SingTel Hits 260 Mbps with FDD / TDD Carrier Aggregation

SingTel achieved data rates of up to 260 Mbps using LTE Advanced FDD / TDD Carrier Aggregation on commercial hardware and software.

In tests, which took place at the SingTel office in Singapore on October 3, 2014, utilizing a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor and Ericsson's LTE software designed to support the company's multi-standard RBS6000 family of base stations for macro and small-cell networks. In the demonstration, Ericsson aggregated 20 MHz of LTE FDD spectrum with 20 MHz of LTE TDD spectrum, supporting peak data rates up to 260 Mbps.

Ericsson said FDD / TDD Carrier Aggregation enables operators to complement their FDD networks with a cost-efficient deployment of TDD. For operators using TDD bands, the TDD uplink coverage can be a constraint. By combining TDD and FDD spectrum through Carrier Aggregation, low band FDD can deliver good uplink coverage while the TDD band can be leveraged for higher downlink capacity. LTE FDD / TDD Carrier Aggregation enables spectrum from both LTE FDD and LTE TDD to be combined to deliver higher peak data speeds and improve app coverage across the network. It increases the effective TDD coverage area by up to 70%, reducing the cost of providing TDD coverage. It also ensures efficient utilization of spectrum, increasing both the combined FDD / TDD coverage area and capacity of the network.

Commercial devices supporting FDD / TDD Carrier Aggregation are expected in 2015.

Tay Yeow Lian, Managing Director for Networks, SingTel says: "We are already using dual-layers of LTE FDD with LTE-Advanced Carrier Aggregation, and we know the performance of our mobile network is critical to ensuring that our customers have a great experience on their smartphones and tablets. Therefore, we will continue to explore the future option of bundling even TDD spectrum into the LTE carrier aggregation to expand network capacity, allowing our customers to enjoy consistent high data speed download even at high traffic areas."

http://www.ericsson.com/news/1861153


In June 2014, SingTel is launching a 4G mobile broadband service boasting data speeds of up to 300Mbps, double the speeds of currently available 4G services in Singapore.

SingTel's 300 Mbps uses LTE-Advanced technology from Ericsson.

SingTel is using LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) carrier aggregation to combine 20 MHz bandwidth each of its 1800MHz and 2600MHz spectrum bands. 

 The first live site at Singapore Expo is now ready for service.  By the end of the year, more than half of the island will be covered, including areas such as the CBD, Changi Airport and popular shopping malls. Customers can look forward to nationwide coverage by the end of 2015.

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SolidFire Raises $82 Million for Flash Storage

SolidFire, a start-up based in Boulder, Colorado, closed $82 million in Series D funding for its all-flash storage systems.

SolidFire said its revenue grew over 700 percent in 2013 and has increased over 50 percent quarter over quarter in 2014. Its customer base is approximately a 50:50 service provider/enterprise.

SolidFire also announced the expansion of its flagship SF Series product line, unveiling two new storage nodes that represent the third generation of SolidFire hardware to be released since the platform became generally available in November 2012.

The latest investments bring the company's total funding to $150 million. New investor Greenspring Associates led the round along with a major sovereign wealth fund, with participation from current investors NEA, Novak Biddle, Samsung Ventures and Valhalla Partners.

“Just as flash has disrupted the legacy disk storage market, SolidFire continues to disrupt the all-flash array market by delivering a storage platform that goes far beyond the basics of raw flash performance,” commented SolidFire’s Founder and CEO Dave Wright. “Additional funding allows us to continue to extend SolidFire’s technical advantages over the competition and will deepen our sales, marketing and channel enablement to meet the growing global demand for SolidFire’s leading all-flash storage architecture.”

http://www.solidfire.com

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OVH Installs Nuage SDN for OpenStack as a Service

OVH, the number one hosting provider in Europe, has selected the Nuage Networks' SDN Virtualized Services Platform (VSP) for deployment within and across its data centers in order to enable dedicated cloud services.

OVH chose to implement the Nuage Networks VSP to deliver an "OpenStack as a Service", through which customers can access dedicated servers in the OVH Private Cloud Computing infrastructure while leveraging OpenStack to define both network and data center resources for a better performing, more programmable, and operationally efficient cloud environment.

“We are pleased to implement Nuage Networks with OpenStack in our cloud infrastructure. The Nuage Networks SDN technology allows us to offer our customers cloud services in a more dynamic way, giving them the capability to reduce their time-to-market with a programmable and automated networking environment,”said Octave Klaba, CEO of OVH.

