MEF Update and Scope with Nan Chen

Nan Chen, President of MEF, provides an update from MEF’s recent Annual Meeting in Toronto.  MEF is enabling service providers to create a global ecosystem of automated networks that deliver agile, assured, and orchestrated services. There are 4 major areas of strategic work: (1) Third Network services (wavelength, Carrier Ethernet, IP, SD-WAN, Layer 4-7 cloud services), (2) LSO Reference Architecture and Open APIs, (3) reference implementations...

Read More

MEF - Advancing the Industry

Over the last few years, MEF has done three very important things: (1)  shifting beyond Ethernet to support other connectivity types and network-based apps; (2)  developing Lifecycle Service Orchestration (LSO);  shifting from just implementing technology specs to implementing LSO APIs, reference processes, and other operations enablers. The combination of these three will be very powerful, says Allan Langfield, Executive Director...

Read More

Market Update for India

India's mobile market continues to be the most dynamic worldwide thanks to Reliance Jio's entrance nine months ago. Mobile data traffic is booming, total subscriber count continues to rise, and rumours continue to swirl about consolidation of the 12 players into perhaps just a handful. Wireline subscription continue to drop rapidly at a monthly decline rate of 0.57% as mobile coverage, services, and offers proliferate. New figures released by...

Read More

I Squared Capital to acquire Hutchison Global for $1.86bn

I Squared Capital, an independent global infrastructure investment manager, announced an agreement, through its ISQ Global Infrastructure Fund II, to acquire a 100% interest in Hutchison Global Communications Investment Holding (HGC) from Hutchison Telecommunications Hong Kong Holdings (HTHKH), a part of CK Hutchison Holdings, for approximately HKD14.5 billion (approximately $1.86 billion).HGC is a major fixed-line service provider addressing fixed...

Read More

AT&T appointments executives ahead of merger with Time Warner

AT&T has announced a number of executive appointments in preparation for completing its acquisition of global media and entertainment company Time Warner; the transaction is currently under review by the U.S. Department of Justice and competition authorities in certain foreign countries.Effective August 1st, the following executives will assume new positions and continue to report to AT&T chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson:1.  ...

Read More

BT restructures, appoints EE CEO to lead new Consumer business

UK-based telco BT Group has announced organisational changes designed to simplify its operating model, strengthen accountabilities and accelerate its transformation.The organisational changes are as follows:1.         Marc Allera, currently CEO of the EE business acquired in 2016, is appointed to lead a newly created Consumer business, combining BT's Consumer and EE businesses, effective September 1, 2017....

Read More

GigaSpaces to spin-off Cloudify orchestration and cloud mgt division

New York-based GigaSpaces Technologies, a supplier of software enabling in-memory computing, announced that it plans to spin off Cloudify, its orchestration and cloud management platform business unit, into a new company focused on the growing market for management and orchestration of cloud applications and network functions virtualisation (NFV).GigaSpaces stated that it began planning for the spin-off last year, based on strong demand for the Cloudify...

Read More

Windstream expands metro fibre, adds fixed-wireless

Windstream, a provider of advanced network communications, announced a major expansion of its metro fibre network in Indianapolis that will provide the area's growing business community with access to fibre and fixed-wireless infrastructure connecting to more local data centres and commercial buildings and to Windstream's national fibre network.Windstream's latest metro fibre network expansion and the addition of fixed wireless access serves the...

Read More

GoNetspeed to launch fibre broadband in Pittsburgh

GoNetspeed, based in Rochester, New York, a fibre broadband service provider, announced it will begin offering high-speed connectivity to select communities in Pittsburgh, targeting both business and residential customers.GoNetspeed aims to bridge the digital divide by taking fibre connectivity directly to the customers utilising an existing network in Pittsburgh. The company plans to begin offering residential broadband service in the community...

