China Mobile Launches TD-LTE + FDD-LTE in Kong

China Mobile launched a dual-mode TD-LTE + FDD-LTE capability in Hong Kong.The converged LTE FDD/TDD network allows subscribers with client devices supporting both formats to roam on-net between services.  The CMHK LTE network is the first dual-mode network in the Asia-Pacific region.

Live demonstrations showcasing the high-speed data download capabilities of TD-LTE and LTE FDD networks and the seamless hand-overbetween TD-LTE and FDD LTE networks for online video transmission were conducted at the launch event.

China Mobile Hong Kong's FDD LTE mobile data service launched in April. The  TD-LTE network in Hong Kong was activated in September.

Both Ericsson and ZTE have supplied equipment for China Mobile's Hong Kong network.

"The commercial operation of China Mobile Hong Kong’s TD-LTE/FDD LTE converged network in Hong Kong marks a new milestone in the development of LTE technology, and helps to build strong momentum in the industry,” said Mr. Zhang, Vice President of ZTE.

As part of the launch, ZTE introduced its TDD/FDD dual-mode ZTE Grand Era LTE smartphone, featuring  Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, a 1.5GHz dual core CPU, 1GB of memory and a multi-touch 4.5-inch 1280×720 Gorilla Glass display.

"With the growing popularity of the LTE environment in Hong Kong, LTE smart terminal products will become more prevalent in the future, which will also be the model for LTE development in mainland China, further accelerating the maturity of the global TD-LTE industry, " said Mr. He Shiyou, ZTE EVP and Head of the Terminal Division.

http://www.hk.chinamobile.com/


In its 1H2012 financial report, China Mobile confirmed that it has successfully completed TD-LTE trial in "6+1" cities and commenced an expanded build-out of the technology. China Mobile has also carried out two-way roaming trials between Hangzhou's TD-LTE network and Hong Kong's LTE FDD networks.

By the end of this year, China Mobile aims to deploy 20,000 TD-LTE base stations in 13 cities. The goal is to have 90% effective coverage in key areas of Hangzhou, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen.

In 2013, the number of TD-LTE base stations will reach 200,000 to achieve contiguous outdoor coverage in data hotspots of prefectural level and above cities.

In October, ZTE announced a major contract to supply TD-LTE equipment to China Mobile in five cities, namely Beijing, Tianjin, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Shenyang. The contract cover more than 13,000 carrier frequencies. Financial terms were not disclosed.
ZTE confirmed that it is now China Mobile's leading LTE supplier for China Mobile.

China Mobile launched the TD-LTE bidding in August 2012. The tender included contracts for some 20,000 base stations and 52,000 carrier sectors.

In October, Alcatel-Lucent Shanghai Bell also announced a contract to support China Mobile's TD-LTE trial network rollout as it extends services to 10 cities. Under the terms of the contract, Alcatel-Lucent Shanghai Bell will deliver approximately 3,000 base stations in the cities of Shanghai, Nanjing and Qingdao.

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SK Telecom: LTE will be its Mainstream Service in 2013

SK Telecom is reporting an accelerated growth in LTE subscribers.

SK Telecom is currently experiencing a daily average of 60,000 customers new LTE enrollments, representing over 50 percent growth compared to the last month.  LTE subscribers surpassed 7 million as of December 12, 2012, thereby achieving the end of year target for LTE subscribers.  The company's LTE footprint covers 99 percent of South Korea's population.

For comparison, it took SK Telecom two years and four months to acquire 7 million 3G WCDMA subscribers since commercializing the service in May 2006.

At present, the company's LTE subscribers make up 26 percent of its total mobile subscriber base, expanding 11 fold compared to the end of November 2011 when it reported 630,000 LTE subscribers, accounting for a mere 2.4 percent of the total. The pace is expected to accelerate even further with the launch of Apple's iPhone 5 on December 7, 2012.

The LTE subscriber base is expected to hit 14 million by the end of 2013. making LTE the company's mainstream mobile service.

