AT&T and Colt implement MEF’s LSO Sonata APIs to Automate Network Ordering

The first two carriers to implement MEF’s LSO (Lifecycle Service Orchestration) Sonata APIs are AT&T and Colt Technology Services, paving the way for the seamless ordering of Ethernet connections across multiple carriers. As of today, AT&T can now place automated orders for Colt’s Ethernet Services using MEF’s LSO Sonata APIs. This enables AT&T to validate site addresses, check service availability, get a quote, and place automated orders on Colt’s network.

Traditionally, service providers use disparate, proprietary systems to manage different aspects of their networks.

MEF’s set of standardized LSO Sonata APIs creates a service-agnostic approach for inter-provider service automation that can be adopted and replicated across all carriers.

MEF describes the implementation of its Sonata APIs as a critical milestone in driving frictionless commerce across the global telecoms industry, removing manual steps, cutting cycle times, and minimizing handling errors.

“There’s no doubt this will change how carriers interact and operate in the industry. Our interactions are now more cost-efficient, flexible and error-free,” said Roman Pacewicz, Chief Product Officer, AT&T Business. “We kicked off interoperability discussions and trials 3 years ago and gained important insights that will help create and refine industry standards under the guidance of MEF. The transformation of networks to a dynamic, on-demand, software-centric, cloud-based model opens up opportunities for everyone.”

“Advancing interoperability is a key initiative of the ITW Global Leaders’ Forum, a network of the leaders from the world’s largest wholesale carriers, who convene to discuss strategic issues and collaborative activities with the aim of driving the next phase of growth for the industry,” said George Sloan, vice president, AT&T Global Connections and Alliance Management. “GLF has been supporting MEF LSO Sonata API work, which will enable network providers to more easily buy from and sell to each other and better meet the needs of our respective business customers.”

“Today’s announcement is the culmination of a long journey. This project started as a Proof of Concept (PoC,) and it is incredibly exciting to reach this stage,” said Mirko Voltolini, Head of Network On Demand, Colt. “We are proud to have been part of this process from the beginning. With the adoption of LSO Sonata APIs in our production network, we are improving efficiencies, reducing manual processes, and helping to improve how we all work together as an industry.”

“We are thrilled with the strong and growing industry support for LSO Sonata APIs for inter-provider service automation, said Nan Chen, President, MEF. “MEF especially appreciates the pioneering efforts of AT&T and Colt to implement LSO Sonata APIs in production environments. We couldn’t be more excited to see the creation and growth of this ecosystem that will support dynamic service automation moving forward.”

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MEF Launches MEF 3.0 LSO Sonata Certification Pilot for Inter-Provider Service Automation

MEF launched a pilot MEF 3.0 LSO Sonata certification program for inter-provider service automation, with an initial focus on automating ordering of MEF 3.0 Carrier Ethernet Access E-Line services. This certification enables buyers and sellers of wholesale MEF 3.0 services to validate that their APIs used for inter-provider business transactions comply with MEF standards.

MEF also introduced its LSO Sonata SDK (Software Development Kit) Release 3 with APIs for inter-provider serviceability, product inventory, quoting, and ordering.

"Certified MEF 3.0 LSO Sonata APIs will be the critical enabler for orchestrating MEF 3.0 services – starting with Carrier Ethernet and extending to SD-WAN, Optical Transport, and IP – across a global federation of automated networks,” said Pascal Menezes, CTO, MEF. “More than 50 service providers around the world have voiced support for development and adoption of LSO Sonata APIs to realize time-to-revenue and profit goals. We expect a core group will participate in the pilot certification program, leading the industry shift from manual inter-provider processes to dynamic service automation."

