#MWC16: Telefónica Picks Ericsson for UNICA

Telefónica has selected Ericsson as a key partner of this program to provide the infrastructure and software required to launch the UNICA architecture in Telefónica Germany in 2016.

UNICA is the telecommunication cloud architecture of Telefónica which aims to virtualize NFV in an automatized fashion across its operations. It is a solution open, modular, multi-vendor, multi-site, standard, secure, flexible and extensible, designed to meet Telefonica's evolving requirements and cost efficient.

Ericsson said it will supply its new Hyperscale Datacenter System 8000, Ericsson Cloud Manager, Cloud SDN and automation, as well as systems integration and support services. In addition, Ericsson will provide systems integration and support services to deploy the certified solution in Germany. Telefónica will certify the Ericsson solution to ensure fulfillment of UNICA functionalities and roadmap during Q1 and Q2, targeting the rollout of UNICA in Germany during Q4 2016.

Telefónica said a new concept introduced in the architectural design is the "Multi-VIM" requirement, which ensures an open platform avoiding vendor lock-in and to minimize integration efforts.

Telefónica also confirmed that HPE and Huawei, which have been collaborating until now with UNICA, will continue to participate in this program as strategic partners for NFV.

http://www.telefonica.com
http://www.ericsson.com/news/1988285

Read More

#MWC16: Juniper Selected for Telefónica Fusión Network.

Telefónica has selected Juniper Networks to provide the core infrastructure for its next generation Fusión Network, which aims to transform the customer experience for mobile, residential and business services across Spain. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Specifically, Telefónica Spain will use Juniper's MX Series 3D Routers to provide a high performance, intelligent SDN control, service rich core network for the Fusión Network. The MX2020 will provide Telefónica Spain the multi-terabit IP/MPLS routing capacity and connectivity across all metro regions as traffic ingress and egress from all of Telefónica's Internet Exchange locations. The new core network is extensible to address service interconnectivity for the Internet, content providers, content delivery networks (CDNs) and data centers relying on Telefónica's national infrastructure.

Juniper's MX2020 scales up to 32Tbps of system capacity. The platform offers a fully redundant and resilient architecture, advanced Junos OS automation and analytics functionality and SDN/NFV programmability.The core rollout will begin imminently, with estimated completion by 2019.

http://www.juniper.net
as one of the 

Read More

#MWC16: Linux Foundation Backs Open-Orchestrator Project

A new OPEN-Orchestrator Project (OPEN-O) is getting underway to develop the first open source software framework and orchestrator to enable agile software-defined networking (SDN) and network function virtualization (NFV) operations. The initiative is driven by China Mobile and Huawei, with early support from Brocade, China Telecom, DynaTrace, Ericsson, F5 Networks, GigaSpaces, Infoblox, Intel, KT, Red Hat, Raisecom, Riverbed and ZTE. The project will be hosted by The Linux Foundation.

As an open source orchestration framework, OPEN-O will integrate open networking technologies and enable carriers to quickly and cost-effectively implement SDN and NFV through open source code development. The project will also aim to accelerate multi-vendor integration, service innovation and improve agility across network operations.

"China born and global in nature, OPEN-O will unite industry forces to set up the world's first SDN and NFV unified orchestrator, serving as an important step in promoting deeper convergence among SDN and NFV technologies and innovation in the networking industry,” said Jim Zemlin, executive director, The Linux Foundation.

“The Telecommunication 4.0 era features the full convergence of IT and CT; it relies on NFV and SDN as the key technical enablers for automatic deployment and agile operation. The orchestrator functions at the top part of them play the critical role. We are hoping that all partners work together to build the healthy ecosystem and accelerate the maturity of SDN and NFV. By embracing open source, China Mobile is expecting that the OPEN-O project will develop state-of-art open-source orchestrator software,” stated Li Zhengmao, executive vice president of China Mobile.

https://www.openo.org

Read More

#MWC16: China Mobile Outlines Network Roadmap

At Mobile World Congress, China Mobile provided an update on its current 4G rollout and outlined next steps as it contemplates the transition to 5G.

As of the end of 2015, China Mobile had:

• deployed 1.10 million TD-LTE base stations covering a population footprint of over 1.2 billion
• established 4G roaming with 114 countries and regions
• sold 300 million TD-LTE devices in 2015 - this represents the addition of more than 400 TD-LTE users every minute
• 4G subscriber base reached 340 million, accounting for about 30% of global number
• completed the deployment of carrier aggregation (CA) in over 300 cities and has commercialized VoLTE services in 100 cities. 

