Verizon Files Legal Challenge to Net Neutrality Rules

Verizon Communications filed an appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. circuit. seeking to block Net Neutrality rules that are expected to go into effect on November 20th. The FCC approved the Net Neutrality rules in December 2010, but they were only published in the Federal Register in late September. Verizon had already challenged the regulations in court but could not proceed with its appeal under the rules were officially published by the Federal government.


"Verizon is fully committed to an open Internet. We are deeply concerned by the FCC's assertion of broad authority to impose potentially sweeping and unneeded regulations on broadband networks and services and on the Internet itself. We believe this assertion of authority is inconsistent with the statute and will create uncertainty for the communications industry, innovators, investors and consumers," stated Michael E. Glover, Verizon senior vice president and deputy general counsel.
http://www.verizon.com

• On 21-December-2010, The FCC approved new rules governing the management of Internet traffic, with the three Democrats on the commission voting in favor of the measure and the two Republicans voting against.
  
  
  Key elements of the new Order include:
  
  
  Rule 1: Transparency -- A person engaged in the provision of broadband Internet access service shall publicly disclose accurate information regarding the network management practices, performance, and commercial terms of its broadband Internet access services sufficient for consumers to make informed choices regarding use of such services and for content, application, service, and device providers to develop, market, and maintain Internet offerings.
  
  
  Rule 2: No Blocking -- A person engaged in the provision of fixed broadband Internet access service, insofar as such person is so engaged, shall not block lawful content, applications, services, or non-harmful devices, subject to reasonable network management. A person engaged in the provision of mobile broadband Internet access service, insofar as such person is so engaged, shall not block consumers from accessing lawful websites, subject to reasonable network management; nor shall such person block applications that compete with the provider's voice or video telephony services, subject to reasonable network
  
  
  Rule 3: No Unreasonable Discrimination -- A person engaged in the provision of fixed broadband Internet access service, insofar as such person is so engaged, shall not unreasonably discriminate in transmitting lawful network traffic over a consumer's broadband Internet access service. Reasonable network management shall not constitute unreasonable discrimination.
  
  
  Significantly, "reasonable network management" is defined as follows: "A network management practice is reasonable if it is appropriate and tailored to achieving a legitimate network management purpose, taking into account the particular network architecture and technology of the broadband Internet access service. Legitimate network management purposes include: ensuring network security and integrity, including by addressing traffic that is harmful to the network; addressing traffic that is unwanted by users (including by premise operators), such as by providing services or capabilities consistent with a user's choices regarding parental controls or security capabilities; and by reducing or mitigating the effects of congestion on the network."
  
  
  The FCC rules go on to say that "Pay for Priority" delivery of packets on wireline broadband networks is likely to run afoul of the "no unreasonable discrimination" clause because it would represent a significant departure from current practices.
  
  
  Mobile broadband is largely exempt from the "reasonable network management" clause, as the document acknowledges that this market is an earlier-stage platform than fixed broadband, and it is rapidly evolving.

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WIND Awarded 800MHz and 2600MHz Spectrum in Italy

WIND Telecomunicazioni S.p.A., which is a division of VimpleCom, successfully bid for spectrum in the 800MHz and 2600MHz frequencies following the completion of the competitive spectrum auction initiated by the Italian government on August 29, 2011.


Specifically, WIND has been awarded two blocks FDD (5+5 MHZ paired each) of spectrum in the 800MHz frequency range and four FDD (5+5 MHz paired) blocks in the 2,600MHz frequency range for a total consideration of EUR 1,120 million. WIND will be required to pay an amount of approximately EUR 682 million within 30 days from the completion of the auction while the remaining amount of approximately EUR 438 million will be payable over five yearly installments.

The first spectrum payment will be funded by a combination of cash on hand and draw down under a EUR 600 million bridge loan facility available to WIND and provided by a group of leading international banks.


The 2,600MHz spectrum will be available immediately whereas the 800MHz spectrum will be available for use by the awardees at the beginning of 2013 and both will have a validity until 2029.


WIND said it is planning to launch LTE service.
http://www.vimpelcom.com

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Intel Labs Opens Center for Pervasive Computing at U of Washington

Intel has opened its latest Science and Technology Center to focus on pervasive computing. The new facility, which is hosted by the University of Washington, will bring together researchers from five other universities as well. will focus on developing applications that are organized into the following themes: low-power sensing and communication; understanding human state and activities; and personalization and adaptation.


"The next generation of pervasive computing systems will continuously learn environments, objects, schedules and preferences of their users," said Limor Fix, Intel's director of academic programs and research. "These future apps will be capable of supporting complex tasks such as cooking a soufflé or building a complicated piece of furniture. Consumers will have a far richer experience than the technologies of today can offer and will be able to spend far more time achieving their goals than figuring out how to make the technology work."


The new Intel ISTC for pervasive computing is the fifth center to open this year.



http://www.intel.com

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US DoD Certifies Terremark's Infrastructure-as-a-Service

Verizon's Terremark hosting division announced that its Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) solution has been certified for compliance with Department of Defense (DoD) security requirements, as tested and verified by the DoD Information Assurance Certification and Accreditation Process (DIACAP). Terremark works with URS Corporation's information technology business URS-Apptis.


DIACAP certification verifies that the information systems the DoD utilizes for its critical applications are highly secure and reliable.
http://www.verizon.com
http://www.terremark.com/

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SOFTBANK MOBILE selects Ericsson for Packet Core

SOFTBANK MOBILE Corp. is implementing Ericsson's Evolved Packet Core (EPC) for its next generation mobile broadband network. Financial terms were not disclosed.


Ericsson noted that its all-IP mobile core network solution also supports various types of access, including both fixed and mobile networks. For example, it supports the operator's existing HSPA, WCDMA and next-generation LTE access networks, as well other network technologies, such as Wi-Fi.


SOFTBANK MOBILE currently has more than 26 million subscribers in Japan.
http://www.ericsson.com http://www.softbankmobile.co.jp/en

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SOFTBANK's Wireless City Planning Pick Alcatel-Lucent for Backhaul

Wireless City Planning, a new wholesale mobile network operator in Japan led by SOFTBANK, is preparing the launch of its AXGP Mobile Broadband network, which is based on technology developed in Japan that is highly compatible with TD-LTE. Alcatel-Lucent confirmed that it is supplying the IP networking technology to create high-capacity links between base stations throughout the operator's new network. Specifically, the network will use the Alcatel-Lucent 7750 Service Router and 7210 Service Access Switch.


Wireless City Planning will launch its mobile broadband service on November 1 in parts of Tokyo, Osaka and Fukuoka. The service uses the 2.5 GHz band and promises downlinks of up to 110 Mbps and uplinks of 15 Mbps. http://www.alcatel-lucent.com http://www.wirelesscity.jp/

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Colt Partners with Ciena on Enterprise Managed Services

Ciena announced a partnership with Colt focused on enterprise managed services. The two companies will enrich the performance, reliability and security of Colt's managed High Speed Services portfolio with sophisticated, integrated wire-speed encryption capabilities from Ciena's Packet-Optical Transport portfolio.


Colt is deploying solutions from Ciena's 5000 Series throughout its regional managed metro networks to power its assured encryption data connectivity services, in 14 major European markets – including Germany, France, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland and the UK. http://www.ciena.com

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LightSquared Signs YourTel America

LightSquared announced a wholesale agreement with YourTel America, which provides telecommunications services through 14 branded retail outlets, call centers and network operations in Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Missouri, Oklahoma, Rhode Island and Washington. YourTel America is an approved Eligible Telecommunications Carrier (ETC) for unserved and underserved low-income customers. This allows the carrier to deliver voice services to low-income customers through Lifeline, the Federal Communication Commission's (FCC) Universal Service Program for Low-Income Consumers. Using the LightSquared network, YourTel America can now offer high-speed wireless devices at affordable prices to its Lifeline and other low-income customers.
http://www.lightsquared.com

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Level 3 + Global Crossing Merger Gains FCC & DOJ Approvals

The U.S. Department of Justice has cleared Level 3's previously announced acquisition of Global Crossing. The FCC issued its own order approving the transaction, effective immediately. Level 3 expects to close the transaction as early as next week.http:/www.level3.com
http://www.globalcrossing.com

• On April 11, 2011, Level 3 Communications first announced its plans to acquire Global Crossing in a stock-for-stock transaction valued at approximately $3.0 billion. The combined company will operate fiber optic networks on three continents, connected by extensive undersea facilities. The combined network will serve a worldwide customer set with owned network in more than 50 countries and connections to more than 70 countries. The combined Level 3 + Global Crossing had pro forma combined 2010 revenues of $6.26 billion and pro forma combined 2010 Adjusted EBITDA of $1.27 billion before synergies and $1.57 billion after expected synergies. The customer profiles includes enterprise, government, wholesale, content, and web-based companies.

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CableLabs Establishes PeerConnect Registry

CableLabs has established a "PeerConnect" registry to help cable operators facilitate end-to-end IP communications.


The PeerConnect registry helps cable operators to automate their OSS-BSS service data provisioning for subscriber communication exchanges. It is not a traffic exchange hub, so no media traverses the system. The registry supports three primary service elements:


Registration Services -- allowing cable operators to dynamically provision various data elements into the registry. Examples of such service data include telephone numbers or routing numbers commonly used to establish VoIP calls, all the associated session establishment data such as a SIP route , or other data to provide links to the SMS gateways capable of receiving SMS to these numbers.


Resolution Services -- for cable operators or their PeerConnect partners to perform number translation querying the registry

Replication Services -- to dynamically distribute data for SMS-MMS and VoIP services to select partner companies primarily for session routing purposes.


"The PeerConnect registry allows Comcast to move telephone number translation services inside the IP domain," said Phil Miller, Vice President, Strategic Partnership Development, Comcast Communications and Data services. "It provides a scalable solution for us to dynamically distribute numbers and other IP voice session routing data to select partners."


