Lumen lands $223 million contract with DISA

The U.S. Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) awarded a $223 million contract to Lumen Technologies to provide secure, mission-critical communications services to the U.S. Department of Defense. It was awarded to Lumen under the General Services Administration's 15-year, $50 billion Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions (EIS) program.

Lumen will supply DISA with modern hybrid-cloud voice and audio-conferencing services that support the Department of Defense (DoD)'s mission both inside and outside the U.S.

"The U.S. Department of Defense has a far-reaching mission to provide military forces to deter war and ensure our nation's security. DoD selected Lumen to deliver voice communications services that will help it carry out its important mission using today's technologies," said Zain Ahmed, senior vice president, Lumen public sector. "DoD is modernizing its network and leveraging cloud-based technologies like the new voice system enabled by Lumen that securely connects our troops with modern communications tools wherever they are."

The new voice services will support DoD's transition to a next generation 911 (NG911) system at military bases that can better pinpoint and route first responders to a caller's location. 

https://www.lumen.com/public-sector.html

Read More

AWS Q4 2022 revenues rise 20% yoy to $21.4 billion

In its Q4 financial report, Amazon reported that AWS segment sales increased 20% year-over-year to $21.4 billion. However, operating income dipped to $5.205 billion for the quarter, down 2% yoy.

Some additional highlights:

• Nasdaq completed the migration of its MRX core trading system to the cloud,
• Stability AI selected AWS as its preferred cloud provider to build and train artificial intelligence (AI) models
• Descartes Labs is going all-in on AWS to give customers timely, actionable insights to tackle challenges like enhancing food security and mitigating climate change.
• Brookfield Asset Management selected AWS as a preferred cloud provide
• Duke Energy is working with AWS on smart grid solutions to improve reliability and resiliency in preparation for rapid electric vehicle adoption.
• Launched AWS Regions in Spain and Switzerland as well as a second Region in India to continue expanding AWS’s infrastructure footprint, 
•  As of the end of 2022, AWS has 96 Availability Zones within 30 geographic Regions globally, with announced plans to launch 15 more Availability Zones and five more AWS Regions.

https://ir.aboutamazon.com/quarterly-results/default.aspx

Read More

Qualcomm cites weaker handset demand and high inventories

Citing weaker handset demand and inventory drawdown, Qualcomm reported revenue of $9.463 billion for the first quarter of its fiscal 2023, down 12% compared to a year earlier. Net income for the quarter dipped to $2.235 billion, down 34% year-over-year.

“In a challenging environment, we delivered results consistent with guidance, including year-over-year growth in QCT Automotive and IoT,” said Cristiano Amon, President and CEO of Qualcomm Incorporated. “The long-term trends driving demand for our differentiated technologies and solutions that enable digital transformation are intact. We are confident in our ability to navigate the near term and remain focused on executing our diversification strategy."

Some highlights

• Combined auto and IoT revenues represent 27% of total QCT revenues reflecting continued progress on revenue diversification. 
• The company expects elevated channel inventory levels to persist at least to the first half of calendar 2023, and multiple end industries within IoT are also experiencing weaker than expected demand and elevated inventory levels.
• Qualcomm is implementing further spending reductions and streamlining operations

Read More

Ericsson, Intel and Microsoft show network slicing on Windows

Ericsson, Intel and Microsoft demonstrated end-to-end 5G standalone network slicing capabilities on a Windows laptop. 

The interoperability development testing (IoDT) carried out recently at the Ericsson Lab in Sweden showed the use of multiple network slices on cellular-connected laptop devices for consumer and enterprise use cases such as mobile gaming and collaboration applications.

The network slicing trial utilized User Equipment Route Selection Policy (URSP), the capability that enables devices to automatically select between different slices according to which application they are using. It also used Ericsson’s Dynamic Network Slicing Selection, Ericsson’s dual-mode 5G Core, and Ericsson’s RAN Slicing capabilities to secure end-user service differentiation. 

The companies see opportunities for commercial 5G network slicing with specific Service Level Agreement per slice for Windows applications and use cases, such as real-time enterprise applications like Microsoft Teams and Office365, game/media streaming, and emerging AI and augmented reality/extended reality (AR/XR) applications.

