Etisalat, Singtel, Softbank and Telefonica form Cyber Security Alliance

Four leading global carriers - Etisalat, Singtel, Softbank, and Telefónica -- agreed to create a Global Telco Security Alliance that will offer enterprises access to a comprehensive portfolio of cybersecurity services. The group will share network intelligence on cyber threats and leverage their joint global reach, assets and cybersecurity capabilities to serve customers worldwide. The partners will also develop a joint technology roadmap to create advanced cyber security applications for the Internet of Things as well as solutions that use predictive analytics and machine learning. The alliance will also consider joint investments in SOCs, cybersecurity platforms and innovative start-ups.

The four carriers and their subsidiaries have a combined customer base of more than 1.2 billion customers in over 60 countries. Between them, they operate 22 world-class Security Operation Centres (SOCs) and employ more than 6,000 cybersecurity experts.

Francisco Salcedo, Senior Vice President at Etisalat Digital said: “With digital technologies gaining widespread adoption and driving innovation across industry verticals, the security landscape has evolved. Organisations now face a new breed of threats and need to manage digital risks in their environments. Today’s strategic alliance will give us a unique opportunity to work hand in hand with our telecom counterparts and deliver innovative security services for digital risk management.”

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ADTRAN enhances its Mosaic Subscriber Experience Suite

ADTRAN announced a significant expansion to its Mosaic Subscriber Experience Suite adding two new applications that give service providers network and subscriber intelligence, as well as remote in-home device management. The enhancements include:

• Mosaic Subscriber Insight – personalizes the subscriber experience through a network intelligence tool that improves business operations, drives new service adoption and increases customer loyalty.
• Mosaic Device Manager – streamlines the subscriber experience through a device management tool that empowers service providers to monitor and maintain in-home customer devices and Wi-Fi networks remotely.
  

“Our enhanced Mosaic portfolio enables service providers to meet the ever-increasing expectations of the ultra-connected customer, who expects a seamless experience whether at home, work or on vacation,” ADTRAN Subscriber Solutions & Experience Portfolio Management Director Jeremy Harris said. “These innovations help provide analytics, lower costs, gain visibility to subscriber behavior and build customer loyalty—everything needed to thrive in a competitive marketplace.”

These two Mosaic software applications join the previously announced:

• Mosaic Activate – orchestrates one-click broadband service activation increasing revenue velocity, improving customer satisfaction and lowering the cost of subscriber adds.

ADTRAN Introduces Mosaic Software Tools

Wednesday, August 23, 2017  ADTRAN  No Comments

ADTRAN introduced its Mosaic Subscriber Solutions & Experience, described by the companyt as a new category of software products to help service providers transition their access infrastructure to a more open, programmable and scalable network.

Mosaic Activate, which has been shipping for several quarters, is the initial software product released under the Mosaic Subscriber Solutions & Experience umbrella. The software streamlines the pre-provisioning steps typically required before new customer service activation, allowing services to be configured from the edge of the network via a web interface. ADTRAN said service providers will realize a tenfold productivity increase leveraging the same number of network management resources to activate new services, accelerating new customer turn up by eliminating the swivel chair operations traditionally involved.

“The Mosaic Subscriber Solutions & Experience portfolio demonstrates our passion for staying hyper-focused on our customers to solve real world challenges,” said Jeremy Harris, director of Portfolio Management at ADTRAN. “We believe that software offers the possibility to orchestrate every task, data driven machines can securely manage the network, and end users deserve a blissful experience. This is the network that consumers want and that service providers desperately need, and we plan to make this a reality.”

http://www.adtran.com/index.php/mosaic-home

Watch the video

https://vimeo.com/250095184

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Commscope and Ericsson collaborate on CBRS testing

CommScope and Ericsson have successfully completed interoperability testing of their equipment for use in  Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) deployments.

Specifically, the interoperability test confirmed that CommScope’s Spectrum Access System (SAS) and Ericsson’s radio infrastructure with CBRS spectrum support will work together as part of a CBRS network.

The companies said this SAS–Citizens Broadband Radio Service Device (CBSD) interoperability testing, which was the first using the Wireless Innovation Forum’s release 1.2 specifications, included a battery of scenarios to verify that both products meet governmental requirements and industry protocols, as well as CommScope’s and Ericsson’s respective quality standards.