Read More

NI enhances LabVIEW MIMO Application Framework

NI, the provider of platform-based systems that enable engineers and scientists to address engineering challenges, announced multiple antenna User Equipment (UE) support for its LabVIEW Communications MIMO Application Framework.NI's enhanced MIMO Application Framework is claimed to be the only commercially available physical layer reference design to enable massive MIMO prototyping for both desktop simulations and functional 5G deployments.Using...

Read More

Cisco observations – Moving towards software on a subscription model

Will large enterprises and Service Providers customers embrace Cisco's high-performance networking platforms built with its own ASICs and OSx, or continue to push for white box platforms based on merchant silicon and fully open software? Will the global ransomware outbreaks of the past two months play to Cisco's advantage as enterprises re-evaluate their security posture and perhaps adopt a more core network-centric approach? Cisco provided an...

Read More

Huawei reports H1 revenue of CNY 283.1bn, up 15% yr/yr

Huawei announced business results for the first half of 2017, including revenue for the first six months of CNY283.1 billion (approximately $41.83 billion), up 15% compared with CNY245.5 billion in the first half of 2016.Huawei noted that during the first half of 2017 it achieved growth across all three of its business groups, and expects to maintain the current momentum over the remainder of the year.For its business groups, Huawei reports that:1.        ...

Read More

ECI launches Hybrid Virtualization Platform for the edge

ECI, a global provider of Elastic Network solutions for service providers, critical infrastructures and data centre, announced the launch of its Hybrid Virtualization Platform, designed to support multiple NFV-based use cases to help communication service providers simplify operations, reduce opex and enhance SLAs.By supporting delay-sensitive services and enabling improved security and termination of flows at the network edge, the new ECI platform...

Read More

Big Switch secures $30.7m in capital funding

Big Switch Networksof Santa Clara, California, The Next-Generation Data Center Networking company,a.         Founded in 2010 having originated from the original Stanford research team that invented software defined networking (SDN) technology.b.         Began shipping its platform-independent open SDN product suite, featuring a controller, virtual switch and network monitoring...

Read More

NTT Com launches international network services, build 2 data centres in India

NTT Communications (NTT Com), the ICT solutions and international communications business within the NTT Group, announced the launch of international data network services in India through its affiliate NTT Communications India Network Services (NTTCINS).NTT Com stated that the acquisition of its licence in India follows the launch of construction of two new Indian data centres in Mumbai and Bangalore, through subsidiary Netmagic, a provider of managed...

Read More

BT to offer Ixia security and monitoring to customers worldwide

Keysight Technologies company Ixia, a provider of network testing, visibility and security solutions, announced a new global reseller agreement with UK telco BT, under which BT will be able to offer Ixia's product portfolio to customers in 180 countries worldwide.BT provides managed services to 6,500 customers worldwide, including major global multinational companies. With an advanced product portfolio supported by a team of more than 2,500 skilled...

Read More

ExteNet to acquire Axiom Fiber Networks

ExteNet Systems based in Lisle, Illinois, a provider of distributed network systems (DNS) enabling cellular, wireless and broadband connectivity, announced it entered into agreement to acquire New York-based MetroFiber, d/b/a Axiom Fiber Networks, on undisclosed terms.Axiom Fiber Networks is a telecommunications infrastructure services provider operating in the greater New York City metro area. The acquisition by ExteNet will increase the company's...

Read More

Sonus intros cloud-based Incident Management-as-a-Service

Sonus Networks announced the introduction of a new offering, Incident Management-as-a-Service (IMaaS), which, in conjunction with its maintenance and support offerings, provides oversight of Sonus network elements and helps speed the resolution of network anomalies that can affect IP-based communications.Sonus noted that network downtime and degraded performance can reduce an organisation's productivity, customer satisfaction and revenue, and the...

