Ericsson reaches settlement with US DoJ

Ericsson reached a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to resolve criminal charges related to accounting violations in five countries, including in Djibouti where there is also a charge of bribery.

Under the agreement,

• Ericsson will pay a fine of US$520,650,432. 
• Ericsson's Egyptian subsidiary has entered a guilty plea to the bribery charge in Djibouti.
• Ericsson will resolve civil charges brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) relating to allegations of violations of the bribery and accounting provisions.
• In total, Ericsson will pay US$1.06 billion (SEK 10.1 b.).
• Ericsson will engage an independent compliance monitor for a period of three years while the company continues to undertake significant reforms to strengthen its Ethics & Compliance program.

Ericsson noted that the penalties outlined above are fully covered by the SEK 11.5 b. provision taken in Q3 2019.

Ericsson makes US$1.23 billion provision for U.S. investigation

Wednesday, September 25, 2019  Ericsson  

Ericsson made a provision of SEK 12 billion (US$1.23 billion) to resolve the ongoing investigation by U.S. authorities. The process to find a resolution is still ongoing, but Ericsson reckons it may face a monetary sanction of US$1 billion.

As previously disclosed, Ericsson has been co-operating voluntarily since 2013 with an investigation by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and, since 2015, with an investigation by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) into Ericsson’s compliance with the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and the process is still ongoing. The investigation covers a period ending Q1 2017 and revealed breaches of the Company’s Code of Business Ethics and the FCPA in six countries: China, Djibouti, Indonesia, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam.

The company previously communicated that the resolution of the investigations will result in material financial and other measures. While Ericsson cannot comment in detail on the ongoing process with the U.S. authorities, the Company can with current visibility now estimate the cost and thus make a provision, which will impact the third quarter 2019 results by SEK 12 b. The provision constitutes the Company’s current estimate of expenditure related to resolving the U.S. investigations, of which the combined monetary sanctions from SEC and DOJ is estimated at USD 1 b., and the remainder pertains to other costs related to resolving the investigation. The provision will be booked as Other Operating Expenses in the income statement of Segment Emerging Business and Other.

Börje Ekholm, President and CEO, says: ”Over the last two years we have operationally turned around our company and established a strong portfolio and competitive cost structure. With today’s announcement we confront another legacy issue and take the next step in resolving it. We have to recognize that the Company has failed in the past and I can assure you that we work hard every day to build a stronger Ericsson, where ethics and compliance are cornerstones in how we conduct business. Over the past two years, we have made significant investments in our ethics and compliance program including our investigative capabilities and have taken actions against employees who have transgressed our values and standards.”

Read More

IDC: Ethernet switch market rose 0.1% in 3Q 2019

The Worldwide Ethernet switch market (Layer 2/3) recorded $7.32 billion in revenue in the third quarter of 2019 (3Q19), an increase of 0.1% year over year, according to IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Ethernet Switch Tracker and Worldwide Quarterly Router Tracker. Worldwide total enterprise and service provider (SP) router market revenues grew 0.8% year over year in 3Q19 to $3.74 billion.

Some highlights:

• The Middle East and Africa region grew 9.3% with the region's largest market, the United Arab Emirates, growing 6.9% year over year while Israel's market grew 18.8%. 
• Across Europe, growth was stagnant. The Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) region lost 9.0% compared to a year earlier with Russia dropping 13.9% year over year. 
• The Western Europe market fell 6.1% with Germany losing 5.6% year over year. Denmark was a bright spot in the region with 18.6% year-over-year growth.
• The Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) (APeJ) region grew 1.3% year over year. In China, the market grew 4.6% year over year while the Philippines rose 25.9%. Japan was off 3.8% compared to its growth in 3Q18. In Latin America, the market dropped 4.4% year over year, while the U.S. market grew 2.6% annually and Canada declined 4.9% year over year.
• Port shipments for 100Gb switches rose 57.2% year over year to 5.6 million. 100Gb revenues grew 32.8% year over year in 3Q19 to $1.44 billion, making up 19.6% of total market revenue compared to 14.8% a year earlier. 
• 25Gb switches also saw impressive growth with revenues increasing 69.3% to $463.4 million and port shipments growing 68.0% year over year. 
• Lower-speed campus switches, a more mature part of the market, saw moderate growth in port shipments but declining revenue, pointing to a decrease in average selling prices (ASPs). 
• 10Gb port shipments rose 7.9% year over year, but revenue declined 8.7% to deliver 26.3% of total market revenue. 1Gb switches grew 3.9% year over year in port shipments but declined 7.4% in revenue. 1Gb now accounts for 39.2% of the total Ethernet switch market revenue.

