Monday, May 6, 2024

Toshiba and PacketLight demo QKD over DWDM

PacketLight Networks and Toshiba Digital Solutions demonstrated quantum key distribution (QKD) over DWDM.

 The demonstration, which featured the integration of Toshiba’s QKD solution with PacketLight’s OTN encrypted transport solutions, was led by the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) of Japan at the Sapporo Snow Festival and the Okinawa testbeds respectively held in February.

PacketLight and Toshiba teams validated the compatibility of quantum communication systems with optical networking infrastructure through a detailed series of successful evaluations that delivered QKD alongside a high number of conventional DWDM data signals, and demonstrated quantum secure data transmission with QKD encryption.

The validation was conducted over two types of QKD networks in Japan: a long-haul link in Okinawa and a multiplexed QKD link in Sapporo. 

Toshiba’s long-haul QKD system in Okinawa utilized PacketLight’s PL-4000M Muxponder to transmit two 200G wavelengths over a 74-km link with the Quantum channel running over 1550 nm. The link performance was measured using a 100G tester, showing 100% throughput and low latency, in compliance with RFC2544 standard.

Toshiba’s multiplexed QKD system in Sapporo utilized PacketLight’s PL-4000M Muxponder to transmit a 400G wavelength, with the Quantum channel running over 1310 nm.

PacketLight and Toshiba demonstrate that QKD-secured signals can share the same space as classical data transmissions on the same fiber network, and show how QKD technology can be easily deployed on today’s existing networks without the need for a separate fiber. Using QKD on existing fiber networks provides significant cost savings and increases deployment speed as it removes the need to use dedicated fiber for QKD transmission. 

"We are thrilled that the trial with PacketLight was successful,” said Shinya Murai, Senior Fellow, QKD Business Development Office, Toshiba Digital Solutions Corporation. “Toshiba has been at the forefront of quantum computing technology since 1999. We’ve achieved a series of world firsts in quantum technology deployment, developing quantum-secure and future-proof network communications infrastructures that can protect data from any threat – even those posed by quantum computers. This trial has verified that our technology work when connected to PacketLight's equipment, making it accessible to a broader customer base. We will continue to work together with our partners to provide solutions for quantum safe communications."

"The integration of Toshiba's QKD technology with PacketLight's DWDM/OTN devices paves the way for enhanced secure data transmission," said Koby Reshef, CEO of PacketLight. "We take pride in our involvement in this cooperation and eagerly anticipate the market’s response to the new opportunities it presents."

 



https://www.global.toshiba/ww/company/digitalsolution.html

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DZS to acquire NetComm Wireless from Casa Systems

DZS agreed to acquire NetComm Wireless Pty Ltd. (NetComm), an Australian supplier of access systems that operates as a subsidiary of Casa Systems. NetComm has approximately 50 active communications service provider (CSP) and enterprise customers in the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Financial terms were not disclosed.

NetComm’s Product Portfolio:

  • Fiber Extension: Delivers fiber-equivalent gigabit broadband speeds leveraging Gfast technology over copper and coaxial cable
  • Fixed Wireless Access (FWA): Provides fiber-equivalent gigabit broadband via 4G/5G millimeter wave technology
  • Home Broadband: Enables WiFi 6/6E/7 in-home coverage at gigabit broadband speeds
  • Industrial IoT: Delivers networking connectivity leveraging 4G/5G wireless and WiFi technologies

Among active NetComm customers are numerous large scale CSPs such as UScellular (the fourth-largest full-service wireless carrier in the United States), Bell Canada (Canada’s largest telecom company), Vodafone (one of the world’s largest telecom operators), Telstra (Australia’s largest telecom company), Aussie Broadband (Australia’s fourth-largest ISP) and More Telecom (fast-growing Australian ISP), all of which have been previously disclosed.

“NetComm’s cutting-edge fixed and mobile subscriber access technologies and marquee customers spanning Australia, New Zealand, North America and Europe will bolster DZS’ broadband networking and cloud software portfolio,” said Steve Collins, CEO, NetComm. “Getting to know Charlie, his team and the DZS products and customers has assured us that the combination of technology, culture, customers, suppliers and employees is an ideal fit to continue the innovation and product excellence NetComm has cultivated over the last 40 years.”

