Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Ixia Posts Q4 Revenue of $78M, up 10% Sequentially

Ixia reported record Q4 2010 revenue of $77.8 million, an increase of 39 percent compared with $56.1 million reported for the 2009 fourth quarter and an increase of 10 percent compared with $70.9 million reported in the immediately preceding quarter. Total revenue for the fiscal year 2010 was $276.8 million, an increase of 56 percent compared with $178.0 million reported in fiscal year 2009.


Fiscal year 2010 and 2009 revenue include approximately $70.0 million and $24.1 million, respectively, of sales attributable to IxN2X and IxCatapult products following the acquisition of Agilent Technologies' N2X Data Network Testing Product Line in October 2009 and the acquisition of Catapult Communications in June 2009. These numbers do not include revenue from Ixia's Fusion products that integrate N2X software and scripts on Ixia hardware or revenue from Ixia's products that incorporate Catapult wireless technology.


On a GAAP basis, the company recorded net income for the 2010 fourth quarter of $5.3 million, or $0.08 per diluted share, compared with a net loss of $31.3 million, or $0.50 per share, for the 2009 fourth quarter.


"Our key strategy for 2010 was to focus on integrating and leveraging our 2009 acquisitions with our existing technology portfolio and customer base," commented Atul Bhatnagar, Ixia's president and chief executive officer. "Our success in these integration efforts allowed us to take advantage of improved market conditions in 2010. Strong revenue performance coupled with operating expense discipline resulted in solid bottom-line results, including significant increases in both our operating income and earnings per share."http://www.ixiacom.com

Verizon Wireless States Policy on Network Management

Verizon Wireless is implementing two new network management practices: bandwidth throttling and content compression optimization. The announcement comes as the company begins enrolling iPhone customers for the first time.


In a statement posted online, Verizon Wireless states that it may implement bandwidth controls for the top 5% of bandwidth users during peak periods. Specifically, for these heavy users, Verizon Wireless may reduce data throughput speeds periodically for the remainder of the current and subsequent billing cycle. The company said it is doing this to protect the remaining 95% of customer from the excesses of the top 5%.


Regarding video compression and optimization, Verizon Wireless is implementing a process that is agnostic to the content itself and the website that provides it. All Web content files delivered over Port 80, regardless of source and including content from Verizon Wireless, is directed to the optimization process. Text files are compressed and cached for subsequent requests. Image files (PNG, JPG, GIF) are compressed to remove colors and details not visible to human eye or to end users on a mobile device. These images files will also be cached. Video files for progressive downloading will be transcoded to H.264, unless the mobile device requesting the file cannot decode H.264. The optimization will also use variable bit rate (VBR) for transmission. The video files will also be cached for a finite time or until the cache is full. Verizon Wireless is using a Video Quality Measurement (VQM) tool to set and monitor the amount of reduction in the transcoding.
http://www.verizonwireless.comhttp://support.vzw.com/terms/network_optimization.html

Internet Inflection Point: Last IPv4 Addresses Allocated

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the Number Resources Organization (NRO), the Internet Architecture Board (IAB) and the Internet Society held a press event in Miami to issue the last remaining blocks of IPv4 addresses. The last address blocks were handed out to the five global Regional Internet Registries.


"This is a major turning point in the on-going development of the Internet," said Rod Beckstrom, ICANN's President and Chief Executive Officer. "No one was caught off guard by this. The Internet technical community has been planning for IPv4 depletion for some time. But it means the adoption of IPv6 is now of paramount importance, since it will allow the Internet to continue its amazing growth and foster the global innovation we've all come to expect."http://

Dell'Oro: Enterprise WLAN to Grow 75%+ by 2015

The Dell'Oro Group is forecasting that the enterprise Wireless LAN (WLAN) will grow by more than 75 percent over 2010 levels in the next five years to $7.5 billion. The report also indicates that the small office/home office (SOHO) WLAN market will continue to grow, with unit shipments rising in each year of the forecast.


"The wireless LAN market rebounded quickly from the economic recession, with 2010 revenue levels easily surpassing those of 2008 and 2009," said Loren Shalinsky, Senior Analyst of Wireless LAN research at Dell'Oro Group.
http://www.delloro.com

AT&T Kicks Off "Anthem" B2B Advertising Campaign

AT&T has kicked off a multi-million dollar B2B advertising campaign focused on transformative network-based and mobility solutions. The advertising campaign - AT&T's largest in the B2B space since 2004 - is titled "Anthem" and is initially targeted to large enterprises.
http://www.att.com
http://www.business.att.com/enterprise/online_campaign/network/

Verizon Reauthorizes Share Buyback Program

Verizon Communications' Board of Directors has authorized the repurchase of up to 100 million shares of its common stock. The board also determined that no additional shares may be acquired under a previously approved program to repurchase up to 100 million shares. Under the previous program, which was due to end Feb. 28, 2011, approval remained to purchase approximately 60 million shares.
http://www.verizon.com

IANA Allocates the Last IPv4 Addresses







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http://www.convergedigest.com

NSN's Single RAN Advanced Supports GSM/HSPA/LTE/LTE Advanced

Nokia Siemens Networks unveiled its "Single RAN Advanced" architecture for supporting the full range of air interface technologies from GSM up through LTE-Advanced using software defined radios.



