Cisco Hits Revenue of $12.4 billion -- Flat Year over Year

Cisco reported quarterly revenue of $12.4 billion, net income on a generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) basis of $2.2 billion or $0.43 per share, and non-GAAP net income of $2.8 billion or $0.55 per share for the period ended July 26, 2014. The earnings came in slightly ahead of market expectations.  The company also announced plans to reallocate or trim some 6,000 jobs in the coming quarters.

"We are executing well in a tough environment and delivered our best non-GAAP earnings per share quarter in our history. I'm pleased with how we are transforming our company over the past several years and that journey continues," stated John Chambers, Cisco chairman and chief executive officer. "We are focused on growth, innovation and talent, especially in the areas of security, data center, software, cloud and internet of everything. Our strategy is sound, our financials are strong, and our market leadership is secure. We have the team in place to deliver and are uniquely positioned to help our customers solve their biggest business problems."

Some highlights from the quarterly conference call:

• FY’14 revenue amounted to $47.1 billion
• U.S. orders grew 5% y/y, UK grew 6% y/y, and Germany grew 16% y/y.  However, emerging markets were weak.
• Cisco cited strong traction for its Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) initiative, saying it is now shipping its APIC and has over 60 paying customers.  The Nexus Nexus 9K is doing well -- customers tripled to more than 580 since end of Q3.
• Data Center revenue grew 30% y/y.  The Cisco UCS product line now has more than 36,500 customers and has recorded 18th consecutive quarters of market share gains.
• NCS 6000 and CRS-X continued to ramp…each product crossing $100M orders for FY1

http://investor.cisco.com/eventdetail.cfm?EventID=148280

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Global Routing Table Crosses 512,000 Entries

The global routing table has passed the milestone of 512,000 routes.  The table reached 256k routes in 2008.

The milestone is significant because exceeding 512,000 entries could cause Ternary Content Addressable Memory (TCAM) resource exhaustion for some networking products. In a blog posting, Cisco warned network administrators to check that networking equipment is updated for handling routing tables exceeding 512,000 routes. For its portfolio, equipment that needs to be checked includes:

• Cisco Catalyst 6500 Switches
• Cisco 7600 Series Routers
• Cisco ASR 9000 Series Aggregation Services Routers configured with Trident-based line cards (typhoon-based line cards are not affected)
• Cisco ASR 1000 Series Aggregation Services Routers with 4GB (devices with 8GB or RAM or higher can scale to up to 1,000,000 routes).

http://blogs.cisco.com/sp/global-internet-routing-table-reaches-512k-milestone/

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OIF Starts 56G Electrical Interface Project

Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) is kicking off a project to define 56 Gbps generation electrical interfaces for full-sized backplane channels for long reach of up to one meter with two connectors.

The CEI-56G-LR specification will increase the data rate by a factor of two over the data rate of CEI-28G-LR.  It will provide for one or more electrical specifications for lane operation at data rates of 40 to 56 Gb/s. The reach range will be 0 to 1000mm using advanced printed circuit board materials plus two connectors.

The OIF said this Common Electrical Interface (CEI) 56G project complements the existing 400G roadmap that was started last year addressing medium reach (MR) interfaces for chip-to-chip and midrange backplane, very short reach (VSR) for chip-to-module, extra short reach (XSR) for chip to nearby optics engine and ultra short reach (USR) for 2.5D/3D applications.  LR is needed to complete this roadmap for chip-to-chip backplane applications with approximately 35 dBs of loss at 14 GHz.

“Given the lead times, development of standards for the next generation backplane electrical links needs to start now,” said David Stauffer, of Kandou Bus and the OIF Physical and Link Layer working group chair and board member.  “Feedback from our membership indicates that the industry needs the OIF to start the long reach project now so that a complete roadmap can be supported.”

http://www.oiforum.com

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Vodafone New Zealand Rolls 700 MHz LTE with Nokia

Vodafone New Zealand has selected Nokia Networks to enable the launch of its commercial 700 MHz LTE network, one of the first Asia Pacific Telecommunity (APT) 700 MHz networks in the world.  The APT 700 MHz digital dividend spectrum band is harmonized across several countries in the Asia Pacific region.

