AT&T and Intel co-develop advanced RAN pooling

AT&T is collaborating with Intel on an Advanced  base station distributed unit (DU) pooling technology designed to deliver unprecedented levels of elasticity in the RAN. 

AT&T says DU pooling provides the greatest value in C-RAN or Centralized RAN network deployments where RAN baseband equipment from many cell sites are “pooled together” into a “cloud” of general purpose processors in far edge data centers or central offices. Furthermore, through an advanced form of DU pooling called Class II pooling, a single 5G radio can now distribute the baseband processing for each user device in the cell across multiple servers.

DU pooling technology was made possible by combining AT&T’s Open RAN technologies as one of the co-founders of the O-RAN Alliance with Intel’s expertise in general purpose processors and software-based RAN through its FlexRAN software stack running on Intel 3rd generation Intel Xeon Scalable processors. The open standards for communications between radios and DUs that were published by O-RAN enabled its development, and the result is a technology demonstrator implemented on FlexRAN software.

https://about.att.com/innovationblog/2022/cloudifying-5g-with-elastic-ran.html

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#MWC22: Proactive Service Assurance for 5G

What's hot at MWC22? 

Proactive Service Assurance for 5G says Rohit Batra, Head of Telecommunications, Media and Technology product for ServiceNow. Two key partnerships are highlighted: NTT and DISH.

https://youtu.be/NswG3yVyz70

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Telefonica validates O-RAN xHaul transport link with Keysight

Telefonica accomplished the first validation of an open radio access network (RAN) xHaul transport link using Keysight's test tools.

xHaul is a unified fronthaul and backhaul networking infrastructure. It creates a common packet-based transport network for flexible and software-defined reconfiguration of networking elements in a service-oriented unified management framework. Mobile operators, such as Telefonica, are implementing O-RAN compliant xHaul transport architectures to reconfigure and share the network quickly and cost-effectively, to streamline delivery of 5G services.

“Keysight’s 5G test tools enable Telefonica Open Testing and Integration Centre (OTIC) to characterize xHaul transport links in accordance with O-RAN WG9 test specifications and advance its O-RAN xHaul interoperability test plans,” said Scott Bryden, vice president and general manager at Keysight. “Keysight’s solutions for emulating real-life Ethernet traffic conditions enable verification of the functionality and reliability of O-RAN xHaul transport architecture.” 

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NETGEAR intros triband WiFi 6E for SMBs

NETGEAR introduced a tri-band, business-grade WiFi 6E product with cloud management for small and medium businesses (SMBs).

Key Features of WAX630E:

• New 6GHz Band –– WAX630E offers many features and capabilities of WiFi 6 access points, including higher performance, lower latency, and faster data rates and supports WiFi 6E on the new wider 6GHz WiFi band
• Ultra-Low Latency — Extends into the new 6 GHz band bringing 14 additional 80 MHZ channels for expanded spectrum capacity and less congestion thereby lower latency
• WiFi Speed of up to 7.8Gbps ––Tri-Band WiFi with combined wireless speeds of up to 7.8Gbps (0.6+4.8+2.4 Gbps)
• 8-Streams Tri-Band WiFi — 8 WiFi streams (two streams of 6GHz, four streams of 5GHz, and two streams of 2.4GHz) means more available bandwidth and less congestion for all devices on WiFi
• Multi-Gigabit Speed with PoE — Includes a 2.5 Gbps Ethernet port with PoE++ for high speed and easy wiring. An additional 1 Gbps Ethernet port is included for wired extension to a WiFi access point. Ideal switches to power WAX630E are GSM4210P, MS510TXPP, MS510TXUP and MS108EUP.
• Remote Management — Remote Cloud monitoring and management with NETGEAR Insight for single pane of glass management. Insight Pro is available for multi instance network management for managed service providers.
• 8 Secure Wireless Networks (SSIDs) — Separate VLANs and WPA3 makes WAX630E the ideal network configuration for SMBs for security and manageability
• Separate VLANs — Separate networks to keep admin, employee, visitor, HR, Finance department networks securely separated from each other

Pricing begins at $350.

