Telefónica Launches Global Instant Server Cloud Service

Telefónica Digital announced the launch of global Instant Servers, an Infrastructure-as-a-Service offering that delivers on-demand, high performance cloud computing optimised for mobile, enterprise, and M2M applications.

The service initially will operate out of Telefónica’s data centers in London and Madrid.  Telefónica plans to deploy additional data centres in Europe and Latin America.

Telefónica is promising a service level agreement (SLA) of 99.996% per year backed by a financial compensation in the event of non-compliance.
The infrastructure is built on Joyent’s high-performance cloud infrastructure, which enables Instant Servers to automatically and instantly grow in capacity by 400% to handle large spikes in usage or traffic. Virtualized machines on the Instant Servers cloud can resize an entire application stack without rebooting or requiring down time. Advanced caching enables better performance through superior utilization of Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM). Further, Instant Servers runs on top of the Zettabyte File System (ZFS), enterprise grade storage and file system that delivers 100% data resiliency and integrity.

Compared to other public cloud services, Telefónica said its Instant Servers will also deliver lower operating costs.

“With the launch of Instant Servers Telefónica Digital seeks to meet the needs of thousands of businesses that require a cloud services platform that is easily scalable, with low latency and totally trustworthy, enabling them not only to rapidly respond to their own needs, but also to the expectations of their customers. This can all be done with significant cost savings as customers only pay for the type of cloud services they require and the time they use them for. This offering completes our portfolio of services to meet our business customer needs," stated Carlos Morales, Telefónica Digital’s Cloud and M2M Director.

The company also noted that Instant Servers is the first Telefónica trademark product to be sold directly to companies over the Internet on a worldwide basis. It joins a number of services that Telefónica Digital is marketing directly to customers, including TU Me, a free communications app, and Telefónica Dynamic Insights, a new unit created to open up opportunities presented by Big Data.

http://cloud.telefonica.com/instantservers/

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Mavenir Supports MetroPCS's Rich Communications

Mavenir Systems confirmed that it it provided MetroPCS with its suite of application servers to support the world's first commercial launch of Rich Communication Services (RCS) on a 4G LTE network, based on the GSMA 5.0 standard.

Mavenir’s VoLTE solution, launched commercially by MetroPCS earlier this year, is a platform that helps MetroPCS leverage the investment in its 4G LTE network and quickly offer differentiated services and new value to its customers.

MetroPCS' joyn service goes beyond voice and basic messaging to provide enriched services like integrated instant messaging or chat, WiFi and video calling and simplified content sharing.

The service is deployed with Mavenir’s IMS core and application servers.

“The move to all-IP networks is really a journey for mobile carriers and opens the doors for forward thinking operators such as MetroPCS to move quickly to offer new services,” said Pardeep Kohli, president & chief executive officer of Mavenir Systems.  “Mavenir is working closely with MetroPCS and other tier 1 operators, to transform their network services and support their vision of delivering value through rich IP-based communication services.”
           
Mavenir’s suite of RCS 5.0 application servers, including the Presence Server, Content Server and Rich Messaging Server, are based on the mOne Convergence Platform which is designed to simplify carriers’ network transformations.

http://www.mavenir.com

On October 31, MetroPCS Communications announced the commercial launch of Rich Communication Services (RCS) on its 4G^LTE network under the  GSMA-licensed joyn brand. 

Based on the GSMA RCS 5.0 standard, joyn by MetroPCS will deliver an experience beyond voice and basic messaging to provide customers with a unified and intuitive way to use enriched services like integrated instant messaging or chat, WiFi and video calling and simplified content sharing.

MetroPCS will support the following RCS services at launch for customers with 4G^LTE joyn-enabled smartphones:

• Contacts Presence - joyn knows and shows how users can reach and share content with contacts at any time
  • Contact availability/status sync (online, busy, away, unavailable)
  • Calendar sync
  • Social network interaction
• Enriched Chat - Threaded conversations keep track of who's said what and show which people and groups are available to chat and share content
  • Instant messaging and group chat
  • Conversational view
  • Delivery of read notifications and composing indications
• Content Sharing - Bring calls and chats to life by sharing content with just one click from the address book
  • Share video, images and files while on a call and within instant messaging or chat
  • Display service capabilities
  • Geo-location
• WiFi and Video Calling - Stay connected with voice and video calls in areas with little or no cellular coverage
  • WiFi calling and video calls over WiFi

 "As the first 4G LTE carrier in the world to offer RCS, we are excited to join the global community of operators implementing the RCS standard and we are proud of our team and partners who were critical in building this capability that will evolve and expand over the next year," said Roger Linquist, CEO and Chairman of MetroPCS.

