Monday, August 22, 2011

Avago Sees Continued Revenue Gains

Avago Technologies reported net quarterly revenue of $603 million, an increase of 8 percent compared with the previous quarter, and up 10 percent from the same quarter last year. Gross margin was $297 million, or 49.3 percent of net revenue. This compares with gross margin of $275 million, or 49.1 percent of net revenue last quarter, and gross margin of $263 million, or 47.8 percent of net revenue in the same quarter last year.


"During the third quarter of fiscal 2011, our four target markets performed as we expected and we outperformed these markets as our revenue growth for the quarter came in at the high end of guidance," said Hock Tan, President and CEO of Avago Technologies Limited. "While uncertainties prevail in the global economy today, we continue to believe revenue will grow for the balance of the fiscal year due to share gains with certain wireless and wired OEMs."http://www.avagotech.com

WSJ: Sprint to Sell iPhone from October

Sprint will begin selling the iPhone 5 in mid-October, according to The Wall Street Journal. AT&T and Verizon Wireless are expected to get the device in the same time frame. None of the companies commented directly on the report. http://www.wsj.com

Motorola Spins Out Orthogon and Canopy Businesses as Cambium Networks

Motorola Solutions announced a deal to sell its Point-to-Point (PTP or Orthogon) and Point-to-Multipoint (PMP or Canopy) Wireless Broadband Networks businesses to Vector Capital, a leading global private equity firm. Financial terms were not disclosed.


The Motorola PTP and PMP businesses will operate as an independent company under a new name -- Cambium Networks.

The new Cambium Networks will continue to supply unlicensed and licensed solutions that address key industry verticals. Motorola Solutions plans to continue to purchase products from Cambium Networks to meet the broadband needs of its key direct public safety and federal accounts.


"We are pleased to have reached this agreement, which will further streamline the Motorola Solutions portfolio and position PTP and PMP for even greater success," said Greg Brown, chairman and CEO, Motorola Solutions. "Vector Capital has a strong track record in growing technology businesses, and we believe its continued targeted investment and oversight will best position these industry-leading brands to serve their distinct customer bases." http://www.motorolasolutions.com http://www.vectorcapital.com/

  • In April 2011, Motorola Solutions completed the sale of its Networks business to Nokia Siemens Networks for approximately $975 million in cash. The deal included Motorola Solutions' GSM, CDMA, WCDMA, WiMAX and LTE products and services. As part of the deal, responsibility for supporting 50 operators across 52 countries, as well as approximately 6900 employees, will transfer to Nokia Siemens Networks. In addition, Nokia Siemens Networks is acquiring a number of research and development facilities including sites in the United States, China, Russia, India and the UK.

Siklu Brings its Millimeter Wave Radios to North America

Siklu Wireless, a start-up based in Petach Tikva, Israel, announced its entrance into the North American market.


The flagship Siklu EtherHaul E-band radio operates in the licensed 71-76/81-86GHz portion of the spectrum and delivers 1 Gbps capacity. http://www.siklu.com

Spreadtrum Cites Leadership in TD-SCDMA

Having secured design wins for its TD-SCDMA chips with both tier-1 OEM handset manufacturers and independent design houses serving the Chinese market, Spreadtrum Communications announced that it has achieved a leadership position in China's TD-SCDMA market. The company claims to have more than 50% market share of TD-SCDMA shipments in the first half of the year, according to numbers from IHS iSuppli. Spreadtrum expects TD-SCDMA uptake to accelerate in the second half of 2011, bringing the overall market from 34 million units shipped in 2010 to more than 50 million units shipment this year.


"Our advanced 40nm platform enables us to deliver a superior 3G experience on handsets," said Dr. Leo Li, president and CEO of Spreadtrum. "The low power consumption of our TD-SCDMA baseband solutions enables up to 15 hours talk time and 17 days standby time off of 1000mAh batteries."


