DZS acquires RIFT.io for network orchestration

DZS has acquired RIFT, a start-up based in Chelmsford, Massachusettes developing network orchestration and automation solutions. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The carrier-grade RIFT.ware software platform aims to simplify the deployment of any slice, service or application on any cloud. 

“The trend toward cloud and open software solutions is undeniable, and with the acquisition of RIFT, DZS accelerates its vision and strategy to deliver and manage intelligent network and processing functions at the network edge,” said Charlie Vogt, President and CEO of DZS. “With our recent Optelian acquisition, the introduction of our DZS Chronos and DZS Velocity portfolios for broadband access and mobile transport powered by sdNOS (the DZS SDN-enabled Network Operating System), and now the introduction of DZS Cloud, our company is more aligned than ever with software-defined, network virtualization and cloud-native automation solutions. The transaction adds a software development center in Bangalore, India and a product operations center in Boston, Massachusetts. DZS Cloud will enable us to deliver differentiated stand-alone and end-to-end cloud-based solutions designed to increase ARPU, lower churn, streamline operations and optimize service provider and enterprise networks.”

The acquired company will complement DZS sdNOS embedded development teams and will enhance DZS mobile transport, broadband access and connected premises solutions by enabling the development and deployment of end-to-end services, networking and applications – including OpenRAN or vRAN VNFs and CNFs, 5G network slicing, FTTx network orchestration, enterprise oriented universal customer premises equipment (uCPE) or SD-WAN solutions. 

“As the access domain shifts to software, global operators are seeking trusted partners to support their digital transformation journey,” said Noel Charath, Senior Vice President of DZS Cloud Operations. “Charlie’s vision for DZS, the company’s trusted position as a partner of choice behind next generation wireline and wireless networks, and their investments in cloud innovation ensures that the vision we had at RIFT will continue to be advanced and expanded through DZS Cloud. With some of the most innovative and advanced carriers in the world already DZS customers, we expect to find fertile ground among these operators to leverage the DZS Cloud platform to monetize their 5G and fixed network investments with high value enterprise services, private wireless / 5G as a service, Network-as-a-Service (NaaS), and SD-WAN through SDN and NFV automation.”

https://www.dzsi.com

DZS acquires Optelian for optical transport solutions

Wednesday, January 20, 2021  DZS, Mergers And Acquisitions  

DZS, formerly DASAN Zhone Solutions, agreed to acquire Optelian, a leading optical networking solution provider based in Ottawa. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Optelian's solutions range from simple, easily deployed D/CWDM passive-optical devices to complex networks with multi-degree ROADMs. The Optelian solutions have completed the Telcordia OSMINE certification process required for deployment by Tier 1 service providers in North America The company was founded in 2002.

DZS said the Optelian portfolio will form a new DZS “O-series” product line that will enhance the DZS Mobile Transport portfolio with environmentally hardened optical transport products optimized for mobile backhaul. Optelian’s optical transport solutions will complement DZS’s market-leading 4G / 5G xHaul Mobile Transport portfolio that are currently deployed in five Tier 1 mobile networks. The new line-up of optical transport products will also add metro and regional aggregation and transport options for Broadband Access solutions. In addition to intellectual property and products, the transaction will bolster DZS R&D, operations, sales and corporate functions.

“After joining DZS in August of 2020, we established a playbook that began with the best talent, and quickly transitioned to technology, innovation and marquee customers around the world,” said Charlie Vogt, CEO of DZS. “The acquisition of Optelian will uniquely distinguish us from the traditional Edge Access Mobile and Broadband suppliers and accelerate our path forward with Tier 1 service providers in North America. I am pleased at the prospect of welcoming the Optelian employees to DZS, a team that will bring unique North America development and integration experience in the areas of ultra-high speed coherent optics and environmentally hardened transport solutions.”

