Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Deutsche Telekom Reports Better First Half Despite Customer Loss

Deutsche Telekom Group reported net revenue of EUR 31.3 billion for the first half of 2010, down by 2.5 percent year-on-year. This development was primarily influenced by positive (EUR 0.5 billion: OTE) and negative (EUR 0.9 billion: T-Mobile UK) effects of changes in the composition of the Group and by positive exchange rate effects
of EUR 0.3 billion. Revenue in the Germany operating segment stabilized in the second quarter and, at the same time, adjusted EBITDA increased. Free cash flow increased significantly. The group recorded a net profit of EUR 1.2 billion at end of half-year, compared with loss of EUR 0.6 billion in prior year.



T-Mobile USA continued its strong growth in the mobile data sector and recorded an increase in the number of contract customers for the first time after three quarters.


"On the basis of these good first six months, we can once again confirm our guidance," said Chief Executive Officer René Obermann at a press conference in Bonn. "We have achieved one of our key goals, that of making our business in Germany competitive again."


Some additional highlights:


  • The proportion of net revenue generated internationally decreased from 57.2 percent to 56.9 percent. Domestic net revenue was EUR 13.5 billion in the first six months of 2010, EUR 0.3 billion lower than in the first half of 2009. International net revenue decreased year-on-year by EUR 0.5 billion to EUR 17.8 billion.


  • In Germany, the number of mobile communications customers decreased by 2.2 million compared with year-end 2009 to 37 million in the first half of 2010.


  • For T-Mobile USA, the number of contract customers rose for the first time since the second quarter of the previous year, rising by 106,000 in the second quarter, compared with a plus of 56,000 in the prior-year quarter. The total number of customers declined by 93,000 compared with the first quarter as a result of the decreases in the prepay segment. At June 30, T-Mobile USA had 33.6 million customers, compared with 33.5 million one year before.


  • Total revenue of the Europe operating segment decreased by 6.8 percent in the first half-year, in particular as a result of the deconsolidation of T-Mobile UK.


  • German LTE Spectrum - Telekom Deutschland GmbH has purchased frequency spectrum by auction from the Federal Network Agency for around EUR 1.3 billion. Deutsche Telekom has purchased two times 10 MHz in the 790 to 862 MHz
    frequency range, the digital dividend.


  • Dutch LTE Spectrum -- T-Mobile Netherlands has purchased two-part 10 MHz bandwidths in the 2.6 GHz
    range for EUR 109,000 at the mobile frequency auction.


  • 3G in Europe -- In Austria, the Czech Republic, Romania, and Greece, Deutsche Telekom has significantly advanced its 3G/UMTS network build-out.


  • T-Mobile USA and HSPA+ -- Having deployed HSPA+ in around 50 metropolitan areas, T-Mobile USA now offers speeds comparable to those in 4G networks.
http://www.telekom.de

FCC Drops Closed Door Net Neutrality Talks

The FCC confirmed that it has ended a round of discussions with major Internet companies on Net Neutrality regulations. The closed door discussions had drawn criticism for their lack of transparency and public input. Separately, unconfirmed reports indicate that Verizon and Google may be nearing private deal on the same issues of Net Neutrality.


Both Verizon and AT&T issued statements lamenting the end of the talks and expressing a willingness to continue building an industry consensus.


http://www.fcc.gov

Bell Canada Reports Financial Momentum with TV, Wireless

BCE reported improved financial performance with net earnings applicable to common shares growing by 70.5% to $590 million. In addition, Bell had revenue growth of 4.5%, reflecting strong TV and wireless revenue growth of 11.6% and 9.6%, respectively, and the inclusion of revenues from The Source and Virgin Mobile Canada (Virgin); operating income growth of 30.6%; EBITDA growth of 3.3%; wireless gross subscriber activations of 480,639 and postpaid net activations of 102,754; and TV net activations of 9,775.


BCE today announced that the annual common share dividend will increase by 5% to $1.83 per share.


"Bell's strong operating momentum and financial performance are the direct result of the Bell team's strong execution of our strategic imperatives. We continue to accelerate our growth businesses in an increasingly competitive marketplace, while continuing to invest in the service programs and broadband networks that support our growth into the future," said George Cope, President and CEO of BCE and Bell Canada.


Some additional highlights:

  • Bell Wireless ARPU increased by $1.66 to $52.12 year over year as data revenue growth of 45% more than offset voice ARPU declines due to customer adoption of richer rate plans. Wireless data revenues represented approximately 22% of service revenues this quarter compared to approximately 17% of service revenues for the same period last year. Gross activations of 480,639 and postpaid net activations of 102,754 were 19.0% and 60.1% higher than last year respectively.