MEF 3.0 LSO Sonata Certification - the new pilot certification is being conducted in concert with MEF testing partner Iometrix – involves three major steps associated with published MEF 3.0 CE and LSO Sonata standards:

• Certify MEF 3.0 CE Access E-Line Service. Service providers validate compliance with MEF 3.0 CE Access E-Line service standards as described in the MEF 3.0 CE Certification Blueprint. 
• Develop MEF 3.0 LSO Sonata Ordering API. The API test platform helps companies optimize development of the LSO Sonata Ordering API based on Ethernet Ordering Technical Standard: Business Requirements and Use Cases (MEF 57.1) and LSO Sonata SDK Release 3. The platform provides a structure within which API developers can develop code covering various use cases in an optimal manner and pre-validate their code at every step of development.
• Certify MEF 3.0 LSO Sonata Ordering API. The final stage of certification validates conformity of the LSO Sonata Ordering API to the MEF LSO Sonata Certification Test Requirements (MEF 92) working draft on the MEF wiki, which together with the MEF 3.0 CE Access E-Line service certification provides a fully compliant orchestrated service ready to interact with partners across the globe. 

LSO Sonata SDK Release 3 includes a set of deliverables that enable market adoption of LSO Sonata APIs for serviceability (address validation, site queries, and product offering qualification), product inventory, quoting, and ordering. The SDK includes published and draft standards listed below covering business requirements, use cases, and attributes that serve as the basis for the associated APIs and data models. Available on the MEF public GitHub, the SDK also includes:

• Swagger data models, product payload specifications composed of MEF 3.0 services, and other artifacts that enable a developer to rapidly build out these Sonata LSO APIs within their business systems.
• Ethernet Ordering Technical Standard: Business Requirements and Use Cases (MEF 57.1).
• Address, Service Site, and Product Offering Qualification Management: Requirements and Use Cases (MEF 79 Draft Standard)
• Quote Management: Requirements and Use Cases (MEF 80 Draft Standard)
• Product Inventory Management: Requirements and Use Cases (MEF 81 Draft Standard)

MEF also notes that while the initial LSO Sonata API work relates to orchestration of MEF 3.0 Carrier Ethernet services, further advancements will support the full range of MEF 3.0 services – also including Optical Transport, IP, SD-WAN, Security-as-a-Service, etc. – without changing the basic API structure itself thanks to the polymorphic approach used in collaboration with TM Forum.

“MEF continues to be the driving force in the service provider community bringing standardization of specifications promoting carrier interoperability of next generation services like Ethernet and SD-WAN. AT&T is pleased to be part of this effort and we are continually implementing these specifications to enable on-demand services, drive complexity out of our processes, and lower our operating costs. Today’s announcement demonstrates that LSO Sonata APIs have arrived, and it’s incumbent upon all of us in the service provider community to implement them in the same standardized fashion to ensure cross-carrier interoperability,” stated Roman Pacewicz, Chief Product Officer, AT&T Business.

“Colt has taken a leadership role within MEF and has been working with other carriers to design and develop the LSO Sonata APIs. As one of the first implementers of the APIs, we couldn’t be more thrilled to see this architecture now changing how we do business. For the success of the MEF LSO APIs moving forward, having a certification is critical because it adds credibility to those organizations who are already working with the APIs, and also makes it easier to identify those who are investing and working towards a cost-effective, on-demand, frictionless way of working,” stated Mirko Voltolini, Head of Network On Demand, Colt.

“Orange is pleased to be part of the early adopters of MEF 3.0 LSO Sonata. The integration of these APIs into our on-demand services will provide efficiency and thus simplify cooperation between operators on existing and new on-demand services. Because digital transformation is growing at such an incredible pace, here at Orange we are convinced that automation is a key element in customer experience!," said Emmanuel Rochas, CEO, Orange International Carriers.

http://www.MEF19.com

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Telia Carrier adds DWDM routes in North America

Telia Carrier has expanded its North American network with the addition of two new diverse and latency-optimized DWDM routes between New Jersey and Northern Virginia.

This includes metro expansions with additional points of presence (PoPs) in the Secaucus area to seamlessly serve New Jersey and the greater New York area. The expanded network also provides the capability to extend to new submarine cable landing stations in Virginia and New Jersey.

The new PoPs in Secaucus are running the latest generation of Infinera coherent ICE4 100G technology and enhance the local availability of high-speed IP Transit, Cloud Connect, Ethernet and IPX services for operators, content providers and enterprises alike.

“Telia Carrier is committed to building a network that exceeds customer expectations, with highly flexible and diverse route options,” says Staffan Göjeryd, CEO, Telia Carrier. “This particular addition ensures fast access between key data centers along the US East Coast and highlights our ongoing commitment to the North American market overall.”

