NetLogic Records Sales of $103.7 million

NetLogic Microsystems reported Q2 revenue of $103.7 million, a 5.1% sequential increase from $98.7 million for the
first quarter of 2011 and a 9.1% increase from $95.0 million for the second quarter of 2010. Net loss (GAAP) was $35.2 million or $0.51 per diluted share. By comparison, GAAP net loss was $4.8 million or $0.08 per diluted share for the second quarter of 2010.


"With continued positive trends in the wireless infrastructure market, we are seeing healthy demand for our products", said Ron Jankov, president and CEO. "Our multi-core processors posted record revenue in Q2 and we are also beginning early stage volume ramps of our NL10k and NL11k knowledge-based processors, optimized for handling IPv6 traffic. Our product development continues at an accelerated pace across our multi-core, knowledge-based processor, physical layer and digital front-end processor families, which we believe is driving a sizeable expansion of our TAM and significant growth opportunities over the next several years."http://www.netlogicmicro.com

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AppliedMicro Posts Quarterly Revenue of $60.8 million, up 4% sequentially

AppliedMicro reported Q1 2012 net revenues of $60.8 million, up 4% sequentially and up 0.1%. There was a GAAP net loss was $6.9 million or $0.11 per share compared to net loss of $4.0 million or $0.06 per share for the preceding quarter.


"Although we achieved our revenue targets for the quarter we did experience unfavorable product mix primarily with anticipated "turns" revenue for the quarter. Despite the hit to our gross margins we continue to see a high level of interest in our products and technology and I remain convinced that the long term fundamental growth drivers of our business remain intact." said Dr.Paramesh Gopi, President and Chief Executive Officer.
http://www.apm.com

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Telefónica Shows Grown from Latin America and Mobile Data

Telefónica reported Q2 revenues of 30,886 million euros in the first half of 2011 thanks to the sharp rise at Telefónica Latinoamérica (+18.4% year-on-year) and the significant increase of mobile data revenue (+18.5% year-on-year). Consolidated OIBDA advanced 3.7% to 11,304 million euros thanks to the high level of
operating efficiency, leaving an OIBDA margin of 36.6% .


Some highlights from the financial report:


Telefónica Latinoamérica and Telefónica Europa accounted for 71% of consolidated
revenue and 64% of Group OIBDA


Total accesses grew 6% year-on-year in both organic and reported terms to 295.0 million at the end of June 2011. By region, Telefónica Latinoamérica and Telefónica Europe, with year-on-year organic growth of 8% and 5%
respectively, were the main contributors to the growth in Telefónica's customer base.


Telefónica's mobile accesses totalled 227.3 million by the end of the first half of 2011, up 8% year-on-year in both organic and reported terms, underpinned by the sustained increase in the contract segment (+13% year-on-year in organic terms), which now accounts for 32% of the total mobile access base (+1.4 percentage points year-on-year in organic terms).


Mobile broadband accesses reached 29.8 million at the end of June 2011. This figure represents a penetration rate of 13% of Telefónica's mobile access base. Telefónica Europa reached a penetration rate of 28%, followed by Telefónica España (23%), while there is huge scope to increase penetration at Telefónica Latinoamérica (7% in June 2011).


Retail fixed broadband accesses reached 17.6 million, up 8% year-on-year. Bundles of voice, broadband, and television services remain key to this strategy and especially to churn control. Both in Spain and Latin America, close to 90% of retail fixed broadband accesses are bundled as part of either a dual or triple service package.
Pay TV accesses stood at 3.1 million at the end of the first half (+16% year-on-year), representing a pick-up in the growth rate thanks to the success of the commercial repositioning of the service in Latin America and the inclusion of TVA's customers in Brazil from June.


Finally, fixed telephony accesses totaled 40.7 million (-3% year-on-year).
http://www.telefonica.com

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U.S. Wireless Carriers Ask President Obama to Clear Government Spectrum Bands Below 3 GHz

The heads of major U.S. wireless operators, including Ralph de la Vega (AT&T), Patrick Riordan (Cellcom), Dan Hesse (Sprint), Philipp Humm (T-Mobile USA), Mary Dillon (U.S. Cellular) and Dan Mead (Verizon Wireless), published an open letter to President Obama asking him to clear unused and underutilized government spectrum bands below 3 gigahertz (GHz).


