Dell'Oro: Mobile Infrastructure Sales Up 33% in Q4 2010

Mobile infrastructure market revenues increased 33 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010 to $11.2 billion, according to a recently published report from Dell'Oro Group.


The report indicates that the market expansion was a result of continued strong WCDMA sales, as well as a pick up in the 2G market. In addition, vendors started recognizing significant LTE infrastructure revenues during the fourth quarter.


The report indicates that the positive momentum seen during the fourth quarter will continue in 2011, as the total mobile infrastructure market is forecast to grow 5 percent next year, with the WCDMA and LTE markets forecast to show significant expansions.


"The demand for mobile broadband is spreading throughout the world, and we saw strong WCDMA performance in all regions as the massive growth in data traffic resulted in operators worldwide investing in their 3G networks," commented Stefan Pongratz, Analyst of Mobile Infrastructure research at Dell'Oro Group. "The fourth quarter marked the first period of significant LTE revenues. While the U.S. operators led in terms of covered LTE population, it was the European vendors who took the lead in the LTE infrastructure market. Ericsson, Alcatel-Lucent and Nokia Siemens in particular, accounted for 80 percent of LTE infrastructure revenues during the quarter," continued Pongratz.
http://www.delloro.com

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Interoute Tests Infinera's 100G Transmission

Interoute has completed testing of Infinera's new 500 Gbps photonic integrated circuits (PICs) delivering 100 Gbps channels over a fiber route from Amsterdam to London. The 100 Gbps channels originated in Amsterdam and traveled under the North Sea to London, where they were looped back and returned to Amsterdam, for a total distance of 940 km. The signals were received error-free despite a lengthy unrepeatered subsea link of 210 km between the Dutch and English coasts.



In this demonstration, the 100 Gbps channels were transmitted using PM-QPSK modulation and coherent detection to optimize for optical reach. Infinera's 500G PIC receivers use integrated local oscillators to enable coherent detection of the signals. The pair of 500G PICs integrates more than 600 optical devices, a tenfold increase from today's 100Gb/s PICs which are widely deployed in long-haul and metro networks worldwide. The coherent 100Gb/s channels were transmitted on fiber simultaneously carrying 200Gb/s of live traffic over 10Gb/s channels, demonstrating that the Infinera Line System (ILS) can carry both types of optical signals without interference.



Interoute, whose pan-European network was the first in Europe to deploy Infinera's 100 Gbps photonic integrated circuits more than three years ago, is planning to use Infinera's next generation systems based on 100 Gbps channels enabled by 500 Gbps PICs.http://www.interoute.com http://www.infinera.com

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Ofcom Finds Broadband Promises Fall Short

Ofcom, the official telecoms regulator in the UK, has found that average broadband download speeds remain less than half of "up to" speeds advertised by some Internet Service Providers (ISPs), particularly for current generation copper-based ADSL services.



The research shows that the average broadband speed increased from 5.2 Mbit/s (May 2010) to 6.2 Mbit/s (November/December 2010)* but was less than half (45 per cent) of the average advertised broadband speed of 13.8 Mbit/s.



Ofcom is recommending that if speeds are used in broadband advertising they should be based on a Typical Speeds Range (TSR), so consumers have a clearer idea of what speeds to expect.



http://media.ofcom.org.uk

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Avago's New mini-SFP+ Enables 30% More Port Density for 10 GigE & Storage

Avago Technologies announced two new fiber-optic transceivers that will enable 30% increased port density in 10 Gbps Ethernet equipment and 8Gbps Fibre Channel equipment.



The new mini-SFP+ (mSFP) AFBR-54D7APZ transceiver for 8-Gbps Fibre Channel and AFBR-703SNZ transceiver for next-generation 10-Gbps Ethernet equipment incorporate Avago 850-nm Vertical-Cavity Surface Emitting Laser (VCSEL) and PIN detector technology. This insures compliance with 8.5/4.25/2.125 GBd Fibre Channel specifications and IEEE 802.3ae 10GBASE-SR standards. The devices use the SFP+ electrical connector and I2C interface, and are compliant with the Small Form Pluggable (SFP) Multi Source Agreement (MSA) electrical specifications for duplex transceivers. The mSFP modules are designed for low power consumption with typical dissipation of 0.6W. http://www.avagotech.com

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CableLabs Issues DPoE Specifications

CableLabs issued DOCSIS Provisioning of EPON (DPoE 1.0) specifications outlining a common approach for cable operators to use existing DOCSIS back office provisioning processes to deliver business services over EPON access networks.



