05/11/22 ~ Converge! Network Digest

Wednesday, May 11, 2022

DigitalBridge to acquire Switch for $11 billion for its data centers

Wednesday, May 11, 2022 Data Centers, Digital Bridge

DigitalBridge Group agreed to acquire Switch, a leading colocation data center operator, for $34.25 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $11 billion, including the assumption of debt.

Switch, which was founded in 2000, operates SuperNAP data center campuses in Las Vegas, Reno, and Grand Rapids, Michigan. The company touts its high-resiliecy and high-security designs for mission critical workloads in its "Class 5" data centers. The company boasts zero downtime since company inception (2001). The Switch data centers are powered by 100% renewable energy.

"Today's announcement is an important step towards our long-term vision for the growth and evolution of our company. Through this partnership we will be ideally positioned to continue to meet strong customer demand for Switch's environmentally sustainable Tier 5 data center infrastructure," said Switch Founder and CEO, Rob Roy. "Following our expansion into a Fifth Prime campus last year, and with our plan to construct more than 11 million additional square feet of capacity through 2030, Switch's strategic position has never been stronger. The combination of our advanced data center infrastructure, significant expansion capacity in our land bank, and a new partnership with experienced digital infrastructure investors lays a strong foundation for Switch's continued industry leading growth."

Marc Ganzi, Chief Executive Officer of DigitalBridge, said, "At DigitalBridge, we are building the world's leading global digital infrastructure investment platform, and this transaction allows us to partner with one of the industry's fastest growing and highest quality data center portfolios. Rob and his team share our vision for the future of communications infrastructure, making us the ideal partner to scale their business both domestically and internationally to meet the exponentially rising demand from large enterprise customers looking for mission critical digital infrastructure. "

Switch expands data center fleet to 16 with Data Foundry acquisition

Sunday, May 09, 2021 Data Centers, Mergers And Acquisitions, Switch

Switch agreed to acquire Data Foundry, a carrier-neutral colocation provider with data centers in Austin and Houston, for $420 million in an all cash transaction. The acquisition is expected to close by mid-2021, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including regulatory approval. The purchase price of $420 million represents approximately 19x estimated 2021 Adjusted EBITDA, including $2 million of projected run-rate cost synergies. Data...

Switch expands its Reno Data Centers

Sunday, November 22, 2020 Data Centers, Switch

Switch signed a multi-year, multi-million dollar contract with an existing global e-commerce client to significantly grow its footprint at Switch's Citadel Campus in Northern Nevada. This transaction follows the previously announced multi-megawatt expansion from a leading developer of advanced semiconductor technologies. Switch says over 80% of its TAHOE RENO 1 facility is committed to clients, including space and power currently sold and future...

Netomnia secures £295 million for UK fibre rollout

Monday, April 11, 2022 FTTH, Start-Ups, UK

Netomnia, a provider of full fibre broadband infrastructure based in the UK, secured £295 million in new funding led by DigitalBridge Investment Management. DigitalBridge’s equity investment will come alongside follow-on commitments from existing shareholders Soho Square Capital LLP and Advencap Limited.Netomnia has achieved more than 130,000 premises passed since rollout commenced in 2020.“We are thrilled to partner with DigitalBridge and benefit...

DigitalBridge backs Everstream for business fiber services

Saturday, April 02, 2022 DigitalBridge

DigitalBridge, in partnership with a subsidiary of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, has invested $220 million in the form of a holding company term loan to support the continued growth of Everstream Solutions.Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Everstream delivers a business-only, enterprise-grade fiber network services. The company serves large and mid-sized enterprises with over 27,000 route miles of fiber, speeds up...

DigitalBridge to acquire Telenet's towers in Belgium

Sunday, March 27, 2022 Digital Bridge, Towers

DigitalBridge agreed to acquire the mobile telecommunications tower business of Telenet Group for €745 million in cash (US$820 million).The deal will provide DigitalBridge with ownership of 100% of Telenet’s passive infrastructure and tower assets, including TowerCo’s nationwide footprint of 3,322 sites in Belgium, including 2,158 owned sites and 1,164 third-party sites.The business boasts a total tenancy ratio of 1.2x, and a tenancy ratio of 1.6x...

