NTT DOCOMO Targets 2020 Carbon Footprint at 1/10th 2008

NTT DOCOMO has set a 10-year environmental vision under which it intends lower its carbon footprint, strengthen recycling and protect biodiversity. Notably, the company has set a target for its 2020 carbon footprint to be less than 90 percent of its fiscal 2008 level.


DOCOMO also will develop services that help to reduce carbon emissions throughout society, and it will actively encourage employees to participate in green activities.


The vision also sets goals for increased recycling, including the reuse of mobile devices and equipment, and the reduced production of paper waste. By fiscal 2020, DOCOMO aims to recycle more than 98 percent of its total waste, meaning less than two percent would enter final disposal. A target of less than 1% final disposal has been set for the reuse and recycling of used communication equipment. Paper use will be cut by more than 25% (9,500 tons) from the fiscal 2008 level.
http://www.ntt.co.jp

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T-Mobile Netherlands Reduces 3G Peak Signaling Load

T-Mobile Netherlands has significantly reduced the peak signaling traffic load on its 3G network by using a paging channel feature within its network, making room for additional growth in voice and data traffic. Cell_PCH is a Nokia Siemens Networks enabled feature in 3G networks that can significantly reduce signaling traffic.


Nokia Siemens Networks said a Cell_PCH-enabled network can reduced the signal volume from high-signaling applications by up to 50%. Cell_PCH also provides a simultaneous increase in battery life of 30% for handsets in a Cell_PCH network, compared to a network without the functionality in active use.


Nokia Siemens Networks' Cell_PCH feature maintains a dedicated connection between the network and the handset while using a minimum of battery power. Hence, while it typically takes 30 signals to move from the idle to active stage in a conventional network, in cases where the carrier's network and handsets are Cell_PCH enabled, anywhere between three to 12 signals are sufficient, depending upon how much data is being transferred.


Always-on mobile broadband applications that run on smartphones make many short connections to the network as they check for latest updates to email or social network sites. If not handled appropriately, this behavior consumes device battery power significantly and generates large amounts of signaling traffic that can clog up networks. The growing popularity of smartphones means operators such as T-Mobile need to cope with increasingly high levels of signaling traffic while improving battery life for smartphone users.


"The number of smartphones on our network is very high. More than 50 percent of all data traffic in the Netherlands is processed by the T-Mobile network. Management of signaling traffic is imperative in the rapidly evolving mobile broadband landscape," said Jan Kuijpers, technology director, T-Mobile Netherlands. "In the long run, excessive signaling can lead to network congestion and can have a negative impact on the quality of voice calls for all our subscribers. Nokia Siemens Networks' Cell_PCH feature provides the ideal solution to avoid these negative impacts. This feature has been implemented across the Deutsche Telekom Group."http://www.nsn.com

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Orange Business Services Joins Cloud Security Alliance

Orange Business Services announced it support for the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA), whose mission is to promote the use of best practices for providing security assurance within Cloud Computing, and to provide education on the uses of Cloud Computing to help secure all other forms of computing.
http://www.orange-business.com
http://www.cloudsecurityalliance.org/

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Telefónica O2 UK Picks NSN for RAN Upgrade

Telefónica O2 UK has awarded a three-year contract to Nokia Siemens Networks to modernize its radio network, expanding capacity, coverage and performance. The upgrade with use NSN's Flexi Multiradio Base Station and Radio Network Controller. The deal means Nokia Siemens Networks will provide approximately two-thirds of O2's 3G access network in the UK, covering the south of England. Nokia Siemens Networks is currently the sole vendor for O2's nationwide GSM network. Financial terms were not disclosed.
http://www.nsn.com

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MCNC Opens RFP for "Golden Leaf" Middle Mile Project

MCNC, which operates the North Carolina Research and Education Network (NCREN), released a Request for Proposals (RFP) for construction of the middle-mile project through the Golden LEAF Rural Broadband Initiative (GLRBI).


MCNC is seeking proposals from qualified contractors to provide construction and splicing for those routes funded by MCNC's second federal Broadband Technologies Opportunities Program (BTOP) award, received in August 2010, through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) administered by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's BTOP staff.


The project will build fiber connections from universities, community colleges, schools, health and safety facilities, libraries, county offices, and other community anchor institutions to a statewide fiber optic network. The construction encompasses seven routes in North Carolina.


All construction must be finished by January 31, 2013 to allow MCNC to equip and place the fiber optic into service on or before July 31, 2013.https://www.mcnc.org/news/mcnc-opens-construction-bids-for-GLRBI

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AboveNet Names COO

AboveNet announced the promotion of Rajiv Datta to Chief Operating Officer. Datta joined AboveNet in 1998 and has served in a number of management roles. Most recently he held the position of AboveNet's Chief Technology Officer and oversaw all aspects of Engineering, IT and Product Development activities across AboveNet's metro, long haul and IP networks.
http://www.above.net

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AT&T Approaches 11 Million Emerging Devices on Net

The total number of emerging devices, including postpaid and prepaid embedded computing devices, connected to the AT&T network -- both for consumers and businesses -- is nearly 11 million. This includes nearly 2 million emerging devices added in Q4 2010.


Embedded computing devices include tablets, netbooks and laptops, and are included in either the company's postpaid or prepaid subscriber categories.


AT&T expects many new classes of connected devices this year, including:


Vitality GlowCaps -- intelligent pill caps designed to help patients take medications regularly through a series of reminders, including light, sound, text message and phone call alerts if the cap is not opened as scheduled. The AT&T connected pill caps are now available through Amazon for $10 per cap and $15 per month with a connectivity service plan from Vitality.


Pandigital Novel eReader - a 9-inch full-color LCD eReader and Android Multimedia Tablet for accessing the Barnes & Noble eBookstore. The Pandigital eReader will be available beginning this month at several national retailers for $279.99.


Garmin GTU 10 -- a small, waterproof device that allows customers to track things, such as a backpack or dog collar.
http://www.att.com

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Vodafone Egypt Confirms Order to Suspend Services

Vodafone issued a statement saying that is subsidiary, Vodafone Egypt, had been ordered by the Egyptian governement to suspend services.

Public Internet service in Egypt was also cut just after midnight local time.
http://www.vodafone.com

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Allot Launches Service Gateway for LTE

Allot Communications has launched a service gateway for LTE. The ATCA-based Allot Service Gateway Sigma E platform boasts 160 Gbps of throughput and the ability to support 8 million subscribers on a single platform. The company said its design can scale to as high as 1 Tbps when deployed in a clustered configuration.



"LTE signifies the next big step forward for mobile Internet. It represents a huge opportunity for operators to improve the way they deliver Internet to subscribers in terms of throughput, the services that they offer and how they charge for it," said Rami Hadar, Allot's President and CEO. "SG-Sigma E is designed to do exactly that."http://www.allot.com http://www.allot.com/Service_Gateway_Sigma_E.html

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