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CenturyLink Builds Presence in CoreSite Data Centers

CenturyLink is extending its full suite of voice and IP services into five additional CoreSite data centers across the U.S.  Currently, CenturyLink offers voice and IP services in multiple CoreSite facilities in Chicago; Los Angeles; San Jose; Denver; Milpitas, CA; and New York.

CenturyLink ranks as the third largest telecommunications company in the United States and is a leader in cloud infrastructure and hosted IT solutions for enterprise customers.  By expanding in the CoreSite data centers, colocation customers will have in-building access to CenturyLink's Internet and MPLS, metro and long-haul private lines, 100 Mbps to 10 Gbps connections, burstable or static bandwidth, and voice and IP services.

Separately, CoreSite announced that Global Telecom & Technology (GTT) has agreed to extend its backbone network into ten CoreSite data centers. GTT provides one of the world's most extensive networks across North America, Europe, and Asia, offering Ethernet transport, nLayer IP Transit, cloud connectivity, collaborative networking, and global peering. As a result of the network upgrade into the new data centers, GTT will peer on Any2, the nation's second largest peering exchange, operated by CoreSite. GTT will also provide seamless access to CoreSite's Open Internet Exchange, including connections to AMS-IX, DE-CIX, and NYIIX through CoreSite locations.

http://coresite.com/centurylink-extends-services-into-five-additional-coresite-data-centers.php
http://coresite.com/global-telecom-technology-extends-network-footprint-into-coresite-data-centers.php

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Mitsubishi Updates India-Middle East-Western Europe Cable

 Mitsubishi has upgraded the India-Middle East-Western Europe (IMEWE) Cable Network with its 40 Gbps DWDM.  The upgrade involved installation of submarine line terminal equipment in eight countries.

The IMEWE Cable System spans 12,091 kilometers with 10 terminal stations owned by a consortium of nine leading telecom carriers in eight countries: India, Pakistan, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Lebanon, Italy and France. The cable system comprises three optical fiber cable pairs with two fiber pairs on an express path, as well as a terrestrial link connecting the cities of Alexandria and Suez in Egypt.

The nine IMEWE parties which have contracted for the upgrade and are co-owners of IMEWE system are Bharti Airtel Ltd., Emirates Telecommunications Corporation, France Telecom, OGERO Telecom, Pakistan Telecommunications Company Limited, Saudi Telecom Company, TATA Communications Limited, Telecom Egypt, and Telecom Italia SPARKLE S.p.A.

http://www.imewecable.com/

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Netronome Keeps Growing

Netronome announced an expansion of its Boston area office to meet the demands of its rapidly growing New England operations. The Boxborough office, which is home to Netronome’s silicon design and development team, has grown from 35 to about 70 employees this year.  The team has extensive experience and roots in the Boston area, dating back to the Intel IXP Division and Digital Equipment Corporation.

“Netronome has experienced record year over year growth the past four years and 2011 surpassed our expectations. As we look to complete 2012, we see this momentum and product demand continuing,” said Howard Bubb, CEO of Netronome. “New England is a vibrant technology community and our expanded Boston-area office allows us to attract some of the best technical talent, which will help us continue to deliver innovative flow processing solutions.”

Netronome also has development labs in Santa Clara, CA and its headquarters in Pittsburgh, PA.

http://www.netronome.com

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ADVA Adds G.8032v2 for Carrier Ethernet Ring Protection

ADVA Optical Networking has added Ethernet Ring Protection Switching (ERPS) to its
FSP 150 family, enabling business Ethernet and mobile backhaul service providers to aggregate subrate Gigabit Ethernet services onto Gigabit or even 10 Gigabit Ethernet protected rings using a drop-and-continue architecture.

ERPS, also known as G.8032v2,  is an ITU-T standard that provides sub 50 millisecond protection and recovery switching, ensuring highest reliability for ring-based Carrier Ethernet infrastructures.

http://www.advaoptical.com

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Cyan Debuts Blue Planet SDN, NTT Comm. Deploys

Cyan introduced its Blue Planet software defined networking (SDN) platform for virtualizing service provider networks.

Blue Planet software, which is available now, consists of an open SDN platform as well as Cyan and third-party apps. The software is composed of three distinct elements: an open SDN platform, SDN apps, and element adapter apps facilitating control over a wide range of third-party network devices. The software enables Cyan and third-party apps to interrogate and control underlying network infrastructure. Blue Planet allows apps to interact not only with OpenFlow compliant network devices, but also with legacy devices deployed prior to the development of SDN.

