Wednesday, November 9, 2016

Orange Business Launches "Easy Go" VNFs Internationally

Orange Business Services will launch its Easy Go Network, which provides fully-virtualized network functions (VNF) using SDN technology, in 75 countries by the end of 2016.

The Easy Go Network service, which has been in a year-long trial with customers, allows enterprises to instantly provision virtual network functions (VNF) for branch offices with full digital self-service ordering, customer care and reporting functions via a user-friendly portal. The service includes a plug-and-play router on site, eliminating truck rolls for more flexibility and rapid deployment. Network functions will now be available in minutes at any site.

The service is on-demand and fully flexible with no upfront investment and no minimum revenue commitment. Billing is offered under a month to-month contract.

Typical customers for Easy Go Network include multinational retailers that need to quickly and affordably open new sites, such as concessions or pop-up stores. Easy Go Network allows them to add additional sites or optional virtualized services in less than five minutes.  Enterprises gain full visibility over network usage and one-click security policy enforcement for all sites. And their employees are connected to their tools and ready to engage with end-customers.

At launch, Orange is offering application awareness running on a virtual, adaptive enterprise firewall based on Fortinet Security Fabric technology. The collaboration with Fortinet enables Easy Go Network to offer comprehensive, virtualized security functions, including unified application control, intrusion prevention, web content filtering, spyware prevention and malware defense.

Additional virtualized functions from selected vendors, including application optimization and WiFi management, are slated for launch in 2017.

“Easy Go Network is an evolution of our enhanced hybrid network strategy. It is designed to help businesses anticipate and address their digital needs fast and within budget. We are using an open-standards based approach to develop our SDN and NFV strategy, and we are planning to launch a universal CPE for larger sites next year. Our ultimate goal is an adaptive network, which we will bring to our customers within the next three years,” said Pierre-Louis Biaggi, vice president, Connectivity Business Unit at Orange Business Services.

http://www.orange-business.com/en/press/orange-business-services-accelerates-network-as-a-service-for-businesses-with-international


GTT to Acquire Hibernia for Transatlantic Cable Network

GTT Communications agree to acquire Hibernia Networks, which owns the new Hibernia Express transatlantic cable systems and other terrestrial and undersea fiber assets, for $590 million.  The deal consists of $515 million in cash and approximately 3.3 million shares of GTT common stock, to be issued to the sellers at closing, valued at $75 million.

GTT operates a global Tier 1 IP network with owned and leased dark fiber assets including five owned subsea cables and eight cable landing stations. The company delivers global cloud services to multinational customers. GTT is based in McLean, Virginia.

“This acquisition accelerates GTT’s growth strategy by expanding our portfolio of cloud networking services, significantly increasing the scope and power of our global network, and growing our multinational client base,” said Rick Calder, GTT president and CEO. “Hibernia Networks has a demonstrated track record of growth, and brings unique, strategic network assets featuring high-bandwidth, low latency connectivity. We are very excited to welcome Hibernia Networks’ clients and talented team members to GTT. Following our successful, proven acquisition template, we expect to complete integration within two to three quarters post-close, and to achieve a post-synergy multiple of seven times Adjusted EBITDA or better on a pro forma basis.”

“GTT gains world class global fiber assets, including ultra-low latency routes between key financial markets, as well as optical, low latency and content services, and exceptional employees with a proven track record of network and commercial leadership, and exemplary customer service. Hibernia Networks clients around the world will benefit from the expansive reach of GTT’s Tier 1 IP network, the broader portfolio of products and services, improved scale, and the company’s expertise in delivering cloud networking solutions and managed services to multinational clients,” stated Bjarni Thorvardarson, Hibernia Networks’ chief executive officer.

https://www.gtt.net/
http://www.hibernianetworks.com/hibernia_express

New Hibernia Express Cable Timed at Record 58.95ms Latency for NY-London

The new Hibernia Express transatlantic cable is delivering an actual tested latency of better than 58.95ms (milliseconds) from New York to London, which is faster by more than half a millisecond off the original projected speed.