Spreadtrum further expects that shifts in China Mobile's purchasing strategy will help drive faster growth. As more phone models have become available, China Mobile's purchasing has shifted from central procurement tenders, in which the head office negotiates for certain models and volumes, to purchasing through local distribution channels. http://www.spreadtrum.com

LightSquared Signs Another LTE Wholesale Customer - InterGlobe

LightSquared announced a multi-year wholesale agreement with InterGlobe Communications, a business integrated service provider primarily serving the New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania region.


InterGlobe, a Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC), will become a wholesale customer on LightSquared's 4G-LTE network. InterGlobe will add high-speed mobile data and satellite services to its range of business communications solutions that include VoIP, high-speed Internet, video teleconferencing and IP telephony services offered to its growing number of business clients throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. http://www.LightSquared.com

Xtera Selected for GOKI Pacific Cable System

AT&T has contracted Xtera Communications and Kokusai Cable Ship Co. to build the GOKI (Guam, Okinawa, Kyushu, Incheon) submarine cable system.


Xtera will provide project management, system design, system integration and the Submarine Line Terminal Equipment (SLTE). Kokusai Cable Ship Co., Ltd. (KCS) will recover and re-lay portions of Transpacific-5 (TPC-5) and a retired regional submarine cable, as well as supply new cable and submerged equipment that will become part of the new solution.


Xtera and KCS will partner to build the 4200 km GOKI system by combining approximately 1,300 km of redeployed cable with remaining sections of the TPC-5 and a retired regional submarine cable. The new system will be fitted with Xtera's Nu-Wave XLR regional repeatered SLTE to maximize capacity. http://www.xtera.com http://www.k-kcs.co.jp/english

Alaska's Matanuska Telephone Deploys ADTRAN

Matanuska Telephone Association, a leading provider of communications services for south-central Alaska, has selected ADTRAN for its network. The initial deployments were focused on the delivery of voice, high-speed data and IPTV services, followed soon thereafter by FTTP for delivery of high-bandwidth services for schools and residential customers.


"As a service provider in a very competitive market, the ability to add new and advanced services easily can be the difference between growing our business or handing it over to the competition," said Eric Anderson, vice president of engineering and planning, Matanuska Telephone Association. "As with many service providers, our network had several vendors' equipment installed; supporting different applications. ADTRAN is allowing us to transition to a single platform for all access needs, which saves capital as well as operational expenses."
http://www.adtran.com

China Telecom Sees Faster Growth in Mobiles, Steady Growth in Fixed Broadband

China Telecom reported a surge in 3G subscriptions, continued fast growth in fixed line broadband and a steady loss of traditional access lines. Growth in mobile subscriptions is about 3X the growth in wireline broadband lines. The growth rate in mobile revenue (50%) is even higher than for fixed Internet access (13%)For the first six months of 2011, China Telecom posted operating revenues of RMB 120.1 billion, up by 11.7%.


"In the first half of 2011, we captured the valuable opportunities arising from the accelerated development of social and economic information to deepen strategic transformation, amidst the rapid technological advancement in mobile Internet," stated Wang Xiaochu, China Telecom's chairman. "We proactively implement our strategic positioning as 'a leader of intelligent pipeline, a provider of integrated platforms, and a participant in content and application development', adhering to integrated differentiated operation."


Some highlights:


The total number of mobile subscribers reached 108 million, representing a net addition of 17.85 million from the end of last year, up by 19.7%, of which 3G mobile subscribers was 21.54 million, representing a net increase of 9.25 million from the end of last year, up by 75.3%.


The total number of broadband subscribers reached 70.09 million, representing a net addition of
6.61 million from the end of last year, up by 10.4%.


The total number of access lines in service was 172 million, representing a net decrease of 2.83
million from the end of last year, down by 1.6%.


Mobile service revenue increased by 36.8% over the same period of last year, reaching RMB 31,139 million,
and further rising to 25.9% as a percentage of operating revenue.


In the first half of the year the monthly compound growth rate of 3G handset Internet traffic exceeded 12%.


