in its network, Verizon said the optical transmission technology performed with better tolerance for signal distortion than typically found in today's standard wavelength of 10G. Transporting data over 73 kilometers of field fiber in northeastern Texas at a 92 Gbps rate, the recent trial demonstrated twice the tolerance for signal distortion when compared with today's standard 10G signal.


The Nortel Optical Multiservice Edge 6500 convergence platform equipped with 40G/100G Adaptive Optical Engine technology integrates advanced signal-processing techniques that maintain sustained signal integrity despite significant polarization mode dispersion (PMD). PMD, a natural impairment of optical fiber transmission, causes a signal to distort as it travels along the optical fiber. This results in imperfections when the signal arrives at the receiver end and limits the amount of data that can be transmitted.


Last month, Verizon and Nokia Siemens Networks announced that they had successfully transmitted data at 100G on a single wavelength for more than 1,040 kilometers, setting a new distance record over deployed fiber and demonstrating better performance than conventional transmission.


In November 2007, Verizon and Alcatel-Lucent transmitted a commercial information package - a FiOS video stream - between Tampa, Fla., and Miami at 100G for the first time over a live network.


In the Nortel trial, Verizon transmitted the 100G traffic error-free using an advanced signal-processing method and signal-correcting techniques embedded in Nortel's technology. Preserving the level of quality for high-speed traffic is important for such ultra-long-haul network strategies as mesh architecture. http://www.verizon.com

NSN Wins Expansion Project with Teletalk Bangladesh

Nokia Siemens Networks has won a contract with Teletalk Bangladesh to will enhance the carrier's existing network coverage. Specifically, Nokia Siemens Networks will build out capacity for Teletalk with the modernization of its core network, including mobile softswitching, packet core, and Home Location Register (HLR). The Release 4 architecture of the MSC Server softswitching will enable Teletalk to accelerate the deployment of new, converged wireless services, while optimizing costs. This marks the first supply deal in Bangladesh for the Nokia Siemens Networks' mobile softswitching.


Further, Nokia Siemens Networks will deploy base transceiver stations (BTS) to build additional network capacity to Teletalk's GSM network, particularly in the capital city of Dhaka and roll out its network and service management solution, NetAct to improve network operational efficiency.http://www.nsn.comhttp://www.teletalk.com.bd/
  • Teletalk Bangladesh Limited was incorporated on 26th December 2004 as the only government sponsored mobile telephone Company in Bangladesh. The government owns 100% shares of the company. Teletalk was the first mobile telephone company to extend its networks to the three hill districts of Bangladesh, the Rangamati, Bandarban and Khagrachori hill tracts.

NTT Com Buys APTT for Hong Kong Data Center

NTT Com Asia Ltd. has acquired APT Satellite Telecommunications Limited (APTT) in Hong Kong, aiming to expand the company's Tai Po Data Center, one of the largest in Hong Kong. NTT Com Asia purchased APTT for approximately HK$161 million from its former owners Skywork Corporation (55%) and Singasat Pte Limited (45%).


The NTT Com Group has been offering data center services in Hong Kong since 2001, with dedicated leased space from the Tai Po Data Center as one of its offerings. Tai Po is a Tier 3-equivalent facility capable of concurrently maintaining infrastructure without a single point of failure. For risk diversification, the facility uses infrastructure created with the networks of multiple telecommunication carriers to realize completely redundant systems for commercial power supply, air conditioning, uninterrupted power supply (UPS), and power generation and distribution.


Outside of Japan, the NTT Com Group operates data centers, including premium-level facilities, in 27 cities of Asia-Pacific, North and South America and Europe.http://www.ntt.co.jp