Ericsson Picks Vestberg to Succeed Svanberg as CEO

Ericsson's Board of Directors has appointed Hans Vestberg (44) to replace Carl-Henric Svanberg as president and CEO effective January 1, 2010.


Carl-Henric Svanberg is leaving Ericsson to accepted the position of Chairman of BP, the world's fourth largest company.


Hans Vestberg is currently CFO and Executive Vice President of Ericsson He is 44 years old and earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Uppsala, Sweden, in 1991. He joined Ericsson the same year and was within a short time period appointed to various international managerial positions in China, Sweden, Chile, Brazil and the US. Between 1998 and 2000 he was CFO of Ericsson in Brazil. In the years 2000 to 2002, Vestberg was Chief Financial Officer for Ericsson in North America and Ericsson's controller for the Americas. From 2002 to 2003 Vestberg served as President of Ericsson in Mexico. He became Senior Vice President and head of business unit Global Services in 2003 and was appointed Executive Vice President in 2005. Vestberg was appointed Chief Financial Officer in 2007.
http://www.ericsson.com

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Calix Introduces Active Ethernet Access Platform, Extended Reach GPON

Calix introduced a residential Active Ethernet (AE) platform and released an Extended Reach GPON capability for its Calix C7 Multiservice Access Platform (MSAP) that enables carriers to reach subscribers located up to 40 km.


The Calix E5-312 delivers last mile AE service to residential subscribers at distances of up to 60 km while preserving service providers' current investment in Calix' optical network terminals (ONTs). Key features of the new residential AE platform include:

• The E5-312 is a purpose-built, environmentally hardened, small-form-factor 1RU platform that enables flexible deployment from the CO to the edge of the access network.



• AE enables up to 1Gbps dedicated symmetrical bandwidth, allowing service providers to strategically serve high capacity residential customers whose upstream bandwidth requirements exceed that of the general consumer.



• The flexibility of the Calix 700GX ONTs, which auto-detects and supports both AE and GPON from a common ONT, enables service providers to use the E5-312, or other Calix C- and E-Series platforms, to select the appropriate form factor and technology to match the service requirements of subscribers without the capital or operational expense of replacing the ONT.



• The platform has 12 GE SFP ports for symmetric 1GE AE services that support copper or bi-directional (single fiber) optical modules; the AE optics modules are Calix screened to ensure carrier-grade performance.



• Two standards-based 10GE SFP+ ports support ring and point-to-point topologies.



• The platform supports several access network topologies, including GE/AE aggregation, GE uplink aggregation, 10GE/GE network uplink, and link aggregation.



• Link aggregation provides logical NxGE link bonding for bandwidth expansion.



• The E5-312 is fully managed by the Calix Management System (CMS), which provides a single network view and a common user experience independent of media type, protocol, or service.

In addition, Calix rolled out an enhanced Extended Reach GPON solution aimed at rural deployments. The latest C7 software Release 6.1 further enhances the Calix Extended Reach GPON solution, enabling a standards-based solution that, when deployed with a specialized, pluggable OIM, doubles a service provider's GPON service radius from 20 km to 40 km. Key features include:

• Doubles the reach of standards-based GPON from 20 km to 40 km.



• Support on all existing C7 GPON OLT line cards (new pluggable OIM required).



• Support by any Calix 700, 700G, or 700GX ONT.



• Standards-compliant solution based on ITU-TG.984.6 and Amendment 2 to ITU-T G.984.2.

Calix noted that it now has over 375 fiber customers, which span telcos, cable operators, developers and municipalities. More than 75 percent of Calix' customer base is deploying fiber technologies today.
http://www.calix.com

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Level 3 Builds Low-Latency Network Between NYC and Chicago

Level 3 Communications has activated a low-latency, fiber network between New York and Chicago. The network expansion was deployed using the shortest-path routes and advanced electronics to enable high-speed transaction rates with very low transmission delays.


The new route offers aggregate bandwidth of multiple 40 Gbps connections to accommodate growing traffic volume generated by hedge funds, investment brokers, financial exchanges and other market participants. Currently, more than 80 Gbps of live financial trading traffic is being carried over the new route.


In addition to the recent network expansion, Level 3 has also collaborated with financial services customers to design custom, low-latency network services to select trading venues throughout North America and Europe. Level 3 noted that it now offers direct connections to 15 financial exchanges, 15 electronic communications networks and seven market data centers.
http://www.Level3.com

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Firetide Debuts 900 MHz Non-Line-of-Sight Mesh Wireless

Firetide introduced a non-line-of-sight, 900 MHz wireless "Smart Adaptive" mesh solution aimed at utilities, public safety, transportation and industrial applications wherever clear line-of-sight cannot be obtained. The new HotPort 6000-900 can be used to deploy multi-hop, fully meshed networks and delivers throughput of up to 26 Mbps, depending on line of sight conditions.


