Sunday, September 17, 2023

STL opens optical manufacturing facility in South Carolina

STL inaugurated a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Lugoff, South Carolina - The Palmetto Plant. 

The new facility, spanning over 168,000 sq. ft will specialize in future-ready optical solutions, including high fiber count cables with smaller diameters. The emphasis will also extend to pioneering designs, notably high-capacity ribbonized cables and ruggedized designs for rural deployments. 

The company said this strategic investment reinforces its commitment to the Make in America vision. 

The Palmetto Plant will also serve as STL's North American Headquarters.

Paul Atkinson,  CEO, Optical Networking Business at STL, said: "Our new cable plant in Lugoff, South Carolina, is a testament to our commitment to the US market and our customers in North America. This facility mirrors our ethos and  STL's larger purpose - of Transforming Billions of Lives by Connecting the World. I am excited to see its impact on America's rural connectivity and digital landscape." 

  • In August, Nokia confirmed that its fiber-optic broadband network electronics and optical modules manufactured in the U.S. will meet the current Buy America guidelines announced by the Department of Commerce. Nokia expects to become the first Buy America compliant technology vendor eligible for use in the Department of Commerce Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program.
  • In May, Corning inaugurated its newest optical cable manufacturing campus in Hickory, North Carolina. Corning has manufactured optical fiber and cable in North Carolina for more than 40 years. With the opening of the Trivium campus, Corning will manufacture optical cable at two sites in Hickory and at sites in Newton and Winston-Salem. The company manufactures optical fiber in Concord and Wilmington. 

KKR to acquire 20% in Singtel’s data centre business

A fund managed by KKR will commit up to S$1.1 billion (~US$800 million) for a 20% stake in Singtel’s regional data centre business. 

Singtel’s regional data centre business is part of the Digital InfraCo unit which was formed in June 2023. Singtel has been growing this business anchored by its expertise in Singapore where it is one of the largest operators. In addition to 62MW of existing capacity in Singapore, Singtel is building a new 58MW DC Tuas in Singapore and has also partnered Telkom and Medco Power in Indonesia and GULF and AIS in Thailand to develop data centres in Batam and Bangkok respectively. The data centre portfolio will deliver a total combined capacity of over 155MW once the three new projects are operational in 2025, with room to scale up to more than 200MW.

This investment puts the enterprise value of Singtel’s overall regional data centre business at S$5.5 billion. KKR will have the option to increase its stake to 25% by 2027 at the pre-agreed valuation.

Mr Bill Chang, CEO of Singtel's Digital InfraCo, said, “KKR's investment underscores the quality of our data centre portfolio and confidence in our plans to scale the business by capitalising on the digitalisation and rapid AI adoption that is transforming this region. Our expertise in designing, building and operating data centres, and our connectivity leadership in the region, together with KKR's strong track record in supporting digital infrastructure assets and its platform-building expertise makes for a powerful combination. We look forward to building on the strong momentum we have achieved to grow the business into one of the region's leading green and sustainable data centre platforms with rich hyper-connectivity services.”

Mr David Luboff, Partner and Head of Asia Pacific Infrastructure, KKR, said, “We are pleased to provide this tailored solution to support the regional data centre platform of Singtel, one of the most longstanding and distinguished corporations in Singapore and a leading digital infrastructure provider in Asia Pacific. Robust digital infrastructure, including high-quality data centres, will play a crucial role in enabling Southeast Asia’s flourishing digital economy, and Singapore is well-placed to serve as a central hub for the region. We look forward to working closely with Bill, Arthur and Singtel’s talented team to meet this tremendous demand, and sharing our global expertise and network to accelerate the platform’s growth across the region.”


Colt Data Centre Services launches Mumbai data center

Colt Data Centre Services (DCS) launched its Navi Mumbai data centre located on a land parcel of 15 acres capable of supporting 120MW of IT power capacity. The data centre boasts a highly resilient 220kV GIS substation onsite with LILO configuration. The data centre also provides multi-layered security with combination of hardened physical parameters, access control and 24x7 surveillance. The site has undergone a comprehensive TVRA assessment and has been categorized as a low risk site. Colt DCS has over 25 years of experience supporting mission-critical workloads based on its award-winning Operations and Service Management capabilities.

Navi Mumbai is the first DCS data centre in India. 

https://www.coltdatacentres.net/en-GB/press-releases/data-centres/2023/09/mumbai-launch


Microsoft to host Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Database Services

Microsoft Azure data centers will host Oracle database services running on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI).

As a result of this expanded partnership, customers will have the choice to deploy their Azure services with their fully managed Oracle Database services all within a single datacenter, including support for Oracle Exadata Database services, Oracle Autonomous Database services, and Oracle Real Application Clusters (RAC). Oracle and Microsoft have also developed a joint support model to provide rapid response and resolution for mission-critical workloads.

Additionally, Oracle and Microsoft have significantly simplified the purchasing and contracting process.

“We have a real opportunity to help organizations bring their mission-critical applications to the cloud so they can transform every part of their business with this next generation of AI,” said Satya Nadella, Chairman and CEO, Microsoft. “Our expanded partnership with Oracle will make Microsoft Azure the only other cloud provider to run Oracle’s database services and help our customers unlock a new wave of cloud-powered innovation.”

“Most customers already use multiple clouds,” said Larry Ellison, Oracle Chairman and CTO. “Microsoft and Oracle have been working together to make it easy for those customers to seamlessly connect Azure Services with the very latest Oracle Database technology. By collocating Oracle Exadata hardware in Azure datacenters, customers will experience the best possible database and network performance. We are proud to partner with Microsoft to deliver this best-in-class capability to customers.”

https://www.oracle.com/news/announcement/oracle-database-at-azure-2023-09-14/

UK offers £88 million in R&D grants for O-RAN projects

The UK government is offering £88 million in R&D grants.

The 19 successful projects in the Open Networks Ecosystem (ONE) Competition will demonstrate the reliability and feasibility of Open Radio Access Network (RAN) technologies and showcase their role in delivering resilient and future-proofed connectivity to UK citizens and businesses. 

The projects will initiate trials of open 5G networks across the country, in: 

  • major urban centres in Glasgow, Cambridge, Liverpool, Bath, and the City of London 
  • iconic sports and entertainment venues including Cardiff’s Principality Stadium, Sunderland’s Stadium of Light, the National eSport Arena, Cambridge Corn Exchange, and Shelsley Walsh motorsport venue 
  • the historic seaside resorts of Blackpool and Worthing 

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/88-million-research-and-development-boost-for-innovative-connectivity-to-future-proof-uk-mobile-network 

Skyloom to integrate its optical terminal with Satellogic satellites

Skyloom Global Corp. announced plans to integrate Skyloom’s Optical Communications Terminal with Satellogic satellites, which designs, manufactures, and operates its own constellation of submeter EO satellites.

Utilizing Skyloom’s OCT, Satellogic will test new methods of high-resolution EO data delivery through both SkyCompass-1, the geostationary-based (GEO) lasercom network infrastructure Skyloom developed with its partner, Space Compass, and direct downlink to a gateway within view of the low altitude image area, significantly decreasing latency. 

As a first step in its commissioning, the Satellogic spacecraft will conduct a low earth orbit (LEO)-to-ground link by handshaking with Skyloom’s optical ground station in Broomfield, Colorado. The Satellogic-Skyloom agreement follows a feasibility study on the ability of Satellogic’s Mark-V platform to establish lasercom links.