Monday, October 23, 2017

Cisco to acquire Broadsoft for collaboration software

Cisco agreed to acquire BroadSoft $55 per share, in cash, for an aggregate price of $1.9 billion. The companies said the deal is driven by the opportunities presented for business collaboration tools, especially integrated experiences across meetings, calling and contact centers, both on-premise and in the cloud.

Broadsoft, which is based in Gaithersburg, Maryland, is a leading provider of unified communications (UC) software and services. It Broadsoft Business product is an open communication suite with mobility and security features for enterprises. Its flagship BroadWorks application software lets service providers deploy an extensive portfolio of business communications and collaboration services from a common network platform. BroadWorks operates in IMS and next-generation network configurations, delivering services over traditional wireline, mobile (2G, 3G, VoLTE, WiFi), wireless and cable networks. In cloud UC call control new line shipments, Broadsoft claims the largest market share (followed by Cisco), with UC installations by 25 of the world's top service providers, for over 3 million lines installed.

As of the end of 2016, BroadSoft had 1,597 employees in 23 countries, including 732 in the U.S.

Broadsoft total revenues:

2012 - $165 million
2013 - $178 million
2014 - $217 million
2015 - $279 million
2016 - $341 million

"We are excited about this transaction, which represents the culmination of a robust process undertaken by BroadSoft's Board of Directors to maximize shareholder value," said Michael Tessler, president and CEO, BroadSoft. "As businesses continue to move toward the cloud in search of simplicity and speed, joining Cisco will allow us to deliver best-in-class collaboration tools and services. BroadSoft's hosted offerings, sold through the Service Providers and aimed at small and medium businesses, are highly complementary to Cisco's on-premises and enterprise-centric HCS offerings. Together, we can inspire teams to create, collaborate and perform in ways never before imagined."

"Cisco recently marked a significant milestone with our 200th acquisition. Acquisitions continue to be a core part of our innovation strategy and over the past two years have helped Cisco accelerate or enter areas such as IoT, application intelligence, AI, hyperconvergence and SD-WAN," said Rob Salvagno, vice president of Cisco Corporate Development. "With the addition of BroadSoft, we expect to accelerate the pace of innovation across our entire collaboration portfolio."

T-Mobile U.S. revenues rise 7% as it adds subscribers

T-Mobile U.S. reported record service revenues of $7.6 billion, up 7% year-over-year, and net income of $550 million, up 50% yoy. The carrier is expected to lead its peers on both metrics.

In a pre-recorded video statement, John Legere, President and CEO of T-Mobile, said "Just step back and look at these financial results - they’re incredible! Record service revenues, record free cash flow, record Q3 Adjusted EBITDA - and that’s on top of 18 quarters in a row with more than one million customers added."

There was no discussion about a possible acquisition offer or merger attempt with Sprint.

Some notable items from the quarterly report

  • Hurricanes - Costs attributed to the multiple hurricanes during Q3 amounted to $31 million. (T-Mobile's network is not fully restored yet in Puerto Rico).
  • ARPU is pretty stable - branded postpaid phone Average Revenue per User (ARPU) was $46.93 in Q3 2017, down 0.3% from Q2 2017 and down 2.5% from Q3 2016 primarily due to the continued adoption of T-Mobile ONE including taxes and fees. Branded prepaid ARPU was a record-high $38.93 in Q3 2017, up 2.4% from Q3 2016, primarily due to the continued growth of MetroPCS customers who generate higher ARPU, partially offset by negative hurricane-related impacts of $0.18.
  • Customer additions - during Q3, T-Mobile added 1.3 million users, bringing the total customer count to 70.7 million. Q3 2017 marks 18 straight quarters in which T-Mobile generated more than 1 million total net customer additions. Branded postpaid additions with 817,000.
  • 600 MHz update - at least 10 MHz covering more than 1.2 million square miles will be clear and ready to deploy in 2017
  • Big retail store expansion - 3,000 total new stores are planned for 2017, with 1,200 new T-Mobile and 1,300 net new MetroPCS stores opened year-to-date.
  • The carrier is raising its 2017 guidance for between 3.3 and 3.6 million new users.

ZTE wins 100G backbone project in India

ZTE has been awarded a 100G WDM Backbone Network Project and metro area network (MAN) construction contract with Idea Cellular, the third largest mobile operator in India with 189 million subscribers.

ZTE’s optical transport key product, ZXONE 9700, obtained 95% market share in the MAN project.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

The ZXONE 9700 is an OTN device with ultra-large cross-connect capacity. It supports up to 64T cross-connect capacity and 100G/beyond 100G rates for long-haul transmission.