  • In 2019, Casa Systems acquired 100% of the equity shares in NetComm in a deal valued at A$161 million.
  • In April, citing "a significant decline in revenue and profits due in large part to industry-wide downward capital investment and procurement trends in the cable and telco markets," Casa Systems filed  voluntary petitions for debt relief under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. 

Anetac emerges from stealth with Identity and Security Platform

Anetac, a start-up based in Los Altos, California, emerged from stealth to unveil its Dynamic Identity and Security Platform for protecting companies from blind spots of service accounts in hybrid environments. The company also announced a funding investment totaling $16 million.

Anetac says its Dynamic Identity and Security Platform addresses the problem of unmonitored or poorly monitored service accounts, tokens, API, and Access Keys. According to Anetac research data, service accounts outnumber user accounts by 30-45 times. Unlike static scanning tools, Anetac’s solution offers real-time streaming and visibility into service account access chains, protocols, security hygiene, privilege escalations, and indicators of attack and compromise, enabling security teams to quickly identify and remediate vulnerabilities before malicious actors can exploit them.

Highlights

  • Real-time streaming visibility of non-human and shared-use service accounts reducing blind spots and improving security hygiene - in a recent retail organization’s deployment, we discovered that 20% of provisioned accounts had never been used, 55% of all accounts were disabled, 30% had passwords over a year old, and hundreds of passwords  that were over 5 years old
  • Mapping of access chains illuminating complex chains between service accounts, critical resources, business applications, and processes
  • Automated behavioral analysis combined with time-series data detecting unusual activity and expediting discovery and incident response time 
  • Dynamically reducing attack surface by continuously mapping and reinforcing the organizations' security posture 

“This is a problem for every organization, in every industry. In today’s rapidly evolving threat landscape, we must acknowledge that the soft underbelly of any organization lies in its ability to monitor and secure dynamic and ever-changing environments with real-time security measures. It’s imperative to recognize that virtually every breach over the past decade has been exploited via service accounts,” said Tim Eades, CEO and co-founder of Anetac. “It’s staggering to discover the extent of poor security hygiene amongst service accounts. With our new platform, available today, we will proactively solve the disconnect of static scanning tools with an innovative, streaming approach that dynamically addresses identity problems and improves organizations’ security posture.”

The funding round was led by Liberty Global with support from Shield Capital and GP Ventures.


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Lumentum posts flat revenues and it looks to cloud data center optics

 Lumentum reported revenue of $366.5 million for its fiscal third quarter ended March 30, 2024, with GAAP net loss of $127.0 million, or $1.88 per diluted share. Non-GAAP net income for the fiscal third quarter of 2024 was $19.6 million, or $0.29 per diluted share.  For comparison, net revenue for the fiscal second quarter of 2024 was $366.8 million, with GAAP net loss of $99.1 million, or $1.47 per diluted share. Net revenue for the fiscal third quarter of 2023 was $383.4 million, with GAAP net loss of $39.3 million, or $0.57 per diluted share.

“Lumentum is well-positioned to capitalize on surging cloud data center demand driven by the exponentially increasing requirements of artificial intelligence,” said Alan Lowe, President and CEO. “We are making significant strides in developing new products and customer programs, and expanding production capacity to capitalize on exciting opportunities that we expect will meaningfully increase calendar 2025 revenue and beyond.”


https://investor.lumentum.com/quarterly-results/default.aspx

EKINOPS signs optical distribution deal with EUVIC of Poland

EKINOPS announced a distribution partnership with EUVIC, which offers a range of ICT, security and IP communications technologies for its home market of Poland.

Through this partnership, EUVIC can now offer the Ekinops360 portfolio of open and fully interoperable optical transport solutions including Core, Aggregation, and Central Office (street cabinet). The portfolio is further enhanced by the Celestis NMS management system to provide flexibility, ease-of-use and fast deployment. Ekinops proven expertise in high capacity transmission over simple fiber will help customers across Poland to optimize their operational expenditure (OPEX)  while significantly increase the capacity of their links.

Commenting on this partnership, Andrzej Kudra, Vice President of EUVIC said: "Service providers are constantly assessing their network capacity to stay ahead of the competition in this rapidly changing digital ecosystem. With the market-proven Ekinops360 optical transport solutions and Ekinops' team of experts on hand, we are confident that we can help our customers modernize their networks."  