For 2016, China Mobile will speed up its 4G deployment. Plans call for:

• increasing the number of TD-LTE base stations to 1.40 million
• deploying CA technologies in central and hot-spot areas of all cities by the end of 2016
• commercializing VoLTE services in over 260 cities in the first half of 2016
• launching Rich Communication Service (RCS) in the second half of the year
• accelerating the uptake of VoLTE/CA-enabled devices by selling 330 million 4G devices and 
• expanding the 4G user base to over 500 million in 2016.     

China Mobile also confirmed plans for dedicated networks for the Internet of Things. It aims to develop 100 million IoT connections in 2016.

In addition,China Mobile, together with the representatives of the first 11 partners, jointly launched the China Mobile 5G Joint Innovation Center, which will collaboratively develop applications and products in such areas as basic communications, IoT, telematics, industrial Internet, cloud robotics and virtual/augmented reality. Early partners include Huawei, ZTE, Ericsson, Nokia, Qualcomm, Datang, Intel, Keysight, Beijing Shougang Automation Information Technology Co., Ltd., Haier, and Hisense.

China Mobile also introduced cost-effective VoLTE/CA devices and chip solutions during the summit, including its self-branded VoLTE/CA devices. Together with Samsung, China Mobile introduced 5 new customized VoLTE devices; in partnership with Qualcomm and MTK, China Mobile launched VoLTE+ down-link and up-link CA chip solutions at the price point of $100; jointly with Spreadtrum and Leadcore, China Mobile released VoLTE chip solutions at the price point of $50.

http://www.chinamobile.com

Read More

#MWC16: AT&T Highlights Business Agility, IoT, Connected Car

AT&T outlined its plans to invest nearly US$10 billion in 2016 to deliver our integrated solutions for businesses worldwide. The company's guidance for overall capital investment in 2016 remains unchanged to be in the US$22 billion range.

Some highlights:

• In Mexico, AT&T plans to integrate more than 6,000 kilometers of fiber currently supporting the wireless operations into the AT&T wireline network; enhance these assets by investing in more AT&T global network nodes and add hundreds of sellers focused on selling business solutions in Mexico. This is in addition to the US$3 billion announced in 2015 to extend its high-speed, mobile Internet service to Mexico, covering 100 million consumers and businesses in Mexico by year-end 2018.
• Connectivity – Bring high-speed, highly secure wireline and wireless network connectivity to more cities around the world.
• Network on Demand – Continue to software-enable the AT&T global network.
• Internet of Things (IoT) – Expand dedicated IoT networks in Europe and the U.S. to connect assets in different industries, like connected cars, fleets, shipping containers, utility meters, air cargo and heavy equipment.
• AT&T NetBond – Roll out additional features, extend highly secure connections to more leading cloud providers and expand in Asia-Pac, EMEA, U.S. and Canada.
• Security – Launch additional features and consulting services globally, while enhancing our security capabilities and alliances and simplifying the customer experience.
• Collaboration Solutions – Deliver integrated communications tools that help businesses of all sizes collaborate across platforms and over geographical boundaries to colleagues, collaborators, suppliers and customers around the world.

At Mobile World Congress, AT&T also announced:

• a proof of concept IoT solution that helps Red Bull monitor their network of beverage coolers. 
• an expanded, multi-year agreement with Audi for the connected car. Audi will be providing next-generation technology, featuring new safety, security and infotainment features, such as remote lock and unlock, stolen vehicle locator, online roadside assistance and service requests over the AT&T network. 
•  a connected car agreement with Porsche covering certain 2017 models 
• a deal with Ericsson to deploy CAT-M and NB-IoT 3GPP standards-based technologies to support the millions of IoT devices coming to market. 
• an expansion of its SmartCities framework, including a strategic alliance with Southern Company, a utility company based in Atlanta. 
• a collaboration with Intel to test Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). The AT&T Internet of Things (IoT) team and the AT&T Foundry innovation center in Palo Alto, Calif., will be working with Intel to evaluate performance of the LTE network at higher altitudes. They will be testing to see how it affects video streaming, transmitting telematics and flight information. 
•  a program to integrate AT&T IoT Services with Cisco, Intel and Microsoft technologies. Developers using the AT&T Global SIM, AT&T Control Center and AT&T IoT Services now have access to Cisco’s Fog computing solutions. Developers that connect their devices through the AT&T Global SIM and AT&T Control Center will be able to store their data in the Microsoft Azure cloud. They will be able to use AT&T M2X and AT&T Flow Designer and access Microsoft Azure, big data, BI, advanced analytics and machine learning tools to transform their data into intelligent action. 

