Spirent: 5G trends accelerating

As of mid-year 2021, 5G trends are continuing to accelerate, with 5G SA Core evaluation, testing and launch activities growing significantly across all geographic regions, according to Spirent Communications, which supplies test, assurance, and analytics solutions to mobile operators and network equiment vendors and device suppliers worldwide.

“At the halfway point in 2021, the dominant 5G trends that were present at the start of the year continue to gather pace, with the need for agility and responsiveness enduring,” said Spirent’s Head of Market Strategy, Steve Douglas. “With end-user adoption increasing at a blistering pace, service providers in all major regions are focused on accelerating time to market, improving coverage and optimizing costs. It’s clear that the global 5G race is back on.

Some highlights of the mid-year addendum to the Spirent 5G report: 

Geographic Trends - All major regions (North America, Europe and Asia) are aggressively pursuing 5G Standalone (SA) Core testing and deployments. North America is driving the demand for customer experience and service assurance solutions. Asia Pacific continues its focus on and investment in transport infrastructure, toward the goal of supporting industrial use cases. Europe is starting to accelerate activities after COVID and high-risk vendor delays.

5G Standalone - New services and differentiation are driving 5G Standalone. 5G SA Core evaluation, testing and launch continue to grow significantly across all geographic regions. Large service providers are looking to use multiple vendors while smaller telcos look for one key partner. Key challenges include supporting high release volumes and managing multi-vendor performance.

5G Telco Edge Cloud - Partnerships, early trials and deployments between hyperscalers and service providers are expanding. Providers are still working to benchmark edge performance and integrate assurance for consistent, deterministic latency. Latency looks set to become a key battle ground for the hearts and minds of industry and enterprises.

Open RAN - There are currently 45 ongoing Open RAN trials and early deployments across 27 countries (source: TeckNexus). Leading 5G service providers are targeting larger-scale Open RAN non-dense urban rollouts during 2022. Early deployments will focus on rural, indoor and private coverage. Interoperability, performance, robustness and system integrator overheads require that service providers continue to test and validate every deployment phase.

6G Vision - The industry is beginning to coalesce around some key themes, including THz frequencies, use of intelligent reconfigurable surfaces and metamaterials, open networking and network of networks (terrestrial cellular, NTN, subsea, and Wi-Fi convergence).

Spirent’s “5G 2021: Market Drivers, Insights & Consideration” addendum is available here:

http://www.spirent.com/assets/the-spirent-2021-5g-report

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Nokia demos 1 Tbps per channel coherent with Vodafone

Nokia demonstrated a 1 Tbps (terabit per second) per channel coherent transmission over the live optical network of Vodafone Turkey. The companies proved a capacity increase of 150% over a single channel coherent transmission, and the ability to scale network capacity up to 70 Tbps per fiber. 

The test showcased 1 Tbps capacity over 130 GHz bandwidth without any errors on Vodafone Turkey’s live optical network between its data centers. The trial was conducted over the operator’s in-service optical network, based on Nokia’s  wavelength routing technolgy, which includes its high performance, non-blocking CDC-F ROADM optical switch architecture. Supporting operation over C+L bands, Nokia’s optical line system also enables a doubling of the total fiber capacity of Vodafone Turkey’s network.

Nokia said the test also used its photonic service engine (PSE) technology for providing maximum performance and spectral efficiency. The Nokia PSE coherent optics are deployed in Vodafone Turkey’s network using the 1830 PSI-M (Photonic Service Interconnect-Modular) compact modular optical networking platform, optimized for data center interconnect applications over metro, regional and long-haul distances.

The test builds upon an earlier trial conducted by Nokia and Vodafone Turkey that validated a 1 Tbps clear channel IP router interface. 

Thibaud Rerolle, CTO at Vodafone Turkey, said: “At Vodafone Turkey, we are committed to using next generation technology to provide the most convenient services to our customers – uninterrupted and reliably. Our fiber optic backbone is an important step on the way to 5G and, with Nokia, we continue to equip our optical network with the latest technologies and innovations for our services today and in the future." 