"Cablevision has been using the PeerConnect registration services for some time with great success to disseminate IP session routing information to peers. It is a scalable solution for managing peering relationships and it is built on open standards to advertise session routing data to various valued-added service companies," said Wayne Thompson, Vice President, Telecom and Internet Management at Cablevision Systems Corp.
http://www.cablelabs.com/peerconnect

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Cox Launches “Unbelievably Fair" Mobile Services in San Diego, Santa Barbara

Cox Communications completed its rollout of mobile services in southern California with the launch of "Unbelievably Fair�? mobile phone plans in San Diego and Santa Barbara, California. The service is distinguished by "MoneyBack Minutes" -- where customers can get refunds at the end of the month billing cycle for minutes not used.


Cox Wireless launched in Orange County, California late last year. It is also available in Omaha, Neb., Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Okla., Rhode
Island, Hampton Roads, Roanoke and Northern Virginia and Cox communities in Connecticut and Cleveland, Ohio. By the end of this year, Cox Wireless will be available in more than 50% of its footprint, including Topeka and Wichita, Kansas and much of Northwest Arkansas.


“Beginning today, Cox Wireless is now available across our entire California footprint,�? said Kelly Williams, Cox's vice president of wireless products and operations. “In Orange County and across our Wireless markets, customers are responding very enthusiastically to Cox Wireless. We are
excited to bring our unbelievably fair approach to wireless to consumers in San Diego and Santa Barbara.�?http://www.cox.com

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Colombia Solicits Proposals for National Fiber Optic Project

The government of Colombia attracted four proposal for its national fiber optic connectivity project, which aims to connect over 400 municipalities across the country, providing high-speed services to 90% of the population by 2014. The four companies submitting proposals are:

• Unión Temporal Fibra Óptica Colombiana


• Telmex Colombia S.A,


• Unión Temporal Conectividad para todos


• Unión Temporal Telefónica.

http://www.mintic.gov.cohttp://www.mintic.gov.co/index.php/mn-news/416-20110928fibra

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Nokia and Siemens Inject EUR 1 Billion into NSN

Nokia and Siemens are each putting EUR 500 million in new capital into their joint venture, Nokia Siemens Networks, will the aim of further strengthening the company's financial position and setting the stage for strategic flexibility, productivity and innovation in areas such as Mobile Broadband and related services.


In addition, Jesper Ovesen, 54, has been appointed Executive Chairman of the Board of Nokia Siemens Networks, effective immediately, replacing Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo. Previously, Ovesen held a number of senior management positions in leading European companies, most recently serving as CFO of Danish telecommunications group TDC during the company's restructuring process and Initial Public Offering. Jesper has also served as CEO at Kirkbi, CFO at Lego and CFO at Danske Bank. He has extensive experience in finance and M&A activities. Ovesen holds a Master of Science from Copenhagen Business School, and a PMD from Harvard Business School.
http://www.nokiasiemensnetworks.com

• In July 2011, Nokia and Siemens completed a strategic review of their joint venture, Nokia Siemens Networks, and have decided against pursuing a private equity investment or sale. The company cited "good progress" in its turnaround plan, with first quarter 2011 results marking a third successive quarter of year-on-year reported net sales growth, as well as a fifth quarter of non-IFRS operating profits since it announced its change in strategy in November 2009.



• In September 2009, Rajeev Suri was appointed CEO of Nokia Siemens Networks, succeeding Simon Beresford-Wylie.

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Alcatel-Lucent Cites Progress with China Mobile on TD-LTE

Alcatel-Lucent noted progress with China Mobile's LTE network in Shanghai, where it supplied an en-to-end trial system consisting of base stations (eNodeBs), the Evolved Packet Core and Alcatel-Lucent's professional services expertise.


The companies have now completed the first stage of testing on the China Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) and China Mobile's TD-LTE trial network in the city. The trial network provides coverage to an area of Shanghai including the financial district of Lujiazui and the high-tech business park of Zhangjiang. http://www.alcatel-lucent.com

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Ikanos and SoftAtHome Announce Collaboration

SoftAtHome and Ikanos Communications are collaborating to bring a next-generation gateway platform to market. The companies said their partnership combines the latest capabilities of the SoftAtHome Operating Platform and Ikanos recently announced Fusiv Vx185/175 communications processors to create a solution ideally suited for the performance and quality of service demands of next-generation home media gateways in a multiscreen environment.


The combined solution takes unique advantage of the SoftAtHome Operation Platform's streaming media management and graphical user interface and Ikanos' broadband-optimized communications processor architecture. Together, the solution will deliver very high bandwidth capabilities and versatility for any network architecture including Fiber to the Node and Fiber to the Home deployments with bandwidth requirements of 100Mbps and beyond for visualizing multiple high-definition streams on multiple screens in the home. http://www.ikanos.com

• Earlier this month, Ikanos Communications introduced two dual-core communications processors – the Fusiv Vx175 and Fusiv Vx173 -- designed for a wide range of devices including femtocell gateways, smart energy gateways, mobile broadband routers, optical networking terminals, network attached storage and other next generation services gateways. The new devices add to the company's Fusiv portfolio and extend the range of access types supported to PON, LTE and other broadband technologies.

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FTTH Reaches 7.6 million North American homes

The number of homes in North America connected by FTTH has topped 7.6 million, up by 1.15 million in the past year, according to figures from market analysis firm RVA LLC, cited by the Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) Council. FTTH is available to about 22 million homes up by about 10 percent in FTTH "homes passed" over the past year.


"While fiber to the home deployment in Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean had barely scratched the surface in previous years, it appears that the FTTH providers in those countries are now out of the starting gate, and I expect see continued growth in their fiber activity going forward," said Mike Render, President of RVA. http://www.ftthcouncil.org

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Bharti Airtel Outsources 2G/3G Networks in Africa to NSN

Bharti Airtel signed an agreement with Nokia Siemens Networks to expand its 2G (GSM/EDGE) networks and deploy 3G networks in seven African countries: Madagascar, Malawi, Congo Brazzaville, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. Financial terms were not disclosed.


Specifically, Nokia Siemens Networks will manage end-to-end network operations, including planning, designing and implementing the 2G and 3G networks for Airtel. The vendor will provide its energy-efficient Flexi Multiradio Base Stations* to expand network coverage to under-served areas, including smaller towns and villages in the seven countries.


Nokia Siemens Networks noted that with these new operators, it now supplies 3G access products to over 200 mobile operators -- more than any other vendor. http://www.nokiasiemensnetworks.com/

• In July 2011, Ericsson announced a five year managed services agreement with Bharti Airtel for upgrading, optimizing and managing its mobile networks in Africa. Financial terms were not disclosed.



• Bharti Airtel awarded a 10-year contract to IBM to provide IT solutions to its employees across 16 African countries. In terms of the agreement, IBM will provide a standard operating environment, help desk and desk side support to enhance employee efficiency and convenience. The announcement builds on a strategic partnership signed in late 2010 to manage the computing technology and services to power Airtel's mobile communications network spanning 16 African countries.



• In June 2010, India's Bharti Airtel completed its previously announced acquisition of Zain's mobile operations in 15 countries across Africa for an enterprise valuation of US$10.7 billion. The acquisition positions Airtel as one of the world's top five mobile operators with 180 million customers, operations in 18 countries across Asia and Africa. It's network footprint covers over 1.8 billion people.

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NeoPhotonics Acquire Santur for Tunable Laser Arrays

NeoPhotonics, which manufacturers photonic integrated circuit based modules and subsystems, agreed to acquire privately held Santur Corporation for $39.2 million in cash.


Santur is a leading supplier of high-performance tunable laser arrays for metro and long-haul DWDM systems and a leading developer of PIC-based products for 40Gbps and 100Gbps client side and coherent line side applications. Santur's technology includes established telecom designs offering elegant approaches to wide tunability as well as high speed transceivers. The company's products are designed to provide reduced size, power consumption and cost for a wide range of DWDM, Coherent and Client Side networking applications in 10G, 40G and 100G networks. The company is based in Fremont, California.


"Santur has developed innovative indium phosphide (InP) based photonic integration products that are critical elements in 100G coherent transmitters and that complement the NeoPhotonics PIC-based 100G coherent receiver product line," said Tim Jenks, Chairman and CEO of NeoPhotonics. "By combining active InP PICs from Santur with our hybrid PICs, we can provide our customers with new products for 100G coherent systems that feature higher levels of integration, higher performance and greater functionality. Furthermore, Santur's advanced tunable laser products also fit with our Speed and Agility product lines, enabling us to provide customers more complete solutions for reconfigurable networks," continued Mr. Jenks.


"In addition, Santur is a leading provider of PIC-based 40 and 100 Gbps transceiver modules for client side and data center applications. NeoPhotonics recently entered this new and rapidly growing market segment with its first products. By combining Santur's products, roadmap and strong customer positions with the NeoPhotonics portfolio of products, vertically integrated and high volume manufacturing capabilities, and complementary customer set, we intend to further develop our 100G coherent line side products and rapidly establish NeoPhotonics as a major vendor of client side components for the cloud," concluded Mr. Jenks. http://www.neophotonics.com http://www.santurcorp.com

• Santur was founded in November 2000. Investors in Santur included Menlo Ventures, Sequoia Capital and Thomas Weisel Venture Partners.

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Qualcomm Atheros and Mindspeed Partner on Video-Over-Wi-Fi

Qualcomm Atheros and Mindspeed Technologies unveiled a joint embedded video-over-Wi-Fi solution and an integrated board using Qualcomm Atheros' new three-stream 802.11n chip and Mindspeed's Comcerto 1000 broadband packet processors. The embedded solution is aimed at next-generation media gateways and systems performing the media resource function processing (MRFP) for IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) networks. Key applications include video and voice content conversion in support of telephony, multimedia messaging services (MMS) and video ad insertion.
http://www.mindspeed.com
http://www.qca.qualcomm.com.

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Huawei Shows New ONT

At this week's Fiber To The Home (FTTH) Conference and Expo 2011 in Orlando, Huawei is showing its new Optical Network Terminal (ONT) and Intelligent Optical Distribution Network (iODN). The ONT design allows a single ONT type to be used for indoor, just-inside, and outdoor applications. It will simplify network operation and reduce deployment costs. The unit – with 2 POTS and 4 Gigabit Ethernet ports – can be deployed indoor for desk or wall mounting use. The same ONT can also be placed in an outdoor enclosure or just-inside enclosure depending upon the network application.


