Bank of China Funds CDMA network in Canada supplied by ZTE

The Export-Import Bank of China will underwrite the construction of a CDMA network in Canada for Public Mobile, a new carrier formed in 2008. The financing deal was valued at $350 million.


ZTE will supply end-to-end equipment for the project, including wireless, core network, service platforms and IP architecture. ZTE will also deploy over 1,000 base stations for the network. A commercial deployment commenced in Toronto on May 26 2010 and will be followed by a commercial deployment in Montreal at the end of June.


The loan signing ceremony in Ottawa was attended by China's Commerce Minister and National Development and Reform Commission Director as well as Canada's International Trade Minister.



"This is a significant deal for both Public Mobile and ZTE," said Alek Krstajic, CEO of Public Mobile. "We chose to work with ZTE because of their expertise in technology and commitment to financing. ZTE provides the world's top mobile operators with high-quality and high-capacity network performance," added Krstajic.
http://www.zte.con.cn

• In May 2009, The Export-Import Bank of China (China Exim Bank) has granted a US$10 billion credit line to ZTE Corporation. Under the cooperation agreement, ZTE and China Exim Bank will join together to establish a financing platform to support ZTE and its holding subsidiaries in overseas market activities including export seller's credit, export buyer's credit, import credit, preferential foreign loans, transferred loans of foreign governments and trade financing, as well as other premium financial services. ZTE agrees to deal with China Exim Bank as a principal banker and handle loans and relevant businesses through China Exim Bank.

Read More

InnoPath Over-the-Air MDM Powers Android Updates for KDDI

InnoPath Software has supplied its over-the-air update software for use with KDDI's first Android device, the IS01 from Sharp. The client will be used to add features and services in addition to fixing bugs on the phone.



InnoPath's end-to-end solution for OTA Android updates consists of an on-device client as well as a server, which is deployed at the service provider.


The company said its OTA Updates, and in particular Firmware Over The Air (FOTA) updates, has proven wildly successful and popular, saving service providers millions of dollars in avoided recalls and support calls while providing the subscriber with a better end user experience. Issues such as dropped calls, corrupted contacts, device crashes and other problems have all been fixed over the air.
http://www.innopath.com

Read More

Alcatel-Lucent Renews Global ISO 9001 and TL9000 Certification

Alcatel-Lucent successfully renewed its combined certificate of registration for the International Quality Standards of ISO 9001 and TL9000 for another three years. The certification covers more than 220 company locations, 32 different product categories and approximately 42,000 employees. In addition, the registration now includes a TL 9000 certification for Alcatel-Lucent's LTE solution -- key to Alcatel-Lucent's corporate Application Enablement and High Leverage Network strategy.
http://www.alcatel-lucent.com

Read More

BT Offers GENBAND's Carrier-Hosted Communications in Spain

BT Spain is leveraging GENBAND's C20 (previously CS 2000) and the A2 (previously referred to as the Adaptive Application Engine), both recently acquired from Nortel, to support its iComms Unified Communication service. Key features of BT iComms service that were highlighted at the event include:

• Unified Communications (UC), giving business subscribers an advanced communication solution that combines the enterprise's voice, conferencing, presence and mobility applications into a single, converged network. This also includes a PC-based call control capability through the GENBAND Personal Communicator PC client, which allows users to handle incoming calls, view call logs, manage voicemail and send and receive text messages from their PC.



• Multimedia Office Client that allows enterprises to integrate real-time multimedia communications within Microsoft Outlook while also enabling these services to be used with existing business voice systems. This can greatly simplify and enrich the business communications experience.



• Customized Web portal application that allows businesses to create and manage communications services via a personalized Web application. Preferences such as call routing and call blocking can be prioritized for each incoming call.

http://www.genband.com

Read More

FCC Denies Qwest Request to Change Pro-competition Policy Status Quo in Phoenix

The FCC denied a request from Qwest Corp. to change the current pro-competition policy status quo in the Phoenix, Arizona market. The FCC denied similar petitions in 2007 and 2008.


