Alcatel-Lucent and China Mobile Complete First TD-LTE Call

Alcatel-Lucent and China Mobile completed the first call over a trial TD-LTE network deployed in the city of Shanghai. The network in Shanghai is based on Alcatel-Lucent's end-to-end 4G LTE solution.


"We are excited to be able to collaborate with China Mobile and demonstrate our leadership in TD-LTE on this important trial network. The first call takes us a step closer in delivering a high-quality network that will provide faster wireless services and applications to the people of Shanghai," said Rajeev Singh-Molares, president of Alcatel-Lucent ‘s activities for Asia-Pacific.
http://www.alcatel-lucent.com

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LG-Ericsson Launches 48-Port, 10 Gig Data Center Switch

LG-Ericsson USA introduced its "iPECS ES-5048XG" 48-port, 10G SFP+ Managed Switch for the data center.
The switch provides for the aggregation of high-density 1U rack servers. Specifically designed to support the Converged Enhanced Ethernet market segment, the new iPECS ES-5048XG offers congestion and traffic management features such as Congestion Notification and Per Priority Flow Control to support the emerging Fiber Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) solutions for LAN, SAN and IPC networks.

"We designed this switch from the ground up with the features that business needs in order to make 10Gig Ethernet a viable choice for the data center," said LG-Ericsson USA's Director of Product Marketing, Iain Kenney. "High-density, optimal performance, front-to-back/back-to-front cooling, and front port configuration make it ideal for interconnecting a large number of 10 gigabit Ethernet links from servers."http://www.lgericssonus.com

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Communications Workers Union Endorses AT&T/T-Mobile Merger

Communications Workers of America (CWA), which represents more than 700,000 workers employed in telecommunications and other sectors, has endorsed the proposed acquisition of T-Mobile USA by AT&T.


President Larry Cohen today told a Congressional panel that the proposed merger between AT&T and T-Mobile will accelerate broadband deployment, benefit consumers, and positively impact employees.


"AT&T is the only union wireless company. Past experience in major wireless mergers indicates that employee issues can be managed through careful planning and by returning overseas work to this country. This integration will benefit both AT&T and T-Mobile workers. At the end of these inquiries, we believe three points will become apparent. First, the AT&T/T-Mobile merger will accelerate high-speed broadband development. Second, the transaction will positively impact consumers and finally, the merger will benefit workers. Therefore, we believe the merger should be approved."http://www.cwa-union.org

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Huawei Confirms 2G Upgrade for Everything Everywhere UK

Huawei confirmed a contract to upgrade the 2G network of Everything Everywhere, the joint venture that operates the networks for T-Mobile (UK) and Orange (UK). There will be a significant increase in coverage and network capacity, including indoor coverage. Customers can also expect HD voice experience for voice calls in line with the UMTS (3G) network. The upgrade will also prepare the Everything Everywhere network for its evolution to LTE in the coming years. Financial terms were not disclosed.


"This contract marks a very significant milestone in the evolution of the UK mobile market and represents yet another major breakthrough for Huawei in The European tier one wireless service provider arena," said Victor Zhang, CEO of Huawei UK. "Huawei has a proven track record in providing cutting-edge mobile solutions to operators across the world. We are committed to becoming a serious network supplier for mobile operators in the UK and are pleased to collaborate with Everything Everywhere, offering an effective solution with future-proofed technology that will improve voice quality and network coverage for its customers across the UK."http://www.huawei.com

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Cisco Sees Slower Growth, Restructuring Underway

Cisco posted revenue of $10.9 billion for its third quarterly of fiscal 2011, an increase of 5% year over year and slightly ahead of expectations. Q3 net income was $1.8 billion (GAAP), or $0.33 per share, a decrease of 11% year over year.


"This quarter played out as we expected," said John Chambers, chairman and CEO, Cisco. "We have acknowledged our challenges. We know what we have to do. We have a clear game plan, and we are a company with a track record of market-shaping innovation. We thank our shareholders, employees, customers and partners as we transition to the next phase of Cisco."


In a conference call, Cisco said it is taking step to simplify its organization and reduce costs by $1 billion in its FY '12 expense run rate. This is likely to include job cuts, although the number was not specified. Cisco is also divesting or exiting underperforming operations, including the Flip consumer camera division which was dropped last month. The company will also start issuing quarterly dividends. Looking ahead, Chambers said Q4 is likely to continue to show weakness as the company works through these various issues. The company expects Q4 revenue growth to be in the range of flat to up 2% on a year-over-year basis. The long term growth target of 12 12-17% is also "not reflective" of the current environment.


Regarding areas of its business that are "under pressure", Cisco cited: consumer, traditional set-top boxes, switching, and its Public Sector Customer segment. Product transition is underway in switching.


Some other highlights for the quarter:


Non-GAAP product gross margin was 63.1%, down 2.2 points


Employee headcount is 73,408, which is an increase of 473 from last quarter, approximately 40% of which were from acquisitions.


Cash and cash equivalents and investments were $43.4 billion at the end of the third quarter of fiscal 2011, compared with $40.2 billion at the end of the second quarter of fiscal 2011, and compared with $39.9 billion at the end of fiscal 2010.
http://www.cisco.com

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FCC Commissioner Meredith Baker Takes Job with Comcast

Just months after voting to approve the Comcast-NBC Universal merger, FCC Commissioner Meredith Attwell Baker has resigned to take up a new job as senior vice president of governmental affairs for Comcast. In announcing her decision to take up the new post, Baker did not address the apparent conflict of interest.


