Avaya emerges from Chapter 11 after eliminating $3 billion in debt

Avaya Holdings Corp. emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. The company is seeking to reestablish a listing on the NYSE with approximately 110 million shares outstanding.

Avaya said it remains focused on "mission-critical, real-time communication applications of the world’s most important operations." Its portfolio includes software and services for contact center and unified communications— offered on premises, in the cloud, or a hybrid.

“This is the beginning of an important new chapter for Avaya,” said Jim Chirico, Avaya’s president and CEO. “In less than a year since the commencement of our chapter 11 restructuring, Avaya has emerged as a publicly traded company with a significantly strengthened balance sheet. Overall, we reduced our prior debt load by approximately $3 billion, and we exit today with more than $300 million in cash on our balance sheet.  The reduction of our debt and certain other long-term obligations will also improve annual cash flow by approximately $300 million compared to fiscal 2016.”

“We have the flexibility we need to invest in the large and growing contact center and unified communications markets as we complete our transformation to a software, services and cloud solutions provider,” Chirico added. “With a new Board and leadership team firmly in place, Avaya is now well-positioned to execute on its growth plan and deliver the returns and value expected by our stakeholders.”

• Avaya entered chapter 11 proceedings on 19-January-2017. 
  
• In June, Extreme Networks announced a deal to acquire Avaya's networking business for approximately $100 million. 

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ATP grows into largest tower company in the Andes

Andean Tower Partners (ATP) has acquired Torres Unidas from Berkshire Partners for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition adds 1,644 sites to ATP's portfolio of digital communication infrastructure assets to ATP, which now has over 2,150 sites, and manages more than 32,000 master leased sites and 13 small cell networks deployments in Colombia, Peru, and Chile.

The former CEO of Torres Unidas, Daniel Seiner, will become the CEO of the combined company and Estrella Zaharia will continue with her responsibilities as Chief Marketing Officer.

ATP said it is now the largest privately-owned tower company in the Andean Region.

"We are excited about the continued progress of ATP following our successful institutional capital raise earlier this year," said Marc Ganzi, Chairman of ATP, and Founder and CEO of Digital Bridge Holdings. "We see a significant tower deficit in the Andean Region, and this acquisition will enhance ATP's ability to meet an increasing need for telecom infrastructure as our wireless carrier partners continue to densify their networks to keep up with anticipated data consumption in the region. We are also equally excited about the combination of these two management teams to ensure execution of our business plan and most importantly meeting the coverage objectives of our customers in the region."

"The combined portfolio will give Andean Tower Partners an enhanced footprint in the region, and we are eager to continue to help operators densify their 4G networks and bring the dream of 5G to life in our region," said Seiner. "These are exceptionally high-quality assets and locations that will allow us to offer an even more compelling value proposition to carriers as they look for a preferred partner that can deliver a full suite of solutions to support their growth in the region."

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Australia's NBN Co extends Ericsson fixed wireless contract to 2020

NBN Co has announced it will continue its fixed wireless and Sky Muster™ managed services partnership with Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) through to 2020.

Australia's NBN Co has extended a managed services contract with Ericsson through to 2020. Ericsson will continue to be responsible for nbn fixed wireless network operations, ground systems operations for Sky Muster – the operator's satellite service – as well as customer connections and assurance for both technologies.

NBN Co's fixed wireless and Sky Muster services cover more than 980,000 homes in regional and remote Australia with more than 290,000 homes connected to broadband services via NBN Co's retail service providers.

"As we extend our strategic partnership with NBNCo, we look forward to continuing the delivery of fixed wireless and satellite services to regional and rural Australia. The availability of ubiquitous broadband to homes and businesses across Australia will help to bridge the digital divide and support economic and community growth," stated Emilio Romeo, Managing Director of Ericsson Australia and New Zealand.

Ericsson has been NBN Co's managed services provider since 2011, when it was appointed to build and operate a fixed-wireless broadband network based on TD-LTE technology.

In 2014, the partnership was expanded to include operation of the ground component of NBN Co's long-term satellite solution and end user connections and assurance services.

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Cisco and Digicel target digitization for the Caribbean

Digicel has signed a framework agreement with Cisco for accelerating the digital agenda and existing digitization policies for 26 countries in the Caribbean and Central America. 

The companies agreed to collaborate to develop a digitization vision for each country for both the immediate and the long term, defining areas for implementation and specific projects, such as Healthcare/Telemedicine, Smart Cities, and Connected Schools, as well as to develop an educational strategy based on Cisco Networking Academy. 

