DT deploys massive MIMO antennas in Darmstadt for 5G test

Deutsche Telekom announced the deployment of a first group of 5G antennas in the city of Darmstadt. The new systems follow 5G-antenna test fields in Berlin and the Port of Hamburg. 

The carrier plans to install 18 Massive MIMO test antennas and conduct a 5G test field in the city to gather experience with installation and operation of systems for the new technology. In addition, a range of 5G applications and devices will be tested. For the project, Deutsche Telekom is cooperating closely with the City of Darmstadt and with Ericsson, its technology partner.

"Our test fields are enabling us now, prior to the market launch of 5G, to gain important experience with 5G," explained Walter Goldenits, Chief Technology Officer at Telekom Deutschland. "We are happy to see that Darmstadt, the Digital City, has joined Berlin and Hamburg in pioneering this new communications standard. We plan to carry out additional tests this year. After all, there will be no avoiding 5G in 2019."

Jochen Partsch, Lord Mayor of the Science City Darmstadt: "As a digital city Darmstadt we want to become a national and international pioneer in the testing of Smart City technologies. We are proud that, in addition to the German cities of Berlin and Hamburg, another test field is being built in Darmstadt. The future 5G standard is an important further development of the mobile communications network which, thanks to ultra-fast and reliable information transmission in real time, will enable us, for example, to implement networked driving and autonomous local public transport."

In addition, Deutsche Telekom, working in cooperation with hubraum, its Berlin-based start-up incubator, has launched a 5G prototyping program. The start-ups at hubraum are now using Deutsche Telekom's 5G test field in Berlin to develop 5G applications under live conditions. The 5G cluster in Berlin, which has been in operation since May 2018, now comprises more than 50 antennas.

https://www.telekom.com/en/media/media-information/archive/5g-test-field-in-darmstadt-561588

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Ciena's Blue Planet evolves as an independent division for automation

Ciena’s Blue Planet is being evolved into a more independent division focused on intelligent automation, writes Rick Hamilton, Senior VP, Blue Planet Software. The aim is to create a more independent division that is separate from Ciena’s primary hardware equipment business in order to better pursue the opportunity of intelligent software-based network automation.

Blue Planet was formed in 2015 through Ciena's acquisition of Cyan. Ciena has since acquired Packet Design for its layer 3 route optimization and DonRiver for its unified OSS inventory federation solution.

Today, Blue Planet is pursuing a more holistic approach to automation, writes Hamilton. Closed-loop automation will enable service providers to "to leverage a dynamic view of network and service resources to derive business insights that shape network control policies and inform IT systems with real-time information."

https://www.blueplanet.com/blog/Aligning-Blue-Planet-with-the-future-of-intelligent-network-automation.html

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Brazil's Sumicity deploys Padtec’s new 100G dual transponders

Sumicity, a Brazilian provider of telecommunications services, is deploying Padtec’s new 100 Gbps dual transponders to expand the transmission capacity of its DWDM networks in the southeast of Brazil.

With the expansion, Sumicity's DWDM backbone will reach approximately 3,500 kilometers across the region. Sumicity has already activated more than 2,000 kilometers of the optical network in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

Padtec’s new line of 100 and 200 Gbps (per optical channel) transponders bring higher data rates, greater density and lower power consumption per transmitted bit for Padtec’s LightPad i6400G platform.

"One of the technical innovations of this generation of transponders lies in the more flexible network interfaces that allow better adaptation of the optical channels to the demands of performance and expansion of the network," says Argemiro Sousa, Padtec’s Business Director.

"There were more than 200 kilometers of illuminated optical networks to connect the interior to the capital of Rio de Janeiro, with transmission rates of 100 Gbps”, says Fábio Abreu, CEO of Sumicity. “One of the reasons we are investing in the expansion of our backbone is so that we can take Sumicity Play, our IPTV HD (fiber optic TV), to all the cities included in our expansion project, as well as the 27 cities where Sumicity Play is already present. Today, we can prove that this network infrastructure contributes not only to significantly improve the connectivity offered to the population, but also to reach several publics with the purpose of boosting the economic and technological development of the region," adds Abreu.

http://www.padtec.com.br/

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Cisco completes Luxtera acquisition

Cisco completed its previously announced acquisition of privately-held Luxtera.

