Zarlink Posts Revenue of $57 Million

Zarlink Semiconductor reported quarterly revenue of $56.9 million, compared with $50.0 million for the same period last year. Revenue for Zarlink's communications products of $45.4 million, up $11.6 million or 34% from the same period last year. Gross margin increased to 52%, due to product mix and improving yield on new line circuit products.


"I am pleased with our progress, with very strong year-on-year revenue growth from our communications products and a growing cash position that's allowing us to pursue opportunities to augment our fast-growing timing business," said Kirk Mandy, President and CEO, Zarlink Semiconductor.


"Strong customer design activity for our new timing, line circuit and medical products is supporting our long-term growth objectives and offsetting the expected declines in our legacy business. In the coming quarters, we anticipate that our design wins, market share gains and new growth opportunities will translate into clear top-line improvements."
http://www.zarlink.com

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Intel Delivers Open Fibre Channel Over Ethernet

Intel introduced a free, "Open Fibre Channel Over Ethernet" software stack aimed at carrying all data center traffic over a single capable and using a single Intel 10GbE adapter. Intel's Open FCoE integrates capabilities into the operating system, enabling convergence for server network and storage connectivity while integrating seamlessly with existing Fibre Channel environments.


The Intel Open FCoE software stack is available as a free upgrade on existing X520 family products.


The initiative has gained support from Cisco, Dell, EMC, NetApp, Oracle and Red Hat.


Intel estimates that consolidation of cabling equipment can help reduce global IT spending by $3 billion a year.

"What's frustrating for IT managers is that most of the data center dollars are spent on infrastructure costs, not on innovation," said Kirk Skaugen, vice president and general manager, Data Center Group, Intel. "Expanding Intel Ethernet to include Open FCoE will help simplify the network and drive more of the IT budget toward innovation. We think IT departments can lower infrastructure costs by 29 percent, reduce power by almost 50 percent and cut cable costs by 80 percent by moving to a unified network."http://www.intel.com/go/unifiednetworking

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ZTE Reports 17% Sales Growth for 2010

ZTE reported RMB 70,332,280,000 in operating revenue for the year 2010, representing a 16.69% growth compared to the previous year. Total profit in 2010 increased by 31.89% to RMB 4,384,983,000 compared to the previous year. The net profit attributable to shareholders of the Company in 2010 increased by 32.39% as
compared to the previous year to RMB 3,254,251,000. The increase in total profit and net profit was mainly attributable to (1) sales growth of the Group ; and recognition of investment income as a result of the listing of one of the associates of the company, Nationz Technologies Inc.,by way of initial public offering.
http://www.zte.com.cn

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Nokia's Q4 Sales Rise to EUR 12.7 Billion, up 6% YoY

Nokia reported net sales of EUR 12.7 billion for Q4 2010, up 6% year-on-year and 23% sequentially (flat and up 24% at constant currency).



"In Q4 we delivered solid performance across all three of our businesses, and generated outstanding cash flow. Additionally, growth trends in the mobile devices market continue to be encouraging. Yet, Nokia faces some significant challenges in our competitiveness and our execution. In short, the industry changed, and now it's time for Nokia to change faster," stated Stephen Elop, Nokia's CEO.


Some highlights:


Based on Nokia's preliminary estimate, industry mobile device volumes increased 13% in 2010, compared to 2009 (based on Nokia's revised definition of the industry mobile device market applicable beginning in 2010).


Based on Nokia's preliminary market estimate, Nokia's mobile device volume market share decreased to 32% in 2010, compared to 34% in 2009 (based on Nokia's revised definition of the industry mobile device market share applicable beginning in 2010).


Nokia's estimated mobile device value market share was down slightly in 2010, compared to 2009.


Nokia Siemens Networks recorded net sales of EUR 4.0 billion in Q4 2010, up 9% year-on-year and 35% sequentially (up 7% and 37% at constant currency).


For Nokia Siemens Networks, the year-on-year 9% increase in net sales was primarily driven by growth in both the product and services businesses in most regions. The sequential 35% increase in net sales was primarily driven by a seasonally stronger infrastructure market in the fourth quarter 2010. Net sales in the fourth quarter 2010 also benefited from an improvement in overall component availability. Of total Nokia Siemens Networks net sales, services contributed EUR 1.8 billion in the fourth quarter 2010, compared to EUR 1.7 billion in the fourth quarter 2009 and EUR 1.4 billion in the third quarter 2010. At constant currency, Nokia Siemens Networks net sales would have increased 7% year-on-year,http://www.nokia.com

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AT&T: Mobile Broadband Revenues Lead with 27% Growth

AT&T reported Q4 2010 revenue of $31.4 billion, up $653 million, or 2.1 percent, versus the year-earlier quarter. Compared with results for the fourth quarter of 2009, operating expenses were $29.3 billion versus $26.1 billion; operating income was $2.1 billion, down from $4.6 billion; and AT&T's operating income margin was 6.7 percent, compared to 14.9 percent.


