Superloop deploys Cisco NCS 1004 on Indigo subsea cables

Superloop announced deployments of the Cisco NCS 1004 platform on the INDIGO West cable from Singapore to Australia, and the INDIGO Central cable from Perth to Sydney.

The Cisco NCS 1004 supports up to 400G for 4600 km on the INDIGO West cable. At 2RU, the system supports up to 4.8Tbps of client and up to 4.8Tbps of trunk traffic. Cisco said that in addition to the subsea applications, the NCS 1004 is also well suited for terrestrial long haul deployments as well as metro data centre interconnect applications.

“The INDIGO cable system completes the next stage of our Asia-Pac network infrastructure. We are now the sole operator that owns fibre to buildings in Australia, Singapore and HK, placing it at the forefront of optical fibre connection and transmission technologies. Working with Cisco on the INDIGO cable system was a logical extension of the partnership that helped create our Australian integrated backhaul network to the 121 points of interconnect. We are now truly positioned as the pan-Asia fibre operator to meet growing customer demand across the region,” said Ryan Crouch, Chief Technology Officer of Superloop.

“We are thrilled to work with such a forward-looking company that will leverage our NCS 1004 for their subsea routes. Superloop has now completed a new national backbone for Australia and operates carrier-grade metro networks in Singapore and Hong Kong,” said Bill Gartner, SVP/GM of Optical Systems and Optics at Cisco.

http:/www.cisco.com/go/optical
https://www.superloop.com

INDIGO subsea cable system ready for commissioning

Monday, January 28, 2019  Australia, Subsea  

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 features two-fibre pairs with a design capacity for up to 36 terabits per second. The cable system will utilise new spectrum sharing technology so each consortium member will have the ability to independently take advantage of technology advancements for future upgrades and capacity increases on demand.

Singtel’s Vice President, Carrier Services, Group Enterprise, Ooi Seng Keat said: “The completion of the INDIGO cable system heralds a new era of high-speedd communications between the growing economies of Southeast Asia and Australia. This new data superhighway will complement our existing global links to Asia, US, Europe, Australia and the Middle East, allowing Singtel and Optus to meet the growing demand for bandwidth-intensive applications which is expected to quadruple by 2025. Our investments in new subsea cable systems like INDIGO will boost our network diversity and resilience, further reinforcing our position as a leading provider of international connectivity and data services.”

Telstra’s Head of International Oliver Camplin-Warner said: “The INDIGO West cable will connect to Telstra’s extensive terrestrial network to provide onward connectivity around Australia. Once complete, the cable system will strengthen links between Australia and fast-growing South East Asian markets by providing faster speeds and dramatically improved reliability. Our vast subsea network is a key part of our international growth strategy and we will continue to invest in additional capacity to meet the increasing demand for data and maintain our network leadership in the Asia-Pacific region.”

Cisco extends its Network Convergence System

Thursday, March 08, 2018  Cisco  

Cisco announced a major extension of its Network Convergence System (NCS) data center interconnect portfolio with the introduction of two new modular platforms:

Cisco NCS 1004

• A transponder platform that packs more than 100 Tbps of capacity into a single seven-foot rack
• Can transmit 4.8 Tbps within a 2RU platform, with a total fiber capacity of 76.8 Tbps
• Support for 600G interfaces
• Secure optical transport with line rate encryption
• Flexible modulation for tuning capacity and distance requirements in 50G increments

Cisco NCS 1010

• Full spectrum open line system
• Features a full colorless, directionless and contentionless (CDC) ROADM with an enhanced modular operational model that can ease the complexities of deploying massive bandwidth

Cisco is also adding automated capabilities for model-based provisioning and streaming telemetry for its Network Convergence System (NCS) 1000 Series.

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Openreach accelerates its nationwide build programme

Openreach announced 36 new locations where it will be deploying FTTP over the next 12 months, including Newcastle, Doncaster, Chelmsford and St Albans. Four new locations in Scotland (Kilmarnock in East Ayrshire and Bathgate, Broxburn and Whitburn in West Lothian) have been prioritised following the Scottish Government’s decision to extend rates relief on new fibre broadband networks.