“CommScope’s team of architects, developers and engineers have been building an industry-leading SAS for nearly two years,” said Tom Gravely, vice president of research and development, Network Solutions, CommScope. “Completion of interoperability testing with a major radio equipment provider such as Ericsson validates our SAS design and readies us for commercial deployment.”

“Ericsson offers a comprehensive portfolio of CBRS network solutions that will help operators of all sizes deploy in this spectrum quickly and successfully,” said Paul Challoner, vice president of Network Product Solutions, Ericsson. “Additional milestones need to be reached for CBRS to become a reality, but we are pleased to complete interoperability testing with CommScope as part of the developmental process.”

In a CBRS network, a SAS and CBSD work together to ensure that the appropriate wireless signals are transmitted and received between the core network and end-user devices, while managing interference. An Environmental Sensing Capability (ESC) works with the SAS to identify the wireless signals of incumbent users to avoid interference from CBSDs. CommScope is one of four ESC operators conditionally approved by the FCC to provide SAS and ESC services.

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Nutanix cites sales traction with U.S. federal government

Nutanix reported strong adoption of its AHV hypervisor by U.S. federal government customer, saying 74 percent of all Nutanix Enterprise Cloud OS nodes sold to federal agencies in 2017 leveraged AHV, compared to 30 percent adoption by the Nutanix worldwide customer base, based on a rolling four-quarter average.

Some highlights:

• added nearly 100 new customers in 2017, including component organizations within the U.S. Departments of Defense, Commerce, Interior, Energy, Health and Human Services, the U.S. Federal Court system and federal systems integrators
• 20 new federal customers with total investments valued at more than $1 million each, an 82 percent increase from the number of customers in previous fiscal year
• 320 unique federal customers at the end of 2017

“The demands on federal IT customers couldn’t be higher. They are facing increasing pressure to modernize systems and implement heightened security, all while reducing costs,” said Dheeraj Pandey, co-founder and CEO of Nutanix. “Nutanix’s momentum in the federal vertical demonstrates that customers are increasingly turning to Nutanix to meet these needs—pulling back from ‘one-size-fits-all’ public cloud strategies and placing a greater emphasis on hybrid ecosystems to modernize their legacy systems. We are eager to continue to partner with federal customers to achieve these goals.”

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Zscaler implements FIPS 140-2 validated encryption

Zscaler is now offering FIPS 140-2 validated encryption within Zscaler Internet Access (ZIA) and Zscaler Private Access (ZPA), including the Zscaler application (Z-App).  Zscaler partnered with SafeLogic to provide FIPS compliant crypto libraries.

FIPS 140-2 is the U.S. government standard used to ensure that cryptographic modules meet the necessary security levels for confidentiality and integrity of Sensitive but Unclassified (SBU) information.

“FIPS 140-2 validation was the logical next step for us in the process of achieving our FedRAMP Certification,” says Stephen Kovac, Vice President of Global Government and Compliance at Zscaler. “It shows Zscaler’s continued commitment to build our security cloud to meet the stringent and evolving public sector security regulations.”

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ZTE gains Chair of new IEEE Next Gen V2X Study Group

ZTE has been designated as the chair of newly formed IEEE 802.11 NGV SG (Next Generation V2X Study Group), which will look at the requirements for adopting recent 802.11 technologies for new V2X applications, specifically for higher throughput applications, better reliability/efficiency, and extended range as well.

The goal of the NGV SG is to define the scope and develop the PAR and CSD for an IEEE 802.11 standard on Next -Generation V2X while maintaining backward compatibility with 802.11p. Sun Bo, a ZTE standard expert, was designated as the chair of the IEEE 802.11 NGV SG.

ZTE noted that two of its researchers have also taken on key leadership roles in international standards developments. Zhou Jingyi was designated as the chair of the Numbering Adhoc under IEEE-SA NewCom. Sun Bo was elected as the chair of WPAN WG under China NIST recently.

ZTE also holds the vice chair of 3GPP RAN2, the vice chair of IEEE P1934 WG, rapporteurs of two important ETSI MEC ISG projects, and is a board member of OpenFog Consortium.

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