Orange Business Selected by German Foreign Office, Zurich

Orange Business Services has won a Europe-wide tender issued by the German Foreign Office. The five-year agreement includes a terrestrial wide area network (WAN) for 180 sites worldwide, WAN connection via satellite (operated by Satlynx and Orange) for an additional 50 sites, consulting and voice services, as well as an extensive service management package. The new contract represents an 85 percent increase in contract value compared to the previous agreement.


In addition, Zurich Insurance Company (Zurich), one of the leading global insurance-based financial services providers, has renewed its outsourcing contract with Orange Business Services for three additional years. Since 2003, Orange has been managing Zurich's telecom and network services across Europe. Orange is providing mobile voice and data services to more than 5,000 Zurich employees paired with Blackberry services for another 3,000 users. Fully managed global video conferencing solutions such as Telepresence and HD video were just recently added to the service catalog, another way Zurich can take full advantage of its converged IP network.
http://www.orange.com

Read More

Charter Files Amended Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Plan

Charter Communications, the fourth-largest cable operator in the United States, filed an amended pre-arranged Joint Plan of Reorganization (the "Amended Plan") with the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.


"Since filing our initial pre-arranged plan, we have been working constructively with our creditors and other stakeholders and appreciate their ongoing support. Throughout this process, Charter has maintained its focus on enhancing all aspects of our customers' experience and looks forward to continuing to meet their communications needs in the future," stated Neil Smit, President and Chief Executive Officer.
http://www.charter.com

Read More

BT's Openreach Selects Trimble to Manage Mobile Workforce of 17,000

Openreach, the UK-based local access network division of BT Group, will be implementing the full range of Trimble's Mobile Resource Management (MRM) solutions across its fleet of 17,000 mobile field engineers.


Trimble Performance Manager is an alerting and business intelligence application that complements Trimble's Taskforce scheduling and GeoManager tracking solutions. Trimble Performance Manager compares the real-time activities of field teams against planned and scheduled events and provides alerts, analysis and business intelligence to improve short and long-term performance in a variety of areas, including day-to-day activities of the mobile workforce, customer service, cost management, and strategic planning. The benefits also include reduced travel times resulting in lower fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.



http://www.btplc.com
http://www.trimble.com/mobile_resource_management

Read More

JDSU Completes Acquisition of Finisar's Network Tools Business

JDSU completed its acquisition of the Network Tools business of Finisar Corporation. The company said the acquisition established it the world's leading provider of storage area network (SAN) protocol test tools, software and services.


"This acquisition provides JDSU with unique capabilities to address the SAN test market's best growth opportunities, such as Fibre Channel over Ethernet," said Dave Holly, president of JDSU's Communications Test and Measurement business segment. "We welcome the Network Tools team to JDSU and look forward to combining our respective strengths to deliver test innovation for the benefit of our customers."


The Network Tools business, currently headquartered in Sunnyvale, CA, includes more than 100 employees worldwide. Upon close of the transaction, Network Tools will form the Storage Network Test unit in the Instrument Business Division of JDSU's Communications Test and Measurement business segment. Dave Buse will continue to lead the business, reporting to Jerry Gentile, general manager of JDSU's Instrument Business Division. http://www.jdsu.com

Read More

Boeing Signs 4-Satellite Contract with Intelsat

Intelsat has selected Boeing to build four telecommunication satellites based on its 702B satellite series. Financial details were not disclosed.


Under the contract, the four Boeing-built geostationary satellites, Intelsat 21, Intelsat 22, and two spacecraft yet to be named, will offer C- and Ku-band capacity optimized to distribute video, network and voice services from Asia and Africa to the Americas and Europe. In April, Intelsat announced its IS-22 satellite will include an Ultra-High Frequency government-hosted payload that will serve the Australian Defence Force.


Boeing's 702B, an evolution of the Boeing 702 satellite, operates in the medium-level power ranges, with six to 12 kilowatts of onboard power and a more flexible, modular design that maintains the spacecraft's advanced technologies.
http://www.boeing.com/ids/

Read More

Raytheon Wins $155M DARPA Contract to Develop Radio Network Gateway

Raytheon was awarded a contract by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to provide a cost-effective, highly capable military wireless network interoperable gateway. The contract provides Raytheon $24.4 million for one year. Options would extend the contract to 2012 and bring the potential value to $155 million.


The Mobile Ad-Hoc Interoperability GATEway, or MAINGATE, will integrate any combination of heterogeneous military, civil or coalition radios into a single network to facilitate communication among disparate systems.



Raytheon said the unique architecture of its MAINGATE system allows for many more users to join the network at the same time and enables more than 30 different military and civil radios to communicate with one another while concurrently providing a high-capacity, mobile network. One of the key technologies used in the system's development is Raytheon's Mobile Ad-Hoc Networking protocols. These MANET protocols enable the MAINGATE system to be mobile, allow nodes to join or leave the network and scale to a very large numbers of systems.
http://www.raytheon.com

Read More

Belgium's Telenet selects Alcatel-Lucent for MVNO Project

Telenet, a leading provider of media and telecommunications services in Flanders, selected Alcatel-Lucent as overall network integrator for a mobile MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) project. Under a 7-year frame agreement, Alcatel-Lucent will be the overall integrator of the full mobile core, and of the value added service network components. As part of the agreement, Alcatel-Lucent will be responsible for the supply, installation, integration, operation and maintenance of Telenet's next generation mobile core network and service creation infrastructure. Financial terms were not disclosed.