"Optelian is thrilled by the prospect of becoming part of a global leader like DZS, and feel that our innovative products and employees will be a great complement to their winning culture and world-class solutions,” said David Weymouth, CEO of Optelian. ”Our customers will clearly benefit from the inclusion of our products in a much broader solutions portfolio that includes complementary Mobile Transport and Broadband Access technologies, as well as Customer Premises equipment. We believe that the vision and direction that Charlie and team have established for DZS is poised to make waves in the industry, and it will be exciting to now be a catalyst to that growth and transformation.”   

https://dzsi.com/

• DZS, which is headquartered in Plano, Texas, announced a major rebranding in August 2020. Additionally, the company outlined its going forward vision and strategy under the direction of newly appointed President and CEO Charlie Vogt, and unveiled a new DZS logo. The new DZS management team includes: 
• Tom Cancro, Chief Financial Officer – former GE and Verizon 
• Andrew Bender, Chief Technology Officer – former VMWare, Hewlett Packard, NEC 
• Daniel Won, Chief Product Officer – former DASAN Networks, LG and Cisco 
• Jay Hilbert, EVP, Americas, Europe, Middle East/Africa (AEMEA) Sales – former Nokia, Commscope, Cambium and Rignet 
• Bill Ko, EVP, Asia Sales – former Active Video, ARRIS Group 
• Geoff Burke, Chief Marketing Officer – former Calix, Motorola/Next Level and Broadband Forum 
• Keith Nauman, SVP of Global Services – former AT&T

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Video: Charlie Vogt discusses acquisition of RIFT.io

Charlie Vogt, President and CEO of DZS, talks about the network orchestration and software automation capabilities gained through the acquisition of RIFT, a start-up based in Chelmsford, MA.

RIFT.ware is an ETSI-compliant NFV MANO solution and commercial distribution of ETSI Open Source MANO (OSM) that radically simplifies the deployment of multi-vendor VNFs and orchestration of complex, multi-vendor network services in carrier and enterprise clouds. 

https://youtu.be/WCCHM6GtyDA

The capabilities will enhance DZS mobile transport, broadband access and connected premises solutions by enabling the development and deployment of end-to-end services, networking and applications – including OpenRAN or vRAN VNFs and CNFs, 5G network slicing, FTTx network orchestration, enterprise oriented universal customer premises equipment (uCPE) or SD-WAN solutions.

Download the 2021 Telco Infrastructure Report here: http://ngi.how/telco-2021

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T-Mobile US launches 5G-powered business services

 T-Mobile US introduced three business services powered by its national 5G network.

The new T-Mobile WFX includes: 

• T-Mobile Enterprise Unlimited, wireless plans with unlimited 5G on T-Mobile’s network for the same price as pooled rate plans from competitors 
• T-Mobile Home Office Internet, home broadband delivered over the 5G network. The service uses a dedicated router that prioritizes access to employee devices and filters non-business content. At launch, T-Mobile Home Office Internet will cover more than 60 million households, close to half of all homes in America, with plans to cover more than 90 million households by 2025.
• T-Mobile Collaborate, a suite of mobile-first, cloud-based tools for business calling, messaging and conferencing from virtually any device, anywhere. The cloud-based service can replace legacy PBX systems. A built-in AI assistant to take notes and follow up on action items. It also offers built-in integration with leading workplace apps including Microsoft 365. T-Mobile Collaborate is powered by Dialpad.

“The pandemic pushed the fast forward button on the future of work, giving us a decade’s worth of progress in a year’s time. And it’s clear that work will never be the same,” said Mike Sievert, T-Mobile CEO. “Tomorrow’s workplace won’t be anything like the old work from office (WFO) world, and it won’t be like today’s work from home (WFH) world. It’ll be something new: the work from anywhere (WFX) world. And T-Mobile WFX and our 5G network arrive at the right time to help businesses meet this moment head on … and come out the other side stronger.”