In reviewing Qwest's petition, the FCC said it applied a data-driven "market power" analysis to determine whether Qwest had shown that the competition policies governing traditional telephone services in Phoenix were no longer necessary. While the Commission found that Qwest failed to demonstrate that it no longer had market power for the relevant services in Phoenix, the agency acknowledged the significant growth of wireless and residential cable voice services. Moving forward, the FCC indicated that stronger evidence of lack of market power in future proceedings could result in a different outcome.
http://www.fcc.gov

Read More

Australia's NBN Selects GPON from Alcatel-Lucent

Australia's National Broadband Network (NBN) has selected Alcatel-Lucent's GPON solution for its forthcoming FTTH deployment. The initial contract is worth Aus$70M and NBN Co has committed to spend up to $1.5 billion on this network equipment during the lifetime of the project. In addition to its GPON platform, Alcatel-Lucent will supply aggregation equipment and engineering assistance.


NBN Co was established in April 2009 to design, build and operate a wholesale-only national high-speed broadband network for all Australians. In the fibre footprint, the network will deliver broadband speeds of up to 100 Mbps, subject to the retail plan chosen. The goal is to cover 90% of the Australian population in eight years.


Alcatel-Lucent's CEO, Ben Verwaayen said, "The Australian NBN is one of the most important initiatives in our industry. The world is watching." He added, "Infrastructure projects of this scale demand and command leading edge technology and smart solutions. We are committed to delivering both."


Separately, NBN Co. issued an RFP for the design and construction of the Fibre Access Network. The RFP was issued to 21 Australian firms seeking tenders to begin the rollout.
http://www.alcatel-lucent.com
http://www.nbnco.com.au

• Earlier this week, NBN Co Limited (NBN Co) reached an agreement with Telstra that would provide access to Telstra facilities and the progressive migration of Telstra traffic onto the National Broadband Network, subject to regulatory approval. The agreement for these terms will have an approximate value of $9 billion and would enable Telstra to participate in the rollout of the National Broadband Network (NBN). Separately, the Australian federal government has agreed to progress public policy reforms with an attributed value of approximately $2 billion to Telstra. The Heads of Agreement covers the migration of subscriber traffic and the decommissioning of Telstra's copper network and its cable broadband service. NBN Co will pay Telstra for migration of traffic on to the NBN and the decommissioning of its network.



• In July 2009, the Australian government appointed Mike Quigley as the Executive Chairman of the National Broadband Network (NBNCo). Previously, Quigley served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Alcatel-Lucent.

Read More

OFS and China's Hengtong to Form Joint Venture

OFS, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Furukawa Electric Co., and the Hengtong Optic-Electric Co. will form a joint venture company in China to manufacture, market and distribute optical fiber preforms used in the production of optical fiber.


The joint venture company will be called Jiangsu OFS Hengtong Optical Technology Co. As part of the agreement, OFS, as a leading U.S. designer, manufacturer and provider of optical fiber and related products, will bring the latest Vapor Axial Deposition (VAD) optical fiber preform technology and expertise to this greenfield operation. Hengtong, as a leading Chinese optical fiber and cable company, brings significant optical fiber draw and cable manufacturing expertise in the China market. http://www.ofsoptics.com
http://www.hengtonggroup.com

Read More

XO Communications Kicks Off Nationwide Ethernet VPLS

XO Communications announced the nationwide launch of XO Ethernet VPLS, providing a layer 2 option for businesses, large enterprises and government agencies to transform their Ethernet local area networks into wide area networks. VPLS is designed to combine the simplicity and scalability of an end-to-end, unified Ethernet network and the application-aware capabilities of MPLS.


XO said its new service is aimed at multi-location organizations that are seeking to simplify the management of their wide area networks, facilitate control of all or parts of their networks, and increase application and network performance. XO Ethernet VPLS also interworks with other XO IP and network services, such as XO Dedicated Internet Access and XO MPLS IP-VPN on the same Ethernet circuit. The service gives customers the flexibility to choose from a wide range of bandwidth options from 3 Mbps to 1 Gbps.


