Seaborn Builds US-Brazil Undersea Cable with ALU

Alcatel-Lucent kicked off construction of US-Brazil subsea cable for Seaborn Networks.  A turnkey installation agreement is in force for the six-fiber pair Seabras-1 system, which will boast an initial maximum design capacity of 60 Terabits per second.

“We look forward to continuing to work closely with Alcatel-Lucent during the manufacturing and build stage of this project,” said Larry Schwartz, Seaborn’s Chief Executive Officer. “And we are most appreciative of our customers who have enabled us to achieve this important milestone so as to ensure a ready-for-service date in 2016.”

The Alcatel-Lucent solution to be deployed for this project includes an integrated 100G wet plant of cable and high bandwidth repeaters, power feed equipment, and its 1620 Light Manager (LM) submarine line terminal
equipped with advanced coherent technology and offering unique flexibility to increase direct connectivity between countries.

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

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DOJ Clears Level 3's Acquisition of tw telecom

The U.S. Department of Justice has cleared Level 3 Communications' pending acquisition of tw telecom, completing the process under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976
(HSR).

http://www.level3.com
http://www.twtelecom.com

• In June, Level 3 Communications agreed to acquire tw telecom in a deal that will combine its global fiber network and international data centers with tw telecom's extensive metro footprint in major U.S. markets. The stock-and-cash transaction is valued at $40.86 per TWTC share, or $5.7 billion in aggregate, based on market close as of June 13, 2014. tw telecom stockholders will receive $10 cash and 0.7 shares of Level 3 common stock for each share of tw telecom common stock that is owned at closing.

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Intel Releases 2nd Generation LTE Modem Platforms

Intel announced the first commercial availability of the Intel XMM 7260 modem.

The LTE modem is now shipping in the Samsung Galaxy Alpha smartphone for Europe and other regional markets. The Intel XMM 7260 and Intel XMM 7262 modems delivers Category 6 data rates up to 300 Mbps.

Intel said its second-generation LTE platforms and provide device manufacturers a high-performance, power-efficient solution for the coming wave of LTE-Advanced networks and devices.

At the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco this week, Intel also announced shipment of Edison, a postage stamp-size computer with built-in wireless that was announced at CES in January.  Edison is aimed at IoT applications.

http://www.intel.com

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Procera Hits Max Performance on Intel Open Network Platforms

Procera Networks reports that its NFV software solution has demonstrated theoretical maximum performance running on Intel Xeon processor E5, Intel Xeon processor E5 v2, and Intel Xeon processor E5 v3-based commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) platforms.

The performance testing consisted of side-by-side instances of test systems based on multiple generations of Intel Xeon processor-based systems. The test utilized the new Intel Xeon processor E5 2600 v3, running PacketLogic/V software in a virtual machine with 4x10 10Gbps Ethernet connections. The PacketLogic/V software had a complete complement of traffic detection and management rules enabled, simulating a real world deployment, and line rate traffic was sent into the VNF.  In each case the PacketLogic/V software performed at bare metal rates and was able to achieve maximum throughput of all of the available Ethernet interfaces in the system.

"Today's results are significant to our customers and the NFV community," said James Brear, president and CEO at Procera. "Not only have we demonstrated on Intel technology that high-performance applications such as PacketLogicTM can successfully perform as software-only solutions, but our customers now have a choice in deploying PacketLogic as hardware or software with no performance penalty."

This performance was achieved through participation in the Intel Network Builders program and was focused on demonstrating that high-performance NFV applications can be successfully deployed on Intel architecture-based COTS platforms.

http://www.proceranetworks.com

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Intelsat Sees Market Transition to 4K Services

An Intelsat survey of media company executives has found that 42% have made the decision to launch a 4K UHDTV service and have a specific timeframe for its rollout, with 23% planning to launch in less than four years.

The survey finds that 35% of non-technical executives expect Direct-to-Home (DTH) will be the first segment to gain momentum as compared to 60% of technical executives who believe Video on Demand is where 4K UHDTV will first take hold.

The main driver cited by media companies was the ability to provide the competitive differentiation necessary to attract new subscribers to their linear broadcast and cable television channels.

Intelsat surveyed technical and non-technical (primarily marketing) media executives from its global customer base, which is comprised of many of the world’s largest media companies that conduct business on a regional and global basis.  The nearly 80 respondents represent a statistically significant sample of the pool of potential respondents.