“Our focus this year is about expanding our 4G network to rural New Zealand with 700MHz, and Nokia Networks will play an important part in implementing this initiative. We’ll be activating 4G wherever possible on new Rural Broadband Initiative sites this year,” stated Vodafone New Zealand Director of Technology, Sandra Pickering.

http://nsn.com/news-events/press-room/press-releases/nokia-networks-vodafone-roll-out-first-commercial-700-mhz-lte-network-in-new-zealand

In 2012, Vodafone acquire dTelstraClear from Telstra Corporation for NZ$840 million (£430 million, US$664 million) in cash. The deal included TelstraClear’s voice and data-based services, network infrastructure and New Zealand customer base.

Vodafone New Zealand was already the country’s largest mobile operator with more than 2.4 million customers. TelstraClear owned New Zealand’s second largest fixed infrastructure, which includes a 6,600km fibre backbone connecting 19 of the country’s largest cities. It also includes an extensive local access network with 2,000km of fibre and 4,500km of copper as well as a cable TV and broadband access network passing 150,000 homes in Wellington and Christchurch. Its customer base includes government and large corporations, small and medium enterprises as well as consumers. 

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ADTRAN Cranks Up its Gigabit Rollouts Initiative

ADTRAN's Gigabit services architecture is gaining momentum and by the end of the year will have reached than 50 communities implementing gigabit services.  The company forecasts this number to quadruple by the end of 2015.

“Over the past year ADTRAN has worked with hundreds of service providers to introduce Gigabit services as part of our vision to help reinvent communities around the country,” said Jay Wilson, senior vice president and general manager, ADTRAN Carrier Networks Division. “ADTRAN’s Gigabit broadband platform will serve as the foundation for our partners’ community economic growth and development for years to come.”

ADTRAN is also launching a a resource site, www.GigCommunities.net, as part of its Enabling Communities, Connecting Lives program for service providers looking to deploy Gigabit services in the future.

Separately, ADTRAN announced that C Spire will deploy its technology to create a new "Silicon South" in Mississippi. The deployment enables C Spire Fiber to the Home service to deliver ultra-fast broadband.

http://www.adtran.com
http://www.GigCommunities.net

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Pioneer Cellular Picks ALU for LTE

Pioneer Cellular has selected Alcatel-Lucent to deploy a complete LTE overlay network in Oklahoma and Kansas. The deployment will eventually cover Pioneer's entire customer base covering 47 counties in Oklahoma and 14 counties in Kansas.  The initial 25 sites to be deployed will be completed by the end of 2014, with an eventual plan to cover all of Pioneer’s network.

Alcatel-Lucent is providing Pioneer Cellular with an end-to-end 4G LTE overlay solution including  LTE Radio Access Network, IP Mobile Packet Core (MME, SGW/PGW, PCRF), Subscriber Data Manager, IP Mobile Backhaul (7705 SAR) and associated deployment and integration services.  Financial terms were not disclosed.

http://www.alcatel-lucent.com

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SoftBank Demos Busy Hour Mobile Policy Control with Ericsson

Ericsson and SoftBank Mobile demonstrated a policy-based system aimed at improving the user experience in even the most congested network environments, such as rush-hour in Tokyo.

Ericsson's new software feature, the Mobility-based Policy creates a direct connection between Ericsson SGSN-MME and Ericsson Service-Aware Policy Controller. This connection enables mobility management information from the SGSN-MME to go directly to the Service-Aware Policy Controller, while selected policy decisions from the Service-Aware Policy Controller can then go directly to the SGSN-MME. By off-loading the gateway, Mobility-based Policy supports an enhanced, location-based mobile user experience while reducing signaling traffic in the network.

The SoftBank Mobile network includes both Ericsson LTE Radio Access Network and Evolved Packet Core. Ericsson was also selected by SoftBank Mobile to supply and integrate its end-to-end mobile network solution for VoLTE.

"To accommodate our subscribers and data traffic growth, it is critical to optimize our spectrum. By enabling us to dynamically allocate the best radio resources on a per-user, per-terminal basis, Ericsson Mobility-based Policy has the potential to increase our network flexibility while reducing signaling traffic network wide - this efficiency drives additional opportunities to improve both the user experience and network performance," said Mr. Yoichi Funabiki, Director, Mobile Network Planning Division, Core Network Department SoftBank Mobile.