“Business is moving faster than ever and companies around the world need to be agile to quickly adapt to changing markets,” said Ralph de la Vega, vice chairman of AT&T Inc. and CEO of Business Solutions & International. “Our industry-leading network and innovative platforms give them the tools to do just that — where they want it and how they want it—around the globe.”

http://www.att.com

Read More

#MWC16: Orange Rolls out VoLTE and WiFi Calling in Europe

Orange confirmed the rollout of VoLTE and WiFi calling across its European footprint. VoLTE will facilitate dramatically reduced connection times (falling from approximately eight to two seconds) and improved simultaneous use of voice and high speed data.

VoLTE is already available for Orange customers in Romania. Orange plans to activate VoLTE in its remaining European operations over the course of 2016 and early 2017. WiFi Calling will launch across Orange’s remaining European footprint over the course of 2016 and early 2017.

Orange also announces the launch of its first own-branded device to support both technologies – the Orange Neva 80. Retailing at under €200, the smartphone is Orange’s first own-branded ‘category 6’ device. Tt offers 300Mbps download speeds, making it the fastest device in the range and makes use of the very latest Android 6.0 Marshmallow software. In addition, responding to customers’ demands for durable screens, the smartphone will feature Dragontrail glass making it scratch and crack-resistant - also a first for Orange’s own-branded device range. At 5.2 inches with full HD, 143g and Orange’s slimmest own-branded phone ever at 7.6mm, the premium Orange Neva 80 is a sleek addition to the range. It also packs in a Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 octo-core processor, 16 GB of memory and 2G of RAM. And features a high-quality 5 mega pixel front camera with face-detection and 13 mega pixel rear camera.  The Orange Neva 80 also comes with NFC and is pre-embedded with Orange Cash in the markets where the service is available including France, Poland and Spain.

http://www.orange.com

Read More

#MWC16: Orange Signs with Google for Africa & Middle East

Orange announced a content partnership with Google to bring the best of mobile Internet across its full African and Middle Eastern (Orange MEA) footprint. The deal includes popular content covering fashion, sport and music, as well as everyday tools such as Google Search, YouTube and Google Maps.

Customers will receive one of the most competitively priced tariff plans in the region starting at $40, which will consist of a high-specification smartphone and a communication bundle with voice, SMS and data. Orange said the offer will be delivered in a phased approach and will start to roll-out across the full Orange MEA footprint in Q2 this year. The device will launch with the native set of Google services and the goal of the partnership is to develop local services and content over time.

“As the first pan-Africa and Middle East mobile partnership with Google on this scale, we are able to bring direct value to our customers by offering the best access and services to ensure they get the most out of the mobile internet,” says Yves Maitre, Executive Vice President of Connected Objects and Partnerships, Orange. “Through this all-inclusive digital communications package, we are proud to continue our promise to deliver affordable internet access across the region and connect people to what is essential in their lives.”

http://www.orange.com

Read More

#MWC16: Cisco, Ericsson and Intel Develop 5G Router

Cisco is collaborating with Ericsson and Intel to develop a 5G router. The companies are partnering with Verizon within an ecosystem to accelerate the pace of critical 5G innovations.

The solution is expected to offer Gigabit-per-second speeds.

“Verizon continues to accelerate innovation around 5G technology by working closely with our partners,” said Ed Chan, Senior Vice President, Technology Strategy & Planning at Verizon. “We were the first to launch 4G nationwide. With 5G, we will again drive innovation across the technology landscape.”

http://www.cisco.com

Read More

#MWC16: Radisys Expands its FlowEngine for #SDN

Radisys is expanding its FlowEngine product portfolio, which brings together switching, load balancing and routing functionality under open SDN policy control.

