Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Juniper Delivers OpenFlow Application in Junos SDK

Juniper Networks is releasing the source code that drives its OpenFlow application, built on the Junos Software Development Kit (SDK), to its developers in order to expand the available toolset for enhancing network flexibility and programmability.

The Junos SDK allows developers to build custom applications that run on top of Juniper's single operating system, Junos, to expand or create new functionality on Juniper Networks switching and routing solutions. The OpenFlow application works within the Junos SDK to change the control plane to create more dynamic network programmability. The new levels of programmability enabled by OpenFlow simplify control of network devices and allow more rapid innovation of intelligent applications and solutions across the entire network infrastructure.


"Juniper is making the OpenFlow application available to an SDK developer community that includes more than five hundred organizations in order to get working code into the hands of customers so they can explore how OpenFlow and network programmability can impact networks everywhere,�? said Mike Marcellin, vice president of systems strategy and marketing at Juniper Networks. “Our priority is making the networking infrastructure more efficient and effective for customers, and OpenFlow is an important step on the path to greater programmability.�?http://www.juniper.net/developer

MetroPCS to be First with VoLTE

MetroPCS will be among the first mobile operators to deploy Voice over LTE (VoLTE), said Ed Chao, Senior Vice President, Corporate Engineering and Network Operations, speaking at 4G World in Chicago. Mavenir Systems and Acme Packet are VoLTE solution suppliers for MetroPCS. The VoLTE deployment is part of the carrier's strategy to optimize its scarce spectrum resources, as VoLTE is significantly more efficient than the existing CDMA network. http://www.convergedigest.com
http://www.mavenir.com/

Puerto Rico's Open Mobile Picks Ericsson for LTE

Puerto Rico's Open Mobile has chosen Ericsson to supply, deploy and manage its nationwide network. Under the deal, Ericsson will roll out a complete 4G/LTE solution. Ericsson will assist the operation of Open Mobile newly deployed LTE network. This is Ericsson's first full-scope contract for an LTE network combined with MPLS enabled Mobile Backhaul.
http://www.ericsson.com

Equinix Ups 2011 Guidance as Data Center Expansions Continue

Equinix reported revenues of $417.6 million for the third quarter, a 6% increase over the previous quarter and a 26% increase over the same quarter last year. This result included $17.9 million in revenues from ALOG (ALOG Data Centers do Brasil) for the quarter. Recurring revenues, consisting primarily of colocation, interconnection and managed services were $397.4 million for the third quarter, a 6% increase over the previous quarter and a 26% increase over the same quarter last year. Non-recurring revenues were $20.2 million in the quarter.


"Equinix achieved strong results in all three regions and we are on target to surpass our 2011 financial objectives,�? said Steve Smith, president and CEO of Equinix. “We plan to make additional investments in Platform Equinix so that we may continue to deliver value to our customers around the globe. Our goal is to generate over $3 billion in annual revenues in 2015, while creating significant returns for our shareholders from these investments."


The company also updated its guidance.


For the full year of 2011, total revenues are expected to be greater than $1,600.0 million. Total year cash gross margins are expected to range between 65% and 66%. Cash selling, general and administrative expenses are expected to approximate $320.0 million. Adjusted EBITDA for the year is expected to be greater than $730.0 million. Capital expenditures for 2011 are expected to be in the range of $645.0 to $665.0 million, comprised of approximately $115.0 million of ongoing capital expenditures and $530.0 to $550.0 million for expansion capital expenditures.


For the full year of 2012, total revenues are expected to be greater than $1,870.0 million. Adjusted EBITDA for the year is expected to be greater than $850.0 million. Capital expenditures for 2012 are expected to be in the range of $700.0 to $800.0 million, comprised of approximately $120.0 million of ongoing capital expenditures and $580.0 to $680.0 million for expansion capital expenditures.
http://www.equinix.com

NetLogic Sees Q3 Sales Rise 3% to $107 Million

NetLogic posted Q3 2011 revenue of $106.8 million, a 3.0% sequential increase from $103.7 million for the second quarter of 2011 and a 6.8% increase from $100.1 million for the third quarter of 2010. Third quarter 2011 net income (GAAP) was $7.2 million or $0.10 per diluted share. By comparison, GAAP net income was $5.2 million or $0.08 per diluted share for the third quarter of 2010.


