Nokia sees 5G driving wider upgrade cycle

Nokia reported Q4 2018 sales of EUR 6.9bn, up 3% year over year compared to EUR 6.7bn in Q4 2017 on both a reported and constant currency basis. Nokia said its top line performance reflects the strong competitiveness across its portfolio and that its strategy execution is tracking well. Rajeev Suri, President and CEO of Nokia, stated: "Looking forward, I expect Nokia’s performance to strengthen for the full year 2019 versus 2018 and our view of...

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AWS hits Q4 sales of $7.43 billion, up 45% yoy

In its quarterly financial report, Amazon disclosed that AWS generated sales of $7.43 billion, up 45% over the same period last year, and operating income of $2.177 billion, up 61% year over year. AWS now represents about 10% of Amazon's overall revenue and about 58% of its overall operating income. Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced several enterprise customers during the quarter: Ellie Mae, Korean Air, Santander’s Openbank, and Pac-12 are going...

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Microsoft cites Azure sales growth of 76%

Microsoft posted quarterly revenue of $32.5 billion, up 12% yoy, and operating income of $10.3 billion, up 18% yoy. Net income was $8.4 billion GAAP and $8.6 billion non-GAAP. “Our strong commercial cloud results reflect our deep and growing partnerships with leading companies in every industry including retail, financial services, and healthcare,” said Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft. "We are delivering differentiated value across the cloud and...

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Intel appoints Bob Swan as CEO

Intel's board of directors named Robert (Bob) Swan as chief executive officer. Swan, 58, who has been serving as Intel’s interim CEO for seven months and as chief financial officer since 2016, is the seventh CEO in Intel’s 50-year history. Swan has also been elected to Intel’s board of directors.  Prior to joining Intel, Swan served as an operating partner at General Atlantic LLC and served on Applied Materials’ board of directors. He previously...

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TE Connectivity introduces SFP56 and QSFP 56 cable assemblies

TE Connectivity (TE) introduced a portfolio of 56 Gbps QSFP56 and SFP56 cable assemblies supporting aggregate data rates of 100 and 200 Gbps, making them suited for data center equipment, test and measurement equipment, and wireless infrastructure devices. TE’s new QSFP56 and SFP56 high-speed cable assemblies comply with Ethernet 802.3cd and support 56G PAM-4 applications. The cable assemblies’ optimized construction minimizes insertion loss and...

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Ekinops announces 600G FlexRate module

Ekinops introduced its new PM 400FRS04-SF flexible rate line module. This new module triples the capacity of the company's 200G FlexRate solutions. The new module supports coherent line interfaces from 100 Gbps to 600 Gbps. Ekinops said its new module provides six QSFP28 client ports aggregated to a software selectable line port that automatically configures the modulation format and baud rate to create the optimal transport link. By selecting...

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ColorChip tests 200G QSFP56 FR4 PAM4 at Ethernet Alliance Plugfest

ColorChip contributed it's 200G QSFP56 FR4 2km transceiver to the Ethernet Alliance sponsored Higher Speed Networking Interoperability Plugfest event, held in the University of New Hampshire's Interoperability Lab (UNH-IOL) in Durham NH.  In addition to the 200G QSFP56 FR4 transceiver, scheduled to be commercially available by Q2 2019, ColorChip also contributed to the plugfest its full family of 100G optical transceivers including 100G CWDM4...

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Viavi enhances its Network Performance Management and Diagnostics

Viavi Solutions introduced a significant enhancement of Network Performance Management and Diagnostics platform. Viavi's Observer GigaFlow stitches together user, network, and infrastructure data into a single record. This delivers high-fidelity forensic visibility into network conversations over time, as well as service path visibility for problem domain isolation across a complex hybrid IT environment. "IT network operations and security teams...

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MetroNet to acquire LightSpeed Fiber

MetroNet Fiber Inc., which provides fiber-based Internet, TV and phone service in more than 50 cities in Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky, agreed to acquire LightSpeed Fiber Communications, a Michigan-based fiber-optic Internet company serving Lansing, Grand Rapids, Southfield, Huntington Woods and Ypsilanti. LightSpeed also operates a 2,400-mile U.S. fiber optic backbone, spanning from Chicago to Atlanta to Washington DC. This acquisition will allow...

