Google Cloud builds its telco cloud base, signs 10-year deal with TELUS

Google Cloud and TELUS announced a 10-year collaboration and strategic alliance focused on new services and solutions that support digital transformation within key industries, including communications technology, healthcare, agriculture, security, and connected home. The partnership will accelerate TELUS’ digital transformation.

Key elements of the partnership:

• Reimagining the future through co-innovation: Google Cloud and TELUS will generate new industry solutions and go-to-market strategies that will drive growth in adjacent industries, commencing with communications technology, healthcare, agriculture, security and automation. One of the areas of focus will be on redefining the way healthcare and agriculture solutions are delivered, increasing collaboration and efficiency between healthcare providers, providing consumers with fresher and healthier food by improving traceability, and enabling business customers to streamline their IT and network operations. 
• Accelerating TELUS’ digital transformation: TELUS will accelerate its public cloud adoption on Google Cloud’s enterprise platform to drive greater operational efficiency of its core IT and network infrastructure. Through this partnership, Google Cloud will also become one of TELUS' partners in the delivery of 5G services and Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC), which leverages Google Cloud’s managed application platform, Anthos. TELUS will utilize Google Cloud Contact Center AI to reinvent the customer experience, improving customer interactions and realizing significant savings. To increase growth opportunities, TELUS can expect enhanced agility, scalability, and reliability across its wireless and wireline services and numerous lines of business including security, agriculture and healthcare.
• Embracing sustainability and social responsibility: As recognized global leaders in corporate social responsibility, TELUS and Google Cloud will prioritize working together to improve the social, economic, environmental, and health outcomes for Canadians. TELUS and Google Cloud will strengthen their respective commitments to building a more sustainable world through technology by reducing TELUS’ carbon footprint, creating value along the entire supply chain for businesses significantly impacted by COVID-19, and optimizing industry solutions.

“This announcement represents an important milestone in our longstanding growth strategy, reflecting our team’s unwavering commitment to innovation as we accelerate our digital transformation journey,” said Darren Entwistle, President and CEO of TELUS. “Our strategic partnership with Google will propel our digital leadership across the communications technology, healthcare and agriculture sectors, whilst amplifying our Customers First priority, redefining how service is delivered in Canada and globally. As world leaders in social capitalism, our organizations will leverage the potency of our technology to create meaningful human and social outcomes, as we continue to build stronger, healthier and more sustainable communities.” 

“We are proud to partner with TELUS to help fuel a fundamental shift to digital, leveraging data and AI to create valuable insights and  improve customer experiences in multiple verticals,” said Thomas Kurian, CEO, Google Cloud. “We operate the cleanest cloud in the industry, and this partnership demonstrates the potential of what’s possible when you combine technology and innovation with a commitment to create a more sustainable world.”

https://www.telus.com/en/about/news-and-events/media-releases/telus-and-google-form-strategic-alliance-to-bring-digital-transformation-to-key-industries-including-communications-technology-healthcare-and-agriculture

Google Cloud and Nokia announce Telco Cloud Partnership

Thursday, January 14, 2021  Google Cloud, Nokia, Telco Cloud  

Google Cloud and Nokia announced a global, strategic partnership focused on cloud-native solutions for communications service providers (CSPs), including a cloud-native 5G Core and a network edge for business services. Under this partnership, Google Cloud and Nokia will work closely to validate, optimize and evolve cloud-native network functions, and the two companies will also co-innovate new solutions that will help CSPs deliver 5G connectivity...

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Qualcomm's Snapdragon X65 modem boasts 10Gbps peak throughput

Qualcomm has begun sampling its fourth-generation, the Snapdragon X65 5G Modem-RF System, the first 5G modem-to-antenna solution to support 10 Gigabit 5G.  and the first modem-RF system, which is currently sampling to OEMs and targeting commercial device launches in 2021. 

The Snapdragon X65 supports 3GPP release 16. Commercial device launches are anticipated later this year.

Qualcomm describes the Snapdragon X65 as its biggest leap in 5G solutions since the commercialization of its first modem-RF system. In addition to the Snapdragon X65, Qualcomm Technologies also announced the Snapdragon X62 5G Modem-RF System, a modem-to-antenna solution optimized for mainstream adoption of mobile broadband applications. The modem offers spectrum aggregation across all key 5G bands and combinations, including mmWave and sub-6, using frequency division duplex (FDD) and time division duplex (TDD), providing operators ultimate flexibility in the use of fragmented 5G spectrum assets. It also features new power-saving technologies defined in 3GPP Release 16, such as Connected-Mode Wake-Up Signal.