“The old Carriers are still using their 91% market share to feed business and government a very expensive starvation diet of old technologies, old plans and hidden fees,” said Mike Katz, executive vice president of T-Mobile for Business. “With T-Mobile WFX a 5G network that is faster and covers more area than AT&T and Verizon, we’re on a mission to loosen the Carriers’ death grip on enterprise customers, so we’re bringing that same disruptive, customer-first approach that made the Un-carrier the fastest-growing, most-loved consumer wireless company over the past seven years and counting.”

https://www.t-mobile.com/business/solutions/work-from-anywhere?cmpid=TFB_SEA_P_TFBWFXSOL_FOOACRJDR5TQ4N2663190

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TIP establishes 5G Private Networks Solution Group

The Telecom Infra Project (TIP) has established a 5G Private Networks solutions group to develop a new approach to manage and operate 5G Private Networks based on a cloud-native architecture and making use of a new class of software management tool. In particular, the new Solution Group will leverage previous work contributed to TIP’s OpenRAN Project Group, on a first version of a CI/CD platform that applies traditional IT methodologies to automate integration, testing and deployment of OpenRAN software.

Telefónica has agreed to test the solution in their local TIP Community Lab in Madrid and then move to field trials in Málaga (Spain).

Juan Carlos Garcia, SVP Technology Innovation & Ecosystem, Telefónica, and TIP Board Director said: “This new solution group will enable operators to address the exciting opportunities that 5G is creating in the enterprise segment, both through valuable features for our customers and more efficient network operations. The TIP community is the perfect environment for this innovation, as it will allow us to leverage multiple current project groups (Open Core Networks, OpenRAN) to deliver an end-to-end Minimum Viable Product that we will then test in Telefonica’s TIP Community Lab.”

Ihab Tarazi, CTO and SVP, Networking and Solutions, Dell Technologies and TIP Board Director, said: “For open networks to deliver their benefits, the telecom industry needs an abstraction layer that helps integrate different components into end-to-end solutions. New software management tools based on the ones currently used for the cloud can address this need, and this Solution Group is a timely initiative for the industry to collaborate on making this happen.”

Caroline Chan, VP and GM Network Business Incubation Division, Intel and TIP Board Director, said: “Through the recently launched solution groups, TIP is expanding its scope to include the validation of interoperability between different elements across the whole network, and insights and recommendations about how to operate them. The new 5G Private Networks Solution Group is a strong example of this approach. With dedicated local private high-performance network connectivity as a key emerging deployment model for 5G and edge buildout, this group can help foster important ecosystem collaboration.”

https://telecominfraproject.com/5g-private-networks/

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Australia's VicTrack deploys ADVA FSP 3000 for rail transport

VicTrack has deployed the ADVA FSP 3000 for a new Transport and Government Secure Network (TGSN) serving the state of Victoria.

The flexible and fully redundant ROADM network enables railway operators to harness next-generation signaling technologies and provides high-speed connectivity for government agencies.  VicTrack will also be able to offer highly reliable and cost-efficient wholesale services at 10 Gbps and 100 Gbps. 

Built on ADVA’s FSP 3000 platform, VicTrack’s TGSN is initially a 45-node meshed architecture with links across metro and regional Victoria. Featuring 96 channel filters, the new infrastructure provides a flexible mix of 10 Gbps and 100 Gbps services as well as any-to-any connectivity for seamless, simple and secure communication.

“Upgrading our backbone network with ADVA’s FSP 3000 technology enables us to keep pace with Victoria’s growing transport needs. Our new high-capacity infrastructure empowers us to support mission-critical rail operations, including operational communications, signaling, and video surveillance. And, with so much extra capacity, we can now offer carrier-grade wholesale services to other service providers,” said Andrew Peel, group manager commercial, telecommunications group, VicTrack. “We’re also excited by the platform’s inbuilt scalability. With a solution ready to expand to 600 Gbps, we can plan to exploit new network technologies as they become available and expand services according to demand. Our customers and stakeholders will reap the benefits of this next-gen optical network for many years to come.”