Telenet offers cable television, high speed internet and fixed and mobile telephony services, primarily to residential customers in Flanders and Brussels. In addition, Telenet offers services to business customers across Belgium under the brand Telenet Solutions.
http://www.telenet.be

Read More

AT&T Implements LED Lighting to Improve Eco Efficiency

As part of its rebranding efforts over the last few years, AT&T replaced over 7,000 channel letter signs on more than 6,500 AT&T office buildings and retail locations. In doing so, AT&T has been installing the energy-efficient, long-life GE Tetra LED lighting system. The company calculates that it will save more than 5.8 million kilowatt hours of electricity year and eliminate 3,500 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually -- the equivalent of planting more than 950 acres of trees. The GE LEDs are up to 80 percent more energy efficient than commonly used neon.
http://www.att.com/sustainability

Read More

Covad Evolves Access Network with DS3, Bonded T1, QoS

Covad Communications completed the next phase of its broader network transformation strategy by building out its access portfolio with the introduction of DS3 service for performance-intensive applications and enterprise connectivity, as well as higher-bandwidth bonded T1 offerings up to 12.0 Mbps. Covad DS3 service provides symmetrical speeds up to 35 Mbps and are available nationwide. The bonded T1 offerings provide up to 12.0 Mbps of symmetrical bandwidth to meet the demanding broadband needs of small businesses and distributed enterprises, further addressing the gap between T1 and DS3 offerings.


Covad has also introduced network-wide Quality of Service (QoS) capabilities to enable partners to layer on value-added services and applications. Covad has introduced five levels of broadband QoS, each with predefined network priority settings, delivery targets, and latency levels--for example, QoS with reduced jitter for VoIP, or QoS with lowest possible latency for mission-critical, real-time applications. Partners can pair the appropriate QoS level with a specific application to ensure their customers are getting optimal performance levels.


"Covad is rapidly evolving its network to create an intelligent broadband services platform that our partners can use to expand their offerings, reach more customers, and increase revenues," says Young-Sae Song, Vice President of Marketing for Covad Wholesale. "Covad's application-aware network capabilities allow our partners to customize network performance for specific applications, like VoIP, video conferencing, and software as a service (SaaS)."


In February, Covad completed a nationwide MPLS deployment and network capacity upgrades that included metro optical rings with up to OC-192 (10 Gbps) capacity.
http://www.covad.com

Read More

Alcatel-Lucent Debuts 100 GigE Edge Intelligence

Alcatel-Lucent introduced a 100 Gigabit Ethernet interface and a 10-port 10 Gigabit Ethernet interface, both with massive queuing, classification and traffic management capabilities, for its 7750 Service Router and 7450 Ethernet Service Switch (ESS). Operators who have deployed Alcatel-Lucent service routers since 2004 can add the new line cards and immediately multiply capacity up to 100 Gbps per slot , double the current 50 Gbps maximum.


The new 100 Gigabit Ethernet capabilities are enabled by Alcatel-Lucent's custom FP2 chipset (launched July 2008), which is capable of sophisticated and optimized network processing and traffic management at speeds up to 100 Gbps. The FP2 chipset integrates 112 array cores for 95,000 MIPs performance and is implemented in 90nm process technology. The silicon was developed in house.


Alcatel-Lucent's FP2 silicon innovations and enhancements in thermal efficiency reduce power consumption to levels approaching four watts per gigabit with the new 100 Gigabit Ethernet interface modules, a significant improvement compared to the 10 Gigabit and 40 Gigabit alternatives widely deployed today.


Alcatel-Lucent said the edge of service provider network is where most of the intelligence in the network resides, and where determinations should be made about how individual services, such as high-definition video, need to be handled to ensure an optimal experience for end-users. The traffic management capabilities of the FP2 chipset could enable "high touch" edge & metro services via a single 100GigE customer-facing port or high-densities of 10 GigE ports. For instance, massively scalable queuing on the new interface cards could be used to guarantee real-time video and voice application delivery. One 7750 Service Router could support 160,000 users @ 6.25 Mbps sustained per-user, each with 8 queues.


Alcatel-Lucent noted that other 100 Gbps announcements for other vendors have been limited to core IP transport.


The new line cards will be available for demonstrations in 4Q 2009 and commercially in mid-2010.