Qualcomm is also introducing a modem-to-antenna system awareness capability to increase upload data speeds and enhance coverage for both mmWave and Sub-6 GHz bands while continuing to meet RF emissions requirements.

“The 5G transition presents the biggest opportunity for Qualcomm as mobile technology is poised to benefit virtually every industry,” said Cristiano Amon, president and CEO-elect, Qualcomm Incorporated. “We are reaching a significant milestone with the Snapdragon X65 5G Modem-RF System, unleashing connectivity up to 10 Gigabits per second and support for the latest 5G specifications that will play a critical role in enabling new 5G use cases not only for redefined premium smartphone experiences, but also opening a new realm of possibilities for 5G expansion across mobile broadband, compute, XR, industrial IoT, 5G private networks and fixed wireless access.”

https://www.qualcomm.com/news/releases/2021/02/09/qualcomm-announces-worlds-first-10-gigabit-5g-modem-rf-system

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PacketFabric teams with Colt to extend Network-As-A-Service to Europe

PacketFabric announced a strategic partnership with Colt Technology Services to expand the reach of PacketFabric’s Network-As-A-Service Platform across Europe.

Under the partnership Colt’s On Demand offering will be directly integrated with PacketFabric’s Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) platform, initially enabling PacketFabric’s enterprise customers with real-time network connectivity to 100 key data center locations across Europe.

PacketFabric’s global customer base can now create private, secure, low latency hybrid cloud and backbone connectivity in minutes, enabled via an API-based software defined interconnection with Colt. Colt’s On Demand platform is underpinned by the Colt IQ Network, which spans more than 29,000 on net buildings and 900 data centers globally, and will significantly increase the reach of PacketFabric’s advanced NaaS platform throughout Europe. Through this integration, PacketFabric’s enterprise customers will be able to benefit from a true SDN experience, which sees services being delivered in real-time via a portal, creating greater agility for the fast-paced business landscape of today.

“When we looked at our European expansion plans, it was clear that Colt was the right strategic partner for PacketFabric,” said Jezzibell Gilmore, PacketFabric Co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer. “Not only is Colt an innovator and pioneer in connectivity services, but they lead the telecom industry in diversity and inclusion. As a women-founded start-up, we are passionate how Colt CEO Keri Gilder has been a champion for women in the telecom and tech industry—so this partnership is personally meaningful for me and my co-founder Anna Claiborne.”

“Colt strives to transform the way the world works through the power of connectivity and this collaboration with PacketFabric will offer enterprise customers the agility and flexibility they need to take on the business challenges of today,” said Keri Gilder, CEO of Colt. “At Colt, we don’t just want to transform how networks are provisioned, we also believe in changing how this sector is viewed and the voices that are heard in it. I am passionate about championing women and I am proud to be partnering with a company created and led by women. I see this collaboration being just an example of how we are innovating and delivering the networks of tomorrow for customers globally.”

https://www.packetfabric.com/

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Innovium shipped over one million 400G ports in 2020

Innovium, a start-up offering high-performance switching silicon, shipped over one million 400G TERALYNX switch silicon ports in 2020. 

The company said it is seeing a rapid ramp of 400G connectivity by top cloud customers using its TERALYNX based switches. 

“2020 was a great year for Innovium. Demand for bandwidth accelerated across all cloud data centers driven by worldwide growth in online businesses, remote everything and digitization efforts,” said Rajiv Khemani, Co-founder and CEO of Innovium. “We are delighted to have enabled cloud customers ramp their data center networks with 400G connectivity with our data center optimized and proven TERALYNX switch silicon. We shipped significantly more 400G ports than system vendors, and look forward to supporting OEMs and cloud customers with our highly robust, differentiated silicon.”

“We are excited to have partnered with Innovium to help customers ramp data center networks with 400G connectivity to meet their insatiable appetite for bandwidth from drivers such as cloud native applications, AI and HPC,” said Osa Mok, Chief Marketing Officer of Innolight Technology. “We look forward to continuing our partnership as we introduce 800G optics modules that will be used for next-generation of data center build-outs with Innovium’s 25.6T TERALYNX 8.”

https://www.innovium.com/

Innovium raises $170 million for its switching silicon

Tuesday, July 21, 2020  Innovium, Silicon, Switching  

Innovium, a start-up based in San Jose, California, raised $170 million for its switching silicon solutions cloud and edge data centers. The new funding round included investments from Premji Invest, DFJ Growth, funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, and multiple strategic investors, along with existing investors including Greylock, Capricorn, WRVI, Qualcomm Ventures, Redline, S-Cubed Capital and DAG . Innovium said this latest funding makes...