James Watt, Head of Optical Networks Division, Nokia, said: “Our field-proven optical technologies and solutions are enabling service providers like Vodafone Turkey to meet growing capacity demand and provide the best end-user experience. We are pleased to complement our deployment of advanced optical transport solutions with the successful and timely completion of this crucial trial to modernize Vodafone Turkey’s optical network. Together, we are accelerating their digital transformation with solutions that can be easily scaled to meet 5G demands.”

https://www.nokia.com/about-us/news/releases/2021/09/09/nokia-and-vodafone-turkey-achieve-maximum-optical-transmission-capacity/

Vodafone tests single 1T clear channel with Nokia

Monday, June 28, 2021  Nokia, Terabit, Turkey, Vodafone  

Vodafone Turkey has tested a 1T (terabit) clear-channel IP connection using Nokia's 7950 XRS routers with terabit interfaces powered by Nokia’s FP4 chipset. Nokia’s FP4 terabit linecard offers two 1T ports and demonstrated deployment readiness by carrying test traffic on Vodafone Turkey’s network. 

Nokia said the trial is part of an ongoing modernization effort to transform Vodafone Turkey’s IP network. Nokia is delivering a multi-access mobile transport architecture that will enable the operator to evolve its transport infrastructure in a changing industry. Nokia’s 7250 IXR interconnect router and FP4-based 7750 Service Router portfolios have already been deployed for the delivery of high capacity, low latency 5G services to Vodafone Turkey’s customers. Nokia’s platforms support the features and protocols that will enable SDN control automation and optimization of applications and use cases.

Thibaud Rerolle, CTO, at Vodafone Turkey, said: “As we ramp up our delivery of new services, we are committed to providing the best possible quality of experience to our customers. We continue to rely on Nokia to evolve our IP network with industry-leading router innovation and technology to address our needs today and for next generation services." 

Vach Kompella, Head of IP Networks Division, Nokia, said: “Today’s IP networks are expected to handle hundreds of new applications and services for millions of users. The 1T trial builds upon Nokia’s advanced routing technology and platforms to future-proof Vodafone Turkey’s IP network, which serves one of the world’s largest intercontinental markets. Together we have successfully validated Nokia’s FP4 based 1T clear channel interface across Asia and Europe.”

Nokia and Elisa test first 1 terabit clear-channel interface

Wednesday, January 27, 2021  Elisa, Finland, Nokia, Terabit  

Elisa, a network operator serving Finland and Estonia, has tested the first 1 Tbps clear-channel interface across its commercial infrastructure.Elisa upgraded some of its Nokia 7950 Extensible Routing System (XRS) nodes with 1T interfaces powered by Nokia’s FP4 chipset, the industry’s first terabit capable routing silicon. The new FP4 terabit linecard supports two 1T ports and demonstrated deployment readiness by carrying live traffic on Elisa’s...

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T-Systems teams with Google Cloud on sovereign cloud for Germany

T-Systems announced a strategic, long-term partnership with Google Cloud to provide a sovereign cloud for German enterprises, the public sector, and healthcare organizations. 

The companies agreed to develop a large spectrum of next-generation sovereign cloud solutions and infrastructure where customers can host their sensitive workloads whilst continuing to leverage the scalability, elasticity and reliability of public cloud services. Service management and operation of the sovereign cloud will be supervised by T-Systems.

The new joint offering that will be available as of mid 2022 and then upgraded over the following months. In addition, T Systems will exercise a control function over relevant parts of the German Google Cloud infrastructure. 

"Our joint strategic goal is to support the digitalization of European companies and the public sector as they move operations to the cloud," explained Adel Al-Saleh, member of the Telekom Board of Management and CEO of T-Systems. "Together with Google Cloud, we will build a sovereign cloud services portfolio that provides clients with full control over their data, software and operations whilst leveraging the full power of Google Cloud. Even stricter compliance requirements for public sector institutions will be addressed. We are happy that we’ll be able to offer customers a cloud solution that is secure and sovereign, but also gives access to the innovation and scalability of Google Cloud in Germany. We are also considering Austria and Switzerland as a next step," he added.

"We’re committed to helping enable Germany’s digital transformation,” said Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud. “Data privacy, security and control are vital to European and German organizations as they digitize their operations. The sovereign cloud solution we are partnering with T-Systems to create will provide public and private-sector organizations with an additional layer of technical and operational measures and controls that ensure German customers can meet their data, operational, and software sovereignty requirements." 

https://www.telekom.com/en/media/media-information/archive/sovereign-cloud-from-t-systems-and-google-cloud-635314

T-Systems enters strategic collaboration agreement with AWS

Thursday, December 17, 2020  AWS, Cloud, Deutsche Telekom, T-Systems  

T-Systems and Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced a multi-year Strategic Collaboration Agreement to manage the digital transformation of companies more quickly, efficiently and securely. 

