Southern Cross targets 800G wavelengths across the Pacific

Southern Cross is looking to leverage Ciena's WaveLogic 6 Extreme (WL6e) technology to enable 800 Gb/s wavelengths across the single 12,500+km span of its Southern Cross (SX) cable from Sydney to Los Angeles.

Ciena says its WL6e, which operates at 200GBaud, supports 1.6 Tb/s single-carrier wavelengths for metro networks, 800 Gb/s services across the longest links, a 50% reduction in watts per bit, and requires less space compared to the previous generation for similar capacities.

“We have a long-standing history with Ciena, and their strong history of innovation and deep understanding of our business needs have continued to be instrumental to our success. SX NEXT cable is a high-performance system and the first phase of the replacement of the original systems by 2030. Today, we’re once again announcing what is expected to be another networking world first, implementing Ciena WaveLogic 6 on SX NEXT to help us push the envelope in terms of high-speed bandwidth connectivity and energy efficiency,” said Laurie Miller, President and CEO, Southern Cross.

“The Southern Cross NEXT cable is key to the transpacific cable ecosystem, contributing to improved network performance across the Pacific region – all on top of Ciena GeoMesh Extreme technology. Southern Cross has always looked to Ciena for the latest innovations to gain a competitive advantage. With this upgrade to WL6, Southern Cross will be able to provide customers with unrivalled connectivity, allowing them to enjoy applications and services of up to 800GbE,” said Dino DiPerna, Senior Vice President, Global Research and Development, Ciena.

https://www.ciena.com/about/newsroom/press-releases/southern-cross-targets-pacific-record-with-cienas-wavelogic-6

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Te Waipounamu subsea cable to link NZ and Australia

Plans for a new 3,000 km submarine cable project linking New Zealand and Sydney and Melbourne in Australia have been announced by Intelia New Zealand.

TE WAIPOUNAMU, named in reference to the Maori name of the South Island of New Zealand, will include a total of 16 fiber pairs broken down as follow:

• 4 fiber pairs from Invercargill to Australia offering a total capacity of 120 Tbps
• 12 fiber pairs between Sydney and Melbourne allowing an alternative and very competitive backhauling option between the two largest cities of Australia with a total capacity of 35 Tbps per fiber pair.

“Te Waipounamu cable is going to be a game changer for the connectivity of NZ South Island. It will also unlock the huge potential of Southland in term of sustainable data storage. It’s a fantastic challenge for our team and we are proud to continue contributing to New Zealand digital development” declared Rémi Galasso, founder of Intelia NZ.

“Te Waipounamu cable represent a significant investment of NZD 160 million that will be funded by a mix of equity, debt and capacity contract commitments from major industry players both in Australia and New Zealand” added Perrine DHALLUIN, Director at Intelia NZ.

“Our plan is to finalize a supplier contract by April 2024 and start in parallel the permitting process in order to target a system commissioning by 2026” added Georges Krebs, Chief Technical Officer at Intelia NZ.

https://www.linkedin.com/search/results/content/?keywords=New%20Zealand%20Remi%20Galasso

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T-Mobile US picks Nokia’s Multi-Access Gateway for FWA

T-Mobile has selected Nokia’s Multi-Access Gateway, which supports LTE, 5G NSA, and 5G SA technologies, for the service provider’s nationwide, fixed-wireless High-Speed Internet (HSI) traffic. 

Nokia says its MAG solution will allow T-Mobile to deliver an affordable, reliable and seamless broadband experience to every customer. The Nokia platform can incrementally scale the bandwidth for HSI traffic to multiple Terabits-per-second, while providing significant power and space efficiency. As T-Mobile expands its HSI service to more homes, it will benefit from higher bandwidth with lower space and power.

The Nokia MAG leverages the 7750 Service Routers (SR) to efficiently deliver broadband services over fixed-wireless access technologies. The Nokia MAG solution combines the throughput and power savings of an NPU-assisted user-plane architecture on 7750 SR systems, while providing the flexibility of the 3GPP control-plane architecture.

John Saw, EVP Chief Technology Officer for T-Mobile, said: “T-Mobile is one of the fastest growing broadband providers in the country and we are committed to expanding our High-Speed Internet service nationwide. The Nokia MAG solution will allow us to simplify our architecture and reduce operational life cycle management and our energy footprint. We are excited to partner with Nokia and leverage their innovative technology.”

