T-Mobile tests 5G on 600 MHz spectrum

T-Mobile completed a test of 5G data transmission on low-band spectrum (600 MHz) over its live commercial network. Nokia supported the test, which was performed in Spokane, Washington.  T-Mobile said the test proves that low-band airwaves will provide 5G coverage across hundreds of square miles from a single tower.

T-Mobile notes that it is the only wireless provider building 5G on multiple spectrum bands, including low-band and millimeter wave. The company said it is on track for delivering nationwide 5G in 2020.

“The Un-carrier is focused on delivering 5G for everyone everywhere, while the other guys focus on 5G for the few – reaching just a few people in small areas of a handful of cities,” said John Legere, CEO of T-Mobile. “We’re building truly mobile 5G so everyone can benefit from the 5G revolution. And with Sprint, we’ll be able to supercharge 5G with incredible capacity and speed!”

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Manatua subsea cable to link Samoa and Tahiti

A new "Manatua" South Pacific submarine cable system will be deployed to provide connections from Apia, Samoa to Toahotu, Tahiti, with branching units for landings to Niue; Aitutaki, Cook Island; Raratonga, Cook Island; and Vaitape, Bora Bora.

The Manatua Cable will be a new two/three fiber pair trunk that connects Apia and Toahotu with a two-fiber pair branch to Avatele, a three-fiber pair branch to Raratonga and one-fiber pair branches to both Aitutaki and Vaitape. The cable will cover more than 3166 kilometers in total.

SubCom has been engaged for the supply and installation of the subsea system.

The Manatua Consortium is composed of: The Office des Postes et Télécommunications (OPT), the telecoms operator of French Polynesia; Avaroa Cables Limited (ACL), the cable operator of Cook Islands, Telecom Niue Limited (TNL), the telecoms operator of Niue; and Samoa Submarine Cable Company (SSCC), the cable operator of the Independent State of Samoa.

“The Manatua cable system will provide reliable, high-capacity connectivity to the South Pacific.  And we’re pleased to have a role in making it a reality,” said Thomas Sorensen, managing director, Oceania and maintenance strategy, SubCom. “The cable will strengthen the connections between islands and create a reliable information pipeline to help further connect the South Pacific to the world.”

“The Manatua Cable is the first cable system owned by a consortium in the Pacific Region shared by four parties from four different countries. Manatua will enhance significantly the international communications connectivity for our communities at reasonable and affordable costs. This is a further step for our countries aim to continue to improve access to information and services that are migrating to digital formats,” said Jean-François Martin, management committee chair of the Manatua Consortium.

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MEF18: Infinera talks cognitive networking - 4 min video

Complexity is an increasing problem in service provider networks, says Vikash Rungta, Product Marketing Manager, Infinera, especially as new applications such as IoT and virtual reality lead to rapid changes in traffic patterns.

At the recent MEF18 event in Los Angeles, Infinera and CenturyLink conducted a Proof-of-Concept demonstration of cognitive networking, showing how machine learning can detect changes in traffic patterns and then automate changes at the optical layer. (4 minutes)

https://youtu.be/qKqmdu9e1q0

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Researchers at Duke test photonic crystal waveguide

Researchers at Duke University have demonstrated a photonic crystal waveguide capable of directing photons of light around sharp corners with virtually no losses due to backscattering.

The photonic crystal waveguide was built on the concept of topological insulators. A research paper on the topic was published in the November 12 issue of Nature Nanotechnology and an overview is posted on the university's website.

The smaller the device the better, but of course we’re trying to minimize losses as well,” said Wiktor Walasik, a postdoctoral associate in electrical and computer engineering at Duke. “There are a lot of people working to make an all-optical computing system possible. We’re not there yet, but I think that’s the direction we’re going.”

https://pratt.duke.edu/about/news/optical-waveguide

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Deutsche Telekom and Ericsson deliver private LTE for OSRAM

Deutsche Telekom and Ericsson have deployed a dedicated LTE based campus network for OSRAM, a multinational lighting manufacturer headquartered in Munich, Germany.

OSRAM and Deutsche Telekom are prototyping and testing a mobile robotics solution at the OSRAM factory in Schwabmünchen. Automated Guided Vehicles (AGV) will be used to transport goods across the OSRAM shop floor in the more flexible production environment.