• The worldwide enterprise and service provider router market increased 0.8% on a year-over-year basis in 3Q19 with the major service provider segment, which accounts for 75.5% of revenues, decreasing 0.1% and the enterprise segment of the market growing 3.6%. 
• From a regional perspective, the combined service provider and enterprise router market fell 1.5% in APeJ with the enterprise segment growing 1.5% and the service provider segment declining 2.2% year over year. 
• Japan's total market grew 3.9% year over year. Revenues in Western Europe were off 7.3% year over year while CEE revenues for the combined enterprise and service provider market grew 3.5% year over year. 
• The Middle East & Africa region was up 8.9%. In the U.S., the enterprise segment was up 7.3% while service provider revenues grew 1.8%, giving the combined markets 3.2% year-over-year growth. In Latin America, the market grew 11.7%.
• Cisco finished 3Q19 with a 5.6% year-over-year decline in overall Ethernet switch revenues and market share of 51.3%. In the hotly contested 25Gb/100Gb segment, Cisco was the market leader with 38.2% revenue share. Cisco's combined service provider and enterprise router revenue declined 10.6% year over year with enterprise router revenue increasing 3.4% and SP revenues falling 18.1%. Cisco's combined SP and enterprise router market share increased to 37.9%, up from 36.8% in 2Q19.
• Huawei's Ethernet switch revenue rose 4.4% on an annualized basis, giving the company market share of 8.9%. The company's combined SP and enterprise router revenue rose 20.6% year over year, giving the company a market share of 28.1%.
• Arista Networks saw Ethernet switch revenues increase 14.3% in 3Q19, bringing its share to 7.6% of the total market, up from 6.6% a year earlier. 100Gb revenues accounting for 68.8% of the company's total revenue, indicating the company's focus on hyperscale and cloud providers.
• HPE's Ethernet switch revenue declined 7.0% year over year, resulting in overall market share of 5.3%.
• Juniper's Ethernet switch revenue rose 4.5% year over year in 3Q19, bringing its market share to 3.2%. Juniper saw a 17.9% decline in combined enterprise and SP router sales, bringing its market share in the router market to 10.9%.

"Dynamics in the Ethernet switch and routing markets continue to evolve," said Petr Jirovsky, research director, IDC Networking Trackers. "In Ethernet switching, the seemingly insatiable demand for higher-speed networking platforms continue to drive investments. Meanwhile, lower-speed campus switching continues to moderate as enterprises build out connectivity platforms to support mobile workers and the Internet of Things. In the routing segment, the enterprise continues to buoy the broader market as enterprises and service providers augment their networks to support improved cloud connectivity."

https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS45711319

Read More

NTT to show its Innovative Optical and Wireless Network

NTT will make its first appearance at CES 2020, the world’s largest consumer electronics show, to present use cases of its IOWN (Innovative Optical and Wireless Network) concept, which was first announced in May 2019.

IOWN has three technical elements: All Photonics Network, Digital Twin Computing, and Cognitive Foundation.

Key use case include Smart City / Smart Mobility, Smart Healthcare, Smart Life.

To realize this concept, NTT has the following projects underway:

• “Photoelectric information processing chip”, an information processing chip to achieve low power consumption and high-speed transactions.
• “LASOLV”, a new type of computer that enable to solve intractable problems with photonic technologies.
• “Artificial photosynthesis”, an artificial energy generator with photonics artificially.
• “Submerged ultrasonic MIMO (multiple-input and multiple-output) technology”, an undersea communication technology.

https://www.ntt.co.jp/news2019/1912e/191206a.html

Innovative Optical and Wireless Network Forum launched by NTT

Wednesday, October 30, 2019    

NTT, Intel and Sony are joining forces to create a new Innovative Optical and Wireless Network (IOWN) Global Forum, which aims to accelerate the adoption of new communications infrastructure. The goal is to will bring together an all-photonic network including silicon photonics, edge computing, and distributed connected computing, along with wireless access..