Radisys’ FlowEngine portfolio delivers up to 1.2 Tbps of traffic distribution performance, enabling service providers to support millions of concurrent subscribers and flows. The new additions include:

• the TDE-200 - targeted as a cost-effective, intelligent front end traffic distributor that regulates traffic flows with very high throughput and low latency. 
• the TDE-500 platform - offers maximum SDN and NFV deployment flexibility for either distributed edge sites or core data center networks. It also provides the option to fuse together on-board SDN controller technology and value-added virtualized network services like network analytics. 

“Radisys’ expertise in integrating software and hardware technologies to deliver the right solution to our customers is what sets us apart from the competition,” said Bryan Sadowski, vice president, FlowEngine Product Marketing, Radisys. “The addition of the TDE-500 and TDE-200 to our FlowEngine portfolio, along with our world-class Professional Services capabilities, provides our customers with a robust SDN-enabled platform combined with unmatched industry expertise to accelerate their SDN and NFV deployments.”

http://www.radisys.com

Video: Building Scalable SDN and NFV Deployments with Radisys’ FlowEngine

Thursday, November 19, 2015  #NFV, #SDN, Radisys, Video  No comments

Key members of the Radisys FlowEngine team: Bryan Sadowski, VP of FlowEngine Marketing; Andrew Alleman, CTO; and Joseph Sulistyo, Director – Product Strategy and Management describe how the FlowEngine allows operators to innovate and deliver new services with agility and speed. https://youtu.be/l_xU2upv07w...

READ MORE

Read More

Skyport Offers Hardened Servers for Microsoft Active Directory.

Skyport Systems announced a turnkey solution to deliver a hardened implementation of Microsoft Active Directory.

Through a partnership with Ascent Solutions, Skyport SkySecure delivers bundles for data center Active Directory production forests, highly secure ‘Red Forest’ administrative zones and cloud access DMZ authentication services.  Skyport said this provides a clean source computing platform with secure boot and ongoing malware and rootkit prevention and detection.

As part of this solution, Skyport Systems is announcing new SkySecure capabilities specifically designed to help secure the Active Directory environment. These include:

• Kerberos ticket inspection to mitigate fraudulent administrator log-ins, ‘golden ticket’ attacks, and unacceptable use of older NTLM protocol versions
• Authorized/unauthorized administrative access enforcement and accounting of all logon sessions and attempted sessions into and out of secure administrative environments
• Application-layer microsegmentation that enables secured communications only between participating servers in the architecture
• Active audit reports to validate the on-going operation and continuous monitoring of the architecture and its consistency with ongoing best practices evolution
• Continuous validation of the clean source status for the computing platform including all components, software and updates that are admitted into the secure enclave

“Working with Ascent Solutions will greatly simplify a critical area of enterprise security for our customers,” said Art Gilliland, CEO of Skyport Systems. “Skyport Systems’ clean source, zero-trust infrastructure makes critical IT assets such as credential management systems secure by default, making it an ideal system to use for implementing Microsoft’s most recent guidance on securing privileged access.”

http://www.ascentclouds.com
http://www.skyportsystems.com

Read More

Docker Datacenter Delivers On-Premise Containers-as-a-Service

Docker introduced a software platform that enables enterprises to deploy an on-premises Containers-as-a Service (CaaS).

Docker Datacenter (DDC) manages the application lifecycle of Dockerized applications. It is comprised of Docker Universal Control Plane, Docker Trusted Registry and embedded support for Docker Engine.

The integrations among them are tested and validated configurations with enterprise-class support. Docker said it guarantees the interoperability and full support of the Docker API across the stack for a seamless transition in taking applications in development to production.

“Docker Datacenter leverages our years of innovation in the Docker open source projects and ecosystem, and the feedback and experience of early adopters running Docker in production,” said Solomon Hykes, Founder and CTO of Docker. “Through Docker Datacenter, we ship an integrated, commercially-supported production environment for container workloads, bringing developers the agility they’ve come to expect from Docker-based applications, with a Docker-native application lifecycle where what they build is what runs in production. This provides IT Pros with the level of control and security they need to manage an enterprise-class Container-as-a-Service platform, portable across any infrastructure, both on premises and in the cloud.”

http://www.docker.com

Read More

Nimble Unveils Predictive All Flash Arrays

Nimble Storage introduced a series of Predictive All Flash arrays, combining fast flash performance with InfoSight Predictive Analytics.