“We are excited to work with OVH in support of their dedicated cloud initiative, which will allow them to deliver attractive and innovative cloud services to theirEuropean and international customers, while making their infrastructure more agile, responsive, and cost effective,”added Matthieu Bourguignon, Country Sales Officer for Alcatel-Lucent France.

http://www.nuagenetworks.net/

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Integra Activates Low-Latency, Dedicated 100G Express Routes

Integra, which operates a long-haul fiber network spanning 6,400 miles across 11 Western states, has established dedicated Express Routes for its Wavelength services. The Express Routes offer low-latency, high-bandwidth backbone connectivity throughout Integra’s network footprint.

Integra has established Express Routes for dedicated, point-to-point 100G connectivity between metro areas across the Western U.S. including Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Sacramento, Salt Lake City and Seattle.

"Integra’s 100G Express Routes further extend the benefits of our Wavelength services, providing cost-efficient, low-latency connectivity for carriers, multi-location enterprise networks and content providers who require secure, dedicated bandwidth for data transport between long-haul locations,” said Joseph Harding, Integra’s chief marketing officer. "For customers who see network performance and business performance as inextricably linked, our Express Routes are the quickest path to success."

http://www.integratelecom.com/

• In April 2014, Integra announced deployment of Ciena’s 6500 Packet-Optical Platform, including WaveLogic 3 Coherent Optical Processors and Smart Raman with PinPoint advanced fiber analytics software  on a route that connects Salt Lake City to Sacramento.

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AT&T Adds Blue Jeans Video Collaboration

AT&T announced a partnership with Blue Jeans Network, a start-up based in Mountain View, California that offers cloud-based video collaboration services.

“Today, people expect convenient and effective ways to work together whether they are in the office, at home, or on the road,” said Abhi Ingle, senior vice president, Advanced Solutions, AT&T Mobile and Business Solutions. “We’re taking complexity out of the equation. From mobile to desktop to the conference room, AT&T Video Meetings with Blue Jeans gives people the tools they need to collaborate over video, virtually whenever and wherever.”

http://about.att.com/story/cloud_based_video_conferencing_with_att_and_blue_jeans.html

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Nokia Supplies VoLTE to du

Nokia Networks has supplied its VoLTE solution to du, the Middle East region’s fastest growing telecommunications service provider.

Nokia said its VoLTE solution successfully enabled VoLTE functionality in a most complex multi-vendor LTE network. The key to a successful voice service implementation in LTE network is the ability to execute a verified end-to-end VoLTE solution. Nokia’s VoLTE experts designed, tested and integrated VoLTE into du’s multi-vendor LTE network and achieved this Middle East-first VoLTE implementation in just 80 days, marking this as the world’s fastest implementation. VoLTE compatible handsets successfully connected high-definition (HD) voice calls with faster call setup time, in just 1-2 seconds, while simultaneously accessing 4G data services over the LTE network.

“With Nokia’s VoLTE solution, we will be able to use the full potential of LTE mobile broadband technology by ensuring seamless HD voice calls and video over our LTE network,” said Saleem Al Balooshi, Executive Vice President, Network Development and Operations, du. “We are committed to providing the best mobile broadband experience for our customers, and this has been reconfirmed with this fastest installation and testing of VoLTE services. With our longtime partner Nokia Networks, we will soon be able to provide HD multimedia services including browser-based apps for video conferencing, chat, file sharing and other services for our customers.”

http://nsn.com/

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Infomart Extends Data Center Fleet with Merger - Dallas, SJ, Portland, Ashburn

Infomart and Fortune Data Centers announced a merger that brings together the huge Infomart facility with Fortune's colocation facilities in San Jose, Hillsborough (OR) and soon Ashburn (Virginia).

The new Infomart Data Centers with have over 2.2 million square feet of wholesale data center and office space.  The namesake Infomart building is Dallas is one of the most connected buildings in the Southwestern U.S., serving as host to all major carriers, leading financial institutions, Equinix, etc.  The Fortune Data Centers in San Jose and Hillsborough are modern, LEED certified, low-PUE facilities serving the fast growing tech sector.  In addition, the company is the process of retrofitting an previous AOL facility in the data center alley of Ashburn, Virginia. Infomart Data Centers is financed by a $5 billion Real Estate Fund from ASB.

“We’re thrilled to increase our footprint to establish a national presence.  We are now better positioned to serve the dynamic needs of our existing and future customers, who are often looking for extended location options, in addition to a capable and trusted provider,” stated John Sheputis, CEO of Infomart Data Centers. “As we expand to new geographic locations, our customers can continue to depend on our consistent excellence and reliable, responsible, best-in-class management that they have come to expect.”

http://rethinkyourdatacenter.com/

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Spirent Sees Weaker Demand in Q3

Spirent trimmed its financial guidance for Q3 saying demand levels dipped sharply as a result of merger activity and delays in capital expenditure.  The weakened demand primarily impacted its Networks and Applications business.

Spirent now expects revenues for the third quarter to be slightly below $110.0 million compared to $107.7 million last year.

http://otp.investis.com/generic/regulatory-story.aspx?cid=486&newsid=450377

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