Specifically, the carriers are asking for the President to direct the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to identify and work to clear broad, paired, internationally-harmonized bands below 3 gigahertz.

The companies said access to spectrum in these critical bands will greatly enhance efforts to realize the important goals set forth in the FCC's National Broadband Plan.


"The U.S. wireless industry wants to remain the envy of the world by continuing to offer our customers the best and most innovative products and services. In order to meet current and projected demands for wireless technology, we must get more spectrum. By allowing our members to purchase the spectrum at auction, the U.S. Treasury will generate billions of dollars of revenue and in turn, we will continue to invest in America and Americans," said Steve Largent, president and CEO of CTIA.

.http://files.ctia.org/pdf/CTIA_Letter_28July2011.pdfIn February 2011, President Barack Obama outlined plans for a National Wireless Initiative to make high-speed wireless services available to at least 98 percent of Americans within five years, freeing up spectrum through incentive auctions, spurring innovation, and creating a nationwide, interoperable wireless network for public safety. The initiative envisions spending over $15 billion on achieving these goals, while also reducing the deficit by $9.6 billion. Money for the program would come from spectrum licensing, which is expected to raise over $27 billion over the next decade.


Key elements of the plan include the following.


* Nearly Double Wireless Spectrum Available for Mobile Broadband -- The President's initiative has set the goal of freeing up 500 MHz of spectrum. New financial-compensation tools will be put in place to enable government agencies to use spectrum more efficiently. The government will encourage "voluntary incentive auctions" that enable current spectrum holders to realize a portion of auction revenues if they choose to participate.


* The majority of the freed up spectrum would be auctioned for licensed mobile broadband, raising a projected $27.8 billion over the next decade, and a remainder would be for unlicensed use.


* Expand 4G to 98% of Americans -- the privately-owned 4G rollouts currently underway will bring access to much of the U.S.. President Obama believes that absent additional government investment, millions of Americans will not be able to participate in the 4G revolution. To that end, the President's Budget supports the 4G buildout in rural areas through a one-time $5 billion investment. This investment, to be managed by the FCC, will help catalyze universal service reform to provide access to higher-speed wireless and wired broadband, dovetail with the need for public safety to have a wireless network available in rural areas, and extend access from the almost 95% of Americans who have 3G wireless services today to at least 98% of all Americans gaining access to state-of-the-art 4G high-speed wireless services within five years.


* A Wireless Innovation (WIN) Fund to Help Drive Innovation. This $3 billion fund will support basic research, experimentation and testbeds, and applied development in a number of areas, including public safety, education, energy, health, transportation, and economic development.


* Develop and Deploy A Nationwide, Interoperable Wireless Network For Public Safety -- President Obama is calling for an investment of $10.7 billion for public safety networking: $3.2 billion to reallocate the "D Block" (which is a band of spectrum that would be reserved and prioritized for public safety and not auctioned as called for under existing law); $7 billion to support the deployment of this network; and $500 million from the WIN Fund for R&D and technological development to tailor the network to meet public safety requirements.


* Cut the deficit by $9.6 billion over the next decade -- Auctions of spectrum freed up from the government and voluntarily relinquished by current commercial users, is estimated to raise $27.8 billion. This total is above-and-beyond the auction proceeds that are used to provide an incentive for private and government users as well as the auction proceeds that are expected even absent the President's proposal. After the cost of the investments proposed by the President, the initiative would reduce the deficit by $9.6 billion over the next decade.

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France Telecom's 1H11 Revenue Rose 0.3% to 22.569 B Euros

Despite crises affecting operations in Egypt and Côte d'Ivoire and an unfavourable VAT increase in its home market, France Telecom's first half 2011 revenues rose 0.3% to 22.569 billion euros, excluding the impact of regulatory measures. Restated EBITDA was 7.613 billion euros with margin erosion limited to -1.5 percentage points.


Some highlights of the financial report:


The Group had 217.3 million customers at 30 June 2011 (excluding MVNOs), a 7.0% increase year on year on a
comparable basis with close to 14 million net additions in one year generated by mobile services, primarily in
Africa and the Middle East.


In mobile services, the Group had a total of 158.4 million customers at 30 June 2011 (excluding MVNOs), with
year-on-year growth of 10.1% on a comparable basis and 14.1 million net additions. This growth was largely in
Africa and the Middle East, which together accounted for 67 million customers at 30 June 2011, a 23.5%
increase on a comparable basis with 11.9 million net additions.


