Lightmatter pulls in additional $155M for photonic interconnects / processors

Lightmatter, a start-up based in Boston that is developing photonic interconnect and compute products, annouced $155 million in a Series C-2 funding round. The company has raised over $420 million to date and is now valued at over $1.2 billion. The latest funding round was led by GV (Google Ventures) and Viking Global Investors, with participation from others. 

Lightmatter said its full stack of photonics-enabled hardware and software solutions will reduce power consumption and increase performance.

“Lightmatter is positioned to be a key driver in powering the next generation of computing systems that will further enable AI innovation. Through photonic technologies, Lightmatter is ensuring the steady progress in computing performance continues, despite growing power consumption challenges and slowing progress with transistor scaling,” said Lightmatter co-founder and CEO, Nick Harris. “We are thankful for the support of our investors, each of whom share our vision of Lightmatter playing an integral role in the future of computing. By increasing speed, lowering cost, and reducing environmental impact, our technologies can continue to push the limits of what’s possible, fueling greater AI adoption and innovation.”

Some additional notes:

• Since May 2023, Lightmatter has grown its headcount more than 50% to meet client demand and product milestones. 
• Lightmatter plans to open a Toronto office in 2024. 
• Danner Stodolsky has been appointed Vice President of Data Center Architecture.  Danner was previously Senior Vice President of Cloud at SambaNova and a Vice President of Engineering at Google.
• Colin Sturt has been appointed General Counsel. He brings over 20 years of semiconductor industry experience to Lightmatter and was most recently Senior Vice President and General Counsel at Dialog Semiconductor.

https://lightmatter.co/

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OpenZR+ MSA tests multi-vendor interoperability

 The OpenZR+ Multi-Source Agreement (MSA) Group announced the results of two successful interoperability test events at LightRiver and featuring coherent optical transceivers from Cisco, Coherent, Fujitsu, Juniper Networks, and Lumentum operating on Cisco and Juniper routers. 

The testing demonstrated compatibility to the OpenZR+ specification and interoperability between optical transceiver modules from different vendors in two different routers by transporting 400 Gbps traffic over various optical links. 

Highlights: 

• Phase 1 (August 2023): Verification that optical transceiver QSFP-DD-DCO modules comply to the OpenZR+ multi-source agreement in router platforms through the OIF CMIS compliant interface in loopback mode. Also verify that optical transceiver QSFP-DD-DCO modules from different vendors interoperate over a Single-Span link with 75 km of fiber.
• Phase 2 (September 2023): Multi-vendor Interoperability and performance testing over multi-span optical line system (OLS).

The OpenZR+ MSA Group also published a whitepaper that notes:

• 400G OpenZR+ optical transceiver modules from multiple vendors operated in different routers
• All 400G OpenZR+ optical transceiver modules transported traffic with no post-FEC bit errors at receiver OSNR of 24 dB or less
• 400G OpenZR+ optical transceiver modules from five different vendors interoperated with each other
• 400G traffic was transported over a typical DCI use case with 75 km of fiber and a typical metro use case with multi-spans over 430 km of fiber.

"The results of this multi-vendor interoperability testing validate the readiness of network operators to take advantage of 400G pluggables in order to cost-effectively scale their networks to meet growing bandwidth demands," said Tom Williams, Co-chair of the OpenZR+ MSA Group.

"Not only does interoperability enable a more robust supply chain in the industry by allowing network operators to mix and match equipment and services from different providers, but it can also accelerate the adoption of new technology," said Atul Srivastava, Co-chair of the OpenZR+ MSA Group.

The whitepaper can be downloaded from the OpenZR+ MSA Group website.

http://openzrplus.org

• in September 2023, the OpenZR+ Multi-Source Agreement (MSA) Group published the OpenZR+ Rev 3.0 specification which defines a higher performing 400G 8QAM mode as well as a higher transmit power mode.The new specification is designed to further expand the application space for a coherent solution in small form factor pluggable modules, such as form factors defined by the QSFP-DD MSA and OSFP MSA.