CableLabs said DPoE will enable higher velocity and highly scaled access into the business services marketplace because many suppliers already had achieved interoperability on the DOCSIS back office infrastructure. Through DPoE technology, cable operators anticipate delivering IP and Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF)-based business and commercial services applications.



Bright House Networks, Comcast and Time Warner Cable led the development of the specifications.http://www.cablelabs.com/

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Nokia Builds Manufacturing in Vietnam

Nokia will invest approximately EUR 200 million to establish a new manufacturing site near Hanoi, Vietnam. The company expects to open the new plant in 2012. The site would further expand Nokia's manufacturing network, which currently consists of ten major facilities in nine countries.



Nokia has a global manufacturing network stretching from Latin America (Brazil and Mexico) to Europe (Finland, Hungary, Romania, the UK) and Asia (China, India, Korea). http://www.nokia.com

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Corning Completes Purchase of MobileAccess

Corning completed its previously announced acquisition of MobileAccess.

Financial terms were not disclosed.



MobileAccess provides distributed antenna system (DAS) solutions for flexible wireless coverage in the rapidly growing wireless market. MobileAccess is being integrated into Corning Cable Systems as Corning MobileAccess, led by Michael D. Genovese, senior vice president, Wireless Networks. Corning Cable Systems, headquartered in Hickory, N.C., is part of Corning's telecommunications business segment.http://www.corning.com

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CyOptics Releases 40/100 Gbps Coherent Receivers

CyOptics announced the availability of its 40Gbps and 100Gbps Polarization-Multiplexed Quadrature Phase-Shift-Keying (PM-QPSK) Integrated Coherent Receivers for 40G and 100G coherent DWDM transmission systems. These optical Receivers expand CyOptics' growing portfolio of component solutions leveraging monolithic and hybrid Photonic Integrated Circuits (PICs).



The receivers make use of CyOptics' extensive portfolio of high speed InP based balanced photo-detectors (PDs) and Silica Planar Lightguide Circuit (PLC) device technology.



Both device feature a very compact surface-mount package of 40mm length and less than 7mm height that also integrates the polarization splitters for signal and local oscillator.
CyOptics is ramping production for both the 40G and 100G receiver now with general availability in June 2011.http://www.cyoptics.com

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TeraXion introduces Chromatic Dispersion Emulator

TeraXion introduced its CS-CDE compact, low loss chromatic dispersion module that emulates tens of thousands of picoseconds per nanometer and extends its ClearSpectrum dispersion compensator family. The PS-TNL, an ITLA-based Tunable Narrow Linewidth laser, offers white noise suppression using a patented optical filtering technique. Finally, the PS-LS Laser Synthesizer, featuring a high-gain analog optical phase-lock loop (OPLL), is also a new element to the PureSpectrum specialized lasers portfolio.http://www.teraxion.com

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Proximion Ramps Production for FBG-based Dispersion Compensation

Proximion Fiber Systems has opened new production facilities in Kista, Sweden that significantly increase its capacity to deliver Fiber Bragg Gratings (FBG)-based Dispersion Compensation Modules (DCMs). Proximion's DCMs offer low loss, reduced latency, and no non-linear effects as compared with alternate technology, while simultaneously reducing cost. The company is the only manufacturer of FBG-based continuous band (CB) devices, which provide full undisrupted compensation throughout the C band, thus providing total channel plan and modulation format independence. Proximion also develops and sells channelized DCMs, patch-cord DCMs, high dispersion products, Residual Dispersion Slope Compensators, and optical layer monitoring products.



