Wednesday, July 15, 2020

Telia Carrier adds key routes to U.S. network

Telia Carrier announced the addition of diverse and latency-optimized routes on its North American network to meet significant customer demand for additional diversity and capacity, especially for businesses that need a direct local connection to cloud providers. Specifically, Telia Carrier has expanded its fiber backbone to connect Dallas on a new diverse east-west route via Memphis to Nashville.

In combination with the previously announced new route (from Ashburn via Chattanooga to Atlanta) this route addition provides three new meshing options available to Telia Carrier customers in the Southeast for high availability and terabit scale capacity:

  • Dallas to Ashburn (via Nashville/Chattanooga)
  • Dallas to Chicago (via Nashville/Indianapolis)
  • Dallas to Atlanta (via Nashville/Chattanooga)



“We consistently hear from our customers that they need more diversity in routes between major markets. This protects against interruptions in service, which is essential to customer experience in today’s competitive markets. This new expansion offers flexibility on several levels and lays the groundwork for future route investments in North America,” said Art Kazmierczak, Telia Carrier’s Director of Business and Network Development. “We’re committed to the needs of our customers, so continuing our program of adding new routes between Tier 1 cities and providing connectivity at scale in Tier 2-3 edge markets along those routes is key to that strategy.”

The new route uses the latest generation of high-capacity enhanced-reach coherent DWDM technology and an open photonic layer to increase the local availability of high-speed Wavelength, IP Transit, Cloud Connect, Ethernet and IPX services for operators, content providers and enterprises alike.

Telia Carrier has also invested in metro network infrastructure to provide seamless access to additional data centers in the dynamic growth area of Dallas. With more than 2,000 customers worldwide, the investment is a continuation of the carrier’s organic growth story and geographic expansion to better serve existing markets and reach new ones.
https://www.teliacarrier.com

AWS intros interactive video service based on Twitch technology

Amazon Web Services (AWS) introduced a new fully managed service that makes it easy to set up live, interactive video streams for a web or mobile application .

Amazon Interactive Video Service (Amazon IVS) uses the same technology that powers Twitch, one of the most popular live streaming services in the world with nearly 10 billion hours of video watched in 2019.

AWS says its service will deliver live content with latency that can be less than three seconds (significantly lower than the 20-30 second latencies common with other online streaming services).

Customers can configure and stream live video through their own website or mobile application, with scalable delivery that supports millions of concurrent viewers globally.

With the Amazon IVS SDK and APIs, customers can also build interactive features into their live streams like virtual chat spaces, votes and polls, moderated question and answer sessions, and synchronized promotional elements. There are no additional charges or upfront commitments required to use Amazon IVS, and customers pay only for video input to Amazon IVS and video output delivered to viewers.

"Customers have been asking to use Twitch's video streaming technology on their own platforms for a range of use cases like education, retail, sports, fitness, and more,” said Martin Hess, GM, Amazon IVS. “Now with Amazon IVS, customers can leverage the same innovative technology that has taken Twitch over a decade to build and refine. Any developer can build an interactive live streaming experience into their own application without having to manage the underlying video infrastructure.”

https://aws.amazon.com/ivs

Twitter suffers major security breach

Twitter suffered a major security breach impacting the verified accounts of Joe Biden, former President Barack Obama, Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Michael Bloomberg, Apple and many other high-profile users.

The hackers apparently were able to breach the two-factor authentication of multiple users simultaneously, raising the possibility that Twitter's own systems were compromised. An investigation is underway.

 

AWS wins long-term strategic cloud contract with HSBC

HSBC Holdings, one of the world’s largest banking and financial services organisations, has selected AWS as a key, long-term strategic cloud provider to drive their digital transformation and deliver new and personalized banking services.

As part of a multi-year, global agreement, HSBC will make AWS technology available across the bank’s lines of business, starting with customer-facing applications and application modernization in its Global Wealth & Personal Banking business.

AWS said its global infrastructure will enable HSBC to run and scale applications around the world with the highest availability and reliability. HSBC will use AWS’s extensive portfolio of cloud services, including compute, containers, storage, database, analytics, machine learning, and security.

“Our work with AWS is an example of how HSBC continues to invest in secure and advanced technologies to make our digital banking experience even better for customers,” said Dinesh Keswani, Chief Technology Officer and CIO for Digital, HSBC. “Our ambition is to make it easy, safe, and reliable for customers to bank with us, whenever and wherever they are. HSBC’s collaboration with AWS helps us to deliver innovative banking solutions to customers at a faster rate, starting with our Wealth & Personal Banking business.”