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Chile studies subsea cable to Asia

Chile's telecommunications regulator has launched a market consultation and study to assess the feasibility of direct subsea cable system from South America to Asia. Current connections are routed either via the United States or Europe. Chile's President, Sebastián Piñera, has expressed his support for the study. https://www.subtel.gob.cl/subtel-realizara-consulta-al-mercado-para-el-desarrollo-del-proyecto-cable-submarino-puerta-digital-asia-su...

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Industrial Internet Consortium and OpenFog Consortium combine

The Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC) and the OpenFog Consortium (OpenFog) have been combined into one organization focused on Industrial IoT, fog and edge computing. The IIC, now incorporating OpenFog, also announced that the IIC Steering Committee, which guides the strategic direction of the organization, has elected two OpenFog principals: Ron Zahavi, Chief Strategist for IoT Standards, Azure IoT, Microsoft. Mr. Zahavi is focused on IoT...

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Column: The promises of NFV within reach

by Daniel Proch, vice president of Product Management, Napatech With so many new technologies vying for attention, it can be difficult for CISOs to know which ones merit attention. Will this solution save time? Will it make our organization more productive, or enable us to do things we couldn’t otherwise do? These questions need to be considered before adopting Software-Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Functions Virtualization (NFV). What makes...

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Next Gen Central Office - a panel discussion

Next Generation Central Office (NGCO) is a new reference architecture for fixed and mobile networks that applies hyperscale principles to servers, switches, storage and rack systems. The panel is moderated by Roy Chua, Founder and Principal of AvidThink, formerly SDXCentral. Participants include Mike Yang, President of QCT; Paul Schultz, VP of Network Services Strategy and Solutions at KPG Co; and Dan Rodriguez, VP of Network Platforms Group, Intel...

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Ericsson intros AI-based managed services

Ericsson launched an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based managed services offering for communications service providers. The Ericsson Operations Engine is an end-to-end managed services operating model that reimagines network and IT operations, network design and optimization, and applications development and maintenance. It has three building blocks: Service-centric business model based on business outcomes: Using AI, automation and data insights,...

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AT&T's Q4 wireless revenue dips 2.1% yoy

AT&T reported Q4 revenue of $48.0 billion versus $41.7 billion in the year-ago quarter, up 15.2%, primarily due to the Time Warner acquisition and partially offset by declines in legacy wireline services, wireless equipment, domestic video and Vrio. "Our top priority for 2018 and 2019 is reducing our debt and I couldn’t be more pleased with how we closed the year. In 2018, we generated record free cash flow while investing at near-record levels....

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Farice plans new submarine cable from Iceland to Europe

Farice ehf, which operates two submarine cables to Iceland, is planning a new submarine cable to Europe with a likely landing site in the UK or Ireland. A new study involves selecting landing sites for the new submarine cable as well as project management for a seabed survey expected to take place in the year 2019. Farice's existing submarine cables include FARICE-1 to UK and DANICE to Denmark. A third submarine cable Greenland-Connect connects...

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Infinera expands its metro packet-optical portfolio

Infinera introduced a compact, high-density 1 rack unit (1RU) metro packet-optical platform for access and aggregation of diverse metro traffic types, including high-speed Ethernet and 10 Gbps and 100 Gbps WDM. The new Infinera 7100 PSX-3S solution: Minimizes footprint with 376 Gbps of packet switching capacity in a compact 1RU platform with 250-millimeter depth Reduces space and power costs by eliminating 10 Gbps transponders for WDM transport...

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T-Mobile and Sprint promise Customer Experience Centers

Once their merger is complete, T-Mobile and Sprint will open five, new, state-of-the-art Customer Experience Centers around the United States. The facilities will offer T-Mobile’s Team of Experts (TEX) service, which provides customers with personalized support. The companies estimate each of these facilities will create an average of 1,000 new jobs. The first of the five new facilities will be built in Overland Park, Kansas. “The heroes who work...

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Geoffrey Starks sworn in as FCC Commissioner

Geoffrey Starks was sworn in as FCC Commissioner. Starks previously served as assistant bureau chief for the FCC's Enforcement division. Before that, he served at the Department of Justice as a senior counsel to Deputy Attorney General Jim Cole. He has a JD from Yale Law School. Commissioner Starks issued the following statement: “I am deeply honored to serve as a Commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission, and I thank the President...