“While it is becoming more evident that the transition to 4K UHDTV is highly likely, the road to adoption will take many paths, given the business model evolution resulting from the multi-screen viewing environment,” stated Peter Ostapiuk, Vice President, Media Product Management, Intelsat. “As with high definition television, socio-economics, demographics and technology infrastructure will determine the adoption timeline.  This time, however, media companies are more focused on building the right business model that will enable them to deliver high quality and reliable content delivery across multiple platforms and, at the same time, achieve a strong return on their investment.”

http://www.intelsat.com

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802.11ac Drives Industry Refresh Cycle

802.11ac pushes Wi-Fi into the gigabit domain. We are now seeing .11ac shipping as standard on smartphones, tablets, laptops and wide range of consumer and business access points.

Bringing gigabit power to the last link means that its time to upgrade other segments of the network and the numbers are now showing faster uptake than in previous upgrade cycles.

This video, sponsored by Vitesse Semiconductor, brings together thought leaders from across the ecosystem to discuss why 802.11ac is important and how it is driving an industry upgrade cycle, including:

• Edgar Figueroa, President of the Wi-Fi Alliance
• Matthew Gast, Director of Advanced Technology, Aerohive Networks
• Chris DePuy, Vice President, Dell'Oro Group
• Martin Nuss, Chief Technology Officer, Vitesse Semiconductor
• Ben Gibson, Chief Marketing Officer, Aruba Networks
• Chris Spain, Vice President, Cisco
• Pravin Bhagwat, Co-Founder and CTO, Airtight Networks
• Larry O'Connell, Product Marketing Director, Vitesse Semiconductor

http://youtu.be/ZzoApUXxKoE

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Intels Aims Xeon E5-2600/1600 v3 at Software-defined Data Centers

Intel unveiled its latest generation Xeon processor E5-2600/1600 v3 product families for software-defined data center loads, including in servers, workstations, storage and networking infrastructure. The big improvements over the previous generation include 3X performance gain, better energy efficiency and enhanced security. The devices use Intel's 22nm, 3-D Tri-Gate technology.

Some highlights of the Intel Xeon processor E5-2600 v3 product family:

• A new cache monitoring feature provides data to enable orchestration tools to intelligently place and rebalance workloads resulting in faster completion times. This also provides the ability to conduct analysis of performance anomalies due to competition for cache in a multitenant cloud environment where there is little visibility into what workloads consumers are running.
   
• New platform telemetry sensors and metrics for CPU, memory and I/O utilization. With the addition of thermal sensors for airflow and outlet temperature, the visibility and control has increased significantly from the prior generation. The processors offer a holistic set of sensors and telemetry for any SDI orchestration solution to more closely monitor, manage and control system utilization to help maximize data center efficiency for a lower total cost of ownership.
   
• Up to 18 cores per socket and 45MB of last-level cache.  This represents up to 50 percent more cores and cache compared to the previous generation processors.
  
• An extension to Intel® Advanced Vector Extensions 2 (Intel AVX2)4 doubles the width of vector integer instructions to 256 bits per clock cycle for integer sensitive workloads and delivers up to 1.9x higher performance gains.
   
• Increased virtualization density, allowing support for up to 70 percent more VMs per server compared to the previous generation processors.
  
• Memory bandwidth constrained workloads will gain up to 1.4x higher performance compared to the previous generation with the support of next-generation DDR4 memory.
  
• Intel Advanced Encryption Standard New Instructions (Intel AES-NI) have also been enhanced to accelerate data encryption and decryption by up to 2x without sacrificing application response times.
  
• New "per-core" power states dynamically regulate and adjust power in each processor core for more power-efficient workload processing. 

Intel also noted that the Xeon E5-2600 v3 processors can be paired with the Intel Communications Chipset 89xx series featuring Intel Quick Assist Technology to enable faster encryption and compression performance to improve security in a wide range of workloads.

In addition, the new Intel Ethernet Controller XL710 family helps address the increasing demands on networks with capabilities to enable better performance for virtualized servers and networks. The flexible 10/40 gigabit Ethernet controller provides twice the bandwidth while consuming half the power compared with the previous generation.