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Data Center Architecture Spanning Edge to Cloud with AI & 5G

Check out AI and Cloud Data Center Networking videos here: https://ngi.fyi/aidcnet23yt

AI is making a transformative impact on data center architecture. Yet developers know that applications must flow seamlessly from core to edge. How can these forces be resolved? Sanjay Kumar, VP of Products and Marketing from Arrcus, explains:

• How Arrcus' solutions optimize and maximize the utilization of GPUs in data centers, minimizing latency and loss in running AI/ML workloads. They offer two architectures: traditional IP CLOS leaf and spine, and a distributed architecture for massive scale,
• The role of FlexMCN, a network fabric overlay, in stitching together workloads from the edge through the core and into multicloud or public cloud environments. This robust, secure, and flexible solution allows network operators to run workloads wherever they reside and deliver applications wherever they're required.
• The introduction of an innovative technology, SRv6 mobile user plane, developed in collaboration with SoftBank Mobile. This technology simplifies the delivery of network slicing, lowers the total cost of ownership, and helps network operators monetize their infrastructure.

https://youtu.be/54gH9vaYhsU

Additionally, Arrcus' ArcIQ solution provides end-to-end network visibility, streaming real-time telemetry from the underlying infrastructure to give operators a comprehensive view of their network.

Join Sanjay as he takes you through Arrcus' vision for a distributed AI and 5G world, and how their solutions are helping network operators deliver on this vision.

Want to be involved our video series? Contact info@nextgeninfra.io

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Arrcus joins the Ultra Ethernet Consortium

Arrcus has joined the Ultra Ethernet Consortium (UEC), a Linux Foundation initiative dedicated to developing next-generation Ethernet technologies for AI and HPC applications.

The UEC is a collaborative effort among industry leaders to address the growing demands of AI and HPC workloads on data center networks. These workloads require high performance, low latency, and scalable interconnects to efficiently move massive datasets and rapidly process complex algorithms.

Arrcus said it is joining the UEC to contribute its expertise in advanced networking technologies, including its Leaf-Spine Fabric Architecture and its support for high-speed Ethernet interfaces, such as 400GE and 800GE. The company is also committed to working with other UEC members to develop and standardize new Ethernet technologies that meet the specific needs of AI and HPC applications.

“We are thrilled to join the UEC and contribute to the development of next-generation Ethernet technologies for AI and HPC,” said Shekar Ayyar, chairman and CEO at Arrcus. “The UEC’s mission to create an open, interoperable, and high-performance Ethernet ecosystem aligns perfectly with our own goals at Arrcus, and we are confident that our participation will help to accelerate innovation in this critical area.”

Arrcus also brings its recently announced ACE-AI solution for distributed AI workloads. This networking solution based on ArcOS, delivers a modern, unified network fabric for optimizing distributed GPU and other compute resources with maximum performance for AI/ML workloads, and positions Arrcus as a significant contributor to the consortium's mission. This solution encompasses next-generation datacenter networking architectures, as well as innovations in hybrid/multi-cloud connectivity and 5G transport to seamless connect GPU resources where ever they may reside.

https://arrcus.com/news/arrcus-joins-the-ultra-ethernet-consortium/

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Comcast confirms massive breach impacting nearly 36m customers

Comcast confirmed a data security breaching involving nearly 36 million of its Xfinity broadband customers across the U.S.

Comcast blamed the cyber intrusion on a zero-day vulnerability in Citrix software. Comcast claims to have patched the software promptly after Citrix issued in mitigation

guidance on October 23, 2023, however, it discovered unauthorized access to its systems between October 16 and October 19, 2023.

It is believed that compromised data included usernames, hashed passwords, contact information, last four digits of social security numbers, dates of birth and/or secret questions and answers.

Comcast's statement is posted here:

https://assets.xfinity.com/assets/dotcom/learn/Notice%20To%20Customers%20of%20Data%20Security%20Incident.pdf

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Canada's Western James Bay Telecom Network selects Infinera

Western James Bay Telecom Network (WJBTN) selected Infinera to expand connectivity services to rural communities in northern Ontario, Canada. 