"ISPs are now offering multi-gig speeds to their business customers. Simultaneously, client devices such as the latest Samsung Galaxy, Google Pixel smart phones and several new personal computer systems from leading manufacturers are supporting WiFi 6E. This combination makes it an imperative for businesses to at least double the connection speeds for their underlying WiFi systems,” said Doug Cheung, Director of Product Line Management, SMB Wireless at NETGEAR. “The WAX630E will enable businesses to improve the bandwidth of their WiFi network by up to 2.5 times.”

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ADVA reports revenue of EUR 157.7 million, growth in demand from CSPs

Citing growth in demand from communication service providers (CSPs), particularly in the cloud access solution area, ADVA reported Q4 revenue of EUR 157.7 million, up by 3.9% from EUR 151.8 million in Q3 2021, also considerably up by 12.2% compared to EUR 140.6 million in Q4 2020. Net income reached EUR 17.5 million in Q4 2021 and decreased by 5.2% from EUR 18.5 million in Q3 2021, but increased significantly by 32.2% from EUR 13.2 million in Q4 2020. 

“Our business transformation strategy will remain our focus in 2022. Profitability, liquidity and expanding our sales in new industries are top priorities,” said Brian Protiva, CEO of ADVA. “Technologically, our solutions are extremely well aligned to the transformation of networks with cloud, mobility, 5G, automation and security. In addition to the high-value performance features of our optical data transmission, precise network synchronization technology and programmable cloud access solutions, our service portfolio also delivers increasing value. Furthermore, our strategic move to join forces with ADTRAN will create a global leader in a quickly expanding market opportunity around the network edge. Together, we can offer a comprehensive portfolio of solutions from the access part of the network, through the network edge, to the metro core, which goes well beyond the offerings of most other Western manufacturers.”

“Today, we report on a great financial year with solid growth and a significant increase in profitability. The consistent implementation of our business transformation strategy enables us to compensate for higher procurement costs due to the global shortage of components and still expand our margins. High cash flow generation combined with consistent debt reduction has led to a significant increase in our net cash position, which we were able to expand by more than EUR 60 million compared to 2020,” commented Uli Dopfer, CFO of ADVA. However, global inflationary tendencies and the resulting higher material costs, as well as the global shortage of materials, pose challenges for us in 2022. We start the year again with an order-backlog at record levels and are confident that we will once again overcome the ongoing challenges and grow profitably in 2022.”

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VMware posts revenue of $3.53 billion, up 7% yoy

VMware reported Q4 revenue of $3.53 billion, an increase of 7% from the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021.  Non-GAAP net income for the fourth quarter was $855 million, or $2.02 per diluted share, down 9% per diluted share compared to $936 million, or $2.21 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021.

Revenue for fiscal year 2022 was $12.85 billion, an increase of 9% from fiscal 2021.

• The combination of subscription and SaaS and license revenue was $1.90 billion, an increase of 11% from the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021.
• Subscription and SaaS revenue for the fourth quarter was $868 million, an increase of 23% year-over-year.

“The growth in customer demand for our multi-cloud solutions was reflected in our Q4 results. We are at an exciting time in our industry, as enterprises large and small transform and modernize to become software-based, digital enterprises,” said Raghu Raghuram, CEO, VMware. “We are well-positioned to help our customers build, run and secure their applications in this multi-cloud environment.”

“Q4 was a strong finish to a transformational year in which we became a standalone company and surpassed $12B in revenue,” said Zane Rowe, executive vice president and CFO, VMware. “As we look to our next fiscal year, we remain focused on accelerating growth of our Subscription & SaaS portfolio and scaling our multi-cloud platform enabling us to deliver long-term revenue and profit growth.”

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NeoPhotonics reports revenue of $80.6 million, growth in 400G

Citing supply chain impacts, especially for analog and power semiconductors, NeoPhotonics reported revenue of $80.6 million, up 18% year-over-year on growth in 400G and above capable products and down 3.7% quarter-over-quarter. Supply chain shortages negatively impacted revenue by $15 million in the fourth quarter. Non-GAAP net loss per share was $0.06, compared to a Non-GAAP loss per share of $0.14 a year ago and a Non-GAAP net earnings per share of $0.01 in the prior quarter.