Federico Guillén, President of Network Infrastructure, Nokia, said: “We are pleased to work with T-Mobile to provide a highly scalable and energy-efficient user plane for their fixed-wireless High Speed Internet service. Our MAG solution, which uses our advanced FP5 IP routing silicon, will help T-Mobile to effectively enhance service capacity, scalability, and speed to market.”

https://www.nokia.com/about-us/news/releases/2024/01/23/t-mobile-selects-nokia-to-improve-scalability-and-efficiency-for-5g-high-speed-internet-service/

The Nokia Multi-Access Gateway (MAG) is a high-performance and versatile subscriber management solution that supports the full range of wireline and fixed-wireless broadband services. It can be deployed as a broadband network gateway (BNG), fixed-wireless access gateway, or converged multi- access gateway on a wide range of Nokia’s Service Routing platforms to efficiently address the scaling needs of any network. Standards-based Control and User Plane Separation (CUPS) enables to deploy MAG control plane functions on virtual servers and to seamlessly interwork with LTE/5G core systems.

• https://onestore.nokia.com/asset/210510?_ga=2.39623395.1354112000.1706053590-1759890601.1705378645

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Verizon seeks to balance growth and profitability

Verizon reported Q4 2023 total operating revenue of $35.1 billion, a decrease of 0.3 percent from fourth-quarter 2022. Earnings per share was $(0.64), compared with earnings per share of $1.56 in fourth-quarter 2022; adjusted EPS, excluding special items, of $1.08, compared with $1.19 in fourth-quarter 2022. The decrease can be attributed to wireless equipment revenue, which was 2.0 percent lower than 2022, as total postpaid upgrades declined by 17.9 percent. 

Full-year 2023 consolidated operating revenue was $134.0 billion, down 2.1 percent year over year.

"After delivering continuous improvement throughout 2023, we ended the year strong and continue to pursue the right balance of growth and profitability," said Verizon Chairman and CEO Hans Vestberg. "2023 was a year of change. We have the right assets and the best team in place and are well-positioned for growth in 2024." 

Total Broadband:

• Total broadband net additions of 413,000, represented the fifth consecutive quarter that Verizon reported more than 400,000 broadband net additions. 
• Total broadband net additions included 375,000 fixed wireless net additions, bringing the subscriber base to over 3 million.
•  In fourth-quarter 2023, more than 80 percent of Consumer fixed wireless gross additions were in Verizon's first 76 C-Band markets. Verizon is ahead of schedule to achieve its goal of 4 to 5 million subscribers by the end of 2025. 
• 55,000 Fios Internet net additions, down 4,000 from the fourth-quarter 2022. 
• 10.7 million total broadband subscribers as of the end of fourth-quarter 2023. 

Total Wireless: 

• Total wireless service revenue2 of $19.4 billion, a 3.2 percent increase year over year.
• Retail postpaid phone net additions of 449,000, and retail postpaid net additions of 1,460,000.
• Retail postpaid churn of 1.18 percent, and retail postpaid phone churn of 0.93 percent.
• Consumer wireless service revenue in fourth-quarter 2023 increased 3.2 percent year over year driven primarily by growth in Consumer wireless postpaid Average Revenue Per Account (ARPA) resulting from pricing actions implemented in recent quarters, the larger allocation of  administrative and telco recovery fees from other revenue into wireless service revenue, higher premium price plan adoption, and growth from fixed wireless access offerings. 
• For full-year 2023, total Consumer wireless service revenue was $63.4 billion, an increase of 3.0 percent from full-year 2022. 

Verizon Business results

• Total Verizon Business revenue was $7.6 billion in fourth-quarter 2023, a decrease of 3.6 percent year over year as lower wireline revenue and lower wireless equipment revenue was partially offset by higher wireless service revenue. 
• For full-year 2023, total Business revenue was $30.1 billion, a 3.1 percent decrease year over year. 
• Business wireless service revenue in fourth-quarter 2023 was $3.4 billion, an increase of 3.0 percent year over year. This was driven by the larger allocation of  administration and telco recovery fees from other revenue into wireless service revenue, continued strong net additions and the benefit of pricing actions implemented earlier in the year. Full-year 2023 Business wireless service revenue was $13.4 billion, an increase of 4.1 percent compared to full-year 2022. 
• Business reported 292,000 wireless retail postpaid net additions in fourth-quarter 2023, including 131,000 postpaid phone net additions. This was the 10th consecutive quarter that Business reported more than 125,000 postpaid phone net additions. Business continues to grow volumes and expand its relationships with customers strengthening its position as a wireless market share leader.
• https://www.verizon.com/about/news/verizon-finishes-2023-strong-cash-flow-and-wireless-customer-growth

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Ericsson's Q4 sales dropped 17% YoY

Due to a -23% decline in its Networks business, Ericsson's Q4 reported sales were down by -16% to SEK 71.9 billion. Gross income excluding restructuring charges decreased to SEK 29.6 (35.7) billion. Gross margin excluding restructuring charges was 41.1% (41.5%). 

