Verizon to Acquire Intel's Cloud TV Assets

Verizon Communications agreed to acquire the assets of Intel Media, a business division dedicated to the development of Cloud TV products and services. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The deal includes intellectual property rights and other assets that enable Intel’s OnCue Cloud TV platform. Verizon will also make employment offers to substantially all of the approximately 350-person Intel unit, which will continue to be based in Santa Clara and be led by its current management team.

Verizon said the purchase will accelerate the availability of next-generation video services, both integrated with Verizon FiOS fiber-optic networks and delivered "over the top" to any device.

Lowell McAdam, chairman and CEO of Verizon, said: “The OnCue platform and team will help Verizon bring next-generation video services to audiences who increasingly expect to view content when, where and how they want it. Verizon already has extensive video content relationships, fixed and wireless delivery networks, and customer relationships in both the home and on mobile. This transaction provides us with the capabilities to build a powerful, capitally efficient engine for future growth and innovation. We will have the opportunity to enhance, expand, accelerate and integrate our delivery of video products and services to better serve audiences on a wide array of devices.”

Brian Krzanich, CEO of Intel Corporation, said: “Intel Media’s over-the-top TV products are truly innovative and under Verizon’s ownership have the potential to change how people interact with content. The critical factor in gaining efficient access to content is based on your ability to scale quickly in subscribers and end users, which is why selling these assets to Verizon makes perfect sense, with its millions of FiOS network and wireless customers. This sale also enables Intel to further align our focus and resources around advancing our broad computing product portfolio in segments ranging from the Internet-of-Things to data centers.”

http://www.intel.com
http://www.verizon.com

• In December, Verizon announced a definitive agreement to acquire EdgeCast, an industry leader in content delivery networks. Also in fourth-quarter 2013, Verizon announced the acquisition of upLynk’s exclusive technology that streamlines the process of uploading and encoding of video for live, linear and video-on-demand content.
• Edgecast operates a series of CDN "SuperPOPS" in over 30 locations around the world.  Unlike earlier CDNs, which placed a small number of servers in thousands of locations, Edgecast focused on a smaller number of strategic global locations near primary Internet Exchange Points. These caching servers are located in data centers where major backbone providers operates Internet exchanges.
  
  EdgeCast claims more than 6,000 accounts, including some of the world’s leading Web brands for global media delivery and acceleration services.
  
  Verizon Digital Media Services plans to integrate EdgeCast capabilities in its own network.

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Verizon: 44% of Post Paid on LTE, Remaining Copper Lines < 1 Million

Verizon reported Q4 2013 revenue of $31.1 billion, a 3.4 percent increase compared with fourth-quarter 2012, with 84 percent of revenues generated by Verizon Wireless, FiOS and strategic enterprise services.  EPS for Q4 2013 came in at $1.76 in EPS in fourth-quarter 2013, compared with a loss of $1.48 per share in fourth-quarter 2012. Fourth-quarter 2013 results included an after-tax gain of $3.7 billion, or $1.29 per share, primarily non-cash and related to the annual actuarial valuation of benefit plans and mark-to-market pension adjustments.

“Verizon delivered a total return of 18.6 percent to our shareholders in 2013, while attracting more customers than our competitors and improving our financial performance. This included more than 20 percent year-over-year increases in operating cash flow and EPS. In 2014, we look forward to acquiring sole ownership of Verizon Wireless, the best asset in the global wireless industry, and leveraging all our assets to deliver innovative products to customers and more value to shareholders," stated Lowell McAdam, Verizon chairman and CEO.

Some operational highlights:

Wireless

• Verizon Wireless added 1.7 million retail net connections in the fourth quarter, including 1.6 million retail postpaid net connections. 
• The company added 4.1 million net retail postpaid connections in 2013. These additions exclude acquisitions and adjustments. 
• At the end of 2013, the company had 102.8 million retail connections, a 4.7 percent increase year over year – including 96.8 million retail postpaid connections. 
• Verizon Wireless had 35.1 million retail postpaid accounts at the end of the fourth quarter and an average of 2.8 connections per account, up 4.5 percent year over year. 
• At year-end 2013, smartphones accounted for 70 percent of the Verizon Wireless retail postpaid customer phone base, up from 67 percent at the end of third-quarter 2013. 
• Retail postpaid churn was 0.96 percent in fourth-quarter 2013, up 1 basis point year over year and down 1 basis point from third-quarter 2013. Total retail churn was 1.27 percent in fourth-quarter 2013, up 3 basis points year over year. 