Overall, 74 locations across the UK have now been included in Openreach’s multi-billion pound Fibre First programme.

Clive Selley, Chief Executive of Openreach, said: “We’re pressing ahead with our investment and Openreach engineers are now building in communities all over the country, keeping us on track to deliver against the bigger ambitions we set out in May.  The Government wants to see a nationwide full fibre network and we’re keen to lead the way in helping them achieve that. We know that if it’s going to happen, Openreach will need to be at the front doing the heavy lifting, so we’re working hard to build a commercially viable plan."

https://news.openreach.co.uk

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Arista revenue rises 17% as some cloud titan spending resumes

Arista Networks reported Q2 2019 revenue of $608.3 million, an increase of 2.2% compared to the first quarter of 2019, and an increase of 17.0% from the second quarter of 2018. GAAP gross margin was 64.1%. Non-GAAP net income was $198.6 million, or $2.44 per diluted share, compared to non-GAAP net income of $155.7 million, or $1.93 per diluted share in the second quarter of 2018.

For the third quarter of 2019, Arista is forecasting revenue between $647 million and $657 million.

"In Q2 2019, Arista raised the ante with innovative products in both 400G and Cognitive Campus. Our leadership in cloud area networking is now widely recognized by industry analysts, partners and customers,” stated Jayshree Ullal, Arista President and CEO.

On a conference call, Arista execs cited "some softness in demand" from cloud customers. Spending by cloud titans has resumed but is slower than in 2018. The new norm is no more double-digit growth in spending from cloud titans.
The cloud titan segment remains Arista's largest vertical.
Services represented 15.6% of overall sales.
There was a record number of new customers during the quarter
International sales account for 27% of revenues.
Although it is impacted by tariffs, Arista does not believe its gross margins will be impacted by the US-China trade war.'

Commenting on recent developments in 400G optics, Arista CTO Andy Bechtoelsheim said pluggable optics have led to a disaggregated model of switches and interfaces. Cloud providers typically will qualify at least three optical interface vendors for cost reasons and to diversify their supply chains. Arista believes the market for 400G ZR will be highly competitive.

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MEF elects 2019-2020 Board of Directors

MEF announced its 2019-2020 Board of Directors:

Nan Chen, Senior Advisor, Ericsson
Frederick Chui, Chief Commercial Officer, PCCW Global
Andrew Dugan, Chief Technology Officer, CenturyLink
Shawn Hakl, Senior Vice President, Business Products, Verizon
Daniele Mancuso, Vice President ICT Engineering, Sparkle Group
Roman P. Pacewicz, Chief Product Officer, AT&T Business
Ralph Santitoro, Head of SDN/NFV/SD-WAN Services, Fujitsu Network Communications
Michael Strople, P. Eng., President Allstream, Managing Director - Canada, Zayo Group
Robert Victor, Senior Vice President of Product Management, Comcast Business
Mirko Voltolini, Global Head of Network On Demand, Colt Technology Services
Jeremy Wubs, Senior Vice President, Marketing for Bell Business Markets, Bell Canada
Franck Morales, Vice President, Connectivity Services, Orange Business Services (Advisory Director)

MEF Officers

Nan Chen, President
Mike Strople, Chairman
Shawn Hakl, Treasurer
Scott Mansfield, Secretary
Kevin Vachon, Chief Operating Officer
Pascal Menezes, Chief Technology Officer
Dan Pitt, Senior Vice President

“Having such a diverse, innovative board, so deeply experienced with our industry and committed to our mission, brings incredible value to the MEF community as we strive to deliver solutions optimized for digital transformation,” said Nan Chen, President, MEF. “Our mission to deliver a practical framework and roadmap for service providers and their vendors to drive innovation in our industry will be advanced all the more quickly with the support of such a powerful group representing the industry’s more influential business, technology, and thought leaders.”

