Crossbeam's X-Series Delivers 18 Million PPS Firewall for Mobile Operators

Crossbeam Systems disclosed new performance testing data that shows its X-Series security platform delivers 18 million packet per second firewall security for smartphone traffic typically carried by mobile operators.


Crossbeam stress tested the Check Point R70 Security Gateway firewall running on a fully loaded X-Series using BreakingPoint Elite, a cyber simulation product for verifying the resiliency of network and security equipment.


The tests simulated the heavy traffic environment of a mobile operator, using HTTP traffic and 96-byte packets, the typical type and size generated by smartphones. Crossbeam said the data confirmed that the X-Series can process 18 million packets per second under the worst traffic conditions, providing full firewall protection to secure millions of simultaneous connections.


"We're entering the age of mobile broadband, where smartphones and other wireless devices offer affordable, high-speed technology for surfing the Web and downloading video. Demand will only increase," said Nikos Koutsoukos, director of product management at Crossbeam. "Mobile operators need to think in terms of real-world conditions, not just performance claims in white papers and data sheets. Crossbeam stands up to the most rigorous tests, and we continue to push the envelope to help customers achieve real-world, high-performance security."


Crossbeam's X-Series security platform virtualizes best-in-class, third-party security applications on a highly scalable, carrier-class chassis.
http://www.crossbeam.com

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EXFO Simplifies its Corporate Name/Brand

EXFO Electro-Optical Engineering has officially shortened its name to "EXFO Inc." The company said it opted to change its name for simplicity's sake.


EXFO's mission is to supply test and service assurance solutions for network operators and equipment manufacturers in the global telecommunications industry. Its Telecom Division, which accounts for almost 90% of the company's revenues, offers a wide range of innovative solutions to assess optical networks, from the core to access, as well as next-generation IP infrastructures and related triple-play services. The company also has a Life Sciences and Industrial Division.
http://www.exfo.comhttp://

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TeliaSonera Moves from ADSL to VDSL2 with Ericsson

TeliaSonera has selected Ericsson to assist with a migration of its fixed broadband networks from ADSL to VDSL2. Specifically, Ericsson has been chosen as sole supplier of one million access lines. Under the agreement Ericsson will deliver EDA 1200 based on VDSL2 technology and related installation services. The contract includes Sweden, Denmark and Norway. Deployment starts in Sweden and will run over the next 12 months. Financial terms were not disclosed. http://www.ericsson.com

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South Korea Leads in FTTH/B Penetration

South Korea is the first country in the world where more than 50% of households are using FTTH/B connections, according to new figures from the FTTH Council. The top five global economies in terms of the total number of subscribers are Japan, China, South Korea, USA and Taiwan. These five countries represent more than 90% of all FTTH/B subscribers in the Global Ranking.


The latest update to the FTTH/B Global Ranking, jointly issued by the three FTTH Councils of Asia-Pacific, Europe and North America, was presented at last week's FTTH Conference in Lisbon.


"We welcome the latest update of the Global Ranking with mixed feelings", commented Karel Helsen, President of the FTTH Council Europe. "On one hand, we are happy to see European newcomers like Portugal, Bulgaria and Czech Republic in the Ranking, and of course France, one of the European G-20 states. On the other hand, the new G-20 Ranking shows that countries such as Germany and UK, and of course the European Union as a whole are still lagging behind. Although too slow, Europe is heading in the right direction and the FTTH Council Europe will pursue its efforts to accelerate FTTH deployment in Europe."
http://www.ftthcouncil.org/

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Telefónica Reaches 265 Million Accesses, up 5.1%

As of the beginning of 2010, Telefónica was serving 265 million accesses worldwide (+5.1%) thanks to the expansion of the mobile business (+7.4%), fixed broadband (+8.2%) and pay TV (+9.8%). Net adds in the mobile telephony business grew by multiples in all regions in the second half while the mobile broadband business reached 15 million accesses at year end compared to 9 million a year earlier.


By region, the growth rates reported by Telefónica Europa were 6.9% year-on-year, while and Telefónica Latinoamérica grew by 6.5% year-on-year.


For 2009, Telefónica met all its financial guidance despite the global economic conditions. In absolute terms, Telefónica Latinoamérica contributed 40.5% to total Group revenues (+1.8 percentage points compared to 2008, excluding the impact from hyperinflation accounting), whilst Telefónica España and Telefónica Europe contributed 34.7% and 23.9% to Group revenue respectively.


Operating income before depreciation and amortisation (OIBDA), which totaled 22,603 million euros in 2009 (-1.4% in reported terms). In organic terms, OIBDA grew 0.9% year-on-year, underpinned by Telefónica Latinoamérica (+3.8 percentage points) and Telefónica Europa (+0.7 percentage points), which offset Telefónica España's lower
contribution (-3.3 percentage points).


Some highlights from the report:

• By type of access, the Telefónica Group had over 202 million wireless accesses at the
  end of 2009.



• The main drivers of wireless net adds to December 2009 were Brazil (6.8 million), Mexico (2.1 million), Germany (1.5 million), Argentina (1.1 million) and UK (1 million). The main contributors in the fourth quarter were Brazil (2.9 million), Mexico (0.9 million), Argentina (0.5 million) and Germany (0.6 million).



• In Spain nearly 88% of retail broadband accesses are bundled as part of some kind of dual or triple play package, whilst in Latin America almost 56% of broadband accesses are bundled as part of Duos or Trios. In 2009 net adds exceeded 1.0 million accesses (0.3 million in the fourth quarter), mostly from Argentina and UK.



• Pay TV accesses stood at around 2.5 million at the end of 2009, 9.8% up from a year earlier. It is worth mentioning that the Company already offers Pay-TV services in Spain, the Czech Republic, Peru, Chile, Colombia, Brazil, Venezuela and Argentina.



• CAPEX for 2010 is expected to be in the range of EUR 7,450 t0 7,650 million. For comparison, CapEx in 2009 reached EUR 7,257 million.



• In 2009, Spanish wireline access market continued affected by an adverse economic climate, and showed an estimated year-on-year decrease of 0.8%. Against this backdrop, the company's total number of wireline accesses in service (retail wireline telephony accesses, wholesale line rental, fully unbundled loops, and nked wholesale ADSL) was down 2.4% in 2009 (-386,465 wireline accesses in the year).



• In wireless telephony, estimated market penetration in Latin America stood at 90%, an increase of 8 percentage points from December 2008. Telefónica managed 134.7 million wireless accesses in the region, yielding year-on-year growth of 9.2% after reporting net adds of 11.4 million accesses in the full year.



• The number of broadband accesses in Latin America for the company exceeded 6.4 million, and is still recording
  significant growth rates (+5.9% year-on-year) as a result of solid growth in Argentina (+14.4% year-on-year), Peru (+10.0% year-on-year) and Chile (+9.3% year-on-year). Pay TV customers reached 1.6 million (up 7% year-on-year), with 179,556 accesses added since the start of the year. Wireline accesses remained affected by fixed-mobile substitution and fell by 4.2% on 2008.

http://www.telefonica.comhttp://

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