Huawei's iODN brings intelligence to the fiber management system while maintaining the passive nature of the ODN network. The iODN uses eIDs to automatically identify and manage fiber connections, intelligently determine fiber connection operations, and accurately manage optical splitters. With iODN, operators can automatically search the target optical fiber and appropriately operate it, paving the way for efficient Fiber To The Premises (FTTP) rollouts and accurate isolation and identification of fiber faults.
http://www.huawei.com

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ZTE Supplies Symmetrical Commercial 10G EPON Network

ZTE announced the deployment of the first symmetrical commercial 10 Gigabit Ethernet passive optical network (EPON) network with Qoncert, a technology provider based in Tampa Bay, Florida.


The network features a 10 gigabit Ethernet (10GE) User Network Interface (UNI) that enables Qoncert to increase network access speeds for business customers. The network combines 10G EPON and MPLS for service flexibility.
http://www.zte.com.cnhttp://www.qoncert.com

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Amazon Silk Introduces "Silk" Cloud-Accelerated Web Browser

Amazon's new Kindle "Fire" tablet introduces "Silk" -- a radical new "split browser" that accelerates the power of the mobile device hardware by using the computing speed and power of the Amazon Web Services cloud (AWS).


The Silk browser software resides both on Kindle Fire and on the massive server fleet that comprises the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2). With each page request, Silk dynamically determines a division of labor between the mobile hardware and Amazon EC2 (i.e. which browser sub-components run where) that takes into consideration factors like network conditions, page complexity and the location of any cached content. The result is a faster web browsing experience, and it's available exclusively on Kindle Fire, Amazon's new Kindle for movies, music, books, magazines, apps, games, and web browsing.


Some other unique aspects of the split-architecture browser:


Lower Latency-- Amazon EC2 is always connected to the backbone of the internet where round-trip latency is 5 milliseconds or less to most web sites rather than the 100 milliseconds seen over wireless connections.


Reduced Transit time --AWS has peering relationships with major internet service providers, and many top sites are hosted on EC2.


Persistent TCP connections -- Silk keeps a persistent connection open to EC2 so that there is always a connection at the ready to start loading the next page. Silk also uses EC2 to maintain a persistent connection to the top sites on the web.


Collaborative filtering techniques and machine learning algorithms -- By observing the aggregate traffic patterns on various web sites, Amazon refines its heuristics, allowing for accurate predictions of the next page request.
http://www.amazon.com/silk

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Motorola Releases XOOM 4G LTE Upgrade

Motorola Mobility is releasing a software upgrade enables of customers of its XOOM tablet to access the Verizon Wireless LTE network. http://www.motorola.com

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MetroPCS Debuts LTE Android Smartphone from LG

MetroPCS Communications introduced the LTE-enabled LG Esteem smartphone featuring music and multimedia applications like Rhapsody Unlimited Music and MetroSTUDIO.


The LG Esteem is powered by Android 2.3 (Gingerbread). It offers a front-facing camera and 5MP rear camera with flash, 720p HD video recording, a 4.3�? WVGA screen, a micro-HDMI port and DLNA streaming capability to transmit HD content directly to home entertainment units, and face-to-face video calling using the pre-loaded Google Talk Application. In addition, LG Esteem is equipped with a 1GHz processor, 8GB of internal memory and Dolby Mobile Surround 7.1 and a Corning Gorilla Glass Screen Protector.


The device is available with MetroPCS' $50 and $60 4GLTE plans, which include all applicable taxes and regulatory fees. The $60 lets consumers choose between unlimited music with Rhapsody or video entertainment with MetroSTUDIO – on top of unlimited Internet access, voice and texting services.


"Our customers want more entertainment services and multimedia, and the LG Esteem delivers all of the multimedia they desire right at their fingertips with the easy access afforded by our 4GLTE network,�? said Tom Keys, president and chief operating officer of MetroPCS. “By pairing a premium handset with the latest features and our unbeatable service offerings, we are providing our customers with a tremendous value. We're the only no-annual contract, pay-in-advance carrier providing 4G LTE service today, and with our latest 4G LTE smartphone, consumers can take full advantage of our network and the exploding array of Android market applications available today."


Pricing starts at $249 plus tax, after mail-in rebate, through January 1, 2012.
http://www.metropcs.com

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Juniper Offers "Simply Connected" for Enterprise Switching, Security and WLAN

Juniper Networks introduced its "Simply Connected" portfolio of enterprise switching, security and wireless products designed to simplify the management of mobile and desktop devices. The portfolio brings together Juniper's existing EX Series Ethernet Switches with Virtual Chassis technology, its SRX Series security products, its Junos Pulse mobile security paradigm, and wireless LAN controllers and access points through its recent acquisition of Trapeze Networks.


As part of the new networking portfolio, Juniper announced the availability of three new switching products, wireless LAN (WLAN) product innovations, and a set of updated Apple iOS and Google Android mobile device security capabilities.

Juniper said its vision with "Simply Connected" is to provide user-centric security and management independent of mobile device brand or type; and the opportunity to re-architect and reduce the network footprint in facilities where the mix of wireless and wired network access is changing. The Virtual Chassis technology, for example, enables multiple switches across a campus to act as a single switch. The goal is not only fewer network elements to manage but to implement a single system for wired and wireless access.

The new products in this set include:


EX6200 Ethernet Switches: The modular, chassis-based EX6200 delivers a scalable, resilient, high-performance wiring closet solution designed to provide extremely high port densities in a space-optimized form factor. The EX6200 will be shipping in Q4 2011.


EX3300 Ethernet Switches: Available now, The EX3300 line offers a compact, cost-effective, highly scalable solution for supporting the most demanding converged enterprise access environments via Virtual Chassis fabric technology.


EX2200-C Ethernet Switches: Available now, the fan less, wall-mountable EX2200-C is designed for micro-branch, conference room, or classroom deployments, giving customers the flexibility to deploy a compact, cost effective, switch in their open-space environments.


WLC880 Wireless LAN Controller: Designed for mainstream wireless deployments at medium to large sites, the WLC880 enables the extension of secure WLAN services to branch offices. Supporting up to 256 access points, the new controller is supported by new system software capabilities, including Juniper Networks Spectrum Management. Ensures over the air reliability on mainstream 802.11n APs including the WLA-522 AP and advanced spectrum planning capability built into the Ringmaster lifecycle management tool set. The WLC880 will be available in October.


Junos Pulse Mobile Security Suite: Enables a secure wireless workforce with an integrated and centrally managed solution for secure network access, anti-malware, anti-theft and remote management features for a wide range of mobile devices. Newly available is the ability for enterprises and service providers with Apple iPhones, iPod touch and iPads to remotely lock and wipe lost or stolen devices, set and enforce security and passcode policies, provision and remove Microsoft Exchange profiles, provision VPN and Wi-Fi settings, inventory device applications and restrict specific apps for iOS devices. Also newly available are full layer 3 SSL VPN as well as automatic application revocation and malware removal without user interaction, for select Google Android-based smartphones and tablets. http://www.juniper.net

• In November 2010, Juniper Networks agreed to acquire Trapeze Networks for approximately $152 million in cash. Trapeze specializes in enterprise wireless local area network (WLAN) systems and management software. Trapeze's "Smart Mobile" WLAN solution combines the advantages of both centralized and distributed approaches to networking or "intelligent switching." This architecture allows organizations to adopt 802.11n networks, deliver high-quality voice for hundreds of users, and scale their WLANs across the enterprise indoors and outdoors without compromising security or manageability. Its product line includes Mobility System Software, a full line of Mobility Exchange controllers, Mobility Point access points, an advanced access control product, SmartPass, the RingMaster wireless management suite, antennas and accessories, and location-based software and appliances. In addition, Trapeze is also partnered with Avaya/Nortel, NEC and D-Link, who market Trapeze products or technology under their own brand name. Trapeze is based in Pleasanton, California. Trapeze Networks was acquired by Belden Inc. in July 2008 for $133 million in cash.

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ADTRAN Doubles Capacity of Total Access 5000 to 5,376 GPON Subs

ADTRAN has doubled the capacity of its flagship Total Access 5000 Multi-Service Access and Aggregation Platform enabling to support 5,376 GPON subscribers and 504 Active Ethernet subscribers per chassis. The higher density helps network operators to scale Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) service offerings.


ADTRAN is also introducing a new family of universal ONTs which bring auto-sensing support for both Active Ethernet and GPON, simplifying deployments with a single ONT for both technologies.


"ADTRAN's new additions to their FTTH portfolio and ability to support us long term were key deciding factors in our evaluation of solutions available in the market today," said Richard Cavin, senior network manager, Valley Telephone (VTCI). "The added scalability and density of the Total Access 5000 with the new 24-port Active Ethernet module made it a perfect fit for our project, allowing VTCI to reach twice as many customers from a single chassis without adding any additional complexity to our network." http://www.adtran.com

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Global Broadband Lines Top 558 Million

The total number of broadband subscriber lines topped 557.8 million at the end of June 2011, up by over 29 million lines since the start of this year, according to figures from Point Topic released by the Broadband Forum. The second quarter outperformed the same period last year, continuing the trend of stronger growth set in the first quarter's results announced in June.


"Globally broadband continues to grow strongly and all indications are that as an industry it has weathered the financial uncertainties of the last two years very well. Increased competition, new markets and market sectors being developed and the recognition of broadband as a vital part of any household or business have all contributed to the continued expansion of the industry," said Robin Mersh, CEO of the Broadband Forum.


Some highlights:

• DSL alone, as distinct from the part copper plays in many hybrid deployments, was responsible for over 50% (52.65%) of the net broadband lines added in the twelve months to end June 2011.



• France still leads the IPTV market with 11.05M subscribers, 50% of Broadband lines, BBF.



• China has 10.5 million IPTV subscribers, about 7.6% of broadband lines.



• China accounted for about 46% of all newly deployed broadband lines last quarter.

http://www.broadband-forum.org

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Belgacom to Deploy VDSL2 Vectoring for 50 Mbps Services

Belgium's Belgacom will deploy Alcatel-Lucent's new VDSL2 Vectoring technology to boost performance over its national triple-play network to provide guaranteed speeds of 50 Mbps and above.


Belgacom and Alcatel-Lucent have a long history of working together. Thirteen years ago, Belgacom was first to activate ADSL lines with Alcatel-Lucent. Eight years ago, the operator was first in Europe to invest in a nationwide fiber-rich network, representing more than 16,500 km of fiber and 19.000 neighbourhood street cabinets powered by Alcatel-Lucent's technology.