Some highlights for the quarter:


AT&T posted a net gain in total wireless subscribers of 2.8 million, to reach 95.5 million in service, the best net gain in the company's history.


AT&T added 442,000 iPad- and Android-based tablets to its network, with more than 90 percent of these booked to the prepaid category.


Retail net adds for the quarter include postpaid net adds of 400,000 and prepaid net adds of 307,000. Connected device net adds were 1.5 million, and reseller net adds were 595,000.


Postpaid churn was 1.15 percent.


There were 4.1 million iPhone activations.


Including iPhones, more than 7.4 million postpaid integrated devices were sold in the fourth quarter. (Integrated devices are handsets with QWERTY or virtual keyboards in addition to voice functionality and are a key driver of wireless data usage.)


At the end of the quarter, 61.0 percent of AT&T's 68.0 million postpaid subscribers had integrated devices, up from 46.8 percent a year earlier.


Wireless service revenues increased 9.6 percent, to $13.8 billion, in the fourth quarter. Total wireless revenues, which include equipment sales, were up 9.9 percent year over year to $15.2 billion.


Wireless data revenues — driven by messaging, Internet access, access to applications and related services — increased $1.1 billion, or 27.4 percent, from the year-earlier quarter to $4.9 billion.


AT&T U-verse TV added 246,000 subscribers to reach nearly 3 million in service. In the fourth quarter, the AT&T U-verse High Speed Internet attach rate continued to run above 90 percent, and 60 percent of subscribers took AT&T U-verse Voice. More than three-fourths of AT&T U-verse TV subscribers have a triple- or quad-play option from AT&T. ARPU for U-verse triple-play customers was more than $160.


Driven by U-verse, AT&T posted a 210,000 net gain in wireline broadband connections. About two-thirds of consumers have a broadband plan of 3 Mbps or higher.


Increased AT&T U-verse penetration drove 28.5 percent year-over-year growth in IP revenues from residential customers (broadband, U-verse TV and U-verse Voice). In the fourth quarter, AT&T U-verse revenues were $1.3 billion, 73.4 percent higher than in the fourth quarter of 2009.


In Q4, AT&T posted a decline in total consumer revenue connections due primarily to expected declines in traditional voice access lines, consistent with broader industry trends and somewhat offset by increases in U-verse TV and VoIP connections. AT&T U-verse Voice connections increased by 186,000 in the quarter and 726,000 over the past four quarters. Total consumer revenue connections at the end of the fourth quarter were 43.4 million, compared with 45.3 million at the end of the fourth quarter of 2009 and 43.7 million at the end of the third quarter of 2010.


Revenues from new-generation capabilities that lead AT&T's most advanced business solutions — including Ethernet, VPNs, hosting, IP conferencing and application services — grew 17.1 percent versus the year-earlier quarter, their strongest growth during the year, and were up 5.5 percent from the third quarter of 2010, continuing AT&T's strong trends in this category.


Total business revenues were $9.4 billion, a decline of 4.5 percent versus the year-earlier quarter, reflecting economic weakness in voice and legacy data products, and the third-quarter sale of the company's Japan assets. Business service revenues, which exclude CPE, declined 4.3 percent year over year and decreased slightly sequentially, down 1.2 percent.


Total business IP data revenues grew 9.0 percent versus the year-earlier fourth quarter, led by growth in VPN revenues. Global Enterprise Solutions IP data revenues grew 11.0 percent. More than 70 percent of AT&T's frame customers have made the transition to IP-based solutions.
http://www.att.com

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Everything Everywhere Partners on Contactless Mobile Payments

Everything Everywhere, the newly formed mobile operator formed through the merger of T-Mobile and Orange in the UK,
is planning to launch a contactless mobile payments service to be rolled out by early summer (second quarter of 2011). Everything Everywhere is partnering with Barclaycard. The companies expect to have over 40,000 stores ready to accept contactless payments by that time.http://everythingeverywhere.com

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Verizon to Acquire Terremark for Cloud Hosting

In a bid to accelerate its "everything-as-a-service" cloud strategy, Verizon Communications agreed to acquire Terremark, a global provider of managed IT infrastructure and cloud services, for $19.00 per share in cash, or a total equity value of $1.4 billion.