IOWN will develop new technologies, frameworks, specifications and reference designs, in areas such as:

• Photonics R&D, including photonic devices of the future, photonic network equipment and end-to-end architecture, powered by advances in photonics-electronics convergence technologies. This will significantly reduce power consumption and enable instant access and response by shortening latency times and broadening transmission capacity.
• Distributed Connected Compute, which is expected to be increasingly critical for computing across networks, leveraging both AI and workloads that will be dynamic and distributed.
• Use cases and best practices for a smart world and enabling technologies, such as Digital Twin Computing (a computing paradigm that enables humans and things in the real world to be recreated and interact without restrictions in cyberspace), R&D in human behavior and society modeling, large-scale simulations and next-generation “real” UI/UX device technologies.

NTT, Intel, and Sony are inviting other technology, telecommunications and industry organizations to join the forum.

"NTT has a long history in photonics-related R&D and has achieved cutting-edge results in fields like silicon photonics and optoelectronic convergence. Based on these technologies, NTT aims to power the next generation of technology innovation and solve many of today’s societal challenges, such as ever-increasing power consumption. We will bring our leading R&D expertise to foster the photonics revolution and unlock new technologies to ultimately enable a smart world, where technology becomes so ”natural” that people are unaware of its presence. NTT is looking forward to collaborating with its best-in-class partners and realizing a smart world," states Jun Sawada, President and CEO, NTT.

“Digital transformation and the growth of data is driving an infrastructure build out that will dwarf the first era of the cloud defined by hyperscale data centers... The combination of superfast networking and pervasive high-performance computing – the edge infrastructure to deliver smart services anywhere, anytime – can only be achieved with a profoundly new mindset shared across a global ecosystem. The IOWN collaboration is an important step forward. A vision of this magnitude can only be achieved with global leaders across industries. Intel is honored to join forces with NTT and Sony in this industry-wide journey to help define the future of technology,” says Bob Swan,
CEO, Intel.

http://www.iowngf.org

NTT opens Silicon Valley labs to leverage photonic/quantum tech

Monday, July 08, 2019  NTT  

NTT Research is opening three labs in Palo Alto, California to focus on quantum computing; cryptography and information security; and medical and health informatics.

Read More

IDC: WLAN market dips in 3Q 2019

The combined enterprise and consumer wireless local area network (WLAN) market segments fell 3.6% year over year in the third quarter of 2019 (3Q19) with worldwide revenues of $3.8 billion, according to IDC's Worldwide Quarterly WLAN Tracker. The enterprise segment fell 1.1% year over year in 3Q19 to $1.62 billion.

"The enterprise WLAN market is transitioning as vendors and customers begin to adopt the latest Wi-Fi standard. In the third quarter of 2019, IDC tracked the initial shipments of 802.11ax, also known as Wi-Fi 6, which includes numerous features for enterprises and Internet of Things use cases," said Brandon Butler, senior research analyst, Enterprise Networks. "IDC expects the continued adoption of Wi-Fi 6 to be a major driver of growth for the enterprise WLAN market in the fourth quarter of 2019 and throughout 2020."

Some highlights:

