Caltech develops optical switch in lithium niobite

A team led by Alireza Marandi, assistant professor of electrical engineering and applied physics at Caltech, has developed an all-optical switch in lithium niobate with the potential to perform optical signal processing.

The research, which was published in the journal Nature Photonics on July 28, studies how pulses of light can be temporarily confined in a tiny space in the substrate. 

The net result is the creation of a nonlinear splitter in which the light pulses are routed to two different outputs based on their energies, which enables switching to occur in less than 50 femtoseconds (a femtosecond is a quadrillionth of a second). 

https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/new-optical-switch-could-lead-to-ultrafast-all-optical-signal-processing

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FCC commences 5G mid-band spectrum auction

The FCC opened bidding in its latest mid-band spectrum auction at 10am on Friday, July 29.

Auction 108 makes available 8,017 new flexible-use, county-based overlay licenses in the 2.5 GHz band. These licenses are in areas with unassigned 2.5 GHz spectrum— mostly rural parts of the country—following disposition of applications filed in the Rural Tribal Priority Window, which has to date resulted in the grant of 335 licenses to serve Tribal communities.

“We all know there are gaps in 5G coverage, especially in rural America, and this auction is a unique opportunity to fill them in,” said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. “I am grateful to the teams that have worked so hard to both stand up this auction and ensure the success of our efforts to make these airwaves available to Tribes to support wireless service in their communities”

Auction 108 utilizes a “clock-1” auction format similar to the clock phase of past FCC auctions, but rather than offering multiple generic spectrum blocks in a category in a geographic area, it will offer only a single frequency-specific license in a category in a county. The new flexible-use geographic overlay licenses in the 2.5 GHz band (2496-2690 MHz) must protect the operations of incumbent licensees within the auctioned areas, including any licensees that receive their licenses through applications filed in the Rural Tribal Priority Window.

http://www.fcc.gov/auction/108

FCC incentivizes to open underutilized spectrum for rural carriers

Monday, July 18, 2022  FCC  

The FCC voted to create an Enhanced Competition Incentive Program (ECIP) to establish incentives for wireless licensees to make underutilized spectrum available to small carriers, Tribal Nations, and entities serving rural areas. The new program encourages licensees to partition, disaggregate, or lease spectrum to better match available spectrum resources with entities that seek to provide needed services to under-connected communities.  Under...

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Rosenworcel proposes minimum of 100/20 and goal of 1,000/500

Sunday, July 17, 2022  FCC  

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel is proposing a new the national standard for minimum broadband speed of 100 Mbps for download and 20 Mbps for upload. She is also proposing for the FCC to set a separate national goal of 1 Gbps/500 Mbps for the future. “The needs of internet users long ago surpassed the FCC’s 25/3 speed metric, especially during a global health pandemic that moved so much of life online,” said Chairwoman Rosenworcel.  “The...

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FCC begins Mandatory Disaster Response Initiative for mobile operators

Thursday, July 07, 2022  FCC, Mobile  

The FCC launched a Mandatory Disaster Response Initiative (MDRI) aimed at ensuring that the nation’s communications networks are more available in the midst of disasters and other emergencies. MDRI will leverage the industry-developed Wireless Network Resiliency Cooperative Framework, which is a voluntary agreement among a limited group of facilities-based mobile wireless service providers.   This agreement, which the Commission endorsed...

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Meta builds out its Sarpy Data Center in Nebraska

Meta is building a new data hall at its Sarpy Data Center campus in Springfield, Nebraska. This will bring the campus to a total of nine buildings and 4 million-square-feet.

The Sarpy Data Center will continue to be supported by 100% renewable energy, made possible through our investments in wind energy, including a wind farm in Dixon County, Neb. Meta reached net zero emissions for its operations in 2020.

The facility was originally called the Papillion data center but was renamed Sarpy Data Center campus in 2021.

https://www.facebook.com/SarpyDataCenter/posts/pfbid02wGy6wFfKbqgXLouRvrLRSgnQNonyv85coDbF1oCeaQ8ouiXC8Ub8ZXS8GFRsvXCSl

Arelion brings 800G capacity to 1623 Farnam data center in Omaha

Wednesday, February 09, 2022  800G, Arelion, Infinera  

Arelion, the newly rebranded Telia Carrier, has upgraded its network capacity and capabilities at 1623 Farnam's interconnected edge data center in Omaha, Nebraska. The network expansion also enables access to Arelion's new multi-terabit optical fiber route, which delivers high-capacity bandwidth from Chicago to Denver and leverages Infinera's ICE6 800G coherent transponder technology. The new route utilizes transponder systems with coherent...

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Telit to acquire Thales' cellular IoT business

 Telit agreed to acquire Thales' cellular IoT products division, which offers a portfolio of cellular wireless communication modules, gateways, and data (modem) cards, ranging from 4G LTE, LPWAN to 5G. 

Thales' cellular IoT module business, with approximately 550 employees across 23 countries, services many of the world's top brands. It generated sales of more than €300 million in 2021.

The combined company will be called Telit-Cinterion and based in California. To sharpen focus on Industrial IoT, Telit Cinterion plans to spin off and manage separately the automotive IoT unit after closing.