"The digital services economy imposes new requirements on the data center, requirements for automated, dynamic and scalable service delivery," said Diane Bryant, senior vice president and general manager of the Data Center Group at Intel. "Our new Intel processors deliver unmatched performance, energy efficiency and security, as well as provide visibility into the hardware resources required to enable software defined infrastructure. By enabling the re-architecture of the data center, Intel is helping companies fully exploit the benefits of cloud-based services."

http://www.intel.com

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Radisys Adds Support Intel Xeon E5 2600 v3 Series Processor

Radisys announced support for the new Intel Xeon E5 2600 v3 series processors with performance upgrades across its broad x86 product portfolio.  A new, standards-based ATCA-4700 blade for the Radisys T-Series Ultra and Pro and the latest Radisys T-Series Compact Rackmount Server are based on the new Intel Xeon E5 2600 v3 series processor.

Radisys said the performance boost makes these solutions well suited for SDN and NFV applications. Carrier-scale deployment of SDN and NFV will require platforms that can process hundreds of millions of data plane flows simultaneously, across thousands of Virtualized Network Functions (VNFs).

Radisys also noted Intel Data Plane Developer Kit (Intel DPDK) optimizations and support across its x86 product line to ensure customers get the best performance possible.  In addition, Radisys brings solutions and expertise in LTE, Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) and security to its broad range of applications. The combination of telecom-grade performance and a broad product portfolio optimized with Intel DPDK allows TEMs to focus resources on rapid innovation in the virtualized application arena.

“At Radisys, we’re focused on enabling the industry and our customers with leading COTS technology to maintain their market leadership,” said Keate Despain, vice president of business development, Radisys. “As we upgrade our T-Series portfolio and roll out new products with the latest Intel processor and virtualization capabilities, Radisys, with its broad and deep expertise across Telecom platforms, software and solutions, is very well positioned to help its customers successfully transition to the next-generation of Intel technologies.”

“The continued momentum towards adopting server, cloud and virtualization technologies in telecommunications networks will bring many benefits including lower operating costs and faster deployment of new services,” said Rose Schooler, Vice President and General Manager, Communications and Storage Infrastructure Group, Intel. “Radisys’ rapid adoption of telecom-grade products based on Intel’s newest E5-2658 v3 series processors, all optimized to operate with the latest DPDK technology, will help meet the needs of demanding data plane applications in today’s NFV and SDN deployments.”

http://www.radisys.com

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Global Capacity to Acquire MegaPath’s National Aggregation Network

Global Capacity agreed to acquire the Network Services Business of MegaPath. The deal covers Megapath's wholesale business and national colocation aggregation network. Financial terms were not disclosed. Pivotal Group, a private equity group, will provide financing.

MegaPath's aggregation network delivers DSL, T1, Bonded T1, high-speed Ethernet, and cable via 4,200 Central Offices (COs) and an extended reach of an additional 25,000 COs across 235 metro markets in the U.S.

Global Capacity has focused on its One Marketplace, which helps businesses buy connectivity by combining interconnected, aggregated network with a Cloud application that automates the procurement of network services. Customers get a single interface through which to design, price and fulfill multi-network, multi-geography requirements, as well as a single SLA, contract and point of contact, and full network visibility and management.

MegaPath is maintaining its Voice network, MPLS network and security network.  It will focus on services.

“Today’s deal creates a more focused MegaPath, with increased access to capital to fund our strategic, high-growth, value-added services,” said D. Craig Young, Executive Chairman of MegaPath. “MegaPath now has a greater capability to invest in a product growth strategy to meet the needs of our customers and partners.”

After the deal closes, MegaPath will be the largest Global Capacity customer.

http://www.megapath.com

• MegaPath was formed through the 2010 merger of Speakeasy, Covad Communications and the original MegaPath.

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Vitesse and RubyTech Show 2.5G Managed Ethernet Switch Design for 802.11ac

Vitesse Semiconductor and RubyTech unveiled the industry’s first 2.5G managed switch reference design for 802.11ac Gigabit Wi-Fi applications.

The design is ideal for Wave 2 802.11ac deployments, which can support access point uplink speeds up to 1.3G into the Enterprise LAN.  It is based on Vitesse’s recently introduced SparX-IVTM Ethernet switch family (VSC7442, VSC7444 and VSC7448) and software SDK.

Vitesse said 2.5G is the optimal choice for upgrading 802.11ac access aggregation links because it delivers up to 50% lower power and cost versus 10G.