Hibernia Networks said its new undersea cable has undergone rigorous testing over the past two weeks. Testing parameters included power stability, spectral efficiency and latency. The results confirmed the latency on Hibernia Express from LD4 in Slough, England to NY4 in Secaucus, New Jersey to be under 58.95ms.



http://www.hibernianetworks.com/hibernia_express


  • Hibernia Express utilizes a 6-fiber-pair submarine cable, with a portion of the fibers optimized for lowest latency and a portion optimized for 100X100 Gpbs design capacity. The total cross-sectional design capacity of the cable will be over 53 Tbps. Hibernia Express will initially launch with 100 Gbps transmission capacity using TE SubCom’s C100 SLTE platform. Hibernia Express follows the most direct route between the UK and North America, promising to reduce latency by at least 5 milliseconds over existing cables.


Video: Hibernia - Demand Rises for Lowest Latency, Transatlantic Capacity

When it set out to build its new Hibernia Express transatlantic cable system, Hibernia Networks really was looking to achieve a couple of goals. The top goal was to provide absolutely the lowest latency across the Atlantic. Another ambition was to provide another diverse, high-capacity system that would be attractive to multiple customer segments.

In this video,  Al DiGabiele, SVP Product Management & Marketing at Hibernia Networks, talks about rising demand on the new cable system and a new protected-wavelength service with automated failure switching.

See video: https://youtu.be/M30rf6GR4Fw




Ericsson Publishes 5G Readiness Survey of Global Operators

Key drivers for 5G will be future revenue streams and cost saving, according to a new "5G Readiness Survey" published by Ericsson.

The "5G Readiness Survey" was based on input from 50 executives at 29 global operators who had announced their intentions for 5G. Ericsson said its report presents a snapshot of the state of the industry in relation to next-generation mobile technology.

The survey lists the pilots that Ericsson is currently running with a wide range of industry partners in order to identify their needs and construct sustainable digital solutions for whole industry segments.  

According to the survey, operators can take steps now to ensure a smooth transition to 5G. Such activities include forging new strategies, investing in development and trials and evaluating and adopting new use cases and business models.

Arun Bansal, Head of Business Unit Network Products, Ericsson says: "Ericsson believes that 5G is the foundation for realizing the full potential of the Networked Society. We are partnering with our customers to be early to 5G by driving standards, building the strongest global 5G ecosystem and helping them innovate with 5G solutions that are purpose-built for real-world applications. Our goal is to have our customers minimize risk and ensure success during this critical transformation."  

http://crmweb.ericsson.net/cn/ar0ma/5GReadiness

Microsoft Azure Expands Government Cloud

Microsoft Azure’s Government Cloud has expanded its FedRAMP Provisional Authorization to Operate (P-ATO) with the addition of five new offerings:

  • Azure Service Bus: Provides cloud-enabled communication with enterprise messaging and relayed communication to help connect applications, services, and devices. Service Bus connects applications running on Azure, on-premises systems, or both. 
  • Azure Notification Hubs: A massively scalable mobile push notification engine for quickly sending millions of notifications to iOS, Android, Windows, or Kindle devices, working with APNS (Apple Push Notification Services), GCM (Google Cloud Message), WNS (Windows Push Notification Services), MPNS (Microsoft Push Notification Service), and more.
  • Azure Site Recovery: Orchestrates replication of on-premises physical servers and virtual machines to the Azure cloud or to a secondary datacenter allowing organizations to meet BCDR (Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery) objectives.
  • Azure StorSimple: An integrated storage solution that manages storage tasks between on-premises devices and Microsoft Azure cloud storage. 
  • Azure Backup: A simple and cost-effective backup-as-a-service solution that extends tried-and-trusted tools on-premises with rich and powerful tools in the cloud. 