Meredith Attwell Baker, a Republican, was nominated for a seat on the FCC by President Barack Obama on June 25, 2009. Previously, she served as Acting Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information and Acting Administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). She was previously Vice President at the firm of Williams Mullen Strategies, where she focused on telecommunications, intellectual property, and international trade issues. Earlier, she held the position of Senior Counsel at Covad Communications from 2000 to 2002, and Director of Congressional Affairs at the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA) from 1998 to 2000.


In written statements posted on the FCC website, all four of the other FCC commissions expressed their congratulations and admiration for Baker.
http://www.fcc.gov

• In approving the Comcast-NBCU mega-merger, the FCC and the Department of Justice imposed a number of conditions and commitments which generally will remain in effect for seven years. Among these, online video distributors (OVDs) are guaranteed the ability to obtain Comcast-NBCU programming. Comcast must also offer standalone broadband Internet access services at "reasonable" prices and of sufficient bandwidth so that customers can access online video services without the need to purchase a cable television subscription from Comcast.

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Cortina Offers 4 port 10G/40G Backplane PHY

Cortina Systems introduced a low power, 10G/40G backplane PHY device with Energy Efficient Ethernet IEEE 802.3az Low Power Idle (LPI) capability. The device, which features an integrated crosspoint switch, supports 10Gbase-KR and 40Gbase-KR4 operation with rate auto negotiation and coefficient training functionality. The integrated 10Gbase-KR FEC includes advanced debug and monitoring capabilities.



"As high density backplanes move from 10G to 40G to 100G, OEMs are looking for integrated solutions," said Scott Feller, Director Marketing, Cortina Systems. "Traditionally, external crosspoint switches have been used to implement backplane protection switching applications; the CS4322/23 integrates the switch into the PHY thus reducing BOM cost and board space while maintaining interoperability and full compliance to KR and KR4 standards."http://www.cortina-systems.com

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NTT Joins GreenTouch Consortium

NTT has joined GreenTouch, a global industry initiative dedicated to dramatically improving the energy efficiency of information and communications technology (ICT) networks by a factor of 1,000.



"NTT shares the vision of a sustainable, energy-efficient future for information and communications technology networks," said Morito Matsuoka, director of energy and environment systems Laboratories at NTT. "We believe the GreenTouch Consortium will play a decisive role in realizing that vision, and we welcome the opportunity to take part in such an ambitious effort and work with other leading experts from across the industry and around the world."



"In making this commitment to GreenTouch, NTT is making a bold statement to the global community about its dedication to reducing the carbon footprint and improving the environment," said Gee Rittenhouse, chairman of the GreenTouch Consortium and vice president of research at Alcatel-Lucent Bell Labs. "We are pleased to welcome NTT to GreenTouch, and expect that they will make a significant contribution and support the consortium in reaching its ambitious goal."http://www.ntt.co.jp/index_e.htmlhttp://www.greentouch.org

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Ireland's HEAnet Tests GMPLS with Juniper+ADVA

HEAnet, Ireland's national education and research network, in collaboration with Juniper Networks and ADVA Optical Networking, successfully demonstrated the automated setup of optical circuits between Juniper Networks routers via an ADVA Optical Networking DWDM optical network, using a common signaling protocol.



The goal was to integrate packet-layer routers and optical-transport systems via a common control plane. The HEAnet network consists of Juniper Networks MX Series 3D Universal Edge Routers and ADVA FSP 3000 DWDM equipment.



The GMPLS control plane enabled the initiating router to discover, reserve and then build an optical circuit across the optical network without any user intervention beyond the original user commands on the initiating router.



"This is one of the first customer GMPLS interworking tests between router and optical equipment manufacturers, said Eoin Kenny, project leader, HEAnet. "It demonstrates how an Internet service provider can use GMPLS to provision circuits automatically across its optical network from a router in one simple step." http://www.advaoptical.com http://www.heanet.ie/

• In February, ADVA Optical Networking introduced Agile Core Express functionality for its FSP 3000 platform, enabling service providers to use their optical transport network more flexibility and on-demand while supporting 100 Gbps transmission speeds. The agility is created by allowing the IP/MPLS layer to communicate with the optical transport layer.

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HBO Selects Level 3 as a CDN Provider for HBO GO Mobile App

HBO is using Level 3 Communications to be a provider of content delivery network (CDN) services supporting the new HBO GO mobile app, which offers programming on Apple iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch as well as select Android devices. http://www.level3.com

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Ubiquisys Picks TI for Dual-mode WCDMA/LTE Small Cells

Ubiquisys, a developer of 3G and LTE intelligent cells, is working with Texas Instruments (TI) to develop a new generation of small cells that will offer dual-mode WCDMA/LTE capabilities with self-organizing capabilities.



Ubiquisys said dual-mode WCDMA/LTE small cells have a number of advantages. They provide a smooth migration to LTE, whilst providing the near-term need for WCDMA capacity and maintaining support for voice services. There are also significant power consumption and Capex advantages over separate systems.



The collaboration will fuel a new range of dual-mode WCDMA/LTE small cells for public space and metro environments, such as base stations designed for mounting on walls or street furniture, with performance up to 150Mbps LTE plus 64 calls/84Mbps WCDMA. The first products will be available in 1H 2012.http://www.ubiquisys.com/

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