  • The Bell Wireline segment had NAS losses of 129,147 this quarter, an improvement of 2.6% compared to last year. TV subscribers increased by 9,775 this quarter compared to an increase of 20,018 in the same period last year. High-speed Internet net subscribers decreased by 3,899 this quarter compared to an increase of 1,991 last year.


  • Bell Wireline operating revenues increased by 2.2% as TV and equipment and other revenue growth more than offset declines in local and access, long distance and data revenues.
http://www.bce.com

EXFO Boosts its Blazer Multiservice Test Modules

EXFO announced a speed increase of up to 4X for its FTB-8120NGE and FTB-8130NGE Power Blazer Multiservice Test Modules, which offer a full suite of SONET/SDH, packet-OTN and Ethernet test capabilities in a compact, field-grade form factor.


The FTB-8130NGE Power Blazer, supporting testing rates up to 11.1 Gbps for SONET/SDH, Ethernet (including 10 Gigabit Ethernet LAN and WAN) and OTN networks, is ideally suited for the deployment and maintenance of packet optical networks. The FTB-8120NGE Power Blazer, handling SONET/SDH/OTN testing rates up to 2.7 Gbps and Ethernet testing rates up to 1 Gbps, is purpose-built for the growing deployments of Ethernet-over-TDM and Ethernet-over-SONET/SDH/OTN services worldwide.
http://www.EXFO.com

Airspan to Resell LightSquared LTE for SmartGrid Backhaul

Airspan Networks announced an agreement to exclusively market LightSquared's 1.4 GHz wireless spectrum for Smart Grid and Smart Utility applications. Specifically, Airspan will market the 1.4 GHz wireless backhaul solution, including spectrum, equipment and services for Smart Grid applications in the electric, gas and water utility sectors in the United States. The 1.4 GHz licensed spectrum will be managed by Airspan and will be made available to utilities in their distinct geographic markets. Access to this spectrum will enable utilities to
establish optimized proprietary grid management networks.


The companies said that until now, access to licensed spectrum has been a critical "missing link" in planning and implementing wireless Smart Grid communications for middle-mile backhaul applications and for last-mile access.


"The combination of equipment and licensed spectrum eliminates the problem of relying on interference susceptible shared frequencies for mission critical applications," said Paul Senior, Chief Technical Officer, Airspan.
http://www.airspan.com
  • LightSquared, which is the new company backed by Harbinger Capital Partners, recently unveiled its plans to launch a wholesale-only, 4G-LTE network across the U.S. complemented by satellite coverage. LightSquared will provide wholesale wireless broadband capacity to a diverse group of customers, including retailers; wireline and wireless communication service providers; cable operators; device manufacturers; web players; content providers; and many others. The LightSquared network will allow these partners to offer satellite-only, terrestrial-only, or integrated satellite-terrestrial services to their end users.


    Nokia Siemens Networks has signed an 8-year agreement valued at more than $7 billion over 8 years to provide network design, equipment manufacturing and installation, and network operations and maintenance. The nationwide LightSquared network, consisting of approximately 40,000 cellular base stations, will cover 92 percent of the U.S. population by 2015. The satellite portion of the LightSquared network will leverage the next generation hybrid Mobile Satellite System (MSS) with an Ancillary Terrestrial Component (ATC) developed by SkyTerra.

BLADE Accelerates Test Cycle with Fanfare

BLADE Network Technologies (BLADE) has implemented Fanfare's flagship test automation product, iTest, which provides a unified approach for rapidly developing, automating, and maintaining test cases.


According to a recent case study, BLADE has saved approximately $500,000 in resource and equipment costs, sanity build times, and time to market since implementing iTest. In 2009, BLADE, the data center Ethernet switching company, was focused on developing new product features to meet the growing demand for virtualization-ready networks. BLADE's portfolio of products had increased significantly from its founding as an independent company.


Fanfare's iTest improved the testing cycle in the following ways:

  • Reduced scripting costs by more than 40 percent

  • Better utilized existing resources, regardless of skill set

  • Streamlined defect resolution, allowing more time to be spent on quality testing and development
http://www.fanfaresoftware.com

China Unicom Implements NSN's Real Time Analysis in Shanghai

China Unicom implemented Nokia Siemens Networks' real-time traffic monitoring and analysis tool in Shanghai to ensure service quality ahead of the Shanghai World Expo.


Based on its Traffica platform, the tool identifies network problems and service quality issues in minutes and resolves them far faster, helping the operator to increase revenue. Before deploying the solution, it could take hours or days to identify and resolve certain problems. Nokia Siemens Networks' system uses key performance indicators (KPIs) to evaluate the actual quality of every service offered by China Unicom in real-time. If quality worsens, staff can act on that, before services or related network components fail.
http://www.nokiasiemensnetworks.com

MetroPCS' Q2 Revenues at $1 Billion, Up 18% YoY

MetroPCS Communications reported quarterly revenue of $1.0 billion, an increase of approximately 18% over second quarter of 2009. MetroPCS finished the quarter with 7.6 million mobile subscribers.