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Innovium pushes switching silicon to 25.6 Tbps with support for 112G PAM4

Monday, May 11, 2020    

Innovium unveiled its TERALYNX 8 networking switch silicon featuring a massive 25.6 Tbps capacity and support for 112G PAM4 SerDes I/O. This next-generation TERALYNX 8 design features deep programmability, the largest on-chip buffers, and advanced telemetry capabilities. Innovium's TERALYNX 8 switch, which is aimed at hyperscale data centers and which is expected to sample in the second half of 2020, could be used for highly compact, highest port-density...

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Innovium reports multiple customers for 400G production networks

Tuesday, March 10, 2020    

Innovium reports that multiple cloud and data center customers are deploying its 12.8Tbps TERALYNX 7 based switches together with Innolight optics for 400G production networks. Customers were not named. “Massive growth in Data, AI and 5G is driving the need to scale data center networks. Leading data center customers are deploying Innovium 12.8Tbps switches together with Innolight’s comprehensive portfolio of 400G optical transceivers to scale their...

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Cisco reports flat revenue of $12.0 billion, encouraging signs of growth

Cisco reported second quarter revenue of $12.0 billion, net income on a generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) basis of $2.5 billion or $0.60 per share, and non-GAAP net income of $3.4 billion or $0.79 per share.

Cisco cited strength in Catalyst 9K, data center switching, security, wireless and Webex. The company sees long-term opportunities ahead in areas such as cloud, 400G, 5G, security, hybrid work and next generation applications . 

Some highlights:

• Product revenue was down 1%
• Service revenue was up 2%. 
• Revenue by geographic segment was: Americas down 1%, EMEA up 2%, and APJC down 4%. 
• Product revenue was led by growth in Security, up 10%.  
• Infrastructure Platforms was down 3% and Applications was flat.
• On a GAAP basis, total gross margin, product gross margin, and service gross margin were 65.1%, 64.5%, and 66.6%

"We are seeing encouraging signs of strength across our business showing how our technology will be a powerful engine for recovery and growth," said Chuck Robbins, chairman and CEO of Cisco. "Our team delivered a strong performance as we partnered with customers on accelerating their digital transformation and driving secure, remote work."

"Cisco executed well in Q2, delivering growth in orders, strong margins, and growth in non-GAAP EPS, while continuing to grow deferred revenue in double-digits through the shift to more software and subscriptions," said Scott Herren, CFO of Cisco.

https://newsroom.cisco.com/press-release-content?type=webcontent&articleId=2141211

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Akamai posts Q4 revenue of $846 million, up 10% yoy

Akamai Technologies reported Q4 2020 revenue of $846 million, a 10% increase over fourth quarter 2019 revenue of $772 million and an 8% increase when adjusted for foreign exchange. Total revenue for 2020 was $3.198 billion compared to $2.894 billion for 2019, up 11% year-over-year and when adjusted for foreign exchange. GAAP EPS for the fourth quarter was $0.68 per diluted share, a 7% decrease from fourth quarter 2019 GAAP EPS of $0.73 and an 11% decrease when adjusted for foreign exchange.

• Web Division revenue for the fourth quarter was $438 million, up 5% year-over-year and up 4% when adjusted for foreign exchange. 
• Media and Carrier Division revenue for the fourth quarter was $408 million, up 15% year-over-year and up 14% when adjusted for foreign exchange.

“Akamai’s strong fourth quarter performance capped off an excellent year in which we surpassed $3 billion in revenue and achieved record earnings per share,” said Dr. Tom Leighton, CEO of Akamai. “In addition, our security portfolio exceeded $1 billion in revenue, we delivered record traffic levels on our network and we accomplished our 30% non-GAAP operating margin goal. I am very proud of how the Akamai team supported our global customers and billions of internet users who relied on the internet more than ever before during the COVID-19 pandemic. As we look forward to 2021, we expect to continue investing in innovation and new products with the goal of accelerating our market leadership in security, edge computing and video streaming.”

https://www.akamai.com/us/en/about/news/press/2021-press/akamai-reports-fourth-quarter-2020-financial-results.jsp

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Keysight supplies O-RAN test solutions to Xilinx

Xilinx has selected Keysight’s O-RAN radio unit (O-RU) test tools to accelerate development of massive multiple input multiple output (MMIMO) reference designs and verify compliance to standards specified by the O-RAN Alliance.