Wireline

• In fourth-quarter 2013, Verizon added 126,000 net new FiOS Internet connections and 92,000 net new FiOS Video connections. 
• Verizon had a total of 6.1 million FiOS Internet and 5.3 million FiOS Video connections at year-end 2013, representing year-over-year increases of 11.9 percent and 11.3 percent, respectively. 
• FiOS penetration (subscribers as a percentage of potential subscribers) continued to increase. FiOS Internet penetration was 39.5 percent at the end of fourth-quarter 2013, compared with 37.3 percent at the end of fourth-quarter 2012. In the same periods, FiOS Video penetration was 35.0 percent, compared with 33.3 percent. 
• The FiOS network passed 18.6 million premises by year-end 2013. By the end of fourth-quarter 2013, 46 percent of consumer FiOS Internet customers subscribed to FiOS Quantum, which provides speeds ranging from 50 to 500 megabits per second, up from 41 percent at the end of third-quarter 2013. 
• In fourth-quarter 2013, 55 percent of consumer FiOS Internet sales were for speeds of at least 50 megabits per second. 
• Broadband connections totaled more than 9.0 million at year-end 2013, a 2.5 percent year-over-year increase. Net broadband connections increased by 20,000 in fourth-quarter 2013, as FiOS Internet net additions more than offset a decline in DSL-based High Speed Internet connections. 
• In 2013, Verizon migrated 330,000 homes to fiber, exceeding the target of 300,000 migrations within FiOS markets. By year-end, Verizon had fewer than 1 million consumer customers served by copper in FiOS markets. 
• Verizon Enterprise Solutions began deploying innovative cloud, security, M2M (machine-to-machine) and other wireline and wireless business technology solutions for a variety of new clients around the globe in the quarter, including Autonet, CME Group, FrieslandCampina, Hyundai, Tesco, U.S. Department of Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, U.S. Agency for International Development, Defense Information Systems Agency and U.S. Department of the Interior. 

http://newscenter.verizon.com/corporate/news-articles/2014/01-21-verizon-reports-2013-4q-earnings/

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ONF Appoints Huawei’s Serge Manning to Head Wireless and Mobile WG

The Open Networking Foundation (ONF) has appointed Dr. Serge Manning, senior manager for corporate standards at Huawei, as the chairperson of the ONF Wireless and Mobile Working Group.

The recently formed Working Group was created to collect use cases and determine architectural and protocol requirements for extending OpenFlow-based technologies to wireless and mobile domains. The goal is to propose common ground architectural frameworks that will encompass different elements of OpenFlow-based or OpenFlow-oriented wireless and mobile network domains. Already the group has created three projects, related to the mobile packet core, wireless backhaul, and integrated fixed/wireless operation in the enterprise.

“Serge brings decades of telecommunications experience to his position as chair of our Wireless and Mobile Working Group,” said Dan Pitt, executive director of the Open Networking Foundation. “His expertise and the work of this new Group will be important as we more deeply engage with wireless and mobile operators around the globe. With the exponential growth of mobile data, there is an inherent need to simultaneously operate over multiple wireless technologies. By studying the open SDN requirements of wireless and mobile networks, OpenFlow and related ONF endeavors can be enhanced to bring even greater benefit to this space.”

“I look forward to working closely with other technical Working Groups within ONF to expand carrier and operator knowledge of the benefits of SDN for their networks,” said Dr. Manning. “Standards such as OpenFlow are highly applicable to wireless and mobile networks, even though there has not been a wide exploration of the specific needs and requirements of these networks to date. That is why we were created.”

http://www.opennetworking.org

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Video: ONF's Dan Pitt Discusses SDN for Wireless & Mobile

http://youtu.be/R0rXfAtPvPQ

Work gets underway at The Open Networking Foundation's (ONF's) new Wireless and Mobile Working Group.  Dan Pitt, Executive Director of the ONF, comments on the appointment of Dr. Serge Manning, senior manager for corporate standards at Huawei, as chairperson of the working group.

