AWS Adds S3 Infrequent Access Tier, Cuts Archival Storage Pricing

Amazon Web Services introduced a new Infrequent Access tier to its S3 cloud storage service.

The new tier could be useful for shared documents, log files or raw data that see frequent activity right after upload but then experience a significant drop off as they age.  This tier provides the same high durability, low latency, and high throughput of S3 Standard at a lower cost. Object lifecycle policies can direct the file into an AWS Glacier archive after a specified time.

AWS is also reducing the price for data stored in Amazon Glacier from $0.01 / gigabyte / month to $0.007 / gigabyte / month.

https://aws.amazon.com/?nc2=h_lgnd.

Read More

Telstra Enables VoLTE

Telstra has enabled Voice-over-LTE (VoLTE) on its commercial network.

The carrier says the roll out will be staggered, gradually enabling the full HD capability for different types of calls (ie 4G to 4G, 4G to fixed,4G to 3G etc). The new voice capability will first be enabled for post-paid consumer customers with supported handset.  Telstra will then extend VoLTE to business customers and finally to prepaid customers.

Telstra describes the VoLTE rollout as one of the largest and most complex changes to voice calling in its network for more than 40 years.

http://exchange.telstra.com.au/2015/09/16/next-generation-voice-calling-starts-today-telstra-volte/

• Telstra first enabled HD voice capabilities in 2011. Currently, Telstra estimates 70 percent of mobile handsets in Australia support HD and over 30 percent of all mobile calls use HD Voice today.

Read More

Altice to Enter U.S. Cable Market with Acquisition of Cablevision & Suddenlink

Altice, the second largest communications company in France, confirmed plans to acquire Cablevision, the fifth largest cable operator in the United States. Under the agreement, Altice will pay $34.90 in cash for each Cablevision share, for an enterprise value of approximately $17.7 billion. The transaction is to be financed with $14.5 billion of new and existing debt. Altice has received full financing commitments from JP Morgan, BNP Paribas and Barclays.

Cablevision serves the New York City metropolitan area, passing more than 5 million premises and serving more than 3.1 million residential and business customers.  With approximately 65% of its cable customers subscribing to triple-play services, Cablevision generates industry-leading ARPU and benefits from high customer loyalty. The deal also includes Lightpath, the company’s business services unit, as well as local news operations.

Earlier this year, Altice announced plans to acquire Suddenlink for $9 billion, a cable operator based in St. Louis with 1.4 million subscribers in 17 states. The combination of Cablevision + Suddenlink will make Altice the fourth largest cable operator in the U.S. with 4.6 million customers in 20 states.

“As a family business we are proud to be entrusted by the Dolan family with the ownership of Cablevision and look forward to continuing the pioneering path they have paved for us. The strategy of Altice in the large and highly strategic US market is reinforced with the acquisition of Cablevision. We will be in a stronger position, as in all other markets in which we operate, to deliver the best services, invest in the most advanced technology, and develop innovative products for the benefit of our customers,” stated Patrick Drahi, Founder and President of Altice.


http://www.altice.net/

• Cablevision was founded in the 1960s by Charles Dolan.
• In 2014, Altice acquire SFR from Vivendi, combining it with Numericable, which has over 5.2 million fiber homes in France, with more than 10 million homes passed. SFR has 3G/4G mobile networks in France as well as 1.6 million fiber homes.
• In June 2015, Altice acquired Portugal Telecom.

Read More

Ericsson and HP (Aruba) Sign Bilateral Mobile Networking Sales Agreement

Ericsson and HP have signed a bilateral reseller agreement focused on mobile networking.  The deal open up enterprise market opportunities beyond Ericsson's carrier-grade Wi-Fi and provides go-to-market opportunities for Ericsson's small cells through HP's global enterprise channels.

The companies also plan to Leverage HP's enterprise WLAN technology (Aruba) alongside Ericsson's RBS 6402 picocell.

HP will also resell Ericsson's licensed band indoor small cell solutions, and bring the full value of licensed and unlicensed mobile networking to HP's global base of enterprise customers.
ate in joint market initiatives to address opportunities for indoor coverage and mobility for enterprises and operators, making effective use of both licensed and unlicensed technologies and frequency bands.