DigitalBridge forms ÍslandsTurnar - mobile towers for Iceland

Wednesday, December 15, 2021 Digital Bridge, Iceland, Towers

DigitalBridge Group announced the formation of an independent mobile tower company in Iceland through the merger of the telecom tower portfolios of Sýn and Nova, two leading Icelandic mobile network operators.The new company, called ÍslandsTurnar, is backed by funds affiliated with DigitalBridge Investment Management. Both Sýn and Nova will be long-term customers of ÍslandsTurnar.ÍslandsTurnar is the first independent tower company of scale in Iceland...

IBM to deliver Software as-a-Service on AWS

Wednesday, May 11, 2022 AWS, IBM

IBM plans to offer a broad array of its software catalog as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) on AWS.

The companies said their strategic agreement will provide clients with quick and easy access to IBM Software that spans automation, data and AI, security and sustainability capabilities. The solution is built on Red Hat OpenShift Service on AWS (ROSA), and runs cloud-native on AWS. The two companies are also committing to a broad range of joint investments to make it easier for clients to consume IBM Software on AWS, including integrated go-to-market activities across sales and marketing, channel incentives, developer enablement and training, and solution development for key verticals and industries such as Oil and Gas, Travel and Transportation, and others.

The IBM Software catalog as cloud-native services on AWS will include: IBM API Connect, IBM Db2, IBM Observability by Instana APM, IBM Maximo Application Suite, IBM Security ReaQta, IBM Security Trusteer, IBM Security Verify, and IBM Watson Orchestrate, with others to follow later this year.

"Our collaboration with IBM allows joint customers to accelerate their modernization to the cloud and consume IBM services in a cloud native manner on AWS," said Matt Garman, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing at AWS. "Through our multiyear agreement, AWS will work with IBM to offer a broad array of IBM Software as SaaS on AWS. In addition, we'll be working together on stronger joint marketing and co-selling programs for customers."

https://www.ibm.com/strategic-partnerships

CoreSite enhances its Open Cloud Exchange

Wednesday, May 11, 2022 Coresite, Data Centers

CoreSite announced a series of network service enhancements for its Open Cloud Exchange (OCX), including automating additional provisioning functionality within AWS and Microsoft Azure Cloud and direct cloud-to-cloud communication capabilities on CoreSite’s fully managed virtual routers.

Additional benefits

Rapidly scale and deploy new applications across multiple U.S. markets using inter-market connectivity
Improve network performance and security with guaranteed private network isolation, throughput and lower latency compared to public internet connections
Increase speed to market and gain greater control and optionality
Recoup expensive cloud egress fees and redirect funds and internal resources to other business priorities

“The Open Cloud Exchange provides our diverse customer base with the fastest and most secure way to interconnect their private infrastructure with public cloud resources – and to interoperate with each other. We make it simple by providing our Service Delivery Platform where customers can instantly scale by turning up or turning down virtual routers in their environment with just a few clicks of their mouse,” said Brian Warren, SVP of Development and Product Management at CoreSite.

https://investors.coresite.com/news-releases/news-release-details/coresites-open-cloud-exchanger-platform-accelerates-digital

Intel's Project Amber promises to be a trust authority for edge and cloud

Wednesday, May 11, 2022 Cloud, Edge, Intel, Security

Intel introduced Project Amber, an independent trust authority in the form of an innovative service-based security implementation.