Alcatel-Lucent has shipped more than 35,000 IP/MPLS service router portfolio systems since 2004, resulting in an installed base of more than 270 service provider customers in 100+ countries.
http://www.alcatel-lucent.com

Read More

Nokia Sees Lower Demand for Mobiles, Average Selling Price Falls

Citing intense competition and a global device marketplace that appears to be bottoming out, Nokia reported Q2 net sales of EUR 9.9 billion, down 25% year on year and up 7% sequentially (down 24% and up 7% at constant currency). Nokia's second quarter 2009 reported operating profit decreased 71% to EUR 427 million, compared with EUR 1.5 billion in the second quarter 2008. Nokia's second quarter 2009 non-IFRS operating profit decreased 62% to EUR 775 million, compared with EUR 2.1 billion in the second quarter 2008. Nokia's second quarter 2009 reported operating margin was 4.3% (11.2%). Nokia's second quarter 2009 non-IFRS operating margin was 7.8% (15.6%).


Estimated industry mobile device volumes of 268 million units, down 12% year on year and up 5% sequentially. Nokia mobile device volumes of 103.2 million units, down 15% year on year and up 11% sequentially. Nokia estimated mobile device market share of 38% in Q2 2009, down from 40% in Q2 2008 and up from 37% in Q1 2009.


"We are balancing short-term priorities with our longer-term growth ambitions as elements of the mobile handset, PC, internet and media industries converge to form a new industry. Consumers will increasingly expect devices and services designed as integrated solutions. To capture this opportunity we are accelerating our strategic transformation into a solutions company," stated Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, Nokia CEO.


Some highlights from the quarter:


Devices & Services

• The lower device volumes year on year for Nokia and the industry continued to be driven by the negative impact of the deteriorated global economic conditions, including weaker consumer and corporate spending, constrained credit availability and currency market volatility.



• The sequential industry device volume increase primarily reflected seasonality in the second quarter. Nokia volumes also benefited sequentially from a more stable inventory situation in the operator and distributor channels. Nokia's mobile device market share was an estimated 38% in the second quarter 2009, down from 40% in the second quarter 2008 and up from 37% in the first quarter 2009.



• Of the total industry mobile device volumes, converged mobile device industry volumes in the second quarter 2009 increased to 41.0 million units, based on Nokia's preliminary estimate, compared with an estimated 37.1 million units in the second quarter 2008, and 36.0 million units in the first quarter 2009.



• Nokia converged mobile device volumes were 16.9 million units in the second quarter 2009, compared with 15.3 million units in the second quarter 2008 and 13.7 million units in the first quarter 2009. Nokia's share of the converged device market was an estimated 41% in the second quarter 2009, unchanged from 41% in the second quarter 2008 and up from 39% in the first quarter 2009.



• Based on preliminary market estimate, Nokia's mobile device market share for the second quarter 2009 was 38%, compared with 40% in the second quarter 2008 and 37% in the first quarter 2009.



• Nokia mobile device average selling price (ASP) in the second quarter 2009 was EUR 62, down from EUR 74 in the second quarter 2008 and EUR 65 in the first quarter 2009. Both the year on year and sequential ASP declines were primarily due to general price pressure and a higher proportion of sales of lower priced products. Our second quarter 2009 ASP benefited from sales of new high-end products, compared to the first quarter 2009.

NAVTEQ

• Second quarter 2009 NAVTEQ net sales increased 11% sequentially to EUR 147 million, compared with EUR 132 million in the first quarter 2009, reflecting a slight pick-up in demand for auto navigation systems. NAVTEQ reported gross profit was EUR 126 million (EUR 116 million), with a gross margin of 85.7% (87.5%). Non-IFRS gross profit was EUR 127 million (EUR 117 million), with a non-IFRS gross margin of 85.8% (87.3%). NAVTEQ had a reported operating loss of EUR 100 million (EUR 120 million loss). The reported operating margin was -68.0% (-90.9%). NAVTEQ non-IFRS operating profit was EUR 19 million (EUR 5 million), with a non-IFRS operating margin of 12.8% (3.7%).

Nokia Siemens Networks

• Second quarter 2009 net sales decreased 21% to EUR 3.2 billion, compared with EUR 4.1 billion in the second quarter 2008, reflecting challenging market conditions and competitive factors. At constant currency, Nokia Siemens Networks net sales would have decreased 20%.



• Nokia Siemens Networks reported gross profit decreased 25% to EUR 860 million, compared with EUR 1.1 billion in the second quarter 2008, with a gross margin of 26.9% (28.2%). Nokia Siemens Networks non-IFRS gross profit decreased 30% to EUR 897 million, compared with EUR 1.3 billion in the second quarter 2008, with a non-IFRS gross margin of 28.0% (31.5%). The lower year on year non-IFRS gross profit in the second quarter 2009 was due primarily to lower year on year net sales.



• Nokia Siemens Networks had a second quarter 2009 reported operating loss of EUR 188 million compared with an operating loss of EUR 47 million in the second quarter 2008, with an operating margin of -5.9% (-1.2%). Nokia Siemens Networks non-IFRS operating profit was EUR 2 million in the second quarter 2009, compared with a non-IFRS operating profit of EUR 274 million in the second quarter 2008, with a non-IFRS operating margin of 0.1% (6.7%). The year on year decline in Nokia Siemens Networks non-IFRS operating profit primarily reflected lower net sales.

http://www.nokia.com

Read More