The Group had a total of 14.0 million fixed broadband services customers at 30 June 2011, representing a 5.0% year
on year increase with 664,000 net additions, including 382,000 in France, 148,000 in the other European countries
(Spain, Poland and Belgium) and 134,000 in Africa and the Middle East (Egypt, Jordan, Senegal and Tunisia).
Digital TV (IPTV and satellite) grew strongly to 4.6 million subscribers in Europe at 30 June 2011, a 27.3% increase with 977,000 net additions, mostly in France and Poland.


Mobile services performed well in France (+6.2%) and Spain (+7.3%), and emerging markets grew rapidly, rising 7.8%.


In France, the Group stabilised its mobile market share at 41% and had an estimated market share of ADSL net new additions of 22% in the second quarter.


CAPEX was equal to 10.9% of revenues, representing 2.469 billion euros in investments, an increase on the first half of 2010.


In France, mobile revenues rose 6.2%, even though the VAT increase was only partially passed through to
customers, led by the success of the strategy of segmented offers with Origami and growth in smartphones.
At the same time, the fixed broadband customer base rose 4.2% year on year as of 30 June 2011, with a
market share of ADSL new net additions of about 22%, in line with that of the first quarter;


In Spain, strong growth continued in mobile, up 7.3% in the first half of 2011, while fixed services rose 3.2%
on ADSL growth;


In Poland, mobile revenues rose 3.9%, driven by the increase in the customer base. The ADSL customer base
also rose, up 2.3% year on year at 30 June 2011;


In the Rest of World segment, excluding Egypt and Côte d'Ivoire, growth was buoyant in Africa and the Middle
East, rising 7.8%, led in particular by Cameroon, Mali and new operations.


Europe reported a 0.8% increase, with growth in the majority of countries (particularly Belgium) partly offset by the downturn in Romania. http://www.francetelecom.com

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OIF Approves OTN-capable E-NNI Routing

The Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) approved the External Network-Network Interface (E-NNI) OSPFv2-based (Open Shortest Path First, version 2) Routing – 2.0 (Intra-Carrier) Implementation Agreement.


The new IA supports routing for digital connections using ITU-T Optical Transport Networking (OTN) standards and incorporates updates and extensions to the E-NNI Routing 1.0 IA (2007), including:

• formats and encoding for routing of OTN ODUj connections



• Ethernet layer routing information designed for supporting future multilayer control plane integration.



• guidelines for topology abstraction for scalability in carrier deployments.



• extensions supporting inter-domain ASON routing that are a product of joint OIF, ITU-T and IETF efforts.

Further control plane work on new OTN features is in progress under a separate OIF project titled UNI Signaling and E-NNI Signaling/Routing IA – G.709 edition 3 amendment. This project will update OIF Signaling and Routing IAs to support new OTN features defined in ITU-T G.709 edition 3 and G.709amd2, such as ODUflex and ODUflex hitless resizing.


"The completion of this IA is important to the industry as networks move towards an OTN routing capable control plane," said Remi Theillaud of Marben Products and the OIF's Networking & Operations Working Group chair. "OIF's E-NNI Signaling 2.0 and E-NNI Routing 2.0 IAs now provide a complete inter-domain control plane solution for OTN."


In a separate item, OIF members voted to merge the Architecture and Signaling Working Group with the OAM&P Working Group and renamed it the Networking & Operations Working Group. Remi Theillaud of Marben Products has been elected as the group's new chair. http://www.oiforum.com

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Alcatel-Lucent Sees Fastest Growth in IP/MPLS Router Business

Alcatel-Lucent's Q2 revenue increased 2.4% year-over-year and increased 4.4% sequentially to Euro 3.903 billion. At constant currency exchange rates and perimeter, revenue increased 10.4% year-over-year and increased 7.6% sequentially. Reported net income (group share) was Euro 43 million or Euro 0.02 per share.


"We are on track for the year. In the second quarter, our next-generation product sales increased sharply, delivering market share gains in IP and optics, driven by the need for capacity and all-IP network transformation. From a geographic standpoint, we enjoyed significant growth in North and Latin America as well as in Asia Pacific. We have strengthened our focus on innovation by realigning our management team and sharpening our strategy further. We have accelerated actions on fixed costs and reduced internal complexity. Free cash flow improved by more than Euro 300 million in the first half of the year compared to the year ago period and throughout the company we are actively driving better working capital management for the remainder of the year.


