Wireless Broadband Alliance takes over Cisco’s OpenRoaming

The Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) will take over ownership and management of OpenRoaming, a technology for seamless Wi-Fi onboarding developed by Cisco.

The move aims to facilitate the broad adoption of OpenRoaming by new and existing Wi-Fi Networks, identity & service providers and other technology partners across the global Wi-Fi ecosystem.

OpenRoaming brings together a federation of trusted identity providers, allowing users to join any network managed by a federation member. The network is able to automatically authenticate devices by using established identity providers, such as a service provider, device manufacturer, cloud ID, or even loyalty memberships. Boingo Wireless, Cisco, GlobalReach Technology, Intel, Korea Telekom, and others have pledged support for OpenRoaming.

OpenRoaming adheres to Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Passpoint and Wireless Roaming Intermediary Exchange (WRIX) standards. It helps bridge the gap between Wi-Fi and cellular networks and allows users to seamlessly and securely roam between Wi-Fi networks without the use of splash pages or sign-in screens.

OpenRoaming is built upon a set of standards and guidelines developed by the WBA and Wi-Fi Alliance and now adopted as an industry-wide initiative led by the WBA.

WBA CEO, Tiago Rodrigues said: “OpenRoaming now becomes an open standard, creating a world where Wi-Fi users will be able to move seamlessly from one Wi-Fi network to another without re-registering or signing in.  As a global wireless industry standard, WBA OpenRoaming will improve Wi-Fi services and availability, making life easier for users, and more efficient for the global mobile and Wi-Fi ecosystem.

“OpenRoaming is now open for business,” he added, “and I call on anyone with a Wi-Fi network, private or public, coffee shop or sports stadia or any other type of venue, to join our open ecosystem in order for the service they offer to their users to be automatic, secure, and interoperable, making their networks available to a wider audience.”

“There is considerable pull from the industry and our customers, both enterprise and service provider, to automate secure onboarding across multiple verticals. We knew OpenRoaming would be a game-changing wireless technology, but the support from across the industry has even surpassed our expectations. OpenRoaming is vital to unlocking the potential of wireless communications,” said Matt MacPherson, Wireless CTO, Cisco. “Cisco has been proud to lead the OpenRoaming efforts, but we believe strongly that the WBA is the right organization to steward, with neutrality and confidence, such an important industry initiative.”

Read More

Researching chip-based devices for quantum-secured communication

Secure quantum key exchange can be accomplished between two chip-based devices, according to a paper published in Optica, The Optical Society's (OSA) journal for high-impact research. Two devices measuring just 6 x 2 millimeters potentially can operate of a fiber link of up to 200km. The chip-based devices contain all the optical components necessary for quantum key distribution.

The new quantum key distribution devices contain highly complex circuits that control the weak photonic signals of light necessary for quantum key distribution. Nanoscale components in the chips make it possible to drastically reduce the size and power consumption of quantum communication systems while maintaining high-speed performance vital for modern networks.

A demonstration has been performed at the University of Bristol Quantum Engineering Technology Labs.

“Chip-based devices significantly reduce the barrier for widespread uptake of quantum-secured communication by providing a robust, mass-manufacturable platform,” said research team leader Henry Semenenko from the University of Bristol, UK. “In the future, these devices will form part of a standard household connection to the internet that keeps our data secure regardless of advances in computing technology.”

“With its densely packed optical components, our chip-based platform offers a level of precise control and complexity not achievable with alternatives,” said Semenenko. “It will allow users to access a secure network with a cost-effective device the same size as the routers we use today to access the internet.”

https://www.osapublishing.org/optica/abstract.cfm?uri=optica-7-3-238

Read More

T-Mobile say it has the funding to complete the Sprint Merger

T-Mobile US issued a statement saying it is currently financially prepared to close its planned merger with Sprint.

The company, which previously secured commitments for bridge financing and senior credit facility financing, said it has been in communication with all sixteen banks and has not received any notification that any of the banks are unprepared to fund their commitments to support the closing of the merger transaction. The companies continue to drive forward toward closing the merger as soon as possible.

“I’m pleased that right now we have broad support from the banks to finance the closing of this merger - we are very close to unleashing the capabilities of the New T-Mobile, and that is even more important for consumers during the current COVID-19 pandemic,” said John Legere, CEO of T-Mobile. “Our nation is more dependent than ever on connectivity, and we will continue to deliver our essential wireless service today and when we merge with Sprint, with a Nationwide 5G service that is broader and more robust than anything else in America. We can see the finish line and are prepared to close the merger very soon so our teams can get to work building a supercharged Un-carrier.”

“We are very happy to have assembled sixteen leading U.S. and global banks in our committed bridge financing for the acquisition of Sprint. This diversification of banks, and the spreading of the committed bridge financing creates a very high-quality bridge,” said Braxton Carter, Chief Financial Officer of T-Mobile.

http://www.NewTMobile.com

Read More

EU allows exceptions to Open Internet law for COVID-19 emergency

In anticipation of network capacity issues, the European Commission and the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) announced several initiatives to provide some flexibility to network operators in how they manage congestion.

