VSS Monitoring Adds to its Team

VSS Monitoring, which provides monitoring visibility and optimization for network security, has appointed Kevin Jablonski as vice president of business development. Jablonski was formerly vice president of marketing and business development at Gigamon. He previously served with companies such as FORE Systems, Juniper Networks, Hewlett-Packard, and Hughes Communications.

http://www.vssmonitoring.com

Read More

NBNCo. Picks IBM for Operations and Support

NBN Co
has appointed IBM as the prime systems integrator of its operational and business support systems. The contract has a three year term and is valued at over $200 million. Using these systems, retail service providers (RSPs) will be able to order new services, report faults or perform service qualification checks via business-to-business interfaces and/or portals designed to allow transparent and flexible management of their own services on the national broadband network. The systems will also allow NBN Co to monitor the performance of its network and bill RSPs for the services they order and operate.



NBN Co Head of Network Operations, Steve Christian said: "As a wholesale network provider, NBN Co sells products to service providers who resell them to households and businesses. To do this efficiently and cost effectively, we need robust and highly-automated systems with extensive RSP self-management capabilities."



Implementation work has already started, and will be completed in four releases.http://www.nbnco.com.au

Read More

ZTE Scores an LTE TDD/FDD Win in Europe

Hi3G, which plans to build LTE TDD/FDD dual-mode networks in Sweden and Denmark, has selected ZTE as its LTE infrastructure partner. The delivered base stations will be based on ZTE's Uni-RAN SDR (Software Defined Radio) technology, which enables Hi3G to support all viable mobile standards and frequency bands, housing both the upgraded 3G network and the two versions of LTE: TDD and FDD. The SDR technology also makes it possible for Hi3G to perform future upgrades of its infrastructure without acquiring new base stations. Financial terms were not disclosed.



Peder Ramel, CEO at Hi3G, said, "We have chosen ZTE for additional 3G 900/2100 rollout and for LTE mobile broadband networks in Sweden and Denmark because of the possibility to house three different mobile standards in the same physical infrastructure and the low cost of ownership. Furthermore, ZTE advanced LTE dual-mode solutions and quick consignment responses really meet our requirements."



Hi3G will utilize its spectrum resources by rolling out Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) and Time Division Duplex (TDD) versions of LTE. The main benefit of the TDD version is that it can make full use of TDD spectrums to maximize data throughput and enhance user experience. Hi3G has acquired 50MHz of TDD spectrum in Sweden and 25 MHz of TDD spectrum in Denmark.



Hi3G expects to develop its Swedish and Danish networks for mobile broadband during 2011.http://www.zte.com.cn

Read More

Verizon Wireless Releases LTE Modem from Novatel

Verizon Wireless has begun marketing an LTE modem made by Novatel Wireless.



The Verizon USB551L 4G LTE modem is a high-performing USB modem. Customers who travel outside of a 4G LTE coverage area, will stay connected on the Verizon Wireless 3G network. It is priced at $99.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate with a new two-year customer agreement on a 4G Mobile Broadband plan
http://www.verizonwireless.com

Read More

Discera Releases New MEMS Programmable Oscillators

Discera announced the availability of its high performance DSC21XX I2C and DSC22XX SPI application programmable MEMS oscillators. The devices are available in single and dual-output configurations with fully programmable output frequencies and drive strength. They feature 300 femtosecond RMS phase jitter and 10 ppm frequency stability.



"With this new line of ultra-flexible low-jitter oscillators, we make another leap forward in reducing development and lead times across the electronics industry," said Discera CEO Bruce Diamond, "The DSC21XX and DSC22XX oscillators use MEMS technology to deliver better performance than fixed frequency oscillators with an unprecedented level of flexibility and reliability."http://www.discera.com

Read More

Australia's NBNCo. Readies First Mainland Sites

Australia's National Broadband Network will soon enter its trial phase as the first mainland sites come online, according to NBNCo's Mike Quigley, who provided an update at the Commsday Summit in Sydney. Negotiations with Telstra are on track. A powerpoint presentation is online.



http://bit.ly/dMj0kmhttp://www.nbnco.com.au

Read More

Alcatel-Lucent Supplies Mobile Network Intelligence in China

Alcatel-Lucent cited growing traction for its 9900 Wireless Network Guardian (WNG) platform in China, including deployments with Jiangsu Mobile, a subsidiary of China Mobile, and Ningxia Telecom, a subsidiary of China Telecom.



The Alcatel-Lucent 9900 Wireless Network Guardian (WNG) provides the operators with in-depth knowledge of how their subscriber devices, applications and 3G networks are performing in real time.



The Alcatel-Lucent 9900 WNG will provide Jiangsu Mobile and Ningxia Telecom with valuable intelligence into the This includes detailed understanding of the complex relationship between application traffic, network performance and subscriber experience.



"The 9900 WNG makes it possible for carriers to monitor and engineer their wireless data network with the level of granularity needed to understand how subscribers, applications and network elements interact and their impact on every area, including the radio access network. As such, it fully aligns with our High Leverage Network vision and network transformation strategy," said Rajeev Singh-Molares, president of Alcatel-Lucent's activities in Asia-Pacific.http://www.alcatel-lucent.com

Read More

Cisco to Acquire newScale for Self-Service Portal Software

Cisco agreed to acquire privately-held newScale, a developer of software that delivers a service catalog and self-service portal for IT organizations to select and quickly deploy cloud services within their businesses. Financial terms were not disclosed.



newScale is based in San Mateo, California. Its software helps IT organizations and service providers offer a self-service "storefront" for both desktop and data center services - across physical, virtual and cloud environments. The newScale team will report into Cisco's Advanced Services organization.