“2.5G is really about giving Enterprises flexibility and finding the easiest and most cost-effective way to connect the new .11ac access points within current infrastructures using Cat5 cable,” said Larry O’Connell, product marketing director for Vitesse. “Access equipment with 10G uplinks is a clear cost and power overkill. Vitesse and RubyTech’s joint 2.5G reference design provides Enterprises a painless migration path to fully benefit from .11ac’s Gigabit speeds, while avoiding a complete network upgrade.”

Taiwan-based RubyTech specializes in design and manufacturing of networking products.

http://www.vitesse.com

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Crehan Research: Low-Priced Switches Drive Data Center Ethernet Growth

After a particularly weak first quarter, steep price declines helped propel the Ethernet data center switch market to new shipment highs in the second quarter of 2014, according to the most recent data center Ethernet switch report from Crehan Research Inc..

As shown in the accompanying figure, the growth was particularly pronounced in the high-speed Ethernet segment, which includes 10, 40 and 100 Gigabit Ethernet data center switches. In that segment, data center switch port shipments increased by one million ports during the single quarter alone. Cisco, which holds a strong leadership position in high-speed Ethernet, was responsible for much of the market growth, gaining share with its Nexus portfolio of data center switches.

“Besides typical seasonality, there were a number of factors that constrained the data center Ethernet switch market in 1Q14," said Seamus Crehan, president of Crehan Research. "These included pockets of supply constraints, and possibly some customer buying pause while recently-introduced 10 and 40 Gigabit Ethernet data center switches and line cards with much lower prices were evaluated. As these factors eased and we moved into the seasonally stronger second quarter, the data center Ethernet switch market rebounded strongly," he explained.

In its previous long-range forecast report, Crehan Research forecast a stronger migration to higher Ethernet speeds as a result of the arrival of significantly lower-priced data center switches. The firm further expects that this migration will also be aided by the arrival of Intel’s Grantley-based server platforms, where it expects 10 Gigabit Ethernet adapters to be a much more popular server networking.

http://www.CrehanResearch.com

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Nokia Launches Double Capacity LTE/Wi-Fi Picocell

Nokia Networks introduced a double-capacity small cell base station called the Flexi Zone G2 Pico that features a 4-pipe radio and twice the processing capability of its earlier Flexi Zone Micro/Pico base station.

The first Flexi Zone G2 Pico base station to be available will be a 3.5 GHz TD-LTE Advanced Carrier Aggregation Pico with 4x4 MIMO for advanced LTE markets. The unit also integrates Wi-Fi 802.11ac for additional capacity in a compact 8 liter, 8 kg unit for easy siting and installation. It offers full software and feature parity of Nokia Networks macro base stations and packs the same Smart Scheduler and HetNet interference management features. The Flexi Zone G2 Pico BTS can also be used as a stand alone unit or paired with Nokia’s Flexi Zone Controller to create large small cell clusters that act as one eNodeB.

Nokia is also adding an indoor planning service enhanced by 3-D geolocation to pinpoint precise locations in high-rise buildings.

“Nokia Networks has demonstrated its commitment to small cell development by being the first supplier with macro parity small cells, and we’re now the first to introduce small cells with LTE-Advanced Carrier Aggregation capabilties,” said Randy Cox, head of Small Cell Product Management at Nokia Networks. “Operators have an ever-increasing need to provide users with the best mobile broadband experience in key indoor locations. The addition of unique 3-D geolocation technology ensures the best planning and optimization techniques for outstanding performance throughout these buildings - from the top floor boardroom to the ground floor cafeteria.”

http://www.nsn.com

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Vitesse Adds MPLS-TP to Carrier Ethernet Software Suite

Vitesse Semiconductor announced availability of an MPLS-TP protocol software module for its CEServices software, which is complete turnkey solution for Carrier Ethernet access network equipment.

Vitesse’s offering includes advanced Operations and Maintenance (OAM) supporting service provider end-to-end provisioning, monitoring and managing of their Ethernet Virtual Circuits (EVCs).  Vitesse Serval-2, LynX-2 and Jaguar-2 Carrier Ethernet switch engines are the only merchant silicon solutions available today which can support both ITU (Y.1731) and IETF standards (BFD) for MPLS-TP OAM in hardware, enabling line rate performance.

