07/15/18 ~ Converge! Network Digest

Sunday, July 15, 2018

ZTE begins recovery, posts huge 1H loss

Sunday, July 15, 2018 ZTE

ZTE confirmed that it has resumed business operations following the lifting of the export ban of U.S. components and technology to the company imposed by the U.S. Department of Commerce.

ZTE paid US$1.0 billion in civil monetary penalties to the U.S. and placed an additional US$0.4 billion in escrow as a suspended penalty.

ZTE reported a preliminary loss of between RMB 7 billion (US$1.06 billion) to RMB 9 billion (US$1.345 billion) for the first half of 2018. On a per-share basis, this amounts to a loss of RMB 1.67–2.15 per share.

In June, ZTE said it was pursuing a 30 billion yuan ($4.9 billion) line of credit from Bank of China and a separate $6 billion credit line from China Development Bank.

Microsoft Azure adds Virtual WAN and Firewall capabilities

Sunday, July 15, 2018 Azure, Cloud, Microsoft

Microsoft is introducing two new services that significantly increase the reach and security of its cloud service: Azure Virtual WAN (wide-area network) and Azure Firewall.

Azure Virtual WAN is a networking service providing optimized and automated branch to branch connectivity for connecting to and through Azure using a distributed connectivity model. It provides mechanisms to connect traditional customer routers on-premises as well as an expanding ecosystem of new Software-Defined WAN (SD-WAN) systems from Microsoft partners. Microsoft said its Virtual WAN allows customers to seamlessly connect their branches to each other and Azure using last mile Internet. It also enables customers to construct a hub and spoke network in Azure to more easily route traffic to virtual appliances such as firewalls and Azure network security services. Microsoft's current Virtual WAN partners include Citrix and Riverbed.

Azure Firewall is a cloud-native network security service that protects Azure Virtual Network resources. It is a fully stateful firewall as a service with built-in high availability and unrestricted cloud scalability. Customers can centrally create, enforce, and log application and network connectivity policies, spanning Fully Qualified Domain Names (FQDNs), IP Addresses, ports and protocols across subscriptions and virtual networks. Azure Firewall policies can be fully integrated with customers’ DevOps model while enabling them to manage security risks and achieve compliance requirements for managing resource access and protection in the cloud.

Microsoft has also updated its Azure Data Box, which is its data storage appliance for physically transferring large data sets from a customer location to the Azure cloud. The Azure Data Box will now be offered in Europe and the United Kingdom. A new Azure Data Box is an SSD-disk based option with up to five 8TB drives, totaling 40TB, for a recurring or one-time data migration.

This week Microsoft is hosting its Inspire partner conference in Las Vegas.

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/announcing-public-preview-of-azure-virtual-wan-and-azure-firewall/

What is Azure Virtual WAN (preview)?

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-wan/virtual-wan-about

Facebook to open source eXecutable ARchives (XARs)

Sunday, July 15, 2018 #containers, Facebook

Facebook has decided to pursue an open source path for its eXecutable ARchives (XARs), which is a way to create self-contained executables.

XARs, which are already being used at scale at Facebook, are described as "a system for distributing self-contained executables that encapsulate both data and code dependencies."

Facebook says XARs are the fastest way to distribute and execute large Python applications.

https://code.fb.com/data-infrastructure/xars-a-more-efficient-open-source-system-for-self-contained-executables/

Ericsson to divest its field services in Sweden

Sunday, July 15, 2018 Ericsson, Sweden

Ericsson will sell off its business providing field service operations and maintenance of fixed and mobile networks in Sweden.

Under the deal, the Swedish company Transtema Group AB will Ericsson Local Services AB (LSS), a subsidiary of Ericsson. All operations and assets of LSS will be transferred to Transtema ownership. Financial terms were not disclosed, but Ericsson did say the transaction will make it a minority shareholder and represented on the Board of Directors of Transtema Group.

Per Narvinger, Head of Customer Unit Northern & Central Europe, Market Area Europe & Latin America, Ericsson, says: “Ericsson Local Services is a market leader in field service operations in Sweden with a skilled workforce of approximately 700 employees across the country. They deliver very good support to our customers, and we believe Transtema has an excellent opportunity to continue to develop the field service operations while also executing on existing customer commitments. Together we will ensure a quick and smooth transition and a good relationship.”

Magnus Johansson, CEO Transtema Group says “We intend to operate LSS as a separate legal entity within Transtema Group. With LSS experience, competence and customer relations in Sweden they will become the backbone of our field service operations business. Our goal is to continue to grow the service business for telecom networks. This is in line with our ambition to develop our operations in Sweden and internationally. We look forward to welcome and on-board all LSS employees as soon as the deal is closed.”

Spectrum auctions to top FCC's August meeting

Sunday, July 15, 2018 Auctions, FCC, Spectrum

The Federal Communications Commission's open meeting scheduled for Thursday, August 2, 2018, is expected to clear up key spectrum issues: On the agenda:

Spectrum Frontiers Auction Procedures – setting the rules for auctioning Upper Microwave Flexible Use Licenses in the 28 GHz (Auction 101) and 24 GHz (Auction 102) bands.