"Cloud computing represents a major shift in the evolution of the Internet, and as more customers migrate from traditional IT infrastructures, the need for rapid self-provisioning and efficient management becomes increasingly critical," said Parvesh Sethi, senior vice president of Cisco Services. "With the acquisition of newScale, Cisco will be able to accelerate the deployment of cloud services through a service catalog and self-service portal that allows customers to easily manage their IT infrastructures."

http://www.cisco.com http://www.newscale.com/

Read More

Altera Targets Optical Interconnect Programmable Devices

Altera outlined plans for optically interconnected programmable devices to serve as chip-to-chip and chip-to-backplane bridges.



The company is leveraging its knowledge of system interconnect technologies to enable direct optical interfaces in future device packages and break through the bandwidth and signal integrity barriers inherent in copper technology. The idea is to embed optical interface technology into an FPGA. Specifically, an FPGA could be integrated with optics, such as a transmitter optical sub-assembly (TOSA) and transceiver optical sub-assembly (ROSA), providing direct optical signal transmitting and receiving without the need for a discrete optical module.
This could potentially reduce system power requirements by 70 percent to 80 percent while increasing port density and bandwidth.



"Altera has a strong history of delivering industry-leading technologies for today's design challenges, while at the same time developing breakthrough technologies that unlock new possibilities for the future," said Bradley Howe, vice president of IC engineering at Altera. "These direct optical interfaces have the potential to future-proof backplanes and deliver the vast quantity of available bandwidth long sought by application and content developers."
http://www.altera.com/optical

Read More

BT Connects First 50 SuperFast Broadband Customers in Cornwall

BT has activated its first 50 customers for its Super-fast broadband in Cornwall. The rollout is part of the £132 million super-fast broadband scheme for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. The company said about six months after the signing of the contract, its Openreach local network business has already installed more than 150 kilometres of optical fibre cable – equivalent to more than the length of Cornwall.http://www.btplc.com

Read More

Hong Kong's New World Deploys Juniper's Metro Ethernet

New World Telecom has selected Juniper Networks to provide the foundation for its next-generation of Metro Ethernet services. The deployment includes MX960 and MX480 3D Universal Edge Routers. Modular Port Concentrators (MPC), Juniper's advanced line modules based on the Junos Trio chipset that will enable New World Telecom to mix-and-match interfaces to create customized, service-specific chassis configurations. Nokia Siemens Networks serves as technology partner.ging the point-to-point, any-to-any connection network.



Over the last 15 years, New World Telecommunications has established a strong presence in the Hong Kong market for its Metro Ethernet and International Ethernet Private Line services.



"Backhaul is a very important segment of our Metro Ethernet market and Hong Kong's mobile operators are already planning their network migration to LTE," said Johnny Cheung, Executive Vice President, Networks and IT of New World Telecom. "Our next-generation of Metro Ethernet provides high bandwidth and clocking synchronization features compliant for LTE build outs, and Juniper's MX Series proved to be highly efficient and the highest http://www.juniper.net

Read More

Verizon Wireless Releases Samsung's LTE Hotspot

Verizon Wireless began selling the Samsung 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot in its retail stories and online.



The device enables customers to share 4G LTE internet connection with up to five Wi-Fi-enabled devices at the same time. Customers can expect download speeds of 5 to 12 Mbps and upload speeds of 2 to 5 Mbps in Verizon's 4G Mobile Broadband coverage areas. It is backward compatible with the Verizon Wireless 3G network.



It is priced at $99.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate with a new two-year customer agreement on a 4G Mobile Broadband plan. The 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot will be available in stores on March 31.



Verizon Wireless' 4G LTE mobile broadband data packages starts at $50 monthly for 5GB.
http://www.verizonwireless.com

Read More

FiberTower Implements Packet Microwave Backhaul with DragonWave

FiberTower, which provide alternative backhaul services in markets across the U.S., is deploying DragonWave's Horizon Compact to support its microwave-based packet backhaul services.



FiberTower maintains an extensive footprint in 24 GHz and 39 GHz radio spectrum bands, carrier-class fiber and microwave networks in major markets nationwide to serve the needs of the major wireless carriers.



DragonWave products are installed in FiberTower's networks in Ohio and Texas.



"Our customers include nine US wireless carriers, and increasingly they are demanding pure packet backhaul to ensure optimal performance for their service offerings. DragonWave offers a family of solutions that is clearly head of the class—in terms of both scalability and flexibility—for pure packet backhaul," said Dave Jones, Senior Vice President of Network Services with FiberTower. "Furthermore, the DragonWave solution is engineered with valuable attributes that enable us to enter new markets quickly and cost-effectively. One of the things that impressed us during our trial of the Horizon Compact, for example, was its innovative, zero-footprint configuration."http://www.dragonwaveinc.com http://www.fibertower.com

Read More

Level 3: Mobile Backhaul Progression

Amanda Tierney, VP, Wholesale Market Management, Level 3 Communicationshttp://www.level3.com

Read More