Cisco said it plans to incorporate Luxtera’s technology across its intent-based networking portfolio, spanning enterprise, data center and service provider markets.

Cisco to acquire Luxtera for silicon photonics -- $660M

Tuesday, December 18, 2018  Cisco, Luxtera, Mergers And Acquisitions, Silicon Photonics  

Cisco agreed to acquire privately-held Luxtera, a developer of silicon photonic technologies, for $660 million in cash and assumed equity awards.

Luxtera, which is based in Carlsbad, California, focuses on silicon photonics process and packaging technologies for building integrated optics capabilities for webscale and enterprise data centers, service provider market segments, and other customers.

Luxtera leverages a hybrid integration approach wherein the photonics die forms the base of the transceiver chipset, while the light source and electronics die are attached on top. The company says its ability to integrate all optical components into a single silicon chip enables it to manufacture at wafer scale.

Cisco said the integration of Luxtera will broaden its portfolio of 100GbE and 400GbE optics. Cisco plans to incorporate Luxtera's technology across its intent-based networking portfolio, spanning enterprise, data center and service provider markets.

"With Cisco's 2018 Visual Networking Index projecting that global Internet traffic will increase threefold over the next five years, our customers are facing an exponential demand for Internet bandwidth," said David Goeckeler, executive vice president and general manager, Networking and Security Business at Cisco. "Optics is a fundamental technology to enable this future. Coupled with our silicon and optics innovation, Luxtera will allow our customers to build the biggest, fastest and most efficient networks in the world."

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DT targets integrated SIM for IoT

Deutsche Telekom, working in partnership with industry partners, has led the development of nuSIM, which moves the SIM functionality from the physical SIM card directly to the chipset.

nuSIM is specifically designed for low-cost devices used in mobile IoT applications with a long life-span, such as asset trackers or smart motion or temperature sensors. It will be commercially available in the second half of 2019.

The partners include:

• for chipsets: Altair Semiconductor, Commsolid/Goodix, HiSilicon, Nordic Semiconductor, Qualcomm, Samsung Electronics, Sequans Communications, 
• for modules: Quectel Wireless Solutions, Sierra Wireless, Telit, u-blox, Nordic Semiconductor.
• for digital security: Giesecke+Devrient Mobile Security.

“Deutsche Telekom has built a solid track record in IoT technology innovation over the past years. The most important success driver for us is to anticipate customer needs to make sure we enable their business success,” says Ingo Hofacker, Senior Vice President, responsible for the IoT business at Deutsche Telekom. “nuSIM, our rigorously optimized SIM solution for the cost-sensitive mobile IoT market is our latest endeavor and an important building block for our offering moving forward.”

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CoreSite's Q4 revenue rises 10.5% yoy

CoreSite Realty reported Q4 2018 operating revenues of $139.1 million, up 10.5% year over year and in line sequentially. Q4 net income amounted $0.54 per diluted common share, up 22.7% year over year and 3.8% sequentially.

CoreSite said scale colocation leasing for the quarter was impacted by the fact that occupancies were high and therefore capacity was constrained for large blocks of contiguous space in certain markets.

“We delivered solid results in 2018, while expanding our customer ecosystem and building our new capacity pipeline,” said Paul Szurek, CoreSite’s Chief Executive Officer. “In 2019, our focus is to continue executing on high-value edge and hybrid cloud deployments requiring direct interconnection to networks and cloud on-ramps. This includes our goals of delivering significant new capacity and translating it into attractive sales growth, acquiring many new customers and continuing to deliver a strong customer experience.”

Some highlights:

• Commenced 116 new and expansion leases including 22,684 net rentable square feet (NRSF), representing $4.4 million of annualized GAAP rent at an average rate of $192 per square foot
• Signed 115 new and expansion leases including 16,125 NRSF, representing $4.2 million of annualized GAAP rent at an average rate of $259 per square foot
• Renewed 303 existing leases including 125,078 NRSF, representing $22.5 million of annualized GAAP rent, at an average rate of $180 per square foot, including churn of 1.9%, reflecting 3.0% cash rent growth and 7.0% GAAP rent growth
• In 2018, CoreSite achieved 99.99999% reliability, or “seven 9s,” exceeding its target of “six 9s.”
• CoreSite delivered approximately 7% improvement in Power Utilization Efficiency on a same-store basis compared to 2017

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Fortinet intros Intent-based, next-gen firewalls

Fortinet introduced its new line of high-performance FortiGate Next-Generation Firewalls (NGFWs) for intent-based segmentation of security architecture. The idea with intent-based Segmentation is to allow organizations to achieve granular access control, continuous trust assessment, end-to-end visibility and automated threat protection. The new platforms are powered by customized Security Processor Units (SPUs).