Cyan provides element adaptors to enable control over a broad collection of third-party network elements. In addition to Cyan Z-Series packet-optical transport platforms (P-OTPs), Blue Planet interoperates with select devices from Accedian Networks, Actelis Networks, Adtran, Adva, Alcatel-Lucent, BTI Systems, Calient, Calix, Ciena, Cisco, Juniper, MRV, OneAccess Networks, Optelian, Omnitron Systems, Overture, RAD Data Communications, Telco Systems, Transition Networks, Transmode, and others.

Cyan said its goal with Blue Planet is to "obliterate legacy cost structures, make more efficient use of network assets, and radically accelerate service delivery." Blue Planet aims to build on the virtualization, service orchestration, and hardware simplification principles that have fundamentally altered the cloud data center environment.

NTT Communications is deploying Blue Planet in several geographic markets.

“We are at an important moment in the evolution of the network,” stated Cyan president Michael Hatfield. “For years, service providers and other network operators have been searching for ways to break free of expensive and restrictive legacy architectures mandated by incumbent equipment suppliers. SDN has begun to accomplish this in data center environments by virtualizing resources and flattening cost structures. Cyan is taking the next logical step by applying these principles to wide area and metro networks.”

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Belgacom Launches LTE

Belgacom launched the first LTE service in Belgium.  The Proximus 4G service is now available  in eight cities: Hasselt, Antwerp, Ghent, Leuven, Liège, Namur, Mons, Waver and the Haasrode Industrial Park.

Residential customers with a smartphone have a choice of the following tariff plans:

• “Smart 75” (unlimited calls & SMS and 5GB mobile internet for €75)
• The web based prepaid offer “Generation Connect” (2GB mobile internet, 2,000 SMS and up to 80 minutes calls on every reload of €20)

Customers who want access to 4G on a smartphone can also activate the option “Internet on GSM” (as from €19,99 for 2GB).

Professional customers with a smartphone can opt for “Bizz Mobile+ All In” (unlimited calls and SMS and 5GB mobile internet for €70 excl. VAT).

http://www.belgacom.com/be-en/newsdetail/ND_4G.page

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Brocade Acquires Vyatta for SDN Software Expertise

 Brocade will acquire privately held Vyatta, a developer of networking software, in an all-cash transaction. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Vyatta, which is based in Belmont, California, offers a software-based network operating system that is highly relevant for multiple applications in network virtualization, software-defined networking (SDN) and private/public cloud computing platforms.

The Vyatta Network OS delivers advanced routing and security functionality for physical, virtual and cloud networks.  It includes dynamic routing, stateful firewall, VPN support, traffic management, etc. and runs on multicore x86 processors, common hypervisor platforms and emerging cloud architectures.  Vyatta has recently expanded the platform to include Policy-Based Routing (PBR), BGP Multipath, IPsec for IPv6 and other advanced capabilities.

Brocade said it plans to utilize Vyatta technology and expertise to offer an end-to-end architecture built on a highly virtualized, dynamic network infrastructure.

"This acquisition complements our R&D investments in Ethernet fabrics and SDN, as well as our broad industry and solutions-level partnerships that enable Brocade to pursue new market opportunities in data center virtualization, public cloud, enterprise virtual private cloud, and managed services," said Mike Klayko, CEO of Brocade. "We are now bolstering these 'build and partner' efforts with this strategic acquisition with the goal of being the innovation and thought leader in the software networking category."

"There are many significant developments happening today that are redefining data center architectures and industry landscapes," said Ken Cheng, vice president of the Routing, Application Delivery and Software Networking Group at Brocade. "The Vyatta acquisition brings in considerably more software networking technology and expertise to Brocade. We believe software networking to be a critical component in the next phase of network virtualization as enterprises are becoming increasingly virtualized and actively moving workloads to the cloud."