Specifically, the directive provides certain temporary exceptions to the EU's Open Internet Access provisions of Regulation (2015/2120), which prohibits operators from blocking, slowing down or prioritising traffic.

"Pursuant to the Regulation, operators are authorised to apply exceptional traffic management measures, inter alia, to prevent impending network congestion and to mitigate the effects
of exceptional or temporary network congestion, always under the condition that equivalent categories of traffic are treated equally. This could become relevant, following the confinement
measures taken to address the Covid-19 crisis. Operators can avail themselves of this exception, if such traffic management measures are necessary to solve or to prevent the congestion and they can only be maintained for as long as necessary."

https://berec.europa.eu/

Read More

Microsoft Teams hits 44 million users, up 12 million in a week

The Microsoft Teams collaboration and conferencing service added 12 million daily active users this week, bringing its total to 44 million daily active users.

Microsoft Teams generated more than 900 million meeting minutes every day this week.

 The University of Bologna in Italy moved 90 percent of courses online to Teams within four days.

Read More

Vietnam's Viettel deploys 5G timing with ADVA and NEC

Vietnam's Viettel has deployed ADVA’s Oscilloquartz timing solution throughout Laos and Myanmar to provide nationwide 4G services and prepare its synchronization network for 5G.

Installed and maintained by NEC, the new solution is built on ADVA’s OSA 3230B primary reference cesium clock (PRC) for assured and precise synchronization with or without GNSS. It also features ADVA’s versatile ultra-compact synchronization supply units (SSUs) with high-capacity PTP modules for grandmaster clock functionality.

ADVA said its Oscilloquartz SSUs enable Viettel to maintain its legacy synchronization networks and evolve ultra-precise, highly reliable timing to meet the requirements of time-sensitive applications and 5G connectivity. All elements of the new timing solution are overseen from Viettel’s headquarters in Vietnam using ADVA’s Ensemble Controller with Sync Director.

“This deployment enables the end-to-end distribution of assured, precise and highly reliable timing. It utilizes our OSA 3230B PRC for superb accuracy with the smallest size and power footprint, as well as our ultra-scalable SSUs. With this solution, we’ve empowered Viettel to address all its most urgent synchronization needs, helped it protect past investments and opened the door to further expansion,” commented Erik Lindberg, VP, sales, APAC, ADVA. “Our close collaboration with NEC was key to the success of this project. It’s a relationship based on a great deal of trust and a shared passion to push the boundaries of possibility. And that partnership is now delivering valuable results for service providers across East Asia.”

“We’re extremely pleased to be working with our global partner, ADVA, and helping Viettel to achieve its ambitions of taking its timing infrastructure in Laos and Myanmar to the next level. By harnessing the most advanced innovation and our ongoing support, Viettel is ensuring unprecedented levels of precision and reliability as it tackles demand for low-latency services from its mobile customers,” said Mayuko Tatewaki, general manager, service provider division, NEC Corporation. “At NEC, we know the value of synchronization with strict precision. It’s one of the key components when designing 5G-ready networks. Now Viettel has a future-proof timing solution controlled by a single management system and is able to deliver phenomenally accurate phase and frequency alignment all the way from the radio base station to the core.”

Read More

Ethernity launches Ethernet Controller FPGA engine

Ethernity Networks introduced its ENET-D, an add-on Ethernet Controller technology to its ACE-NIC100 SmartNIC, which can efficiently processes millions of data flows and offers performance acceleration for networking and security appliances.

ENET-D is an Ethernet adapter and DMA (direct memory access) engine that eliminates the need for proprietary hardware on a network interface card. By fitting into various FPGAs and enabling customers to further avoid ASIC-based components, ENET-D advances complete disaggregation at the edge of the network.

ENET-D can be combined with Ethernity’s ENET Flow Processor and run on Ethernity’s cost-optimized and affordable ACE-NIC100 FPGA SmartNIC to deliver a complete Router-on-a-NIC with integrated Ethernet controller. It is capable of connecting to multiple virtual machines, containers, or virtual networking functions.

“ENET-D is an important step toward supporting our current and future customers that are demanding further disaggregation of their 5G networks,” said David Levi, Ethernity Networks CEO. “This is an exciting technological development for our company in that we can now offer operators a complete Ethernet controller within the FPGA on our SmartNIC. This will significantly reduce their operating costs and eliminate ASIC vendor lock-in for the emerging edge compute market.”

https://ethernitynet.com/press/ethernity-networks-launches-new-enet-d-ethernet-controller-fpga-engine-2/

Read More

CrowdStrike posts quarterly revenue of $152 million, up 89% yoy

CrowdStrike Holdings, which offers cloud-delivered endpoint protection, reported revenue of $152.1 million for its fourth quarter and fiscal year 2020 ended January 31, 2020. Quarterly revenue rose 89% compared to $80.5 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2019.