Read More

The Need for SD-WAN Service Definitions and Open APIs

SD-WAN is one of the biggest transformations in telecom in the last 20 years, says Nav Chander, Senior Director of Service Provider Marketing at Silver Peak.  There is a significant role for the MEF in SD-WAN because the industry is in need of service definitions. The MEF has proven itself very adept at building such consensus. Recorded at the MEF Annual Members' Meeting in Toronto. See video:  https://youtu.be/Qe5ZS4dND4Q ...

Read More

Telefónica announces restructuring

As part of the company's ongoing transformation program, Telefonica executive chairman José María Álvarez-Pallete has unveiled a new organisational structure designed to support business growth and facilitate the implementation and delivery of corporate objectives. As part of this initiative, Telefonic's nominating, compensation and corporate governance committee has approved the appointment of Ángel Vilá Boix, formerly chief strategy and finance...

Read More

Alaska Communications deploys Ciena

Ciena announced that Alaska Communications has upgraded its terrestrial and AKORN submarine networks using its solutions to improve Internet access and enable secure, reliable connectivity in Alaska.The network upgrades are also designed to support demand for mobile broadband services, provide a cloud enablement platform for businesses and allow Alaska Communications to continue delivering unlimited Internet to residents. The additional network capacity...

Read More

Huawei expands D-CCAP portfolio with FTTB Giga Coax access

Huawei announced at the Cable Tech Show 2017 in Tokyo the launch of the MA5633-XB10, claimed to be the first Giga Coax access product enabling the delivery of gigabit bandwidth for MSOs that is designed for installation in corridors.Huawei noted that the new product addresses the trend of moving fibre closer to end users on hybrid fibre-coaxial (HFC) networks, and expands its existing distributed-converged cable access platform (D-CCAP) solution...

Read More

Japan's JPIX extends Internet exchange to Equinix Osaka

Equinix and Japan Internet Exchange (JPIX), a major Internet exchange (IX) service provider in Japan, announced that JPIX has extended its peering fabric to the Equinix International Business Exchange (IBX) data centre in Osaka, OS1, to meet increasing data centre and IX demands from international and domestic network operators in the OS1 IBX data centre.With the addition of IX points of JPIX in OS1, Equinix customers will be able to interconnect...

Read More

Wave2Wave launches ROME 250 optical switching

Wave2Wave Solution based in Milpitas, California, a supplier of solutions enabling automated data centre connectivity, announced its ROME 250 Robotic Optical Switching platform, extending the ROME portfolio with a smaller, lower cost platform designed to allow telecom and data centre operators to migrate to software defined networking (SDN) down to the physical connectivity layer.Wave2Wave stated that building on the success of the ROME 500 solution...

Read More

Brazil's Algar Telecom selects Sonus cloud-native SBC

Sonus Networks, a global provider of solutions for securing cloud and real-time communications, announced that Brazil's Algar Telecom has selected the Sonus Session Border Controller Software Edition (SBC SWe) to support the nationwide expansion of its SIP peering and SIP trunking services.Algar is a private communications service provider in Brazil that offers voice, video, data and IT services to businesses and residential customers. Leveraging...

Read More

Hammer Fiber teams with Go Long Wireless

Hammer Fiber Optic Investments, a New Jersey-based wireless and fibre network operator and a wholly owned subsidiary of Hammer Fiber Optic Holdings, announced it has partnered with Go Long Wireless (GLW) based in Sarasota, Florida, which holds 12 GHz multi-channel video distribution and data service (MVDDS) spectrum in 49 U.S. markets and covering more than 29 million people.Through the partnership, Hammer Fiber will be able to expand its business...

Read More

MEF aims to define the future of Lifecycle Service Orchestration – Part 2

link to part 1 of this articleby Bartosz Michalik of AmartusOpenCS Packet WAN project advances development of LSOTogether with Donald Hunter from Cisco, I have the privilege of co-leading the OpenCS Packet WAN project, which is one of the seven initiatives started in OpenCS ecosystem. The aim of the project is to deliver a reference implementation of an SDN controller that manages multi-vendor networks. The northbound API was released as a part of...

Read More