"We are reaffirming our full-year outlook to grow faster than our addressable market with an adjusted operating margin above 5% of our 2011 sales," stated Ben Verwaayen, CEO.


Some highlights from the company's Q2 report.


Networks


Revenues for the Networks segment were Euro 2.475 billion, an increase of 7.4% compared to Euro 2.304 billion in the year-ago quarter and an increase of 2.4% compared to Euro 2.418 billion in the first quarter 2011. At constant currency exchange rates, Networks revenues increased 14.1% year-over-year and increased 5.8% sequentially.


The IP division registered its third consecutive quarter of growth in excess of 25% in the second quarter, with an increase of 27.7% from the year-ago quarter to Euro 406 million. Within the division, growth was once again driven by the IP/MPLS service router business, where revenue growth continued at last quarter's near-40% pace. Growth in the Americas region remained strong and was joined this quarter by very strong growth in the Asia Pacific region.


Revenues for the Optics division were Euro 645 million, an increase of 3.7% from the year-ago quarter that was driven by double-digit growth in the submarine business and by continued growth in WDM and wireless (microwave) transmission segments.


Revenues in the Wireless division increased 5.7% from the year-ago quarter to Euro 1.079 billion. At constant currency exchange rates, wireless revenue increased 14.8% year-over-year. Gains were led by CDMA EV-DO business in the Americas, by our 2G and 3G businesses in the Asia Pacific region and by our 4G LTE business.


Revenues in the Wireline division slipped 2.5% below their year-ago level, to Euro 357 million, but they increased 3.6% at constant currency exchange rates. Growth was strong in the Asia Pacific region, led by fiber access business. The IP-DSLAM business was stable, and the legacy TDM switching and legacy DSL businesses declined.


APPLICATIONS


Revenues for the Applications segment were Euro 486 million, a decrease of 0.6% from Euro 489 million in the year-ago quarter and an increase of 7.8% compared to Euro 451 million in the first quarter 2011. At constant currency exchange rates, Applications revenues increased 4.7% year-over-year and increased 10.2% sequentially.


Network applications revenues of Euro 200 million increased 6.4% from the year-ago quarter in the second quarter, marking a fifth consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth. The increase was led by strong growth in Digital Media & Advertising, Messaging and the Motive solution (remote customer management).


Revenues in the Enterprise applications business decreased 6.6% from the year-ago quarter, to Euro 285 million in the second quarter 2011.


SERVICES


Revenues for the Services segment were Euro 871 million, a decrease of 1.4% compared to Euro 883 million in the year-ago quarter and an increase of 7.7% compared to Euro 809 million in the first quarter 2011.


Growth picked up in the Managed and Outsourcing Solutions business in the second quarter with revenues increasing more than 20% from the year-ago quarter.


Revenues in the Network and Systems Integration (NSI) business increased at a single-digit rate in the second quarter, with continued strong growth in network transformation projects. Growth was particularly strong in the Americas.


Revenues fell at a double-digit rate in the second quarter in the Network Build & Implementation (NBI) business (which is focused on civil works) reflecting the continued impact of political unrest in North Africa and the Middle East, as well as project closeouts.


Revenues in the Maintenance business also fell in the second quarter, with declines in both "product-attached" maintenance (the maintenance of Alcatel-Lucent products) and in multi-vendor maintenance. The decline in product-attached maintenance was due to weakness in the EMEA region, which offset gains in the Americas and the Asia Pacific regions. Lower multi-vendor revenues reflect a strategic repositioning within certain projects. http://www.alcatel-lucent.com

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NTT America Deploys Bloom Energy Servers in SJ Data Center

NTT America has deployed five Bloom Energy Servers at its Lundy Data Center in San Jose, California. The fuel cells at this data center will use biogas supplied via a pipeline from a California dairy farm to generate electricity on-site.


The five Bloom Energy Servers offer a total capacity of 500kW (kilowatts), or approximately the baseline required to power 500 average homes or five 30,000 square-foot office buildings. These will produce over 4.2 million kilowatt-hours annually, while reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 1.6 million pounds, the equivalent to planting approximately 4,000 trees each year.


NTT America said the use of fuel cells helps reduce the dependency on the public electric grid and minimize its carbon footprint by using renewable fuels. Additional energy efficiency initiatives include hot aisle/cold aisle server rack design, aisle containment solutions, high efficiency computer room air conditioner (CRAC) cooling systems, distributed electricity generation and dynamic temperature sensor/control technology.