T-Systems said the agreement will spur it to build out capacity in both solutions and people through a strong training and enablement program. The ICT service provider intends to train 3,000 additional AWS experts as part of the new collaboration.

Regarding security, AWS and T-Systems agreed to closely collaborate to achieve the targets recently set by the European regulation.

“Since the beginning of our relationship with AWS, we have built up expertise in AWS technology and combined it with our extensive experience from major transformation projects. Our customers appreciate this,” explained Adel Al-Saleh, member of the Deutsche Telekom Board of Management and CEO T-Systems.

https://www.t-systems.com/us/en/about-t-systems/news/t-systems-and-aws-expand-collaboration-365120

Deutsche Telekom aligns with Microsoft Azure

Thursday, December 10, 2020  Deutsche Telekom, Microsoft  

Deutsche Telekom and Microsoft announced a seven-year strategic agreement to help customers of all sizes accelerate their cloud transformation initiatives. 

"We have agreed on the framework for joint strategic growth with our long-term partner Microsoft. We are delighted," said Adel Al-Saleh, member of the Deutsche Telekom Board of Management and CEO of T-Systems. "This partnership will enable us to enhance services for our customers. We will also be supporting each other with digitalization and network build-out." 

Highlights

• Telekom plans to migrate the majority of its internal IT workloads to the public cloud by 2025 and Azure is a central part of that strategy. Through a companywide training program, thousands of Telekom employees will learn how to maximize the benefits of Azure. 
• Telekom will also offer its customers direct access to the Microsoft cloud through Azure ExpressRoute. 
• Telekom will offer Microsoft 365, including Microsoft Teams. As part of this, the companies have started a project for German schools to reimagine traditional approaches to education, enabling remote learning through cloud-based IT infrastructure, modern devices and the cloud productivity and collaboration applications within Microsoft 365. 
• Telekom will help its customers with moving their SAP environments to Azure. SAP solutions on Azure offer enterprise-grade security, and business continuity and reduce hardware expenses, making it easier for start-ups and smaller organizations to get started. 

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HyperLight advances its thin-film lithium niobate PICs

HyperLight, a start-up based in Cambridge, Mass., cited progress in its development of thin-film lithium niobate photonic integrated circuits for next-generation 800 Gbps and beyond 1.6 Tbps optical networking systems.

HyperLight claims its thin-film lithium niobate integrated photonics solution combines the proven superior material property of lithium niobate with an established and scalable integration process. The company has developed a thin-film lithium niobate modulator that reaches sub-volt driving voltages while maintaining >100 GHz bandwidth. Earlier generation of the devices achieved 700.5 Gbps line rate and 538.8 Gbps net rate over 10.2 km of single-mode fiber of intensity-modulated and direct detected (IM-DD) signals in a demonstration conducted with Nokia Bell Labs. 

Dr. Mian Zhang, CEO and co-founder of HyperLight, will present the company at the upcoming 2021 European Conference on Optical Communications (ECOC) next week in France.

https://hyperlightcorp.com/

HyperLight claims breakthrough with its lithium niobate optical modulator

Sunday, March 14, 2021  HyperLight, Optical, Start-Up  

HyperLight, a start-up based in Cambridge, MA developing thin-film lithium niobate (LN) photonic integrated circuits (PICs), announced breakthrough voltage-bandwidth performances in integrated electro-optic modulators. 

HyperLight says its electro-optic PIC could lead to orders of magnitude energy consumption reduction for next generation optical networking.

Current electro-optic modulators require extremely high radio-frequency (RF) driving voltages (> 5 V) as the analog bandwidth in ethernet ports approaches 100 GHz for future terabits per sec capacity transceivers. In comparison, a typical CMOS RF modulator driver delivers less than 0.5 V at such frequencies. Compound semiconductor modulator drivers can deliver voltage > 1 V at significantly increased cost and energy consumption but still fall short to meet the optimum driving voltage. The limited voltage-bandwidth performance in electro-optic modulators poses a serious challenge for meeting tight power consumption requirements from network builders.

HyperLight's integrated electro-optic modulator is capable of 3-dB bandwidth > 100 GHz, a previously impossible voltage-bandwidth achievement. The results are described in a manuscript entitled “Breaking voltage-bandwidth limits in integrated lithium niobate modulators using micro-structured electrodes,” published in Optica on March 8th, 2021.

