SK Telecom tops 1 million 5G subscribers just 4 months after launch

On August 21, SK Telecom became the first mobile operator in the world to exceed the 1 million 5G subscriber mark. The company's 5G subscribers now represent more than 3.5 percent of its total subscriber base of 28 million.

The 1 million subscriber milestone was achieved 140 days after launching the world’s first 5G smartphone on April 3, which is twice faster than its LTE uptake rate. After commercializing the LTE service in July 2011, the company hit the 1 million LTE subscriber mark in eight months.

The 5G service is also driving up customers' data usage. According to SK Telecom’s analysis on 5G subscribers, the average monthly data usage of customers who switched devices from LTE to 5G has increased about 65 percent from 20.4GB (LTE) to 33.7GB (5G).

The recent launch of Galaxy Note 10 5G is expected to further drive the increase of 5G subscribers. SK Telecom has launched three 5G smartphones – Galaxy S10 5G, V50 ThinQ 5G, Galaxy Note 10 5G – so far and plans to strengthen its 5G device line-up.

Ryu Young-sang, Vice President and Head of MNO Business of SK Telecom, said, "SK Telecom will continuously develop innovative contents and services specially designed and optimized for 5G network to provide differentiated experiences to our 5G subscribers."

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VMware to acquire Pivotal for $2.7 billion, focus on Kubernetes

VMware agreed to acquire Pivotal Software at a valuation of $2.7 billion.

Pivotal supplies a developer-centric platform, tools and services that accelerate modern app development. Pivotal is also a major contributor to the Spring developer framework, which sees more than 75 million downloads per month. The company is fully embracing Kubernetes with the recent launch of Pivotal Spring Runtime for Kubernetes and the upcoming Pivotal Application Service for Kubernetes. Pivotal was founded in 2013 and completed its IPO in 2018.

VMware and Pivotal noted their shared history of collaboration and joint innovation, reflected in the co-development and launch of VMware Pivotal Container Service (PKS) in February of 2018. VMware has increased its Kubernetes-related investments over the past year with the acquisition of Heptio, and the Kubernetes founders, to become one of the top three contributors to Kubernetes.

“The time is ideal to join forces with VMware, an industry leader who shares our commitment to open source community contributions and our focus on adding developer value on top of Kubernetes,” said Rob Mee, CEO, Pivotal.  “VMware has a proven track record of helping organizations run and manage consistent infrastructure in support of mission critical applications, and our two companies have already built a strong foundation on our successful VMware PKS collaboration. We look forward to continuing our work with VMware to provide even more value to customers building modern applications.”

“Kubernetes is emerging as the de facto standard for multi-cloud modern apps. We are excited to combine Pivotal’s development platform, tools and services with VMware’s infrastructure capabilities to deliver a comprehensive Kubernetes portfolio to build, run and manage modern applications,” said Pat Gelsinger , CEO of VMware. “Importantly, adding Pivotal to our platform, accelerates our broader Any Cloud, Any App, Any Device vision and reinforces our leadership position in modern multi-cloud IT infrastructure.”

https://investors.pivotal.io/news/financial-news/press-release-details/2019/VMware-Signs-Definitive-Agreement-to-Acquire-Pivotal-Software/default.aspx

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VMware to acquire Carbon Black for $2.1 billion - cloud endpoint protection

VMware agreed to acquire Carbon Black in an all-cash transaction for $26 per share, representing an enterprise value of $2.1 billion.

Carbon Black is a leading next-generation security cloud provider with more than 5,600 customers and 500 partners globally. Carbon Black's cloud-native security platform leverages big data and behavioral analytics to provide comprehensive endpoint protection. The company analyzes more than 500B events per day across millions of global endpoints. The company is based in Waltham, MA.

VMware said the combination of Carbon Black’s solutions with its own security offerings, including AppDefense, Workspace ONE, NSX and SecureState, will create a modern security cloud platform for any application, running on any cloud, on any device.

“The security industry is broken and ineffective with too many fragmented solutions and no cohesive platform architecture. By bringing Carbon Black into the VMware family, we are now taking a huge step forward in security and delivering an enterprise-grade platform to administer and protect workloads, applications and networks,” said Pat Gelsinger, CEO, VMware. “With this acquisition, VMware will also take a significant leadership position in security for the new age of modern applications delivered from any cloud to any device.”

“Today marks an exciting milestone for Carbon Black, VMware and the entire cybersecurity industry,” said Patrick Morley, CEO, Carbon Black. “We now have the opportunity to seamlessly integrate Carbon Black’s cloud-native endpoint protection platform into all of VMware’s control points. This type of bold move is exactly what the IT and security industries have been looking to see for a very long time. We look forward to working with the VMware team to continue delivering a modern security cloud platform to customers around the world. Additionally, we’re pleased that today’s transaction provides Carbon Black’s shareholders with immediate and substantial value.”