"Our partnership with EUVIC marks yet another milestone for our growth in Eastern Europe. Ekinops' strong expertise in optical transport solutions enables EUVIC to efficiently address the technical and budgetary needs of its customer base," added Frank Dedobbeleer, Chief Revenue Officer, EMEA & APAC at Ekinops. "We are also excited to work with EUVIC in supporting its customers to achieve market differentiation through our dynamic edge and optical transport solutions."


Adtran reports Q1 revenue of $226 million

Adtran reported Q1 revenue of $226.2 million, down from $324 million for the same period last year.  Non-GAAP net loss attributable to the company for the first quarter of 2024 was $1.7 million. Non-GAAP diluted loss per share attributable to the Company for the first quarter was $0.02.

ADTRAN Holdings’ Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Tom Stanton stated, "First quarter revenue and profitability came in as expected, with the weakness still impacting our results. However, we were pleased with the continued momentum in our customer win rate which was bolstered by the ongoing expansion of our Mosaic One platform. As we continued to execute on our business efficiency program, we were able to reduce inventory and significantly improve our operating cashflow while maintaining our diligence in gaining market share during this pivotal time in our industry. We believe that as markets return to normal, our continued focus on these measures, will lead to sustainable margin expansions and shareholder value creation in the mid-term.”

https://investors.adtran.com/overview/default.aspx

Sunday, May 5, 2024

Meta to build $800 million data center in Alabama

Meta plans to build an $800 million data center in Alabama’s capital city.

The new 715,000-square-foot, AI-optimized data center will be built off Interstate 65 in Montgomery, across from a Hyundai automotive assembly plant.

The Montgomery data center, reflecting Meta’s latest design, will become its 24th data hub and the 20th in the United States. Once operational, the facility will be LEED Gold certified by the U.S. Green Building Council. It will be supported by 100% renewable energy and reach net zero emissions. The new facility is expected online by the end of 2026.

“We are thrilled to announce our newest data center will be located in Montgomery. The city — and our specific location — offers great access to infrastructure and renewable energy, a strong pull of talent and most importantly, an amazing set of community partners,” said Brad Davis, director of community and economic development at Meta. “We look forward to having a strong partnership for years to come.”

In 2021, Meta opened a data center in Huntsville, Alabama.



 

Microsoft boosts RAN slicing with AI-assisted app service assurance

 Microsoft has developed a radio resource scheduler that fulfills throughput and latency SLAs for individual apps operating over a cellular network. 

Microsoft's system organizes applications with similar SLA requests into network slices. It utilizes traditional schedulers that optimize base station throughput by creating resource schedules for each slice to meet the requirements of each application. In this model, applications convey their network needs to the operator by specifying minimum throughput and maximum latency. Our system, acting on behalf of the operator, ensures these SLAs are met across the shared wireless medium by calculating and assigning the necessary PRBs (Physical Resource Blocks) to each slice.

The systems is able to decouple the network model and the control policy by formulating SLA-compliant bandwidth allocation as a model predictive control (MPC) problem. 

Microsoft says MPC is great at solving sequential decision-making problems over a moving look-ahead horizon. It decouples a controller, which solves a classical optimization problem, from a predictor, which explicitly models uncertainty in the environment.

Here is a Microsoft blog: 

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/microsoft-ran-slicing-solutions-discover-ai-assisted-application-service-assurance-capabilities/

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IDC: Slower Growth for Global Telecommunications Services

Worldwide spending on Telecom Services and Pay TV Services reached $1,509 billion in 2023, an increase of 2.1% over 2022, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Semiannual Telecom Services Tracker. IDC expects worldwide spending on Telecom and Pay TV services will increase by 1.4% in 2024 and reach a total of $1,530 billion.

The five-year outlook for the global connectivity services market remains positive, albeit slightly less optimistic than the previous forecast. Key central banks in the U.S. and Europe have repeatedly postponed decisions to decrease reference interest rates, impacting the potential for a more robust economic recovery. Consequently, the market environment is expected to remain relatively unfavorable for several more years. 

Some highlights

Global Market Slowdown: In the latter half of 2023, the global market growth rate decreased, falling about one percentage point below IDC's earlier forecasts.

Factors in the Americas:

  • Economic growth was slower than anticipated.
  • High inflation levels persisted.
  • Market saturation hindered development.
  • These factors combined created a challenging market environment.

Market in EMEA:

  • Despite facing similar economic challenges as the Americas, the EMEA region saw somewhat faster market growth.
  • Regulatory approval for telecom operators to align tariff increases with inflation using the Consumer Price Index (CPI) model contributed to this growth.

