Cisco's ACI is on $2 Billion Annualized Run Rate

Cisco reported second quarter revenue of $11.9 billion, up 2% over the same period last year.  Net income (GAAP) was $3.1 billion or $0.62 per share, up 31% year-over-year.

"We delivered a strong Q2, and are managing the business extremely well in a challenging macro environment," said Chuck Robbins, Cisco chief executive officer. "We're managing the company on two fronts. We're focused on continued strong execution in the near term while investing in the innovation to lead our customers into the future."

Cisco's board of directors has also approved a $15 billion increase to the authorization of the stock repurchase program. Cisco's board had previously authorized up to $97 billion in stock repurchases.

Some highlights for the quarter:

• ACI is on a $2 billion annual run rate.  Sales grew over 100% over the same quarter a year ago.
• Product revenue growth was led by Security which increased 11%, and NGN Routing and Collaboration which increased 5% and 3%, respectively. Wireless was flat. 
• Switching declined 4% to $3.483 billion
• Data Center sales declined 3% to $822 million
• Service Provider sales increased 5% while Enterprise sales declined 2%
• There was double digit growth in cloud-based, SaaS businesses, including Webex, Meraki cloud networking, and security.
• Service revenue growth was 3%. 
• Revenue by geographic segment was: Americas and EMEA each up 1%, and APJC up 11%. 
• Gross Margin -- On a GAAP basis, total gross margin and product gross margin were at 62.3% and 61.3%, respectively. 
• Employee headcount was 71,657, compared to 70,112 a year earlier.

http://investor.cisco.com/investor-relations/overview/default.aspx

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TeliaSonera IC Delivers 100G Internet to SUP46

TeliaSonera International Carrier (TSIC), in collaboration with Cisco Systems, is providing a 100 Gbps Internet connection to Stockholm-based start-up hub, SUP46.

TeliaSonera International Carrier owns and operates a top-two ranked Global IP backbone. Using a new generation Cisco ASR 903, SUP46 gets direct access to a 100 Gbps backbone router at the core of TSIC's global network, effectively turning their downtown Stockholm premises into a high-capacity Internet PoP (Point-of-Presence).

"We wanted to see what happens when you remove the limits on innovation," says Brendan Ives, CEO TeliaSonera International Carrier. "Innovation is already borderless thanks to the Internet. We wanted to see what happens when we also remove the limits on connectivity. We believe limitless connectivity will give big ideas the space to grow. Today's start-ups will be an important part of our customer base in the near future, so we are pleased to be able to support them now. It's all part of our mission to carry the big ideas of tomorrow."

http://www.teliasoneraic.com
http://www.sup46.com

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KPN Deploys C-RAN for Small Cells

KPN has deployed a centralized radio access network (C-RAN) small cell solution from Ericsson at a bus stop on the Rembrandtplein in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The solution is equipped with Ericsson's new Radio 2203 offering and is fully integrated into the macro network using a centralized baseband deployment.

Ericsson said that using a common baseband provides optimal coordination between macro and small cells, and delivers the best-possible TCO, performance and spectrum utilization, which are key concerns when embedding small cells into an existing macro environment. Inter-site carrier aggregation is added between macro cells operating on 800MHz and small cells on 1800MHz. Seamless mobility is provided for users moving in and out of the small cell coverage area.

"The new 2203 is small and light and evolves the micro part of Ericsson's portfolio making it easier than ever to deploy small and efficient single and multi-band micro radio installations. This enables our customer to respond quickly to the growing demand for capacity from the consumers," Valter D'Avino, Head of Ericsson Western & Central Europe.

http://www.ericsson.com

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Nokia Extends Mobile Fronthaul with 1830 WDM Solutions

Nokia has expanded its mobile fronthaul solution with new optical platforms designed to support large-scale centralized RAN architectures.

In centralized RAN architectures, baseband processing is separated from RF (radio frequency) equipment such as remote radio heads (RRHs) and run in a single location, allowing faster mobile broadband, increased capacity and lower operating costs. In addition to increased distance, the centralized RAN must designed to support massive bandwidth increases and much tighter latency requirements of future 5G networks.

