Verizon Business partners with HCLTech for Managed Network Services

Verizon Business designated HCLTech as its primary Managed Network Services (MNS) collaborator in all networking deployments for global enterprise customers.

HCL Technologies (HCLTech) is an Indian multinational information technology services and consulting company headquartered in Noida.

Under the partnership, Verizon Business will continue to lead all customer acquisition, sales, solutioning, and overall planning and development with its customers. HCLTech will lead post-sale implementation and ongoing support. To execute the tightly coordinated balance of responsibilities at enterprise scale, a select group of Verizon Business Global Customer Operations staff will transition to HCLTech.

The companies said the partnership will help enterprise customers to  better control and scale their consumption of network services, better incorporate their broader ecosystem of technology partners, converge informational and operational technology (IT/OT) undertakings, and generally become more agile in accommodating ever changing technology needs. The managed service expertise covers complex operating environments -- across diverse locations, geographies, and devices -- while incorporating new technologies into their stack, including 5G, SD-WAN and SASE capabilities.

“HCLTech is a widely recognized industry leader for Managed Network Services, and with their IT service expertise and ongoing support of our enterprise networking deployments, Verizon Business can modernize our service delivery and simultaneously heighten our focus on helping customers incorporate next-generation technology like 5G, SD-WAN and SASE into their operations and their own customer offerings,” said Kyle Malady, CEO, Verizon Business. “IT/OT convergence is the future of data-centric business operations, and with the fast-accelerating pace of digitalization, customers need a well-coordinated delivery framework to realize that future.”

“Managed Network Services is core to our business, and we’re proud to collaborate with Verizon Business to lead MNS in all of their network deployments, modernization and operations for private enterprise,” said C Vijayakumar, CEO and Managing Director, HCLTech. “Our data-driven service delivery, advanced network capabilities and frictionless customer interfaces combined with the unique strengths and resiliency of the Verizon network will enable enterprises to drive better business outcomes and time to market. I am excited to welcome the incoming employees from Verizon Business Global Customer Operations and look forward to a successful and fulfilling journey together.”

https://www.verizon.com/about/news/verizon-business-forms-global-strategic-partnership-hcltech

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Tech Update: The AI Networking Bandwidth Challenge

Scaling network infrastructure for AI faces a daunting challenge. Compared to today's servers connected at 100 Gbps, AI clusters will demand 30 Tbps - a 300X increase.

Nigel Alvares, VP of Global Marketing and Business Planning, Marvell, explains:

- The current cloud AI infrastructure is facing a bottleneck issue due to the need for greater bandwidth connectivity between growing capabilities of GPUs, TPUs, and AI accelerators.
- The solution to this challenge lies in the use of Optics. Optics are needed to connect these clusters together, within the clusters, and to connect the AI engines to memory, storage, and to one another.
- Marvell is addressing this opportunity with PAM4 technology spanning 800 gigabits per second, aiming to reach 1.6 terabist per second over the next year. They are also working with the ecosystem to scale beyond this.

https://youtu.be/E2eAwrfFEdA

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https://ngi.fyi/tech-marvell-nigel

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"Unpacking NaaS - Beyond Financing Models"

Will Network as a Service (NaaS) really change the way businesses operate?

Neil Anderson, AVP, Cloud and Infrastructure from WWT discusses:

- NaaS is not just a new financing model, it's a fundamentally different service that's changing the way businesses consume technology.

- With NaaS, businesses don't own the equipment but consume it more like a home broadband model, paying a provider a certain amount per month for the service.

- The key characteristics of NaaS include a different service model and a new way of financing equipment, making it a real game-changer in the tech industry

https://youtu.be/7d50lNKiJG4

Full showcase on #SASE, #SSE, #SDWAN, #ZTNA, #MCN, #NaaS at: https://ngi.fyi/sdwansaseztna23yt

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IBM unveils analog AI chip for deep learning inference

 IBM Research introduced a mixed-signal analog AI chip for running a variety of deep neural network (DNN) inference tasks. 

The device has been tested to be as adept at computer vision AI tasks as digital counterparts, while being considerably more energy efficient.

The chip was fabricated in IBM’s Albany NanoTech Complex, and is composed of 64 analog in-memory compute cores (or tiles), each of which contains 256-by-256 crossbar array of synaptic unit cells. Compact, time-based analog-to-digital converters are integrated in each tile to transition between the analog and digital worlds. Each tile is also integrated with lightweight digital processing units that perform simple nonlinear neuronal activation functions and scaling operations.

The chip also has digital communication pathways at the chip interconnects of all the tiles and the global digital processing unit.

https://research.ibm.com/blog/analog-ai-chip-inference?sf180876106=1

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Equinix to build fourth data center in Mumbai

Equinix plans to invest $42 million for its fourth International Business Exchange data center in Mumbai, India.