Impact of Tariff Adjustments in EMEA:

  • The adjustments led to a shift in consumer behavior:
  • Customers migrated to cheaper tariff packages.
  • There was an increased patronage of more affordable operators.
  • As a result, actual value growth rates were significantly lower than the nominal tariff increases, often less than half.

Oracle deploys GPU infrastructure at Digital Realty in No VA

Digital Realty and Oracle have announced a strategic collaboration aimed at accelerating the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in enterprises. This partnership signifies a significant step forward in the advancement of AI technologies, leveraging the expertise and resources of both industry leaders to empower businesses to unlock the full potential of their data.

Key Points

  • Collaboration between Digital Realty and Oracle to boost AI adoption in enterprises.
  • Focus on hybrid integrated solutions addressing Data Gravity challenges and expediting AI deployment.
  • Oracle to deploy critical GPU-based infrastructure in Digital Realty's Northern Virginia data center, leveraging PlatformDIGITAL.
  • Strengthening existing partnership with multiple global deployments, including OCI FastConnect points and Oracle Solution Center.

Patrick Cyril, Global Vice President, Technical Sales & Customer Excellence – Revenue Operations, Oracle: "We're excited to be working with Digital Realty to bring innovative solutions to the market that empower our enterprise customers workloads and their ecosystems to harness the boundless possibilities of AI. Together, we're not just pioneering technology; we're unlocking a future where every challenge is met with unparalleled innovation and every opportunity is maximized."

Chris Sharp, Chief Technology Officer, Digital Realty: "We're delighted to build upon our relationship with Oracle and enable the next generation of hybrid and private AI adoption among enterprises. Together, we're bringing the extensive capabilities of the cloud to enterprises' private data sets through secure interconnection, unlocking new data-driven business outcomes." 

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GLDS integrates Adtran's Mosaic CP and its OLTs

Adtran and GLDS have joined forces to integrate GLDS’s BroadHub platform with Adtran’s Mosaic CP and SDX Series of optical line terminals (OLTs). This collaboration improves service management by allowing quick adjustments to network conditions and fast responses to customer needs. It aims to enhance service capabilities and operational efficiency for global service providers, offering scalability for expanding networks and real-time data analytics for better service management.

By combining GLDS’s BroadHub with Adtran’s Mosaic CP and OLTs, service providers gain several benefits. They can manage customers more effectively with real-time updates and flexible billing options, all through an easy-to-use interface that simplifies workflows. 

“Our strategic partnership with Adtran is driven by a shared commitment to empowering service providers with robust customer management and billing solutions, simplifying complex network management and delivering superior broadband experiences,” said Adam Ross Hill, partner alliance manager at GLDS. “This joint solution goes beyond integration. It leverages our advanced automation to streamline billing processes, enhance subscriber management and optimize service delivery. By eliminating the need for swivel-chair operations, it delivers significant operational savings and enables service providers to serve their local communities more effectively.”

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Thursday, May 2, 2024

O2 Telefónica activates O-RAN with Samsung in Germany

Samsung Electronics and O2 Telefónica launched their first virtualized RAN (vRAN) and Open RAN commercial site in Germany. This marks the first commercial deployment of Samsung’s 5G vRAN solution in Germany. The site is now operating in Landsberg am Lech, Bavaria, providing high-performance and reliable 4G and 5G services to customers. The companies expect to expand the vRAN and Open RAN network to seven additional sites in the region in the coming months.

For the initial deployments, Samsung’s offering includes its market-leading 4G and 5G vRAN 3.0 solution and O-RAN compliant radios supporting low- and mid-bands (700MHz, 800MHz, 1.8GHz 2.1GHz, 2.6GHz and 3.6GHz), including 64T64R Massive MIMO radios. Samsung’s advanced vRAN 3.0 features enhanced capabilities for improved energy efficiency, optimized performance and intelligent automation.

"As the next step, the companies will introduce Samsung’s intelligent network automation solutions to control life cycle management — from deployment and operation to maintenance. This O-RAN compliant automation solution offers the ability to accelerate innovative software-based network rollouts by enabling automated deployment of thousands of network sites simultaneously.