Belgacom is currently serving more than one million customers with television and high speed internet. It boasts 78.9% national VDSL2 coverage, progressing to 85% by end 2013.
http://www.alcatel-lucent.com
http://www.belgacom.be

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Picochip: London Needs 70,000 Small Cells

London will need 70,000 pico cell base stations to deliver the world class level of LTE service that users expect, according to Picochip, which develops silicon for small cell base stations. The company calculates that almost 12,000 outdoor metropolitan small cells will be needed across the city along with 1,772 covering London underground stations and walkways. The remaining picocells will be needed in indoor retail locations and other venues.


"For London to offer its residents high speed LTE mobile Internet in 2015, it needs 70,000 small cells and this will also deliver minimal traffic congestion," said Dr Doug Pulley, Picochip's CTO. "With the Olympics just around the corner and the Mayor of London admitting that the networks will struggle to cope, the need for small cells to deliver added coverage and capacity is greater than ever. While Wi-Fi will offer some respite to the network, ultimately London's population density means that small cells, deployed in the most congested areas, are the only way for the mobile networks to cope with the traffic."
http://www.picocell.com

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Telstra Goes Live with 2G/3G/4G Combined Core

Telstra is the first carrier worldwide to operate a combined core network for its 2G, 3G and 4G traffic. The triple-access Evolved Packet Core is now in commercial service, enabling seamless handover of 2G, 3G and 4G traffic.


Ericsson supplied the Evolved Packet Core (EPC) that enables the mobile broadband traffic carried in Telstra GSM, WCDMA/HSPA and LTE access networks to be seamlessly handled by the same core network nodes.


Mike Wright, Telstra's Executive Director of Network and Access Technologies, says: "Through implementing the Evolved Packet Core, we can smoothly integrate and transition 2G, 3G and 4G traffic seamlessly for our customers. This is the complete network solution that we envisioned over 5 years ago: a common and efficient core network supporting traffic from any source across our evolving GSM, WCDMA and LTE access networks.


Ericsson noted that it has signed 30 commercial EPC contracts to date.
http://www.ericsson.com

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Nokia Siemens Uses Radio Network Controller Cloning To Speed Upgrades

Nokia Siemens Networks introduced a first-of-its-kind Network Cloning service for faster radio network controller upgrades, promising network performance upgrades that can now occur in days instead of months using the conventional manual configuration process.

A traditional RNC upgrade requires multiple parameter changes as each of the hundreds of base stations connected to the controller need to be manually migrated to the new RNC. The manual upgrade not only takes months to complete, but can also cause interruptions in the mobile service. In addition, these manual changes increase network complexity as new and old RNC need to co-exist until the upgrade is completed.


Nokia Siemens Networks said it's new Network Cloning service involves configuring the new RNC offline by replicating the existing one and then carrying out a one-time swap with minimum disruption to the rest of the network. This service eliminates the risk of error arising from the conventional, manual approach. The service is available to all operators using Nokia Siemens Networks RNCs.


"To tap the data opportunity created by the growing demand for smart devices, operators need to go beyond incremental changes, such as adding more base stations or software upgrades, and bring about a step change in network performance. Our Network Cloning service helps them achieve this goal quickly, efficiently and cost-effectively," said Armando Almeida, head of Global Services at Nokia Siemens Networks. "The Network Cloning Service for RNC uses Nokia Siemens Networks' robust RNC platform as well as our deep technical product expertise and experience in delivering complex projects as a service to operators."http://www.nokiasiemensnetworks.com

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NSN Previews 8 pipes" Remote Radio Head for TD-LTE

Nokia Siemens Networks announced an "8 pipes" remote radio head that provides more flexibility than alternative "path"-based approaches, allowing for the flexible allocation of sectors, carriers and transmit and receive channels by a base station.


The company said its 8 pipes TD-LTE remote radio head significantly increases coverage and capacity and offers up to four times the cost savings as compared to the existing remote radio heads. The new product can drive up to four sectors of TD-LTE in a "2 transmit 2 receive" configuration for up to 50% lower total cost of ownership (TCO) compared to competitor radio heads. It supports 40MHz of channel bandwidth and scales up to 96 watts of transmit power. Moreover, it allows advanced beamforming to deliver exceptionally high downlink capacity.


The company also recently launched a TD-LTE Smart Lab in Taiwan, in collaboration with National Chiao Tung University (NCTU). The lab is also part of Nokia Siemens Networks' TD-LTE co-operation program with China Mobile.
http://www.nokiasiemensnetworks.com

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Telstra Launches LTE

Telstra officially launched its 4G LTE service in capital city CBDs and more than 30 regional and metropolitan centres. Telstra also announced that it would launch 4G services in more than 50 additional locations by year's end.

Typical download speeds range from 2Mbps to 40Mbps – up to ten times faster than 3G speeds currently claimed by other Australian telecommunications companies. Typical upload speeds range from 1Mbps to 10Mbps – three times faster than previous generations of mobile broadband in Australia.


The BigPond USB 4G can be purchased by consumer customers for $0 (after rebate) on a range of new 24 month plans – including on a $59.95 per month plan with 8GB of data included each month over 24 months (min cost $1,438.80).

The Telstra USB 4G can be purchased by business customers on a range of plans including $0 upfront on the $39 Telstra Mobile Broadband Standard Plan over 24 months (min total cost $936) with 4GB included data. http://www.telstra.com

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Tellabs Packs Content Aware Routing in SmartCore 9200 Series

Tellabs introduced a new family of content-aware SmartCore 9200 edge routers featuring a massive 1 terabit per slot capacity for up to 11.2 Tbps per chassis. The new platforms, which build on the Tellabs 8800 MSR series as a carrier-class edge routing platform for IP/MPLS and Ethernet, leverage a "SmartCard" architecture where the service intelligence is placed on each interface card, providing fine grained visibility and DPI-based traffic management on the card, instead of requiring separate Ethernet cards, Mobile Packet Core cards and DPI cards in each chassis.


Tellabs said its goal in developing its next generation edge routers was to enable traffic engineering optimization where application flows can be identified and policies enforced based on the fluctuating loads on the network. For instance, application flows can be identified for Netflix, Facebook, Twitter, Skype, BitTorrent, etc. This would allow the network operators to respond to surges in over the top traffic while ensuring a quality of user experience.


A central feature of the platform is the new Tellabs "GeniOS" Operating System, an open system that enables the operator to manage traffic on an application basis. Tellabs "GeniOS" can provide distributed and virtualized capabilities for the Layer 3-7 infrastructure as well as subscriber management and other third-party applications, such as security and malware programs. A single services control layer enables control of IP/Ethernet, Mobile Packet Core, Analytics and PCEF, Video Services and Security.


Tellabs said it is using a combination of merchant silicon and its own programmable logic devices.


Three versions are initially being introduced: the 11 Tbps SmartCore 9280 Platform, the 4 Tbps SmartCore 9240 Platform with an embedded switch fabric, and the 2 Tbps SmartCore 9220 Platform with an embedded switch fabric. The first interface cards include: SmartCard 1x100G, SmartCard 10x10G, SmartCard 40x1G, and a Centralized Switch Fabric Card.


The Tellabs 8000 Intelligent Network Manager, which already manages all Tellabs products, will manage the Tellabs SmartCore 9200 Series.


Telstra, which has a large installed base Tellabs 8800 MSRs, plans to deploy the new SmartCore 9200 edge routers beginning in 2012. Initially, Telstra plans to deploy the Tellabs SmartCore 9200 series in high-density parts of the network, where scale is needed or where it is looking to drive new services, such as DPI-based services.


Tellabs is also introducing a new "Insight Analytics" Services Network, which will pull data from its SmartCore platforms, mobile backhaul systems and third party probes to deliver deep network intelligence. The solution helps both identify and address network pain points, so operators can improve users' mobile Internet and wireline experiences. Tellabs Insight Analytics Services is in trials with operators and will be generally available in the first quarter of 2012. The Tellabs SmartCore 9100 Probe is available now. http://www.tellabs.com

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Broadcom Debuts Central Office VDSL2 Chipset with G.Vector

Broadcom introduced a Central Office (CO) VDSL2 SoC that integrates vectoring technology for increasing broadband reach and performance by removing crosstalk interference.


Broadcom's new BCM65300 VDSL2 G.vector Central Office SoC, which represents the company's third generation of standards compliant VDSL2 technology, uses G.vector (ITU-T G.993.5) technology to reduce the interference from subscriber lines located in the same cable binder. It provides vectored services with integrated ATM and PTM channel bonding capability. The new chip also supports all bands ADSL2+ through 30Mhz VDSL2, building on the industry's largest ADSL2+/VDSL2 central office footprint.

http://www.broadcom.com

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IP Infusion's ZebOS 7.9 Adds Data Center, Mobile Backhaul & Carrier Ethernet Features

IP Infusion released the latest version of its ZebOS software for network equipment manufacturers, adding a host of capabilities for data center networking, mobile backhaul and Carrier Ethernet. Some of the top enhancements to ZebOS 7.9 include:


Data Center Networking – ZebOS 7.9 implements the data center bridging extensions to accelerate the transition from Fibre Channel to FCoE in Storage Area Networks (SANs). New capabilities include Priority-based flow control (IEEE 802.1Qbb), enhanced transmission selection (IEEE 802.1az), congestion notification (IEEE 802.1Qau), and Data Center Bridging Exchange (DCBX) protocol, which allows the autoexchange of Ethernet parameters.IP Infusion is also delivering TRILL (Transparent Interconnect of Lots of Links), which eliminates the problems associated with using the Spanning Tree Protocol in a data center network. TRILL enables optimization and load balancing of over-subscribed data center switches and network paths. Network equipment providers can create a fully meshed network where all links are available on all paths, eliminating the need to over provision links and improving the utilization of data center networking equipment. IP Infusion also supports split-control plane architecture.


Mobile Backhaul – ZebOS 7.9 provides the Mobile Backhaul Implementation Agreement for Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF)—MBH IA. The software now supports a variety of circuit emulation methods, including pseudo-wire support for ATM/HDLC emulation. With the addition of IEEE 1588v2 Precision Time Protocol (PTP) support, network equipment providers can deliver sub-microsecond clock accuracy. IP Infusion has also implemented IEEE 802.1ak to enable mobile backhaul providers to dynamically provision VLANs.


