Deutsche Telekom begins pilot 5G rollout in Berlin

Deutsche Telekom has activated its first six cells with commercial 5G antennas in the heart of Berlin and thereby achieved the first 5G data connection in a live network in Europe.

The Deutsche Telekom 5G cluster covers an area of up to five kilometers wide in Berlin's Mitte and Schöneberg districts for test operations. The antennas, in three cells located in Leipziger Straße and three in Winterfeldtstraße, are based on the 5G New Radio (5G NR) specs. The antennas are using frequencies in the 3.7 GHz spectrum band under a testing license. The 5G equipment is integrated into the live network infrastructure, meaning it is interacting with Deutsche Telekom's 4G spectrum in Germany.

DT's plan is to install an additional 70 cells by the summer across a total of more than 20 sites.

DT is using commercial 5G equipment from Huawei, as well as software and terminals, based on the 3rd-Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standard for 5G New Radio (in the non-standalone version).

"We're continuing on our strong preparation course for the rollout of 5G in 2020," noted Claudia Nemat, Deutsche Telekom Board member for Technology and Innovation. "Today, right in the heart of Berlin, we're taking the next decisive step – with the successful integration of commercial 5G technology into our network. We want to ensure that 5G is going to deliver on its promise of enhanced mobility, high speed and low latency."

"5G New Radio in Berlin is another major step towards 5G for all”, explained Walter Goldenits, Chief Technology Officer at Telekom Deutschland. "This 5G cluster in Berlin will serve as the basis for our future commercial 5G rollout in Germany. The antennas are providing important test results. At the same time, they are real elements of what will be our future 5G network. We are preparing the ground so that our network will be ready when the first 5G-capable smartphones appear on the market."

Deutsche Telekom said it is working in cooperation with its Berlin-based hub:raum start-up incubator, to launch a 5G Prototyping Program. Another relevant program, focused on low latency, is already successfully underway. Both programs are geared towards innovative application developers seeking to exploit the advantages of Edge Computing and 5G network performance. These developers will have the opportunity to verify their ideas on a live environment in the 5G cluster in Berlin.

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Telia Carrier Expands into Mexico

Telia Carrier has begun offering to provide wholesale IP Transit, Ethernet, IPX and Cloud Connect for Internet Service Providers (ISPs), content and cloud providers in Mexico. The company is rolling-out its first Point of Presence (PoP) in the city of Queretaro, north of Mexico City, a major industrial growth hub and nexus for content provider data center deployments.

Telia Carrier will enable ISPs and content providers in Mexico to connect to its global IP backbone, AS1299, one of the largest in the world, at the highest speeds available in the region.

The company said it will also build out its fiber infrastructure over time and the telecom reform initiatives in Mexico were opening the door for wholesale and other services.

“We see a huge demand in Mexico for IP Transit, DDoS protection and Cloud Connect services, and we already have many customers there, including mobile operators, local access providers and ISPs amongst others,” said Luis Velasquez, Mexico business manager, Telia Carrier. “ISPs and broadband carriers have had limited options to help them meet the needs of the Mexican market. The Mexican government is taking the initiative by opening the market and creating a competitive landscape, which will ultimately fuel the pace of digitalization in the country. With its formidable backbone, Telia Carrier now has the opportunity to directly serve mid-size ISPs looking for high-bandwidth solutions that will enable them to deliver better services and cloud connectivity to their customers.”

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Brazil's Eletronet expands with Ciena packet/optical

Eletronet, which operates a national OPGW-based fiber optic network with more than 16 thousand km, 155 POPs in 18 States of Brazil, has selected Ciena’s converged packet optical solution to launch new wavelength services for wholesale, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and webscale companies.

Eletronet currently ranks as one of the largest providers of connectivity to ISPs in the Brazilian market, supplying high-speed data transport over its national optical ground wire (OPGW) fiber optic network.

Eletronet is using Ciena’s 6500 Packet-Optical Platform to expand capacity and deliver up to 10 GbE as well as 100 GbE wavelengths to transport larger amounts of data across longer distances.