“We believe the significantly improved electro-optic modulation performance in our integrated LN platform will lead to a paradigm shift for both analog and digital ultra-high speed RF links,” said Mian Zhang, author, CEO of HyperLight. “For example, using sub-volt modulators for digital applications, high speed electronic drivers may have largely reduced gain-bandwidth requirements or possibly be completely bypassed with modulators directly driven from electronic processors. This would save building and running costs for network operators. For RF links, the low-voltage, high bandwidth and excellent optical power handling ability could enable sensitive and low noise millimeter wave (mmWave) photonic links in ultrahigh-frequency bands.”

http://www.hyperlightcorp.com

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Databricks closes whopping $1.6 billion for data lakehouse

Databricks, which offers a data, analytics and AI platform, announced the final closing of its $1.6 billion Series H funding round with the participation of existing investors Amazon Web Services (AWS), CapitalG, and Microsoft.

Databricks, which is based in San Francisco, now boasts a $38 billion post-money valuation. 

Databricks says the new funding will be used to accelerate innovation and adoption of the lakehouse as the data architecture’s popularity across data-driven organizations continues to grow at a rapid pace.

“We are delighted to once again include our most strategic partners in this latest round of funding, as it validates our vision for an open and unified approach to data and AI on any cloud,” said Ali Ghodsi, Co-Founder and CEO of Databricks. “As we jointly make more organizations successful in their move to the cloud and accelerate adoption of the lakehouse architecture, we’re excited to see these partnerships – and the ecosystems formed around them – continue to grow for decades to come.”

Databrick builds its analytics platform directly on the cloud data lakes on AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud to support multiple data and analytics workloads in a single, unified location. The company claims more than 5,000 customers organizations worldwide — including Comcast, Condé Nast, H&M, and over 40% of the Fortune 500. Its founders include the original creators of Apache Spark, Delta Lake and MLflow.  

https://databricks.com/company/newsroom/press-releases/databricks-closes-series-h-with-additional-participation-from-strategic-partners

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King County builds metro edge with ADVA

 King County in the state of Washington is using ADVA's FSP 150 metro edge device to upgrade its network which serves education, public and government facilities.

ADVA’s compact and scalable FSP 150 device supports 100 Gbps aggregation at the metro edge, enabling the county to migrate its customers to 10 Gbps Ethernet services. 

King County’s new edge infrastructure delivers highly reliable MEF 3.0 demarcation and service aggregation. The ADVA FSP 150-XG400 Series features assurance functions and provides visibility of service quality – a key tool for effective SLA management. The device also includes pre-activation testing for 100 Gbps services. 

“The I-Net is a vital resource that provides cost-effective, dependable connectivity at public facilities for communities across the county. Local governments, schools, libraries and our many other partners throughout the region can confidently access even the most data-hungry, latency-sensitive applications. This high-capacity solution at the edge provides robust infrastructure that allows our partners to deliver critical online services to King County residents, regardless of their ZIP code,” said Tommy Lee, manager, I-Net and business development, King County. “ADVA’s edge technology is highly scalable because it requires no extra space or power consumption to quickly transition from 1Gbit/s to 10Gbit/s. It creates a genuinely future-proof architecture ready to expand further in years to come.”

http://www.adva.com

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UScellular selects Nokia for 5G SA core

UScellular selected Nokia for its standalone 5G core network. Deployment expected to be completed by the end of 2022. Financial terms were not disclosed.

UScellular’s deployment of Nokia’s 5G core adds to its existing support for the Radio Access Network (RAN) where Nokia is supplying its AirScale radios for both low-band and mmWave 5G.

Ed Cholerton, President of Nokia North America, said: “We are thrilled to be selected by UScellular to deliver a full 5G experience to its customers. Our 5G SA core and 5G radios provide not only new capabilities, scale, operational efficiencies, and revenue opportunities, but drive a far better user experience that customers expect. Working with UScellular to provide the core network function software and cloud infrastructure continues our momentum in the North American standalone 5G core market.”

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Verizon adds locations for 5G UWB and Home Internet

Verizon expanded the footprint of its 5G Ultra Wideband mobility service to Harrisburg, PA; Athens, GA; Orlando, FL and Fremont, CA, which means 5G Ultra Wideband is now available in parts of 82 cities. 

Verizon also expanded the availability of its 5G Home service to five additional cities: Fremont, CA; Orlando, FL; Pensacola, FL; Sarasota, FL and Niagara Falls, NY. With the addition of these new cities, Verizon’s 5G Home Internet is now available in parts of 57 cities.