Telia Carrier also notes that this latest expansion is a continuation of its organic growth story. For more than two decades Telia Carrier’s global fibre backbone has grown organically, without acquisitions. It was the first network to successfully transmit 1 Tb/s in super channels on its U.S. network and recently announced the first real-time transmission of 600Gb/s wavelengths in a live production network. According to Dyn Research’s global backbone rankings, Telia Carrier’s global IP backbone, AS1299, is currently ranked number one.

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Telxius and DE-CIX for global interconnection partnership

Telxius, the telecommunication infrastructure company of the Telefónica Group, has partnered with DE-CIX to offer access and interconnection services from any Telxius Point of presence in the world to the DE-CIX Internet Exchanges in Marseille, Madrid, New York, and Dallas, as well as the world’s largest IX by peak traffic, DE-CIX Frankfurt.

Telxius operates MAREA and BRUSA, the two highest capacity submarine cables in the world, providing ultrafast connectivity between the Americas(Rio de Janeiro, Fortaleza, Puerto Rico, and Virginia Beach) and Europe (Bilbao and Marseille), and will act as a “one-stop shop” for DE-CIX Interconnection services.

CE-CIX customers will also benefit from the Telxius services portfolio, including IP Transit and DDoS Shield services. They will have direct connectivity to the Internet through Telxius’ Tier 1 international network, guaranteeing reliable, high-speed interconnection. DDoS Shield will also be available for those customers who want to be protected against DDoS Attacks.

“We are excited to extend our range of globally-acting resellers with Telxius, as they are a major player in the Americas and Europe. For us, this is building interconnection bridges across the Atlantic, bringing the value of our DE-CIX services to new regions around the globe,” states Theresa Bobis, Director Southern Europe at DE-CIX.

Telia Carrier and Telxius announce transatlantic capacity deal

Wednesday, March 13, 2019    

Telia Carrier and Telxius announced a major network capacity agreement combining Telia Carrier’s extensive terrestrial European and North American footprint and Telxius’ newest transatlantic cable assets,

The deal paves the wave for multi-terabit transatlantic capacity services.

Telia Carrier owns and operates the world’s #1 backbone (according to Dyn Research) and provides critical network infrastructure, services and cloud connectivity to operators, content providers and enterprises. Telxius owns and operates the two highest-capacity submarine cables in the world, MAREA (200 Tbps) and BRUSA (138 Tbps) within its 87,000 km international network of fiber optic subsea cables. MAREA is the transatlantic cable jointly owned with Microsoft and Facebook. BRUSA effectively provides the lowest latency route between the US and Brazil.

“This is one of the largest European capacity projects in recent years and by combining our extensive European network across 100 PoPs in Europe with Telxius’ Spanish footprint and the Marea cable system, this is a perfect, end-to-end fit.’ said Ivo Pascucci, VP of Sales, Telia Carrier. ‘Apart from the obvious benefits of additional capacity and lower latency within Europe and towards the US, we are delighted to work with such a strong partner in this and other projects.”

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Google to invest €1 billion in data centers in the Netherlands

Google disclosed plans to invest €1 billion in data centers in the Netherlands, including a new data center in Agriport and an expansion of its existing data center in Eemshaven.

Google said it is committed to 100% renewable energy for its operations.

The total investment by Google in data centers in the Netherlands since 2016 amounts to €2.5 billion.

Google plans EUR 600 million data center in Denmark

Tuesday, November 20, 2018  Data Center, Denmark, Google  

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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CenturyLink offers Cloud Connect Dynamic Connections to Azure

CenturyLink has begun offering Cloud Connect Dynamic Connections to Microsoft Azure and Azure Government. The service offers secure connections as a private Layer 2 network. Customers can do real-time turn up and turn downs of private Ethernet connections to cloud service providers via a dynamic self-service portal or API. This usage-based model enables enterprises to consume bandwidth in the same way they are used to consuming cloud services.

Dynamic Connections are delivered over private MEF Carrier Ethernet 2.0 connections across CenturyLink's redundant global fiber network using SDN.