Sibel Tombaz, Head of Product Line 5G RAN at Ericsson, says: “Expanding the range of devices for network slicing to include laptops will allow new business segments to create a variety of use cases for consumer and enterprises. We have shown, together with Intel and Microsoft, how ecosystem collaboration can open new possibilities. We will continue to strengthen Ericsson’s network slicing capabilities and work with industry partners to enable more applications on several devices, spreading the benefits of 5G in the consumer and enterprise segments.”

Read More

ArcelorMittal deploys private 4G/5G with Orange Business and Ericsson

ArcelorMittal France announced the operational launch of 5G Steel, the largest 4G/5G network in the industrial environment, with Orange Business Services and Ericsson. 

The initiative, supported by the French government as part of the France Relance economy revival plan, is now enabling the first industrial use cases to be implemented at the ArcelorMittal site in Dunkerque.

5G Steel in figures

• 9 radio sites with 4X4 MiMo antennas to cover the Dunkerque and Mardyck sites
• 1 core with dynamic geographic redundancy to manage up to 50,000 users
• 1 monitoring tool to manage and operate the 5G Steel network
• 19 Cradlepoint routers, a subsidiary of Ericsson
• 80% of the area is above speed targets

Network construction

• Nov 23, 2021: Project launch
• Dec 8, 2021: Defining the positioning of the antennas
• Apr 22, 2022: Installation of the core and the 1st antenna
• Aug 5, 2022: Installation complete
• Sep 1, 2022: Authorization to use frequencies
• Oct 13, 2022: The network at the Dunkerque site is switched on

Franck Bouétard, CEO of Ericsson France, commented: “The private network will allow ArcelorMittal to accelerate the digitalization of the various critical industrial processes on the site and to extend it to the Port of Dunkerque. Connectivity everywhere, real-time monitoring, and security requirements are at the heart of the solutions implemented. We are proud to support ArcelorMittal to pave the way for industrial 5G in Europe and France.”

Valérie Cussac, Executive Vice President Smart Mobility Services, at Orange Business Services, said: “We are delighted to support ArcelorMittal with our dual expertise as an integrator operator. 5G Steel allows maximum use of their critical data in complete security. By combining the performance and robustness of 5G with our ecosystem of partners and start-ups, we provide innovation and digital technology to our innovative industrial customers, like ArcelorMittal, to create a positive impact.”

Read More

SAP deepens integration with Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

SAP will increase its use of and support for Red Hat Enterprise Linux. 

Under the expanded collaboration between the firms, SAP is steadily migrating part of its internal IT landscape and the SAP Enterprise Cloud Services portfolio onto the standard foundation of Red Hat Enterprise Linux. SAP says this shift will help meet its evolving business and IT needs. 

As part of its migration road map, SAP is boosting support for the RISE with SAP solution using Red Hat Enterprise Linux as the preferred operating system for net new business for RISE with SAP solution deployments. 

https://www.redhat.com/en/about/press-releases/sap-and-red-hat-deepen-partnership-power-sap-software-workloads-red-hat-enterprise-linux

Read More

Viavi revenues dip 9.6% to $284.5 million

For its second quarter of fiscal 2023 VIAVI Solutions reported net revenue of $284.5 million. GAAP net income was $8.4 million, or $0.04 per share. Non-GAAP net income was $31.5 million, or $0.14 per share.

Second quarter of fiscal 2022 net revenue was $314.8 million. GAAP net income was $34.6 million, or $0.14 per share. Non-GAAP net income was $59.3 million, or $0.24 per share.

"Partial recovery in the service provider spend drove fiscal second quarter revenue, operating profit and EPS above the high end of our guidance," said Oleg Khaykin, VIAVI's President and Chief Executive Officer. "While the overall service provider spend environment remained constrained, we saw initial signs of stabilization and recovery in our NSE business segment, coming in above the high end of our guidance for both revenue and non-GAAP operating margin. The OSP business segment, on the other hand, grew year over year and came in-line with our expectations." 

Read More