Because XO Ethernet VPLS is a layer 2 VPN solution, it supports the needs of customers that have an emphasis on network security and prefer to maintain control of their routing, rather than share routing protocols with the service provider. In addition, XO Ethernet VPLS is protocol independent, enabling customers to support both IP and non-IP applications and making it attractive for customers who want to migrate away from costly frame relay and private line-based networks.


XO Ethernet VPLS also provides the intelligence to allow organizations to prioritize network traffic to maximize bandwidth use and ensure that mission-critical applications receive the highest priority across the network. The service offers four Classes of Service (CoS) -- Real Time, Critical, Priority and Standard -- with the unique offering of one flat rate for access to all four classes of service. The service is also backed by robust service level agreements (SLAs) to provide customers with the peace of mind that comes with quality of service guarantees.


"Today's enterprise networks are growing more complex in terms of the increasing number of applications and bandwidth demands they are required to support," said Tom Hobika, vice president of product management and sales engineering for XO Business Services at XO Communications. "Customers with distributed locations know that traditional data networks are expensive to maintain, operationally complex and not flexible enough to support the realities of today's enterprise IT environment. Ethernet is the de facto local area network technology, and XO Ethernet VPLS enables organizations to extend the familiarity, simplicity and cost-effectiveness of Ethernet for wide area networking to meet these challenges."


The XO Ethernet Services portfolio now includes:


XO Ethernet VPLS -- Multipoint-to-multipoint Ethernet WAN solution for enterprises to connect key locations, transport special applications with protocol transparency, and maintain separation of different network domains.


XO Ethernet Private Line -- Point-to-point Ethernet connectivity ideal for businesses looking for dedicated bandwidth between office locations.


XO Ethernet Hub -- Point-to-multipoint Ethernet solution ideal for connecting branches or offices to centralized headquarters or data center.


Ethernet Access -- affordable, scalable Ethernet access to deliver Dedicated Internet Access, VoIP and MPLS IP-VPN services across the enterprise.
http://www.xo.com

Read More

Enablence Acquires Teledata

Ottawa-based Enablence Technologies, which supplies FTTH equipment as well as optical components and subsystems for access, metro and long-haul markets, completed its previously-announced acquisition of Teledata Networks Ltd.


Teledata, which is based in Tel Aviv, supplies multiservice access solutions, including VDSL equipment. It's flagship BroadAccess-1000E is a FTTX MSAG designed for the delivery of residential Triple Play services and Carrier Ethernet business services over copper or fiber. The BroadAccess-1000E covers multiple functionalities including those of an MSAG, IP-DSLAM, and Carrier Ethernet Switch with a wide range of service interfaces, including POTS, xDSL (ADSL2+, VDSL2, and SHDSL) and broadband over optical fiber.


The merger consideration is comprised of US$10,000,000 in cash, US$10,000,000 in 5% subordinated secured notes payable on the second anniversary of the closing of the merger and 54,932,143 common shares of Enablence (representing 14.3% of total outstanding shares post closing), the equivalent value of which was US$30 million, for gross consideration of US$50 million.


Enablence said Teledata's revenues are generated from technology complementary to its own and derived primarily in geographical markets in which it has not previously operated.
http://www.enablence.com
http://www.teledata-networks.com/.

Read More

Telefónica and Tata Comunications Sign Telepresence Deal

Telefónica and Tata Communications have signed an interconnection agreement to allow customers in each of
the respective networks to have seamless Telepresence sessions, regardless of the service provider from whom they are being serviced. http://www.telefonica.com
http://www.tatacommunications.com

Read More

Graybar to Distribute Fujitsu FLASHWAVE in North America

Graybar Electric Company, a leading distributor of electrical, communications and networking products, has joined the Fujitsu Strategic Authorized Reseller (STAR) program and will provide distribution expertise for Fujitsu's FLASHWAVE optical networking solutions and professional services enabling customers across North America.http://us.fujitsu.com/telecom
http://www.graybar.com

Read More

Overture Networks Delivers G.8032 Ethernet Ring Protection

Overture Networks has added G.8032 Ethernet ring protection switching to its UTS 4000 optical edge switch.