Intel said the foundational basis of trust in a confidential computing environment is established via a process called attestation. The verification of this trustworthiness is a critical requirement for customers to protect their data and intellectual property as they move sensitive workloads to the cloud. Project Amber is the first step in creating a new multi-cloud, multi-TEE service for third-party attestation:

Designed to be cloud-agnostic, this service will support confidential computing workloads in the public cloud, within private/hybrid cloud and at the edge. Interposing a third party to provide attestation helps provide objectivity and independence to enhance confidential computing assurance to users.
In its first version, Project Amber intends to support confidential compute workloads deployed as bare metal containers, virtual machines (VMs) and containers running in virtual machines using Intel TEEs. The initial release will support Intel TEEs, with plans to extend coverage to platforms, devices and other TEEs in the future.
Intel is also working with independent software vendors (ISVs) to enable trust services that include Project Amber. New software tools, such as published APIs that enable ISVs to incorporate Project Amber to augment software and services, will complement Intel’s platforms and technologies, and bring more value to customers and partners.

Intel plans to launch a customer pilot of Project Amber in the second half of 2022, followed by general availability in the first half of 2023.

“As organizations continue to capitalize on the value of the cloud, security has never been more top of mind. Trust goes hand in hand with security, and it is what our customers expect and require when delivering on Intel technology,” said Greg Lavender, chief technology officer, senior vice president and general manager of the Software and Advanced Technology Group at Intel. “With the introduction of Project Amber, Intel is taking confidential computing to the next level in our commitment to a zero-trust approach to attestation and the verification of compute assets at the network, edge and in the cloud.”

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/newsroom/news/vision-2022-project-amber-security.html

DC BLOX builds Cable Landing Station in Myrtle Beach

Wednesday, May 11, 2022 DC Blox, Subsea

DC BLOX unveiled plans for a new Cable Landing Station (CLS) in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina to anchor subsea cable systems connecting North America's Southeast region with other continents.

DC BLOX’s planned Myrtle Beach CLS is designed to withstand a category 5 hurricane, is engineered to Uptime Institute’s Tier III standards, and will be SOC 2 Type II and NIST 800-171 compliant.

“The Southeast is exploding with opportunity and investments in digital infrastructure are key to its growth,” states Jeff Uphues, CEO of DC BLOX. “We are proud to announce plans for our seventh connected data center facility in the Southeast with this new Cable Landing Station in Myrtle Beach, SC. Our continued investments in data centers and network infrastructure are a benefit to hyper-scalers, carriers, and enterprises across the region. This new project represents a turning point for DC BLOX as we continue to scale and realize our vision to serve locally and connect globally.”

The Myrtle Beach CLS, to be located in the International Technology and Aerospace Park (ITAP), will be DC BLOX’s second location in South Carolina. The company’s Greenville S.C. facility opened in January, 2022 and is currently expanding with a second data hall of over 9,000 square feet to accommodate a large enterprise customer.

DC BLOX plans for its new CLS to be completed in the second quarter of 2023.

https://www.dcblox.com

AMD's Xilinx RFSoC powers Evenstar Radio Units

Wednesday, May 11, 2022 AMD, Evenstar, Mobile

AMD's Xilinx Zynq UltraScale+ RFSoC is being used in multiple Evenstar radio units (RUs) projects

The Evenstar program led by Meta Connectivity is a collaborative initiative between operators and technology partners to build adaptable, efficient, and metaverse-ready radio access network (RAN) reference designs for 4G and 5G networks in the Open RAN ecosystem.

AMD says Evenstar RUs with Xilinx Zynq RFSoC architecture provide the flexibility to meet a wide range of requirements including 4G/5G, mmWave, and sub-6GHz using the same foundational hardware. The ability to leverage the platform and address diverse radio configurations and emerging standards allows radio vendors to react quickly to new market opportunities.

“We are excited to see AMD RFSoC solutions incorporated into Evenstar RUs in collaboration with our ecosystem partners,” said Jaydeep Ranade, director of wireless engineering for Meta Connectivity. “As we continue to champion open, disaggregated solutions for the industry, we look forward to unlocking new ways to accelerate the pace of innovation as networks evolve.”