"We are taking another big step in our Open RAN journey. Together with Samsung, we are utilizing the latest Open RAN technologies in our mobile network. On the way to the network of the future, we are integrating new network solutions to provide our customers with outstanding connectivity. Open RAN is a building block that can help us to automate our network, deploy new updates faster and use network components more flexibly,” said Mallik Rao, Chief Technology & Information Officer of O2 Telefónica.


https://news.samsung.com/global/o2-telefonica-and-samsung-launch-vran-and-open-ran-network-in-germany

BT connects first EV charger to outdoor cabin

BT  has installed its first EV charge point powered from a street cabinet. The charger, which is powered by a BT Group owned cabinet traditionally used to store broadband and phone cabling, forms part of a nationwide pilot by the business’ start-up incubation hub Etc., designed to address the shortfall in public EV charging infrastructure.

BT said the pilot installation, which is installed in East Lothian, Scotland, could lead to the wider upgrade of cabinet units across the UK. 

The pilot will focus next on West Yorkshire, with ambitions to scale up to 600 trial sites across the UK. EV drivers can use the charge point  by downloading the trial app from the App Store or Google Play Store.


Cloudflare posts Q1 sales of $379M, up 30% yoy

Cloudflare reported Q1 total revenue of $378.6 million, representing an increase of 30% year-over-year. Non-GAAP net income per diluted share was $0.16, compared to $0.08 in the first quarter of 2023.

“The first quarter marked a strong start to the year, as we grew revenue 30% year-over-year to $378.6 million—fueled by a record number of net-new customers year-over-year spending more than $100,000, $500,000, and $1 million with Cloudflare on an annualized basis. I'm incredibly proud of the fact that our team has been able to continue to build our network, service larger and larger customers, and launch entirely new categories of products—including in the AI space—while also remaining disciplined with our gross and operating margins and our free cash flow,” said Matthew Prince, co-founder & CEO of Cloudflare. 



https://cloudflare.net/files/doc_financials/2024/q1/Q1-2024-Investor-Presentation.pdf

Photonic Inc builds its Quantum team

Photonic Inc., a start-up based in Vancouver that is advancing distributed quantum computing in silicon, announced key additions to its research team:

  • Dr. Chantal Arena joins as vice president of research, development, and production – devices. Arena has 35 years' experience in business strategy, materials science, and semiconductor devices fabrication, most recently as co-chief executive and technical officer at Lawrence Semiconductors. She holds a doctorate in material science-physics from the Polytechnic Institute of Grenoble, France.
  • Dr. Klaus Schuegraf joins as vice president of research, development, and production – systems. Schuegraf brings over 30 years of experience driving innovation in semiconductor technology development, and leading large technical teams at companies including PsiQuantum, Intel, SanDisk, Applied Materials, and Cymer/ASML. He holds a doctorate in electrical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.
  • Quantum networking pioneer Dr. Thomas Jennewein serves as one of Photonic’s scientific fellows. As a Canada Excellence Research Chair (CERC), and scientific lead for the Quantum EncrYption and Science Satellite (QEYSSat) – Canada’s first quantum communication satellite – Jennewein informs the company’s quantum networking strategy. He is a professor at Simon Fraser University and the Institute for Quantum Computing. He holds a doctorate in physics from the University of Vienna, Austria.
  • Dr. Michael Thewalt also serves as a scientific fellow at Photonic; he is the world expert on the optical properties of isotopically enriched silicon-28, the material forming Photonic’s scalable quantum technologies architecture. Thewalt, an emeritus professor at Simon Fraser University, cofounded Photonic – along with Stephanie Simmons – and held an NSERC Industrial Research Chair for over 10 years. Thewalt has a doctorate in physics from the University of British Columbia.
  • Also onboard as a scientific fellow at Photonic is Dr. Artem (Art) Cherkasov, a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Precision Cancer Drug Design, senior scientist at the Vancouver Prostate Center and professor in the Department of Urologic Sciences at the University of British Columbia. Cherkasov provides expertise to Photonic in computer-aided drug discovery (CADD) and new cancer therapeutics discovery—with a focus on how quantum technologies will provide value in these areas. He holds a doctorate in chemistry from Kazan State University.

“Photonic has searched extensively for the right talent to help us achieve our ambitious goals. We are confident that, with these roles filled by such high-caliber people, and our ongoing scientific advisory team, we will further accelerate progress on our path to make distributed quantum computing a commercial reality,” said Dr. Paul Terry, Photonic chief executive officer.