Proximion said the recent 50 percent increase in production capacity helps its meet growing demand for dispersion compensation. The company reports record demand for its DCM products as evidenced by five years of doubling sales year-over-year. The new facilities also enable Proximion to reduce production costs and more efficiently use labor resources. The company also anticipates another 50 percent increase in production capacity during the first half of 2011. http://www.proximion.com

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Ciena Debuts WaveLogic Coherent Optical Processors for 40/100G

Ciena introduced its new family of "WaveLogic" coherent optical processors for enabling 40G and 100G coherent transmission in terrestrial and submarine networks across ultra-long haul distances.



Ciena's WaveLogic digital signal processors employ optical modulation for both transmit and receive to mitigate optical impairments. Ciena also uses soft-decision forward error correction (FEC).



The latest generation of the chipset – WaveLogic T2 and R2 – is currently shipping inside Ciena's ActivFlex 6500 Packet-Optical Platform and will be shipping inside the ActivSpan 4200 Advanced Services Platform by mid-year, with other platforms planned for later in the year.



"In the last twenty years, we've seen how transformative optical technologies can change the course of fundamental network design to enable greater efficiency and performance. Today, we are on the brink of the next phase of game-changing technology advances as we enter the ‘coherent era' of optical networking, where innovation in coherent optical processing will be paramount to successfully navigating the challenges of network scale and reach," said Rick Dodd, senior vice president, global marketing at Ciena.



"With broad market acceptance that coherent technology is essential to scaling capacity to terabit levels, the focus must now turn to how to best implement coherent in a way that offers even greater impact on network operations and efficiency -- like automated power consumption controls and better bandwidth utilization – where Ciena's experience and technology advances lead the market."http://www.ciena.com

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Verizon Activates 100 GigE using Juniper + Ciena

Verizon activated a 100 Gigabit Ethernet link for an IP backbone on a portion of its European long-haul network between Paris and Frankfurt, a distance of 893 km.

The deployment uses Juniper Networks' routers and Ciena's 100G Ethernet coherent optical transport solution.


"We don't have to look too far into the future to know that bandwidth needs will continue to grow, so Verizon is taking this next step of deploying a 100G Ethernet link to stay ahead of that demand," said Ihab Tarazi, vice president of global network planning for Verizon. "We will continue to deploy this technology on our global network where demand is highest."

Last year, Verizon deployed a 100G ultra-long-haul optical transmission system on this same network route, marking the first commercial deployment of such a system. http://www.verizon.com

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Verizon Expands IPv6 Dedicated Internet Services

Verizon has added IPv6 support to its Internet Dedicated Services across the U.S., Europe and Asia-Pacific.


Verizon's global Internet services will accept IPv6 data in several formats, including native or pure IPv6; dual stack, which can handle IPv4 and IPv6 concurrently; and IPv6 traffic within IPv4 packets, which is known as tunneling. The company later this year will continue to roll out IPv6 capabilities across Canada and Latin America as well as on its global Private IP service, an MPLS-based virtual private network.


"This is another important milestone for the Verizon public IP backbone, our customers and the global Internet community," said Farooq Muzzafar, vice president of public and private IP communications solutions for Verizon. "As an early proponent and adopter of IPv6, we want to help ensure the Internet continues to deliver on its promise to keep us all connected to each other and to the information that sustains and enriches our everyday life at work, at home and everywhere in between."http://www.verizon.com
http://www.verizonbusiness.com

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Skype Partners with Citrix for Business Services

Skype plans to introduce Web and audio conferencing capabilities enabled with GoToMeeting technology from Citrix. This will expand Skype's business offerings by providing the collaboration features of GoToMeeting.



The Web and audio conferencing features are expected to supplement the Skype for Business desktop experience, which already offers Skype users instant messaging, voice and video calling, group video calling, conferencing, file sharing, etc/ Adding the GoToMeeting capability will also allow Skype's business users to quickly set up online audio conferencing meetings that users can join via Skype or through public switched telephone network (PSTN) phone numbers.http://www.skype.com

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Mashable: Google Finds 21 Free Android Apps with Malware Root Access

Google has pulled 21 free apps from the Android store after being informed by third parties that the apps contained malware capable of giving hackers root access to the victim's device. Mashable reports that malicious apps were downloaded by about 50,000 users.http://mashable.com/2011/03/01/android-malware-apps/

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Infonetics: 2G/3G Remains the Main Game

The number of 2G, 3G, and 4G mobile subscribers is forecast to reach 7 billion by 2015, however the vast majority will continue to be on the 2G/3G infrastructure, according to a new report released by Infonetics Research.