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TeliaSonera IC Expands European Backbone with Coriant's 100G Transport

TeliaSonera International Carrier (TSIC), has selected Coriant's hiT 7300 DWDM platform to enable 100G connectivity across its new Warsaw-Brno-Frankfurt route, which connects to TSIC’s existing Pan-European, pan-North American and transatlantic DWDM network.  Financial terms were not disclosed.

"The addition of this new fiber Warsaw-Brno-Frankfurt fiber delivers increased diversity and higher performance on a strategic route supporting not just our Polish and German customers but also for those in the Baltics, Eastern Europe and beyond," says Brendan Ives, President of TeliaSonera International Carrier.

"We are pleased to strengthen our strategic partnership with TSIC and help it to expand the range of flexible, scalable and resilient service offerings for its customers," says Herbert Merz, President and CEO of Coriant.

http://www.coriant.com

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BT Achieves Record Optical Spectral Efficiency in Tests with ALU

Alcatel-Lucent and BT achieved optical transmission speeds of up to 1.4 Tbps, with a record spectral efficiency of 5.7 bits per second per Hertz (b/s/Hz), in a trial last autumn over a 410 km fiber link between BT’s Adastral Park research campus in Ipswich and the BT Tower in London.

The field trial used a new "flexible grid: infrastructure (Flexgrid) to vary the gaps between transmission channels, usually set at 50 GHz, to a new spacing of 35 GHz by using the 400 Gbps Photonic Services Engine (PSE) technology on the 1830 Photonic Service Switch (PSS). Alcatel-Lucent said that by increasing the density of channels on the fiber, this approach achieved up to 42.5% greater data transmission efficiency compared to today’s standard networks. The 1830 PSS can be used as an optical extension shelf of the 7750 Service Router (SR) and the 7950 Extensible Routing System (XRS).

Some highlights:

• During October and November of 2013, BT and Alcatel-Lucent successfully demonstrated a number of world-leading high-speed alien wavelength technical achievements, including a record spectral efficiency of 5.7b/s/Hz which is equivalent to fitting a 1Tb super channel in less than 200GHz spectrum.
• The trials were performed using production equipment that was software reconfigurable between 200Gb/s using 16 QAM modulation and 100Gb/s using QPSK modulation
• Alien Wavelengths allow telecom operators like BT to introduce new features and technology without the need to update the existing optical transport infrastructure
• Flexgrid maximizes the spectral efficiency of the installed fiber infrastructure, deferring the need to deploy costly new fiber infrastructure
• Trial and evaluation of the 1.4Tb/s alien super channel showed stable, error-free operation, when being transmitted with a mix of 40Gb/s and 100Gb/s native wavelengths. This was achieved for standard 50GHz sub-channel spacing and for flexgrid with sub-channel spacing down to 35GHz.

http://www.alcatel-lucent.com
http://www.bt.com

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ASSIA and Lantiq Sign Vectored VDSL Cross-license Deal

Lantiq and ASSIA Inc. announced a collaboration and cross-license agreement for the management of vectored systems.

Lantiq has shipped nearly two million vectored VDSL ports to its DSLAM vendor customers.

ASSIA’s DSL Expresse management software manages approximately 20 percent of all DSLs worldwide.

The companies said the combination of ASSIA's DSL Expresse Smart Vectoring management software with Lantiq vectored VDSL chipsets enables broadband service providers to automatically plan, predict, manage and optimize the performance of their vectored VDSL networks, thereby ensuring the best possible customer experience and maximizing their return on investment.

“By collaborating with ASSIA, we expect to leverage the full benefits of vectored VDSL, regardless of deployment scenario, and to set the highest standards for product performance for our customers,” said Lantiq CEO Dan Artusi. “The agreement also assures substantial IP protection for customer deployments based on Lantiq chipsets and ASSIA software tools.”

