Verizon deploys LTE over CBRS spectrum

Verizon announced 4G LTE over CBRS spectrum (Citizens Broadband Radio Service) using its live commercial network in Florida.

The deployment uses a combination of Verizon licensed AWS and 700 MHz spectrum aggregated with 50 MHz of CBRS band 48 spectrum.  Verizon said it has achieved peak speeds of 790 Mbps using LTE Advanced features including multiple antennas, 256 QAM, and carrier aggregation across the shared and licensed spectrum.  The deployments in Florida involved outdoor and in-building systems.

Ericsson provided Ericsson Radio DOT system for indoor and Radio 2208 for outdoor, Qualcomm provided its Snapdragon TM 845 mobile test device with X20 LTE for access to CBRS on mobile devices, and Federated Wireless provided the prioritization through their Spectrum Controller, a Spectrum Access System (SAS) that dynamically allocates channels within the FCC’s spectrum sharing framework for this band.  Ericsson also provided the domain proxy to enable the radios to communicate with the Federated Wireless Spectrum Controller.

Commercial devices that can access the CBRS spectrum are expected in 2018.

Verizon said this real-world deployment marks the beginning of public access to the 150 MHz bandwidth of 3.5 GHz shared spectrum which until now has been used by the federal government for radar systems.

“As more people use more wireless devices to do more things in more places, building a network to stay ahead of customer demand is crucial,” said Mike Haberman, VP Network Engineering for Verizon.  “This shared spectrum resource is a critical component of our strategy to add capacity to our network.”

“We have been aggressively working over the past several years on deploying LTE Advanced features.  We’ve fully deployed carrier aggregation in our licensed spectrum across our network in over 2,000 markets, and have 4X4 MIMO and 256 QAM deployed in over 810 markets nationwide for our customers,” said Haberman.  “Combining those features with this shared spectrum band will provide more capacity, higher peak speeds and faster throughput when accessing the network for our customers who have come to expect the latest technology and highest reliability from Verizon.”

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Sprint adds to its list of first 5G cities

Sprint named three additional cities where it plans to deploy 5G in the first half of 2019. Sprint's full list of first 5G markets now includes Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, New York City, Phoenix,and Washington, D.C.

"Today we have a great LTE network, and with Sprint 5G, we’ll deliver for our customers mobile data speeds that are up to 10 times faster, with significantly improved reliability and coverage," said Kevin Crull, Sprint’s chief strategy officer, who today is presenting his keynote address at 5G North America. "This next generation of wireless technology will create incredible new connections to people and things, and services and experiences that are so unique they will make an impact on the lives of our consumers."

Sprint's 5G approach leverages its 2.5 GHz spectrum and Massive MIMO cell sites, which are capable of delivering up to 10 times the capacity of current LTE systems. The radios support split-mode, enabling Sprint to deliver 4G LTE and 5G on the same radio simultaneously.

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Cisco posts revenue of $12.5 billion, up 4% yoy

Cisco reported third-quarter revenue of $12.5 billion, GAAP net income of $2.7 billion or $0.56 per share, and non-GAAP net income of $3.2 billion or $0.66 per share. Total GAAP gross margin and product gross margin were 62.3% and 61.0%, respectively. Product gross margin decreased compared with 61.7% in the third quarter of fiscal 2017.

"We are executing well against our strategy, our innovation pipeline has never been stronger, and we continue to make great progress in transforming towards more software and subscriptions," said Chuck Robbins, Chairman and CEO, Cisco. "I am confident with our position in the industry and the impact we will continue to drive with our customers."

Some highlights

• Product revenue was up 5%
• Service revenue was up 3% 
• There were strong sales of the Catalyst 9K products and Cisco now has over 5,800 customers and high uptake of its advanced subscription offer
• Infrastructure Platforms product revenu increased by 2%
• Applications revenue increased by 19%
• Security revenue increased by 11%
• 32% of total revenue was from recurring offers, up 2 percentage points yoy
• Deferred revenue from software subscriptions is at $5.6 billion, up 29% yoy
• Revenue by geographic segment was: Americas up 2%, EMEA up 9%, and APJC up 7%. 
• In terms of product orders, enterprise grew by 11% yoy, public sector by 2%, commercial by 7%, and service provider declined by 4%.