“Our continued investment in 5G Ultra Wideband means that more people than ever can experience unmatched speed on phones and a home broadband alternative that is transforming the market,” said Kyle Malady, Verizon’s chief technology officer. “We will continue our aggressive push into even more places.”

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Altice USA announces resignation of its COO

Altice USA confirmed the resignation of Hakim Boubazine, Chief Operating Officer and President of Telecommunications.

Altice USA Chief Executive Officer Dexter Goei will assume direct responsibilities for the Telecommunications division, effective immediately. Mr. Boubazine will serve as Senior Advisor to the CEO until December 31, 2021.

Mr. Goei commented: “It has been a pleasure to work with Hakim, and I want to thank him for the critical role he has played over the last six years at Altice USA. We appreciate the time he will serve as a senior advisor and wish him much success in his future endeavors.”

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Cignal AI: Long-Haul WDM spending mix reaches record levels

Worldwide spending on network transport equipment declined 5% in the second quarter of 2021, according to the most recent Transport Hardware Report from research firm Cignal AI. North American results were weak YoY due to cyclical Covid influences in 2020. Still, NA operators are set to grow spending aggressively in the second half of the year. Chinese network operator spending collapsed over 20% in 2Q21 as 5G capex paused and supply chain challenges worsened.

“Despite current semiconductor supply chain issues, North American spending should accelerate in the second half of 2021 as operators purchase additional high-performance long-haul WDM coherent equipment,” said Kyle Hollasch, Lead Analyst for Transport Hardware at Cignal AI. “Long Haul line systems capable of supporting wider and variable channel spacing, higher degree counts, and improved add/drop capabilities provide compelling reasons to make investments now.”

Additional 2Q21 Transport Hardware Report Findings:

• The spending mix between long-haul and metro WDM reached a record level following 5 quarters of investment in advanced coherent and line system technology. Carriers may be deferring metro expenditures considering the imminent availability of transport system upgrades utilizing 400G coherent pluggables.
• Chinese optical and packet hardware spending collapsed, resulting in the largest single quarterly decline on record and the first instance of consecutive quarters with YoY declines.
• Sales of optical hardware in EMEA were up significantly YoY as the region continues to produce steady single-digit growth. Despite strategic wins by Nokia and observations of increasing replacement activity from Ciena, Huawei’s footprint in EMEA shows no noticeable impact from geopolitical factors.
• North American packet transport sales were up slightly, with market leader Cisco realizing gains in Core as its 8000 series routers ramp.
• Component shortages weighed on smaller equipment manufacturers as constrained global semiconductor production increased lead times. ADVA and Infinera quantified the effect on sales (10% and 6% of revenue, respectively), though larger vendors reported minimal impact on their sales. Vendors do not anticipate resolution of these issues until 2022.

https://cignal.ai/2021/09/north-american-optical-transport-spending-to-accelerate/

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NeoPhotonics debuts CFP2-DCO module for 400G ROADMs

NeoPhotonics announced a new, high output power version of its 400G Multi-Rate CFP2-DCO coherent pluggable transceiver with 0 dBm output power and designed to operate in metro, regional and long haul ROADM based optical networks.

NeoPhotonics said its new, high output power module is based on its vertically integrated Indium Phosphide technology platform, including its ultra-pure Nano tunable laser and Class 40 Coherent Driver Modulator (CDM) and Coherent Receiver (ICR). The module operates at up to 67 Gbaud enabling longer distance transmission and exhibiting superior receiver Optical Signal to Noise Ratio (rOSNR) performance. An important, differentiating feature is that the transmitter integrates an optical amplifier to achieve the 0 dBm output power, while simultaneously achieving what the Company believes is the best transmitter OSNR and out-of-band OSNR performance in the industry. Higher transmitter OSNR enables longer distance transmission or more ROADM stages, while higher out-of-band OSNR ensures less crosstalk for colorless ROADMs.

“Our newest CFP2-DCO coherent pluggable module, with high output power, robust ROADM filtering tolerance and demonstrated transmission over 1500 km, allows customers to use one coherent pluggable solution to cover essentially all metro ROADM use cases, simplifying network design, enabling disaggregation, and lowering inventory costs,” said Tim Jenks, Chairman and CEO of NeoPhotonics. “The key to achieving line card equivalent performance in a pluggable module, but with significantly lower power than a line card, is the vertical integration of our optical solution and Nano tunable laser,” concluded Mr. Jenks.