Carrier Ethernet – ZebOS 7.9 offers new capabilities to accelerate the transformation to Carrier Ethernet. This includes implementation of the MEF 13 and MEF 20 specifications that define standard services, and open the door to interoperability of networking equipment. To improve manageability, ZebOS implements new service management capabilities, including support for MPLS-TP, providing a reliable packet-based technology for transport networks. Specific protocols implemented: Service management: MPLS-TP—5654, 5960, RFC 5586 (OAM), RFC 5921; Quality of service: MEF 13 and MEF 20.


IP Infusion believes the networking industry is rapidly moving away from the hardware dominated solutions of the early 21st century to a network defined by software platforms. Its ZebOS routing and switching software enables network equipment to rapidly add features to their telco-grade products, as well easily port these products to new platforms that leverage the latest merchant silicon.


“The future of networking is software, and IP Infusion is the de facto standard for software-based routing and switching software platforms,�? said Koichi Narasaki, president and CEO of IP Infusion. “For more than a decade IP Infusion has provided a software platform used in mission-critical networks in mobile backhaul, carrier transport, and data center networks. The latest additions to our ZebOS software will help customers stay ahead of the innovation curve, enabling them to quickly adapt to changing market requirements.�?http://www.ipinfusion.com

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Positron Access Combines MIMO-on-DMT with VDSL2 Vectoring for 800 Mbps

Positron Access announced a performance benchmark of 800 Mbps for its Ethernet over copper over "real life service distances."


"FlexStream 800 combines our revolutionary MIMO-on-DMT technology with VDSL2 vectoring to deliver Ethernet over copper at rates that have not yet been practically achieved,�? explains Hossam Salib, VP of Product Management and Marketing for Positron Access. “We now offer a true multi-service, symmetric/asymmetric bonded copper solution that provides bandwidths ranging from 100 Mbps to 800 Mbps at reaches from 1,000 to 65,000 feet, all from the same product platform.�?


Positron noted that its FlexStream 800 is currently in trials with Tier 1 customers.
http://www.positronaccess.com/

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Mu Dynamics Expands its Blitz Application Testing

Mu Dynamic has integrated its "Blitz" cloud-based, application testing service into multiple platforms –- including Heroku, AppHarbor, Acquia and CloudFlare -- to make it easier for developers to test the performance of their application.


The integration with these major Platform as a Service (PaaS), Content Management System (CMS) and web security and performance offerings means that the application developer can perform the network load testing without leaving the workflow of their environment.


“By integrating Blitz into established development platforms such as Heroku, AppHarbor, Acquia, CloudFlare and many more, we are making it easy and affordable for developers to test their apps for load and performance – something that, in many cases, was not happening before,�? said Ajit Sancheti, Co-Founder, Mu Dynamics. “Incorporating a performance testing solution into our customers continuous integration model is helping them ensure they deliver a high quality experience for their end users.�?http://www.mudynamics.comhttp://blitz.io

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NSN Shows Three TD-LTE devices

Also at PT Expo Comm in Beijing, Nokia Siemens Networks is introducing three TD-LTE devices that support broadband access at up to 102 Mbps downlink and 51 Mbps uplink. The devices include a plug-and-play USB dongle, an indoor wireless router, and a wireless router that can be mounted outdoors.
http://www.nokiasiemensnetworks.com

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Nokia Siemens Networks Demos HSPA+ at 336 Mbps

At this week's PT Expo Comm in Beijing, Nokia Siemens Networks is demonstrating a multi-band, multi-carrier HSPA+ data call with peak throughput of 336 Mbps.



The demo uses the company's commercial Flexi Multiradio Base Station and Multicontroller platform alongside MDM8220 test terminals from Qualcomm. It combines a total of eight HSPA carriers (multi-carrier), each carrying 42 Mbps with MIMO and 64 QAM modulation. This configuration can be allocated from one or multiple frequency bands (multiband), simultaneously for one data connection of over 300 Mbps. Multi-carrier and multiband HSPA is standardized in 3GPP Release 8 through 11, and the standardization for eight carriers is expected to be completed by 2012. The eight-carrier product will be available from Nokia Siemens Networks by end of 2012.


Nokia Siemens Networks noted that it is driving the standardization of Long Term HSPA Evolution to achieve speeds of more than 650 Mbps.


“HSPA evolution is increasingly gaining importance as the technology is capable of achieving high data rates of over 300 Mbps,�? said Keith Sutton, head of the WCDMA business line for Nokia Siemens Networks. “Existing HSPA+ customers and new 3G entrants can deploy multi-carrier and multiband HSPA technology as it will allow them to offer the best user experience for bit-rate hungry applications such as the transfer of large files and mobile TV.�?http://www.nokiasiemensnetworks.com

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Freescale Sees Q3 Sales Decline

Freescale Semiconductor updated its financial guidance saying it now expects Q3 net sales to decline 6% to 8% sequentially. This compares to the initial guidance of flat to down 3% sequentially. The sales decline is attributable primarily to weakness in the company's industrial and networking businesses;
Gross margins to show modest sequential improvement despite the sequential decline in sales.
http://www.freescale.com

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Russian Social Networking Site Buys Wavelengths from Global Crossing

VK, a leading Russian social networking site, has purchased several 10 Gbps IP Transit ports in Helsinki and Stockholm from Global Crossing. In addition, Global Crossing is providing 10 Gbps Wavelength Services among VK's sites across Europe and in the U.S.
http://www.globalcrossing.com

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AirTouch Plans MVNO Launch on Lightsquared

AirTouch Communications. which makes mobile, cordless and landline accessories, plans to offer its own branded wireless connectivity service over Lightsquared's wholesale LTE network.


"We're proud to add AirTouch to our increasingly diverse partner portfolio," said Sanjiv Ahuja, chairman and chief executive officer of LightSquared. "In addition to cellular voice and data products, AirTouch can now add a new source of revenue by delivering a bundled wireless offering to their customers. This represents the true spirit of LightSquared's wholesale-only business model, and we look forward to AirTouch using our network to develop next-generation products and services, and forge new strategic alliances."


LightSquared noted that it has now signed 15 partner agreements.
http://www.LightSquared.com

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Broadcom Introduces NFC Chips in 40nm

Broadcom introduced its family of NFC chips implemented in 40nm silicon and designed for consumer electronics. Broadcom said it is committed to making NFC as ubiquitous as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are today.


The new BCM2079x family slashes power consumption by more than 90 percent, uses 40 percent fewer components and has a 40 percent smaller board area than existing solutions. The NFC controllers are platform agnostic with support for multiple secure elements or SIM cards — or both at the same time. In addition, Broadcom's advanced Maestro middleware allows new NFC applications to utilize Bluetooth and Wi-Fi capabilities in the device to spur new innovations in user interface and media sharing.

http://www.broadcom.com

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TI Targets sub-1GHz 6LoWPAN for Low Cost, IPv6 Wireless Sensors

Texas Instruments introduced a new sub-1 GHz 6LoWPAN solution aimed at providing a gateway for remote, low-cost wireless sensors to connect to the Internet and a wireless extension of wired IPv6 infrastructures. The target is large-scale mesh networks for use in Smart Grid, security, home and building automation, street lighting and other wireless sensor networks.


TI said the use of sub-1GHz spectrum offers longer wireless range at lower power levels than traditional 2.4 GHz-based 6LoWPAN offerings.


TI's new product family includes the CC1180 network processor, CC430 complete system-on-chip (SoC) microcontrollers, 6LoWPAN software stack, and CC-6LOWPAN-DK-868 development kit. The company said its solution supports hundreds of hops. This would enable light poles on a city street to be wirelessly connected and managed using one gateway, based on TI's 6LoWPAN sub-1 GHz solutions.


Sensinode, a start-up based in Finland, is supplying its NanoStack software as part of TI's solution. http://www.ti.com/6lowpan-prhttp://www.sensinode.com

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Lantiq and Altair Plans LTE Home Gateways

Lantiq and Altair Semiconductor announced a partnership for the development of LTE-ready home gateways.
The collaboration matches Altair's LTE chipset with the Lantiq XWAY GRX family of network processors for a range of products from simple LTE bridge modems up to multiservice LTE gateways, optimized for different regional market requirements in Europe, Asia and the Americas.


The Altair FourGee-3100/6200 is a 3GPP LTE chipset that offers both TDD and FDD capabilities and has been extensively tested for interoperability with all leading infrastructure solutions.


Lantiq's connectivity and voice product portfolio, including Fast/Gigabit-Ethernet, WLAN, FXS, DECT/CAT-iq solutions, complements the system offering allowing customers to build LTE gateways from pure data-only gateways up to high-end LTE gateways, including voice.


Lantiq's XWAY GRX network processors and Altair's FourGee LTE chipset are available today, tested. The joint system solution is planned for Q1 2012. http://www.lantiq.com http://www.altair-semi.com

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KT Deploys Alcatel-Lucent's 7750 Service Routers

KT is deploying Alcatel-Lucent's IP routing technology to deliver a better faster, higher-quality Internet, video and voice services to its residential customers in the Seoul and GangWon regions. The deployment uses Alcatel-Lucent's 7750 Service Routers to support VoIP, IPTV, high-speed Internet services and other applications. http://www.alcatel-lucent.com

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T-Mobile Czech Upgrades to 100 Gbps with Alcatel-Lucent

T-Mobile Czech Republic has upgraded portions of its fiber backbone to 100 Gbps. The new infrastructure, which links Prague to major cities, is intended for use by corporate clients, and will serve as the backbone for T-Mobile's 3G network, supporting T-Mobile's broadband vision of providing “The Fastest Network�? to its customers.


The network uses the Alcatel-Lucent 1626 Light Manager enhanced with 100G next-generation coherent technology along with the Alcatel-Lucent 1830 Photonic Service Switch (PSS). http://www.alcatel-lucent.com

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Broadcom Samples Next Gen Carrier Ethernet Aggregation Silicon

Broadcom introduced its next generation StrataXGS switching silicon for next-generation, high-density Carrier Ethernet aggregation platforms, including packet transport-oriented (PTN) and IP-oriented (IP-RAN) aggregation networks.