“Our business remains on a strong growth path, as demand continues to increase and our backlog has expanded to record levels with nearly a year of visibility. Our fourth quarter revenue trend reflected the operational challenges as the full force of industry-wide IC chip supply shortages impacted our topline revenue by more than $15 million. Our products for 400G and above applications grew 9% sequentially, comprising 56% of total revenue, despite this product group being the most impacted by supply chain chip shortages,” said Tim Jenks, Chairman and CEO of NeoPhotonics. “Moreover, we now have three Cloud and data center switch customer design wins in place for our 400ZR coherent DCO modules products.”

Mr. Jenks continued, “The Lumentum transaction announced last November remains on track, having been approved by our stockholders at our special meeting on the first of February and the expiration of the waiting period under U.S. anti-trust regulations, as previously announced. We believe Lumentum is an ideal partner to serve our customers on a larger scale and look forward to securing regulatory approval from China and closing the transaction. I would like to thank all NeoPhotonics employees for their hard work and dedication for our strong performance in 2021, and for building the company’s strong technology leadership for high speed over distance applications.”

Year-over-year growth of products for 400G and above applications exceeded 70% to $148 million

Growth of 18% over the same quarter last year despite supply chain shortages.

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DISH posts revenue of $4.45B, dip in pay-TV and wireless subscribers

DISH Network reported revenue totaling $4.45 billion for the quarter ending December 31, 2021, compared to $4.56 billion for the corresponding period in 2020. 

Net income attributable to DISH Network totaled $552 million for the fourth quarter 2021, compared to $733 million from the year-ago quarter. Diluted earnings per share were $0.87 for the fourth quarter, compared to $1.24 per share during the same period in 2020. 

Some highlights: 

• Net pay-TV subscribers decreased approximately 273,000 in the fourth quarter, compared to a decrease of approximately 133,000 in the year-ago quarter. 
• The company closed the quarter with 10.71 million pay-TV subscribers, including 8.22 million DISH TV subscribers and 2.49 million SLING TV subscribers. 
• Retail wireless net subscribers decreased by approximately 245,000 in the fourth quarter, compared to a net decrease of 363,000 in the year-ago quarter. 
• The company closed the quarter with 8.55 million retail wireless subscribers. 
• Wireless CapEx for 2022 is expected to be $2.5 billion, compared to $1.0 billion for 2021.
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Keysight names Satish Dhanasekaran as next CEO

Keysight Technologies named Satish Dhanasekaran as its next President and CEO, effective May 1, placing Ron Nersesian, who is retiring but who will continue as Executive Chairman of the Board.

Chief Executive Officer of Keysight when Agilent Technologies decided to spin-out the business in 2013. Under Nersesian’s leadership, Keysight’s revenues have increased at a ten percent compound annual growth rate, while generating annualized earnings and free cash flow growth of eighteen percent and twenty-five percent, respectively. At the same time and as of the end of fiscal year 2021, Keysight’s market capitalization has increased six-fold, while delivering shareholder returns nearly four times that of the S&P 500 Index.

Dhanasekaran began his career at Keysight in 2006. He has been Chief Operating Officer since 2020, focused on growing orders, increasing annual recurring revenue and driving the company’s growth initiatives. He oversees the Keysight functions that contribute to these objectives, including market and technology research; development of new technologies, products, and solutions; services; marketing; and sales.

“Keysight has a very bright future ahead, and I look forward to working with the team to execute our software-centric solutions strategy and apply the Keysight Leadership Model to deliver greater value for our customers, shareholders and employees.”

“I am incredibly proud of the exceptional results that the Keysight team has achieved for customers and shareholders,” said Nersesian. “Looking ahead, I am even more confident in Keysight’s future prospects and ability to drive further value creation given the strength of the company’s differentiated solutions, R&D investments, sales and marketing engines, leadership team, balance sheet, and culture.”

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