"Ericsson and SoftBank Mobile work together to consistently enhance the performance and user experience on their mobile network. With this demonstration of Mobility-based Policy, an innovative feature of Ericsson's Evolved Packet Core, we continue to strengthen our strategic partnership with SoftBank Mobile," stated Jan Signell, Head of Region North East Asia, Ericsson.

http://www.ericsson.com/news/1847974
http://www.softbank.jp/en/corp/

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Huawei Achieves 63Mbps in 3C-HSDPA Test

Huawei achieved a peak download rate of 63 Mbps in a laboratory test of 3-Carrier-High Speed Downlink Packet Access (3C-HSDPA). The result represents an improvement of 50% increase in downlink user speeds compared with Dual Carrier-High Speed Downlink Packet Access (DC-HSDPA).

Release10 of 3GPP introduces 3C-HSDPA technology, effectively aggregating three carriers for a single downlink subscriber over one or two mainstream UMTS bands at 850-900MHz and 2100MHz.

Huawei said continuous improvement to HSDPA potentially benefits billions of users currently on UMTS networks worldwide.

"This is a timely and important milestone in a fast expanding world of smart phones, growing mobile video demand and real-time large file download expectations," said Wang Yixiang, President of UMTS Domain in Huawei. "The relevance of higher speed downlink is also of significance for a growing number of multi-carrier networks, especially 3G 900 MHz and 2100 MHz band network deployments where improving download speeds through multi-carrier aggregation technology is critical for maintaining user experience and retention."

http://pr.huawei.com/en/news/hw-361277-3c-hsdpa.htm#.U-rhb_ldX5w

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ShoreTel Continues to Innovate with Mobile Video, Virtualized Router

ShoreTel released a major update to its premises-based mobility solution, adding seamless mobile-enabled video conferencing over Wi-Fi or cellular networks.

ShoreTel Mobility 8 has integration with the ShoreTel Communicator desktop call-control suite. Employees can communicate via video between iOS and Android smartphones and tablets using the ShoreTel Mobility Client, with single touch video calling from the keypad. Users can participate in multi-party video sessions from mobile devices to room-based video communication systems. ShoreTel Mobility 8 also supports video communication from the user’s Windows desktop using ShoreTel Communicator.

The new software also introduces a virtualized ShoreTel Mobility Router.

“We’re making mobile collaboration simple and ubiquitous,” said Pej Roshan, vice president of product management at ShoreTel. “End users want consistency of capabilities regardless of which device they use. Now teams can stay connected and collaborate using the ShoreTel Mobility Client as well as the ShoreTel Communicator desktop client, on any device, and from anywhere.”

http://www.shoretel.com/about/newsroom/press_releases/ShoreTel_Delivers_Brilliantly_Simple_Mobile_Video_Collaboration__with_ShoreTel_Mobility_8.html

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Huawei Inks Partnership with Telekom Malaysia

Huawei and Telekom Malaysia signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to co-develop next generation access technologies for both fixed-line and wireless connectivity in Malaysia.

The partnership will see Huawei and Telekom Malaysia's Research & Development arm jointly research the most suitable, customized copper access and 4G solutions for Malaysia’s fixed and broadband landscapes. Through this collaboration, both parties will share research facilities and encourage knowledge transferring, as well as establish a joint lab within the TM Innovation Center, in Cyberjaya within the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) of Malaysia.

"Being a part of Malaysia’s digital transformation has been an exciting experience for us at Huawei. TM’s High Speed Broadband (HSBB) project has become a global reference point of future-oriented smart networks. By jointly developing technologies that utilize TM’s existing copper wires, TM can make efficient use of resources, quickly implement bandwidth strategies, and launch additional new services, including IPTV and HDTV based on the fast broadband to score more commercial success," stated Mr. Mike Wang, Chief Executive Officer of Huawei Malaysia.

http://pr.huawei.com/en/news/hw-361282-tm.htm#.U-rf3fldX5w

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Singtel Adds 2GB Wi-Fi Allowance to Mobile Plans

SingTel will begin offering a 2GB monthly Wi-Fi allowance to many of its 4G mobile plans.

SingTel Wi-Fi connectivity is available at many crowded locations around Singapore including underground MRT stations. Users will be able to access the Wi-Fi network seamlessly without having to input a manual password.

http://info.singtel.com/personal/phones-plans/mobile/postpaid/standard/singtel-wifi

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Vodafone India Picks Ericsson's Charging System

Vodafone India will use Ericsson's Charging System in a deployment supporting 75 million prepaid users. The Ericsson Charging System enables a host of new services like flexible refill, community charging and real time balance notifications among several other different voice and data offerings.

