Sunday, December 5, 2010

Germany's envia TEL Selects Orckit-Corrigent's Carrier Ethernet + Transport

envia TEL GmbH has chosen Orckit-Corrigent's CE+T solution and 3M Services' solutions to enhance its Transport and Packet Network suite of solutions in Germany.


Orckit-Corrigent's CM-4000 Carrier Ethernet + Transport solution, which based on MPLS and MPLS-TP, is designed for the delivery of any Ethernet and TDM services over packet-based networks. The products are fully compliant with industry standards and fully interoperable with 3rd party switches and routers.


The deal is followed by strategic cooperation between Orckit-Corrigent and 3M Services for the distribution and first-line support for Orckit-Corrigent's products in Germany.
http://www.orckit.com
http://www.enviatel.de

Ericsson Selected for Mobile Broadband in Rural Chile

Ericsson is working with the government of Chile and Entel to connect people in rural locations across the country with mobile broadband and telephony service. The two-year project including deployment of voice services (2G) as well as the latest 3G/HSPA mobile broadband technology.


In 2009, Entel and Ericsson won a USD 45 million public contract from the Chilean government to provide broadband access between 70 and 90 percent of the rural population.


Ericsson said it is building, integrating and activating 2G and 3G at about 1,500 rural locations by deploying its main remote base stations. The company is also providing its microwave transmission solution, MINI-LINK, as a key component for the quick rollout of mobile broadband in rural areas with challenging terrain.
http://www.ericsson.com
  • In August 2010, The government of Chile and Entel, the nation's leading telecom operator, announced a project to extend 3G and fixed broadband services across rural areas of the country, bringing coverage to an estimated 3 million people for the first time.


    The project, known as "Todo Chile Comunicado", will bring 3G coverage to 1,474 rural sites, as well as extending fiber optic nodes to 12 regional centers, over the next 3 years. The project is expected to represent a total investment of US$100 million with government subsidies accounting for about US$43 million of this cost.


    The network is expected to deliver a low-cost Internet service at 1 Mbps downlink and 256k upstream, as well as serve public facilities, including schools and health centers. The first phase of the project begins in September with rollout to 450 locations.

ECI Telecom Acquires Remaining Debt

ECI Telecom and its shareholders - the Swarth Group and Ashmore Investment Management Ltd. -- has acquired all the remaining debt extended to the company upon its acquisition in September 2007. By doing so, ECI is significantly improving its capital structure.


Rafi Maor, President and CEO of ECI, commented: "This transaction reflects the confidence our shareholders have in ECI and our ability to continue to compete successfully in the dynamic telecom market. It will allow us to invest additional resources in developing ECI's business and accelerate the company's growth."http://www.ecitele.com
  • In September 2007, ECI was acquired by a group of private investors, including the Swarth Group and Ashmore Investment Management Ltd, in a transaction valued at $1.24 billion. The acquisition was financed by a mix of equity and debt.

Shell Selects AT&T + Cisco for IT Audit

Shell has selected AT&T and Cisco to carry out a global energy-efficiency project focused on improving its information technology (IT) infrastructure. The project will involve calculating the CO2 footprint of Shell's IT operations as well as mapping Shell's energy-usage patterns with a goal of ensuring a highly energy-efficient IT network.


Specifically, AT&T was selected to manage a significant part of Shell's IT infrastructure and telecommunications services as part of a wider series of outsourcing agreements. Cisco's Internet Business Solutions Group was selected to conduct the IT infrastructure energy-consumption audit and make recommendations.


The project will incorporate a range of energy-efficient IT services, such as the consolidation and virtualization of servers and storage, data centers, and branch offices. Also AT&T Telepresence Solutions®, based on Cisco TelePresence suites, are being deployed, with the goal of lowering companywide greenhouse gas emissions by reducing business-related travel.
http://www.att.com
http://www.cisco.com

Cox Business Reaches $1 Billion Run Rate

Cox Business announced a company milestone -- reaching a run rate of $1 billion in annual revenue.


According to Vertical Systems Group, Cox Business is the fourth largest provider of business Ethernet services in the U.S. based on customer ports.


Cox Business provides voice, data and video services for more than 260,000 small and regional businesses, including healthcare providers, K-12 and higher education, financial institutions and federal, state and local government organizations.


"Cox recognized an opportunity to meet the needs of business customers that were underserved by the nation's incumbent telephone companies, and built a strong team to pursue that goal," said Pat Esser, president of Cox Communications. "We have effectively followed our customers from the living room to the office, investing in our network to deliver reliable and highly competitive offerings for small business and larger enterprises such as healthcare, education and government."http://www.cox.com

ADTRAN Expands Line with Sealed Access Box

ADTRAN has expanded its family of sealed outside plant broadband solutions with the addition of the Total Access 1108VP -- a local access multiplexer for delivering triple-play services in high-density, low line count application. The Total Access 1108VP, which is specifically targeted for multiple dwelling unit (MDU) and
legacy fiber-to-the-curb upgrades, is a fully-sealed and submersible product for any type of indoor, outdoor or underground deployment.