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Advancing SD-WAN Market Growth Through Standardization

MEF Annual Meeting – July/Aug 2019, Ralph Santitoro, Head of SDN/NFV/SD-WAN Services, Fujitsu Network Communications, explains MEF's motivation for leading the industry in standardizing SD-WAN services, describes the standards development process, and explains how the SD-WAN journey will evolve with the introduction of service and professional certification programs in 4Q 2019.

Download SD-WAN Standard

MEF’s SD-WAN Service Attributes and Services (MEF 70) standard describes requirements for an application-aware, over-the-top WAN connectivity service that uses policies to determine how application flows are directed over multiple underlay networks irrespective of the underlay technologies or service providers who deliver them. Download here: http://bit.ly/2zkqvIo

MEF 3.0 SD-WAN Background

SD-WAN service standardization has been conducted within the context of the MEF 3.0 Global Services Framework. It is part of a transformational initiative to define, deliver, and certify a family of dynamic Carrier Ethernet (CE), Optical Transport, IP, SD-WAN, and security services orchestrated across automated networks using LSO (Lifecycle Service Orchestration) APIs.

Combining standardized SD-WAN services with dynamic high-speed underlay connectivity services will enable service providers to offer MEF 3.0 hybrid networking solutions with unprecedented user- and application-directed control over network resources and service capabilities.

Explore SD-WAN at MEF19

To explore the latest on SD-WAN innovations and engage with industry-leading service and technology experts such as Ralph Santitoro, attend MEF19 (http://www.MEF19.com), held 18-22 November 2019 in Los Angeles, California.

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Molex opens Optical R&D lab in NJ, focus on WSS

Molex inaugurated a new research and development facility in Bridgewater, New Jersey. A ribbon cutting ceremony was held on August 8th.

Molex said its state-of-the-art facility features eco-friendly clean rooms and extensive capabilities for designing and prototype manufacturing of optical solutions for the rapidly emerging segment of metro and long-haul telecommunications networks.

“Molex is excited to mark our Bridgewater facility grand opening to recognize the outstanding work of our talented employees in this important region, to establish a center of excellence for Wavelength Selective Switches (WSS) and to advance the development of other innovative applications of optical technology to create value for our customers and society,” said Busch.

In 2018, Molex acquired the business of New Jersey-based Nistica, which had a long entrepreneurial history within the New Jersey ecosystem.

“We are thrilled that Nistica’s footprint has more than tripled in the Garden State since the company’s formation. Molex’s commitment to Bridgewater showcases the creativity and talent of our people here in New Jersey and will enable the company to provide optical solutions to customers worldwide,” said Kathleen Coviello, vice president of technologies and life sciences investments, New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA). “This is a true NJEDA success story and we wish the Molex team all the best as it continues to grow in its newly-expanded facility.”

http://www.molex.com

Molex acquires Nistica for wavelength selective switching (WSS)

Sunday, September 23, 2018  Mergers And Acquisitions, Molex  

Molex has acquired Nistica, a manufacturer of wavelength selective switching (WSS) products. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Nistica, which was founded in 2005 and is based in Bridgewater, New Jersey, is a supplier of agile optical modules that simplify, automate and make affordable the delivery of high bandwidth applications for the global telecommunication markets. The company specializes in WSS, a signal routing engine for metro/long-haul telecom networks.

Molex said Nistica's wavelength management solutions will enhance its portfolio of solutions for metro and long-haul networks. Nistica’s business will be integrated into the Molex Optical Solutions Group, a global provider of optical solutions, including a wide range of optical connectivity, optoelectronics, and optical transport products.

"With the build-out of 5G wireless networks and the growth in data center traffic, our customers are looking for novel optical solutions at the edge and in the core of optical networks," added Ashish Vengsarkar, CEO of Nistica. "The acquisition by Molex enables us to scale in capacity and bring a comprehensive portfolio of next-generation products to the market.”

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Tibit raises $25M for 10G PON Microplug

Tibit Communications, a start-up based in Petaluma, California, announced the completion of the Series B funding led by Intel Capital and including two new investors – Swisscom Ventures and AJU IB Investment.

Tibit's MicroPlug OLT is a network access device for 10-Gigabit optical networking that reduces the amount of application-specific hardware needed for network deployments.The company says its standard-based SFP+ form factor allows the device to plug into almost any 10G switch port, greatly expanding architecture options for carriers. All this is enabled by the Tibit bridge ASIC, which supports a rich feature set across both ITU-T and IEEE 10G PON standards.

"Tibit's MicroPlug OLT and cloud-based management solutions disrupt the PON market in specifically the areas that carriers are looking to unlock on their networks – interoperability, solution disaggregation, and network virtualization. We see their solution as uniquely positioned to help carriers enable next-generation architectures for access and management solutions," according to Pär Lange of Swisscom Ventures.