"This was another positive quarter for NetLogic Microsystems,�? said Ron Jankov, president and CEO. "In addition to solid financial results, during the third quarter we marked another significant milestone in our roadmap with the announcement of the XLP®II processor, the industry's most advanced multi-core processor leveraging the advanced 28 nanometer process node. This ground-breaking new processor demonstrates our continued commitment to technology leadership and further highlights the tremendous execution capability and expertise of our team."http://www.netlogicmicro.com/

UN Commission Sets Global Broadband Targets

The United Nations' Broadband Commission for Digital Development published a set of four ambitious goals that it is urging countries around the world to adopt:


Making broadband policy universal. By 2015, all countries should have a national broadband plan or strategy or include broadband in their Universal Access / Service Definitions.


Making broadband affordable. By 2015, entry-level broadband services should be made affordable in developing countries through adequate regulation and market forces (for example, amount to less than 5% of average monthly income).


Connecting homes to broadband. By 2015, 40% of households in developing countries should have Internet access.
Getting people online. By 2015, Internet user penetration should reach 60% worldwide, 50% in developing countries and 15% in Least Developed Countries (LDCs).


"These targets are ambitious but achievable, given the political will and commitment on the part of governments, working in partnership with the private sector," said Dr Hamadoun Touré, ITU Secretary-General, who serves as co-Vice Chair of the Commission alongside UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova. The Commission is co-chaired by President Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Carlos Slim Helú, Chairman and CEO of Telmex and América Mov�l.
http://www.itu.int/net/pressoffice/press_releases/2011/42.aspx

Nokia Debuts its First Windows Phones - No Mention of LTE

Nokia marked a significant step in its new direction with the introduction of its smartphones powered by Windows Phone.


Social networking is at the heart of the new Windows Phone-based Nokia Lumia range.


"Eight months ago, we shared our new strategy and today we are demonstrating clear progress of this strategy in action. We're driving innovation throughout our entire portfolio, from new smartphone experiences to ever smarter mobile phones," said Stephen Elop, Nokia President and CEO. "From the Nokia Lumia 800 to the Nokia Asha 201, we are bringing compelling new products to the market faster than ever before. I'm incredibly proud of these new devices - and the people of Nokia who have made this happen."


The Nokia Lumia 800 features a bold design, vivid colors (cyan, magenta and black), one-touch social network access, Internet Explorer 9, a 3.7 inch AMOLED ClearBlack curved display, a 1.4 GHz processor with hardware acceleration and a graphics processor, 16GB of internal user memory and 25GB of free SkyDrive storage for storing images and music. The estimated retail price for the Nokia Lumia 800 will be approximately 420 EUR, excluding taxes and subsidies. No mention of LTE.


The o-nonsense Nokia Lumia 710 offers exchangeable back covers, instant social & image sharing, IE9, and the same 1.4 GHz processor, hardware acceleration and graphics processor. The estimated retail price for the Nokia Lumia 710 will be approximately 270 EUR, excluding taxes and subsidies.
http://www.nokia.com

Sprint and Clearwire to Extend Partnership into LTE

Sprint will continue to work with Clearwire as the companies roll out their respective LTE networks.


In its quarterly conference call, Sprint executives confirmed a non-binding cooperation agreement with Clearwire to work together on the technical specifications of the Clearwire LTE network. Specifically, the cooperation extends to the design and operations of the network. Sprint wants to ensure seamless handoffs in service layer control that meets its customer experience requirements. The agreement will cover the cell site selection and timing of site builds and involves working with OEMs to design devices and to include certain chipsets in devices. Further discussions are underway.


Sprint will be using FD-LTE while Clearwire has chosen TD-LTE technology. Devices would need to operate using both LTE flavors.


On the financial side, Sprint reported revenues of $8.3 billion and Adjusted OIBDA of $1.4 billion. Adjusted OIBDA grew sequentially and year-over-year driven primarily by strength in postpaid ARPU and continued growth in the prepaid wireless customer base.


Some highlights:


Postpaid wireless ARPU increased $3 from the year-ago period and the prepaid subscriber base has grown 23 percent since the third quarter of 2010.


The company achieved its best total company wireless net subscriber additions in more than five years. The company added nearly 1.3 million total net wireless subscribers, primarily driven by 304,000 net postpaid additions for the Sprint brand, net prepaid additions of 485,000 and net wholesale and affiliate additions of 835,000.