Xilinx selected Keysight’s Open RAN Studio to demonstrate O-RAN compliance of a O-RU reference design that leverages MMIMO antenna technology. The O-RU reference design is based on Xilinx’s adaptable radio frequency system-on-chip (RFSOC) technology. The two companies demonstrated the O-RU test environment at the O-RAN Alliance organized Plugfest event held at multiple sites between July and September of 2020 and have started a collaboration to further advance O-RAN compliance testing.

“We’re pleased to join forces with Xilinx to accelerate development and integration of O-RAN compliant network equipment,” said Giampaolo Tardioli, vice president and general manager for Keysight network access business. “O-RU vendors rely on test solutions that support straight forward O-RAN conformance validation to keep pace with evolving specifications and requirements.”

http://www.keysight.com/find/ORAN

Keysight offers Open RAN testing solution

Thursday, January 28, 2021  Keysight  

Keysight Technologies introduced an Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) solution for verifying the interoperability, performance, conformance and security of multi-vendor 5G networks based on O-RAN standard interfaces.

Keysight’s Open RAN Architect (KORA) suite is tailored to the supply chain workflow consisting of chipset makers, network equipment manufacturers (NEMs), mobile operators and Open Test and Integration Centers (OTIC). Users can uniquely access a common set of solutions to simplify the sharing of results across the workflow from pre-silicon to cloud deployments.

Keysight’s Open RAN Architect (KORA) includes Open RAN Studio, UeSIM, RuSIM, CoreSIM, DuSIM, CuSIM, RIC Test, ATI Pentest, CyPerf, Breaking Point, Vision Edge, IxNetwork, CloudPeak, and Nemo Outdoor.

The portfolio covers both 3GPP and O-RAN testing and is segmented to support the following key stakeholders:

Keysight Open RAN Architect (KORA) – Chip Designer Suite

• Enables chipset vendors to verify compliance of O-RAN designs to O-RAN specifications using O-RAN simulation tools prior to tape out, reducing development time.

Keysight Open RAN Architect (KORA) – NEM Suite

• Enables open RAN hardware and software vendors to verify compliance to O-RAN specifications and interoperability, ensuring each function integrates as expected into a multi-vendor open RAN.

Keysight Open RAN Architect (KORA) – Operator Suite

• Enables mobile operators to verify conformance, interoperability and performance of subsystems that drive new 5G service revenue opportunities.

Keysight Open RAN Architect (KORA) – OTIC Suite

• Enables OTICs to validate conformance, interoperability and performance using tools that adhere to the O-RAN specifications with thorough, repeatable and automated processes.

“Vendors of radio units (O-RUs), distributed units (O-DUs), central units (O-CUs) and RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) need integrated, virtualized and cloud native solutions to validate performance, establish interoperability between network elements and ensure compliance to the latest O-RAN and 3GPP specifications,” said Giampaolo Tardioli, vice president and general manager for Keysight’s network access group. “Keysight’s end-to-end open RAN solution portfolio enables this ecosystem to verify components across every level of the protocol stack, ensuring that subsystems perform as expected and cohesively.”

http://www.keysight.com/find/ORAN

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Bouygues Telecom upgrades to Netcracker Digital BSS,

Bouygues Telecom will upgrade to Netcracker’s digital portfolio, including Netcracker Digital BSS, which includes fully convergent, carrier-grade revenue management, including dynamic rating and billing capabilities, so that operators can monetize new digital services, accelerate time-to-market, develop new lines of business and future-proof their organizations. Bouygues has also extended its use of Netcracker Professional Services, including Support & Managed Services.

Bouygues Telecom will also engage with Netcracker for professional services to support both fixed-line and mobile service offerings, including 5G. 

“As a key part of our growth strategy, we wanted to work with a partner that could deliver a modernized revenue management suite to enable us to expand into new digital services and monetize these offerings quickly,” said Olivier Heitz, CIO at Bouygues Telecom. “We have every confidence that Netcracker’s solution and services will allow us to handle the additional capacity from our organic growth.”

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