NeoPhotonics also notes that its CFP2-DCO module is well suited for metro ROADM applications to cover a network distribution of up to 16 ROADM spans, encompassing almost all network scenarios. In addition, this module runs at a high spectral efficiency with 75GHz DWDM channel spacing. The same 400G CFP2-DCO module has sufficient performance to cover long-haul applications at 400G and 200G.

https://www.neophotonics.com/press-releases/?newsId=12741

NeoPhotonics ships QSFP-DD and OSFP 400ZR coherent modules

Thursday, June 10, 2021  400ZR, Neophotonics, QSFP-DD  

NeoPhotonics announced the general availability of its QSFP-DD and OSFP 400ZR pluggable modules.These products utilize NeoPhotonics Silicon Photonics Coherent Optical Subassembly (COSA) and low power consumption, ultra-narrow linewidth Nano-ITLA tunable laser, combined with the latest generation of 7 nm node DSP, to provide full 400ZR transmission in a standard data center QSFP-DD or OSFP form factor that can be plugged directly into switches and...

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NeoPhotonics: Pluggable 400G over 1500 km in a 75 GHz-spaced system

Monday, June 07, 2021  Neophotonics  

NeoPhotonics demonstrated its Multi-Rate CFP2-DCO coherent pluggable transceivers transmitting at a 400 Gbps data rate over a distance of 1500 km in a 75 GHz-spaced DWDM network. This 1500 km transmission demonstration was carried out on NeoPhotonics Transmission System Testbed using production modules with enhanced firmware and utilized 75 GHz spaced channels taking the adjacent channel crosstalk-induced penalty into account.  The transmission...

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NeoPhotonics ships first coherent components for 800G and up

Thursday, May 13, 2021  800G, Neophotonics  

NeoPhotonics announced the first pilot shipments of Class 60 versions of its Coherent Driver-Modulator (CDM) and Intradyne Coherent Receiver (Micro-ICR) designed for the next generation of 96 GBaud and above systems supporting 800G rates.NeoPhotonics said higher symbol rates increase data capacity while maintaining superior optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) and reach performance, thereby enabling the highest speed-over-distance use. These new...

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AT&T inks deal with OneWeb for coverage in remote locations

AT&T signed a strategic agreement with OneWeb to provide LEO satellite coverage for AT&T business customers into remote and challenging geographic locations. The new connectivity will complement existing AT&T access technologies.

The AT&T service will be supported by OneWeb’s network of satellites. OneWeb has launched 288 satellites and expects to attain global coverage with a total fleet of 648 satellites by the end of 2022. AT&T business and government customers in Alaska and northern U.S. states will be covered later this year.

“Working with OneWeb, we’ll be able to enhance high-speed connectivity in places that we don’t serve today and meet our customers wherever they are,” said Scott Mair, President, Network Engineering and Operations, AT&T. “We’re expanding our network with one more option to help ensure that our business customers have the high-speed, low-latency connectivity they need to thrive as the nation recovers from COVID-19.”

“OneWeb’s enterprise-grade network has a unique capability to serve hard-to-reach businesses and communities. Our work with AT&T will focus on how satellite technology can support improved capacity and coverage in remote, rural and challenging geographic locations,” said  Neil Masterson,  OneWeb Chief Executive Officer. “Today’s agreement with AT&T demonstrates OneWeb’s execution momentum and the confidence customers such as AT&T have in its services and offering.”

https://about.att.com/story/2021/att_oneweb.html

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VSG: Lumen leads Mid-2021 U.S. Carrier Ethernet LEADERBOARD

Vertical Systems Group announces that the following seven companies achieved a position on the Mid-2021 U.S. Carrier Ethernet Services LEADERBOARD (in rank order based on retail port share as of June 30, 2021): Lumen, AT&T, Spectrum Enterprise, Verizon, Comcast, Cox and Windstream. To qualify for a rank on this LEADERBOARD, network providers must have a share of four percent (4%) or more of the U.S. retail Ethernet services market.

Five network providers attained a Mid-2021 Challenge Tier citation (in alphabetical order): Altice USA, Cogent, Frontier, GTT and Zayo. The Challenge Tier includes providers with between 1% and 4% share of the U.S. retail Ethernet services market.