The auction of the 28 GHz band (Auction 101) would employ the FCC's standard simultaneous multiple round (SMR) auction format, which offers every license for bid at the same time and consists of successive bidding rounds in which bidders may place bids on individual licenses. This auction is scheduled to commence on November 14, 2018,

The auction of the 24 GHz band (Auction 102) would employ a clock auction format, which would allow bidding on generic blocks in each PEA in successive clock bidding rounds. The bidding for the 24 GHz band (Auction 102) will be scheduled to commence after the conclusion of bidding in Auction 101.

Making 39 GHz Band Auction Ready – transitioning existing spectrum holdings in the 39 GHz band (38.6-40 GHz) to a new flexible-use band plan by offering new licenses for contiguous spectrum in the band.

Wireline Infrastructure – an order to reform the pole attachment process, allowing one-touch, make-ready for most pole attachments. The FCC may also issue a Declaratory Ruling to prohibit state and local moratoria on telecommunications facilities deployment.

https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-announces-tentative-agenda-august-open-meeting-4

Compliance testing begins for Citizen’s Broadband Radio Service

Sunday, July 15, 2018 CBRS

The Wireless Innovation Forum (WInnForum) has approved the first six test labs for Citizen’s Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) device testing:

Bureau Veritas Consumer Products Services (Hong Kong) Ltd., Taoyuan Branch, Mobile Communications
DEKRA Certification, Inc.
Nemko (multiple approved locations)
Nokia Global Product Compliance Laboratory
Sporton International Inc.
TUV SUD Canada

“WInnForum is excited to have approved the first six labs for CBSD testing,” said Lee Pucker, CEO of the WInnForum. “Approval of WInnForum standards certified test labs provides a significant step towards commercialization of the CBRS Band. These approvals are considered the first wave of WInnForum CBRS Approved test labs with more to follow.”

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will be certifying CBSDs against CFR 47 Part 96 using FCC Authorized Test Labs.

Accordingly, the WInnForum is facilitating CBSD certification testing, against this test specification by approving FCC approved test labs to run the WInnForum CBSD tests.

http://www.WirelessInnovation.org

Verizon deploys LTE over CBRS spectrum

Wednesday, May 16, 2018 CBRS, LTE, Verizon No Comments

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. ...

Baseline specs complete for 3.5 GHz Citizens Broadband Radio Service

Tuesday, January 30, 2018 CBRS, Spectrum No Comments

Ten baseline specifications for commercial operations within the 3.5 GHz Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) band are now ready to go. CBRS Operational and Functional Requirements CBRS Communications Security Technical Specification CBRS Operational Security Technical Specification SAS to CBSD Protocol Specification SAS to SAS Protocol Specification SAS Test and Certification Specification PAL Database Specification CBRS PKI Certificate...

Fujitsu builds its role as global systems integrator for multicloud

Sunday, July 15, 2018 Fujitsu

Following on from its recent cloud partnerships announcements with Microsoft and VMware, Fujitsu announced new collaborations with SAP and Oracle.

The offerings will include a new "SAP on Microsoft Azure from Fujitsu" managed service that leverages the Fujitsu end-to-end hybrid IT capabilities and global partnerships with both Microsoft and SAP. A separate global Managed Services Provider (MSP) agreement with Oracle enables Fujitsu to provide and fully manage Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) on Oracle Cloud and on-premises infrastructure globally.

Fujitsu said it is pursuing a global multi-cloud, multi-partner approach in its mission to be a top global systems integrator for delivering and managing complex multi-cloud hybrid IT environments. The company is training approximately 10,000 customer-facing employees globally in multi-cloud certifications to address industry-wide skills shortage.

"The days of 'one size fits all' cloud are over. Fujitsu is empowering businesses to achieve their goals faster by eliminating the burdensome task of moving to cloud. With an enhanced strategy that provides end-to-end, multi-cloud and Hybrid IT services from world-class hyperscale cloud and application partners, Fujitsu offers clients extensive choice so they can select a cloud solution that is right for their business and workloads, freeing them to focus on growth, unhindered by limitations in IT capability. And with vast investments in people and skills, Fujitsu brings in hard-to-find talent to do the job," stated Dixie Erwin, Head of Digital Technology Services at Fujitsu America.

Oasis Labs plans cloud platform based on blockchain

Sunday, July 15, 2018 Blockchain, Cloud, Start-ups

Oasis Labs, a start-up based in Berkeley, California, is reported to have raised $45 million in a private token sale for its "privacy-first public cloud platform based on blockchain. The idea is to ensure that privacy is built into each layer of the stack, from the application all the way down to hardware. The system promises codified and self-enforceable privacy protection without relying on any central party.

Oasis Labs is headed by Dr. Dawn Song (CEO) who is Professor of Computer Science at University of California, Berkeley, and a MacArthur Fellow.

https://www.oasislabs.com