“The quantum industry is starting to recognize the need for distributed quantum capabilities. Photonic’s architecture is unique on this front, and it is exciting to have industry veterans and innovators recognize this potential and join the relentless pursuit of scalable, distributed, and fault-tolerant commercial quantum computing,” said Dr. Stephanie Simmons, founder and chief quantum officer of Photonic and co-chair of Canada’s National Quantum Strategy Advisory Board.

https://photonic.com/

Photonic Inc. unveils its quantum in silicon, $140m in funding

Photonic Inc., a start-up based in Vancouver, unveiled its architecture for scalable, fault-tolerant, and unified quantum computing and networking platforms based on photonically linked silicon spin qubits. The company specializes in spin-photon interfaces in silicon, silicon integrated photonics, and quantum optics. 

Photonic's technology provides computing (with spin qubits), networking (via photons), and memory. Photonic links in silicon deliver quantum entanglement not only between qubits on the same chip but also among multiple quantum chips. 

The company says silicon-based qubits enjoy substantially greater microelectronic-style scalability than other types of qubits. Indeed, Photonic’s architecture achieves horizontal scaling. Photonic's highly connected qubit architecture also enables use of efficient quantum error correction codes, such as quantum LDPC (Low Density Parity Check) codes. These codes are known for extremely low physical to logical qubit overheads and fast and efficient hardware implementation.

“Quantum computing is real, and we believe that—within five years, significantly sooner than the widely accepted timeframe—we will be the first quantum computing company to offer a scalable, distributed, and fault-tolerant solution,” said Dr. Stephanie Simmons, Founder and Chief Quantum Officer of Photonic and Co-chair of Canada’s National Quantum Strategy Advisory Board. “These are the capabilities that must be delivered for quantum computing to be a relied upon across industries, and we believe that we have correctly identified the silicon T centre as the missing component needed to finally unlock the first credible path to impactful commercial quantum computing.”

“Ultimately, the breadth of problems to which quantum computing can offer a solution means it will have a tangible, meaningful impact on people all around the world,” said Dr. Paul Terry, Photonic Chief Executive Officer. “We’re moving to large-scale, accessible quantum computers networked together to provide access to quantum services that will enable companies and governments to suddenly tackle problems that are, right now, beyond our capabilities because of the inescapable constraints of classical computing. It’s incredibly thrilling to be on the cusp of this inflection point in quantum computing and, more broadly, physics history.”

Photonic has raised an investment round of US$100 million from organizations including British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI), Microsoft Corporation, the UK government’s National Security Strategic Investment Fund (NSSIF), Inovia Capital, and Amadeus Capital Partners. This brings the company’s total funding raised to date to US$140 million.

In addition, Photonic announced a strategic collaboration with Microsoft under which the companies will provide an integrated roadmap of technologies and products that can enable reliable quantum communications over long distances, as well as access to Photonic’s quantum computing offering via Microsoft Azure Quantum Elements. 

TIM to integrate Oracle Cloud Infrastructure in Italy

 TIM Enterprise, will integrate Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) into its portfolio. 

In addition, TIM will become the host partner for Oracle’s second planned cloud region in Italy, which will be located in Turin and hosted in TIM Group’s next-generation datacenter. The upcoming Oracle Cloud Turin Region will provide public and private sector organizations access to a wide range of cloud services to migrate all types of workloads from their data centers to OCI, modernize their applications, and innovate with data, analytics, and AI. 

Oracle says that the new cloud region in Turin and the existing Oracle Cloud Milan Region, its customers in Italy will be able to replicated workloads to distributed locations, while helping address their digital sovereignty and compliance requirements by keeping replicated data in Italy.

“We are pleased to be working with Italy’s leading telecommunications provider to bring OCI to public and private sector organizations and support their migration to the cloud,” said Richard Smith, executive vice president and general manager, EMEA Cloud Infrastructure, Oracle. “By adding OCI to its robust cloud service offerings, TIM Enterprise will be able to provide a cloud platform used by customers all over the world to run their most mission-critical workloads in the cloud. In addition, with the upcoming second cloud region in Italy, we are reaffirming our commitment to helping Italian organizations of all sizes and industries accelerate the adoption of AI and other innovative technologies.”

VIAVI posts revenue of $246 million

Citing a challenging market, VIAVI reported quarterly revenue of $246.0 million, down $1.8 million or 0.7% year-over-year. GAAP net loss was $(24.6) million, or $(0.11) per share. Non-GAAP net income was $13.2 million, or $0.06 per share.