The deployment will use the Infinera XTM Series to deliver flexible, reliable, and cost-effective high-bandwidth solutions to its residential, business, and government customers. FONEX Data Systems is Infinera's integration partner.

WJBTN has been bringing telecommunications services to rural communities in Canada from Moosonee along the western James Bay coast through Fort Albany, Kashechewan, and Attawapiskat since 2010. With the selection of Infinera, WJBTN will be able to cost-effectively deliver critical next-generation high-capacity network services to support the region’s economic development and access to education and telehealth.

“FONEX’s unwavering support, coupled with Infinera’s excellent XTM solution, has greatly improved our network design, enabling us to substantially boost bandwidth, expand our service network footprint, and significantly enhance service quality and bandwidth speeds for our valued customers,“ said David Coté, General Manager, Western James Bay Telecom Network.

“We are pleased to support Western James Bay Telecom Network’s upgrade, helping them expand their broadband networking infrastructure with Infinera’s leading technology to deliver robust connectivity services to rural Ontario communities,” said Nick Walden, Senior Vice President, Worldwide Sales, Infinera.

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University of Stuttgart picks HPE for supercomputers

The High-Performance Computing Center of the University of Stuttgart selected Hewlett Packard Enterprise to build two new supercomputers. The total combined cost of the project is €115 million and funding will be provided through the Gauss Centre for Supercomputing (GCS), the alliance of Germany's three national supercomputing centers. Half of this funding will be provided by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), and the second half by the State of Baden-Württemberg's Ministry of Science, Research, and Arts.

In the first stage, a transitional supercomputer, called Hunter, will begin operation in 2025. This will be followed in 2027 with the installation of Herder, an exascale system that will provide a significant expansion of Germany’s high-performance computing (HPC) capabilities. 

Hunter will raise HLRS’s peak performance to 39 petaFLOPS (39*1015 floating point operations per second), an increase from the 26 petaFLOPS possible with its current supercomputer, Hawk. It will use the AMD Instinct MI300A accelerated processing unit (APU), which combines CPU and GPU processors and high-bandwidth memory into a single package.

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/8327500062634719808/7942586984531530769

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AI's impact on data center traffic and ZR/ZR+ optics

 How is AI impacting data center traffic and what effect will this have on inter data center links? Josef Berger, AVP Marketing from Marvell explains:

• The increasing demand for data center interconnect bandwidth due to upgrades in GPU clusters and the construction of new data centers. This demand is driving the need for ZR connectivity.
• The benefits and growing demand for their 400 ZR and upcoming 800 gig ZR and ZR plus products. These products offer more modes, longer reaches, and larger network coverage with low-cost and low-power plugables.
• The company's ongoing engagement with customers and end users who are excited about the additional capabilities of these products. They are currently ramping up 400 ZR and are looking forward to making more announcements around the 800 gig ZR product line.

https://youtu.be/ExCE24gyf98

Have a tech update that you want to brief us on? Contact info@nextgeninfra.io!

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The Arms Race for AI Clusters

Check out AI and Cloud Data Center Networking videos here: https://ngi.fyi/aidcnet23yt

Has the demand for AI data center spurred a new arms race in advanced semiconductors and optics? Brad Booth, Ethernet and Optical Technology Advisor, explains:

• The exponential growth of AI data centers in the past five years, driven by the increasing capabilities of AI and the demand from both hyperscale and cloud markets.
• The challenges faced in meeting the demand for GPUs and optical modules, and the subsequent surge in bandwidth requirements for these devices.
• The innovation spurred by this growth, including the rise of startups bringing new technologies to the market, the exploration of new materials, and the need for faster bandwidth and memory elements to handle the increasing demands.

https://youtu.be/oDiqDlqpjT4

Join Brad as he delves into the exciting world of AI data centers, discussing the challenges, innovations, and future predictions in this rapidly evolving industry.