"As LTE is expected to become the mainstream service in 2013, we will focus on developing and offering differentiated LTE services to deliver greater value and convenience for our customers," stated Jang Dong-hyun, Executive Vice President and Head of Marketing Division of SK Telecom.

http://www.sktelecom.com/

In August, SK Telecom launched an HD VoLTE service, initially featuring the Samsung Galaxy S3 LTE handset. Customers who already have the handset will be able to download a firmware upgrade later this month. The Galaxy Note 2 will also offer an HD VoLTE capability.

• The premium HD voice service is available at no additional charge.
• The HD voice connection uses 2.2 times the bandwidth of voice over 3G.
• The HD voice call connection time ranges from less than 0.25 to 2.5 seconds. This compares with a mean call connection time of 5 seconds for 3G voice calls, and SK Telecom believes this difference will be apparent to the customer.
• HD VoLTE carries a wide voice frequency range of 50 to 7000 hertz compared to a 3G voice call that typically covers 300 to 2400 hertz. The service uses Enhanced Variable Rate Codec (EVRC).
• SK Telecom is using multi-carrier technology for the 800 MHz (20MHz) and 1.8 GHz (20MHz) frequency bands.

In July, SK Telecom announced plans to commercialize LTE-Advanced in its network during 2013.

SK Telecom, in collaboration with Qualcomm and Nokia Siemens Networks, recently tested a core LTE-Advanced technology called 'Enhanced Inter-Cell Interference Coordination (eICIC) that coordinates signal interference between macro and pico base stations. eICIC is gaining importance as more and more micro base stations are being built in traffic concentrated areas to accommodate explosive data traffic growth, thereby aggravating inter-cell interference.

SK Telecom noted that it now holds the record of demonstrating the three core technologies needed to usher in the era of LTE-Advanced: eICIC, Coordinated Multi-Point (CoMP) and Carrier Aggregation (CA). The company successfully demonstrated CoMP at Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2011 and CA at MWC 2012.

CoMP is a technology that prevents base station interference and abrupt call disconnections in coverage boundary areas by enhancing signal strength, the lack of which leads to a significant drop in data transmission speed, and CA is a technology that provides twice or faster data rates by utilizing multiple frequency bands at the same time.

SK Telecom expects to commercialize eICIC in the second half of 2013 to control signal interference and effectively offload data in downtown areas that experience heavy data traffic so as to provide customers with a mobile data service with greater speed and stability.

The company commercialized CoMP, for the first time in the world, in January 2012, after adjusting the technology to suit the current LTE system, and plans to achieve early commercialization of CA in the second half of 2013.

The operator will deliver LTE using both existing 800MHz frequency band (20MHz) and the 1.8GHz band (20MHz) it newly acquired last year. With an additional 20MHz uplink/downlink spectrum, it is now using a total of 40MHz for its LTE services. SK Telecom has launched a pilot service for multi-carrier in May 2012 and began full-fledged commercialization on July 1 to ensure a more stable and faster LTE service based on twice wider frequency bandwidth than its competitors. CA realizes data rates of up to 150Mbps by combining the speeds of 800MHz (75Mbps) and 1.8GHz (75Mbps) frequency bands.

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Cisco to Acquire BroadHop for Policy Control

Cisco announced plans to acquire BroadHop, a start-up providing policy control and service management technology for carrier networks. Financial terms were not disclosed.

BroadHop, which is based in Denver, Colorado, specializes in application-centric policy technology.  Its Quantum Network Suite is an open policy-application platform based on PCRF architecture that can be used for network-centric bandwidth management, such as fair use and bandwidth throttling, and application-centric interactive services, such as policy-to-the-handset and real-time mobile congestion management. This enables Service Providers to control, monetize and personalize network and application services.  The company says its solution has been deployed by more than 90 telecom service providers serving more than 500 million subscribers in 40 countries.

BroadHop has been a key service provider Wi-Fi partner for Cisco.