“With the scale and openness of our FSP 3000 solution, VicTrack can be confident that it will have a highly efficient and secure transport system ready for emerging challenges and technologies for many years to come. The new TGSN network will provide vital opportunities for rail operators, government agencies and businesses across the state of Victoria. With its speed, flexibility and increased reliability, it will enable users to find new efficiencies and leverage the latest innovation,” commented Erik Lindberg, VP, sales, APAC, ADVA. “Throughout this deployment, we’ve given VicTrack’s team our close support. And, by taking advantage of our professional services, they’re ensuring that their stakeholders receive consistent quality of experience with a network running at peak performance all along its lifecycle.”

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Equinix expands bare metal service to 18 metros

Equinix has expanded its bare metal service to 18 global metros including in the Americas (Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, São Paulo, Silicon Valley, Toronto and Washington, D.C.); in EMEA (Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London, Madrid and Paris); and in Asia-Pacific (Hong Kong, Seoul, Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo).

Equinix Metal is an automated, interconnected and secure bare metal service that applies a developer and API-first mindset to foundational infrastructure and provides a fully automated way for digital businesses to access the value of Platform Equinix via its leading collection of DevOps and open-source integrations.

The company is also rolling out the following new features:

Managed Appliance as a Service Solutions – Introducing a range of as a Service partner infrastructure solutions on the Equinix platform, the new managed appliance capability of Equinix Metal enables OEM, storage, hybrid cloud, hyperconverged and other specialty hardware vendors to deliver fully operated, as a Service solutions that are seamlessly interconnected to the Platform Equinix ecosystem. These include an expanded collaboration with Dell Technologies to offer Bare Metal as a Service on Dell Technologies and Pure Storage on Equinix Metal. Equinix intends to launch a series of these solutions that are non-exclusive and can include multiple providers from its ecosystem in each solution category. These fully operated partner solutions complement Equinix's existing interconnection, networking and compute services to offer an expanded choice of Infrastructure as a Service solutions to its more than 10,000 customers worldwide.

Advanced Networking with Equinix Fabric Integration – The Equinix Metal platform now supports the full portfolio of Equinix Fabric integration options including port speeds up to 100G. With native integration to Equinix Fabric, Equinix Metal customers can quickly and securely connect to the more than 10,000 networks, enterprises, clouds and SaaS platforms available on Platform Equinix via low-latency, private interconnection. A new "hybrid bonded" network mode has also been added for high availability in hybrid cloud environments. Additionally, customers can leverage Equinix Network Edge to quickly add branded virtual network services to their environments.

Software Integrations – New native integrations from leading software vendors are now available on Equinix Metal to support hybrid multicloud infrastructures, including Mirantis Container Cloud, which delivers as a Service containers and infrastructure using Kubernetes or OpenStack, and the Cohesity Helios multicloud data platform.

https://www.equinix.com/newsroom/press-releases/pr/124124/Equinix-Metal-Expansion-Equips-Digital-Leaders-to-Harness-Physical-Infrastructure-at-Software-Speed/

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Equinix plans data center in Bordeaux, France

 Equinix announced plans for its first data center in Bordeaux, France, in Q3 2021. 

The new BX1 facility, which will have direct fiber links to Equinix's International Business Exchange sites in Paris, will provide a landing hub for the new submarine cable, AMITIE, due to link France to the United States and Great Britain. BX1 will be the first carrier-neutral data center in Bordeaux. The site is due to provide colocation space of approximately 32,000 square feet (3,000 square meters). It is being built in line with global environmental standards and will contribute to a portfolio of some of the most energy-efficient data centers in the world. Indeed, BX1 is due to utilize 100% renewable energy, with the decoupled energy platform supporting multiple power sources while providing greener energy storage and greater resilience. 

 

Strategically located in the southwest of France, near the Atlantic coast, Bordeaux is establishing itself as a new hub on the map of global connectivity. 