Verizon plans to operate the new unit as a wholly owned subsidiary retaining the Terremark name and with its current management team continuing to manage the company.


Terremark, which is headquartered in Miami, operates 13 data centers in the U.S., Europe and Latin America (Miami, Dallas, Wash. D.C., Santa Clara, Bogota, Saol Paolo, Santo Domingo, Amsterdam, Brussels, Madrid and Istambul. It provides secure cloud computing, colocation, and managed hosting services. For its most recent quarter, Terremark reported revenue of $84.9 million, a 22% increase over the previous year.


Verizon currently operates more than 220 data centers across 23 countries, including 19 premium centers and five smart centers. Verizon combines integrated communications and IT solutions, professional services expertise with high IQ global IP and mobility networks to enable businesses to securely access information, share content and communicate.


The acquisition offer represents a premium of 35 percent per share over the closing price of Terremark prior to the announcement.


"Cloud computing continues to fundamentally alter the way enterprises procure, deploy and manage IT resources, and this combination helps create a tipping point for everything as a service," said Lowell McAdam, president and chief operating officer of Verizon. "Our collective vision will foster innovation, enhance business processes and dynamically deliver business intelligence and collaboration services to anyone, anywhere and on any device."http://www.verizonbusiness.com
http://www.terremark.com

• Terremark was founded by Manuel Medina in 1980. He has served as CEO and Chairman of the Board since that time.

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SiTime Introduces MEMS-based Clock Generator

SiTime Corporation introduced a new MEMS-base programmable clock generator aimed at high-performance networking applications. The SiT9105 is the first MEMS-based clock generator to offer mixed LVCMOS and differential outputs in a single package, while also reducing board area by up to 66%. SiTime is targeting the SiT9105 for use in routers, switches, bridges, servers, base stations, repeaters and other high-performance equipment.



"Unlike the quartz industry, SiTime is using silicon technology to accelerate the pace of innovation in the timing industry," said Piyush Sevalia, vice president of marketing at SiTime. "Previously, engineers used several discrete components (resonators, oscillators and level translators) to implement the same functionality that is offered by the SiT9105. By integrating this functionality into a single package, the SiT9105 programmable clock generator offers board space, size, and BOM cost saving to the customer. In addition to integration, all SiTime devices offer many other programmable features (such as frequency, stability, and operating voltage) that are just not available from quartz suppliers."http://www.sitime.com http://www.sitime.com/products/clock-generators/sit9105

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ETRI Demos LTE-Advanced at 600 Mbps

South Korea's Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) demonstrated an evolved Multimedia Broadcast and Multicast Service (eMBMS) delivered to a moving vehicle and using LTE-Advanced technology. The demonstration showed 3D video. The download data rate was measured 600 Mbps. This means a 700 MB file could be downloaded in 9.3 seconds.



ETRI plans to develop a single-chip LTE-Advanced implementation. The research institute, which is also developing other functions, has about 470 staff members working on LTE-Advanced technologies.



ETRI expects LTE-Advanced will be commercially launched in Korea around 2014.


http://www.etri.re.kr/eng

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Ericsson to Supply GPON to China Unicom in 10 Provinces

Ericsson announced a contract to supply its GPON solution to China Unicom in more than 10 provinces across China.



The contract marks China Unicom's first large-scale deployment of GPON technology. Financial terms were not disclosed.



The GPON infrastructure and smart management system will enable China Unicom to roll out fiber-to-the-home and fiber-to-the-building across the country faster and at a lower cost.



Ericsson will be supplying its high capacity EDA 1500 platform. Deployment has already begun.

Mats H Olsson, Head of Ericsson Region China & North East Asia, says: "This is a milestone in the globalization of GPON - the new path China Unicom has taken reaffirms the potential of GPON in China and around the world. Ericsson is one of the few qualified GPON vendors in China, and we are proud to be powering China Unicom in its mission to stay ahead of the competitive broadband market with our industry leading solution."http://www.ericsson.com

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Netflix: Charter Delivers Best Streaming

Netflix published data of the streaming performance of major ISPs.




Netflix's best HD streaming tops out at 4.800 Mbps, although no client would sustain that rate all the way through.



Charter is the streaming performance leader in the U.S with a 2.667 Mbps average over the period.



Rogers is the streaming performance leader Canada with 3.020 Mbps average.



Netflix said it will update its report on a monthly basis.http://techblog.netflix.com/

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