Cisco said BroadHop's policy control solutions for mobile and fixed networks will be integrated into Cisco’s Service Provider Mobility Group to provide service providers the flexibility to control, monetize and personalize the types of service they choose, on any network.

http://www.broadhop.com

http://blogs.cisco.com/news/cisco-announces-intent-toacquire-broadhop/

• In April, BroadHop confirmed that a Tier 1 US operator is leveraging Quantum Network Suite for Wi-Fi offload. Quantum Network Suite is enabling this operator with portal-based authentication and redirection of Wi-Fi enabled smart phones and devices.
  
• BroadHop was founded in 2003.
  
• In 2010, BroadHop introduced its open policy management and control platform designed for intelligent broadband services and mobile data and application delivery. The company's Quantum Network Suite leverages a virtualized rules engine that enables network-aware mobile data services on an individual basis. Using 3GPP PCRF standards, the policy engine detects and adjusts for mobile core congestion in real time, maximizing session capacity and user quality of experience. Key capabilities include a subscriber balance manager, charging and policy enforcement.
  
• BroadHop said its Quantum Network suite enables service providers and solution integrators to use industry standard tools and technologies to create new policy blueprints -- and enable dynamic linking of their proprietary applications to the Quantum Network policy platform.
  
• Using the platform, service providers could share real time network status information with individual subscribers, such as smartphone users, informing them of periods when light network loads with lower downloading costs. By seeing their service and network status at a glance, subscribers will be better able to manage their data usage.

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A List of Cisco's 2012 Acquisitions

At the Cisco Financial Analyst Conference Day in New York earlier this month, company CEO John Chambers said the company's ambition is to transform itself from being the top communications provider to the top information technology provider.  

Cisco's key strategy remains to Build-Buy-Partner and Chambers said mergers & acquisitions remain a key part of the plan.  

Most recent deals have focused on software.

Cisco to Acquire BroadHop for Policy Control

Cisco announced plans to acquire BroadHop, a start-up providing policy control and service management technology for carrier networks. Financial terms were not disclosed. BroadHop, which is based in Denver, Colorado, specializes in application-centric policy technology.  Its Quantum Network Suite is an open policy-application platform based on PCRF architecture that can be used for network-centric bandwidth management, such as fair use...

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Cisco to Acquire Cariden for Network Planning Expertise

Thursday, November 29, 2012  Cisco, Mergers and Acquisitions, MPLS, Silicon Valley, Start-ups  No comments

Cisco agreed to acquire privately held Cariden Technologies, a provider of network planning, design and traffic management solutions for telecommunications service providers, for approximately $141 million in cash and retention-based incentives. Cariden's network planning and design tools help service providers to enhance the visibility, programmability and efficiency of their converged networks, while improving service velocity. Cariden's MATE...

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Cisco to Acquire Meraki for Cloud-managed Wi-Fi

Sunday, November 18, 2012  Cisco, Mergers and Acquisitions, Silicon Valley, Wi-Fi  No comments

Cisco agreed to acquire Meraki, a rival supplier of campus Wi-Fi solutions, for approximately $1.2 billion in cash and retention-based incentives. Meraki supplies a line of high capacity on-site WLAN hardware that is centrally managed from its cloud. Compared to other WLAN solutions including Cisco's own campus Wi-Fi, Meraki has said its key advantages are quick turn-up and no training or dedicated staff needed to maintain the network, thus...

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Cisco to Acquire Cloupia for Cloud Automation Software

Thursday, November 15, 2012  Cisco, Cloud, Data Center, Mergers and Acquisitions, Silicon Valley, Start-ups  No comments

Cisco agreed to acquire Cloupia, a start-up focused on Cloud Automation and Management Software, for approximately $125 million in cash and retention-based incentives. Cloupia, which is based in Santa Clara, California, provides tools to automate converged data center infrastructure.  The Cloupia Unified Infrastructure Controller (CUIC) is a vendor-neutral, multi-hypervisor and multi-cloud provisioning and management solution that provides...