ITU G.8032 Ethernet Ring protection switching is optimized for high-performance Carrier Ethernet applications, giving customers SONET-like performance with all of the bandwidth and flexibility of Carrier Ethernet. Features such as 50msec protection switching, deterministic performance and simplified design rules add quality, accelerate deployment and lower cost.


The Overture UTS 4000 product family enables converged Ethernet and up to 24 optional DS1 pseudowires over native Ethernet transport. The platform targets mobile backhaul, enterprise access or infrastructure applications which require Ethernet with fine-grain CoS and SONET-quality DS1 transport across a native Ethernet infrastructure. In addition, the UTS 4000 can be paired with the Overture Networks' UTX 8500 PWE gateway to allow carriers to enable a 1588v2 solution without the cost and complexity of deploying separate 1588v2 timing servers. The UTX 8500 PWE gateway is the industry's most scalable and cost-effective solution; supporting 1,000 protected DS1s in a completely redundant system. The UTX 8500 leverages existing BITS or SONET line timing to deliver an integrated 1588v2 timing master server which supports up to 500 UTS 4000s.


The addition of G.8032 ring protection switching gives Overture's customers a technologically advanced and cost-effective solution for building secure mobile backhaul networks as they look to support the mounting bandwidth requirements of 3G and 4G services.
http://www.overturenetworks.com

Read More

Verizon Completes 100G Ethernet Field Trial with Alcatel-Lucent

Verizon completed a field trial carrying 100G Ethernet traffic on a metropolitan Ethernet infrastructure.


The trial, which ran from June 14 - 18, used existing Alcatel-Lucent 7450 switching equipment with new plug-in cards to place native 100GE traffic on a single fiber, creating the high-speed links. The tests were completed over 12.7 km (7.9 miles) of field fiber in the company's Dallas area network. Alcatel-Lucent's 7450 ESS nodes used 100 GE service interfaces with 100GBASE-LR10 optics, which are rated for distances of up to 10 km.


"With this 100G Ethernet trial, Verizon is preparing for the future and the need to meet our customers' bandwidth needs in the metro Ethernet space," said Jean McManus, executive director of technology for Verizon. "The network of tomorrow will include building blocks such as 100G Ethernet that allow us to scale our switched Ethernet core as access speeds and customer demands increase."



Verizon's SES network supports Ethernet LAN (E-LAN) and Ethernet Virtual Private Line (EVPL) metro services. E-LAN is a multipoint-to-multipoint bridging service designed for any-to-any connectivity between dedicated ports. EVPL is an all-fiber optic network service that connects subscriber locations at native LAN speeds using point-to-point Ethernet virtual connections.


This latest trial follows Verizon's deployment of the first live 100G commercial system on its European optical core network between Paris and Frankfurt as well as a series of successful 100G technology trials the company has previously completed.


In November 2007, Verizon and Alcatel-Lucent successfully completed the industry's first field test of 100G optical transmission on a live network route between Tampa, Fla., and Miami. In October 2008, Verizon and Nortel proved 100G transmission could perform with better tolerance for signal distortion than typically found in today's standard 10G wavelength. In September 2008, Verizon and Nokia Siemens Networks announced they had successfully transmitted data at 100G on a single wavelength for more than 1,040 kilometers, setting a new distance record over deployed fiber and demonstrating better performance than conventional transmissionhttp://www.verizon.com
http://www.alcatel-lucent.com

• In December 2009, Verizon began carrying live, commercial traffic over a 100 Gbps ultra-long-haul optical system on the company's European optical core network between Paris and Frankfurt. The accomplishment marked the first time for deployment of ultra-long-haul 100G using a single channel on a production network. Specifically, Verizon deployed Nortel's 100G solution to carry live Private IP traffic between Verizon's core routers over the 893-kilometer (555-mile) route without modifying the system. Verizon sent a true 100G signal by using the same spacing between wavelengths that is used for a single wavelength, demonstrating the company's drive to promote 100G in a serial fashion on just one information channel. The 100G transmission was conducted on a Verizon ultra-long-haul optical system carrying other live 10G wavelengths.