Access equipment based on MPLS-TP can deliver capabilities such as enhanced protection and connection-oriented packet switching, ideal for the ongoing transition from TDM to packet-based

“We see MPLS-TP as a growing market requirement over the next few years – according to our global service provider research, over half of operators have deployed or plan to deploy MPLS-TP in the next two years,” stated Michael Howard, principal analyst for carrier networks and co-founder of Infonetics Research. “MPLS-TP is emerging as a must-have technology for service providers deploying an Ethernet Virtual Circuit-like architecture end-to-end over their network. Vitesse’s ViSAA technology building blocks can enable MEF CE 2.0 feature-full service delivery over Ethernet and MPLS-TP networks.”

“The potential capex and opex advantages of using an EVC-like architecture end-to-end over carrier networks are largely untapped today,” said Craig Pasek, software product marketing manager at Vitesse. “MPLS-TP gives Ethernet service delivery robustness, greater scale, stronger layering and protection. Turnkey solutions like Vitesse’s that readily enable MEF CE 2.0, feature-rich service delivery over Ethernet and MPLS-TP networks will be essential for carriers to fully leverage those capex/opex."

http://www.vitesse.com

In January, Vitesse Semiconductor introduced its CEServices software suite for easier provisioning and management of Carrier Ethernet business services.

CEServices software works in tandem with Vitesse's ViSAA-enabled Carrier Ethernet switch engines -- Jaguar, LynX, Caracal, and Serval -- to simplify Ethernet business service provisioning and monitoring at greater scale and wire-speed performance with various standards-based capabilities including:

• Service classification and MEF compliant policing to meet advanced Service Level Agreements (SLAs);
• Performance Monitoring and Service Activation Measurements - RFC2544, Y.1731 and Y.1564;
• Multi-operator OAM - Up and Down MEPs;
• Extensive suite of Carrier Ethernet and MPLS/MPLS-TP networking protocols; and
• SyncE and IEEE 1588v2 PTP protocol support with Vitesse's VeriTime, the industry's de facto highest accuracy IEEE 1588v2 synchronization technology.

For service subscriber Edge applications, such as SLAs, ViSAA Service Edge Software control functionality enables per EVC, policers, shapers, queues, tagging and marking, statistics and extensive OAM to ensure traffic flow compliance.

For network applications, CEServices software enables ViSAA networking functionality for provider bridge (Q-Q) tunneling. Traffic protection enables scalability, while ensuring reliability. CEServices also enables end point and immediate point access to MEF CE 2.0 capabilities and functions.

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Vertical Systems: Mid-2014 Global Provider Ethernet LEADERBOARD

Orange Business (France) once again topped the Mid-2014 Global Provider Ethernet LEADERBOARD by Vertical Systems Group. The study measures multinational Ethernet network market presence. Global Providers ranked on the LEADERBOARD hold four percent (4%) or more of retail business Ethernet installations based on billable ports at sites outside of their respective home countries.

Here is the list (in rank order based on port share) : Orange Business (France), BT Global Services (U.K.), Verizon (U.S.), Colt (U.K.), AT&T (U.S.), Level 3 (U.S.) and NTT (Japan).

The next or Challenge Tier for Global Providers includes companies with between 2% and 4% share of this defined market. Seven companies achieved a position in the Mid-2014 Global Provider Challenge Tier as follows (Note – in alphabetical order) : Cogent (U.S.), Reliance Globalcom (India), SingTel (Singapore), Tata Communications (India), Telefonica Worldwide (Spain), T-Systems (Germany) and Vodafone (U.K.).

“The integration of Ethernet into MPLS network infrastructures is generating revenue opportunities for global carriers, driven by customer demand for higher bandwidth connectivity,” said Rick Malone, principal at Vertical Systems Group. “More than half of new global IP VPN connections are being delivered over Ethernet.”

http://www.verticalsystems.com/vsglb/mid-2014-global-provider-ethernet-leaderboard/

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AT&T Add Apps to its Connected Car Platform

AT&T announced six, voice-enabled applications for its connected car platform, AT&T Drive.

These include:

• AccuWeather for AT&T Drive, which provides localized current conditions, hourly, and five-day forecasts.
• Glympse, a location sharing app that allows connected car drivers to share their dynamic location in real-time with anyone, eliminating the need for phone calls or text messages to let someone know where they are, or when they will arrive.
• iHeartRadio, a digital radio service that offers thousands of live radio stations from across the country and the ability to create custom stations based on an artist or song.
• Newsbeat, a mobile news app developed by Tribune Digital Ventures that provides personalized audio streams of the day's top articles from leading newspapers and websites.
• Stitcher, radio shows and podcasts on demand.
• Parker by Streetline, a parking guidance application that displays data in real-time from in-ground sensors, from camera-sensing technology, and from gate counters in garages and lots, as well as static data like policy hours, pricing, and location. 