"VIAVI end markets spend environment continues to be challenging, particularly the service providers and enterprise customer segments.  In view of these continued headwinds, our revenue came in at the lower end of our guidance, with stronger OSP demand partially offsetting weaker than expected NSE demand. Our EPS came in at the lower half of our guidance range, driven by lower NSE volume and less favorable product mix" said Oleg Khaykin, VIAVI's President and Chief Executive Officer.

  • Americas, Asia-Pacific and EMEA customers represented 35.9%, 36.5% and 27.6%, respectively, of total net revenue for the quarter ended March 30, 2024.
  • As of March 30, 2024, the Company held $486.1 million in total cash, short-term investments and short-term restricted cash.
  • As of March 30, 2024, the Company had $250 million aggregate principal amount of 1.625% Senior Convertible Notes and $400 million aggregate principal amount of 3.75% Senior Notes with a total net carrying value of $634.4 million.
  • During the fiscal quarter ended March 30, 2024, the Company generated $19.5 million of cash flows from operations.


Orange brand marks 30th anniversary

Orange was launched as a telecom brand on April 28, 1994 with the renaming of the Rabbit mobile network, then part of Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa.

In 2000, the France Télécom group bought Orange, evolving its brand positioning, and taking advantage of its strong appeal to expand internationally. In France, Wanadoo and Ma Ligne TV became Orange in 2006 and, in 2013, the entire Group changed its name to Orange.


https://www.orange.com/en/news/2024/orange-brand-celebrates-its-30th-birthday

Wednesday, May 1, 2024

SEA-ME-WE-6 subsea cable lands in Marseille

The SEA-ME-WE 6 (Southeast Asia-Middle East-Western Europe 6) submarine cable system has landed in Marseille 

The  21,700 km cable, which will link France to Singapore, boasts 10 fiber pairs and the latest SDM technology for a design capacity of 130 Tbps.

Work will begin on the installation of more than 3,000 kilometers of cable to bring the system to Egypt. 

Orange is responsible as "landing party" in France and is hosting the cable in Marseillein its secure infrastructure, providing neutral access to all the city's data centres via a state-of-the-art urban fibre optic ring.

"We are delighted with the arrival of this new route, which will allow us to offer a new solution for high-speed, high-performance "express" connectivity between France and Asia as well as improved speeds to our sites in the Indian Ocean.  Moreover, this new cable will enable us to meet the growing needs of our customers on this strategic route over the long term. Our network will also allow our wholesale customers to join many international networks to Asia, as well as Africa and the Americas. The arrival of this new cable in Marseille once again places France at the heart of the European hub, with direct access to major European cities." says Jean-Louis Le Roux, Director of International Networks at Orange. 

https://newsroom.orange.com/orange-announces-the-landing-of-the-sea-me-we-6-submarine-cable-on-its-infrastructure-in-marseille/?lang=en

Intel cites advancement in silicon-based Quantum Processors

 Quantum hardware researchers at Intel have unveiled a revolutionary 300-millimeter cryogenic probing process. This process is designed to gather vast amounts of data on the performance of spin qubit devices across entire wafers using complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) manufacturing techniques.

Key points:

Enhanced Data Collection: The new probing process, combined with improved qubit device yield, has significantly increased the volume of data available for analyzing uniformity. This is a crucial step in the journey to scale up quantum computers.

High Gate Fidelity: Researchers discovered that single-electron devices on these wafers excel as spin qubits, achieving an impressive gate fidelity of 99.9%. This fidelity level sets a new benchmark for qubits manufactured using CMOS techniques.

Compact and Denser Qubits: Spin qubits, measuring approximately 100 nanometers across, are denser compared to other qubit types like superconducting qubits. This density enables the creation of more complex quantum computers on a single chip of the same size.

Cutting-Edge Fabrication: Leveraging extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography, Intel managed to achieve these tight dimensions while ensuring high-volume manufacturing capability.

Looking ahead, Intel aims to further enhance these techniques by:

  • Adding more interconnect layers to create 2D arrays with increased qubit count and connectivity.
  • Demonstrating high-fidelity two-qubit gates on its industry manufacturing process.
  • Continuing efforts to scale quantum devices and improve performance with its next-generation quantum chip, prioritizing the development of fault-tolerant quantum computers with millions of uniform qubits.

An Intel paper on this topic has been published in the journal Nature.

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