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ADVA's compact cell site gateway gains MEF 3.0 CE certification

ADVA's FSP 150-GO102Pro Series is among the first technologies to receive MEF 3.0 CE certification. Compliance with the new specification demonstrates that ADVA’s Carrier Ethernet (CE) and IP service demarcation solution supports the transformation to automated networking and can be used to build 5G-ready architectures. ADVA's compact cell site gateway device, which was introduced in December, provides Carrier Ethernet and IP service demarcation...

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Fujitsu Expands IoT platform for utilities with ClearWorld and GreenStar

Fujitsu Network Communications has expanded its Internet of Things (IoT) technology platform for smart utility applications by adding ClearWorld and GreenStar as ecosystem partners. Fujitsu is empowering utilities and communities with utility solutions including GreenStar world-class LED-based luminaires and ClearWorld solar energy systems in a complete IoT platform. “Digital transformation, renewable energy and carbon reduction offer both challenges...

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Verizon looks to 5G transformational change

Verizon posted flat overall sales for the last quarter of 2018, continued growth in retail postpaid net mobile customer lines, continued growth in FiOS services, and a steeper loss in its media business. For 2019, the big hope is on 5G. The company's guidance is for overall revenue (GAAP) to remain a low single digit. "Verizon finished 2018 by delivering solid financial and operational performance, as evidenced by our strong wireless service revenue...

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Juniper posts Q4 sales of $1.18B, down 5%, weakness in cloud & SP

Juniper Networks reported Q4 2018 preliminary net revenues of $1,181.0 million, a decrease of 5% year-over-year, and flat sequentially. GAAP operating margin was 16.7% and non-GAAP operating margin was 21.1%. GAAP net income was $192.2 million, compared to a net loss of $148.1 million in the fourth quarter in 2017, and a decrease of 14% sequentially, resulting in diluted earnings per share of $0.55. The year-over-year change in GAAP net income was...

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NEC selected for 96 Tbps SxS cable from Guam to California

NEC has been awarded a turnkey contract to be the system supplier for the SxS Cable System (SxS), a 10,500-kilometer subsea cable system that will directly connect Guam and California. The SxS cable has an initial design capacity of more than 96 terabits per second (Tbps). The project is commissioned by RTI Connectivity Pte. Ltd. (RTI-C). Russ Matulich, RTI-C’s CEO, acknowledged this important milestone stating, “The addition of SxS complements...

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Spectra7 and FIT demo SFP-DD Active Copper Cable

Spectra7 Microsystems and Foxconn Interconnect Technology (FIT) are demonstrating Active Copper Cable (ACC) interconnects supporting the new SFP-DD standard for higher speed and higher density server connections at this week's DesignCon 2019 expo in Santa Clara, California. The cables use Spectra7’s low-power analog GaugeChanger chips to enable 4X increase in bandwidth over currently deployed SFP28 interconnects in hyperscale and enterprise data...

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Cignal AI: Coherent Port Pricing Trends

The cost of coherent optical ports continues to drop steeply, according to a newly published report from Cignal AI using data from 3Q18. Trend analysis is provided based on past performance and future expectations as the industry migrates to fourth-generation solutions (400ZR). Vendors included in the report are ADVA, Ciena, Cisco, Coriant, Fujitsu, Huawei, Infinera, Nokia, and ZTE. All vendors tracked in the report shipped 200G-capable optics last...

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Australia's TPG Telecom halts network rollout after Huawei ban

TPG Telecom will cease the rollout its mobile network following the decision of the Australian federal government to ban the use of Huawei equipment in 5G networks due to national security concerns. TPG Telecom made the announcement in a regulatory filing to the Australian Securities Exchange. TPG said it had selected Huawei as its principal supplier of 5G equipment because of the clear upgrade path for its current infrastructure, which also uses...

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BT receives IP-VPN and ISP licenses in China

BT has received nationwide licences from the China Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. Specifically, the two ‘value added licences’, China nationwide Domestic IP-VPN licence and China nationwide Internet Service Provider (ISP) licence, enable BT China Communications Limited to contract directly with its customers in the country and bill them in local currency. BT said the licences represent a major step for its business in China, where...