http://www.brocade.com
http://www.vyatta.co

• In August, Vyatta introduced its "Empowering SDN initiative" to help enterprises and service providers build an enduring software-defined networking (SDN) strategy.
  Vyatta said the significance of its Empowering SDN program is the ability to take steps now, using established protocols like OSPF and BGP, to create agile, capacity-on-demand networks for the future. 
  In data centers, SDN could allow users to allocate groups of servers on-the-fly . Vyatta's software based routers, firewalls and VPNs enables enterprises to connect and securing these groups. Vyatta's code can be operated as virtual machines (VMs). This approach removes the constraints of a fixed device with a finite, predetermined amount of physical ports and other resources. The Vyatta VM can be replicated and positioned where needed, avoiding network congestion due to unneeded trips out to a central router. Additionally, software-based networks can provide significant savings over a large, proprietary router – leveraging the economies of the x86 architecture.
  Vyatta also noted that its software-based networks are built on open source projects, resulting in code that has been downloaded more than a million times and tested extensively in production networks worldwide. Its code has demonstrated interoperability with a wide range of network gear and continues to extend its capabilities, adding to the management and API with a roadmap to include OpenStack, CloudStack and other emerging cloud provisioning tools.

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Procera Land Another Tier-1 for Intelligent Policy Enforcement

Procera Networks announced a new multi-million dollar contract to provide a Western European Tier 1 incumbent service provider with Intelligent Policy Enforcement (IPE) solutions based on its PacketLogic platforms.

"This is a very significant win for our company and validates the need for high performance as service providers move to 100 Gbps in their core,” said James Brear, CEO of Procera. “The PacketLogic PL20000 is the ideal choice to meet their business analytics needs and enable innovative policy-based services. Because of the PL20000’s industry leading throughput density, our solution makes it possible for this expansive customer to deploy the extensive network coverage needed with a fraction of the number of systems competitive offerings proposed.”

http://www.proceranetworks.com

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Telco Systems Intros High-Density MPLS/Ethernet Demarc for Mobile Backhaul

 Telco Systems introduced its next generation mobile backhaul Carrier-Ethernet/MPLS demarcation device packing 12x1G ports and 8xE1/T1 Circuit Emulation Services (CES) into a compact format (1RU by half shelf width) suitable for small cell deployments.

The new T-Marc 3312SC demarc device supports the extension of MPLS to the cell site, enabling mobile operators to take full advantage of their MPLS networks for engineering and managing their backhaul infrastructure. . It supports IEEE 802.1ag Connectivity Fault Management (CFM), ITU-T Y.1731, IEEE 802.3ah, EFM-OAM, RFC 2544-based embedded test heads and Y.1564.  Telco Systems’ operating system also supports Hierarchal QoS (HQoS) and offers a suite of resiliency protocols.

In addition, Telco Systems said its  T-Marc 3312SC prepares the provider’s network for Software Defined Networks (SDN), as it supports a wide range of management protocols including NETCONF, which is mandatory to support OpenFlow standard. It is also integrated in the company’s service management system, EdgeGenie, to allow dynamic elastic service management and control plane separation.

http://www.telco.com/index.php?page=press-releases&article=85

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EC Approves 1920-1980 MHz paired with 2110-2170 MH for LTE

The European Commission approved plans to make available another 120 MHz of spectrum for LTE.

The paired terrestrial 2 GHz band (1920-1980 MHz paired with 2110-2170 MHz) has been traditionally used by UMTS.

The new rule makes it mandatory for Member States to open the relevant spectrum by 30 June 2014 at the latest, and lays down harmonised technical conditions to allow coexistence between different technologies.

The European Commission notes that its policy means that the EU will enjoy up to twice the amount of spectrum for high speed wireless broadband as in the United States, namely around 1000 MHz.

European Commission Vice President Neelie Kroes said: "This extra spectrum for 4G in Europe means we can better meet the changing and growing demand for broadband. I want to see Member States acting swiftly to change existing licenses. We all win from faster wireless connections in Europe."

http://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en/telecoms-internet/telecoms/blogs

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ISC8 Buys Bivio's NetFalcon CyberSecurityto ISC8

Bivio Networks has sold its NetFalcon and NCCS product and business assets to ISC8 for an undisclosed sum.

ISC8 said the acquisition brings advanced products and technologies for Security Intelligence, Incident Response, Content Control and mitigation of Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs) in enterprise, service provider and government networks. ISC8 purchased the NetFalcon and Network Content Control System business units of Bivio Networks, including all related intellectual property, sales, engineering, managerial, and other operational resources. In addition, ISC8 will acquire an installed base consisting of nine accounts including leading Tier 1 service providers, enterprises and government agencies worldwide. 

Bivio said it will continue to focus on its DPI Application Platform for government and commercial customers.