Want to be involved our video series? Contact info@nextgeninfra.io

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Multi-Color Lasers and Micro Ring Resonators for DCI

Check out AI and Cloud Data Center Networking videos here: https://ngi.fyi/aidcnet23yt

Scaling data center interconnect bandwidth is a daunting challenge. John Jost, Co-founder and Co-CEO from Enlightra, proposes an innovative developmental path:

• The traditional method of moving information with a single color laser is reaching its practical limits. Enlightra's technology allows us to use many colors to scale bandwidth.
• Enlightra's unique approach involves taking a single laser and converting it into many colors, capable of high-capacity data transfer. This is a more efficient solution than trying to put hundreds of lasers on a single chip.
• Enlightra's core technology, a micro ring resonator, uses special physics properties to convert a single color laser into many stable, coherent, and low-noise colors.

https://youtu.be/JQduhhiskek

Join John as he explains how this Swiss-based startup, founded in 2022, is targeting data transfer and AI capacities with their multicolor lasers.

Want to be involved our video series? Contact info@nextgeninfra.io

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HellasQCI and Nokia target quantum-safe networks

Nokia completed a proof of concept (PoC) of Quantum-Safe Networks (QSN) in a complex optical network ring topology across three locations in Greece with HellasQCI, the Greek National Quantum Communication Infrastructure Consortium. 

The tests demonstrated hybrid key generation using both classic and quantum physics to generate and distribute Quantum-Safe keys for encrypted optical services. The goal of the PoC was to run use cases with the HellasQCI consortium members from government, research and education, defense, law enforcement and private sector critical infrastructure owners to ensure Quantum-Safe connectivity infrastructure.

The Nokia QSN solution showcased the value added by the Nokia Security Management Server (SMS) to orchestrate Quantum-Safe keys and provide continuous monitoring and management of quantum secured connectivity. This particular SMS is the Quantum-Safe Key orchestrator, managing key requests and assuring Quantum-Safe services for the given crypto period. Upon continuous monitoring of Quantum-Safe connectivity service, the system’s SMS can increase secured connectivity resiliency automatically by reverting to classic physics-based keys in case of issues on the QKD layer.

The PoC was performed on a ring connecting three nodes in GRNET’s Data Center, the National Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) Network Operations Center (NOC), and the NKUA Department of Informatics and Telecommunications (DIT), Optics Communications and Photonic Technology Laboratory (OPTCOMMS-PTL).

The HellasQCI consortium consists of 14 public organizations and private corporations, and is led by GRNET as project coordinator and NKUA as its technical coordinator. GRNET operates under the auspices of the Greek Ministry of Digital Governance, providing networking, cloud computing, high-performance computing, and e-Infrastructures. It connects more than 150 organizations across 50 cities and serves hundreds of thousands of users daily in public administration, education, research, health and culture.

Dr. Ognjen Prnjat, Director for European Infrastructures and Projects Directorate at GRNET, said: “We are very pleased with the successful completion of the PoC with Nokia, which is one of the key milestones for the HellasQCI project that establishes the National Quantum Communication Infrastructure in Greece. GRNET plays a crucial role in various European infrastructures for research and education, including EOSC, EUDAT, EGI, GÉANT, PRACE, and EuroHPC, and we are honored to have been given the responsibility by the Ministry of Digital Governance to lead the implementation of this innovative quantum network infrastructure as part of the pan-European Quantum Communication Infrastructure (EuroQCI) initiative. The PoC demonstrated the feasibility and the benefits of Quantum-Safe Networks for securing critical communications in Greece and in Europe and we look forward to continuing our collaboration with Nokia and other partners to develop and deploy an operational and secure EuroQCI.”

James Watt, Head of the Optical Networks Division at Nokia, said: “We are proud to partner with HellasQCI and its consortium members to demonstrate our QSN solution in this challenging and innovative PoC. Test environments like this are crucial to ensure networks are ready for quantum-level cybersecurity attacks, which are inevitable as quantum computing becomes more accessible around the world. Nokia brings a structured framework and a collaborative partner-based approach combined with our world-leading networking expertise with extensive experience managing large-scale and complex deployments with multi-connectivity domain and multi QKD vendor technologies.”

