Thursday, November 8, 2012

China's CERNET Builds 100G OTN with ZTE


The China Education and Research Network (CERNET) has selected ZTE for phase 3 network expansion. The phase 3 expansion will begin in 2012 and aims to expand the coverage and transmission capacity of the network and to improve its speed and security.  The network will cover Beijing, Chongqing, Dalian, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Shanghai, Shenyang, Shenzhen, Wuhan and Xi’an.

ZTE will supply its coherent 100G solution and ZXONE 8000 series OTN products to build the backbone bearer network. The ZTE platform is capable of hybrid transmission of 100G and 10G services and supports a seamless upgrade from 10G to 100G.

The China Education and Research Network (CERNET) is a national academic computer network managed by the Ministry of Education and built and operated by universities and colleges such as Tsinghua University. At present, more than 2,000 universities, colleges, middle schools, primary schools and scientific research institutes are connected to CERNET, supporting more than 20,000,000 users.

http://wwwen.zte.com.cn/en/press_center/news/201211/t20121108_368117.html

Terra Deploys Juniper's QFabric Data Center Architecture


Terra, a leading global digital media company, is anchoring its data center network with Juniper Networks' QFabric architecture. Terra has completed a data center network transformation by seamlessly transitioning existing data center switches into nodes in a single-tier QFabric architecture.

Terra's web properties reach a monthly audience of over 100 million.  The companies said the new QFabric architecture will enable Terra to support events that will place Brazil on the global stage -- and where streaming video will be in highest demand -- including the Confederation Cup in 2013, World Cup in 2014 and the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Juniper notes that its QFabric architecture can support up to 6,144 10GbE ports within a single data center network fabric. Terra began with QFX3500 10GbE top-of-rack switches earlier this year to optimize the delivery of cloud-based services to its customers before seamlessly transitioning those same switches to the edge nodes of a single-tier network with the QFabric architecture. Terra further consolidated its data center architecture with the QFabric architecture by leveraging support for converged storage.

During the London Olympics this past summer, Terra was the only online broadcaster in Latin America with Web and mobile broadcasting rights. During the Games, Terra simultaneously transmitted 4,760 hours of high-definition streaming video to 100 million viewers over 36 channels through the Web, mobile phones and tablets.

The deployment was supported by Sao Paolo-based integration partner, Binário, which was named Juniper Networks Latin American Partner of the Year for 2011.

http://www.juniper.net


  • In September 2012, Qihoo 360, a leading Chinese Internet and mobile solution provider, is powering its new data center using Juniper Networks' QFabric architecture. Specifically, the company has deployed a QFX3000-G QFabric System -- designed for large enterprises, service providers and cloud data center environments -- to support its expansion into new web-based services including search and cloud offerings.

Interoute Builds its Cloud Capacity


Interoute is enhancing its cloud platform to offer computing, communication and connectivity services via its European data centers.  The company is adding an applications management product set and launching a Virtual Data Centre solution that can be configured as a private or public cloud.

The Virtual Data Centre service is initially available via Interoute's facilities in Amsterdam, Berlin, Geneva and London and will be launched via the Paris Data Centre in Q4.

Interoute is also investing in a new state of the art Data Centre in Ghent, Belgium, which will be fully operational in January 2013. The Data Centre is ISO-2007 and PCI certified, and will have an excellent, "green" Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) classification of 1.4.

Financially, Interoute said its top line revenues grew 15%, to  EUR 296.7 million in the first three quarters of 2012 over the same period in 2011.

http://www.interoute.com/

Sandvine: Internet Data Usage Up by 120% in North America


The mean monthly data usage has increased by 120% from 23GB to 51GB in the past year on North American fixed line networks (51GB is equivalent to 81 hours of video), according to Sandvine's newly released Global Internet Phenomena Report 2H2012.

Sandvine compiles data from a selection of Sandvine’s 200-plus customers spanning North America, Europe, Middle East and Africa, Caribbean and Latin America and Asia-Pacific.  The data is subscriber anonymous.

Some major findings:

  • Mobile networks: The world leader of mobile data consumption is Asia with a mean monthly usage of 659 MB, up 10% in the last six months
  • In Europe, YouTube represents more than 20% of peak period downstream traffic on mobile networks 
  • Netflix dominates North American fixed networks accounting for 33% of peak period downstream traffic 
  • Other video services on North American fixed networks include Amazon (1.8% of peak period downstream traffic), Hulu (1.4%) and HBO Go (0.5%)
  • itTorrent continues to decline in application-share, accounting for 16% of total traffic in Europe and is slightly smaller in North America, accounting for 12%  
  • In Asia-Pacific, where there are fewer paid over-the-top video services available, BitTorrent accounts for 36% of total traffic

The full 34-page report is available for download from Sandvine.

http://www.sandvine.com/news/global_broadband_trends.asp

AT&T Blazes Path to Wireless Densification with Small Cells


Wireless network densification is one of the aims of AT&T's Project VIP, said John Donovan, Sr. Exec. VP ‐ AT&T Technology & Network Operations in a webcast on November 7th.

To achieve this, AT&T will deploy more than 10,000 new macro cell sites, 1,000 more distributed antenna systems (DAS) and 40,000 small cell devices.  AT&T will lead the way in small cells with an aggressive deployment that includes LTE as well as other radio technologies.