"This expansion of our existing partnership with Ericsson will allow HP to deliver more solutions to meet our customers' growing needs for productivity in the workplace.  Ericsson's global scale and market leadership in building mobile infrastructures with operators worldwide is an ideal complement to Aruba Networks' enterprise-wide networking solutions.Together we expect to transform the way mobile networks are deployed in order to stay ahead of the pace of mobile requirements," stated Antonio Neri, Executive Vice President and General Manager for HP's Enterprise Group.

http://www.ericsson.com/thecompany/press/releases/2015/09/1952506

Read More

Avago Intros 255mW 100BASE-FX SFP Module

Avago Technologies introduced an ultra-low power Fast Ethernet small form-factor pluggable (SFP) fiber optic transceiver module device designed for industrial automation, controls and networking applications.

The device features a redesigned chip set for LED control, diagnostic monitoring interface (DMI) and signal processing, which significantly reduces the module power dissipation. Compared with the previous generation device, the AFBR-57E6APZ consumes 42% less in power while delivering superior electrical and optical performance.

Some highlights:

• Low power consumption: 255 mW (typ), 405 mW (max)
• Industrial operating temperature: -40 °C to +85 °C
• Link distances up to 2 km using 50/125um or 62.5/125um multimode fiber
• Compatible with SFF-8074i and SFF-8472 MSA specifications
• Compatible with 100BASE-FX version of IEEE 802.3u

“Fast Ethernet is widely used in industrial automation, controls and networking. As more fiber optic nodes are added to the network, cumulative heat dissipation becomes an industrial concern prompting the need for low power fiber optic transceiver solutions,” said Martin Weigert, vice president and general manager of the Industrial Fiber Product Division (IFPD) at Avago. “Our new ultra-low power 100BASE-FX SFP module is an ideal solution that addresses the power issue that affects many of our industrial customers, enabling them to simplify the network rack design and avoid having to use expensive cooling fans and ventilation in their systems.”

http://www.avagotech.com/products/industrial-fiber-optics/industrial-fiber-optic-transceivers/sfp/afbr-57E6apz

Read More

Oclaro Samples 100G QSFP28 Client-Side Transceiver for Data Centers

Oclaro has begun sampling a 100G QSFP28 client-side transceiver that meets both the CWDM4 MSA and CLR4 Alliance optical interface specifications, as well as the IEEE 802.3bm CAUI-4 electrical interface specification.

The new transceiver boasts a low power consumption of 3.5 Watts and high transmission performance quality through the use of Oclaro's internal uncooled 1310nm 28Gbps DML technology.  It is suited for 100G interconnections between data center switches in addition to interfaces in high-end routers and packet-optical transport systems.

"The key to our success in the 100G pluggable transceiver market has been our proprietary indium phosphide laser technology," said Yves LeMaitre, President of Oclaro's Optical Connectivity Business. "With our new QSFP28 100G transceiver, mega-scale data center operators will be able to transition from 40G to 100G on their existing single mode fiber infrastructure without significantly expanding footprint, cost or power consumption."

http://www.oclaro.com

Read More

Alcatel-Lucent Acquires Mformation for Mobile Device Management

Alcatel-Lucent has acquired privately-held Mformation, a provider of mobile device management solutions for mobile operators, service providers and enterprises. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Alcatel-Lucent said Mformation’s software products will extend and enhance the capabilities of its Motive Customer Experience Management (CEM) solution to provide service providers with an end-to-end, integrated and cost-efficient device management solution across home, mobile and enterprise networks.

Mformation, headquartered in Woodbridge, NJ, will be incorporated into Alcatel-Lucent’s IP Platforms organization, providing service providers and enterprises with a secure, scalable, application-independent IoT security and control platform for use across multiple industries including automotive, healthcare, utilities, manufacturing and the digital home.

Mformation was founded in 1999.  The company claims more than 20 service provider customers around the world, managing more than 500 million devices.

https://www.alcatel-lucent.com

Read More

Gulf Bridge Upgrades with Ciena

Gulf Bridge International (GBI) has selected Ciena's Converged Packet-Optical Networking solutions to upgrade its networks in the Middle East. The deployment of upgrades of 100G and 200G wavelengths on GBI’s submarine segments, is believed to be the first deployment of such technology in the region.

Ciena said its 6500 Packet-Optical platform, equipped with the new WaveLogic 3 Extreme chipset, combined with GeoMesh submarine solutions and E-Suite integrated packet switching, will add more intelligence to the GBI network, as well as improved ease of operations, maintenance and future capacity expansions, including an option to perform future upgrades.

Ed McCormack,  Vice President and General Manager of Submarine Systems at Ciena, comments, “With Ciena’s solutions underpinning GBI’s submarine and terrestrial cables, GBI will have a fully optimized end-to-end network. This massive capacity enhancement also means that GBI is well positioned to accommodate growth and help its customers facilitate the demand for high-bandwidth applications, such as those needed for video and cloud services.”

http://www.ciena.com

Read More