Two new devices are sampling now and expected to enter volume production next year: the StrataXGS BCM56640 series for modular platforms and the StrataXGS BCM56540 series for fixed carrier Ethernet platforms. Both devices feature the latest Carrier Ethernet innovations including MPLS-TP, MPLS OAM, integrated time synchronization, upgraded protection switching, and extensive IPv4 and IPv6 routing resources.


BCM56640 Series Features:

• 240 Gbps fully-integrated multilayer Carrier Ethernet aggregation switch for modular platforms



• Unites integrated 10G serial technology with massive forwarding scale to deliver single-chip line cards from 48xGE up through 100GE. Line cards options could include 48 GigE ports, 12X 10 GigE ports, 3x 40 GigE ports, or 1x 100 GigE ports. No PHYs required.



• Latest generation expandable TCAM interface offers a platform for up to 1M IPv6 longest-prefix route lookups

BCM56540 Series Features

• 180 Gbps fully-integrated multilayer Carrier Ethernet switch for fixed platforms



• New flexible port logic allows per-SerDes sharing between GE, 2.5GE, and 10GE modes, delivering flexibility for centralized switch silicon system architectures



• New flexible forwarding technology allows providers to allocate lookup resources on a per-application basis, vastly improving the application range of a given system solution.



• 2.5GEBroadcom's F.XAUI technology allows 10GE interfaces to be reassigned on the fly to GE or 2.5GE

Broadcom is introducing the new products at this week's P&T/Expo Comm in Beijing. The company said its vision for the aggregation network is particularly suited for the PTN and IP-RAN architectures being pursued by China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicomhttp://www.broadcom.com

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LightSquared CEO Pleads Case in Open Letter to Americans

LightSquared's CEO, Sanjiv Ahuja, published the following letter in major U.S. newspapers.


"To Americans everywhere,


Today, with limited competition in the U.S. wireless market, there are still vast areas of our country without access to broadband. Other areas are plagued by dropped calls and weak signals.


America's wireless infrastructure is at a critical crossroad as weak signals, dead-zones, and over-subscribed networks risk stalling American innovation and failing to meet consumer needs now and in the future. Within the next 24 months, demand for broadband wireless will outstrip the current total spectrum available in the United States—jeopardizing everything from the smartphones and tablets we love to the emergency responder services we rely upon to keep us safe. The current nationwide wireless providers have failed to innovate and in the process have failed to keep pace with consumer and technological demands.


Understanding this impending reality, LightSquared began investing nearly a decade ago in the development of America's first state-of-the-art nationwide wireless broadband network integrated with satellite coverage to provide high quality broadband access and affordability for all Americans. After the review of our engineering and technological plans, LightSquared received the license to operate our network in 2003 and again in 2005 with the full endorsement of the GPS industry. Half a dozen years ago, Republican and Democrat regulators and policy experts understood the impending crisis caused by a lack of competition and innovation, and they, too, endorsed our plan to bring an affordable solution to Americans no matter where they live.


Recently, concerns have been raised about interference with GPS devices. We take these concerns very seriously. Despite the fact that the interference is caused by others' inappropriate use of LightSquared's licensed spectrum, we have been proactive in working toward a solution to the GPS issue. We are making a $150 million private investment in the solution for GPS. We have moved our spectrum farther away from the core GPS frequencies and at the request of the FCC, we set up, funded, and ran the largest and most comprehensive testing program this country has ever seen.


Hundreds of engineers tested hundreds of devices in laboratories around the country, providing experts an enormous bank of data to assess the extent of the problem and design the solution.


With 99.5 percent of all commercial GPS interference accounted for and solved, LightSquared has now tackled solving the remaining .5 percent of GPS interference occurring on precision devices that also inappropriately violate our licensed spectrum. We have partnered with established GPS manufacturers to develop technology that eliminates interference issues for high-precision GPS devices, including those in the agriculture, surveying, construction, and defense industries. Pre-production designs are already in testing; once completed, this technology can be implemented simply, quickly, and inexpensively into GPS devices.


This solution allows our network to coexist harmoniously, side by side, with GPS—generating much-needed competition in the marketplace and ultimately providing more than 260 million Americans with access to wireless broadband.


The facts are clear. The need for additional wireless broadband is imminent. The desire to expand free-market competition and to provide consumers with broader access has been the hallmark of both Republican and Democrat policy makers for more than a decade. Regulators from both Democrat and Republican Administrations have conducted reviews and tests of the LightSquared network—the most extensive in the history of the FCC—and both have reached the same conclusions: they support the LightSquared network.


LightSquared's commitment to infuse $14 billion of private investment—without any government funding—into America's infrastructure will bring 75,000 jobs over the next five years, competition, and innovation to the U.S. wireless industry, with affordable prices and better service for Americans everywhere. I hope you will join with us as we work to build the 21st-century communications network all Americans deserve.


Yours sincerely,


Sanjiv Ahuja

Chairman and CEO, LightSquared"http://www.LightSquared.com

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Texas Instruments Completes Acquisition of National Semiconductor

Texas Instruments completed its previously announced acquisition of National Semiconductor. Both companies are leaders in analog semiconductors.



More than 5,000 National employees will immediately become part of TI. The two companies will begin the work to integrate National as a unit of TI's Analog business, which will have a combined portfolio of nearly 45,000 analog products, strong customer design tools, and a sales force that is 10 times larger than National's previous footprint.


"National is now a strategic part of TI's Analog growth engine. Together, we're focused on accelerating semiconductor innovation to improve performance and power efficiency for our customers' electronic systems," said Rich Templeton, TI's chairman, president and chief executive officer.
http://www.ti.com

• In April 2011, Texas Instruments agreed to acquire National Semiconductor for $25 per share in cash -- valuing the deal at about $6.5 billion.

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ATLANTIC BIRD 7 Satellite to Serve Middle East

Eutelsat Communications' ATLANTIC BIRD 7 satellite was successfully launched into orbit by a Zenit-3SL rocket operated by Sea Launch AG from the ocean-based Odyssey Launch Platform in international waters of the Pacific Ocean.


ATLANTIC BIRD 7, which will be located at 7 degrees West, will deliver Arabic and international channels into almost 30 million satellite homes across North Africa and the Middle East. ATLANTIC BIRD 7 will assume broadcasting of the 370 digital and High-Definition channels currently being delivered from this position by Eutelsat's ATLANTIC BIRD™ 4A satellite. The new satellite offers up to 50 transponders, 11 more than ATLANTIC BIRD 4A.


Following ATLANTIC BIRD 7's entry into service, ATLANTIC BIRD™ 4A will be redeployed to an alternative location where it will remain in full commercial service.


For Sea Launch, the successful mission marks its return to service following its corporate reorganization last year.
http://www.eutelsat.com

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XO Appoints Laura W. Thomas Interim CEO

XO Communications announced the appointment of Laura W. Thomas as interim CEO. She currently serves as XO's Chief Financial Officer and will retain these responsibilities as she takes up the leadership role. Before joining XO in 2009, Laura held executive positions in finance with Concert Communications and MCI. She earned her MBA in Finance from George Washington University and also holds a BA from Radford University.
http://www.xo.com

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LightSquared to Use Convergys for Billing and Rating

LightSquared will implement Convergys' Rating and Billing Manager to deliver transaction volumes and flexible handling of complex account hierarchies for its upcoming, wholesale LTE service.


The Convergys Rating and Billing Manager, part of a suite of Smart Revenue Solutions, is a charging, rating, and balance management system that supports emerging services, such as those to be offered by LightSquared.
http://www.convergys.com

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Germany's E-Plus Ex Alcatel-Lucent for Upgrade

Germany's E-Plus has selected Alcatel-Lucent for a significant expansion of broadband coverage throughout the country to increase the availability of high-bandwidth services like video and music downloads on smartphones. Alcatel-Lucent will continue to have overall responsibility for network operations, field maintenance, and build-out of services.


This renewed agreement builds on the long-standing Managed Services relationship between the two companies. http://www.alcatel-lucent.com

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France's SFR Shows LTE in Marseille with NSN

SFR, France's second-largest telecom operator, held a live demonstration for the press in Marseille using Nokia Siemens Networks' Single RAN radio access equipment and Evolved Packet Core (EPC). The companies showcased very high-speed mobile internet access with near instant response times.
http://www.nsn.com

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Cavium Trims Q3 Outlook

Cavium Networks now expects its Q3 financial results to be below the company's previous outlook. The company now expects revenue for the third quarter of 2011 to be approximately 4% to 6% lower than second quarter 2011 revenue of $71.6 million, based on information currently available. on-GAAP gross margins and non-GAAP operating expenses are expected to be consistent with previous guidance.


“Customer revenues have been weaker than expected this quarter, in the enterprise market as well as recognized software services revenue. Sales into the enterprise market were affected by a much larger than expected impact of a hub transition at one of our major customers as well as lower demand from other enterprise customers as they adjust their supply chain inventory due to the softer demand environment,�? said Syed Ali, president and CEO of Cavium.
http://www.cavium.com

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FCC Paper Considers Deployable Aerial Communications

The FCC published a staff whitepaper discussing deployable aerial communications architecture (DACA) to provide communications when the terrestrial communications infrastructure is severely damaged or unavailable. The paper looks at the deployment options for aerial broadband and cellular communications systems in the first 12-18 hours following a catastrophic event. Options could include small, unmanned aerial vehicles, weather balloon technologies, high altitude long distance unmanned vehicles, and quick mounted antennas on wheels. http://www.fcc.gov

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Xelerated's 100 Gbps NPU Aims to Upgrade Carrier Ethernet Market

Xelerated has begun volume production of its HX family of 100G network processors (NPU) for packet-OTN, mobile backhaul/PTN and Carrier Ethernet Switch-Routers. The company said it now racked up 20 system design wins for the HX family of NPUs, the first will go into production later this year. The HX chip delivers wirespeed processing and advanced traffic management with deep packet buffering and can be used for pizza box and line card slot capacities of 20-200 Gbps. These line cards are designed for aggregation and transport, and support a range of interface types including GE, 10GE, 40GE, 100GE and OTU0-OTU4. In mobile backhaul, the HX family implements complete L2 and L3 switch-router applications.