"Digitization is a key driver for economic development in any country. Through this partnership with Digicel, our goal is to grow GDP, create new jobs and invest in a sustainable innovation ecosystem across public and private sectors in the Caribbean and Central America," says Alison Gleeson, Senior Vice President of the Americas, Cisco. "The Cisco and Digicel collaboration will map pathways to growth for countries throughout the region, positioning them for long-term prosperity in the digital age."

The initial list of targeted countries includes: Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Aruba, Barbados, Bermuda, Bonaire, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Curacao, Dominica, El Salvador, French West Indies, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, Panama, Saint Lucia, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago and the Turks & Caicos Islands.

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Frontier says rural broadband deployment ahead of schedule

Frontier Communications reports that it is ahead of schedule in deploying rural broadband, exceeding 2017 milestone requirements of the Connect America Fund program (CAF) in eight additional states.

The carrier is now ahead of schedule in Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Tennessee, Texas, and Wisconsin. This is in addition to Arizona, Connecticut, Georgia, Montana, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Washington and West Virginia as having reached the 40 percent milestone.

Nationally, Frontier now provides broadband to over approximately 331,000 and small businesses in its CAF-eligible areas and has improved speeds to over approximately 875,000 additional homes and businesses.

“We are piling up broadband milestones as we make a strong broadband deployment push to close out 2017," said Mark D. Nielsen, Frontier Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer. "The combination of CAF and Frontier's investments have enabled new broadband connections that are vital to closing the digital divide. Every day we see our customers benefiting from the significant economic and educational benefits of broadband connectivity."

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Meituan data centers deploy Mellanox Ethernet switches, adapters

Meituan.com will deploy Mellanox Spectrum Ethernet switches, ConnectX adapters and LinkX cables to accelerate its multi-thousand servers for their artificial intelligence, big data analytics and cloud data centers. The installation will use Mellanox 25 Gigabit and 100 Gigabit smart interconnect solutions and RDMA technology.
Financial terms were not disclosed.

Meituan.com is the world’s leading online and on-demand delivery platform, supporting 280 million mobile users and 5 million merchants across 2,180 cities in China, and processing up to 21 million orders a day during peak times.

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Equinix acquires Australian data centers from Metronode for US$792M

Equinix agreed to acquire Metronode, an Australian data center operator, for A$1.035 billion (US$792 million) in cash.  Metronode has been fully owned by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan since December 2016.

Metronode operates two data centers in Melbourne, three in greater Sydney (including one in Illawarra), two in Perth, and one in each of Canberra, Adelaide and Brisbane. The acquired Metronode sites add approximately 20,000 square meters of gross colocation space to the Equinix footprint. Metronode also brings more than 80,000 square meters of land, 90 percent of which is owned.

In Melbourne and in Sydney, the Metronode data centers will provide a diverse, second campus for Equinix's existing properties. Both of these Metronode campuses are described as "hyperscale ready".

In Perth, Metronode's data center will house the landing station for the new Vocus Australia Singapore Cable. Equinix's existing data center in Sydney also houses the landing station for subsea cables.

Metronode generated approximately A$60 million, or approximately US$46 million, of revenues in the 12 months ending September 30, 2017, with a margin profile accretive to the Equinix Asia-Pacific business.

Equinix said the deal expands its leadership position to connect some of Australia’s largest corporations, government agencies, telecommunication, high-growth global cloud service providers and IT service providers.

The acquisition also continues Equinix’s global expansion strategy, including recent acquisitions and new construction in Washington, D.C., Silicon Valley, Singapore, Hong Kong, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, São Paulo, and other markets.

When the deal closes in mid-2018, Equinix will have 40 data centers in Asia-Pacific and 200 data centers worldwide.

Metronode claims 100% uptime across all its 10 data centers since it began operations in 2002.

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Oracle acquires Aconex for $1.2B - cloud collaboration tools

Oracle agreed to acquire Aconex Limited, which offers a cloud-based, team collaboration scheduler for construction projects, for A$7.80 per share in cash. The deal is valued at approximately US$1.2 billion, net of Aconex cash.

The Aconex project collaboration solution, which is used by some 70,000 organizations worldwide for managing construction projects, connects owners, builders, and other teams. It provides visibility and management of data, documents, and costs across all stages of a construction project lifecycle. Aconex estimates that its software has been used in over $1 trillion in projects to date in over 70 countries.

Aconex was founded in 2000. The company is based in Melbourne, Australia.