“In line with Industry 4.0 requirements, our customers want extremely reliable and high-performance network solutions tailored to their specific demands,” says Alex Jinsung Choi, SVP Research & Technology Innovation, Deutsche Telekom “Working together with our partner Ericsson, we will provide dedicated campus solutions that allow customers such as Osram to develop and optimize their production processes.”

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Huawei ships its first 10,000 5G base stations

Huawei announced the shipment of its first 10,000 5G base stations to carriers worldwide.

At the 9th Global Mobile Broadband Forum  this week in London, Huawei's Rotating Chairman, Ken Hu, outlined the five fundamental changes that 5G will bring:

• 5G will turn connectivity into a platform. With 5G, wireless access networks will go beyond pipe, providing seamless, ubiquitous, and limitless connectivity for all people and all things.
• Everything will go online. Right now, most things are offline by default, and most electronic devices are not connected. With 5G, being online and connected will become the default for everything.
• The world will go all cloud. Supercharged with 5G, the cloud will provide massive computing power with instant transfer speeds and near-zero lag. This will make intelligence on demand available for everyone, everywhere. New business models like Cloud X – where devices are boosted by inexhaustible cloud-based resources – will begin to emerge.
• Devices will be redefined. With AI support across devices, network, and the cloud, devices will go from plug and play to plug and think. They will understand users better – able to actively predict our needs, not just passively respond to commands – and interact with us in more natural ways.
• Experience will flow seamlessly. With existing networks, our online experience is fragmented from one scenario to another. When all things are online and cloud-based, experience and content will flow seamlessly through time, space, and devices for a truly holistic experience across all scenarios.

"From all angles, 5G is ready," Hu said. "It's ready to use, it's affordable, and
most importantly, demand is real. Of course, there are still some barriers to 5G deployment."

https://www.huawei.com/en/press-events/news/2018/11/huawei-commercial-5g-era

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Google plans EUR 600 million data center in Denmark

Google confirmed plans for a new data center in western Denmark, just outside Fredericia.

The new facility represents an investment of EUR 600 million. Google is securing Power Purchase Agreements with renewable energy sources in Denmark. Construction is expected to be completed in late 2021. This will be Google's fifth data center in Europe, joining sites in Ireland, Finland, the Netherlands and Belgium.

https://www.blog.google/inside-google/infrastructure/breaking-ground-googles-first-data-center-denmark/

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Telia activates 5G in Oulu, Finland

Telia, in partnership with Nokia, is launching a pre-commercial 5G network in the city of Oulu, Finland.

A 5G ecosystem will be built in the Nuottasaari industrial area in Oulu. The area will be one of the world's first industrial 5G environments.

"Oulu is one of the key locations for research and development of Nokia 5G technology and mobile network products globally. The strong start-up culture of the Oulu region and close cooperation between the city, the university and the businesses in the region have enabled a unique ecosystem to be created in Oulu. Among other things, the ecosystem built an open 5G test network where companies in the area collaborate to generate new products and services," says Rauno Jokelainen, VP, Smart Radio Development Unit, Mobile Networks at Nokia.

• In September, Telia activated its first 5G base stations in Helsinki. Telia's 5G network operates on test frequencies issued by the Finnish Communications Regulatory Authority. Full-scale commercial operation will be possible in 2019, after the 3,5 GHz 5G frequency auction has been conducted in Finland.

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ADTRAN claims lead in 10G PON

A new global service provider survey by Broadbandtrends has named ADTRAN as the top source in all categories for delivering the next-generation technology, products, services and solutions needed to help network operators build their best 10G fiber access networks. The “Global Service Provider Survey” analyzed the results from interviews with incumbent and competitive operators in all major regions, ADTRAN placed first in every category for its 10G fiber access solutions and services.

ADTRAN’s fiber access portfolio includes XGS-PON, NG-PON2 or 10G-EPON.

According to its “Global Service Provider Survey: 2018 10G PON Deployment Strategies & Vendor Leadership” report, 79% of carriers worldwide plan to deploy 10G PON by 2020.

“10G PON is the next wave that network operators worldwide will ride as they look to meet and exceed the needs of business and residential customers eager for higher-speed services,” ADTRAN’s Director of Portfolio Management Ryan McCowan said. “10G PON provides the infrastructure our customers will leverage as they look to deploy high-value business services along with multi-gigabit residential services, prepare for 5G applications and increase the overall ROI of broadband service delivery.”