“I personally want to thank our outgoing Board members, Kevin O’Toole from Comcast Business, Rami Yaron from Infovista, and our outgoing advisory Board member Jean-Claude Geha from Deutsche Telekom AG, for their outstanding contributions in helping lead MEF’s work towards realizing the MEF 3.0 vision,” said Nan Chen.

https://www.mef.net/

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TE intros straddle-mount connectors for OCP NICs

TE Connectivity (TE) introduced its new Sliver straddle-mount connectors, which are the new standard form factor supporting a faceplate-pluggable Open Compute Project (OCP) NIC 3.0.  Applications include OCP NIC 3.0 cards in a low profile. OCP NIC 3.0 cards are horizontal and faceplate-pluggable, which helps to increase airflow through the enclosure and enable system ease of design. TE’s Sliver straddle-mount products are among the most cost-effective and highest performing solutions on the market.

TE said its Sliver straddle-mount connectors for SFF-TA-1002 support high speeds through PCIe Gen 5, with a roadmap to 112G. SFF-TA-1002 is a proposed alternative or replacement to many form factors, including M.2, U.2, and PCIe. The high-density, 0.6mm pitch of the Sliver straddle-mount connectors also supports next-gen silicon PCIe lane counts, which is where current products in the market begin to max out.

“OCP-compliant designs are taking the data center equipment industry by storm, and TE Connectivity is a major supplier of connectors for these designs,” said Ann Ou, product manager at TE Connectivity. “Our Sliver straddle-mount products deliver high performance and density in a standardized form factor to facilitate design and manufacturing for our data center equipment partners.”

https://www.te.com/usa-en/products/connectors/pcb-connectors/sliver-connectors.html?source=header-match&tab=pgp-story

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MACOM posts sales of $108.3m,

MACOM Technology Solutions reported quarterly revenue of $108.3 million for its fiscal third quarter ended June 28, 2019, a decrease of 21.4% compared to $137.9 million in the previous year fiscal third quarter and a decrease of 15.7% compared to $128.5 million in the prior fiscal quarter;
Gross profit was $33.8 million, a decrease of 29.8% compared to $48.2 million in the previous year fiscal third quarter and a decrease of 41.0% compared to $57.3 million in the prior fiscal quarter.

"This was a pivotal quarter for MACOM," said Stephen G. Daly, President and Chief Executive Officer. "Our priority is to return the Company to profitability and to improve performance on key development projects so that we can achieve our growth objectives."

On a conference call, MACOM execs confirmed that shipments to Huawei were suspended after Huawei was added to the Entity list. After carefully reviewing the export regulations, MACOM determined that it could resume the shipment of certain products not covered by the restrictions. Other products, however, are not being shipped to Huawei.

https://www.macom.com

MACOM restructures citing Huawei-effect and exits optical module business for data centers

Wednesday, June 19, 2019  MACOM  

MACOM announced a significant corporate restructuring that includes the closure of seven product development facilities, including locations in France, Japan, the Netherlands, Florida, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Rhode Island. This incurs a workforce of approximately 250 employees, or 20% of the total workforce. These changes will result in approximately $14 million in restructuring charges including $7 million for employee severance obligations, a majority of which are expected to be incurred during the third fiscal quarter of 2019.

MACOM also announced that it will no longer invest in the design and development of optical modules and subsystems for data center applications. Going forward, MACOM will be a merchant supplier of semiconductor integrated circuits (ICs) and photonic devices and will support optical module manufacturers at the semiconductor component level.

MACOM cut its financial outlook citing the discontinuation of shipments to Huawei Technologies and certain of its subsidiaries and affiliates as a result of the U.S. Department of Commerce action of adding Huawei to its “Entity List.” In addition, the updated guidance also reflects reduced shipments to certain of MACOM’s distribution channel partners.

MACOM now expects revenue in the quarter to be between $107 million and $109 million, compared to prior guidance of $120 million to $124 million.  Non-GAAP gross margin is now expected to be between 39% and 41%, which includes approximately $14 million in inventory reserves, or 1,300 basis points of gross margin impact. These inventory reserves are primarily associated with certain Data Center products and products that would otherwise be shipped to Huawei. This compares to prior non-GAAP gross margin guidance of 53% to 55%.