“Protracted effects of the pandemic throughout the U.S. continue to suppress expansion of Ethernet service installations. Commercial building workforce levels – a primary driver for bandwidth – remain lower than normal,” said Rick Malone, principal of Vertical Systems Group. “We continue to see strength in demand for Ethernet DIA and Ethernet-based wavelength services. Conversely, the shift to hybrid SD-WAN solutions is negatively impacting switched metro Ethernet and Ethernet access to MPLS services.”

Mid-2021 U.S. Ethernet Services Research Highlights

• Lumen (formerly CenturyLink) has held first position on the U.S. Ethernet LEADERBOARD since year-end 2017, subsequent to the merger of CenturyLink and Level 3.
• Cox advances to sixth position on the Mid-2021 U.S. Ethernet LEADERBOARD ahead of Windstream, which moves to seventh position.
• Comcast had the highest port share growth in the first half of the year across all companies on the Mid-Year 2021 U.S. Ethernet LEADERBOARD.
• The number of Challenge Tier companies drops to five from six as T-Mobile (includes Sprint) moves into the Market Player tier.
• Dedicated Internet Access (DIA) continues to be the top performing Ethernet service. Customer demand for Ethernet DIA is driven by requirements for secure, high speed dedicated connectivity to data centers and cloud-based services, as well as for SD-WAN underlays.
• Growth of the substantial U.S. base of E-Access to VPN services is waning as customers migrate from MPLS to SD-WAN. E-Access to VPN offerings provide connectivity to private IP/MPLS VPNs, gateways to SD-WAN services and Hybrid WANs.
• Lumen and Verizon are the only U.S. Ethernet LEADERBOARD-ranked service providers with MEF 3.0 Carrier Ethernet certification to date.

https://www.verticalsystems.com/2021/08/31/mid2021-us-ethernet-leaderboard/

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BridgeComm develops optical inter-satellite links

BridgeComm announced plans to offer optical inter-satellite links (OISL) tracking terminals for high data rates for data transmission and resilient performance in navigation. 

BridgeComm’s AstroBridge OISL will provide robust and secure transmissions using MOCA technology via radio frequency (RF) and optical lasers. AstroBridge targets low-earth orbits (LEO), with non-gimballed steering for better control of optical communication tracking terminals. The non-gimballed steering capabilities of AstroBridge allow for tracking of greater than 1000° per second, which is crucial for constellations with multiple orbital planes.

“AstroBridge OISL is a significant step in the maturation of inter-satellite links and the future of satellite data transmission, as more companies are incorporating inter-satellite links,” said Barry Matsumori, BridgeComm CEO. “Along with increased speed and security, our AstroBridge OISL offers multi-gigabit per second data rate capabilities while being smaller and lighter than its standard inter-satellite link counterparts. These features will greatly improve functionality in space and on the ground.”

http://www.bridgecomminc.com

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Webex by Cisco hosts record 8 billion calls monthly

Cisco is now hosting a record eight billion calls monthly across its cloud calling platforms, the most of any cloud calling provider, according to the company. Webex also now supports more than 39 million cloud calling users worldwide - the most of any cloud calling provider.

To meet enterprises growing global needs, Cisco has also extended its domestic calling coverage to include the UK, with more than 65 countries now covered with its Cisco Calling Plans and Cloud Connected PSTN services. Noted customers for Webex Calling include T-Mobile, Office Depot, Cigna Health, and CDK Global.

Webex Calling is part of the Webex Suite – the industry’s first suite for hybrid work that provides Cloud Calling, Messaging, Meetings, Polling, Events and Socio in a unified, secure offering.

“With the move to hybrid work and increasing pressure to delight customers, there’s never been a greater need to unify communications across the entire workforce,” said Jeetu Patel, executive vice president and general manager, Cisco Security and Collaboration. “As enterprises look to migrate calling solutions to the cloud, Webex Calling offers the leading end-to-end, secure calling experience that makes unified communications a reality.”

https://newsroom.cisco.com/press-release-content?type=webcontent&articleId=219419

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Mitsubishi to supply electricity to AWS in Japan

Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) will supply electricity to data centers owned and operated by Amazon Web Services in Japan.

Under the long-term Corporate Power Purchase Agreement, West Holdings Corporation will build and maintain roughly 450 solar power stations (with a total installed capacity of approximately 22 megawatts) for Amazon and supply the online retailer with wholesale electricity. MC subsidiaries Mitsubishi Corporation Energy Solutions Ltd. and ElectroRoute will also be involved. The former will manage construction of the solar power facilities and provide tech support, while the latter will forecast the facilities’ outputs and hedge power generation imbalances. The term of this Corporate PPA is approximately ten years, with commercial operations slated to commence in April 2023.  