SK Telecom tests 802.11ax at 4.8 Gbps

SK Telecom has demonstrated a next gen wireless system based on IEEE 802.11ax operating at up to 4.8 Gbps at its Bundang Center lab in South Korea.

The technology uses four antennas to transmit data and uses 160 MHz bandwidth, twice wider than the gigabit Wi-Fi service, and operates in the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz spectrums. It leverages OFDMA, Multi-user MIMO as well as the Dynamic Sensitivity Control (DSC) technology.

Once the technology is commercially implemented, SK Telecom believe it will play a tremendous role in delivering sufficient wireless access in any dense traffic scenarios. 

“By introducing the technology for the next generation Wi-Fi that can deliver as fast as 5G technology, we at SK Telecom have successfully laid foundation to offer better mobile services,” said Park Jin-hyo, Senior Vice President and Head of Network Technology R&D Center at SK Telecom. Park added, “We are thrilled to work on the preparation on commercializing the technology and continue to innovate our capabilities to provide differentiated services to our customers.”

GSMA calls for 5G spectrum reform in EU

It is essential that EU institutions reform Europe’s spectrum management if the region is to regain its leadership in mobile techonologies in the 5G era, according to an open letter to EU telecom ministers that was written by Mats Granryd, Director General, GSMA.

Granryd expresses grave concerns "on the current state of discussions on the proposed European Electronic Communication Code (the Code)", arguing that the EU must put aside "long antiquated views of the digital market, and finally set out a forward-looking policy that will enable the European Union to again be seen as a centre of technological innovation."

Key GSMA recommendations for EU policy include:

  • predictability for spectrum licenses, including a minimum licence duration of 25 years with a strong presumption of renewal, a proven way to attract more on-going investment in next generation infrastructure
  • An efficient peer-review mechanism to spur the sharing of best practice in the areas of spectrum award design and procedures
  • Voluntary spectrum sharing to enable competition, innovation and differentiation for the benefit of European citizens
  • Fee structures that move away from short-sighted revenue generation to ones that are reflective of efficient and effective use of spectrum as well as coverage commitments.

SES provides satellite connectivity for Loon balloons over P.R.

SES Networks confirmed that it is providing high throughput and fibre-like satellite connectivity service to Project Loon, the stratospheric balloons that are aiming to deliver 4G/LTE connectivity in disaster-affected Puerto Rico.

The connectivity is provided by SES Networks' O3b FastConnect, a rapidly deployable satellite terminal delivering fibre-like performance.

SES said this effort could not have happened with traditional satellites and could only happen with its fleet of MEO satellites because of its low latency, fiber-like capability.

“Our thoughts are with those whose lives have been impacted by this devastating hurricane," said Steve Collar, CEO of SES Networks. “Access to connectivity is crucial in getting those affected the information and help they need after a natural disaster. We are really pleased to be working with X and their other partners to deploy high-performance connectivity to Puerto Rico and to play a part in the island's restoration efforts.”

Microsoft to add 37 MW of wind power in Ireland

Microsoft has signed a 15-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with GE to purchase 100% of the wind energy from a new, 37-megawatt Tullahennel wind farm in County Kerry, Ireland.

The clean power will be used to support Microsoft cloud services from Ireland.

Microsoft is also working with ElectroRoute, a Dublin-based subsidiary of Mitsubishi, that trades energy across nine European countries.

Zayo diversifies fibre routes from Marseille

Zayo will diversify its fibre infrastucture in the south of France and will offer three fully diverse network routes out of Marseille.

Marseille serves as a strategic gateway and key aggregation point between Europe, Africa and Asia as well as connectivity for subsea cables AAE-1, SEA-ME-WE-5 and several others.

The first route, a low-latency route via Lyon that is fully operational and was announced last year, is available for both dark fiber and 100G wavelengths. The second dark fiber route traverses western France via Bordeaux. The third route connects to Strasbourg via Milan and onto Paris, Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam and other European markets. Zayo is deploying a coherent 100G wavelength system over the existing fiber, which is expected to be fully completed by the end of the year.

Zayo Completes Viatel Acquisition


Zayo completed its previously announced acquisition of Viatel for EUR 98.8 million.  The acquisition adds an 8,400 kilometer fiber network across eight countries to Zayo’s European footprint, including 12 new metro networks, seven data centers and connectivity to 81 on-net buildings. “The acquisition of Viatel’s European network business strengthens our strategic position in Europe and provides customers with access to our fiber network and...