Oracle also offers a Construction and Engineering Cloud to help customers in planning, scheduling and delivering large-scale projects.

"Delivering projects on time and on budget are the highest strategic imperatives for any construction and engineering organization," said Mike Sicilia, SVP and GM, Construction and Engineering Global Business Unit, Oracle. "With the addition of Aconex, we significantly advance our vision of offering the most comprehensive cloud-based project management solution for this $14 trillion industry."

"The Aconex and Oracle businesses are a great, natural fit and highly complementary in terms of vision, product, people, and geography," said Leigh Jasper, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Aconex. "As co-founders of Aconex, both Rob Phillpot and I remain committed to the business and are excited about the opportunity to advance our collective vision on a larger scale, and the benefits this combination will deliver to our customers."

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Quintillion lights subsea cable for arctic Alaska

Quintillion has activated commercial service on its new subsea fiber optic cable system serving five northern Alaska communities: Utqiaġvik, Wainwright, Point Hope, Nome, and Kotzebue.

Installation of the Alaska Arctic portion of the international Quintillion Subsea Cable System was completed in early October.

Quintillion’s subsea and terrestrial fiber optic network spans 1,400 miles, including a subsea trunk line from Prudhoe Bay to Nome with branching lines to the five communities.

Quintillion is aiming to extend its Arctic subsea cable system westwards to Asia (phase 2) and then eastwards to Europe (phase 3).

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AT&T and CWA reach labor deal covering 20K workers

AT&T and the Communications Workers of America (CWA) reached a tentative agreement covering 20,000 employees in 36 states and the District of Columbia -- AT&T's Mobility Orange unit, which encompasses CWA Districts 1, 2-13, 4, 7 and 9.

Highlights of the tentative agreement:

• A contract length of four years
• Retroactive wage increases back to Feb. 12, 2017, and a $1,000 lump sum, if the agreement is ratified by Jan. 12, 2018.
• General wage increases of 2.25% effective Feb. 12, 2017; 3% effective Feb. 11, 2018; 2.25% effective Feb. 10, 2019; and 2.25% effective Feb. 9, 2020. Compounded wage increase over the four-year term of the offer will be over 10%, and employees in wage progression may see an even greater total increase over the term of the offer.
• For retail sales consultants, $2,500 moved from commissions that are at-risk to base pay that is not.
• Employment security for call center and retail sales employees. If a call center or retail store closing results in a job loss, or if a call center or retail title is eliminated, affected employees will be guaranteed a job offer in our Mobility business.
•  AT&T Mobility retail workers will earn an average hourly wage of $19.20, about 74% more than the national average pay for retail workers.

AT&T said its offer ensures a robust health care plan, with the company paying over 70% of the total costs including 100% of preventive care costs.

CWA said the deal was reached after 11 months of mobilization, tough bargaining and a three-day strike.

"After joining together and going on strike, AT&T Mobility workers have won a historic contract that sets a bold precedent for workers in the telecom industry. The solidarity and persistence of our members pushed the company to agree to crucial protections like stronger job security for retail workers and greater fairness in evaluation and discipline procedures that put our members and their families on a path towards greater economic security," said Dennis Trainor, CWA District 1 Vice President. "Let this be a sign to all companies that put profits above workers: when we stand together, we win," he said.

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AT&T boosts dividend by 2%

AT&T’s quarterly dividend will increase from $0.49 to $0.50 per share. The annual dividend will increase from $1.96 to $2.00 per share.

“Our strong cash flows and outlook for the business allow us to raise our dividend for the 34th consecutive year. We’re committed to returning value to our shareholders, and we’re pleased to deliver yet again,” said Randall Stephenson, chairman and CEO, AT&T Inc.

The dividend is payable on Feb. 1, 2018, to stockholders of record at the close of business on Jan. 10, 2018.

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EXFO to acquire Astellia for mobile subscriber awareness

EXFO has launched an all-cash voluntary tender offer to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Astellia, a provider of network and subscriber intelligence solutions for mobile operators. EXFO already holds 33.1% of Astellia's equity.

The offer is proposed at a price of EUR 10 per Astellia share, valuing the entirety of Astellia's equity (on a fully diluted basis) at approximately €25.9 million.

Astellia's real-time monitoring and troubleshooting solution optimizes networks end-to-end, from radio to core.  The company is based in France with significant operations in Spain and a strong presence in Canada, Lebanon, Morocco and South Africa.