Read More

Google Prevails Over Viacom in YouTube Legal Case

A U.S. District Court threw out a copyright infringement lawsuit brought by Viacom against Google. The judgment found that YouTube is protected by the safe harbor of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) against claims of copyright infringement. Viacom said it would appeal the decision.
http://www.google.com
http://www.viacom

Read More

Verizon Wireless Readies Motorola's DROID X

Verizon Wireless confirmed that it will begin offering Motorola's DROID X beginning next month. It features fast Web browsing; a 1GHz processor; 3G Mobile HotSpot capabilities; social messaging; Adobe Flash and access to the Android Market, which has more than 65,000 applications, along with a host of unique Verizon Wireless applications such as NFL Mobile, Skype mobile, V CAST Video, EA Need for Speed Shift, etc.


The DROID X also features a dual-flash, 8-megapixel camera, HD camcorder, as well as DLNA and HDMI connectivity to download, stream and share personal HD content.


DROID X by Motorola will be available at www.verizonwireless.com and in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores beginning July 15 for $199.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate with a new two-year customer agreement.
http://www.verizonwireless.com

Read More

Verizon Tests 10 Gbps XG-PON with Motorola

Verizon has completed a field trial of a second XG-PON fiber-optic distribution system connecting at 10 Gbps downstream and 2.5 Gbps upstream to a FiOS customer location in Taunton, Mass. The test, which was completed in May, used an XG-PON system developed by Motorola.


The field test used Motorola equipment deployed with dual fibers from an OLT (optical line terminal) in a Verizon switching facility to a combiner that coupled the XG-PON system with the existing GPON system. On the customer-facing side of the network, the test data traveled over a single FiOS fiber link to the customer test location.


At the customer's home, the optical network terminal (ONT) received the 10/2.5 Gbps feed and used two data communication ports to simultaneously provide transmission speeds of close to 1 Gbps to each of two PCs inside the home. Combined, the two ports delivered approximately 1.85 Gbps in aggregate bandwidth in each direction. In addition, speed tests were performed to Verizon's speed test server located more than 400 miles away in Reston, Va., realized speeds of up to 915 Mbps between the PC and the speed test server.


Verizon said the test demonstrates the capability of its FiOS network to scale to greater speeds. The company noted that the alternate network link approach used at the OLT covered in the standards. The dual fiber linkage is seen as a way to reduce the overall costs of XG-PON and is under investigation by suppliers and service providers.


"XG-PON can provide the capacity needed to support the explosive growth in bandwidth envisioned for new and emerging services such as 3DTV and Ultra HD TV, and the growing demand for streaming video content to the PC and TV, as well as the increased use of concurrent applications," said Vincent O'Byrne, director of technology for Verizon's FTTP architecture and design effort.


Motorola is already a supplier of BPON and GPON optical networking equipment to Verizon.

The Verizon technology team plans to continue testing XG-PON with other suppliers in the laboratory and in the network, and also, by year-end, to submit to suppliers a request for information for XG-PON technology.
http://www.verizon.com

• In December 2009, Verizon announced its first field-tests of XG-PON. XG-PON signal was tested independently on a dedicated passive optical network (PON) as well as overlaid on a fiber providing FiOS service to a customer. The overlay test verified there was no interference between the XG-PON signal and the regular FiOS signal using gigabit passive optical network (GPON) technology and running at 2.5 Gbps downstream and 1.24 Gbps upstream. The test was conducted recently in southern Massachusetts. Previously, Verizon tested the XG-PON signal in the company's Waltham laboratory. The XG-PON trial consisted of a new optical line terminal (OLT) installed in the Verizon central office, generating a 10 Gbps XG-PON signal transmitted over a wavelength, or color of light. Two tests were conducted: One test transmitted the XG-PON signal by itself on a separate PON fiber between the central office and a new optical network terminal (ONT) device at a customer's home. In the other test, the XG-PON stream was merged as a separate wavelength onto an already-operating live fiber running FiOS with GPON at 2.5 Gbps to provide a total downstream flow of 12.5 Gbps. This test used equipment from Huawei Technologies.