"As one of the major data center operators in the world, we recognize the importance of energy efficiency and the need for distributed generation and use of clean fuels. Equally important is our enterprise customers' interest in, and support of, energy efficiency both from the environmental and cost reduction avenues. As a key driver for the future of the data center, NTT America will continue to evaluate, support and deploy technologies that can be environmentally sound and cost effective for our customers," said Kazuhiro Gomi, president and CEO of NTT America. http://www.us.ntt.com http://www.Bloomenergy.com

• Earlier this month, AT&T announced plans to deploy Bloom Energy Servers at eleven sites in California to power their operations. The Bloom Boxes leverage solid oxide fuel cell technology to deliver clean, reliable, affordable onsite power from either natural gas or biogas. Deployment sites include facilities in Corona, Fontana, Hayward, Pasadena, Redwood City, Rialto, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Jose, and San Ramon.
  
  
  The installations will provide 7.5 megawatts (MW) of power while reducing CO2 emissions by approximately 50% compared to the grid and virtually eliminates all SOx, NOx, and other harmful smog forming particulate emissions. Once fully operational these Bloom Boxes are expected to produce over 62 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of energy annually.

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Sprint Sees Q2 Improvements, But Loss Widens

Citing higher postpaid ARPU, growth in the number of net prepaid subscribers and higher wireless equipment revenues, Sprint reported consolidated net operating revenues of $8.3 billion for Q2, 4 percent higher than in the second quarter of 2010 and remained relatively flat as compared to the first quarter of 2011. Adjusted OIBDA was $1.3 billion for the quarter, including the estimated incremental impact of $120 million from customer acquisition and retention expenditures to remain competitive in the marketplace and $73 million related to disputes and settlements, including Clearwire, and ongoing Network Vision expenses. The company reported a net loss of $847 million and a diluted loss per share of 28 cents for the quarter, which includes $588 million in equity losses of unconsolidated investments and other ($.20 per share net of tax, which includes the effect of increased valuation allowance of $209 million) and a $52 million charge ($.02 per share, which includes approximately $19 million of related increase in valuation allowance) to tax expenses.


However, gains were partially offset by net losses of postpaid subscribers and lower wireline revenues.

"Sprint's second quarter results, including our fourteenth consecutive quarter of improved customer care satisfaction, our best ever postpaid churn, more than 1 million net wireless subscriber additions and wireless service revenue growth, validate that our focus on providing simplicity, value and an unmatched customer experience is working," said Dan Hesse, Sprint CEO.


Some highlights for Q2:


Wireline revenues of $1.1 billion for the quarter declined 14 percent year-over-year primarily as a result of an annual intercompany rate reduction based on market prices for voice and IP, the scheduled migration of wholesale cable VoIP customers off of Sprint's IP platform, and lower voice volume. Sequentially, second quarter wireline revenues declined almost 3 percent primarily as a result of continued migration of wholesale cable VoIP customers off of Sprint's IP platform.


The company served over 52 million customers at the end of the second quarter of 2011. This includes 32.9 million postpaid subscribers (27.7 million via the Sprint brand on CDMA, 5 million on iDEN, and 268,000 Nextel PowerSource users who utilize both networks), 13.8 million prepaid subscribers (11.1 million on CDMA and 2.7 million on iDEN) and approximately 5.4 million wholesale and affiliate subscribers, all of whom utilize our CDMA network.


For the quarter, Sprint added nearly 1.1 million net wireless customers, including net additions of 573,000 retail subscribers and net additions of 519,000 wholesale and affiliate subscribers as a result of growth in prepaid MVNOs and M2M solutions.


Sprint lost approximately 101,000 net postpaid subscribers during the quarter, a net improvement of 127,000, or 56 percent, compared to the second quarter of 2010.


The CDMA network added approximately 226,000 net postpaid customers during the quarter, which includes net losses of 49,000 Nextel PowerSource customers. Excluding Nextel PowerSource customer losses, the Sprint brand added 275,000 net postpaid wireless subscribers. The iDEN network lost 327,000 net postpaid customers in the quarter.


The company added 674,000 net prepaid subscribers during the quarter, which includes net additions of 1.1 million prepaid CDMA customers, offset by losses of 475,000 net prepaid iDEN customers.