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Lockheed Martin, Verizon demo 5G streaming for DoD

Lockheed Martin Skunk Works and Verizon demonstrated 5G streaming for real-time visualization content on edge computing devices to advance Department of Defense (DOD) sustainment missions.

The demonstration validated three things:

• 5G at the edge for latency critical interactions of complex visualization applications such as augmented, virtual, or extended reality experiences
• Streaming of real-time, complex, 3D visualization content
• Streaming to edge compute devices including tablets, mobile, Head Mounted Displays (HMDs), and more

These technologies enable Lockheed Martin's "Maintainer as a Node" concept, by which a connected maintainer receives all the information where, when and how it is needed in a latency-critical environment.

The companies said their collaboration enables sustainment use cases where advanced visualization capabilities are critical to supporting the maintainer with Resilient Logistics in a Contested Environment (RLCE). Examples of these use cases include:

• 3D step-based work instructions
• Augmented/virtual/extended reality content deployment
• Remote desktop of high-end, real-time, 3D applications scenarios
• Remote assistance and other 3D graphically intensive applications

"Streaming is the future, and through our strategic collaboration with Verizon, together we're advancing crucial 21st Century Security technologies that drive speed, efficiency, quality and reliability where our customers need it most," said Marc O'Brien, senior manager of Virtual Prototyping at Lockheed Martin Skunk Works. 

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Armada raises $55M for edge data center in containers

Armada, a start-up based in San Francisco specializing in edge computing, AI, and connectivity, recently emerged from stealth with a notable capital raise exceeding $55M. The funding round was led by prominent investors including Founders Fund, Lux Capital, Shield Capital, and 8090 Industries. 

The company is developing dge computing solutions that are designed to be deployable on both on-premise and cloud infrastructures. The edge computing technology enables data processing closer to the source of data generation, which is particularly crucial for real-time processing and decision-making in remote regions and in various industries. The solutions will offer edge satellite internet connectivity to the world’s most remote regions. 

“Today, AI — including large language models, multimodal AI and predictive models — is revolutionizing every facet of our lives and work, but not everyone has the same opportunity. What’s truly astounding is that vast swaths of the world still lack basic internet access, much less the ability to derive tangible value from their data,” said Armada co-founder and CEO Dan Wright. “Armada’s mission is to bridge the digital divide once and for all, giving our customers the ability to solve their biggest problems.”

https://www.armada.ai

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Lumen appoints Satish Lakshmanan as CPO

Lumen Technologies named Dr. Satish Lakshmanan as its new Chief Product Officer, reporting to Lumen CEO Kate Johnson.

Dr. Lakshmanan comes to Lumen from Amazon Web Services (AWS) where he was the global leader for Artificial Intelligence Services. At AWS, he generated and delivered new revenue streams across major industries and segments improving existing revenue channels and setting global revenue targets aligned with goals and objectives. He also held various product leadership roles at NetApp, Western Digital, QLogic, and Texas Instruments and has a doctorate in chemical engineering.

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Democratizing Networking with SONiC

What key learnings from hyperscalers can be applied to enterprise data centers? Kamran Naqvi, Principal Network Architect from Broadcom, explains how they are democratizing networking for everyone:

- Broadcom has taken the benefits and advantages previously only available to hyperscalers and made them accessible to all. They've done this by enabling features in SONiC, an open-source network operating system initially developed by Microsoft for their Azure Cloud.

- They've transformed SONiC into an enterprise-class system by enabling features like CXL, EVPN, telemetry, and time synchronization. This has led to many enterprise customers adopting SONiC.

- Broadcom has also enabled silicon telemetry features in their silicon, which were previously only available to mega scalers. These features allow customers to quickly get to the root cause analysis and understand if an application performance issue is caused by the network or not.