Firetide said its HotPort 6000-900 mesh is uniquely designed for noisy 900 MHz spectrum and leverages Smart Adaptive Mesh technology to mitigate the effects of interference that typically bring down wireless throughput and reliability in this band. For example, Firetide's noise-aware data path and noise filtering algorithms enable mesh to better handle interference from other 900 MHz devices, as well as from adjacent frequency bands taken up by cellular and 3G traffic. Tools such as the spectrum analyzer, which is integrated into the product, allow a network administrator to remotely monitor the health of the network and take actions to further optimize the network performance.


The HotPort 6000-900 mesh is part of and fully compatible with the HotPort 6000 series of mesh nodes that provide reliable Ethernet connectivity over a high-performance, self-forming wireless mesh backbone. All HotPort nodes have multiple Ethernet ports for connecting network devices or other networks to the wireless mesh. With HotPort 6000 nodes, users can build a single infrastructure for voice, video and data traffic, dramatically reducing capital investment in the wireless backbone.


The 900 MHz product features a dual radio solution with the capability of operating in the 900 MHz spectrum on one of the radios, while operating in the 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz or 4.9 GHz (public safety) frequency bands on the other. The solution is available immediately in both indoor and outdoor configurations.
http://www.firetide.com

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NYSE Euronext Builds Ultra-Low Latency Network with Juniper Networks

NYSE Euronext has selected Juniper Networks to design a state-of-the-art, ultra-low latency core network for NYSE Euronext's new consolidated global data centers. In a press event in New York, the companies said they will pursue a simplified data center architecture that is optimized for low latency and vast scalability. The blueprint calls for collapsing multiple switching layers to reduce complexity while yielding improved efficiencies in space, power, cooling and management. Juniper estimates it can reduce network complexity and total cost of ownership by up to 52 percent in capital expenditures, up to 44 percent in power, up to 44 percent in cooling and up to 55 percent in data center rack space.


Located in the greater New York and London metropolitan areas, NYSE Euronext's two new data centers will be the primary operational infrastructure supporting several billion daily transactions and quotes across diverse asset classes and geographies, and will be instrumental in NYSE Euronext's effort to consolidate the total number of its global data centers from ten to four. Expected to be operational in 2010, the new facilities will provide much greater network scale and efficiency, with plans to utilize Juniper's Data Center Infrastructure Solutions and advanced data center fabric technology to support an unprecedented internal latency of 50 microseconds roundtrip.


The deployment will include the Juniper Networks EX Series Ethernet Switches and MX Series Ethernet Services Routers. The data center core designs are anchored by the EX8216 Ethernet Switch and uses top of rack EX2500 Ethernet Switches to provide access connectivity to the data centers' high-performance servers with 10GbE ports that deliver wire-speed throughput. NYSE Euronext also plans to leverage the advanced routing capabilities, such as MPLS network virtualization, low-latency multicast, advanced quality of service (QoS), and high availability of Juniper's family of MX Series Ethernet Services Routers.


"Juniper's simplified data center approach will allow us to deploy a complete 10 Gigabit Ethernet network with ultra-low latency at a substantial cost savings," said Steve Rubinow, executive vice president and co-global CIO of NYSE Euronext.


"Competitiveness in the global financial markets is measured in microseconds and the NYSE Euronext trading platform is one of the world's premiere high-performance networks, supporting billions of transactions each day," said Kevin Johnson, Chief Executive Officer of Juniper Networks. "The NYSE Euronext technology vision is in alignment with Juniper's next generation data center roadmap, which will lead to the creation of a single data center fabric that will deliver a quantum advance in scale, performance and simplicity, while lowering energy consumption and reducing overall operating costs."http://www.nyx.com
http://www.juniper.net

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Global Crossing Expands its EtherExtend Flex Access Service

Global Crossing's EtherExtend Flex Service is now available in 26 locations worldwide. The company recently added Houston, Sunnyvale, Singapore and Frankfurt. The service is available in North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region and will be available in more than 70 points of presence in these same regions, plus Latin America, by the end of 2009.


EtherExtend Flex lowers a user's cost of access and matches the access Level of Service to the application's needs. It provides a last-mile Ethernet connection to Global Crossing's end-user customer via logical connections over a physical Network-to-Network Interface with the access provider, rather than forwarding the customer's traffic over a fixed physical connection to Global Crossing.


EtherExtend Flex can be paired with Global Crossing IP VPN or Dedicated Internet Access/IP Transit services, whether managed or unmanaged. The service also can support Collaboration, Voice over Internet Protocol and other applications that utilize these transport services.