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Nepal's Vianet picks Ciena's 6500 Packet-Optical Platform

Vianet Communications, one of the largest fixed broadband operators in Nepal, has chosen Ciena’s  6500 Packet-Optical Platform and 5160 Service Aggregation Switch. The deployment is expected to improve intracity connectivity in Kathmandu and provide international connectivity between Nepal and other countries. Additionally, Ciena’s network management software will enable a greater level of control over Vianet’s network, providing end-to-end...

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Infinera adds former Oclaro CEO Greg Dougherty to Board

Infinera has appointed Greg Dougherty to its board of directors, effective immediately. Most recently, Dougherty served as Chief Executive Officer of Oclaro from June 2013 until its acquisition by Lumentum in December 2018. He also served as a director of Oclaro from April 2009 to the completion of the sale in December 2018. Prior to Oclaro, Mr. Dougherty served as a director of Avanex Corporation, a leading global provider of intelligent photonic...

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Samsung breaks 1TB embedded flash threshold for mobiles

Samsung Electronics has begun mass producing the industry’s first one-terabyte (TB) embedded Universal Flash Storage (eUFS) 2.1, for use in mobiles, double the previous 512 MB max. The device uses 16 stacked layers of Samsung’s most advanced 512-gigabit (Gb) V-NAND flash memory and a newly developed proprietary controller. Breaking the 1 TB barrier for smartphone storage comes just four years after introducing the first UFS solution, the 128-gigabyte...

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Microsoft Azure adds Nvidia Quadro Virtual Workstation

Microsoft Azure will begin offering NVIDIA Tesla GPU-accelerated Quadro Virtual Workstation (Quadro vWS). Customers can spin up a GPU-accelerated virtual workstation in minutes from the Azure marketplace without having to manage endpoints or back-end infrastructure. "We’re focused on delivering the best and broadest range of GPU-accelerated capabilities in the public cloud,” said Talal Alqinawi, senior director of Microsoft Azure at Microsoft Corp....

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U.S. Department of Justice issues multiple indictments against Huawei

The U.S. Department of Justice laid out its case against Huawei in a press conference in Washington, D.C. There are two cases where the DoJ is pursuing legal actions: A grand jury in Seattle returned an indictment alledging 10 federal crimes by two affiliates of Huawei Technologies. The indictment alleges that in 2012 Huawei began a concerted effort to steal information about a robot that T-Mobile used to test mobile phones. Huawei engineers are...

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INDIGO subsea cable system ready for commissioning

The INDIGO subsea cable system, which will connect Australia and the dynamic economies of Southeast Asia, reached a significant milestone with the installations of the INDIGO West and INDIGO Central cables. INDIGO is backed by AARNet, Google, Indosat Ooredoo, Singtel, SubPartners and Telstra. Commissioning of the submarine cable system has now begun, with the INDIGO cable system on-schedule and on-track to be ready for service before mid-2019. INDIGO...

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Gartner: Global IT spending to rise 3.2% in 2019

Gartner is predicting that worldwide IT spending will rise to $3.76 trillion in 2019, an increase of 3.2 percent from 2018. Some highlights: Spending on data center systems is predicted to grow 4.2%\ Spending on communication services will be flattish at 1.3% Enterprise software, driven by a shift to the cloud, will continue to exhibit strong growth, with worldwide software spending projected to grow 8.5 percent in 2019. It will grow another 8.2...

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FCC's first 5G Spectrum Auction concludes

Bidding has concluded in FCC Auction 101, which will provide spectrum in the 28 GHz band for 5G wireless service. Rounds: 176 Qualified Bidders: 40 Licenses Won: 2965 Licenses Held by FCC: 107 Total Licenses: 3072 Gross Bids: $702,572,410 Full results are expected to post shortly. ...

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Spectra7 and Luxshare demo 400G OSFP Active Copper Cables

At this week's DesignCon 2019 in Santa Clara, Spectra7 Microsystems and Luxshare-ICT are demonstrating OSFP format Active Copper Cables (ACCs) using Spectra7 technology in a live demo passing 400Gbps Ethernet traffic generated by a 12.6 Tbps switch. Luxshare is using Spectra7’s GaugeChanger technology in its new line of OSFP Active Copper Cables. The embedded Spectra7 GC2502 Linear EQ Chips increase the length of standard copper cables by almost...

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