Read More

Verizon Wireless Carries BLOCKBUSTER On Demand to Android

Verizon Wireless' V CAST Video has begun delivering BLOCKBUSTER On Demand content for DROID X customers. The service will offer customers the hottest new release movies available to download the day they become available, alongside Blu-ray and DVD releases. DROID X customers will be able to rent or buy titles to watch on their smartphones and other BLOCKBUSTER On Demand devices. Movies cost $9.99 and up to purchase and $3.99 each to rent.
http://www.verizonwireless.com

Read More

TeliaSonera International Connects at i/o Data Centers in Phoenix

TeliaSonera International Carrier, which owns and operates more than 27,000 miles of fiber network with over 100 points of presence in 35 countries, has established a presence at i/o Data Centers in Phoenix, Arizona.

i/o operates carrier-neutral data centers and provides its customers with direct access to more than a dozen telecommunications carriers including AT&T, Verizon Business, Level3, AboveNet, AGL, Cogent, Qwest, tw telecom, XO Communications, and now TeliaSonera International Carrier. In addition, i/o offers enterprise-grade blended bandwidth and data transport services. The company does not charge for cross-connects.
http://www.iodatacenters.com

Read More

Cisco Commits to $1 Billion Multi-Year Investment in Russia

Cisco made a firm commitment to invest $1B USD to drive entrepreneurship and sustainable innovation in Russia. The announcement came during a meeting in San Jose between President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev and Cisco Chairman and CEO John Chambers.


Cisco will invest the $1 billion through a five phase collaborative plan and as part of Russia's Skolkovo Project to develop a new Silicon Valley center of innovation outside of Moscow.


Key elements of the plan include:


1. Venture Capital -- Cisco it will extend its existing venture commitment to Russia's innovation economy with an incremental $100 million in new companies. Cisco also committed to increase the number of Cisco Networking Academies to 300 across the country.


2. Skolkovo -- Cisco made a firm commitment to establish a dedicated physical presence in Skolkovo. Cisco aims to establish Skolkovo as the first of a next-generation of Smart+Connected Communities in Russia, and establish a collaborative model for Russia's future sustainable social, economic and environmental development.


3. R&D -- Cisco will increase its research and development capability in Russia. In addition to the Skolkovo infrastructure build out, Senior Vice President Marthin De Beer will establish a second global headquarters for the Cisco Emerging Technologies Group and will locate key members of its engineering team in Skolkovo. Cisco already operates dedicated manufacturing and development for Russia-specific routing technologies, and will look to extend its engineering expertise throughout the region.


4. I-Prize -- Cisco also announced the third phase of its I-Prize competition, open specifically to entrepreneurial teams in Russia. Cisco will provide $175,000 USD in overall prize money for the winning Russian teams in the contest.


5. Building a Collaborative Model -- In the fifth phase, Cisco will build a model for partnering with existing businesses, venture capital and technology companies in Russia. Cisco will look to work on joint development projects in areas such as smart grid, financial services, service provider models, financing, broadband implementation and social networking to develop exportable products, solutions and business models.
http://www.cisco.com

Read More

Google Voice Hits One Million Users

A little over one year since debuting a limited beta version, Google officially released its voice application "for everyone" in the U.S. The sign-up page is now open to general public. Google said it already has over a million users of Google Voice. The company highlighted the number of new features added in the past months, include a mobile app, an integrated voicemail player in Gmail, the ability to use Google Voice with your existing number, the ability to send SMS to multiple recipients, etc.


Google Voice, which is based on the GrandCentral service that Google acquired in July 2007, provides the user with a single phone number that will ring your home, work, and mobile phones, a central voicemail inbox that you could access on the web, and the ability to screen calls by listening in live as callers leave a voicemail. Google Voice is initially available only to users of the preceding GrandCentral service, but the company plans to release the application to the general public in the coming weeks.
http://www.google.com

Read More