"We are pleased with the caliber of investors we have attracted to invest in our revolutionary pluggable PON technology," said Richard Stanfield, President and CEO of Tibit. "This includes the Series B participation of Tibit's existing investors, Intel Capital's lead role in this round, and now the entry of the investment arm of global telecommunications leader Swisscom Ventures and Korea's leading venture capital investor AJU IB Investment."

Dave Flanagan, vice president of Intel Corp. and senior managing director of Intel Capital, states that "the Tibit MicroPlug technology is a great example of the power of virtualization. It provides more flexibility, higher density and lower cost by deploying PON in general-purpose Ethernet switching equipment and management solutions, which can be entirely virtualized on Intel® processor-based servers."

The funding round was led by Intel Capital. TiBit was founded in 2014.

http://tibitcom.com/

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Verizon signs Boingo to bring 5G in airports, office buildings, stadiums, etc.

Verizon is working with Boingo Wireless to bring 5G Ultra Wideband service indoors and to public spaces – places like airports, stadiums and arenas, office buildings, hotels, etc.

Boingo is a leading distributed antenna system (DAS), small cells and Wi-Fi provider.

The companies confirmed that they are working together to architect a hyper-dense network designed for large and small indoor spaces as part of Verizon’s ongoing 5G network expansions.

In addition, Verizon announced the expansion of its 5G service to Phoenix, Arizona. Initially, Verizon 5G Ultra Wideband service will be concentrated in Downtown Phoenix around several well-known landmarks, including: Phoenix Convention Center, Talking Stick Resort Arena, The Orpheum Theatre, CityScape, and Chase Field. It will also be available in Tempe, on the Arizona State University campus.

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CBTS delivers Cisco SD-WAN

CBTS (formerly Cincinnati Bell Technology Solutions) is now offering Cisco SD-WAN as a Service.

CBTS is leveraging SD-WAN technology to support more than 600 customers and 4,000 networks that stretch over eight countries.

CBTS notes that it is the first Cisco Cloud and Managed Services Provider Master partner to hold designations for five strategic Cisco Powered services:

• Cloud Managed SD-WAN
• Webex Service Provider
• Cloud Calling
• Cloud Managed Access
• Cloud Managed Security

“CBTS values its strong partnership with Cisco, and we are proud to add Cisco SD-WAN as Service to our suite of communications solutions and products,” said Joe Putnick, Vice President and Principal of the CBTS Communications Practice. “This is another powerful solution that will help our clients support customers, empower employees, and drive business outcomes in a cost-efficient manner.”

https://www.cbts.com/

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Dell'Oro: Microwave transmission market dips 4% in 1H19

The Microwave Transmission market declined 4 percent year-over-year (Y/Y) in first half 2019 due to reduced demand in India, according to a new report from Dell'Oro Group.

“Although we expected the Microwave Transmission equipment market to contract this year, we were surprised by the magnitude of decline in India,” stated Jimmy Yu, Vice President at Dell’Oro Group. “We estimate microwave revenue in India declined an astounding 70 percent Y/Y in the first half of 2019. As a result of this weaker environment in India, a critical country for microwave sales, the worldwide Microwave Transmission equipment market contracted 4 percent. On a brighter note, if we look at the world market excluding India, the Microwave Transmission market grew at a very healthy rate of 10 percent in the same period,” continued Yu.

Additional highlights from the 2Q 2019 Microwave Transmission Quarter Report:

• E/V Band microwave system revenue grew 9 percent Y/Y in the first half of 2019.
• In 2Q 2019, the top three manufacturers measured by worldwide Microwave Transmission revenue were Huawei, Ericsson, and Nokia.
• Huawei was placed on a U.S. Entity List, restricting U.S. companies from selling certain components to Huawei and its subsidiaries, in May 2019. Huawei revenue was not impacted by this restriction in 2Q 2019. In the quarter, Huawei gained an additional 2 percentage points of market share compared to last year.

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Zayo to provide London-Amsterdam link for global media company

Zayo was selected by a global media company to deliver connectivity between two key production hubs in Amsterdam and London.

As part of the deal, Zayo will extend its network reach to Hilversum Media Park, which is located just outside Amsterdam and is home to a number of national, European and global media companies. In addition, Zayo will also extend and upgrade its network reach in Rotterdam, the second-largest city in the Netherlands and a key hub for the logistics and petrochemical industry.

“Our extensive experience working with broadcasters and content distributors means we understand just how crucial reliable, diverse and low-latency connectivity is to their overall business,” said Ian Cunningham, Zayo’s managing director for Europe. “We’re excited that this customer has chosen to trust Zayo with this vital element of their business.”

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Huawei to cut staff in Australia following 5G ban

Huawei Australia is expected to slash its workforce in Australia by 50% due to the ban imposed by the federal on participating in 5G rollouts.

According to The Australian and other media reports, Huawei currently employs more than 700 people in Australia.

Huawei has also withdrawn from membership in the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association (AMTA).

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/technology/huawei-australia-resigns-from-amta/news-story/11ca4fd9454d33157216f5d34e9fcbcc

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