The credit quality of Sprint's end-of-period postpaid customers was approximately 83 percent prime.


Postpaid churn was 1.75 percent, compared to 1.85 percent for the year-ago period and 1.81 percent for the first quarter of 2011. Quarterly postpaid churn improved year-over-year and sequentially primarily as a result of a larger base of customers on fixed rate bundled plans or 4G handsets.


Approximately 9 percent of postpaid customers upgraded their handsets during the second quarter, reflecting strong demand for Sprint's handset portfolio and continued strength in contract renewals.


Prepaid churn for the second quarter of 2011 was 4.14 percent, compared to 5.61 percent for the year-ago period and 4.36 percent for the first quarter of 2011.


Wireless retail service revenues of $6.7 billion for the quarter represent an increase of almost 5 percent compared to the second quarter of 2010 and almost 1 percent compared to the first quarter of 2011.


Wireless postpaid ARPU increased year-over-year from $55 to $57, the largest year-over-year postpaid ARPU growth in over seven years. Year-over-year, ARPU benefited from higher monthly recurring revenues as a result of premium data add-on charges for smartphones and the greater popularity of fixed-rate bundle plans, partially offset by lower overage, casual data and text revenues. Sequentially, ARPU increased from $56 to $57, primarily as a result of growth in premium data add-on revenues.


Prepaid ARPU of $28 for the quarter declined slightly year-over-year and sequentially as a result of a greater mix of Assurance Wireless customers who on average have lower ARPU than the remainder of our prepaid subscriber base.


Capital expenditures, excluding capitalized interest of $102 million, were $640 million in the quarter, compared to $437 million in the second quarter of 2010 and $555 million in the first quarter of 2011.


Wireless capital expenditures were $546 million in the second quarter of 2011, compared to $319 million in the second quarter of 2010 and $449 million in the first quarter of 2011. During the quarter, the company invested primarily in data capacity as a result of increased data usage to maintain a competitive position in data service and overall network quality.


Wireline capital expenditures were $35 million in the second quarter of 2011, compared to $49 million in the second quarter of 2010 and $53 million in the first quarter of 2011. http://www.sprint.com

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Sprint and LightSquared Sign $13 Billion LTE + Satellite Deal

Sprint and LightSquared announced a 15-year agreement that includes spectrum hosting and network services, 4G wholesale, and 3G roaming. The deal gives Sprint $9 billion in cash to build out its 4G network and provides LightSquared with a Tier-One partner for bringing its wholesale-only, nationwide LTE + L-Band broadband satellite service to market, should the FCC approve its GPS terrestrial interference mitigation proposals.


Specifically, LightSquared will pay Sprint to deploy and operate a nationwide LTE network that hosts L-Band spectrum licensed to or available to LightSquared. As a wholesale-only carrier with separate core network operations, LightSquared can sell its 4G broadband capacity produced through this spectrum hosting relationship to Sprint, other wireless carriers, and retail partners.


Highlights of the Sprint/LightSquared Spectrum hosting agreement:

• During an 11-year period, LightSquared will pay $9 billion in cash to Sprint



• $4.5 billion in LTE and satellite purchase credits to Sprint, if Sprint chooses to resell capacity



• Sprint can purchase up to 50 percent of LightSquared's expected L-Band 4G capacity



• LightSquared gets a 3G nationwide roaming agreement with Sprint



• The deal is subject to LightSquared's obtaining resolution and FCC approval of certain interference issues involving terrestrial use of the L-Band spectrum.



• Sprint expects positive adjusted OIBDA and margin impact over 11 year period



• Sprint expects a free cash flow benefit



• Sprint will outline its full 4G network strategy on October 7th.

"This spectrum hosting agreement with LightSquared allows Sprint to more efficiently use its Network Vision platform," said Steve Elfman, president of Network Operations and Wholesale for Sprint. "In addition to improving our cash flow, it provides additional options and flexibility in how we meet our customers' future capacity needs."


"This agreement gives LightSquared a rapid and cost-effective radio access network build," said LightSquared Chairman and CEO Sanjiv Ahuja. "With our next generation satellite already operational and our independent core network build underway, LightSquared is now well positioned to meet the fast-growing market demand for wireless broadband services with its wholesale-only integrated 4G-LTE and satellite network." http://www.sprint.com http://www.lightsquared.com

• Earlier this week, Sprint and Crown Castle announced a new agreement to enable the delivery of the next-generation networks through Sprint’s Network Vision plan. The agreement impacts more than 10,000 of Sprint’s nationwide cell sites.