Other sites where the service is available are Hong Kong in Asia; Amsterdam, London, Milan and Paris in Europe; Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Kansas City, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, D.C. in the United States, and Toronto, Canada.
http://www.globalcrossing.com

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GSMA Establishes Mobile Money Exchange

The GSMA, which represents the GSM industry, has kicked off a Mobile Money Exchange initiative with the aim of helping financial services companies who are entering the mobile environment, by providing a common voice and formal business forum for business collaboration. The ethos behind the formation of the Exchange is for best practice and innovations to be highlighted and shared, both across industry and inter-industry. The Mobile Money Exchange will feature an online knowledge portal with social business networking and community functionality designed to advise and serve the interests of the mobile money industry.


Visa and Globe Telecom are the first two founding partners of the Mobile Money Exchange.
http://www.gsmworld.com

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Verizon Business Enables Dynamic Management of Ethernet Networks

Verizon Business introduced a customer-controlled dynamic management capability for its Ethernet Virtual Private Line service.


The new offering, Verizon EVPL Dynamic Bandwidth, is available immediately to U.S.-based businesses and government agencies. It enables them to adjust their bandwidth requirements on an as-needed basis, and, as a result, to better leverage the low cost and simplicity of Ethernet, with the added flexibility of self-provisioned network capacity that can accommodate surges in application-bandwidth.


Verizon said EVPL Dynamic Bandwidth is aimed at large-enterprise and mid-market customers -- such as tax preparers, retailers and insurance companies -- that have seasonal requirements and intermittent bandwidth demands.


Using the Verizon Enterprise Center, a one-stop resource for customers to manage all of their Verizon services, EVPL users have desktop control over a self-service portal that allows for dynamic bandwidth provisioning and reporting. Upgrades or downgrades can be delivered within 60 minutes, modifications can be made every 24 hours, and customers can schedule upgrades in advance.


Verizon's Private IP customers also have access to similar dynamic bandwidth and reporting capabilities via the Verizon Enterprise Center. The Dynamic Bandwidth and automated monitoring features, part of the company's Application Aware suite of tools that enable increased network visibility and management, allow for bandwidth changes on demand based on the customer's needs, and provide customized reports to indicate bandwidth usage.
http://www.verizonbusiness.com

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Proximion Adds Fiber Bragg Gratings for Patch Cord Dispersion Compensation

Proximion Fiber Systems has leveraged Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) technology to create the industry's first Patch Cord Dispersion Compensation Module (DCM-PC). The module combines continuously chirped Fiber Bragg gratings into a simple patch cord. Because service providers are already using patch cords for connecting boards within their systems, integrating the DCM into the cable eliminates the need for a separate piece of hardware for dispersion management.


Proximion said its DCM patch cord is a more cost-effective solution than using dispersion compensation fiber (DCF). The patch cord provides the same functionality as DCF or traditional DCMs while replacing dedicated and costly terminal floor space needed to house hardware or DCF spools. Moreover, the DCM-PC connects one board to another, consequently replacing the need for two additional patch cords.


The DCM-PC is available in different flavors that tightly control the dispersion from -1300 to +1300 ps/nm over a 6.5 nm wide band. Commercial availability is expected in Q3.
http://www.proximion.com

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Blue Cross and Blue Shield Selects Qwest

Qwest Communications has been selected by the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) as a preferred provider for voice and data services. Under the two-year, multimillion dollar contract, Qwest offers a broad range of solutions to BCBSA's Chicago headquarters and its member Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies nationwide. Financial terms were not disclosed.
http://www.qwest.com

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Telenor Selects Huawei for LTE Network Trial in Norway

Telenor, the world' s 7th largest provider of mobile communications, has chosen Huawei to provide LTE radio access and EPC (Evolved Packet Core) equipment for its LTE trial in Oslo, Norway. All the necessary equipments have been shipped to Oslo and installation has begun. http://www.huawei.com

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Ericsson Powers Interactive TV for Ucom in Armenia

Ericsson will deliver its IPTV solution including GPON technology to Ucom, a network operator in Armenia. Ericsson's IPTV solution for Ucom includes IPTV middleware; a content-distribution platform; the customized consumer portal and GPON technology. The agreement also includes systems integration of operational management tools and consultancy services. Ucom will be using Ericsson's EDA 1500 GPON fiber-access platform. The rollout will start in July 2009.
http://www.ericsson.com

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ZigBee and HomePlug Alliances Target a Smart Energy HAN Standard

The ZigBee Alliance and HomePlug Powerline Alliance released a list of market requirements for Smart Energy communication between utility companies and everyday household devices such as smart thermostats and appliances.


The document includes insight to a variety of use cases including plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) charging, installation, configuration, firmware download for home area network (HAN) devices, prepay services, user information and messaging, load control, demand response, and common information and application profile interfaces for wired and wireless HANs.

http://www.zigbee.org/smartenergyhttp://www.homeplug.org

• On May 18, the ZigBee/HomePlug Smart Energy profile was selected by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) as an initial interoperable standard for HAN devices and communications and information model.

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