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Cisco Acquires ThinkSmart for Wi-Fi Analytics

Wednesday, September 26, 2012  Cisco, Europe, Ireland, Mergers and Acquisitions, Start-ups, Wi-Fi  No comments

Cisco has acquired ThinkSmart Technologies, a software developer specializing in location data analysis using Wi-Fi.  Financial terms were not disclosed. ThinkSmart’s location analytics collects information on movement within a venue including time of day, traffic patterns and dwell times. The company, which is based in Cork, Ireland, was formed at the Incubation Centre of University College Cork. The company becomes part of Cisco’s...

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Cisco to Acquire BNI for Video Control Plane Software

Wednesday, October 19, 2011  CDN, Cisco, Mergers and Acquisitions, Start-ups  No comments

Cisco will acquire BNI Video, a start-up developing video control plane software for cable operators, for approximately $99 million in cash and retention-based incentives. BNI's platform allows video service providers to easily incorporate social networking, search, and other next-generation applications into their offerings. BNI's website says its control plane software connects content to subscribers, enabling transcoding and digital rights...

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Cisco to Acquire newScale for Self-Service Portal Software

Monday, March 28, 2011  Cisco, Mergers and Acquisitions, Start-ups  No comments

Cisco agreed to acquire privately-held newScale, a developer of software that delivers a service catalog and self-service portal for IT organizations to select and quickly deploy cloud services within their businesses. Financial terms were not disclosed.newScale is based in San Mateo, California. Its software helps IT organizations and service providers offer a self-service "storefront" for both desktop and data center services - across physical,...

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Procera Wins Multi-Million Order from MSO in Middle East

Procera Networks announced a multi-million dollar initial order from a Tier 1 multi-system operator (MSO) in the Middle East. The operator will use Procera's PacketLogic PL8920 platform for its residential triple play service offerings across its countrywide footprint.

http://www.proceranetworks.com

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Infonetics: 100G Shipments Surpassing Expectations

Infonetics is reporting a better-than-expect ramp in 100G shipments.

"100G continues to surpass even our most optimistic projections," reports Andrew Schmitt, principal analyst for optical at Infonetics Research. "There's been a flurry of prototyping, sampling and trial activity all around the world, including China, where plans for 100G have been bumped up by 12 months since we spoke to operators there last spring. In line with our aggressive forecasts, worldwide shipments of 100G coherent transceivers more than tripled in 2012, and will at least double in 2013.  The other big deal in the transceiver market is that the pricing gap collapsed between tunable and non-tunable XFP, further spurring adoption of tunable XFP technology."


Some additional highlights from Infonetics' 10G/40G/100G optical transceivers report:

Once final numbers are in for 2012, Infonetics expects the overall optical transceiver market to post about a 7% increase over last year, and to grow in healthy double digits to reach close to $2.0 billion in 2013

Unit shipments of 10G, 40G and 100G transceivers continue to increase, but revenue for 10G and 40G is under pressure from price declines and the shift to 100G

By 2015, 40G and 100G transceiver revenue together will match 10G transceiver revenue for the first time

Infonetics anticipates network equipment manufacturers (NEMs) to supply more than 3/4 of all 100G long reach ports by 2014 2015.

http://www.infonetics.com

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Indosat Upgrades its Backbone with Alcatel-Lucent IP/MPLS

Indosat has selected Alcatel-Lucent's IP/MPLS solution to upgrade its data transport and mobile broadband networks throughout Indonesia.

Alcatel-Lucent is supplying Indosat with a comprehensive IP/MPLS based Carrier Ethernet solution which includes its 7750 Service Router, 7705 Service Aggregation Router (SAR), and 5620 Service Aware Manager, as well as its 9500 Microwave Packet Radio platform. Alcatel-Lucent - in partnership with Datacomm - will also provide a wide set of services and expertise in the areas such as project management, consulting and design, integration services, installation, deployment and maintenance.