“It is clear from both market and customer feedback that Advanced Persistent Threats, or Targeted Cyber Attacks, are the biggest Cybersecurity menace that governments, militaries and corporations face today,” said Bill Joll, president and CEO of ISC8. “With the close of the Bivio transaction, we now have a complete suite of products and technologies for helping these organizations with this most pressing cybersecurity problem, specifically the ability to detect these threats while the attack is ongoing. We also provide the supporting forensic evidence for these threats, which have typically remained undetected for a period of months to more than a year."

"Bivio has an established 12-year track record on providing leading cyber security solutions in the most challenging and mission critical environments," said Dr. Elan Amir, president and CEO of Bivio Networks. "Now that this transaction is complete, Bivio can continue to focus on delivering the DPI Application Platform to our government and commercial customers looking to deploy world-class cyber security solutions."

http://www.isc8.com

http://www.bivio.net/products/dpi/

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Telkom South Africa's CEO Steps Down

Ms Nombulelo Moholi announced her resignation as CEO of Telkom SA.  She was appointed as the Group Chief Executive Officer and as an executive director in April 2011.  Before that, she was the Managing Director of the Telkom SA business unit since 1 May 2009. 

http://www.telkom.co.za

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KT Reaches 2.49 Million LTE Subscribers, 15% of Mobile Users

KT has signed up over 2.49 million LTE subscribers as of the end of Q3, representing about 15% of its mobile customer base.  Meanwhile, the number of smartphone subscribers reached 9.79 million, representing 59.4% of KT's total mobile subscribers.

Financially. KT's operating revenue for the quarter rose to 6,519.4 billion won, up 30% compared to a year ago, thanks largely to disposal of certain real estate and copper line assets.  Net profit reached 372.3 billion won (US$341 million).

Some other notes:

• KT now has 8 million broadband subscribers.
• Due to decrease in telephony and line lease revenue, total wireline revenue fell 2.7% QoQ.
• KT's total CAPEX for Q3 amounted to 592.3 billion won, including LTE CAPEX of 168.9 billion won.
• The carrier is planning to rollout multi-carrier LTE soon.

http://www.kt.com

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Verizon: Full Restoration in NY May Take till Nov 9

On Saturday night, Verizon restored service to a key New York City facility to generator power, re-establishing services for large multinational clients.  Full customer restoration in NewYork in some locations remains dependent on restoration of commercial power, which may take until November 9 according to the latest estimates.


As of Sunday afternoon, Verizon Enterprise Solutions reported pumping approximately 1 million gallons of floodwater out of its headquarters building in Lower Manhattan.  

The company said the corrosive nature of salt water is likely have caused unseen damage to copper and fiber at many facilities in New York City.

http://www.verizonbusiness.com/about/news/pr-26011-en-Hurricane+Sandy+Updates.xml

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Windstream: 75 Broad St. Still on Backup Power on Sunday

As of Sunday afternoon (04-Nov-2012), Windstream advised that its switching equipment located in the 75 Broad Street data center was still operating on back-up power.  The switches were first restored on Friday after going offline during Monday's storm.  Service disruptions due to lack of commercial power at this site are still a possibility.  However, Windstream's overall capacity in the NYC region is now back to pre-storm levels.

http://news.windstream.com/

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Amazon Web Services Raises the Roof on Storage I/O Performance

Amazon is now allowing customers of its Elastic Beanstalk Service (EBS) to provision up to 2,000 IOPS (Input/Output Operations Per second) per EBS volume, double the previous performance limit.  The company notes this is an order of magnitude more IOPS than a high-end 15,000 RPM disk drive.

It is also possible to achieve higher performance by striping multiple Provisioned IOPS volumes together, yielding thousands of IOPS per logical volume to an EC2-powered application.

AWS Elastic Beanstalk is a quick way to deploy and manage applications in the AWS cloud.  The service automatically handles the deployment details of capacity provisioning, load balancing, auto-scaling, and application health monitoring.  EBS leverages AWS services such as Amazon Elastic Cloud Compute (Amazon EC2), Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3), Amazon Simple Notification Service (Amazon SNS), Elastic Load Balancing, and Auto Scaling.  

http://aws.typepad.com/aws/2012/11/raising-the-roof-more-provisioned-iops-for-ebs.html

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TIM Brazil Picks Ericsson for LTE

TIM Brazil has selected Ericsson to deploy LTE in the states of São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Bahia, Sergipe, Goiás and the Federal District.  Ericsson will supply RBS 6000 base stations.  The contract also includes network rollout services.  Financial terms were not disclosed.