Key features include:

• Dataflow architecture featuring 448 PISC processor cores and 28 engine access points to connect to on-chip or off-chip table memory and hardware engines



• Advanced traffic manager with hierarchical per-user, per-service scheduling and shaping and deep off-chip packet buffer fully implemented in DDR3 DRAM



• Embedded switching with advanced pre-classification for intelligent oversubscription



• Internet-scale forwarding of IPv4 and IPv6 through high-performance memory interfaces to off-chip TCAM, SRAM and DDR3 DRAM
  Synchronous Ethernet and support for one-step PTP IEEE-1588.

"The high demand for the HX family of NPUs is due to its combination of low power consumption, programmable wirespeed processing and integration of advanced traffic management," said Anders Ericsson, Xelerated VP Sales and Marketing. "We are thrilled about some of our new customer projects now going into production. These platforms have the potential to reshape the Carrier Ethernet market."
http://www.xelerated.com

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IEEE Targets High-Density 100 Gbps Backplanes

The IEEE has approved work on a new amendment to the 802.3 Ethernet standard aimed at specifying 100 Gbps operation over backplanes and short-reach copper cables. The project is essential for the development of systems with higher densities of 100 Gbps ports.


The work undertaken by the IEEE P802.3bj Task Force will define four-lane, 25 Gbps electrical signaling architectures that will support 100 Gbps Ethernet operation across backplanes up to one meter in length and copper cable operations up to at least five meters in length. Furthermore, IEEE P802.3bj will specify maximum compliance and compatibility with other IEEE 802.3 installations.


“From the challenges of ever-increasing front-panel capacities to continuing advances in processors, high-performance computing, and server virtualization technologies, the ability of systems to meet spiraling bandwidth demands remains challenging,�? said John D'Ambrosia, chair, IEEE P802.3bj Task Force and chief Ethernet evangelist, CTO Office, Dell. “By expanding on the solid foundational standards work already completed, IEEE P802.3bj will provide better options for system designers to minimize or eliminate the bandwidth bottlenecks facing end-users.�?http://standards.ieee.orghttp://www.ieee802.org/3/100GCU/index.html

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AT&T Still Confident in T-Mobile Deal

AT&T remains confident that its T-Mobile acquisition will come to a successful resolution, said Randall Stephenson, AT&T's CEO, speaking at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia XX Conference. Despite the DOJ lawsuit, Stephenson said the deal continues to gain support from the high tech community, labor unions, and numerous politicians because of the advantages it offers -- more services from the combined spectrum, $8 billion in additional network investment, and the repatriation of overseas call center jobs. The trial date of February 13 has just been set. If the case goes to trial, it might take 4-6 weeks to reach a conclusion. AT&T is seeking to pursue a separate negotiation track with DOJ and FCC that might bring resolution before the trial. Should the deal collapse, in addition to the break-fee and certain spectrum, T-Mobile would also gain a multi-year 2G/3G roaming agreement, which Stephenson said would not have a material impact on AT&T. Some other notes from his talk:


* AT&T had forecasted low growth for the U.S. economy in 2011 and so no adjustments are needed for its cost structure at this time. The company expects the low-growth or no-growth scenario for the U.S. economy to persist in 2012.


* Stephenson does not expect the availability of the iPhone on the Sprint network will be a factor for AT&T. The smartphone's adoption rate has continued to grow on the AT&T network even after if became available on Verizon.


* The nationwide HSPA+ upgrade was completed on schedule.


* Stephenson is very excited about LTE. The company had just launched its first five LTE markets and is on pace to add 15 more markets by the end of the year, covering a total of 75 million POPs. He sees big possibilities in LTE + Cloud services. The network is delivering 15 Mbps but the biggest advantage for LTE is its low-latency.


* The Chicago LTE network is using 2.1 GHz AWS spectrum.


* The cost curve benefits of the LTE network are going to be significant. There will be a capacity gain for the network and there will be a margin boost.


*The Uverse rollout will hit its target of a 30 million POP footprint this year. Going forward, AT&T is only planning fill-in upgrades to its plant. The deployment of new IP DSLAMs in certain markets will continue.


* As for sharing video content between Uverse and its LTE subscribers, Stephenson said AT&T has long been pursuing a multiscreen strategy. The issue is not really a technological one. The content guys are still trying to figure out the right business model for distributing across platforms.


A recording of the presentation is on the AT&T investor relations web page.
http://www.att.com

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Oracle Acquires GoAhead for Service Availability Management Software

Oracle agreed to acquire GoAhead, a supplier of privately-held Service Availability and management software, for an undisclosed sum.


GoAhead's packaged service availability software is deployed by leading Network Equipment Providers (NEPs), such as Ericsson, Motorola and Alcatel Lucent to ensure the highest level of up-time for carrier services -- seven 9s of reliability. The middleware leverages the OpenSAF open source high availability software project. It also enables rapid provisioning, configuration and monitoring. GoAhead is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington.

Oracle said the acquisition enables it to deliver a more comprehensive stack of carrier grade software and hardware from a single vendor for network equipment providers.


“NEPs are moving to a standardized software and hardware platform that can deliver and manage highly available services,�? said Nigel Ball, Vice President, Oracle Communications Industry Solutions. “GoAhead software is the leading commercially-available solution that is compliant with Service Availability Forum specifications, the most widely adopted standard for service availability software. The addition of GoAhead technology will help us deliver a comprehensive, standards-based, carrier-grade platform that supports the delivery of new services in the call path of the network.�?


“With over 100,000 deployments of GoAhead software by leading NEPs, GoAhead brings significant domain knowledge and engineering strength, coupled with a strong track record of delivering solutions to global network equipment providers,�? said Asif Naseem, President and COO, GoAhead Software.
http://www.oracle.com
http://www.goahead.com

• In March 2010, GoAhead announced its move to OpenSAF-based solutions and the simultaneous acquisition of the Avantellis product line from Emerson Network Power.

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Facebook's Open Graph Protocol Aims for New Ways to Connect

Facebook is working to "define a new language for how people connect", said Mark Zuckerberg, speaking at the company's fourth annual F8 developer's conference in San Francisco. Facebook now has over 800 million users. On a single day last week, over 500 million users signed into Facebook.


Facebook is adding the following new capabilities:


Timeline -- a visual chronology of major event's in a person's life. This is meant to be long term archive that might be shared with family and friends.


Ticker -- a feed of less important updates that can now be shared and stored in a more socially acceptable way that the existing News Feed


New OpenGraph protocol -- enables other applications, such as Spotify, to track what you are doing and share this information on line. This provides an easier way for applications to post updates on your music listening, TV viewing, reading, eating, traveling etc.


News integration -- publishers, such as The Daily, Washington Post, Economist etc., will now present their content inside of Facebook and be able to share which articles you read as well as any comments you make.


Video discovery -- as part of OpenGraph, content aggregators such as Netflix and Hulu will share your current viewing and viewing history to enable your friends to discover new content.
http://www.facebook.com

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France Awards LTE Licenses to Four Operators

ARCEP, the office telecoms regulator in France, awarded licences to four operators to use the 2.6 GHz frequency band. The result of the auction is as follows:


Bouygues Telecom will be allocated a duplex frequency block of 15 MHz, for which the company bid the sum of €228,011,012.


Free Mobile will be allocated a duplex frequency block of 20 MHz, for which the company bid the sum of €271,000,000.


Orange France will be allocated a duplex frequency block of 20 MHz, for which the company bid the sum of €287,118,501.


Société Française du Radiotéléphone (SFR) will be allocated a duplex frequency block of 15 MHz, for which the company bid the sum of €150,000,000.


The licenses specify a maximum data rate of at least 60 Mbps. Each of the winning bidders also a commitment to host MVNOs on its network.


In total, the bids amounted to €936 million – significantly exceeding the reserve price of €700 million. ARCEP said the allocation procedure for the 2.6 GHz band marks the first stage in the award of 4G licences. The second stage will consist of the allocation procedure for the 800 MHz band, resulting from the digital dividend, for which the deadline for applications is 15th December 2011. http://www.arcep.fr

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Alcatel-Lucent Pushes Broadband Faster with VDSL2 Vectoring

Alcatel-Lucent is pushing broadband over copper further and faster with VDSL2 Vectoring technology. The company is first to market with a VDSL2 vectoring solution capable of delivering 100 Mbps over existing copper loop lengths of 400 meters.


Alcatel-Lucent is equally committed to FTTx and VDSL2, said Stefaan Vanhastel, Fixed Access Product Marketing manager at the company. While fiber access is seen as the end game for wireline access, the company sees copper as a big opportunity to meet national broadband goals quickly and at a lower cost than fiber, especially in markets with high labor costs. There are approximately 1.25 billion households worldwide currently connected by a copper telephone line.


VDSL2 vectoring uses digital signal processing to remove crosstalk between copper pairs in a bundle, similar to noise cancellation in headphones. From line cards at the central office or DSLAM, the system measures the crosstalk from all the lines in the bundle and then generates an anti-phase signal to cancel out the noise. For this solution, Alcatel-Lucent developed its own chipset and software. It began field trials in 2010 with a number of operators, including Belgacom, A1 Telekom Austria, Swisscom, Orange, P&T Luxemburg and Türk Telekom.


Alcatel-Lucent's VDSL2 Vectoring solution includes both Board-level Vectoring (ideal for small nodes) and System-Level Vectoring options for the company's existing ISAM DSLAM platforms, including the 7356 ISAM, the 7330 ISAM and the 7302 ISAM. The new products include a 48-port Board Level Vectoring card, a 48-port System Level Vectoring card, and a Vector Processing card supporting 192 ports initially and expanding to 384-ports of system level vectoring by next year.


Alcatel-Lucent is also working with carriers to improve broadband speeds over copper by pursuing VDSL2/FTTx architectures where the goal is to push fiber as deep as possible into the network and shorten the copper loops, as well as by applying VDSL2 bonding where two copper pair are aggregated into one connection. Work continues on Phantom Mode techniques. The company noted that it has supplied more than half of the VDSL2 lines in the field today, worldwide. http://

• In April 2010, Alcatel-Lucent's Bell Labs unveiled a "DSL Phantom Mode" technique that achieves downstream transmission speeds of 300 Mbps over distances up to 400 meters and up to 100 Mbps at 1km. This new DSL performance boost is expected to reinvigorate copper access network, including in-building VDSL2 network, for 100+ Mbps services.
  