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Ciena posts Q1 revenue of $757 million, down 9% yoy

 Ciena reported revenue of $757.1 million for its fiscal first quarter ended January 30, 2021, down from $832.9 million for the fiscal first quarter 2020. Ciena's adjusted (non-GAAP) net income for the fiscal first quarter 2021 was $81.3 million, or $0.52 per diluted common share, which compares to an adjusted (non-GAAP) net income of $81.7 million, or $0.52 per diluted common share, for the fiscal first quarter 2020.

Some highlights

Q1 Revenue by geography

• Americas $496.6 million, down from $574.0 million a year earlier
• Europe, Middle East and Africa $155.4 million, up from $130.0 million a year earlier
• 
  Asia Pacific $105.1 million, up from $128.9 million a year earlier 

• Non-telco represented 39% of total revenue
• Direct web-scale increased 25% YoY, representing over 20% of total revenue
• EMEA revenue increased 20% YoY, representing nearly 21% of total revenue
• Blue Planet revenue increased 10% YoY, reaching over $16MA
• GAAP R&D investment was over 17% of total revenue 
• 627 100G+ total customers, which includes 39 new wins on WaveLogic Ai and 14 new wins on WaveLogic 5 Extreme
• WL5e has now shipped to over 75 customers, all of whom are actively deploying the technology in their networks
• No customer represented more than 10% of revenue for the fiscal quarter
• Cash and investments totaled $1.3 billion
• Headcount totaled 7,042

"We delivered solid revenue and profitability in the first fiscal quarter in the face of continued challenging market conditions and a dynamic industry environment," said Gary Smith, president and CEO of Ciena. "Our strong market position has enabled us to start the year largely as expected, and we are leveraging our innovation leadership and competitive advantage to deliver on our long-term growth opportunities."

https://investor.ciena.com/news/press-release-details/2021/Ciena-Reports-Fiscal-First-Quarter-2021-Financial-Results/default.aspx

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Broadcom posts revenue of $6.6 billion, up 14% yoy

Broadcom posted revenue of $6,655 million for its first quarter of fiscal year 2021, up 14 percent from the prior year period. GAAP diluted EPS was $3.05 for the first quarter.

"We executed well during our first fiscal quarter driving 14% organic growth year on year," said Hock Tan, President and CEO of Broadcom Inc. "This growth reflects the critical role our technology franchises play in this environment of accelerated digital transformation."

"This quarter highlights the strength of our financial model with 14% year over year revenue growth translating to an increase in operating profit of 23%," said Kirsten Spears, CFO of Broadcom Inc. "We continue to deliver strong free cash flow, approximately $3 billion in the quarter, representing 35% growth on a year on year basis."

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DISH picks Amdocs’ for 5G billing

DISH Network has chosen Amdocs’ cloud-based billing system, Optima, to support enterprise and wholesale customers on its upcoming 5G network.

"Amdocs Optima is a cloud-based platform that has the flexibility to support our 5G needs and can scale to support enterprise and wholesale customers," said Atilla Tinic, Chief Information Officer, DISH. "This containerized component within our greater 5G billing architecture will offer us multi-cloud - public or private - deployment flexibility. We’re excited about Optima’s cloud-native roadmap and we look forward to seeing it continue to evolve and align to our business."

"DISH is a true visionary in its 5G rollout plans and we are delighted to help enable them to leverage our cloud-based billing platform," said Anthony Goonetilleke, Group President of Media, Network and Technology, Amdocs. "We are excited to extend this partnership while enabling DISH to deliver innovative 5G use cases and experiences with our Optima platform.

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SpaceX completes 20th Starlink launch mission

 On Thursday, March 4, SpaceX launched 60 more Starlink satellites from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The launch marked the 20th Starlink mission for SpaceX. It was also the eighth launch of this Falcon 9 booster, which previously supported Iridium-8, Telstar 18 VANTAGE, and five Starlink missions.

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