China Mobile Demos 220 Mbps on 3.5 GHz interband TD-LTE

China Mobile has demonstrated 220 Mbps peak data transmission rates based on 3.5 GHz interband TD-LTE-Advanced carrier aggregation.

The live demo, which was conducted at this week's Mobile World Congress Shanghai 2015, used a commercial Nokia Flexi Multiradio 10 Base Station and a test device to run combined 3.5 GHz and 2.6 GHz TD-LTE frequency bands.

The 3.5 GHz band is another important spectrum resource for 4G networks, which will be used in TD-LTE. This demo not only proves the commercial feasibility of the 3.5 GHz TD-LTE band, but also shows 3.5 GHz can be aggregated with current bands, enhancing 4G networks with more capacity.”

http://networks.nokia.com

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Nokia Launches LTE Radio and Core Features for IoT

Nokia Networks launched its IoT connectivity solution for LTE core and radio networks.Currently, mobile networks are primarily optimized for smartphone traffic. IoT applications are expected to bring new requirements for the network infrastructure, such as the number and type of connected devices, as well as different traffic patter.

The new IoT connectivity solution consists of two elements: Nokia’s Core for IoT and its enhanced Smart Scheduler for LTE radio.

Nokia’s Core:

• Drives down total cost of ownership (TCO) for IoT solutions on operators’ networks and allows for a business mix of high ARPC and low ARPC M2M traffic
• Improves operational efficiency by about 35% compared to legacy networks and provides 40% better CPU utilization e.g. for smart meter traffic
• Open APIs allow for real-time data mining, service control and integration, making it much easier to ensure network optimization and service enablement for IoT applications
• Programmability enables operators to cope with a multitude of applications and proactively reduce signaling traffic, e.g. by adjusting the timer value for service based paging for connected cars

Nokia’s enhanced Smart Scheduler:

• With self-adapting algorithms in Flexi Base Stations, it adapts to the IoT device traffic profile, which will become more relevant with the increasing variety of IoT use cases from stationary metering applications to demanding vehicle-to-infrastructure communications
• It reduces signaling load in the network, enhances responsiveness of the service and lowers power consumption of the IoT modem
• It improves connection quality even at the cell edge with minimized impact on network capacity

"While IoT represents a major growth opportunity for operators, they need to prepare their networks well. Nokia’s IoT connectivity solution is a key building block required to efficiently manage the related M2M traffic. A secure connectivity layer will then open up further opportunities for management and application platforms, as well as analytics and user services,” stated Michael Clever, Head of Mobile Broadband Core Cluster at Nokia Networks.

http://networks.nokia.com

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Intel Sees Strength in Data Center & IoT Segments

Intel reported revenue of $13.2 billion for 2Q 2015, consistent with its previous guidance, gross margin of 62.5%, operating income of $2.9 billion, net income of $2.7 billion and EPS of 55 cents. The company said data center, memory and IoT represented a growing share of its profits, more than offsetting weakness in the desktop PC market.

Revenue by segment:

• Client Computing Group revenue of $7.5 billion, up 2 percent sequentially and down 14 percent year-over-year
• Data Center Group revenue of $3.9 billion, up 5 percent sequentially and up 10 percent year-over-year
• Internet of Things Group revenue of $559 million, up 5 percent sequentially and up 4 percent year-over-year
• Software and services operating segments revenue of $534 million, flat sequentially and down 3 percent year-over-year

http://www.intel.com

At the end of Q2, Intel had 107,000 employees worldwide, flat compared to the previous quarter.

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ConnectHome Initiative to Provide High-Speed Broadband to Low Income Housing

President Obama announced the ConnectHome initiative to provide high-speed broadband to low-income housing communities.

The pilot program, which is launching in twenty-seven cities and in one tribal nation, will initially reach over 275,000 low-income households – and nearly 200,000 children.

Some highlights of ConnectHome:

• In Google Fiber markets (including the ConnectHome cities of Atlanta, Durham, Kansas City, and Nashville), Google Fiber will offer $0 monthly home Internet service to residents in select public housing authority properties and will partner with community organizations on computer labs and digital literacy programming to bridge the digital divide, especially for families with K-12 students.
• In select communities of Choctaw Tribal Nation, Cherokee Communications, Pine Telephone, Suddenlink Communications, and Vyve Broadband will work together to ensure that over 425 of Choctaw’s public housing residents have access to low-cost, high-speed internet.
• In Seattle, and across its coverage footprint, CenturyLink will make broadband service available to HUD households, via its Internet Basics program, for $9.95 per month for the first year and $14.95 per month for the next four years.
• In Macon, Meriden, Baton Rouge, and New Orleans, Cox Communications will offer home Internet service for $9.95 per month to eligible K-12 families residing in public housing authorities.As part of its existing ConnectED commitment, Sprint will work with HUD and the ConnectHome program to make its free wireless broadband Internet access service program available to eligible K-12 students living in public housing. This builds upon the free mobile broadband service previously committed to low-income students by AT&T and Verizon, for ConnectED.
• Best Buy will offer HUD residents in select ConnectHome demonstration project cities, including Choctaw Tribal Nation, the computer training and technical support needed to maximize the academic and economic impact of broadband access. Best Buy will also offer afterschool technical training, for free, to students participating in ConnectHome at Best Buy Teen Centers in Atlanta, Los Angeles, New York City, San Antonio, and Washington, DC.
• The James M. Cox Foundation, a Cox Communications-affiliated Foundation, will make 1,500 discounted tablets, pre-loaded with educational software, available for $30 to students and their families participating in ConnectHome, in Macon.
• GitHub will provide $250,000 to support devices and digital literacy training to HUD residents in ConnectHome cities.
• College Board, in partnership with Khan Academy, will offer students and families in HUD housing in all ConnectHome communities free, online SAT practice resources, and contribute $200,000 over three years to fund digital literacy and personalized college readiness and planning training in Cleveland, Los Angeles, New York, San Antonio, Washington, DC and the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.
• 80/20 Foundation will provide $100,000 to fund digital literacy training in San Antonio. 

https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/07/15/fact-sheet-connecthome-coming-together-ensure-digital-opportunity-all

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IIJ Picks VMware vCloud for NFV

Internet Initiative Japan Inc. (IIJ) has selected the VMware vCloud for NFV platform to support a new Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) virtual CPE (vCPE) service.