Omantel picks Ericsson for 5G

Omantel has selected Ericsson to support the Sultanate’s ongoing 5G radio access network (RAN) deployment plans in a multi-year partnership. Specifically, Ericsson will support Omantel’s commercial 5G deployment at key locations across Oman, including Salalah, Nizwa and Sur. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The contract covers hardware and software products and solutions from the Ericsson Radio System portfolio, including Advanced Antenna Systems and 3GPP standards-based 5G New Radio (NR).

Fadi Pharaon, President of Ericsson Middle East and Africa, says: “We are delighted to further strengthen our relationship with Omantel to bring the best possible commercial 5G experience to their customers. Ericsson is leading the way in terms of 5G deployments across the globe and we look forward to making 5G experiences a reality in the Sultanate.

Corning and EnerSys simplify fiber and electrical power to small cells

Corning and EnerSys are collaborating to speed 5G deployment by simplifying the delivery of fiber and electrical power to small-cell wireless sites.

The collaboration will leverage Corning's fiber, cable, and connectivity expertise and EnerSys’ technology leadership in remote powering solutions. The companies are working to solve infrastructure challenges in the deployment of 5G and small cells in outside plant networks.

“The deployment scale of 5G small cells is placing significant pressure on utilities to provide power at each location, delaying service availability,” said Michael O’Day, vice president, Corning Optical Communications. “Corning and EnerSys will focus on simplifying deployment by bringing together the delivery of optical connectivity and power distribution – making installation faster and less costly and providing much lower operational costs over time. Corning continues to view 5G as a major driver of long-term growth in the Optical Communications business, so we’re proud to continue co-innovating with industry leaders to help accelerate 5G deployment.”

“To realize its full potential, 5G deployment needs to become efficient and predictable. Our collaboration with Corning is aimed at simplifying the powering process and fiber connectivity to fast-forward deployment,” said Drew Zogby, president, EnerSys Energy Systems Global. “The output of this collaboration will minimize logistics with power utilities, reduce the amount of time for permitting and siting, simplify fiber connectivity, and lower the overall cost of installation and deployment.”

Sri Lanka Telecom picks Nokia for next generation fiber network

Sri Lanka Telecom has selected Nokia for its fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network. The carrier aims to bring new, high-speed broadband services to more than 200,000 enterprise and residential users across the country.

Kiththi Perera, Chief Executive Officer at Sri Lanka Telecom PLC, said: “We are pleased to partner with Nokia to bring unparalleled data speeds to our enterprise and residential users. By fully utilizing the fiber-technology, we are looking to expand our customer offerings and provide access to a platitude of broadband-based services. Together SLT and Nokia will continue working towards the ultimate goal of improving broadband connectivity in Sri Lanka."

Global Cloud Xchange appoints Carl Grivner as CEO

Global Cloud Xchange (GCX) has appointed Carl Grivner as Chief Executive Officer.

Grivner previously was the CEO of Colt Technology Services. Before joining Colt, he served three years in Singapore as CEO of Pacnet, directing the global strategy of one of Asia's leading end-to-end communications service providers. Previously, Mr. Grivner held leadership positions for numerous companies, including Cable & Wireless plc, Ameritech, and IBM.

"It is an exciting time to get back into submarine networks, as the demand for global bandwidth is multiplying, and there is an increasing need for fiber optic interconnectivity to support the rising global data traffic," said Carl Grivner. "GCX is in a unique position to support the escalating bandwidth consumption across emerging markets as it owns and operates one of the world's largest private submarine cable systems, which sets the foundation for a robust global service delivery platform."

Global Cloud Xchange emerges from Chapter 11

Global Cloud Xchange's non-regulated businesses, representing a vast majority of the global network and operations, emerged from the Chapter 11 process. The company said its regulated businesses are expected to emerge from bankruptcy later this year following receipt of regulatory approval. Following the Chapter 11 process, GCX will have a stronger capital structure with reduced debt, and access to new working capital that can support its long-term growth. The company will also be moving forward under new ownership of its senior secured noteholders with the commitment and capital to support GCX and its investment in the future.

“I, along with the rest of the GCX management team, am looking forward to the completion of our financial restructuring process so we can fully focus on our strategic direction and future opportunities,” said Rory Cole, Interim CEO of GCX. “We are completing this process having achieved all of the objectives we set out, well positioned to build on our strategic plan and become even more competitive in our industry. GCX is emerging as a leading provider of network services in one of the fastest growing markets in the world that is seeing significant growth in the demand for data services. We are emerging with a strong business, ready to capitalize on this growth and the exciting opportunities ahead.”

 GCX owns one of the world’s largest private undersea cable system spanning more than 68,000 route kms.