 MC is aiming to double its 2019 renewable energy output by 2030 and completely eliminate fossil fuels and CO2 emissions from its power-generation portfolio by 2050. 

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Redefining the Perimeter with SD-WAN and SASE

 

https://youtu.be/Zi1WGo58_xo

With the hybrid work environment, the convergence of security and networking has never been more present. In this video, Jeff Lewis, Vice President, Software Defined Networking – Products, Solutions and Operations at Comcast Business, discusses the evolution in the SD-WAN space and how the edge perimeter is being redefined with SASE.

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Keysight unveils Silicon Photonics Test System

 Keysight Technologies introduced a silicon photonics test system that enables semiconductor manufacturers to speed delivery of silicon photonics wafer production with stable and repeatable test capabilities.

The new NX5402A Silicon Photonics Test System integrated with Keysight PathWave Semiconductor Test software technology (part of Keysight PathWave Test software) delivers:

• One-stop: Provides proven measurement technologies and direct support capabilities including integrated optical and electrical test capabilities and Keysight-developed fiber alignment and positioning system based on Keysight’s measurement science.
• Fully automated: Eliminates manual operations with PathWave Semiconductor Test software which is compatible with Keysight’s SPECS software, enabling one-pass silicon photonics testing.
• Volume production ready: Factory automation software, safety interlock and clean room ready features support manufacturing use, providing high throughput testing based on multi-channel optical and electrical test architecture, as well as optimized fiber alignment.
• Demonstrated system performance: Maintains high accuracy, repeatability and reproducibility from laboratory to fabrication, delivering advanced wafer-level photonic calibration, as well as reliable performance monitoring with built-in automatic system diagnostics.

"Ahead of the growing market demand for silicon photonics, Keysight is excited to announce the first test solution for silicon photonics volume production market,” said Shinji Terasawa, vice president and general manager of Keysight’s Wafer Test Solutions group. “Our NX5402A test system is the first solution that combines Keysight’s expertise in electrical and optical measurement with Keysight’s fiber alignment and positioning system integrated by PathWave Semiconductor Test software."

http://www.keysight.com

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Dell'Oro raises outlook for O-RAN

Dell'Oro Group's Open RAN radio and baseband projections have been revised upward – total cumulative Open RAN revenues are now projected to approach $10 B to $15 B between 2020 and 2025.

“The momentum with both commercial deployments and the broader Open RAN movement continued to improve during 1H21, bolstering the thesis that Open RAN is here to stay,” said Stefan Pongratz, Vice President and analyst with the Dell’Oro Group. “We are adjusting the forecast upward to reflect the higher baseline and the improved pipeline,” continued Pongratz.

Additional highlights from the Dell’Oro Group Open RAN Advanced Research Report:

• Open RAN revenues are expected to account for more than 10 percent of the overall RAN market by 2025, reflecting healthy traction in multiple regions with both basic and advanced radios.
• Open RAN Massive MIMO projections have been revised upward to reflect the improved competitive landscape and the improved market sentiment with upper mid-band Open RAN.
• The shift towards Virtualized RAN (V-RAN) is progressing at a slightly slower pace than Open RAN. Still, total V-RAN projections remain relatively unchanged, with V-RAN expected to approach $2 B to $3 B by 2025.

https://www.delloro.com/news/open-ran-forecast-revised-upward/

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Dell'Oro: SP router and switch market dipped in 2Q21

 The worldwide Service Provider Router and Switch market declined with a low single-digit revenue decrease in 2Q 2021, according to a new report from Dell'Oro Group. The market contraction was primarily the result of a reduction in revenue in China that offset growth in all other regions.

“The demand for routers in China declined in the second quarter as 5G transport buildouts slowed, but we think this was a temporary situation that a strong rebound is likely in the second half of the year,” said Shin Umeda, Vice President at Dell’Oro Group. “The good news is that revenue from all other regions increased in the second quarter, and service provider router spending for the first half of 2021 have climbed above pre-pandemic levels,” added Umeda.

Additional highlights from the 2Q 2021 Service Provider Router and Switch Report:

• Cisco remained the top-ranked vendor for market share, followed by Huawei, Nokia, and Juniper.
• The Service Provider Core Router market is on track to grow at a double-digit rate in 2021, led by the adoption of 400 Gbps technologies.
• Supply constraints have not had a significant effect on the Service Provider Router and Switch market through the first half of 2021.

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