“10G PON is a clear market priority for service providers for its ability to enable carriers to simplify network architecture and expand their addressable markets. ADTRAN’s dedication to delivering the products and solutions the market wants has clearly been recognized by service providers worldwide,” said Teresa Mastrangelo, Broadbandtrends Principal Analyst.

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Airspan acquires Mimosa Networks

Airspan Networks, which offers 4G & 5G small cell access and backhaul solutions, has acquired Mimosa Networks, a developer of wireless broadband systems. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Mimosa, which was founded in 2012 and is headquartered in Santa Clara, California, leverages Multi-User MIMO technologies in its outdoor gigabit wireless platforms for service providers. Mimosa's access, backhaul, and client solutions are deployed in a hybrid-fiber-wireless architecture, including both Point-to-Point and Point-to-Multipoint applications.

Airspan said the deal strengthens its leadership in 5G network infrastructure, adding technologies and products, sales channels and customers.

“This important step in Airspan’s growth emphasizes critical new solutions in mobile and broadband and the addition of the Santa Clara team strengthens our capabilities in the disruptive massively scalable densification techniques that are required by the 4G/5G telecom expenditure cycle currently underway. Mimosa brings important intellectual property to the table and accelerates Airpsan’s path to delivering 5G features such as Massive MIMO to the industry” said Eric Stonestrom, CEO of Airspan. “Furthermore, Mimosa’s disruptive and award-winning fixed wireless technology addresses the rapidly growing wireless broadband markets and further establishes Airspan as a leader in the convergence of densified 4G/5G mobile network backhaul and Broadband Access. Also the strong distribution channel allows Airspan products to be sold to many more customers.

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Germany's inexio deploys ADVA FSP 3000 CloudConnect

inexio, which operates five data centers as well as city and regional fiber infrastructure in Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg, has deployed ADVA's FSP 3000 CloudConnect with QuadFlex technology.

inexio is deploying the solution alongside existing FSP 3000 AgileConnect infrastructure as part of a future-proof hybrid network. The upgrade boosts the capacity of inexio’s transport system to 100 or 200 Gbps across its entire network stretching over 6,000 km. It also provides innate flexibility to grow to 400 Gbps and up.

“We were very pleased about inexio’s decision to bring ADVA and Axians Networks & Solutions GmbH into this project as a team. Through our long-term partnership, cooperation went hand-in-hand. The success of this project shows that all sides benefit from that close relationship,” said Volker Ofer, key account manager, carriers and service providers, Axians Networks & Solutions GmbH.

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Keysight's communications revenue grows 23% yoy

Keysight Technologies reported revenue of  $1,047 million for its fourth fiscal quarter of 2018 ended Oct. 31, 2018, up 19% compared with $878 million last year. Non-GAAP revenue, which excludes the impact of fair value adjustments to acquisition-related deferred revenue balances, grew 16% to reach $1,051 million. Non-GAAP core revenue, which also excludes the impact of foreign currency changes and revenue associated with businesses acquired or divested within the last twelve months, increased 17%.

There was a GAAP net loss of $114 million, or $0.61 per share, compared with a GAAP net loss of $38 million, or $0.20 per share, in the fourth quarter of 2017. Non-GAAP net income was $193 million, or $1.01 per share using 191 million weighted average shares, compared with $135 million, or $0.71 per share using 189 million weighted average shares in the fourth quarter of 2017.

• Communications Solutions Group (CSG) -- record revenue of $566 million in the fourth quarter, up 23 percent, driven by 5G-related R&D spending across the wireless ecosystem, data center next-generation 400GbE, high-speed digital test and aerospace, defense and government.
• Electronic Industrial Solutions Group (EISG) -- grew a record 21 percent in the fourth quarter to $249 million, driven by solid double-digit growth for automotive and energy, general electronics and semiconductor measurement solutions.
• Ixia Solutions Group (ISG) -- revenue was $115 million in the fourth quarter, compared with $124 million in the prior year fourth quarter. ISG continued to improve sales execution; however, revenue was adversely impacted by the contract manufacturing transition.
• Services Solutions Group (SSG) -- revenue grew 10 percent in the fourth quarter to a record $121 million, driven by growth in calibration, remarketed and repair services and solutions.

https://investor.keysight.com/investor-relations/default.aspx

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