• Wi-Fi 6 took some share from shipments of previous generation 802.11ac products. 802.11ac products accounted for 84.8% of dependent access point shipments in the enterprise segment and 86.2% of dependent access point revenues. Wi-Fi 6 products made up 3.1% of dependent access point shipments and 6.1% of revenues.
• The consumer WLAN market fell 5.3% year over year to $2.18 billion. 
• Shipments of 802.11ac products accounted for 57.0% of units shipped, and 78.1% of revenues. The previous-generation 802.11n standard accounted for 42.8% of shipments, but only 20.8% of revenues.
• The Asia/Pacific region, excluding Japan, was up 3.3% annually in 3Q19, with China growing 6.9% year over year while the Korean market fell 16.2%. Japan's market dropped 19.8% compared to a year earlier.
• The Central and Eastern Europe region was off 1.7% compared to a year earlier, with Russia dropping 6.6%. 
• Romania was a bright spot in the region with 11.9% growth. 
• The Western Europe region fell 4.5% year over year. Germany fell 3.5% while the United Kingdom was down 10.0%. The Middle East and Africa region grew 8.0% year over year with growth of 6.7% from the United Arab Emirates and 25.5% from Qatar.
• The Latin America region fell 12.1% with Mexico off 17.3% year over year. The U.S. market rose 0.1% on an annualized basis and was up 0.5% sequentially from the second quarter of 2019.
• Cisco's worldwide enterprise WLAN revenue fell 4.9% year over year, but grew 1.9% compared to the previous quarter. The company's market share dropped slightly from 44.9% in 2Q19 to 44.2% in 3Q19.
• HPE-Aruba's revenues increased 1.3% year over year and rose 4.6% sequentially. The company's market share grew to 14.1% in 3Q19 from 14.0% a quarter earlier.
• Ubiquiti's revenues rose 9.4% annually and 8.6% sequentially, with the company's market share growing to 7.1%, from 6.8% a quarter earlier.
• Huawei's quarterly revenues rose to 11.2% year over year and were up 3.7% sequentially, giving the company 5.4% market share.
• CommScope(formerly ARRIS/Ruckus) was off 20.3% year over year and was down 6.7% compared to 2Q19. That caused the company's market share to drop from 5.8% in the second quarter to 5.2% in 3Q19.

https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS45706619

Read More

Inphi qualifies TowerJazz for data center PIC production

Inphi has qualified TowerJazz for production of silicon photonics integrated circuits (PICs) for data center interconnects based on TowerJazz’s open foundry Silicon Photonics platform.

TowerJazz said its PH18 Silicon Photonics platform offers a rich set of optical components including ultra-high bandwidth modulators, and photodetectors, serving the demand in data center and infrastructure optical communication markets. This platform complements TowerJazz’s SiGe BiCMOS processes, providing enhanced solutions to its already strong customer base serving optical communication needs in the growing data transport markets.

Inphi’s Silicon Photonics PAM4 technology is the first low power, 100G DWDM platform in QSFP28 form factor for between data center interconnects.

“We worked with TowerJazz due to their unique ability to develop new cutting edge technology and offer it in a high-volume, high-quality environment. With Inphi’s proven design expertise and first to market success in the areas of high electrical and optical speed data interconnects, we are looking forward to the continued partnership with TowerJazz in developing the next generation of Silicon Photonics Integrated Circuit components,” said Dr. Radha Nagarajan, CTO, Interconnect, Inphi.

“TowerJazz is proud to have partnered with a market and product leader such as Inphi in the area of Silicon Photonics. Further, we are excited about this open foundry Silicon Photonic platform complementing our SiGe technology and bringing additional value to our customers as they develop new, breakthrough products for Data Center and 5G Infrastructure markets,” said Dr. Marco Racanelli, TowerJazz Sr. Vice President and General Manager of Analog IC Business Unit.

https://towerjazz.com/2019/12/04/04122019/

Read More

Inphi milestone: 5 million coherent amplifiers and linear drivers

Inphi announced a company milestone: it has now shipped more than 5 million 100/200G and emerging 400/600G coherent transimpedance amplifiers and linear driver ICs for long haul, metro, and data center interconnect applications.

“Reaching the significant milestone of shipping 5 million units demonstrates Inphi’s leadership in delivering industry-first and state-of-the-art coherent amplifiers and linear driver solutions,” said Dr. Loi Nguyen, SVP, Optical Interconnect, Inphi. “Because of Inphi’s innovation, a large fraction of the internet traffic will pass through an Inphi device, at one point or another. With our next generation 400/600G shipments, we’ve laid the foundation for networks to scale and support emerging 5G networks, big data, cloud services and the IoT.”