"We aim to combine the two companies and create a global leader in the service assurance and analytics industry", said Germain Lamonde, EXFO's founder and Executive Chairman of the Board. "Combining our complementary base of customers, technologies and competencies, as well as our similar corporate cultures, will enable the development of game-changing solutions and services within a large market in rapid transition—all this in the best interests of our customers, employees and shareholders."

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NTT develops a better optical connector cleaner

NTT Advanced Technology (NTT-AT) has developed a new cleaner for waterproof optical connectors (ODC connectors), which are used in outdoor applications such as Fiber to the Antenna (FTTA) deployments.

The problem to be addressed is the contamination that builds over time on the end face of an optical connector, degrading reliability and performance. Optical cleaning tools can mitigate this issue.

NTT-AT's new "NEOCLEAN series" uses specialized microfibers that won't scratch the end face of the optical connector. Cleaning is performed with a simple push operation. One unit can be used for more than 400 cleanings.

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NTT and Chunghwa Telecom advance their white box trial

NTT and Taiwan-based  Chunghwa Telecom have successfully carried out a joint experiment to verify the service continuity and reliability of a virtual network control system.

This experiment was enabled by the combination of NTT’s Multi-Service Fabric (MSF) and Chunghwa Telecom’s orchestrator (NAPA).

The experiment was performed on a network of whitebox switches. Specifically, virtual network configuration and control technologies using white-box switches and white-box switch operating systems were verified by controlling MSF from NAPA.

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Harris supplies navigation payloads for GPS III

Harris Corporation delivered two advanced navigation payloads in 2017 to Lockheed Martin for use on GPS III satellites. The company is on track to deliver four more in 2018, and a total of ten units under its contract with Lockheed Martin.

Harris’ navigation payload consists of a Mission Data Unit (MDU), featuring a unique 70-percent digital design that links atomic clocks, radiation-hardened computers and powerful transmitters – enabling signals three times more accurate than those on current GPS satellites. These payloads also boost satellite signal power, increase jamming resistance by eight times and help extend the satellite’s lifespan.

Harris said the first payload, which was delivered earlier this year, is now fully integrated on the U.S. Air Force’s first GPS III satellite, GPS III SV01, which was declared Available for Launch in September, with an expected launch in 2018.

In November, Harris announced that it had completed development of a fully digital MDU for Lockheed Martin’s GPS III satellites 11 and beyond. The new SV 11+ payload design will provide enhanced capabilities and increased performance for the Air Force.

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NTT Comm partners with Vantis in Hong Kong

Vantis Consulting Group (Vantis) has become the first partner in Hong Kong to join NTT Communications' Global Management One (GMOne) Managed Services Partner Program. Vantis will resell NTT Com GMOne managed services, cloud and hosting solutions, and further integrates with their service offerings to meet enterprises’ growing hybrid ICT needs.

GMOne managed services leverage NTT Com’s global resources for managing entire hybrid ICT ecosystems, from infrastructure, business applications to smart outsourcing.

Vantis also participates in NTT Com's Enterprise Cloud Marketplace, which was launched last year.

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FCC votes 3-2 to end Net Neutrality rules

The FCC voted 3-2 along partisan lines to adopt the "Restoring Internet Freedom Order" proposed by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai to rollback Obama-era Net Neutrality rules. Voting in favor of the order were Republicans Ajit Pai, who argued that measure will usher in a new era of investment for Internet infrastructure. Also voting in favor were Republicans Michael O'Rielly and Brendan Carr. Voting against the measure were Democrats Mignon Clyburn and Jessica Rosenworcel.

FCC Chairman said that by returning to the classification of Internet services as an “information service”— removing the current Title II regulatory regime that gives the FCC say over the delivery of Internet content — the new order returns the industry to the status quo prior to 2015.

The vote proceeded despite an urgent request from the Attorney Generals of 18 states urging a delay to the vote due to a criminal investigation into possible fraudulent manipulation of the FCC's public comment process for this issue.  In a public letter to FCC Commissioners, the Attorney Generals said their ongoing review of the public comments process has revealed a large number of fake comment submissions using the names and identities of real people. The initial assessment is that there were over 1 million fake comments indicating a deliberate effort to skew the public comment process on an issue of national importance. The Attorney Generals are also requesting the help of the FCC in their investigation of "massive identity theft."

President Trump Picks Pai for FCC Chairman

Monday, January 23, 2017  FCC, Regulatory  No Comments

President Donald J. Trump designated Ajit Pai as his choice to be Chair of the FCC. Ajit Varadaraj Pai was nominated for FCC Commissioner by President Obama in 2011. Pai took over the seat abandoned by Meredith Baker who left the FCC to take a job as a lobbyist for Comcast. Pai was previously a Partner in the Litigation Department of Jenner & Block LLP. Previously, Pai worked in the Office of the General Counsel at the Federal Communications...