Resiliency is included in every Dynamic Connection using Azure via redundant virtual circuits, thanks to advanced connectivity capabilities of CenturyLink Dynamic Connections and Microsoft ExpressRoute. CenturyLink also offers Dynamic Connections in separate physical facilities for popular locations such as Washington, D.C. This allows customers to create even more resiliency while having similar latency performance for their Azure ExpressRoute connections.

"With this addition of Microsoft Azure, CenturyLink can now directly connect to approximately 70% of the desired destinations for all public cloud market users," said Paul Savill, senior vice president of core network and technology solutions, CenturyLink. "This gives customers even more flexibility for how they leverage their cloud workloads. Our robust global network and the self-service features of Dynamic Connections combine to deliver secure, reliable and scalable connectivity so enterprises can deliver IT agility with their cloud environments."

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Cloudflare adds Tencent to Bandwidth Alliance to reduce transfer fees

Cloudflare has added Tencent Cloud to its Bandwidth Alliance program.

Now, joint customers of Cloudflare and Tencent Cloud will pay zero data transfer fees for all traffic between their networks outside of China. Cloudflare has long had an international presence, with co-location facilities in more than 180 cities across more than 80 countries, including China.

“People everywhere want faster, more secure, and more reliable Internet,” said Cloudflare co-founder and CEO, Matthew Prince. “In working with Tencent, and other partners, we are better positioned to address the numerous challenges that are faced by enterprises as they expand internationally, to help users everywhere experience the best Internet possible.”

In September 2018, Cloudflare announced the Bandwidth Alliance, a group of forward-thinking cloud and networking companies that are committed to discounting or waiving data transfer fees (also known as bandwidth fees) for shared customers. The Bandwidth Alliance was launched with 10 partners, all committed to providing the most performant and cost-efficient experience for mutual customers, and has now nearly doubled to 18 partners. Tencent Cloud is a division of Tencent Holdings Limited, one of the world’s largest Internet services providers.

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ZTE claims 25 5G contracts

ZTE has secured over 25 5G commercial contracts globally and has been already committed to partnerships in the 5G arena with over 60 operators across the globe.

As of June 15, ZTE said it has declared 1,424 families of 5G Standard-Essential Patents(SEP) and patent applications to the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), ranking in the global top 3 in terms of the number of such families. The company has filed more than 3,500 5G patent applications.

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Vectra raises $100m for its AI-driven cloud security

Vectra, a start-up based in San Jose, California, announced $100 million in new funding for its artificial intelligence (AI)-driven cloud security using network detection and response.

Vectra's Cognito platform promises 360-degree visibility into cloud, data center, user and internet-of-things (IoT) infrastructure. The company reports 104% growth in annual recurring revenue in 2018 compared to 2017. The company will continue to ramp up initiatives aimed at addressing the global deficit in cloud security, innovating on its existing platform and expanding its global customer base.

The new funding was led by TCV and included existing investors. This brings the company’s total funding to date to more than $200 million.

“The cloud has inherent security blind spots, making it imperative to eliminate cyber-risks as enterprises move their business to the cloud,” said Hitesh Sheth, president and chief executive officer at Vectra. “The Cognito platform enables them to stop hidden cyberattacks in the cloud. We look forward to partnering with TCV and our existing investors as we continue our rapid growth.”

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HPE adds George Kurtz, CEO of CrowdStrike, to Board

George Kurtz, CEO and co-founder of CrowdStrike, has been appointed as a member of Hewlett Packard Enterprise's Board of Directors.

Prior to founding CrowdStrike in 2011, Kurtz was a senior leader at global security company McAfee, serving in key roles ranging from executive vice president and general manager to worldwide chief technology officer. Prior to joining McAfee, Kurtz founded information security company Foundstone, which was acquired by McAfee in 2004. He is the co-author of the best-selling security book “Hacking Exposed: Network Security Secrets & Solutions.”

Crowdstrike zooms 70% in first day of trading

Wednesday, June 12, 2019    

CrowdStrike, which offers cloud-delivered endpoint protection, completed its initial public offering of 18,000,000 shares of its Class A common stock at a price to the public of $34.00 per share.

On the opening day, trading of CRWD closed at $58.00, up 70%.

CrowdStrike, which is based in Sunnyvale, California, was founded in 2011 by co-founders George Kurtz and Dmitri Alperovitch and Gregg Marston to build smarter malware-based defenses.

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