"Each of these apps provides an enhanced in-car experience for users while also keeping driver safety top of mind," said Chris Penrose, senior vice president, Emerging Devices. "AT&T Drive's app selection was developed so that drivers could make more informed decisions while they are driving to help them point A to point B safely, but do so as efficiently and comfortably as possible."

http://www.att.com

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NTT Tests 400G Coherent Transmission with NEC, Fujitsu

NTT has successfully tested 400 Gbps/channel-class digital coherent optical transmissions technology in conjunction with NEC and Fujitsu.

The tests multiplexed up to 62 channels of 400 Gbps.  This demonstrated fiber capacity of up to 24.8 Tbps.  The tests covered various modulation methods over distances ranging from several thousand kilometers up to 10,000 km.

The companies said these tests accelerate the effort to commercialize 400 Gbps-class optical transmission technology. Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) sponsored the testing as part of its “Research and Development Project for the Ultra-high Speed and Green Photonic Networks” program.

Key technologies demonstrated included:

• Extremely flexible 400 Gbps-class adaptive modulation/demodulation. In addition to Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK), which is used in existing 100 Gbps transmissions and which superimposes information on the phase of the light, an 8 Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) and a 16 QAM were used, superimposing information on both the phase and amplitude of the optical waves to expand data volume, and combined with sub-carrier multiplexing enabled by spectral compression technology called Nyquist filtering. The companies cited clear advantages by selecting a modulation format appropriate for the quality of the link.  This required the development of an algorithm that can be implemented in an electronic circuit including an 8 QAM. Transmission ranges of 500 km to 1500km for capacities of 10 — 20 Tbps per each core of optical fiber were successfully covered, which was not possible up until now, even with QPSK and 16 QAM.
  
• Compensation function using digital backward propagation signal processing, enabling long-distance transmissions. To overcome complex waveform distortions caused by nonlinear optical effects, the companies developed digital backward propagation signal processing, which, through refinements to the algorithm and circuit designs that dramatically reduced the volume of calculations, enabled circuit implementation and compensation of the nonlinear optical effects. They also developed chromatic dispersion estimation technology enabling estimations, for 10,000km of optical fiber, of the values of chromatic dispersion, which is a phenomenon in which the propagation lag times differ for each wavelength in an optical fiber. 

More online.

http://www.ntt.co.jp/news2014/1409e/140904a.html

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Sprint Extends its LTE Roaming Footprint

Sprint announced LTE agreements with 15 additional rural and regional network carriers as part of the Rural Roaming Preferred Provider program it announced with Competitive Carriers Association earlier this year.  This brings the program to 27 carriers, extending coverage in 27 states, over 565,000 square miles and a population of more than 38 million people. The 15 carriers joining the program are:

• Bluegrass Cellular, serving Kentucky
• Blue Wireless, serving New York and Pennsylvania
• Pine Belt Wireless, serving Alabama
• Pioneer Cellular, serving Oklahoma and Kansas
• Public Service Wireless, serving Alabama and Georgia
• Syringa Wireless, serving Idaho
• Rural Independent Network Alliance (RINA) members and their partners:
• STRATA Networks, serving Utah, Wyoming and Colorado
• Silver Star Wireless, serving Wyoming and Idaho
• All West Wireless Inc., serving Wyoming and Utah
• NNTC, serving Colorado
• Snake River Personal Communications Service, serving Oregon
• CTC Telecom Inc., serving Idaho
• South Central Communications Inc., serving Utah
• Custer Telephone Wireless, serving Idaho
• Breakaway Wireless, serving Utah

“In just a few short months, Sprint has made significant progress by signing agreements covering 27 regional carriers that serve millions of people across the country,” said Michael C. Schwartz, Sprint senior vice president of Corporate and Business Development. “By working together, we will bring mobile broadband and better wireless devices to underserved communities while expanding 4G LTE coverage for Sprint customers.”

http://www.sprint.com

In June, Sprint announced nationwide availability of HD Voice, as well as 28 new 4G LTE markets and three new Sprint Spark markets.