Paolo Dal Pino, Telit's CEO, remarked: "Innovation, scale and efficient IoT solutions are key for success. This transaction with Thales is arguably the most impactful one for Telit competitiveness. While it will boost our ability to address customer needs more precisely from a richer portfolio, it will also enable us to deliver all new offerings derived from the experience, expertise, and the DNA of two companies that have made security and quality part of their brand promise from the very beginning."

Philippe Vallée, Thales's EVP Digital Identity and Security, added: "The Thales and Telit combination brings together complementary strengths. The business will provide a unique value proposition in a highly competitive global IoT market and will allow Thales to focus its investments on its three core activities in aerospace, defence and security and digital identity and security. The new combination will rely on a unique set of expertise brought by Thales and Telit employees. It will also benefit from leveraging both companies' strong and complementary product portfolio and Thales's experience in cellular connectivity."

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Frasers Property Australia upgrades with Juniper's AI-driven network

Frasers Property Australia and Frasers Property Industrial in Australia, one of Australia’s leading diversified property groups, has selected Juniper Networks to upgrade its network infrastructure, enhancing business agility and IT efficiency across Australia.

The rollout will bring Juniper’s AI-driven network solutions to 35 residential and commercial properties.

Highlights:

• Juniper Networks QFX Series Switches provide a flexible enterprise network fabric that seamlessly connects all its properties, headquarters, sales offices, construction sites and data centers, delivering an efficient and scalable way to support its expanding operations.
• Juniper Networks SRX Series Services Gateways coupled with Junos Space Security Director manages security policies on-premises and in the cloud, enabling network traffic to be secure while safeguarding tenants, staff and visitors against cyber threats.
• Juniper Wireless Access Points, in concert with the Juniper Mist Wired Assurance and Marvis Virtual Network Assistant cloud services, enable Frasers Property to deliver superior user experiences, while simplifying and automating IT operations allowing the IT team to respond to and resolve network issues quickly across geographically-vast sites.
• Looking ahead, Frasers Property is keen to explore how Juniper Mist User Engagement can deliver marketing insights at its retail centers by leveraging the virtual Bluetooth LE technology built into the Access Points they have already deployed.

https://www.juniper.net/us/en/customers/frasers-property-australia-case-study.html

Juniper enhances its AI-driven SD-WAN capabilities

Tuesday, January 18, 2022  Juniper, SD-WAN  

Juniper Networks has enhanced its SD-WAN offering with full Session Smart Routing operations delivered via Mist cloud powered by AI. In addition, Juniper has expanded its SSR portfolio with enhanced IDS/IPS and URL filtering capabilities and made it easier to get SSR up and running with new cloud-ready appliances with Zero Touch Provisioning. Juniper said its AI-driven SD-WAN solution will now support day 0/1 SSR operations including many of...

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Bell Canada expands 5G+ across Ontario

Bell Canada is now deploying 3500 MHz wireless spectrum in the next phase of its 5G rollout.

Bell 5G+ service is now available in southern Ontario, including Toronto, Guelph, Kitchener-Waterloo, London, Barrie and select areas of Mississauga, Bell 5G+ is expected to be faster and more responsive, allowing for a superior mobile experience. In Toronto, speeds with 5G+ are now over 50% faster than before.

"Bell is taking its most-awarded 5G network and making it even better with 5G+, offering customers access to even faster mobile speeds than before. Ontario is just the beginning, and we look forward to rolling it out to more Canadians, and delivering on our promise to provide the latest technology and best experience for our customers," states Stephen Howe, Chief Technology and Information Officer, Bell.

https://www.bce.ca/news-and-media/releases/show/Bell-5G-expands-across-Ontario-offering-Canadians-its-fastest-mobile-speeds-ever?page=1&month=&year=&perpage=25

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T-Systems becomes AWS Security Competency Partner

 T-Systems has achieved an Identity and Access management distinction in the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Security Competency. 

To receive the designation, partners must possess deep AWS expertise and deliver solutions seamlessly on AWS. AWS established the AWS Competency Program to help customers identify AWS Partners with deep industry experience and expertise.

As a Premier Partner and Managed Service Provider (MSP), T-Systems has already proven success in meeting AWS’s technical Frank Strecker, SVP Global Cloud Computing & Big Data at T-Systems, states: "Security is a core component of T-Systems’ DNA and key for our clients’ trust. Recognition as an AWS Security Competency Partner underlines our commitment in this area.” 

https://www.telekom.com/en/media/media-information/archive/t-systems-becomes-aws-security-competency-partner-1012156

• In March this year, T-Systems worked with AWS to offer Data Protection as a Managed Service on AWS. Through the offering, T-Systems using its expert knowledge of localized needs will manage encryption, and create and implement transparent residency controls. Data is managed and protected in adherence to European regulations such as the GDPR and Schrems II judgement, while customers also benefit from the innovation, speed, scalability, breadth and depth offered by AWS cloud. 

Deutsche Telekom to test 5G Standalone with Google Cloud

Tuesday, July 12, 2022  Deutsche Telekom, Google Cloud  

Deutsche Telekom and Google Cloud  announced an expanded partnership focused on the following areas: Core Network Services: Deutsche Telekom and Google Cloud will jointly pilot several network services such as 5G Standalone in Austria, as well as remote packet gateway functions, leveraging Google Cloud and Google Distributed Cloud Edge, a fully managed product that brings Google Cloud’s infrastructure and services closer to where data is...

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