Some highlights:

• FortiGate 3600E Series deliver 30Gbps threat protection performance and 34Gbps SSL inspection performance. With high-density interfaces of 10G, 40G and 100G, it offers product consolidation and meets the needs of diverse deployments. Fortinet’s FortiGate Next-Generation Firewalls offer one of the industry’s highest marked SSL inspection performance and threat protection throughput.
• The FortiGate 3400E Series provide 23Gbps threat protection performance and 30Gbps SSL inspection performance. Combined with high-density interfaces of 10G, 40G, 100G, the FortiGate 3400E Series meet the needs of a variety of deployments by offering input/output flexibility, reducing complexity to achieve operational efficiency
• FortiGate 600E Series achieve 7Gbps threat protection and 8Gbps of SSL inspection performance with diverse 1G and 10G interfaces, allowing deployment flexibility.
• FortiGate 400E Series deliver 5Gbps threat protection and 4.8Gbps SSL inspection performance with high 1G port density to suit the needs of branch offices.
• The new FortiGate NGFWs, as part of Fortinet’s Security Fabric, leverage Fabric Connectors to seamlessly integrate with external security ecosystems, sharing threat intelligence quickly for automated remediation. Fabric Connectors provide open APIs, allowing the FortiGate NGFWs to integrate with third-party solutions and Fabric-Ready Partners. This gives users advanced high-performance security integration with industry-leading solutions, such as VMWare NSX and Cisco ACI.

"Segmentation is becoming as fundamental as patching vulnerable systems. Intent-based Segmentation aligns business goals with infrastructure changes and ultimately, dynamically separates infrastructure to protect users, data and systems. A fundamental element of Intent-based Segmentation is the high-performance NGFW."

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Cisco to acquire Singularity Networks for traffic analytics

Cisco has agreed to acquire Singularity Networks, a privately-held network infrastructure analytics company based in Lone Tree, Colorado. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Singularity Networks will join the automation group within Cisco’s Service Provider Business Unit. Cisco plans to integrate Singularity Networks’ analytics capabilities into its Crosswork Network Automation portfolio for Service Providers.

"I am pleased to announce Cisco’s intent to acquire Singularity Networks, a privately-held network infrastructure analytics company. Singularity Networks captures, enriches, and analyzes network data to help service providers, web companies and enterprises improve network performance, manage costs, gain visibility, and reduce downtime.

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Marvell warns on Q4 citing weaker cloud capital spending

Marvell Technology Group updated its financial guidance for its fourth quarter of fiscal 2019, which ended on February 2, 2019. The company now expects its fourth-quarter fiscal 2019 preliminary unaudited revenue to be in the range of $735 million to $745 million, below its previously announced guidance range of $790 million to $830 million.

Marvell said the majority of its fourth-quarter revenue shortfall was due to a weaker than expected storage controller business. The company believes demand for its products was impacted primarily by macroeconomic uncertainty, reduction in cloud capital spending and PC CPU shortages. The exception was embedded processors for networking and 4G & pre-5G wireless infrastructure which met expectations.

The company expects the weakness in demand that it saw in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2019 to continue in the first quarter of fiscal 2020.

"Although we are disappointed with our fourth quarter revenue, we continued to run the business efficiently under difficult end market conditions and are satisfied with gross margin execution and operating expense management," said Matt Murphy, President and CEO. "We are optimistic that demand will begin to improve later this year, as inventory levels adjust in customer's supply chains, and capital spending picks up. While we will prudently manage our operating expenses to reflect this softer demand environment, we remain committed to the key initiatives that we outlined at our Investor Day and are on track to launch our 5G base station products later this fiscal year. We have conviction in our strategy to drive long-term growth and we remain focused on execution."

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