Key components of Single RAN Advanced include a new highly powerful, compact and scalable Flexi Multiradio 10 Base Station. This base station will be 10 Gbps capable for high capacity cell sites. Single RAN Advanced also includes the Flexi Lite Base Station for micro and pico deployments, which are ideal for providing hotspot coverage in high traffic areas, and a Multicontroller platform for GSM and 3G.



Nokia Siemens Networks Flexi Base Station will also have the capability to reallocate radio frequencies for maximum efficiency. The 4.2 MHz technology can rapidly refarm HSPA to lower frequencies with less spectrum required. It also offers spectral efficiency features like Orthogonal Sub Channel in GSM.



Flexi BTS will also come with integrated IP transport interfaces. Flexi BTS will also feature a modular design and the ability to deployed outdoors, eliminating the need for shelter or huts with air conditioning.



Nokia Siemens Networks' Flexi Multiradio 10 Base Station will be available for commercial deployment during 2011, while the Flexi Lite Base Station will become available for commercial use during the first half of 2012. The Multicontroller platform is already being used in customer trials.



"While network operators' revenue opportunities have grown over the past few years, they also face newer challenges to further enhance network efficiency and simplify their networks," said Thorsten Robrecht, head of Network Systems product management, Nokia Siemens Networks. "It has therefore become imperative for operators to smoothly migrate to newer technologies in support of their longer-term network strategy. Single RAN Advanced offers one access network with leading software features for multiple technologies, allowing operators to provide improved services at a competitive price."http://www.nsn.com

Alcatel-Lucent Boosts ISAM to 10G GPON

Alcatel-Lucent announced latest release of its Intelligent Services Access Manager (ISAM) IP access platform designed for large scale 10G GPON rollouts.



The 10G GPON technology is available on the existing (ETSI) ISAM products, as well as on a new set of market-leading, high-capacity shelves. The latter provide dual 100Gbps capacity per slot to accommodate mass-market, high-capacity fiber deployments.



Alcatel-Lucent said the ISAM's density, capacity and technology flexibility - including xDSL, VDSL2, GPON, point-to-point fiber, and now also 10G GPON and EPON - gives operators a wide choice of access nodes perfectly matching any deployment model. The company has conducted a large number of next-generation fiber lab and field trials with service providers such as Portugal Telecom and Verizon.



"Alcatel-Lucent's ISAM support of 10G GPON enables dense residential fiber-to-the-home deployments as well as the bandwidths required to accommodate mobile cell site and fiber-to-the-building backhaul to help our customers extend universal broadband coverage. Our 10G GPON solution enables service providers to continue to leverage the largest installed base of IP access nodes in the world -- while preserving the existing GPON outside plant," commented Dave Geary, Head of Alcatel-Lucent's Wireline activities.http://www.alcatel-lucent.com

  • In October 2010, Alcatel-Lucent released its latest Intelligent Services Access Manager (ISAM) offering support for both fiber and copper services through the same node. The ETSI-based 7302 ISAM and 7330 ISAM FTTN access nodes offer high-capacity GPON and point-to-point fiber capabilities, allowing service providers to offer a mix of access technologies. Alcatel-Lucent's new ISAM platform release also introduces an application enablement processor along with local storage. This enables service providers to cache and replicate content at the node, reducing the demand for bandwidth across the network. Personalized content can be stored and assigned from the node, opening new routes to enrich the end user experience and create value. Alcatel-Lucent said that in the future, an intelligent access network could send different, tailored advertising to two adjacent homes watching the same TV broadcast, for example.

Aviat Networks Posts Revenue of $124 Million

Aviat Networks reported quarterly revenue of $124.2 million, compared with $122.6 million in the year ago period. Net loss was $12.5 million, or $(0.21) per share, compared with a net loss of $7.9 million, or $(0.13) per share, in the year ago quarter. Revenue in the North America segment was $40.4 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2011, compared with $49.4 million in the year ago period. International revenue was $83.8 million, compared with $73.2 million in the year ago period.


"Aviat Networks made significant progress in its restructuring efforts during the second quarter FY11. Shipments increased substantially, resulting in revenue growth for the first time in several quarters. In addition, as the transition of our internal operations accelerated, cash usage was significantly less than projected. The rate at which we are implementing changes gives us confidence we can complete our previously announced restructuring on schedule by the end of the third quarter of FY11," said Chuck Kissner, chairman and CEO, Aviat Networks. http://www.aviatnetworks.com

RENATER and Ciena Complete Successful Coherent 100G

RENATER, the French national telecommunications network for technology education and research, has completed a 100 Gbps network trial connecting the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva and the IN2P3 Computing Centre in Lyon, a distance of 220 km. The trial, which was completed in December, used Ciena's ActivFlex 6500 Packet-Optical Platform. The Ciena 100G coherent technology trialed is capable of delivering a total throughput of 8.8 Tbps on a single strand of optical fibre.



A second phase of tests, validating the trial results in a multi-vendor environment with a 100G signal sent as an "alien wavelength" over existing compensated line infrastructure, was performed over the Lyon-Dijon link (280 km).http://www.ciena.com http://www.renater.fr/