As a part of the five-year agreement, Ericsson will be replacing legacy infrastructure with its new Charging System across five new circles of Uttar Pradesh (W), Uttar Pradesh (E), Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, in addition to Mumbai and Maharashtra circles where it was already deployed. The deployment will enable convergence across payment methodologies and devices, and enable Vodafone to activate enhanced data charging via mobile broadband charging in the future. Financial terms were not disclosed.

http://www.ericsson.com

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Cyan Posts Q2 Revenue of $24 Million

Cyan reported Q2 revenue of $24.4 million, exceeding its previously issued financial guidance.  The result compares with $19.0 million for the first quarter of 2014 and $31.7 million in the second quarter of 2013. GAAP net loss for the second quarter was $14.7 million, or $0.31 per share, compared to a net loss of $17.8 million, or $0.38 per share, in the first quarter of 2014 and $9.1 million, or $0.33 per share, in the same period last year.

“In the second quarter we remained focused on our key initiatives, announced several new customer and partner collaborations and launched Planet Orchestrate, a significant new addition to our Blue Planet SDN and NFV platform,” said Mark Floyd, Cyan’s chairman and chief executive officer. “We are pleased with our execution this quarter and with the momentum we see in the market.

http://www.cyaninc.com

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Intel Brings its 14 nm Tri-Gate Technology to Production

Intel's 14 nm technology is now qualified and in volume production. Yields of the 14 nm Broadwell chips are now in the healthy range and the further yield improvements are expected as volume ramps up. Intel has three fabs manufacturing or soon to be manufacturing at 14nm: Oregon (2014), Arizona (2014) and Ireland (2015).

Intel also disclosed technical details of its new Broadwell microarchitecture for the first time, including specifications on fin pitch, gate pitch, interconnect pitch and the latest Tri-gate transistors. The 2nd generation Tri-gate transistors offer significantly improved low voltage performance and lower leakage. Intel estimates a better than 2x improvement in performance per watt compared with its current 22 nm technology.

Broadwell, which will be the first of multiple design implemented in 14 nm, will be used for a variety of ultra thin notebooks and tablets expected to hit the market at the end of this year.

"Intel's integrated model – the combination of our design expertise with the best manufacturing process – makes it possible to deliver better performance and lower power to our customers and to consumers," said Rani Borkar, Intel vice president and general manager of product development. "This new microarchitecture is more than a remarkable technical achievement. It is a demonstration of the importance of our outside-in design philosophy that matches our design to customer requirements."

http://download.intel.com/newsroom/kits/14nm/pdfs/Intel_14nm_New_uArch.pdf

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Initial Capacity of FASTER Trans-Pacific Cable: 100G x 100 Wavelengths x 6 Fiber Pairs

NEC has been selected as the systems supplier for a new Trans-Pacific cable that will boast an initial design capacity of 60 Tbps: 100G x 100 wavelengths x 6 fiber pairs. It is believed to be the largest design capacity on this route.

The FASTER cable will connect the west coast of the United States with two landing stations in Japan.  The US$300 million cable is targeted to enter service in Q2 2016.

The project is backed by a consortium of six companies: China Mobile International, China Telecom Global, Global Transit, Google, KDDI and SingTel.

http://www.nec.com/en/press/201408/global_20140811_01.html

In March 2014, Global Cloud Xchange (formerly Reliance Globalcom) unveiled plans for a new trans-Pacific submarine cable linking California and Japan and designed for flexible access options.

The Pacific Cloud Xchange (PCX) cable will be a four fiber pair system with initial design capacity per fiber pair at 100 x 100 Gbps using next generation Coherent Submarine Fiber. The new system will be ready for service in 2015.

Global Cloud Xchange is currently finalizing its submarine cable vendors and additional partners.  Global Cloud Xchange will announce the awarding of the PCX supply contract in second quarter 2014 and expects to bring the system into commercial service in 2015.

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Telstra to Acquire Ooyala for Video Streaming/Analytics

Telstra will acquire Ooyala, a Silicon Valley-based provider of video streaming and analytics. Under the deal, Telstra will pay US$270 million to increase its ownership in Ooyala from 23% (fully diluted) to 98%.  Telstra had previously invested US$61 million in Ooyala over the past two years.