Rajeev Singh-Molares, President, Asia Pacific of Alcatel-Lucent said: “Indosat has been moving quickly to prepare its network for the demands of the future, and we are pleased to expand our collaboration into the mobile backhaul space. The modernization of Indosat’s network will enable them to continue the rapid expansion of their customer base, while introducing a wide array of new services without taxing their infrastructure.”

http://www.alcatel-lucent.com

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Telenor Picks NEC for Microwave Backhaul

NEC announced a global framework contract to supply Telenor with its compact microwave communications system, the "iPASOLINK" series, including the "5000ips" long-haul, large capacity microwave system and related services such as installation and commissioning.

The global framework contract awarded to NEC is one of the contracts covering the Telenor group's 11 affiliates. 

NEC said the deal strengthens its position as the primary microwave communication system supplier for the Telenor Group.

http://www.nec.com

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Sprint Sets Clearwire Deal at $2.97 per share

Sprint agreed to pay  $2.97 per share for remaining shares of Clearwire that it does not already own.  The deal, has been accepted by Clearwire's Board of Directors, equates to a total payment of $2.2 billion for the outstanding 50% equity stake, and results in a total Clearwire enterprise value of approximately $10 billion, including net debt and spectrum lease obligations of $5.5 billion.

 Sprint said itss Network Vision architecture will be able to take full advantage of Clearwire’s complementary 2.5 GHz spectrum assets, while achieving operational efficiencies and improved service for customers as the spectrum and network is migrated to LTE standards.

“Today’s transaction marks yet another significant step in Sprint’s improved competitive position and ability to offer customers better products, more choices and better services. Sprint is uniquely positioned to maximize the value of Clearwire’s spectrum and efficiently deploy it to increase Sprint’s network capacity. We believe this transaction, particularly when leveraged with our SoftBank relationship, is further validation of our strategy and allows Sprint to control its network destiny, stated Sprint CEO Dan Hesse.

http://www.sprint.com
http://www.clearwire.com

• Clearwire holds the largest spectrum portfolio in the U.S. but in upper bands.  Its spectrum is an average 163 MHz in the top 100  U.S. markets.
  
• Clearwire operates a nationwide WiMAX network and has been planning to make the transition to TD-LTE.  Its main wholesale customer and investor is Sprint, which has extended its 4G agreement through 2015.  The companies have outlined ways of bridging their FD-LTE and TD-LTE networks with dual-mode devices that are under development.
  
• Also in October, SoftBank announced plans to invest $20.1 billion to acquire a 70% in Sprint.  The deal consists of $12.1 billion to be distributed to Sprint stockholders and $8.0 billion of new capital to strengthen Sprint’s balance sheet.  The investment aims to accelerate Sprint's next generation network and its competitive position as the No. 3 U.S. mobile operator.  For Softbank, this represents a major leap beyond its home market of Japan, where it is the No. 3 mobile operator and No. 2 wireline broadband provider. The companies hope to get the deal done by mid-2013, pending regulatory approvals.
  
• As of October 25th, Sprint’s Network Vision program  had over 4,300 cell sites on air and the number either ready for construction or currently being updated had more than doubled in the last three months to more than 13,500.  Sprint had completed leasing and zoning permits on more than 20,000 sites.  Weekly construction starts were up over 250 percent from the second quarter but the company expects to bring 12,000 sites on air approximately one quarter later than originally planned. 
  CAPEX reached $1.5 billion in the quarter, compared to $760 million in the third quarter of 2011 and $1.2 billion in the second quarter of 2012. 
  As of the end of Q3, Sprint had LTE available in 32 cities and expects to add 115 additional cities in the coming months. 

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Ericsson Builds Connected Vehicle Cloud for Volvo

Volvo Car Group has selected Ericsson to provide systems integration and managed services for a global cloud delivering information, navigation and entertainment to its new cars.