The new vCPE “IIJ Omnibus Service,” due to launch in September 2015 will include its proprietary SEIL series of high-performance routers and VPN gateway services to business customers. By moving to a virtualized CPE deployment model, IIJ will be able to transform the economics of the company’s CPE-based services while attaining the agility to adapt quickly to new service opportunities and integrate with their broad digital services portfolio.

IIJ currently uses physical appliances deployed on site to provide its value-added services, including Internet access, outsourcing, and systems integration for all network usage requirements.

VMware vCloud for NFV is an integrated Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) platform that combines VMware’s production-proven virtualized compute, networking, storage and management solutions with integrated support for OpenStack. The platform currently offers support for more than 40 different virtual network functions (VNFs) from more than 30 vendors.

“IIJ and VMware have been longstanding partners, having first collaborated on the successful IIJ GIO Virtual Platform VW Series based on VMware vSphere,” said Kiyoshi Ishida, Executive Managing Officer, Product Division Director, IIJ. “When IIJ decided to extend its virtualized platform to support network functions, we saw VMware’s production-proven technologies and professional service capabilities as the most reliable and fastest route to market.”
 
“IIJ has fully embraced NFV in a way that will allow sustained differentiation in a highly competitive market,” said Shekar Ayyar, corporate senior vice president, Strategy and Corporate Development, and General Manager, Telco NFV Group, VMware. “They are creating a single horizontal platform that will not only allow the onboarding of their own new VNF today, but provide choice to IIJ for the addition of best in class VNFs from external vendors and developers as service needs evolve.”

http://www.vmware.com/company/news/releases/

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ACG Report Presents Business Case for NFV Now

A new study, conducted by industry research firm ACG and sponsored by Affirmed Networks and VMware, presents the business case for why Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) should accelerate their move to a NFV-based architecture.

The report makes a five-year cost comparison between MNOs with traditional and virtualized network architectures.  Some key findings:

• MNOs that transitioned to an NFV-based platform began saving money in the first year and realize an investment payback in three years;
• Adopting a virtualized Evolved Packet Core (EPC) solution, reduced capex by 69% and opex by 67% on average; and
• Mobile operators were able to deploy a virtualized network much more quickly (in as little as six months) than they were with traditional networks (15 months on average) resulting in quicker time to market and time to revenue.

“In order to increase both network capacity and performance, and also accelerate service creation, MNOs have the option of staying with traditional architectures or moving to a virtualized approach,” said Ray Mota, President, ACG Research.  “While we are seeing that many operators intend to move toward a virtualized approach, what we saw as a result of this research were the severe negative consequences that delaying that migration can have on their bottom line.”

http://www.affirmednetworks.com/tco-report/

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Dell'Oro: RAN Infrastructure Market to Shrink by $11B between 2015-19

The RAN market is expected to decline at a CAGR of -2% between 2015 and 2019, while the cumulative RAN market during the five-year forecast period is expected to be $11 B lower than the comparative five-year period (2010 through 2014), according to a new report by Dell'Oro Group.

Some highlights:

• Total LTE  market—macro and small cell—expected to double between 2013 and 2019
• Total Small Cell market—including distributed radio systems—expected to grow more than ten-fold between 2014 and 2019.
• About the Report 

"It is of some concern that we are still five years away from the first commercial 5G networks and worldwide LTE POP coverage is nearly 50 percent, whereas 3G coverage was less than 15 percent ten years ago, five years before the first 4G deployments materialized.  Nevertheless, we remain optimistic about the continued positive impact of LTE.  We believe that the long multi-band, multi-carrier, multi-layer, multi-feature, multi-application LTE roadmap will ensure steady LTE investments, even after the initial 4G peak coverage phase, to ensure a smooth transition toward VoLTE, LTE-A, and eventually 5G," said Stefan Pongratz, RAN analyst at Dell'Oro Group.

"The depth of the LTE roadmap will stimulate strong recurring upgrade/capacity business and even so if the total market does not generate significant topline growth, there should be room to improve margins as capacity and upgrades constitute a greater portion of total revenues," continued Pongratz.

http://www.delloro.com

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Ericsson Opens Cloud Lab in Aachen, Germany

Ericsson has established a new Cloud Lab in Aachen, Germany to support operators and industry customers in Europe with faster innovation through all stages in the development cycle towards cloud and virtualization. This includes early technology demos, testing, verification and pre-packaging up to live deployments of new services.

The Cloud Lab will be built on Ericsson’s own technology and services expertise. This includes products such as Ericsson HDS 8000, Ericsson Secure Cloud Storage, Cloud Manager based on ECM product, and our offerings for IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) and PaaS (Platform as a Service) addressing both the IT and Telecom Cloud environments.

http://www.ericsson.com

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