After plunging in the second half of 2010, the GSM RAN market bounced back (up 38% in 4Q10 over 3Q10), fueled by the start of major 2G capacity upgrades in China and India as well as modernization projects in Europe. The report takes a comprehensive look at the mobile and wireless equipment markets, including vendor market share, forecasts, and LTE and WIMAX deployment trackers by service provider and country.



"At the end of the day, 2G/3G remains the major mobile infrastructure event, dollar-wise. In 2010, the global 2G/3G/4G infrastructure market declined 10.7% to $42.4 billion, dragged down by 2G, but is expected to rebound by 9.7% this year, driven by large-scale 2G capacity upgrades, 2G network modernization, and 3G coverage optimization. It's only in 2015 that 4G (LTE and WiMAX) will have a more significant impact when a new global procurement cycle starts," predicts Stéphane Téral, Infonetics Research's principal analyst for mobile infrastructure.



"WiMAX likely will become established as the solution of choice for niche applications, such as supporting the smart grid, public safety, private citywide communications segments, as well as more basic broadband needs. With the high volume of LTE news, people tend to overlook the fact that the WiMAX equipment market, which jumped 85% in 2010 to $1.7 billion, remains bigger than the LTE market, and continues to show healthy growth," notes Richard Webb, directing analyst for WiMAX, microwave, and mobile devices at Infonetics Research.



Some other key findings:



LTE network equipment, including E-UTRAN (eNodeB) macrocells and Evolved Packet Core (EPC) equipment, jumped 704% in 2010 over 2009



Infonetics forecasts the 4G infrastructure market to hit $16 billion by 2015, driven by LTE and WiMAX investments



Ericsson is the #1 LTE infrastructure vendor, followed by Alcatel-Lucent and Nokia Siemens Networks

Samsung remains the top-selling WiMAX vendor, followed by Huawei, Alvarion, and Motorolahttp://www.infonetics.com

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Motorola and Cox Test 356 Mbps DOCSIS 3.0 RX48 Return Path

–Motorola Mobility and Cox Communications announced a record 356 Mbps for return path data transmission. The test used an ultra low noise, high performance Motorola DOCSIS 3.0 RX48 return path receiver module operating within a Motorola BSR 64000 CMTS Edge Router. The record of 356 Mbps for a 5-85 MHz return path was set by transmitting across twelve return path channels of which six channels employed 256QAM modulation.



Typical HFC networks today have two or three upstream channels delivering an aggregate of 40-70 Mbps.



In addition to establishing the world record at 5-85 MHz, a maximum transmission rate of 141 Mbps was also achieved over a 5-42 MHz return path using six return path channels. Three of these channels were able to operate using 256 QAM modulation, as opposed to 64 QAM maximum in use today, which is also believed to be a record. For the first time, cable operators can use the 5-42 return path to provide 100 Mbps dedicated to business customers and simultaneously provide residential customers with the return path bandwidth necessary to meet their growing needs.



"The RX48 and these tests demonstrate that Cox's HFC networks are much more future proof than many have believed," Jay Rolls, senior vice president of technology, Cox Communications. "We also increasingly need to be able to segment our business and residential customers, visibility into which is provided by the 5-85 MHz return spectrum utilizing 256QAM. Our networks have the capability to support much higher data speeds than today without the need to replace any of the amplifiers, taps or cables."



Motorola said its RX48 provides between 33% and 50% higher data rates possible in the return path than previously possible based on its low noise receiver and hardware based DOCSIS 3.0 channel bonding capabilities. For example, with a 5-42 MHz return path connected to the RX48, it will be possible for the first time for cable operators to support 100 Mbps dedicated for business services in only three bonded return path channels instead of four, leaving three return path channels available for residential data services, all supported using only a single RX48 port in the CMTS.http://motorola.com/mobility

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Overture + Hatteras Merger Targets Carrier Ethernet Acceleration

Overture Networks and Hatteras Networks agreed to merge, creating a larger and more competitive supplier of Carrier Ethernet products. Hatteras is a leading supplier of Ethernet over Bonded Copper solutions, while Overture is the frontrunner in Ethernet over TDM and recently introduced a set of Ethernet over Fiber platforms. Financial terms were not disclosed.