Nokia's fronthaul rollout includes five new 1830 Versatile WDM Module (VWM) optical platforms optimized for latency/jitter requirements and designed to address a range of deployment scenarios:

• 1830 VWM Photonic Managed Unit (PMU), an optical multiplexing unit for combining multiple wavelengths over a single fiber with management capabilities for Service Level Agreement (SLA) and demarcation.
• 1830 VWM Translation Line Unit (TLU), a wavelength translation unit for colorizing non-WDM optical signals.
• 1830 VWM Optical Supervisory Unit (OSU), an OAM unit for end-to-end network monitoring.
• 1830 VWM TLU/PMU-4, a fully outdoor hardened unit combining multiplexing, colorizing and management functions for small cells.
• Site Monitoring Module, provides proactive monitoring of alarms based on user-defined inputs at cell site locations with the ability to turn on/off appliances and devices.

Nokia said its solution increases fiber capacity by combining multiple wavelengths onto a single, reducing capital expenditures (CAPEX) by up to 32% compared to using dark fiber alone. The solutions support CPRI/OBSAI rates (CPRI 1-8 and OBSAI 1,2,4,8).

"Recognizing the need of mobile operators to move to centralized RAN architectures, we have been collaborating with some of the largest operators in the world to expand the 1830 VWM portfolio. Through 30-plus customer engagements, we've been able to develop a toolkit that will successfully tailor our fronthaul solution to fit any number of deployment scenarios. With this expansion of the 1830 family of optical products, Nokia further solidifies its Mobile Transport leadership with the industry's most comprehensive fronthaul and backhaul solutions," stated Sam Bucci, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Optical Networking at Nokia.

http://www.nokia.com

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BT Trials Cloud RAN Fronthaul over G.fast

BT is testing G.fast technology to deliver a ‘Cloud Radio Access Network’ (C-RAN) cellular network service over copper, in an experiment believed to be a world first.

Researchers at BT’s Adastral Park Labs, in collaboration with Cavium, have demonstrated that they can use G.fast technology to deliver cellular data over copper lines at speeds of 150 – 200Mbps.

BT said the conventional view has been that fiber would be required in C-RAN architecture for connecting cellular base stations to a central facility in the core network. This approach uses G.fast over copper for the fronthaul connection.

Dr Tim Whitley, MD for Research & Innovation at BT said: “Using G.fast to deliver a cellular network is an exciting breakthrough for C-RAN and yet another world first for our team of researchers at Adastral Park.

“These technologies will play a key role in 4G networks and will be fundamental to 5G architectures. The trials are another step towards a fixed and mobile network which will support customers’ increasing demands for data.”

“We are very excited to collaborate with BT, using Cavium OCTEON Fusion-M basestation and ThunderX server processor technology to validate this new class of Radio Access application with G.fast technology.” said Raj Singh, General Manager of Cavium’s Wireless Broadband Group.

As well as exploring the role that G.fast may play in helping operators to roll out their 4G/5G networks, Openreach, BT’s local access network division, is also trialling G.fast as an access technology in Huntingdon and Gosforth, alongside a further BT technical trial in Swansea. G.fast is significant because by building on current Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC) technology, it allows Openreach to bring ultrafast speeds to a wide footprint far more rapidly and without the expense and disruption of running fibre directly into a home or business.

http://www.btplc.com/news/#/pressreleases/bt-trials-cloud-ran-over-g-fast-in-step-towards-5g-1312992

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Arctic Wolf Offers Security Operations Center (SOC)-as-a-Service

Arctic Wolf Networks, a start-up based in Sunnyvale, California with offices in Ontario, Canada, is launching a Security Operations Center (SOC)-as-a-Service aimed at mid-sized companies.

The Arctic Wolf service provides a cloud-based security incident and event management (SIEM) application combined with a team of expert security engineers committed to the client's operational requirements.