“CrowdStrike delivered a record-setting fourth quarter to conclude an exceptional fiscal year. With ARR reaching $600 million, we continued to see broad strength in multiple areas of the business during the quarter, including 90% year-over-year subscription revenue growth, record net new ARR and an acceleration in net new customers. Throughout this past year, we continued to execute on the increasing demand we see in the market and the Security Cloud vision we pioneered. Looking into fiscal 2021 and beyond, the powerful combination of our cloud-native platform and frictionless go-to-market positions us well as the fundamental endpoint platform for the future,” said George Kurtz, CrowdStrike’s co-founder and chief executive officer.

Some highlights

• Subscription revenue was $138.5 million, a 90% increase, compared to $72.8 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2019.
• Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) increased 92% year-over-year and grew to $600.5 million as of January 31, 2020, of which $98.7 million was net new ARR added in the quarter.
• Subscription Gross Margin: GAAP subscription gross margin was 75%, compared to 70% in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2019. Non-GAAP subscription gross margin was 77%, compared to 70% in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2019.
• Added a record 870 net new subscription customers in the quarter for a total of 5,431 subscription customers as of January 31, 2020, representing 116% growth year-over-year.
• CrowdStrike’s subscription customers that have adopted five or more cloud modules increased to 33% as of January 31, 2020.

Read More

NTT Ltd. launches Cloud Communications division

NTT Ltd. announced the launch of its new Cloud Communications division.

Previously known as Arkadin, the Cloud Communications division will continue to act as a trusted advisor to organizations looking to accelerate modern collaboration within their workplace, which in the recent climate is more important than ever.

NTT Ltd. said its Cloud Communications division continues to work closely with its fully owned subsidiary, Applicable Limited, a leading provider of Cloud Unified Communications and enterprise voice services with offices in Bristol (UK), Brisbane (AUS) and Houston (USA).

NTT Ltd. creates Global Data Centers division

Monday, January 20, 2020  Data Centers, NTT  

NTT Ltd.has created a new Global Data Centers division that ranks as data center platforms in the world, now with over 160 data centers spanning more than 20 countries and regions. The new business unit incorporates e-shelter, Gyron, Netmagic, NTT Indonesia Nexcenter, RagingWire and other data center companies that formerly sat under the NTT Communications brand.

The new Global Data Centers division, under the leadership of Ryuichi Matsuo, consists of four regions that cover Americas, APAC, EMEA and India. The leaders who will run the regional data center affiliate companies are Doug Adams (Americas), Takahiro Nagata (APAC), Florian Winkler (EMEA) and Sharad Sanghi (India). The global function leadership team members are Takahiro Wada (Business Management), Kevin Dalton (Construction and Engineering), Kei Ito (Data Center Asset co.), Adam Tamburini (Hyperscale Sales), Bob Woolley (Operations), Naoyuki Inoue (Product Management), Junichiro Akanuma (Retail Sales), John Eland (Strategy and Corporate Development) and Masayuki Inoue (System Development).

NTT Ltd. said it will provide clients will have access to full-stack technology solutions (from data center and network infrastructure to applications) and full-lifecycle services (from consultancy to fit-out services to ongoing management) with end-to-end managed services.

In the U.S., the global data centers platform has operations in key markets such as Ashburn (VA), Sacramento (CA) and Dallas (TX), with expansion plans already in place for Silicon Valley (CA), Chicago (IL) and Hillsboro (OR). In APAC, the platform locations include Tokyo, Osaka, Hong Kong, Singapore, Cyberjaya, Bangkok and Jakarta. In EMEA, locations include London, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Berlin, Munich, Vienna, Zurich, Madrid, and Johannesburg. In India, NTT Ltd. has significant data center operations in Mumbai, Bangalore, Noida, and Chennai.

NTT Comm to Acquire Arkadin for Cloud Collaboration

Monday, August 05, 2013  #Cloud, Cloud, France, Mergers And Acquisitions, NTT, UC  

NTT Communications will acquire a maximum 91.2% equity stake in Arkadin, which delivers SaaS conference-related solutions covering audio, web, video conferencing and unified communications services.

Arkadin, which was launched in 2001 by CEO, Olivier de Puymorin, serves approximately 37,000 customers in 32 countries, including France, Germany, the UK, USA, Australia, China, Singapore and Japan. The company is based in Paris.  Arkadin was backed by AXA Private Equity.

Arkadin offers unified communications based on Microsoft Lync, as well as Cisco Jabber combined with WebEx. Services are delivered in the cloud.  Arkadin also offers Adobe Connect for audio/video/web conferencing and collaboration.

NTT Ltd l

Read More