"Despite headwinds and a very weak mobile networks market, we were able to generate a full-year EBITA[2] of SEK 21.4 b. While the actions we have taken to improve performance are paying off, we are not satisfied with our profitability and there is more work to do. As we look to 2024, we expect the market outside China to further decline, with similar uncertainties as experienced in 2023. In this environment, we remain laser focused on managing elements within our control, including operational efficiency and tight cost management. We are confident in our strategy and are committed to driving long-term value for our shareholders," stated Börje Ekholm, President and CEO of Ericsson.

"The mobile network industry remains challenging. We expect the current market uncertainties to prevail into 2024 with a further decline of the RAN market outside China as our customers remain cautious and the investment pace is normalizing in India. The new US contract will start to ramp up in the second half of 2024."   

"Underlying demand from growing data traffic and 5G only being in the early stages of build-out will require additional network investments. In our view, the current investment levels are unsustainably low for many operators. We are therefore confident that a market recovery should materialize. However, the timing of market recovery is ultimately in the hands of our customers."

Highlights:

• Q4 Networks sales decreased organically by -23% YoY as customers continued to focus on cash flow. Sales in India declined QoQ as the market started its transition to normalized investment levels following an unprecedented roll-out pace. Q4 gross margin grew QoQ to 43.2%.  
• In Cloud Software and Services, Ericsson delivered on its EBITA target to reach at least breakeven in 2023 with an EBITA of SEK 2.0 billion in Q4 and SEK 1.7 billion for the full year. 
• Enterprise sales[ grew by 7% organically YoY mainly driven by Enterprise Wireless Solutions. EBITA (loss) was stable YoY, negatively impacted by an inventory write-off in Enterprise Wireless Solutions.  
• Full year 2023 sales declined organically by -10% to SEK 263.4 (271.5) billion, impacted by a -15% decrease in Networks, partly offset by an 11% growth in Enterprise. 

https://www.ericsson.com/en/press-releases/2024/1/ericsson-reports-fourth-quarter-and-full-year-results-2023

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Nokia Bell Labs joins DARPA’s LunA-10 Capability Study

The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA)selected Nokia Bell Labs to participate in the 10-Year Lunar Architecture (LunA-10) program, which will design an integrated multi-service architecture to support a thriving economy on the Moon in the next decade and beyond. LunA-10 will design the essential infrastructure framework capable of supporting industrial activities, as well as scientific discovery.

Nokia will collaborate with the 13 other companies specializing in areas critical to establishing an integrated commercial economy on the Moon, such as energy, transport and construction. For instance, Nokia Bell Labs will be responsible for recommending a reliable, high-performance communications infrastructure, and it will also work closely with other LunA-10 companies to ensure that infrastructure may be efficiently transported and built on the lunar surface and that it would have reliable power sources once installed.

Thierry E. Klein, President of Nokia Bell Labs Solutions Research, said: “DARPA has had a direct hand in some of the most significant technology advancements of the last fifty years – the foundation of the Internet, the creation of GPS, and the rapid development of the COVID-19 vaccine. Nokia Bell Labs is thrilled to play a key role in DARPA’s next game-changing endeavor and help shape the infrastructure architecture for the lunar economy. Pushing the frontiers of technology is in Bell Labs’ DNA, and by creating the communication solutions blueprint for the Moon, we will help establish the foundations of a permanent human presence on the lunar surface.” 

https://www.bell-labs.com/research-innovation/network-fundamentals/first-cellular-network-on-the-moon/#gref

• As part of NASA’s Tipping Point initiative, Nokia is deploying the first cellular network on the Moon in 2024 to prove that 3GPP-based technology can meet the critical communications needs of future lunar and Martian missions.

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HPE appoints Neil MacDonald to head HPC & AI

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) appointed Neil MacDonald to lead the company’s HPC & AI business segment in addition to leading its Compute business.

Notably, under MacDonald’s leadership, the Compute business recently expanded its strategic collaboration with NVIDIA to enhance HPE’s Compute portfolio and build a turnkey enterprise computing solution for GenAI to target a growing market.

In his new role as the executive vice president and general manager of both Compute and HPC & AI, MacDonald will lead the team in accelerating HPE’s AI strategy by scaling cloud and software solutions with strong integration of HPE GreenLake. Additionally, the company announced that Hewlett Packard Labs will now move to reporting to Fidelma Russo, HPE’s Chief Technology Officer.

“The HPC and AI business is critical to our ongoing strategy. Neil’s engineering background and expertise in silicon and AI, combined with his decades of proven leadership experience and passion for customer-driven innovation make him uniquely suited to lead this team,” said Neri. “Neil’s technical acumen, vision and passion for advancing HPE’s unique IP in supercomputing, AI infrastructure technologies, and our AI software platform will strengthen the role we can play in our customers’ most critical transformations.”

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