Sprint HD Voice is currently supported on 28 postpaid smartphones and 33 prepaid phones. The company estimates approximately 16 million of its customers are currently using an HD Voice enabled device. In addition to a fuller, more natural-sounding voice, the service uses noise-cancelling technology to minimize background noise from places like busy roads or crowded restaurants.

Sprint's new activated LTE markets, including Seattle, Cleveland, and San Jose, bring its nationwide 4G LTE footprint to 471 cities covering more than 225 million people. Sprint expects to reach 250 million with 4G LTE coverage by mid-year.

Sprint Spark has been activated in three new markets (St. Louis, Winston-Salem and Greensboro, N.C.). The enhanced LTE network is designed to deliver average wireless speeds of 6-15Mbps and peak wireless speeds of 50-60Mbps today on capable devices, with increasing speed potential over time. Sprint plans to reach 100 million people by year-end with the service. T

Sprint is currently field testing 8T8R radios for improved coverage and signal strength at 2.5 GHz. Commercial deployment of these radios is expected this summer.

Sprint will be adding International WiFi calling in the coming weeks.  This will enable customers to make calls and send texts via WiFi in more than 100 countries.

In addition, Sprint will begin offering a 30-day trial period for new customers to test out their service. If customers aren’t completely satisfied with the Sprint experience within the first 30 days, Sprint will refund the cost of their device and waive all service and activation charges.

“We believe customers will be delighted with the Sprint retail experience, our customer service, and the performance of America’s newest network,” said Dan Hesse, Sprint Chief Executive Officer, “so we’re guaranteeing it.”

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Dell’Oro: Service Provider Edge Router Market Reaches Record

The Service Provider Edge Router market grew to its highest level ever, gaining four percent in the second quarter of 2014 versus the year-ago period, and contributing to a record quarter for the Service Provider Router market overall, according to a new report published by Dell’Oro Group.

Some highlights:

#1 Cisco Systems:  Remained the first-ranked vendor with increased revenue into EMEA and Asia.
#2 Alcatel-Lucent:  Achieved record Service Provider Edge Router sales, increasing revenue in every major region.
#3 Juniper Networks:  Delivered a record quarter in Edge Router revenues driven primarily by sales into North America.
#4 Huawei Technologies:  Saw a shift in demand as Service Providers in its domestic market, China, focused on mobile backhaul and cut back on routers for fiber deployments.

“Demand drivers varied by country as all regions grew versus last year,” said Alam Tamboli, Senior Analyst at Dell’Oro Group.  “In the United States, demand for routers in the backhaul for LTE networks has been one of the primary motives for investment in recent years, however this quarter service providers in the region also invested heavily into fixed networks.  In much of the world, routers used for LTE mobile backhaul networks continued to drive investment in the edge,” Tamboli added.

http://www.delloro.com

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NETGEAR Launches Unlocked LTE Mobile Hotspot

NETGEAR introduced an unlocked 4G LTE mobile hotspot with simultaneous dual-band WiFi (2.4GHz and 5GHz) coverage.

The NETGEAR AirCard 785 supports up to 15 WiFi clients.  The LCD panel displays data consumed during the course of the month.

A cradle equipped with a Gigabit Ethernet port enables it to act as standalone WiFi router and primary Internet connection for a home network.

http://www.netgear.com/AC785

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Ciena Hits Q3 Revenue of $604 Million

Ciena reported revenue of $603.6 million as compared to $538.4 million for its fiscal third quarter 2013, ended July 31.

Net income (GAAP) was $16.2 million, or $0.15 per diluted common share, which compares to a GAAP net loss of $(1.2) million, or $(0.01) per diluted common share, for the fiscal third quarter 2013. Ciena's adjusted (non-GAAP) net income for the fiscal third quarter 2014 was $40.9 million, or $0.32 per diluted common share, which compares to an adjusted (non-GAAP) net income of $26.2 million, or $0.23 per diluted common share, for the fiscal third quarter 2013.

“Our outstanding third quarter performance demonstrates our ability to grow profitability and outperform the market,” said Gary B. Smith, president and CEO, Ciena. “As we expand our addressable market by targeting high-growth, high-value segments, we are confident in our opportunity to grow the business and drive additional operating leverage in 2015.”

http://www.ciena.com/about/newsroom/press-releases/Ciena-Reports-Fiscal-Third-Quarter-2014-Financial-Results.html

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