The Gigabit Ethernet-fed 1108VP solution offers two Gigabit Ethernet ports for network connectivity and chaining additional units and it provides eight VDSL2 and POTS subscriber ports, allowing for easy migration to next-generation services.


The Total Access 1108VP enables rapid installation of up to 100+ Mbps of advanced triple-play
services into MDUs, extending the reach of Gigabit Ethernet deployments where pulling fiber to each
service location is impractical or not cost-effective.


"The Total Access 1100 Series provides unmatched benefits for the service provider," said Darrell
Brown, product line manager, ADTRAN. "With the addition of the Total Access 1108VP, ADTRAN is
able to offer yet another highly effective tool in the belt of next-generation access deployment. The
hardened construction, small form factor and energy efficient design combined with the ability to
utilize existing infrastructure makes this the most robust and economical solution on the market today
for MDU and FTTx applications."

The Total Access 1108VP is currently shipping and is deployed in multiple live networks.
http://www.adtran.com

PAETEC Completes Acquisition of Cavalier Telephone

PAETEC Holding Corp. has completed its previously-announced acquisition of privately-owned Cavalier Telephone. The deal, which was valued at $460 million at the time it was announced in September 2010, makes PAETEC one of the largest competitive local communication service providers in the United States.


The acquisition includes Cavalier's wholly owned subsidiary, Intellifiber Networks, which operates a high capacity fiber network spanning approximately 16,600 route miles and representing over $2 billion of investment by companies Cavalier acquired over the last decade. The expansive 11,947 route-mile intercity network spans the Midwest and Eastern U.S., as well as 4,681 route miles throughout several existing PAETEC metro areas, allowing for broad connectivity options for customers.



With this deal complete, PAETEC now has over 10,600 metro fiber-route miles, over 36,700 total fiber-route miles, and 1,178 collocations to support connectivity to enterprise businesses nationwide.


"We are very pleased to close this acquisition of Cavalier Telephone in less than three months from signing the definitive agreement," said Arunas A. Chesonis, PAETEC chairman and CEO. "Over the summer, we developed a dedicated cross-functional M&A team to facilitate the complex merger issues. That team, along with the diligent efforts of our regulatory, legal and financial staff, made this a dramatically quicker process."http://www.paetec.com
http://www.cavtel.com

Cisco and BMC Team on Cloud Delivery

Cisco and BMC Software are teaming up to develop and market new solutions for large-scale multi-tenant cloud computing infrastructures. The alliance calls for the two companies to align product development roadmaps and technology architectures to offer worldwide customers a complete suite of solutions that simplify and automate the delivery of cloud services.


As part of the alliance, Cisco and BMC announced the availability of a new cloud solution, the Integrated Cloud Delivery Platform, that is designed to meet the requirements of service providers and large-scale private cloud computing environments. This new joint solution helps cloud providers easily deploy end-to-end cloud services running on a cloud computing infrastructure that spans data center networks, computing systems, storage and applications.
http://www.cisco.com
http://www.bmcsoftware.com

Sprint's Network Vision Calls for Consolidated Wireless Architecture

Sprint unveiled its "Network Vision" for consolidating its infrastructure and spectrum into a single, more cost-effective and flexible network. Sprint also announced the selection of Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson and Samsung as key partners to enable this transformation.


The key idea behind Sprint's "Network Vision" is to operate a single network. Sprint currently uses separate equipment to deploy services on 800 MHz spectrum, 1.9 GHz spectrum and, through its relationship with Clearwire, 2.5 GHz spectrum. The New Vision blueprint calls for the deployment of multimode base stations for delivering 3G/4G services across all of these bands. New remote radio heads at the cell sites would be connected with fiber rather than coaxial risers. The consolidated cell site would be significantly more energy-efficient.


Sprint intends to repurpose some of its 800MHz spectrum for CDMA service, thereby enhancing coverage, particularly the in-building experience for customers. Augmenting its 1.9GHz footprint with 800MHz, Sprint expects its CDMA coverage density will increase throughout the country.


Regarding its iDEN network and push-to-talk, Sprint expects to launch the next-generation of PTT services in 2011 on the CDMA network, offering customers sub-second call set-up time along with robust data capabilities. There are no immediate plans to force migrate iDEN customers to the CDMA network, but Sprint expects its PTT device/app portfolio on the CDMA network will continue to evolve to include high-bandwidth data services.


"Network Vision builds on our legacy of wireless innovation and represents the next step in the evolution of our networks to best meet unprecedented growth in mobility services. We are well- positioned to take advantage of new technology, chipsets, devices and applications. Working with these three partners, we expect to deliver to our customers the most cutting-edge network capabilities available today and in the future."


The financial impact of the Network Vision plan includes a total, estimated incremental cost over the deployment period to be between $4 billion and $5 billion. Sprint estimates the total net financial benefit over a seven-year period will be between $10 billion and $11 billion.


The vendor contracts with Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson and Samsung includes purchases of hardware, software and services. These contracts are divided geographically:


Alcatel-Lucent: New York City, Philadelphia, Boston, Washington, D.C./Baltimore and Los Angeles


Ericsson: Atlanta, Miami, Houston, Kansas City and Dallas


Samsung: Chicago, Denver, Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Seattle.
http://www.sprint.com