“We do not make these decisions lightly, however, these actions are necessary in order to strengthen our strategic plan,” said Stephen Daly, President and Chief Executive Officer.

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Ciena selected for Colorado Project THOR fiber network

The Northwest Colorado Council of Governments (NWCCOG) has selected Ciena and partners to build a regional fiber network known as Project THOR.

The network is funded in part by grants from the Colorado Department of Local Affairs and local government contribution. It will connect approximately 400 miles of existing public and private fiber and has the potential to provide more than 230,000 residents access to more bandwidth at more competitive pricing.

NWCCOG is deploying Ciena’s Waveserver Ai and 5170 Service Aggregation Switch to rapidly and securely turn up Ethernet and other packet-based services, and adapt to changing service requirements in real-time. In addition, Ciena’s Blue Planet Manage, Control and Plan (MCP) software will provide NWCCOG end-to-end lifecycle operations that unify network and service management across its Ciena infrastructure.

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Keysight debuts Radio Frequency Vector Signal Generator

Keysight Technologies introduced its CXG X-Series Radio Frequency (RF) Vector Signal Generator (CXG) for testing designing IoT and general-purpose devices. Key features:

• Frequency range of 9 kHz – 3/6 GHz and up to 120 MHz RF modulation bandwidth that cover most of consumer wireless application testing requirements
• Basic parametric testing of components and functional verification of receivers
• Testing of devices with multiple standards-compliant vector signals while reducing the time spent on signal creation
• Troubleshooting of components within a wireless communication system using a reliable vector signal generator

“Keysight’s CXG solution delivers the economy and performance that engineers need to perform a diverse set of consumer electronic device tests across evolving wireless standards,” said Kari Fauber, senior director of the Global Partner Organization at Keysight Technologies. “It also offers our vast network of channel partners an ideal complement to sell in conjunction with the already popular Keysight CXA signal analyzer.”

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NetApp warns on Q2 sales

NetApp trimmed its financial outlook for its first quarter of fiscal year 2020 ended July 26, 2019. Revenues are now expected to be between $1.220 and $1.230 billion, which is a decline of approximately 17% from the first quarter of fiscal year 2019.

Net revenues in the first quarter of fiscal year 2019 included $90 million from enterprise software license agreements (ELAs) which did not repeat in the first quarter of fiscal year 2020. Adjusting for ELAs, preliminary first quarter of fiscal year 2020 net revenues would have been down approximately 12% year-over-year. GAAP net income per share1 is expected to be in the range of $0.30 to $0.35 and non-GAAP net income per share2 is expected to be in the range of $0.55 to $0.60, each computed based on an expected diluted 243 million shares.

“While we are disappointed that our preliminary results for the first quarter are lower than we had previously anticipated, we remain confident in our long-term strategy and the health of our business model,” said George Kurian, chief executive officer. “Our customer conversations indicate that our hybrid multicloud portfolio of solutions is the right one. We believe we can return to growth over time by prudently reallocating investments to expand sales coverage and accelerate our participation in the growing Private Cloud and Cloud Data Services markets.”

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Infinera appoints Nancy Erba as Chief Financial Officer

Infinera announced the appointment of Nancy Erba as Senior Vice President, Strategic Finance, effective immediately, and her subsequent appointment as Infinera’s new Chief Financial Officer (CFO), effective August 26, 2019. She will replace Brad Feller, who will remain through the end of September.

Previously, Erba was CFO for Immersion Corporation, a recognized leader in the development and licensing of touch feedback technology known as haptics. Prior to Immersion, she held numerous global leadership positions spanning functions and markets at Seagate Technology, a multi-billion dollar data storage company. These roles included Vice President, Financial Planning and Analysis, Division CFO and Vice President of Finance for Strategic Growth Initiatives, and Division CFO and Vice President of Finance of the Consumer Solutions Division. Ms. Erba holds a Master of Business Administration from Baylor University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics from Smith College.

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