“As we thought about what we wanted a 100G network to achieve, it was key to provide both the lowest network latency on the market as well as establish direct routes to customers that would allow for rapid activation of services. By tapping Ciena’s expertise in the converged packet-optical industry, our network has become more agile, enabling us to expand connectivity further throughout Brazil,” stated Anderson Jacopetti, Chief Technology Officer, Eletronet

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Arista posts revenue of $472.5 million, up 40%

Arista Networks reported revenue of $472.5 million for its first quarter ended March 31, 2018, an increase of 1.0% compared to the fourth quarter of 2017, and an increase of 40.8% from the first quarter of 2017. The GAAP gross margin was 64.1%, compared to GAAP gross margin of 65.7% in the fourth quarter of 2017 and 63.9% in the first quarter of 2017. Non-GAAP net income amounted to $134.1 million, or $1.66 per diluted share, compared to non-GAAP net income of $71.8 million, or $0.93 per diluted share, in the first quarter of 2017.

"As we kick off 2018, I am pleased with our performance this quarter,” stated Jayshree Ullal, Arista President and CEO. “We continue to experience meaningful relevance and expansion as customers shift to cloud networking.”

Revenue expectations for Q2 are in the between $500 and $514 million, with non-GAAP gross margin between 62% to 64%, and Non-GAAP operating margin of approximately 32% to 34%.

https://www.arista.com/en/company/news/press-release/4578-pr-20180503

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Sierra Wireless posts sales of $187M, up 16%

Sierra Wireless reported revenue of $186.9 million for the first quarter of 2018, an increase of 15.9% compared to $161.2 million in the first quarter of 2017. Gross margin was $62.1 million, or 33.2% of revenue, in the first quarter of 2018, compared to $55.5 million, or 34.4% of revenue, in the first quarter of 2017. Non-GAAP net earnings were $3.3 million, or $0.09 per diluted share, in the first quarter of 2018, compared to net earnings of $7.8 million, or $0.24 per diluted share, in the first quarter of 2017.

Product revenue was $162.9 million, up 7.8% year-over-year and Services and Other revenue was $24.0 million, up 138.6% compared to the first quarter of 2017. This breaks down as follows:

• Revenue from OEM Solutions was $135.2 million in the first quarter of 2018, up 2.1% compared to $132.4 million in the first quarter of 2017
• Revenue from Enterprise Solutions was $29.2 million in the first quarter of 2018, up 34.5% compared to $21.7 million in the first quarter of 2017 
• Revenue from IoT Services was $22.5 million in the first quarter of 2018, up 217.6% compared to $7.1 million in the first quarter of 2017. IoT Services results include the first full quarter of contribution from Numerex.

“In the first quarter of 2018, we delivered strong year-over-year revenue growth in our higher margin Enterprise Solutions and IoT Services lines of business,” said Jason Cohenour, President and CEO. “With the acquisition of Numerex, we have added significant scale to our recurring revenue base and IoT services capabilities. We expect to leverage our stronger IoT Services business platform to expand our leadership position in Device to Cloud solutions for the IoT.”

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Zayo considers REIT tax structure

Zayo is continuing to study the possibility of converting its tax structure into a real estate investment trust (REIT). Preliminary investigation has revealed certain advantages. The company is now engaging with the IRS to seek clarification and has begun to execute the organizational changes that are required to operate as a REIT, including the realignment of its business segments to clearly delineate the leasing of network assets from ancillary services, which includes the separation and potential divestiture or deconsolidation of Zayo’s Allstream business segment.

At Zayo, we have a long and successful track record of creating shareholder value,” said Dan Caruso, chairman and CEO at Zayo. “Creating the optionality to convert to a REIT is potentially another avenue of value creation and is a high priority for Zayo, although the timing and probability of conversion remains uncertain.”

Separately, Zayo also disclosed that president and COO Andrew Crouch has resigned from the company, effective immediately.

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FCC requests 2019 budget of $333 million

The FCC is requesting a FY 2019 budget of $333,118,000, derived from regulatory fees for regular FCC operations, and an auction spending cap of $112,734,000. 

For comparison, the FCC received an appropriation of $322,035,000 for FY 2018, which was down approximately five percent from the FY 2017 appropriation.

The FCC noted that some of the additional funding will be used for upcoming spectrum auctions, including the nearly $2 billion Connect America Fund Phase II reverse auction this year to expand fixed broadband service to unserved regions The FCC is targeting 2019 for the $4.5 billion Mobility Fund Phase II reverse auction.

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Zscaler's COO resigns soon after IPO

William Welch resigned as Zscaler's chief operating officer. No reason was given but the company said there is no impact on its upcoming financial results.

Zscaler provides cloud security services.

The departure comes less than two months after the company completed its IPO.

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