The company said its new AF-Series All Flash arrays deliver a total cost of ownership (TCO) that is up to 33 to 66 percent lower than competitive arrays. The arrays use 10-30X less memory than competing all flash arrays by providing memory-efficient metadata to deliver unparalleled flash scalability and lower per array cost, while also reducing the total number of controllers required. The products support the cost-effective 3D V-NAND innovations of Samsung PM863 Series SSDs, and use advanced flash endurance management and integrated hot sparing to extend flash lifespan to seven years, while providing 20 percent more usable capacity, all at half the footprint and cost of competing eMLC-based all flash arrays.

The flagship Nimble AF9000 All Flash array delivers performance of up to 350,000 IOPS at sub-millisecond latency and scales effective capacity to over 2PB in just 12U. In scale-out four-node cluster configurations, the AF9000 can non-disruptively and independently scale performance up to 1.2M IOPS and effective capacity to over 8PBs.

“Our All Flash array delivers absolute speed for performance sensitive applications and workloads. It accelerates, scales, and delivers lower TCO than competing All Flash arrays,” said Ajay Singh, vice president of product management, Nimble. “Our engineers are so confident in the readiness of our All Flash arrays that we’ve been powering core Nimble production engineering infrastructure services on an AF7000 array for several weeks and have experienced flawless service.”

http://www.nimblestorage.com/

Read More

Gogo Leases Capacity on SES Next Gen Satellites

Gogo has contracted major High Throughput Satellite (HTS) spot beam and wide beam capacity aboard two SES next-generation HTS satellites, SES-14 and SES-15, which are set for launch in 2017.

The deal will enable Gogo to address the growing demand for high-speed inflight connectivity on travel routes over North America, including Alaska, Hawaii, Mexico and Canada, as well as Central America and the Caribbean. Gogo will also have access to HTS capacity on an additional satellite, SES-12, which is set to be launched in 2017 with high-powered spot beam and wide beam coverage over Asia, the Middle East, North Africa and Russia.

"SES is pleased to extend our longstanding relationship with Gogo, a leading provider of inflight connectivity," said Elias Zaccack, SES Senior Vice President, Commercial, Americas. "On board two new satellites, SES-14 and SES-15, we have one of the best hybrid HTS solutions in the world. It is ideally placed to meet the dynamic demands of airlines and their passengers, who expect high-performing connectivity anywhere they go. We offer the necessary global connectivity, from Hawaii to Rome and the Arctic Circle to Patagonia. We offer a fully redundant network at a competitive cost, using low weight and backwards compatible onboard equipment. We offer high quality gate-to-gate service with the best possible availability. Our HTS satellite constellation and customer solution thus offers unique features for aeronautical connectivity."

Read More

Aqua Comms' New AE Cable Plugs into euNetworks Fiber Network

Aqua Comms an euNetworks announced a commercial partnership that enables Aqua Comms’ to extend its America Europe Connect (“AE Connect”) subsea system across Europe on euNetworks’ footprint.

euNetworks owns and operates 13 fibre based metro networks across the region, connected with a long haul fibre network spanning 45 cities across 10 countries. This footprint offers direct fibre connectivity to more than 280 data centres in major European markets, delivering a strong bandwidth solution for Aqua Comms. This mutually beneficial partnership extends Aqua Comms’ 10Gbps and 100Gbps Wavelengths services to additional facilities in Ireland, the UK, France, Germany and the Netherlands.

AEConnect is a 100G compliant, coherent optimised system that utilises innovative optical technologies, including the latest technology of 130 x 100 Gbps per fibre pair.

http://www.AquaComms.com
http://www.eunetworks.com

Read More

Toshiba Samples SSDs Using 15nm MLC NAND Flash Memory

Toshiba has begun production of its first enterprise SSDs integrating 15nm MLC NAND flash memory. The line-up includes products with double the capacity of conventional Toshiba products. The SSDs are equipped with Toshiba’s proprietary QSBC (Quadruple Swing-By Code) error correction technology, a highly efficient error correction code (ECC). Along with the power loss protection and data protection features, it helps strengthen the protection of customer data and

enhances reliability.

The new products include:

• the HK4R Series with capacities up to 1920GB - targeted at enterprise applications such as web servers, files servers, media streaming, video-on-demand, search engines and warm data storage.
• the HK4E Series of value-endurance drives - offering an endurance level of three DWPD and capacities up to 1600GB. It is suited for e-mail servers and data centers.

http://www.toshiba.com

Read More