• In December 2010, Sprint unveiled its "Network Vision" for consolidating its infrastructure and spectrum into a single, more cost-effective and flexible network. Sprint also announced the selection of Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson and Samsung as key partners to enable this transformation.
  
  
  The key idea behind Sprint's "Network Vision" is to operate a single network. Sprint currently uses separate equipment to deploy services on 800 MHz spectrum, 1.9 GHz spectrum and, through its relationship with Clearwire, 2.5 GHz spectrum. The New Vision blueprint calls for the deployment of multimode base stations for delivering 3G/4G services across all of these bands. New remote radio heads at the cell sites would be connected with fiber rather than coaxial risers. The consolidated cell site would be significantly more energy-efficient.
  
  
  Sprint intends to repurpose some of its 800MHz spectrum for CDMA service, thereby enhancing coverage, particularly the in-building experience for customers. Augmenting its 1.9GHz footprint with 800MHz, Sprint expects its CDMA coverage density will increase throughout the country.
  
  
  Regarding its iDEN network and push-to-talk, Sprint expects to launch the next-generation of PTT services in 2011 on the CDMA network, offering customers sub-second call set-up time along with robust data capabilities. There are no immediate plans to force migrate iDEN customers to the CDMA network, but Sprint expects its PTT device/app portfolio on the CDMA network will continue to evolve to include high-bandwidth data services.
  
  
  "Network Vision builds on our legacy of wireless innovation and represents the next step in the evolution of our networks to best meet unprecedented growth in mobility services. We are well- positioned to take advantage of new technology, chipsets, devices and applications. Working with these three partners, we expect to deliver to our customers the most cutting-edge network capabilities available today and in the future."
  
  
  The financial impact of the Network Vision plan includes a total, estimated incremental cost over the deployment period to be between $4 billion and $5 billion. Sprint estimates the total net financial benefit over a seven-year period will be between $10 billion and $11 billion.
  
  
  The vendor contracts with Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson and Samsung includes purchases of hardware, software and services. These contracts are divided geographically:
  
  
  Alcatel-Lucent: New York City, Philadelphia, Boston, Washington, D.C./Baltimore and Los Angeles
  
  
  Ericsson: Atlanta, Miami, Houston, Kansas City and Dallas
  
  
  Samsung: Chicago, Denver, Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Seattle.

.

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Gig.U Seeks to Spur FTTH for University Communities

A coalition of 28 leading academic institutions across the U.S. have formed Gig.U: The University Community Next Generation Innovation Project. The goal is to accelerate the offering of ultra high-speed network services to their communities. Organizers said this initiative is needed because current service providers in the United States do not have any plans to offer ultra high-speed services for university communities.

Within the next 90 days. Gig.U expects to issue a Request for Information to current and potential service providers regarding new approaches for launching such networks. Gig.U noted that the Google Fiber Project prompted over 1,100 communities across the United States, including nearly all the University communities involved in Gig.U, to organize themselves to improve the business case for potential suppliers. Gig.U will build on those organizational efforts.

Gig.U is headed by Blair Levin, who currently is a Communications & Society Fellow with the Aspen Institute Communications and Society Program. Previously, he served as the Executive Director of the FCC's Omnibus Broadband Initiative, where he oversaw the development of a National Broadband Plan. http://www.fcc.gov

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USDA Announces $192 million in Loans for Broadband Projects

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced $192 million in loans for broadband projects by rural telecom carriers in eight states.


Administered by USDA Rural Development's Rural Utilities Service (RUS), this financing is part of the $690 million investment during fiscal year 2011 and is in addition to the $3.5 billion in broadband funding RUS awarded for projects under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.


Award recipients include:


Iowa

Farmers Mutual Telephone Company: $18,205,000


Iowa and Missouri

IAMO Telephone Company: $14,972,000


Kansas

Wilson Telephone Company, Inc.: $14,312,000


Montana

3 Rivers Telephone Cooperative, Inc.: $70,000,000


Oregon

Molalla Telephone Company: $22,500,000


Texas

Coleman County Telephone Cooperative, Inc.: $22,540,000


Washington

Western Wahkiakum County Telephone Company: $12,708,000


Wisconsin

Baldwin Telecom, Inc.: $16,716,000http://www.usda.gov

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