Join Kamran as he discusses how Broadcom is taking SONiC to next gen switching silicon.

https://youtu.be/nR_uvqQFD-Q

Want to be involved our video series? Contact info@nextgeninfra.io

Check out AI and Cloud Data Center Networking videos here: https://ngi.fyi/aidcnet23yt

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Chiplet Architecture for Next Gen Infrastructure

What's driving the deep interest in chiplet architecture? How does it scale, and is there a role for open interfaces?

Bapi Vinnakota, ODSA Project Lead from Open Compute Project explains:

- Chiplets are currently the fastest and most efficient way to build heterogenous systems, integrating different types of compute into one package. This is essential for accommodating the ever-changing AI workloads.

- The IO bandwidth, both into memory and in terms of raw network, needs to increase dramatically to keep up with the growing demands of data centers. Companies associated with the ODSA are working on solutions to this challenge.

- Open interfaces are believed to be the best way to integrate systems, creating composable systems that integrate chiplet devices from multiple vendors into one usable whole. This is a fundamental belief at the OCP and is key to meeting the requirements of future data centers, especially those with AI-intensive workloads.

https://youtu.be/CYk0Cip5bx8

Want to be involved our video series? Contact info@nextgeninfra.io

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Deutsche Telekom expands fiber reach

Deutsche Telekom added 2.5 million new fiber connections in 2023, reaching a total of eight million households will be able to book a fiber optic connection by the end of the year. The company is on track to reach more than ten million fiber households in 2024 

"Fiber is and remains the hot topic in our industry. The fiber optic boom is really taking off in Germany right now. We are building super-fast Internet for more and more people. There has never been as much fiber as in 2023," said Srini Gopalan, responsible for Germany on Deutsche Telekom's Board of Management, at the company's Network Day in Bonn. 

"We will reach the one millionth contract at the beginning of 2024. We also have more than 700,000 households and companies in the pipeline that have already booked a connection in the pre-marketing phase," Gopalan continued. "We build without any ifs and buts. Our business model is very long-term. We can see that the demand for bandwidth is continuing to grow. With FTTH, we are already building the infrastructure for the future today." This year, Deutsche Telekom has invested more than 2.5 billion euros in pure fiber optic expansion - far more than any other competitor. By 2030, a total of 30 billion euros will flow into the fiber optic rollout. 

• Deutsche Telekom also continued its extensive expansion in mobile communications: 96 percent of the population can now use Deutsche Telekom's 5G network - in other words, over 80 million people, ensured by a total of over 80,000 5G antennas. 
• Deutsche Telekom reached a new milestone on 3.6 gigahertz spectrum: over 10,000 antennas are now transmitting in more than 800 cities and municipalities. And with download speeds of up to 1 Gbps.
• Deutsche Telekom is planning more than 3,000 ORAN-compatible antenna sites by the end of 2026.
• Next year, private customers will also be able to use 5G Standalone (SA). 

“We will continue with the same concentration and focus in the coming years and keep up the pace," emphasized Gopalan. "We are the reliable partner for Germany. We build what we promise. We want to turn people in Germany into fiber fans and 5G fans." 

https://www.telekom.com/en/media/media-information/archive/telekom-network-day-2023-1055364 

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Nokia and Deutsche Telekom deploy multi-vendor Open RAN

Nokia and Deutsche Telekom have begun to deploy a multi-vendor Open RAN network with Fujitsu in Germany. 

The technology is fully integrated into DT’s live commercial network and the initial cluster will provide 2G, 4G, and 5G commercial services to customers in the Neubrandenburg area of Northern Germany. The deal marks a significant return for Nokia into DT’s commercial network and is the realization of the Memorandum of Understanding signed by both companies at MWC 2023. Nokia will replace the incumbent vendor in the deal. The project is already underway and will be extended from Q1 2024 onwards.

Nokia will deploy its commercial Open RAN compliant, high-performance, energy efficient 5G AirScale baseband solution in DT’s commercial network including Fujitsu Radio Units. Nokia’s O-RAN solution will ensure DT has full feature, service, and performance parity with classic purpose-built RAN. Both companies have also agreed to explore O-RAN technology around Cloud RAN, 3rd party CaaS, RIC, SMO, and energy efficiency.   