Revenue from wireline broadband services increased by 13.1% from the same period last year, reaching a total of RMB29,755 million, further rising to 24.8% as a percentage of the operating revenue.


Revenue from wireline voice amounted to RMB26,462 million, accounting for 22.0% of the total revenue.


China Telecom's mobile ARPU is RMB52.2
http://www.chinatelecom-h.com

Cisco Introduces Machine-to-Machine Gateway Router

Cisco introduced a gateway router designed to extends corporate 3G/4G wireless WAN network services to small devices in challenging environments far beyond the confines of headquarters.


The Cisco 819 Integrated Services Router (ISR) Machine-to-Machine Gateway brings networking capabilities into non-traditional IP devices for machine-to-machine (M2M) connectivity. Cisco estimates that technologies such as the Cisco 819 ISR will help connect more than 50 billion devices to the Internet by 2020.


The Cisco 819 ISR is optimized to support very large numbers of M2M connections. It offers advanced security features including stateful and application inspection firewall, intrusion prevention, content filtering, and encryption for VPNs, which enables it to be used in sensitive environments. Additionally, its QoS features can optimize voice and video applications in remote sites, so end-users experience the same service levels as they would at headquarters. A hardened version for outdoor deployments can withstand temperatures as low as -13F (-25C) and as high as 140F (60C). http://www.cisco.com

Ethernet Alliance Hosts Energy Efficient Ethernet Plugfest

The Ethernet Alliance hosted six companies during an Energy Efficient Ethernet subcommittee interoperability plugfest held earlier this month: Broadcom, Intel, LSI, Marvell Technology Group Ltd., Qualcomm Atheros and Vitesse Semiconductor.


The plugfest, which was hosted at the UNH-IOL, the Interoperability Lab at the University of New Hampshire, was intended to verify interoperability of EEE devices that support the 100BASE-TX and 1000BASE-T EEE capabilities.


This is the second such interoperability event hosted by the Ethernet Alliance; the first event was held in April of 2010.


"The Energy Efficient Ethernet standard, technology, and products reinforce Ethernet as a ubiquitous and green connectivity technology. Sponsoring the EEE interoperability event allowed the Ethernet Alliance to support the market transition to EEE," said Crystal Black, Ethernet Alliance Marketing Chair. http://www.ethernetalliance.org

Zain Saudi Arabia Selects Alcatel-Lucent IP/MPLS

Zain Saudi Arabia has selected Alcatel-Lucent's IP/MPLS-based mobile backhaul solution to respond to the sharp increase in bandwidth requirements and to keep pace with subscribers' demands. As part of this project, Alcatel-Lucent is deploying its 7750 Service Router (SR) and 7705 Service Aggregation Router (SAR) along with the Alcatel-Lucent 5620 Service Aware Manager (SAM) and the Alcatel-Lucent 5650 Control Plane Assurance Manager (CPAM). Zain has also selected Alcatel-Lucent to provide comprehensive turnkey network-related services, including consulting, design, software integration, installation and commissioning, within the frame of this contract. Financial terms were not disclosed. http://www.alcatel-lucent.com

6connect Secures Funding for IPv6 Transition Tools

6connect, a start-up based in Palo Alto, California, secured $2 million in a Series A financing for its IPv4 to IPv6 network automation platform.


6connect, which was founded in 2009, offers a suite of software tools for migrating to and managing IPv6. Clients in production with 6connect IP address management, Domain Name Server (DNS) and peering automation tools include Tier 1 ISPs, global Enterprises, and international organizations.


The funding round was led by Hummer Winblad Venture Partners. Managing Partner, Mark Gorenberg, will join the 6connect board.


"The era of IPv6 is finally here; an Internet that is continuously accessible to devices of all sorts. With this investment 6connect is able to help more enterprises and network operators re-evaluate their IP Address Management and truly gain control of their network," said Richard Donaldson, CEO at 6connect. http://www.6connect.com