This brings the total number of Azure Government offerings that meet the FedRAMP High baseline to 18.

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/azure-government-cloud-expands-p-ato-scope-with-addition-of-five-new-offerings/

Lumos to Acquire Clarity for North Carolina Fiber Network

Lumos Networks, which is a fiber-based service provider in the mid-Atlantic region, agreed to acquire Clarity Communications.  Financial terms were not disclosed.

Clarity operates a 730 mile fiber network with 75 on-net locations located across four states in the south-eastern United States. The vast majority of Clarity’s operations and fiber mileage is in the state of North Carolina.

Timothy G. Biltz, CEO of Lumos Networks said “Clarity, led by founders Todd Peverall and Andy Carwile, gives us an instant foothold within the Carrier and Enterprise verticals in many high growth North Carolina markets and gives us a new sales channel into various government end markets, including military installations and e-rate. Clarity will be a contributing factor in Lumos achieving the necessary scale needed to become a pure play fiber bandwidth infrastructure company.”

Lumos offers end-to-end connectivity in 24 markets in Virginia, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, Ohio and Kentucky. It has a fiber network of 9,204 fiber route miles and 475,507 total fiber strand miles, connecting 1,297 unique Fiber to the Cell sites, 1,642 total FTTC connections, 36 data centers, including 7 company owned co-location facilities, 1,984 on-net buildings and approximately 3,300 total on-net locations.

http://www.lumosnetworks.com

Thailand's dtac Picks Nokia for Transport + IP

dtac, part of the Telenor Group and the second largest mobile operator in Thailand, has selected Nokia's IP/Optical portfolio for delivering ultra-broadband mobile access to more than 40 percent of Thailand's population. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The number of mobile subscribers in Thailand is increasing rapidly, stimulating greater demand for advanced networks to support surging data consumption. dtac needed a core network to handle the increased data demand, but also with the open interfaces and the programmability necessary to support a migration to SDN.

Nokia's 7950 Extensible Routing System (XRS) and the 1830 Photonic Service Switch (PSS), will replace dtac's existing IP core routing and DWDM infrastructure. dtac is also deploying Nokia's Wavelength Routing Engine GMPLS (Generalized Multiprotocol Label Switching) Control Plane at the optical layer to provide automated network operation, as well as Nokia's security gateway for dtac's LTE network.

Sebastien Laurent, head of Nokia Thailand, said: "Deploying Nokia's end-to-end IP/DWDM Core solution provides the foundation for an SDN-centric network and will allow dtac to implement on-demand services while also easing operation and maintenance demands. Deploying this technology will make dtac the first carrier in Thailand positioned to implement carrier SDN in preparation for the cloud era."

http://www.nokia.com

Brocade Supplies SDN for Fujitsu Consulting India

Brocade has supplied the SDN infrastructure supporting a new 2,000-seat Global Delivery Center (GDC) for FUJITSU CONSULTING INDIA.  The programmable network has enabled the IT consulting and integration services provider to run a highly dynamic, 24x7 GDC environment designed to meet the most stringent requirements from Fujitsu Consulting's international client base.

The deployment includes BROCADE ICX 7750 SWITCHES for the campus network core at the new Fujitsu GDC, which offer 96 wire-speed 10 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) ports per switch and the capability to integrate up to a dozen switches into a high-performance stack. The stack can be managed as a single device delivering up to 5.76 Tbps of aggregated stacking bandwidth. This port density has allowed Fujitsu to dedicate eight 10 GbE links to each of the BROCADE ICX 7250 STACKABLE SWITCHES, which provide wire-speed 1 GbE network access, with power-over-Ethernet to support IP phones, Wi-Fi access points, and other devices. In addition to the campus network infrastructure, Fujitsu has also deployed BROCADE VDX 6740 SWITCHES in the GDC data center. All the Brocade switches at the Fujitsu GDC fully support the OpenFlow SDN protocol.

http://www.brocade.com