“ASSIA is delighted to be working with Lantiq on the products and solutions that make the deployment and management of vectored VDSL networks easier and faster,” said ASSIA CEO and Chairman, Dr. John Cioffi. “As a result of this agreement, service providers worldwide have the opportunity to improve customer experience and economically deliver high-performance broadband services to the digital home.”

http://www.assia-inc.com
http://www.lantiq.com

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Dell'Oro: Optical Transport Equipment Sales to Hit $15 Billion by 2018

Total optical transport equipment revenues are forecast to reach $15 billion by 2018, according to a new report from Dell'Oro Group. DWDM equipment sales are expected to drive the majority of the optical market’s growth for the next five years.

“The most significant of a number of trends unfolding in the optical market, is the rapid expansion of 100 Gbps DWDM wavelength shipments, as its use moves beyond the core network and into the metro network,” said Jimmy Yu, Vice President of Optical Transport Market Research at Dell’Oro Group.  “This projected demand for 100 Gbps will subsequently be one of the key growth drivers for the optical market over the next five years,” added Mr. Yu.

Key Optical Market Trends 2013-2018:

• Continued demand for capacity driving the need for DWDM equipment and specifically 100 Gbps wavelengths.  Dell’Oro Group expects the DWDM market to grow at an average annual rate of eight percent through 2018 and for 100 Gbps wavelengths to contribute the largest share of DWDM capacity shipments, approaching 80 percent by 2018.
• Movement towards OTN and packet transport driving the demand for optical packet platforms with OTN switching features.  Dell’Oro Group projects optical packet platform revenue to grow at a 15 percent compounded annual growth rate.
• Ratio of equipment sales in metro optical versus core optical applications to drift over the next five years, with the majority of spending in metro applications.

http://www.delloro.com/news/optical-transport-equipment-market-to-reach-15-billion-by-2018

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Dell’Oro: LTE RAN Revenues to more than Triple by 2018.

The Mobile Radio Access Network (RAN) LTE equipment market is forecast to grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21 percent between 2012 and 2018, according to a new report from Dell'Oro Group.  The top three vendors in the LTE RAN market on a revenue basis in Q3 2013 were Ericsson, Huawei, and Alcatel-Lucent.

“The pace of change throughout the device, application, and infrastructure ecosystem is impacting service providers’ mobile broadband strategies,” said Stefan Pongratz, director of Dell’Oro Group’s RAN and Small Cell Programs.  “We are forecasting that service providers will spend almost as much on LTE radio equipment between 2011 and 2017 as they did on WCDMA equipment between year 2000 and 2012.  This of course means that the LTE peak will come much sooner than the peak in WCDMA, and that spending on legacy technologies will also decline at a faster rate,” continued Pongratz.

Other 5-year Forecast Report highlights:

• Total RAN market—macro and small cell—expected to grow in 2013 and 2014, with one percent CAGR decline between 2013 and 2018
• Near-term growth in China and Europe to offset declining radio spending trends in North America
• Macro investments to remain strong throughout the forecast period with more than 1 M macro (RRU, antenna integrated radio, active antenna system, centralized RAN) radios shipping in 2018
• 40 percent of all macro LTE radios that will ship in the forecast period to use TDD technology.

http://www.delloro.com/products-and-services/mobile-radio-access-network#5-year-forecast-report

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Savvis Rebrands as CenturyLink Technology Solutions

Savvis has adopted the CenturyLink Technology Solutions brand. It continues to offer a broad set of colocation, managed services, cloud and network offerings.

“We are pleased to become CenturyLink Technology Solutions, as aligning our brand with CenturyLink demonstrates the deeper ties to the broad portfolio of IT solutions that we collectively deliver for businesses,” said Jeff Von Deylen, president of CenturyLink Technology Solutions. “While we are extremely proud of our nearly 20-year legacy operating as Savvis within the industry, we value CenturyLink’s extensive market leadership and look forward to operating under one brand to continue helping businesses become more agile, secure and sustainable with integrated solutions that deliver bottom-line results.”

http://www.centurylink.com/technology

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