Ericsson's Connected Vehicle Cloud will allow drivers, passengers and the car to connect to services available in the cloud.  Volvo plans to establish agreements with content providers such as Internet radio providers, road authorities, cities' governments, toll-road operators and others.

"We clearly see that cars in the near future will integrate the same level of digital services that consumers today are used to have in their homes or at work. This is a strategically important part of Volvo's investments for the future where we intend to take a leading position," said Lex Kerssemakers, Senior Vice President Product Strategy and Vehicle Line Management at Volvo Cars

"This partnership is evidence of the transformation across our entire society as we move into the Networked Society.  Drivers want services that technology makes possible, in real time and in the context that fits them personally. Our skills in System Integration and Service Enablement will match Volvo's strategy," said Per Borgklint, Head of Business Unit Support Systems, Ericsson.

http://www.ericsson.com

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T-Systems Simplifies its Structure for Cloud Agility

T-Systems, the systems integration business of Deutsche Telekom, will be simplifying its organizational structure from four business areas to two: Sales and Delivery.

T-Systems said it is taking this approach to improve agility in helping its enterprise customers adapt for the cloud.

“An increasing number of corporate customers are using the cloud for their core business. The extension of the contract with Shell is a good example of this. That’s why the time has now come for us to part with business processes that are still based on old outsourcing models,” says Deutsche Telekom Board Member and T Systems CEO Reinhard Clemens, explaining the measure. “Instead we will integrate our processes to support the cloud. Going forward, Sales will include all closely related activities from marketing to portfolio management. In Delivery, we will leavage all customer-related services - from technical consulting, through systems integration and all the way to infrastructure.”

http://www.telekom.com

In October, T-Systems began construction of Germany's largest data center -- a massive facility that will be built on a surface area the size of approximately 30 soccer fields (i.e., 150,000m2) in Biere, Saxony-Anhalt.

The new facility, which will be the 90th data center operated by T-Systems , will be a twin of another data center already running in Magdeburg.  The new construction in Biere will form a "TwinCore"  -- in the event of any disruption, the twin facility can immediately take over.

Deutsche Telekom said it is seeing high interest in colocation and cloud services.  Some 600 corporate customers use these new IT services offered byT-Systems, including internationally active groups such as Shell and Daimler. Data protection and fail-safety are key services.  T-Systems is using 22 data centers specifically for cloud services.

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Zayo Fiber Reaches All CoreSite Data Centers

Zayo Group has extended its fiber-based services to all CoreSite data centers in nine markets throughout North America.

Zayo's full suite of lit services is now available at each CoreSite location, including wavelengths, Ethernet, and IP services. Additionally, Dark Fiber, with diverse routes and facility entrances, is available at each CoreSite location except Miami. Zayo brings an average of over 600 fibers into each facility. 

Zayo's 67,000-route mile network connects sites in 231 markets on dense metro and intercity fiber assets.

CoreSite's data centers offer 2,000,000+ sq. ft. of capacity.

http://www.zayo.com
http://www.coresite.com/

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Blue Coat to Acquire Crossbeam

Blue Coat agreed to acquire Crossbeam Systems for an undisclosed sum.  Blue Coat specializes in web security and optimization while Crossbeam supplies scalable network security systems. 

Crossbeam is best known for its X-Series network security platform or network operators.  The company is based in Boxborough, Mass. and has more than 200 employees worldwide.

“Our service provider and enterprise customers are excited we are bringing together two complementary technologies,” said Greg Clark, chief executive officer at Blue Coat Systems.  “With Crossbeam, Blue Coat gains a best-in-class support infrastructure and a high performing platform that scales to meet the needs of even the most complex enterprise IT environments.”

http://bluecoat.com
http://www.crossbeam.com

• In November, Crossbeam Systems was acquired by Thoma Bravo, a private equity firm, for an undisclosed sum. Thoma Bravo currently manages a series of private equity funds representing almost $4 billion of equity commitments.  In software, Thoma Bravo has completed 54 add-on acquisitions across 25 platform companies with total annual earnings of approximately $1 billion.