“The development of Evenstar radios with our adaptive radio technology inside is a significant achievement for AMD,” said Dan Mansur, vice president, Data Center and Communications Group, AMD. “We are proud to be an ecosystem partner with Meta Connectivity and look forward to continuing our collaborative designs for Evenstar to deliver flexible, scalable, and efficient wireless solutions.”

https://www.amd.com/en/press-releases/2022-05-11-amd-enables-4g5g-radio-access-network-solutions-to-support-meta

Facebook's Evenstar picks up Baicells, Marvell, MaxLinear, Sterlite

Monday, July 05, 2021 Facebook, Silicon, TIP

The Telecom Infra Project's Evenstar reference desing for O-RAN deployments has picked up new supply chain partners, including Baicells, Marvell, MaxLinear, and Sterlite Technologies Limited. Existing technology partners include ADI, Altiostar, Baicells, Flex, Mavenir, MTI, Parallel Wireless, and Xilinx.Evenstar is focused on building general-purpose RAN reference architecture for 4G and 5G networks that decouples the RRU hardware, distributed unit...

MaxLinear collaborates on Facebook Connectivity's Evenstar

Tuesday, February 16, 2021 MaxLinear, O-RAN

MaxLinear announced a collaboration with Facebook Connectivity to integrate silicon technologies and radio processing algorithms into Evenstar radio units (RUs). MaxLinear will integrate its MaxLin radio processing algorithms including Digital Pre-Distortion (DPD) and Crest Factor Reduction (CFR) technologies with Evenstar RUs to enhance performance and reduce cost.The Evenstar program is a collaborative effort focused on building a general-purpose...

Telecom Egypt plans Evenstar O-RAN trial

Wednesday, July 07, 2021 Altiostar, Egypt, O-RAN, Telecom Egypt, TIP

Telecom Egypt is preparing to launch a multi-vendor O-RAN trial.As part of the trial, Telecom Egypt will use an Evenstar radio unit in its initial OpenRAN deployment. Additionally, Telecom Egypt will test Cisco’s Edge Computing Technology and Cisco’s fronthaul transport solution for the OpenRAN cell sites. Telecom Egypt will also test Altiostar’s Open vRAN common software platform for the DU and CU functions. The Evenstar program,...

Orange France picks Ericsson for 5G converged charging

Wednesday, May 11, 2022 Ericsson, France, Orange

Orange France signed a five-year agreement with Ericsson for providing the monetization platform used by Orange France’s 5G subscribers.

The cloud-native Ericsson Charging solution will serve nearly 28 million of Orange France’s customers, roamers-in and private mobile radio users and 20 million IoT devices based on a container-based deployment using Ericsson Cloud Native Infrastructure Solution (CNIS). Ericsson Charging will be integrated with legacy business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) billing platforms.

Emmanuel Lugagne Delpon, CTO Orange France, says: “Ericsson Charging solution will provide us with advanced technology and the ability to accelerate our time to market for new products and services, delivering optimized operational costs, and improving our overall customer experience with real-time information.”

Franck Bouétard, head of Ericsson France, says: “Orange France wants to drive its evolution to a full converged charging system for their 5G network. The Ericsson Charging solution enables them to realize, create, and capitalize on new digital opportunities”.

In 2019, Ericsson was selected by Orange France as its Business Support Systems (BSS) provider for real-time online charging system to modernize and standardize charging systems for prepaid and hybrid users.

http://www.ericsson.com

ADVA supplies fiber monitoring for Westfalen Weser Netz

Wednesday, May 11, 2022 ADVA

Westfalen Weser Netz, a regional utility provider serving 736,000 customers in Germany, has deployed ADVA's ALM fiber monitoring technology for precise, real-time insight into its regional metro network. The solution enables the municipal utility provider to instantly detect and rapidly repair fiber breaks with minimal disruption.

“The ADVA ALM is helping us ensure excellent network availability while also reducing maintenance effort and expense. It gives our repair teams the power to remotely measure attenuation and quickly locate any degradation in our fiber plant. They can then take action straightaway to resolve problems,” said Stefan Kenneweg, consultant at Westfalen Weser Netz. “Combining the ADVA ALM assurance solution with our cableScout® management software is like turning on the lights right across our network. Now there are no more blind spots. That means no more wasted hours on false alarms and no nasty surprises for our customers.”

http://www.adva.com