The iPhone has surpassed initial expectations. The iPhone is expected to be accretive for Sprint, and iPhone users
are expected to be among Sprint's most profitable customers.


Sprint expects the customer lifetime value of an iPhone customer to be at least 50% greater than a typical smartphone user. The carrier is counting on lower churn from iPhone users.


Costs related to Network Vision and the iPhone will impact cash by roughly $5.5 billion, partially offset by the benefits generated from Network Vision and the iPhone of $1.1 billion.


As part of Network Vision, Sprint will be decommissioning of over 25,000 iDEN sites.


As of Sept. 30, 2011, the company's total liquidity was approximately $5 billion, consisting of $4 billion in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments and $1 billion of undrawn borrowing capacity available under its revolving bank credit facility. The company's next scheduled debt maturities of $2.3 billion are due in March 2012.
http://www.sprint.com

Akamai Posts Q3 Revenue of $281.9 million, up 11% YoY

Akamai Technologies posted Q3 2011 of $281.9 million, an 11 percent increase over third quarter 2010 revenue of $253.6 million, and a 2 percent increase over second quarter 2011 revenue of $277.0 million. Net income (GAAP) was $42.3 million, or $0.23 per diluted share, a 6 percent increase from third quarter 2010 GAAP net income of $39.7 million, or $0.21 per diluted share, and a 12 percent decrease from second quarter 2011 GAAP net income of $47.9 million, or $0.25 per diluted share.

"We are pleased with Akamai's performance in the third quarter, as more customers adopted the Akamai Platform for their online businesses," said Paul Sagan, president and CEO of Akamai. "We have continued to develop the platform of choice for businesses seeking to capitalize on opportunities in mobile, cloud, security, and video, as well as manage the risks of the hyperconnected world." http://www.akamai.com

LSI to Acquire SandForce for $370 Million -- SSD Processors

LSI agreed to acquire SandForce, a start-up based in Milpitas, California, for $322 million in cash, net of cash assumed, and assume approximately $48 million of unvested stock options and restricted shares held by SandForce employees.


SandForce is a leading provider of flash storage processors for enterprise and client flash solutions and solid state drives (SSDs). Flash storage processors provide the intelligence required to deliver the performance and low-latency benefits of flash storage in enterprise and client applications. With market-proven, differentiated DuraClass™ technology, SandForce flash storage processors improve the reliability, endurance and power efficiency of flash-based storage solutions.

LSI said the acquisition improves its competitive position in the fast-growing server and storage PCIe flash adapter market, where the WarpDrive family of products from LSI already uses SandForce flash storage processors. The complementary combination of LSI's custom capability and SandForce's standard product offering propels LSI into an industry-leading position in the rapidly growing, high-volume flash storage processor market space for ultrabook, notebook and enterprise SSD and flash solutions.


"Flash-based solutions are critical for accelerating application performance in servers, storage and client devices," said Abhi Talwalkar, LSI president and chief executive officer. "Adding SandForce's technology to LSI's broad storage portfolio is consistent with our mission to accelerate storage and networking. The acquisition represents a significant, rapidly growing market opportunity for LSI over the next several years."http://www.sandforce.com
http://www.lsi.com
  • In February 2011, SandForce released its second-generation SF-2200 and SF-2100 SSD Processors optimized for SSDs deployed in client computing applications. The SandForce SF-2200 processors feature a 6 Gigabit-per-second

  • In September 2010, SandForce raised $25 million in Series D funding for its SSD (Solid State Drive) processors. SandForce's chips are designed to overcome data retention issues associated with NAND flash memory, making it possible to build SSDs that deliver unprecedented performance over the life of the drive with orders-of-magnitude higher reliability than enterprise-class HDDs (Hard Disk Drives).


    The new funding was led by Canaan Partners. Existing investors who also participated include DCM, Storm Ventures, Translink Capital, LSI Corporation & UMC Capital.

Sandvine: Netflix Accounts for 33% of Peak Traffic in U.S.

Netflix alone accounts for 32.7% of peak downstream traffic in the U.S., a relative increase of more than 10% since spring, according to Sandvine's newly released 10th Global Internet Phenomena Report: Fall 2011.