The deeal extends the long-standing partnership that together implemented TIM’s 2G and 3G in Brazil.  It also marks Ericsson's fourth  4G/LTE contract in Brazil,

TIM Brazil is a subsidiary of Telecom Italia.

http://www.ericsson.com

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Alcatel-Lucent: Gains in IP and Wireline Offset by Declines in Optics, Wireless

Alcatel-Lucent reported Q3 revenue of Euro 3,599 million, up 1.5% quarter-over-quarter but down 2.8% year-over-year on a reported basis as gains in the IP business were offset by double digit declines in Wireless and in Optics.

Gross margin came in at 27.9% of revenue for the quarter, compared to 35.3% in the year ago quarter and 31.7% in the second quarter 2012. There was a reported net loss (group share) of Euro (146) million or Euro (0.06) per share.

North America witnessed a 10% revenue decline, whilst Central and Latin America recorded its eighth quarter of double digit growth, driven by Brazil. In Asia Pacific, which declined 10%, the continuous good traction in Japan and Australia partially offset the still low activity in China. Driven by good growth in Russia, Eastern Europe declined at a smaller pace than Western Europe, where low spending from service providers still prevail (adjusted for constant currency and compared to the year ago period).

"Our third quarter results are reflective of the significant transformation we are undertaking both in terms of scope and timing. In addition, our revenue growth and gross margin were impacted by overall carrier spending dynamics and product mix, especially in wireless.  During this transition period we are very focused on insulating our core operating business by maintaining our commitment to innovation and our investment levels in R&D. Our recent significant wins in the U.S, China and Brazil as well as the 20% growth in the order book for our HLN products have emphasized our relevance with the leading carriers as they roll-out their next generation networks," stated Ben Verwaayen, CEO Alcatel-Lucent.

Some highlights:

NETWORKS

Revenues for the IP division were Euro 490 million, a 30.3% increase from the year-ago quarter. The company reported strong growth for IP edge routers, especially in Japan, China, the US and Latin America, reflecting all-IP network transformation, as well as strong demand for trials of the new 7950 XRS core router in all regions.

Revenues for the Optics division were Euro 480 million, a decrease of 17.5% from the year-ago quarter. Despite continued declines in legacy equipment, WDM returned to growth in the third quarter, resulting in overall low double digit decline in terrestrial optics.  The company cited the success of its 1830 Photonic Service Switch (PSS), which was selected in the third quarter by China Telecom as part of their nationwide broadband expansion. There was continued weakness for the submarine optics business.

Revenues for the Wireless division was Euro 837 million, a decrease of 18.9% from the year-ago quarter. The company reported overall cautious spending from service providers.

Revenues in the Wireline division increased 26.3% from their year-ago level, to Euro 389 million. This quarter marked the second consecutive quarter that fiber-based access revenues surpassed copper-based access revenues. The IPDSLAM equipment grew at double digit rate, while the fiber access equipment grew 80% year-over-year, confirming particular strength in Asia-Pacific, driven mainly by China, immediately followed by the Americas and then by EMEA with PON technology.

Sales of  next-generation Networks products increased 20% from the year-ago quarter, reaching Euro 1,162 million in the third quarter 2012. At constant currency rates, sales of our next-generation Networks products increased 10% compared to the year ago quarter. This accounts for 53% of Networks sales, compared to 43% a year-ago.

S3 (SOFTWARE, SERVICES and SOLUTIONS)

Revenues for the S3 segment were Euro 1,155 million, an increase of 5.0% compared to Euro 1,100  million in the year-ago quarter and an increase of 9.7% compared to Euro 1,053 million in the second quarter 2012. At constant currency exchange rates, S3 revenues decreased 0.7% year-over-year and increased 8.3% sequentially.

Services revenues were Euro 1,058 million, a 6.2% increase compared to the year-ago quarter.   Network Applications revenues declined 6.7% from their year-ago level, to Euro 97 million in the third quarter. "Strategic Industries" Services business (including transportation, energy, and the public sector) had a strong sequential growth, driven by the EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions.

ENTERPRISE

Revenues in the Enterprise business were Euro 188 million, a decrease of -13.8% compared to Euro 218 million in the year-ago quarter and a decrease of -1.6% compared to Euro 191  million in the second quarter 2012. At constant currency exchange rates, our Enterprise business declined 16.5% compared to the year-ago quarter and decreased 2.6% sequentially. Excluding an OEM re-sale activity that was terminated in the third quarter of 2011, and one-time items, the data business would have increased 5%.

In a conference call, Alcatel-Lucent's CEO said the company's restructuring program will cut two layers in the organization, reducing the number of executives by 30%.  More than 60% of cuts will be in Europe.

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