  
  The gains are achieved using a virtual or "phantom" channel that supplements the two physical wires that are the standard configuration for copper transmission lines. This analogue phantom mode technique is further enhanced using vectoring to eliminate interference or "crosstalk" between copper wires, and the bonding of two copper pairs into an aggregated pipe. The company has demonstrated these techniques in lab tests.
  
  
  The "phantom mode" technique of creating virtual channels has actually been understood for decades. Alcatel-Lucent said this breakthrough was enable by combining phantom mode with the power of fast processor to eliminate crosstalk between copper pairs in a binder. Practical implementation will require CPE capable of bonding the 3 channels over two copper pairs. Vectorized VDSL2 silicon will also be required.

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Zarlink Finally Accepts Acquisition Bid from Microsemi

After having previously declined multiple unsolicited acquisition bids from Microsemi, the Board of Directors at Zarlink Semiconductor agreed to a new offer. Microsemi will increase the price offered for all of the issued and outstanding common shares and 6% unsecured, subordinated convertible debentures maturing September 30, 2012 of Zarlink by 19% to CAD$3.98 in cash per Share and CAD$1,624.49 in cash per CAD$1,000 principal amount of Debentures plus accrued and unpaid interest to the date Debentures are taken up.


The total transaction value is approximately US$525 million, net of Zarlink's cash which is currently US$107M, representing a 67% premium over the closing price of the shares on the TSX and a 48% premium over the closing price of the Debentures on the TSX on July 19, 2011, the day prior to the initial public announcement of Microsemi's proposal to acquire Zarlink.


Zarlink supplies, mixed-signal chip technologies for a broad range of communication and medical applications. Its core capabilities include timing solutions that manage time-sensitive communication applications over wireless and wired networks, line circuits supporting high-quality voice services over cable and broadband connections, and ultra low-power radios enabling new wireless medical devices and therapies.


Microsemi offers a portfolio of semiconductor solutions for aerospace, defense and security; enterprise and communications; and industrial and alternative energy markets. Products include high-performance, high-reliability analog and RF devices, mixed-signal and RF integrated circuits, customizable SoCs, FPGAs, and complete subsystems. Microsemi is headquartered in Aliso Viejo, California.


"We are excited to add Zarlink to the Microsemi family and to enter into this transaction on a friendly basis," said James J. Peterson, Microsemi's president and chief executive officer. "Entering the process and performing diligence enabled us to confirm the compelling strategic fit between the two companies. Furthermore, Zarlink's fundamentals, technology capabilities, product roadmap and revenue growth opportunities exceeded our expectations. By bringing Microsemi's scale and discipline to this tremendous property, we expect to deliver outstanding results for our shareholders."


Adam Chowaniec, Chairman of Zarlink's Board of Directors, stated, "After careful consideration of strategic alternatives, protracted negotiations and the receipt of two fairness opinions from our financial advisors, the Zarlink Board of Directors unanimously recommends that Shareholders and Debentureholders tender their Shares and Debentures to the Amended Offers from Microsemi."

http://www.zarlink.com http://www.microsemi.com

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Valley Telephone Picks ADTRAN for FTTP

Valley Telephone Cooperative, which serves south Texas and is the recipient of the single largest Broadband Stimulus award in the state, has selected ADTRAN's broadband portfolio for its Fiber-to-the-Premises (FTTP) rollout. This project will allow VTCI to extend high-bandwidth triple-play and Ethernet services throughout its coverage area, doubling its addressable market for Active Ethernet-based services to over 9,000 new subscribers in the region.
http://www.adtran.com

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Mellanox Expects $104.1 million in New Share Offering

Mellanox Technologies expects to raise approximately $104.1 million in a public offering of 3,450,000 newly issued ordinary shares. The underwriters exercised their option to purchase an additional 450,000 over the 3 million shares previously expected in the offering. J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC and Barclays Capital Inc. are acting as the book-running managers for the offering. Stifel Nicolaus Weisel is acting as co-manager for the offering.
http://www.mellanox.com

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Taiwan Approves Cross Straight Telecom Cable

Taiwan's National Communications Commission (NCC) has given the go-ahead for an undersea cable system directing connecting with mainland China. The project will link Taiwan's Kinmen island with the city of Xiamen, in China's Fujian Province. It is funded by three Taiwanese operators (Chunghwa Telecom, Taiwan Telecom and Far EasTone Telecommunications) and three mainland operators (China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom).
http://www.ncc.gov.tw

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Verizon: LTE is a Game Changer

Verizon is very well positioned for handling the macroeconomic downturn because of its FiOS growth and its early lead with LTE said Lowell McAdam, President and CEO of Verizon, speaking at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia XX Conference. Some notes from McAdam's talk:

• LTE is one of the true game changing technologies for the industry that really makes you sit up and say "wow". Verizon has seen a strong market acceptance for its LTE launch. The many new application possibilities coming through its LTE Innovation centers indicate that LTE will change the way many businesses are run. The company sees positive margin implications with the LTE network and will keep pushing LTE very hard in the market, building on its early lead.



• The company will build content linkage between FiOS and its LTE service.



• The market opportunity to expand the FiOS rollout at the moment is small, but this could change depending on labor costs and technology. The company is looking at in-home wireless networking that would deliver HD to multiple TV sets in a large house without the expense of setting up and maintaining coax cabling. This could change the model for FiOS and lead the company to expand the rollout further than what it has already committed to.



• McAdam does not hold a position on the AT&T + T-Mobile merger and DOJ lawsuit. Verizon is watching this deal very closely and is concerned about impact that government rulings will have on the market. He felt that AT&T's spectrum crunch made it inevitable that they would attempt such an acquisition.



• McAdam is not worried about Sprint getting the iPhone.



• The Terramark acquisition opens up new possibilities in enterprise services.



• In addition to iOS and Android, McAdam predicts a third ecosystem will gain traction this year.

http://www.verizon.com

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China Telecom Picks Alcatel-Lucent for 3G Upgrade Projects

China Telecom has selected Alcatel-Lucent to expand and upgrade its 3G CDMA network with its CDMA/EV-DO Radio Access Network portfolio. This includes Alcatel-Lucent's multi-carrier, high-capacity and LTE-ready 9916 BTS and separate 9234 Remote Radio heads, as well as the performance-increasing Multi-Carrier EV-DO Modem (EVM). Alcatel-Lucent will also deploy its CDMA Mobile Packet Core network solution including the 9290 Mobility Manager and 9281 Packet Switch.


In addition to the increase in capacity, under the agreement Alcatel-Lucent will lower associated costs across 56 cities in 9 provinces. Customers will experience higher data speeds and improved quality of voice and data services while giving China Telecom a competitive advantage to attract new subscribers. Financial terms were not disclosed.
http://www.alcatel-lucent.com

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Broadband Forum Release Fiber Access Specifications

The Broadband Forum released its BroadbandSuite 5.0, which brings together all its work for fiber access networks.
Specifically, BroadbandSuite 5.0 encompasses a number of architecture, management and market
requirement specifications addressing PON that include:

• TR-142 Framework for TR-069-enabled PON devices (EPON)


• TR-155 G-PON ONU Requirements for CPE


• TR-156 Using G-PON Access in the Context of TR-101


• TR-167 G-PON-fed TR-101 Ethernet Access Node


• TR-200 Using EPON in the context of TR-101

Two specifications that are in final approval, which define the test plans for G-PON ONU Conformance:

• WT-247 G-PON ONU Abstract Test Plan


• OD- 247 G-PON ONU Conformance Test Plan

It also includes two white papers and a tutorial that provide valuable additional information
and background on G-PON:

• MR-185 White Paper: Next Generation Broadband Access


• MR-229 White Paper: Leveraging Standards for Next Generation Broadband Wholesale Access


• MR-246 G-PON Tutorial

"Fiber rollouts, especially hybrid DSL/PON deployments are growing faster than ever. We expect to see fiber figures continue to rise in our mid-year report due next week. BroadbandSuite 5.0 is a major resource for the industry to facilitate and accelerate the deployment of PON and it paves the way for next generation fiber technologies, including XG-PON1 and beyond," stated Robin Mersh, CEO of the Broadband Forum.
http://www.broadband-forum.org

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Sprint: Lack of iPhone has been Biggest Factor in Churn

The iPhone is the number one factor for churn on the Sprint network, said Dan Hesse, Sprint's CEO, speaking at the Goldman Sachs 20th Annual Communicopia Conference. Hesse did not confirm whether Sprint will begin selling the iPhone next month, but did say the company overall brand and customer metrics continue to improve despite the lack of the iPhone to date, and that financial guidance to date has not taken into account the iPhone in its portfolio. Some notes:

• Sprint will be unveiling its network vision on October 7th. Hesse said this network architecture will give it a lot of flexibility both in terms of technology, possible network partnerships, network sharing agreements, and market scenarios.



• Sprint now serves over 52 million subscribers and is the fastest growing among major US operators in the post-paid category.



• Sprint continues to lose Nextel customers.



• The company has been free cash positive for a number of quarters.



• Simple rate plans have proven successful.



• Sprint believes that anti-competitive consolidation is at the fundamental objection at the heart of the DOJ lawsuit to block the AT&T=T-Mobile deal. Sprint does not believe AT&T can adequately address this issue.

http://www.sprint.comhttp://investors.sprint.com/CorporateProfile.aspx?iid=4057219

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Sequans Targeted by Shareholder Lawsuit

Sequans Communications was named in a class action lawsuit filed by Holzer Holzer & Fistel, LLC. The lawsuit alleges that Sequans knew but failed to disclose that it was facing declining revenues from its WiMax products. The lawsuit further alleges, among other things, that Sequans materially overstated its position with regard to 4G LTE products. http://www.holzerlaw.com

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Court Sets Date of Feb 13, 2012 for AT&T+T-Mobile Lawsuit

The U.S. District Court, District of Columbia has set a date of February 13, 2012 to hear lawsuit brought by the U.S. Department of Justice to block AT&T's proposed acquisition of T-Mobile USA.
http://www.usdoj.gov

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