Ooyala harnesses the power of big data to help broadcasters, operators and media companies build more engaged audiences and monetize video with personalized, interactive experiences for every screen. The analytics helps determine exactly which content should be presented to individual views. The streaming platform provides content management tools, fast transcoding and adaptive bit rate delivery to customized players. The company, which was founded in 2007 and is based in Mountain View, California, is forecasting revenue of US$65m for CY2014. The company has more than 330 employees worldwide and a global footprint of 135 million unique users in nearly 240 countries.  Its customers include Telstra, ESPN, Univision, Telegraph Media Group, Dell, Sephora, Foxtel, NBC Universal, Comedy Central, News Corp and The Washington Post.

Ooyala Chief Executive, Jay Fulcher will continue in his current role and Ooyala will become a subsidiary of Telstra and operate as an independent business, retaining its brand, structure and management under the Global Applications and Platforms group.

Telstra Chief Executive Officer, Mr David Thodey, said Telstra’s investment and controlling stake in Ooyala would help build it into a world leading personalised video platform company.

“Ooyala enables broadcasters, operators and media organisations to deliver digital TV and video content, across any device to mass audiences, using analytics to provide recommendations, personalised content and advertising to the end user,” Mr Thodey said.

http://www.ooyala.com
http://www.telstra.com

• Ooyala is headed by Jay Fulcher, who previously was CEO of Agile Software (acquired by Oracle) and served in executive roles at SAP and PeopleSoft.

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IBM Acquire Lighthouse Security Group for Cloud-based Protection

IBM acquired the operations of Lighthouse Security Group, a provider of cloud security services provider. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Lighthouse Security, which is based in Lincoln, Rhode Island, offers an identity management solution that will be integrated into IBM's managed security services. The Lighthouse platform protects identity and data in an increasingly complex IT environment where more company information is being stored in the cloud and accessed from mobile devices.

The deal follows IBM’s acquisition of CrossIdeas, a privately held provider of security software that governs user access to applications and data across on-premise and cloud environments. CrossIdeas combines business-driven governance and analytics capabilities to give customers greater control for securing enterprises. By integrating the businesses of Lighthouse Security Group and CrossIdeas with IBM’s identity and access management offering, IBM will offer a full suite of security software and services that protect and manage a user’s identity.

http://www.ibm.com
http://www-935.ibm.com/services/us/en/it-services/gts-it-service-home-page-1.html

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XO Expands AWS Direct Connect Capabilities

XO Communications (XO) will begin offering AWS Direct Connect to enterprises at speeds ranging from 50 to 500 Mbps. This expansion of the AWS Direct Connect relationship  is an enhancement to existing direct connections at speeds of 1 and 10 Gbps.  The dedicated connections are provided over an IP-VPN.

"XO is pleased to be providing services that support its customers' connections to AWS Direct Connect," said Nicola Jackson, vice president, product and marketing at XO Communications. "Companies of all sizes are now looking for reliable, more secure access to cloud resources through direct connections to AWS. Toward achieving that for our customers, XO is helping companies maximize their network investments with cost-effective connections to the cloud."  

http://www.xo.com

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Gigamon Appoints Senior VP of WW Sales

Gigamonannounced the appointment of Helmut Wilke as senior vice president of worldwide sales.  Prior to Gigamon, Wilke led worldwide sales, partner and operations for Ixia's Network Visibility Solutions as vice president of worldwide sales. Before that, Wilke was the vice president of the US Western Region
Enterprise and Partner Group for Microsoft where he delivered business critical technology solutions to enterprise customers.  Wilke also held senior sales positions at Extreme Networks and Sun Microsystems.

http://www.gigamon.com

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Facebook's Load Balancer Achieves 27% Power Savings at Midnight

Facebook's engineering team posted details on its "Autoscale" load balancing technology, which is now yielding significant energy savings as traffic on the site rises and falls during the course of a day.

In a blog posting, Facebook engineers describe how the Autoscale load balancer dynamically adjusts the size of virtual pools of web servers such that each active server will get at least medium-level CPU utilization regardless of the overall workload level.

https://code.facebook.com/posts/816473015039157/making-facebook-s-software-infrastructure-more-energy-efficient-with-autoscale/

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