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U.S. Senate votes to rescind FCC order ending Net Neutrality

The FCC voted 52-to-47  in favor of a bill that reverses the FCC's recent order ending Net Neutrality.

The bill now goes to the U.S. House of Representatives for consideration.

FCC votes 3-2 to end Net Neutrality rules

Thursday, December 14, 2017  FCC, Net Neutrality  No Comments

The FCC voted 3-2 along partisan lines to adopt the "Restoring Internet Freedom Order" proposed by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai to rollback Obama-era Net Neutrality rules. Voting in favor of the order were Republicans Ajit Pai, who argued that measure will usher in a new era of investment for Internet infrastructure. Also voting in favor were Republicans Michael O'Rielly and Brendan Carr. Voting against the measure were Democrats Mignon Clyburn and Jessica Rosenworcel.

FCC Chairman said that by returning to the classification of Internet services as an “information service”— removing the current Title II regulatory regime that gives the FCC say over the delivery of Internet content — the new order returns the industry to the status quo prior to 2015.

The vote proceeded despite an urgent request from the Attorney Generals of 18 states urging a delay to the vote due to a criminal investigation into possible fraudulent manipulation of the FCC's public comment process for this issue.  In a public letterto FCC Commissioners, the Attorney Generals said their ongoing review of the public comments process has revealed a large number of fake comment submissions using the names and identities of real people. The initial assessment is that there were over 1 million fake comments indicating a deliberate effort to skew the public comment process on an issue of national importance. The Attorney Generals are also requesting the help of the FCC in their investigation of "massive identity theft."

President Trump Picks Pai for FCC Chairman

Monday, January 23, 2017  FCC, Regulatory  No Comments

President Donald J. Trump designated Ajit Pai as his choice to be Chair of the FCC. Ajit Varadaraj Pai was nominated for FCC Commissioner by President Obama in 2011. Pai took over the seat abandoned by Meredith Baker who left the FCC to take a job as a lobbyist for Comcast. Pai was previously a Partner in the Litigation Department of Jenner & Block LLP. Previously, Pai worked in the Office of the General Counsel at the Federal Communications...

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FCC Votes 3-2 to Adopt Open Internet Rules

Thursday, February 26, 2015  FCC, Net Neutrality, Regulatory  No Comments

The Federal Communications Commission voted 3-2 to adopt a new set of Open Internet rules proposed by Commissioner Wheeler and backed by the Obama Administration. All of the new rules, which are based on the FCC's authority under Title II of the Communications Act of 1934, would apply to fixed and mobile broadband alike, while leaving room for reasonable network management and its specific application to mobile and unlicensed WiFi networks.

Here are the key provisions and rules of the Open Internet Order as outlined by the FCC:

Bright Line Rules:  The first three rules ban practices that are known to harm the Open Internet.

• No Blocking: broadband providers may not block access to legal content, applications, services, or non-harmful devices.
• No Throttling: broadband providers may not impair or degrade lawful Internet traffic on the basis of content, applications, services, or non-harmful devices.
• No Paid Prioritization: broadband providers may not favor some lawful Internet traffic over other lawful traffic in exchange for consideration of any kind—in other words, no “fast lanes.”   This rule also bans ISPs from prioritizing content and services of their affiliates. It also prohibits practices that target specific applications or classes of applications.  

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FiberLight Cloud Connect reaches top clouds

FiberLight announced a new service providing dedicated connectivity to top cloud providers, including Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, IBM, Oracle, Google Cloud and Rackspace.

FiberLight Cloud Connect was initially offered in the Washington, D.C. area, and will now be expanded across FiberLights core markets – including Atlanta, Dallas, and Tampa. The service provides a dedicated path over FiberLight’s optical infrastructure with bandwidth capabilities from 100 Mbps to 10 Gbps.

“As an increasing number of enterprises move toward hybrid cloud architectures, finding an effective way to access and scale connectivity to various cloud platforms has become important to maintain business productivity while reducing costs,” explains Marc Dyman, Executive Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer for FiberLight.  “Using FiberLight’s new Cloud Connect service, our customers will be able to access key cloud providers with dedicated fiber connectivity from commercial buildings in our markets. FiberLight’s state-of-the-art fiber network will enable greater reliability and performance of critical applications in the cloud while increasing the volume of customers to our data center partners.”

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