Equinix currently has two IBX data centers in Mumbai, named MB1 and MB2. The two data centers are home to the digital infrastructure of more than 300 international and local companies, including access to the world's leading cloud service providers Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud and Oracle Cloud. They also host global networks, content delivery network providers, local carriers, more than 165 internet service providers (ISPs) and five internet exchanges. Businesses can use Platform Equinix® to quickly interconnect with these providers and their own global IBX deployments using on-demand, self-service connectivity.

In March 2022, Equinix announced its plan to enter the Chennai market with a land acquisition of over 5.5 acres. In June 2022, Equinix announced plans to expand its footprint with an investment of over US$86 million to build its third data center in Mumbai, called MB3.

Manoj Paul, Managing Director, Equinix India commented, "The increased digitalization of the economy is constantly driving the need for data center and interconnection services in India. The availability of MB4, expected in Q4 2023, will allow us to continue serving our customers' needs in India, enabling them to leverage our interconnection platform for efficient connectivity to multiple cloud service providers, network service providers and other businesses. This will help existing and new customers accelerate their digital transformation journey."

https://www.equinix.com/newsroom/press-releases/2023/08/equinix-expands-footprint-in-mumbai-to-address-rising-demand-for-digital-infrastructure

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SES completes FCC's C-Band Transition Clearing

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has validated the certification of SES’s Phase II accelerated C-band clearing and relocation activities. 

With the help of trusted partners across the U.S., SES has completed all of its Phase II C-band clearing and relocation requirements and all transition activities put forth in its Transition Plan. Phase II activities included:

* Launching five new satellites to continue enabling the broadcast delivery of digital television to nearly 120 million TV homes, as well as providing critical data services, in the upper 200 MHz of the C-band (4000-4200 MHz).

* Repacking all of its C-band downlink services in the continental United States (CONUS) into the upper 200 MHz of the C-band and relocating all associated Incumbent Earth Stations throughout CONUS into the upper 200 MHz of the C-band.

* Making all necessary equipment changes to associated Incumbent Earth Stations in CONUS to allow the operators of such Incumbent Earth Stations to receive substantially the same service during and after the transition as they were able to receive before the transition, including providing passband filters to block signals from the 3700-4000 MHz band to all associated Incumbent Earth Stations in CONUS.

* Modifying telemetry, tracking, and control (TT&C) operations to receive telemetry above the 4000 MHz band and completing gateway consolidation to its Brewster and Hawley facilities.

“We are incredibly proud to meet the FCC’s ambitious Phase II deadline ahead of schedule, and it speaks to the remarkable work and caliber of the SES team, our trusted partners, and our network of vendors over the last five years.” said Ruy Pinto, CEO at SES. “Beyond executing a major strategic project that enables the FCC to usher in the next generation of 5G connectivity and innovation in the United States, I am pleased to say we have placed our customers’ interests first and carefully transitioned our customers to ensure they will be able to continue delivering uninterrupted C-band broadcast and radio services to millions of American homes.”

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VIAVI posts revenue of $264 million, looks for stabilization

 VIAVI reported revenue of $263.6 million for its fourth fiscal quarter ended July 1, 2023, down from $335.3 million for the same period a year earlier.

GAAP net loss was $(0.1) million, or $— per share. Non-GAAP net income was $22.7 million, or $0.10 per share.

"During the 2023 fiscal fourth quarter, we saw initial signs of stabilization and gradual recovery. Despite the slowdown in overall service provider spend, some service providers have begun to free up funds for network maintenance and optimization, which benefits VIAVI's NSE business segment. As a result, our fiscal fourth quarter revenue came in above the higher end of our guidance range. We expect the stabilization and recovery momentum to continue throughout our fiscal year," said Oleg Khaykin, VIAVI's President and Chief Executive Officer.

• Network Enablement revenue was $173.3 million, down 22% yoy
• Service Enablement revenue was $24.6 million, up 2.5% yoy
• Optical Security and Performance produce revenue was $65.7 million, down 26.3%
• Americas, Asia-Pacific and EMEA customers represented 41.0%, 32.4% and 26.6%, respectively, of total net revenue for the quarter ended July 1, 2023.

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Zayo adds Bill Smith to its Board

Zayo announced the addition of Bill Smith to its board of directors. 

Smith most recently served as the interim CEO of PG&E – one of the nation’s largest utility companies – and remains a member of the company’s Board of Directors. Prior to that, he spent over 37 years at BellSouth and AT&T, most recently serving as President of Technology Operations, where he oversaw over 100,000 badged employees and was responsible for all technology planning, engineering and operations for wireless and wireline networks worldwide. 

https://www.zayo.com/newsroom/zayo-welcomes-industry-vet-bill-smith-to-board-of-directors/

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