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FCC Votes 3-2 to Adopt Open Internet Rules

Thursday, February 26, 2015  FCC, Net Neutrality, Regulatory  No Comments

The Federal Communications Commission voted 3-2 to adopt a new set of Open Internet rules proposed by Commissioner Wheeler and backed by the Obama Administration. All of the new rules, which are based on the FCC's authority under Title II of the Communications Act of 1934, would apply to fixed and mobile broadband alike, while leaving room for reasonable network management and its specific application to mobile and unlicensed WiFi networks.

Here are the key provisions and rules of the Open Internet Order as outlined by the FCC:

Bright Line Rules:  The first three rules ban practices that are known to harm the Open Internet.

• No Blocking: broadband providers may not block access to legal content, applications, services, or non-harmful devices.
• No Throttling: broadband providers may not impair or degrade lawful Internet traffic on the basis of content, applications, services, or non-harmful devices.
• No Paid Prioritization: broadband providers may not favor some lawful Internet traffic over other lawful traffic in exchange for consideration of any kind—in other words, no “fast lanes.”   This rule also bans ISPs from prioritizing content and services of their affiliates. It also prohibits practices that target specific applications or classes of applications.  

The FCC's  Wireless Telecommunications Bureau has ended its investi

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Molex launches venture funding initiative

Molex Electronic Technologies has formed a subsidiary dedicated to investing in emerging technologies and companies.

Molex Ventures specializes in investments and collaborations with startup companies that can leverage Molex design and manufacturing capabilities across a range of industry sectors, including Medical and Pharmaceutical sensors, connected health and point of care diagnostics; Automotive connected mobility, electrification and autonomous driving; Industry 4.0 sensors, robotics and data analytics platforms; and Electronics Packaging Technologies.

The Molex Ventures portfolio includes recent investments and collaborations with:

• NuCurrent – Embedding innovative antenna technologies into mobile device platforms
• Ossia – Expanding market access to the Cota Real Wireless Power Platform
• Excelfore – Creating integrated in-vehicle connected platforms

“Fostering the cross-pollination of ideas and capabilities can serve as a catalyst for transformational innovation. As a technology leader, Molex welcomes opportunities to forge strategic relationships with startups at key stages in their development,” said Lily Yeung, vice president, Molex Ventures. “We are proactively seeking collaborations with startups that have developed a successful solution or concept and are ready to take their innovation and commercial growth to the next level.”

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Juniper moves OpenContrail's codebase to the Linux Foundation

Juniper Networks will move the codebase for OpenContrail, an open-source network virtualization platform for the cloud, to the Linux Foundation.

OpenContrail is a scalable network virtualization control plane that provides feature-rich software-defined networking (SDN) and strong security.

Juniper first released its Juniper Contrail products as open sourced in 2013. It has been deployed by various organizations, including cloud providers, telecom operators and enterprises. The company said that by adding OpenContrail's codebase to the Linux Foundation's networking projects will further its objective to grow the use of open source platforms in cloud ecosystems.

"Juniper's focus on cloud-grade networking means delivering on the promises of open and scalable multicloud networking options. OpenContrail is a key part of that strategy. Our goal of placing OpenContrail's codebase with the Linux Foundation shows Juniper's commitment to open networking and open source overall. Over the past year, we have been working closely with the community to transition the governance for OpenContrail's codebase because we believe it has the unique opportunity to be a ubiquitous cloud-grade network fabric used everywhere. We look forward to continuing our close participation with the community once this project takes on new life under the Linux Foundation,"stated Randy Bias, vice president of technology - cloud software at Juniper Networks.

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Verizon acquires Chicago fiber network from WOW

Verizon Communications completed its previously announced acquisition of fiber network assets in Chicago from WideOpenWest (WOW).  The price was $225 million.

Verizon said the transaction secures fiber to more than 500 macro-cell wireless sites and more than 500 small-cell wireless sites in the Chicago area.

"The addition of these fiber assets is an important part of our strategy to reinforce our current network capabilities and prepare for the future. The completion of this acquisition will help expedite our network densification with fiber and small cells, enhancing our industry-leading 4G LTE network and laying the groundwork for 5G," said Nicola Palmer, Chief Engineer and Head of Wireless Networks, Verizon.

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