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Cisco Completes Acquisition of Cariden

Cisco completed its acquisition of privately held Cariden Technologies, a provider of network planning, design and traffic management solutions for telecommunications service providers, for approximately $141 million in cash and retention-based incentives.

Cariden's network planning and design tools help service providers to enhance the visibility, programmability and efficiency of their converged networks, while improving service velocity. Cariden's MATE software is widely used by global tier-1 ISPs, PTTs, MSOs and mobile operators for IP/MPLS network engineering. 

Cariden has recently extended its network visibility and traffic control platform to perform business intelligence function by leveraging its  traffic flow collection from key nodes in a carrier network.  Specifically, Cariden has now added a Flow Interface to its MATE portfolio, enabling the ability to collect and analyze NetFlow, S-Flow and J-Flow data to determine the cost of traffic flows and monitor their use of network resources.  This includes being able to analyze peering traffic compliance to agreements and calculate bit-mile costs for that and other services, thus providing operations staff the ability to meet their obligations for transparency to the commercial side of their business

Cariden has also developed a blueprint for infrastructure software defined networking (SDN) that provides visibility and programmability of network resources, simplifying network control through an open API.

http://www.cisco.com

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Akamai's Chief Scientist to Take CEO Helm

Dr. Tom Leighton, Akamai's co-founder and Chief Scientist, will succeed Paul Sagan as the company's CEO.  Sagan announced earlier this year that he intended to step down.

Leighton has been the technological visionary at Akamai since its founding in 1998.  Prior to founding Akamai, Dr. Leighton was a Professor of Applied Mathematics at MIT and a member of MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL). Dr. Leighton holds numerous patents involving content delivery, Internet protocols, network algorithms, distributed computing, cryptography, and digital rights management.

http://www.akamai.com

• Earlier this month, AT&T announced a strategic alliance with Akamai Technologies to deliver a global suite of content delivery network (CDN) solutions to companies.
  
  Under the deal, Akamai will deploy CDN servers at the edge of AT&T's IP network and in AT&T facilities throughout the United States. AT&T will transfer its existing CDN operations, customers and service to the Akamai platform in 2013.  The companies have also agreed to dedicate shared resources including technical support, customer care, marketing and professional services support.  Financial terms were not disclosed.
  The companies said the combination of AT&T's network assets with Akamai's CDN will help enterprises simplify content distribution management and drive higher-performing end user experiences for consumers accessing content on the Internet. They hope to expand their efforts internationally within 12 months.
  
• Separately, Akamai announced the acquisition of Verivue, a privately-held company based in Westford, Massachusetts that provides licensed content delivery network (CDN) infrastructure solutions for network operators. The combination of the two companies’ technologies and teams is expected to help Akamai accelerate market availability of a comprehensive portfolio of Operator CDN products.

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Windstream Builds Data Center in Durham, N.C.

Windstream Hosted Solutions plans to construct a Tier III enterprise-class data center in Durham, N.C.   The new 22,000-square-foot facility (expandable to 88,000 square feet) is scheduled to open in 2013.

Windstream Hosted Solutions currently operates two other data centers in the Raleigh-Durham area.  the company cites demand for robust cloud computing solutions and managed services.

http://www.windstream.com

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Chelsio Releases Unified Wire API for 40/100G Ethernet

Chelsio Communications, which supplies 10Gb Ethernet adapters, introduced its Unified Wire API for 40G and 100G speeds. The standardized API can run unmodified Fibre Channel and InfiniBand applications concurrently over Ethernet, while future protecting all OEM software investments. All software written to this API will be portable across future generations of Chelsio ASICs.

http://www.chelsio.com

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Alcatel-Lucent Selected for GPON and VDSL2 in Tunisia

Tunisiana has awarded a four-year contract to Alcatel-Lucent to build a wireline broadband access network.

Tunisiana, which is Tunisia’s largest mobile operator and part of the Qtel Group, plans to launch wireline services beginning next year.

