Hortonworks Soars in IPO

Shares in Hortonworks, which offers enterprise Apache Hadoop solutions, soared on Friday from an IPO price of $16.00 to close at $26.48 - up 65% for the first day.  The share are traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol “HDP.”

Hortonworks raised approximately $100 million through the IPO.  The company is based in Palo Alto, California.

http://hortonworks.com/

• Hortonworks develops, distributes and supports a 100% open source Apache Hadoop data platform that deeply integrates with existing IT investments and upon which enterprises can build and deploy Hadoop-based applications. The company has deep relationships with the key strategic data center partners, including Microsoft, SAP, Teradata, HP and others.

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Windstream Swaps CEO

Windstream announced the departure of its current president and CEO, Jeff Gardner, and his replacement by Tony Thomas as president, CEO and a director of the company.

“I am proud to have led Windstream from its creation in 2006. It has been a privilege to work with our Board, leadership team and talented associates across the organization,” said Jeff Gardner. “The Board and I agree that a change in perspective is needed in order to accelerate the pace of change within the company and to more effectively respond to the rapidly evolving needs of our customers.

Tony Thomas, 43, previously served as the chief financial officer for Windstream from August 2009 through September 2014. He was instrumental in the development of Windstream’s REIT spinoff and has served as president of real estate investment trust operations at Windstream since October 2014.

http://news.windstream.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=1592

• In late November, Windstream announced layoffs affecting about 350 people in its workforce of 13,000.
• For Q3 2014, Windstream reported revenue of $1.46 billion, a decline of 2.9 percent from the same period a year ago.

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Chile's Entel tets 700 MHz LTE with Ericsson

Entel, Chile's leading telecommunications operator, in testing the APT700 (Asia-Pacific Telecommunity 700MHz) spectrum in collaboration with Ericsson.

The trial was conducted by enabling 10 test sites with equipment using APT700 MHz frequency band on Entel's live 4G LTE network in Rancagua city, which is located 85 km south of Santiago de Chile.  The operator is expected to proceed with commercial deployment in 2015.

Antonio Büchi, CEO, Entel, said: "The APT700 band has the ability to provide excellent in-building coverage as well as wide area coverage in suburban and rural areas. We expect, once we have the release by the government, to deploy our nationwide network. Our customers will benefit from an LTE mobile broadband service featuring a combination of high speed, improved throughput and low latency, all of which combine to provide an enhanced user experience."

http://www.ericsson.com/news/1879150

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Fujitsu Launches Supply Chain and Config Service

Fujitsu Network Communications is introducing a Supply Chain and Configuration Service to help network operators with the procurement, integration, testing and deployment of multivendor technology projects.

Fujitsu said its Supply Chain and Configuration Services can deliver turn up-ready systems and components to the installation site in less than a third of the typical implementation time, while reducing associated costs by up to 15 percent.

“The quality, predictability and savings offered by our Supply Chain and Configuration Services solution makes it very attractive to many technology companies,” said Barrie Hall, Senior Vice President, Fulfillment at Fujitsu Network Communications, Inc. “Our customers can count on us to deliver, on-time, preconfigured solutions with hardware and software customized to customer specifications. We stage all technology before shipping to the installation site so that the only thing left to do is un-crate and connect.”

Supply Chain and Configuration Services such as procurement; logistics management; integration, test and turn-up prior to field deployment; packaging and staging/warehousing can be provided individually or offered as an end-to-end solution.

http://us.fujitsu.com/telecom

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