Some other major findings from the report include:


Within fixed networks in the United States, Real-Time Entertainment applications are the primary drivers of network capacity requirements, accounting for 60% of peak downstream traffic, up from 50% in 2010. Rate-adaptive video represents the majority of video bandwidth, with Netflix alone representing 32.7% of peak downstream traffic, a relative increase of more than 10% since spring.


We have entered the “Post-PC Era�?, as the majority of Real-Time Entertainment traffic (55%, by volume) is destined for game consoles, set-top boxes, smart TVs, and mobile devices being used in the home, with only 45% actually going to desktop and laptop computers over North American fixed networks.


Video in mobile networks continues to gain momentum. In North America, Real-Time Entertainment is now 32.6% of peak downstream traffic, while in Asia Pacific it is 41.8%. The largest contributor is YouTube, and other applications like peercasting PPStream and Netflix are making inroads.


Mobile Marketplace traffic accounts for 9.4% of peak downstream usage in APAC and 5.8% in North America, led in both cases by Apple and Google. Applications like Skype and WhatsApp Messenger, that replace the traditional revenue sources of voice and texting, are being installed by growing numbers of subscribers.


In North America on fixed networks, mean usage remained generally flat at the high end (22.7 GB from 23.0 GB reported in May) and median usage dropped to 5.8 GB from 7.0 GB. This shows that while subscribers aren't using more traffic overall the usage gap between heavy and light users is broadening and that more data is being used during the small peak period window. In Asia-Pacific fixed networks, median monthly usage is 17.7 GB, which is the largest we have observed.


“The fact that more video traffic is going to devices other than a PC should be a wake-up call that counting bytes is no longer sufficient for network planning. Communications Service Providers need to have detailed business intelligence on not only the devices being used but also the quality and length of the videos being watched so they can engineer for a high subscriber quality of experience and not simply adding capacity through continuous capital investment,�? said Dave Caputo, CEO, Sandvine.
http://www.sandvine.com

Broadband Forum Issues First GPON ONU Certifications

The Broadband Forum announced that seven products have now passed its new GPON ONU Certification Program and achieved full certification. The seven vendors whose products have achieved the first G-PON certifications are: Alcatel-Lucent, Broadlight, Cambridge Industries Group, Huawei, PMC-Sierra, PT Inovacao and Tecom.


Enrollment in the certification program is now open to G-PON ONU products with Ethernet interfaces and is based on the Broadband Forum's OD-247 test plan. It tests conformance to TR-156 using OMCI as defined in the ITU G.988, which are the most critical standards to interoperable implementations. http://www.broadband-forum.org

Infinera Sees Possible Impact of Flooding in Thailand

Flooding in Thailand is impacting the operations of component and service suppliers to the optical industry, and Infinera is planning for some supply chain disruption. Fabrinet, one of Infinera's contract manufacturers, reported this week a significant escalation of the impact of the flooding on its facilities in Thailand. Based on the information available at this time, Infinera said it currently estimates the potential negative impact to its December quarter guidance to be in the range of 5-15% of revenues. http://www.infinera.com

ADTRAN Advances its Optical Networking Edge

ADTRAN has broadened its Optical Networking Edge (ONE) portfolio to support scalable, multi-ring architectures and extend optical networking.


ADTRAN's Optical Networking Edge (ONE) integrates network access and aggregation with optical edge metro transport using the company's flagship Total Access 5000 platform. This is achieved using a mini-ROADM transport module card with advanced network management capabilities.


The new enhancements combine Packet Optical Transport System (P-OTS) with Ethernet Ring Protection Switching (ERPS) and Ethernet LAN (ELAN). This enables the operator to extend resilient any-to-any Ethernet services across middle mile networks.


"ADTRAN's ONE solution provides unmatched network edge scalability that can now be extended to middle mile applications for delivery of both legacy and innovative new business and residential services, as well as handle the increasing traffic from 4G/LTE mobile services,�? said Mano Nachum, packet optical networking product line manager, ADTRAN's Carrier Networks Division. "Our customers rely on ADTRAN as their strategic network evolution partner and we are committed to delivering the solutions that enable them to grow in a capitally efficient and operationally simplified manner with best-in-class technologies."

Separately, ADTRAN announced that Consolidated Telephone has chosen to expand their existing Total Access 5000 infrastructure with ONE to provide an edge-optimizes Packet Optical Transport Solution. Consolidated Telephone serves business and residents in central Nebraska. http://www.adtran.com