Claudia Nemat, Board Member of Deutsche Telekom AG for Technology and Innovation commented: “Open RAN is crucial to Deutsche Telekom’s strategy to promote greater supplier diversity and accelerate customer-oriented innovation in the radio access network. Our commercial deployment with Nokia and Fujitsu is an important step to prepare multi-vendor Open RAN as the technology of choice for future networks.” 

Tommi Uitto, President of Mobile Networks at Nokia, said: “We are proud to partner with Deutsche Telekom, the largest mobile network operator in Europe, to start deploying a commercial multi-vendor Open RAN network in Germany with Fujitsu. Together, we are making Open RAN a commercial reality. Nokia’s industry-leading radio access portfolio and baseband software ensures that multi-supplier O-RAN systems can be deployed without any compromises in terms of performance, energy efficiency, or security. Together with our ecosystem of partners, we are providing more choice and a higher performance in Open RAN solutions to our customers than they will see from other RAN suppliers. This is another step highlighting Nokia’s commitment to Open RAN.” 

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Swisscom deploys Netcracker’s Network Domain Orchestration

Swisscom has deployed Netcracker’s Network Domain Orchestration (NDO) solution to modernize the IT landscape of the operator’s new terabit IP transport aggregation network (TITAN). 

This initiative is part of a large-scale OSS transformation program at Swisscom to create a more flexible, future-proof and automated modern digital architecture with lower operational costs.

Netcracker NDO provides a unifying automation solution incorporating real-time and federated inventory for end-to-end visibility and a single source of truth. It also provides efficient network planning and design that speeds up network rollouts and a DevOps-based design studio to rapidly onboard new devices using vendor-agnostic resource modelling. The solution enables highly automated processes, from device onboarding to rollout planning, physical and logical discovery and reconciliation, and works with any mix of transport network vendors. The cloud-native solution allows Swisscom to share TITAN inventory data in real-time – using open APIs – with multiple external systems using state-of-the-art communication techniques.

“Swisscom is one of the most innovative operators in Europe, and we are very proud of the confidence they have placed in us to be part of their new IP transport network,” said Benedetto Spaziani, GM at Netcracker. “With our NDO solution, we look forward to helping Swisscom deliver positive outcomes for the business as it continues to revolutionize the market.”

https://www.netcracker.com

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Bluebird Network closes $285M in financing

 

Bluebird Network, a U.S. communications infrastructure provider and operator of more than 11,000 miles of fiber and two data centers,received $285 million of five-year Senior Secured Credit Facilities. 

The company said it has used the credit facilities to refinance its existing indebtedness and to fund ongoing capital expenditures including network upgrades, expansion into new markets, and an awarded Middle Mile grant build. 

TD Securities acted as Lead Left Arranger on the financing and is the Administrative Agent for the Credit Facilities.

“We’re thrilled to announce the closing of this refinancing,” says Michael Morey, President and CEO of Bluebird Network. “It’s a point of pride that we’re viewed by lenders as a trustworthy company to work with.”

 Over the past year, Bluebird has built more than 360 new route miles of fiber and expanded into several additional markets throughout Missouri, Illinois and Iowa. This new financing provides Bluebird with the capital to execute development plans in accordance with the company’s strategic vision to have a fiber presence in 80 percent of cities with a population of 10,000 people or more across its 11-state footprint in the Midwest. Beyond market densification projects, in 2024, Bluebird is planning additional long-haul fiber routes and recently completed an underground river crossing in St. Louis, traversing the Mississippi River and adding a new, diverse route to its network offerings. In 2023, the company was awarded a grant as part of the U.S. Department of Commerce's Enabling Middle Mile Broadband Infrastructure Program. The grant will be used to build a highly desirable route connecting St. Louis and Tulsa, which is expected to be completed over the next four years. 

  

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