Some key points of the plan:

  • The first deployments of small cells will be this quarter with units offering 3G UMTS and HSPA+ connectivity.  The company expects to start general deployment in Q1 2013.  The small cell devices will eventually feature UMTS/HSPA +/LTE/Wi-Fi technology in 2014. As the program builds, the company expects lower per unit costs.
  • Small cell deployments will achieve 3 goals: (1) improve spectrum efficiency, (2) build more cost-effective radio access networks, (3) improve in-building coverage for businesses and consumers.
  • By 2015, AT&T expects that more than 50% of its network densification program will use small cells.
  • AT&T has invested over $800 million in wireless networking hardening, such as battery back-ups, generators and other equipment to speed emergency network recovery
  • Voice over LTE plans are advancing.
  • Over 90% of AT&T's mobile data will ride Ethernet backhaul by year end.
  • AT&T's IP backbone now carries 33 petabytes of data on an average business day.

The full, two-hour AT&T webcast on Project VIP is archived on the company's Investor Relations website.

http://edge.media-server.com/m/p/7jkyjdut/lan/en
http://www.att.com
_______________________________________________

AT&T Enables FaceTime over Cellular for LTE Customers


AT&T will enable FaceTime over Cellular at no extra charge for iOS 6 customers with an LTE device on any tiered data plan.

AT&T will also continue to offer FaceTime over Cellular to customers with any AT&T Mobile Share plan, as well as FaceTime over Wi-Fi, which has always been available for all customers.  AT&T expects to roll out this functionality to customers over the next eight to ten weeks.

http://www.att.com

Deutsche Telekom Revenue Flat at EUR 14.7b, Growth in IPTV

Deutsche Telekom reported Q3 2012 revenue of EUR 14.7 billion, the same level as in the previous year. Adjusted EBITDA declined by 2.6 percent to EUR 4.8 billion while adjusted net profit totaled EUR 0.9 billion, 28.3 percent less than in the prior year, when taking into account substantial impairment charges regarding T-Mobile USA.

In Germany, Deutsche Telekom is seeing a positive trend in its "Entertain" Internet-based television service, as well as with mobile contract customers and VDSL lines.

The number of Entertain customers reached 1.9 million by the end of September, 39 percent more than in the prior-year period.

Year-on-year growth in fast VDSL lines even reached 55 percent. At the same time, line losses in Deutsche Telekom's traditional fixed network decreased by 12 percent compared with the same quarter in the prior year.

Mobile contract net additions reached 555,000 in the third quarter. 171,000 of these new customers were added in branded business under the Deutsche Telekom and Congstar brands, while the rest were added in the fast-growing, but much lower-revenue reseller segment (service providers).

With its operating businesses across Europe, Deutsche Telekom was hit by continued macro-economic challenges, new levys and the reduction in mobile termination rates in 9 out of 13 countries.  Total revenue in the Europe segment declined 5.7 percent year-on-year to EUR 3.7 billion. At the same time, adjusted EBITDA decreased by 4.3 percent to EUR 1.3 billion.

T-Mobile USA recorded 160,000 net additions in the third quarter thanks to strong performance in the branded prepay segment, with 365,000 branded prepay net additions. The contract customer segment recorded a loss of 492,000 customers in the past quarter, which was better than in the second quarter, but is still unsatisfactory. The churn rate for branded contract customers stood at 2.3 percent, a year-on-year decline of 0.3 percentage points. Against the second quarter, it increased slightly. One reason for this was the launch of iPhone 5 by other mobile operators.  T-Mobile USA revenue in the third quarter decreased by 5.9 percent year-on-year to USD 4.9 billion. Simultaneously, adjusted EBITDA decreased as expected by 14.2 percent to USD 1.2 billion as a result of increased spending on advertising.
http://www.telekom.com/media/company/156992

Telefónica Reaches 314 Million Accesses, Higher Profits


Telefónica reported consolidated net profit of 3,455 million euros, up 26.4% compared with the same period in 2011, while revenue was flat at EUR 46,519 million for the first nine months of 2012.

Revenue generated by Telefónica Latin America at the end of September exceeded the weighting of revenue from operations in Europe for the first time.

Some highlights

  • Total accesses increased by 5% year-on-year to 314 million by the end of September 2012, driven by the increase in mobile accesses, fixed and mobile broadband, and pay TV accesses.
  • Telefónica Latinoamérica achived 8% year-on-year increase in accesses (67% of the total growth in accesses).
  • Mobile accesses stood at 246 million at the end of the third quarter (+6% year-on-year), driven by a sustained growth in mobile contract accesses (+7% year-on-year), accounting for 33% of total mobile accesses.
  • Mobile net additions in the first nine months totalled 10.5 million accesses (excluding the disconnection of 3.6 million inactive prepay mobile accesses in Spain and Brazil).
  • The Company's mobile broadband accesses  maintained solid growth of 40% year-onyear to 47.7 million at the end of September 2012, and accounted for 19% of mobile accesses (+5 percentage points year-on-year). It should be highlighted the continued smartphone adoption by our customers (with attached data tariffs), with 10.0 million net additions in the first nine months of 2012 (+14% year-on-year).
  • Telefónica’s retail fixed broadband accesses increased by 4% year-on-year to 18.5 million at the end of September 2012, with 458 thousand net additions, reflecting the sustained growth of Telefónica Latinoamérica. Retail fixed broadband accesses reached a penetration rate of 47% over total fixed accesses.
http://www.telefonica.com/en/shareholders_investors/html/financyreg/resultados2012.shtml