Both companies are venture-backed, privately-held start-ups based in North Carolina's Research Triangle Park.



Going forward, the combined company will use the Overture Networks' name. Jeff Reedy will continue to serve as chief executive officer of Overture Networks. Kevin Sheehan, who formerly served as chief executive officer of Hatteras Networks, has been appointed president of Overture Networks.



In a conference call, Reedy and Sheehan said the merger was driven by a desire to scale-up the operations to meet the rising demand for Carrier Ethernet solutions by Tier 1, 2, and 3 carriers both domestically and overseas. The companies both report record revenue for 2010. They noted non-overlapping customer bases and product portfolios. The combined entity will have about 200 employees.



"We have a unique opportunity to build a great company with the innovation and scale to bring a complete set of products and services to our customers," said Jeff Reedy, chief executive officer, Overture Networks. "Our two companies have grown up together as neighbors, and we have come to appreciate each other's strengths and at times envied the other's successes. Having each completed record setting years, the time is right to join together and establish a dominant force in the market."



"The unification of our two highly successful and profitable companies with a shared customer focus and leading-edge product portfolios will be extremely beneficial for the communications service provider industry around the world," said Kevin Sheehan, newly appointed president of Overture Networks and former chief executive officer, Hatteras Networks.http://www.overturenetworks.com http://www.hatterasnetworks.com

• In November 2010, Overture Networks introduced two new products, the ISG 400 and the ISG 4800, for enabling carriers’ migration to an all-optical Ethernet network. The ISG 4800 is a 10 Gigabit Carrier Ethernet Edge Platform with a rich feature set, operational flexibility and carrier class reliability, while the ISG 400 supports the delivery of Carrier Ethernet over TDM. Both offer a wide range of network interfaces for delivering Carrier Ethernet services over existing DS3 or SONET/SDH infrastructures.



• Hatteras' flagship HN6100 is a modular, multi-service Ethernet platform that enables carriers to offer any service, over any media, via any port or slot from a single chassis. Its portfolio also includes the HN500, a cost-effective Ethernet-over-Time Division Multiplexing (EoTDM) demarcation device, which allows bonding of multiple PDH signals (T1 or E1) into a single Ethernet connection for delivery of 10 Mbps of Ethernet service capacity; as well as the HN4000 for facilitating high-speed symmetrical bandwidth up to 100 Mbps and Ethernet services over copper.

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Finisar Introduces First EPON Stick for DPoE Specification

Finisar introduced its EPON (Ethernet Passive Optical Network) Stick, offering pluggable transceiver optics and a complete EPON MAC with DPoE provisioning within an SFP package. This allows an operator to insert the EPON Stick into any SFP host and operate a single demarcation device on the customer premise.



The EPON stick interoperates with other EPON equipment based on CableLabs DOCSIS Provisioning of EPON (DPoE) specifications. In addition to EPON and DPoE compatibility, the EPON Stick supports SFF-8472 digital diagnostics and other extended capabilities.



"We are proud that Finisar's EPON Stick is the first in an MSA SFP footprint compatible with EPON and DPoE," said Dr. Jianhui Zhou, vice-president and general manager of Access Products at Finisar. "It offers operators the advantages of automated provisioning with DPoE, while still allowing the flexibility of using a wide variety of Ethernet network interface devices, integrated access devices, switches, and routers.

http://www.finisar.com

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SAIC Wins Cybersecurity Contract with U.S. Space and Naval Warfare Center

Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) was awarded a prime contract by the U.S. Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific (SSC Pacific) to provide technical services in support of cyberspace operations. The multiple-award, indefinite-delivery indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract has a two year base period of performance, three one-year options, and a total contract ceiling value of $219 million for all awardees, if all options are exercised.



SSC Pacific is the Navy's premier research, development, test, and evaluation laboratory for C4ISR (command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance). http://www.saic.com

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