"The outstanding operational and financial results for the second quarter were primarily a result of strong net subscriber additions and lower churn primarily driven by continued acceptance of our Wireless for All plans. Strong operational results and net subscriber growth of approximately 1.4 million subscribers over the past 12 months resulted in record consolidated Adjusted EBITDA for the company of over $322 million, up approximately 38% from the second quarter 2009. We continue to build our 4G LTE network, and we are currently testing in selected metropolitan areas. We are on track for our initial 4G LTE launch in selected metropolitan areas in the second half of this year. Our goal is to provide our pay-in-advance subscribers a 4G experience equivalent to that which will be enjoyed by traditional post-pay customers," said Roger D. Linquist, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of MetroPCS.
http://www.metropcs.com

FCC Promotes Microwave in Wireless Backhaul.

The FCC proposed new rules aimed at removing regulatory barriers to the use of microwave spectrum for wireless backhaul of 4G mobile broadband services.


In a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), the FCC explores ways to increase the flexibility, capacity and cost-effectiveness of the microwave bands below 13 gigahertz, while protecting incumbent licensees in these bands.


The FCC said it seeks to update regulatory classifications that may not have kept pace with the evolution of converged digital technologies, and to provide for increased spectrum sharing. The proposed rule changes may be particularly beneficial to rural areas, where microwave may be the only practical, high-capacity backhaul solution available to serve certain remote locations. With spectrum sharing, 750 megahertz of microwave spectrum may be made available for broadband backhaul or other advanced point-to-point uses.


The Notice of Inquiry (NOI) requests comment on further steps the Commission can take to reduce wireless backhaul costs and increase investment in broadband deployment. It asks about changes in technical rules that would enable longer links in rural areas. The NOI also inquires as to whether permitting use of smaller antennas could similarly reduce costs and stimulate investment. Finally, the NOI seeks comment on whether the Commission should examine any additional modifications to its rules or policies to promote the flexible, efficient and cost-effective provision of wireless backhaul service.
http://www.fcc.gov

FiberLight Deploys MRV for Carrier Ethernet Access

FiberLight, which operates its own 500,000 fiber mile network in the southeastern U.S., has selected MRV Communications' OptiSwitch Carrier Ethernet access platforms for its optical wholesale and business Ethernet services.




FiberLight worked with MRV to install OptiSwitch 900 (OS 900) Ethernet demarcation service units and OptiSwitch 9000 (OS 9000) metro Ethernet aggregation service units to enhance its LightSource Ethernet service offerings. FiberLight currently serves 20 metro markets within Georgia, Florida, Washington, D.C., Texas, Virginia and Maryland.


MRV said its equipment allows FiberLight customers to dynamically control their bandwidth without a long lead-time and through their own network management capabilities. For example, a customer could reapportion part of a 10 Gbps circuit to offer 100 Mbps of bandwidth to a new office by just making the change remotely and avoid delays on new service delivery. Using the OS900 at the demarcation point for wholesale and business Ethernet services, FiberLight is also able to support end-to-end Ethernet service visibility, service level agreement (SLA) monitoring and Ethernet virtual circuit loopbacks for non-intrusive fault analysis.
http://www.mrv.com

OIF Targets Micro-integrable Tunable Laser Assemblys, OSS Control Plane

The Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) has begun work on two new projects.


The first provides a specification for a micro-integrable tunable laser assembly (uITLA). The new form factor for tunable lasers is needed as the industry moves to an XFP form factor with reduced power dissipation. This project will propose changes to the assembly electrical interfaces, optical specifications, and mechanical specifications. The uITLA implementation agreement (IA) will provide an alternative laser solution for ITLA customers contemplating the integration of a specific vendor "gold box" laser on the host PCB due to space constraints. A greater than 2X reduction in the base plate area of the uITLA relative to the ITLA-MSA-1.2 IA is desired.


The second newly created project addresses OSS Control Plane Management for Optical Transport Evolution. As the networks evolve from TDM to Packet and to MPLS-based Transport, there will be additional challenges associated with OSS integration and management of control plane-initiated services spanning multiple layers (TDM OTN and SONET, Photonic and MPLS). Adding to the OSS challenges are the operational challenges associated with these converged networks. This new project will address these OSS challenges in operationalizing the TDM control plane including multilayer TDM CP (SONET/SDH, OTN).


The OIF also announced the following elections:


Technical Committee Chair: Jonathan Sadler, Tellabs (beginning Oct 1)


Technical Committee Vice Chair: Klaus-Holger Otto, Alcatel-Lucent


Market Awareness & Education Chair, Networking: Dave Brown, Alcatel-Lucent


Market Awareness & Education Chair, PLL: Rod Smith, Tyco Electronicshttp://www.oiforum.com