The emergence of cloud-based services has dramatically increased the need for moving data centers closer to the end users and connecting them with multi terabits per second optical pipes. The cornerstone of Inphi’s optical solutions is to deliver best-in-class coherent amplifiers and linear drivers to enable quantum leaps in bandwidth with advanced modulation formats. Inphi pioneered several firsts in this area, including the first mass production of 100G coherent amplifiers and modulator linear drivers. These technology advancements enabled the first deployment of 100G long haul coherent systems in 2010, the first deployment of 200G metro coherent systems in 2014, and the first deployment of 100G pluggable modules in 2015.

https://www.inphi.com/media-center/press-releases/inphis-industry-leading-coherent-amplifier-and-linear-driver-shipments-surpass-5-million/

Read More

Poland's PLAY deploys ADVA's timing solution for 5G-ready network

PLAY, the leading mobile phone network in Poland with over 15 million subscribers, has deployed ADVA's Oscilloquartz timing solution to provide LTE Advanced services throughout Poland and prepare its network for 5G.

The PTP grandmaster with dual integrated GNSS antenna enables Play delivers resilient and accurate Precision Time Protocol (PTP) frequency and phase synchronization. PLAY is migrating its radio access network from GNSS RF antennas and coax cables to standard copper and fiber Ethernet cabling. ADVA’s long-term partner NAVI also played a key role in the project.

“This deployment is about taking our RAN infrastructure to the next level. ADVA’s versatile and compact devices are easy to install in a wide range of outdoor locations. And, with low-touch provisioning and power over Ethernet, installation is even simpler and more cost-effective,” said Michał Ziółkowski, CTO, Play. “This solution delivers the extremely precise timing required for next-generation connectivity. With the OSA 5405 ensuring accurate and robust phase synchronization, we can offer unique LTE Advanced services and prepare for the 5G future.”

Read More

Azercell and Ericsson to develop 5G in Azerbaijan

Azerbaijani communications service provider Azercell and Ericsson signed a three-year 5G Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the development of 5G in Azerbaijan.

Azercell and Ericsson have already delivered a test 5G network in the city center of the capital, Baku, and a pre-commercial 5G pilot zone in the popular Fountains Square area of downtown Baku.

The 2020-22 MoU will include the extension of the pilot zone, including 5G use cases, as well as the introduction of Internet of Things (IoT) technology in the mining industry, agriculture, manufacturing, housing and communal services.

Vahid Mursaliyev, President, Azercell Telecom LLC, says: “Together with Ericsson, Azercell has launched the first 5G pilot network in the country and this fact puts our company on a par with the world leaders of the mobile market. We believe that 5G along with being a major step forward for mobile internet connectivity, will also open new possibilities for enterprises and industries to deliver greater efficiencies, productivity and empower user experiences.”

Ericsson notes that it already has more than 75 commercial 5G agreements or contracts with unique communication service providers, of which 24 are live.

Read More

Marvell sells Wi-Fi connectivity business to NXP

Marvell completed the previously announced sale of its Wi-Fi Connectivity business to NXP . 

The divested business includes Marvell’s Wi-Fi and Bluetooth technology portfolios and related assets.

Marvell is updating its current quarter revenue guidance to reflect the Wi-Fi Connectivity business sale to NXP.  The company now anticipates fourth quarter FY20 revenue of $710 million +/- 3% vs. original guidance for $750 million +/- 3% as provided at the time of the third quarter earnings announcement on December 3, 2019. 

Read More

Dell'Oro: Broadband access equipment market drops 12%

Global revenue for broadband access equipment market decreased 12% year-over-year (Y/Y) to $3.2 billion, according to a newly published report by Dell’Oro Group.

A 371 percent Y/Y increase in XGS-PON OLT revenue and continued growth of XG-PON1 OLT ports and CPE offset continued DSL declines.

“Operators’ continued push to increase their fiber investments is resulting in strong Y/Y gains in PON OLT ports,” said Jeff Heynen, Senior Research Director at Dell’Oro Group. “Though XGS-PON continues to grow rapidly, 2.5 Gbps GPON remains the workhorse in the market,” explained Heynen.

Some highlights:

• Total cable access concentrator revenue decreased 31 percent Y/Y to $287 M, driven once again by a slowdown in CCAP license purchases in North America
• Total DSL port shipments plummeted 28 percent Y/Y, with all technologies showing significant Y/Y declines

Read More