The contract covers designing, building, managing and maintaining the network.
Included in the package are Alcatel-Lucent’s GPON and VDSL2 broadband access products, along with its Motive customer experience solution.  Financial terms were not disclosed.

http://www.alcatel-lucent.com
http://www.tunisiana.com

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World Conference on Telecommunications Ends without Support from Major Players

The World Conference on International Telecommunications in Dubai ended with delegates from 89 countries agreeing to a new treaty that encompasses a range of communications issues, including addenda on the development and growth of the Internet.  However, the United States, Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and other western European nations rejected the treaty on grounds that new government regulations would be a threat to the open Internet.

ITU Secretary-General Dr Hamadoun Touré said the agreement was not meant to stem the free flow of information but to assist developing countries, promote accessibility to persons with disabilities, address spam, and other Internet traffic areas.  He noted that provisions concerning the Internet were removed from the actual treaty text and annexed as a non-binding resolution.

Opponents of the treaty were not convinced.  They said granting new powers of authority to the ITU was unwanted and unneeded. Regulating spam messaging could open the door to sanctioned government surveillance and censorship especially of political or religious content.

The United Stated said it could not support the treaty.  U.S. Ambassador Terry Kramer stated: "The Internet has given the world unimaginable economic and social benefits during these past 24 years – all without UN regulation. We candidly cannot support an ITU treaty that is inconsistent with a multi-stakeholder model of Internet governance. As the ITU has stated, this conference was never meant to focus on internet issues; however, today we are in a situation where we still have text and resolutions that cover issues on spam and also provisions on internet governance. These past two weeks, we have of course made good progress and shown a willingness to negotiate on a variety of telecommunications policy issues, such as roaming and settlement rates, but the United States continues to believe that internet policy must be multi-stakeholder driven. Internet policy should not be determined by member states but by citizens, communities, and broader society, and such consultation from the private sector and civil society is paramount. This has not happened here."

http://www.itu.int/en/wcit-12/Pages/statement-toure.aspx

http://www.itu.int/en/wcit-12/Pages/default.aspx

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Interxion Offers AWS Direct Connect from European Data Centers

INTERXION is now offering AWS Direct Connect from its 32 data centres across 11 countries in Europe.

AWS Direct Connect allows customers to establish private connectivity between the AWS platform in the cloud and their existing dedicated IT infrastructure, which can reduce network costs, increase bandwidth throughput, and provide a more consistent network experience than Internet-based connections.

The new services is carried over Level 3's network from the INTERXION data center to Amazon Web Services (AWS).

INTERXION said AWS Direct Connect will be particularly attractive to customers that use large data sets and real time data feeds or need to satisfy regulatory requirements by using private network connections.

“We have provided Interxion customers with the ability to connect to our global network for years,” said James Heard, Level 3’s regional president of EMEA. “We’re delighted to be strengthening this relationship by enabling connectivity to AWS Direct Connect from Interxion’s European city locations.”

 “AWS Direct Connect helps our customers to build hybrid cloud solutions between their dedicated IT infrastructures and the AWS platform more effectively by providing cost, security and performance control”, said Vincent in‘t Veld, Director Cloud Segment at Interxion. “This supports the wider IT transformation process by allowing organisations to further maximise their IT efficiency. Thanks to the presence of leading network service providers such as Level 3, AWS Direct Connect can now be accessed by our customer community across our entire data centre footprint.”

http://www.interxion.com

• AWS operates its major European data center in Dublin.
• AWS Direct Connect uses 802.1q VLANs. The dedicated connection can be partitioned into multiple virtual interfaces, enabling the same connection to access public resources such as objects stored in Amazon S3 using public IP address space, and private resources such as Amazon EC2 instances running within an Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) using private IP space, while maintaining network separation between the public and private environments. Virtual interfaces can be reconfigured at any time.  Rates up to 10G are available.
• Equiix, Telx and Hibernia Atlantic have all recently announced AWS Direct Connect services.

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