The company said that for less than the salary of a single security engineer, its turnkey service can provide a fully operational cyber-SOC to mid-market companies and give them the peace of mind that comes from vigilant cybersecurity. Each customer is assigned a dedicated security engineer, who analyzes logs, weeds through the all alerts to eliminate false positives and conducts any necessary security forensics to definitively identify any breach or attack.  The AWN cloud, with its proprietary SIEM, expedites the process using its advanced machine learning capabilities and automated user behavioral analytics and integrates data from external threat feeds to proactively identify suspicious behavior.

“While working with nearly every Fortune 500 company as the CEO of Blue Coat, I saw first hand how large enterprises combatted cyber attacks with some of the most advanced SOC operations in the world and realized that this was what every company needed,” said Brian NeSmith, co-founder and chief executive officer at Arctic Wolf.  “AWN cyber-SOC is based on this experience and is specifically designed to deliver affordable, enterprise-class SOC services to companies of any size.”

http://arcticwolf.com/

• Arctic Wolf Networks has raised $27.2 million and is backed by Lightspeed Venture Partners and Redpoint.
• Arctic Wolf is headed by Brian NeSmith, who previous was CEO of Blue Coat Systems. Before that, he was the CEO of Ipsilon Networks (acquired by Nokia). 

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Wave2Wave Launches Robotic Optical Switches for Data Centers

Wave2Wave Solution introduced a line of robotic optical switches for automating physical fiber connections in high-density data centers.

The Wave2Wave "ROME" Robotic Optical Management Engine platforms, which are offered in three sizes, enable full control of physical fiber connections, allowing changes to be made automatically, remotely, quickly, and without manual intervention.  The robotic systems are designed in 19-inch chassis. The company said its system can be integrated with Software-Defined Networking (SDN) or network management software.

“Today’s digital trends are putting pressure on data centers, and even more pressure on the network architects who design and upgrade them,” said David Wang, founder and CEO of Wave2Wave. “ROME is a game-changing tool. It reduces the physical cabling in the traditional data center infrastructure by more than 10 times, allowing flexibility, intelligence and control that never existed before.”

ROME 500 is now available worldwide, and ROME 1000 and 2000 will become available in the second half of 2016.

http://www.wave-2-wave.com/

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Verizon to Test SpiderCloud's LTE-U

Verizon will trial SpiderCloud Wireless' LTE-U system for delivering capacity over unlicensed spectrum in high-density indoor environments.

LTE-U (LTE-Unlicensed) uses the unlicensed 5GHz band to increase throughput via carrier aggregation with licensed bands.

SpiderCloud said its LTE-U Enterprise Radio Access Network (E-RAN) can deliver LTE capacity over licensed and unlicensed spectrum to thousands of subscribers in high-density venues such as multi-tenant business offices, shopping malls, hospitals, university campuses and concert halls. Its centralized co-existence manager self-organizing network (SON) software enables its system to coexist with hundreds of ad-hoc Wi-Fi access points. Verizon will trial SpiderCloud’s LTE-U system in the third quarter of 2016.

http://www.spidercloud.com

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Hortonworks Sees Q4 Revenues Rise 196%

Hortonworks reported revenue of $37.4 million for the fourth quarter of 2015, an increase of 196 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2014. Gross billings were $52.1 million for the quarter, a 63 percent increase over gross billings of $31.9 million in the same period last year. There was a GAAP gross profit of $21.7 million for the fourth quarter of 2015, compared to gross loss of $46.2 million in the same period last year.

"We are pleased with our fourth quarter performance, which was highlighted by support subscription revenue growth of 146% year-over-year," said Rob Bearden, chief executive officer and chairman of the board of directors of Hortonworks. "We more than doubled our customer base in 2015 and exited the year with over 800 customers. As evidenced by our 159% dollar-based net expansion rate over the trailing four quarters, we are excited to serve as the preferred IT partner during this transformational period in the data management industry."

http://www.hortonworks.com

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