NETSCOUT reports steady revenue, growing EPS

NETSCOUT reported total revenue (GAAP and non-GAAP) for its first quarter of fiscal year 2021 of $183.8 million, compared with $186.0 million (GAAP) and $186.1 million (non-GAAP) in the same quarter one year ago. A reconciliation of GAAP and non-GAAP results is included in the attached financial tables.

Product revenue (GAAP and non-GAAP) for the first quarter of fiscal year 2021 was $71.7 million, which was approximately 39% of total revenue. This compares with first-quarter fiscal year 2020 product revenue (GAAP and non-GAAP) of $75.7 million, which was approximately 41% of total revenue.

Service revenue (GAAP and non-GAAP) for the first quarter of fiscal year 2021 was $112.1 million, or approximately 61% of total revenue versus service revenue (GAAP) of $110.3 million, or approximately 59% of total revenue, for the same period one year ago. On a non-GAAP basis, service revenue for the first fiscal quarter of fiscal year 2020 was $110.4 million, also approximately 59% of total non-GAAP revenue.

NETSCOUT’s loss from operations (GAAP) was $14.5 million in the first quarter of fiscal year 2021, compared with a loss from operations (GAAP) of $24.4 million in the comparable quarter one year ago.

“We delivered strong earnings per share growth on a relatively consistent level of revenue in the first quarter of fiscal year 2021, compared with the same period last year,” stated Anil Singhal, NETSCOUT’s president and chief executive officer. “Our enterprise business was strong given our ability to provide service assurance, with real-time, pervasive visibility and insight, and security solutions that mitigate disruption for our customers regardless of their underlying infrastructure.

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OIDA Showcase set for 18 - 20 August

The OSA Industry Development Associates (OIDA) will host the first all-virtual Technology Showcase for member companies to present their latest innovations in optics and photonics and solutions to global challenges, 18 – 20 August 2020.

Over the course of the three-day virtual event, nine companies will each have 15 minutes to demonstrate their technologies to a worldwide audience and engage with attendees in breakout rooms for networking and in-depth conversations. The showcase and networking are free and open to the public.

“OIDA is pleased to offer an opportunity for our member companies to introduce their new tools, instruments and systems to a virtual audience,” said Simin Cai, OIDA Council Chair and President and CEO, Go!Foton, USA. “The presentations are intended to encourage awareness and exchange of information to further advance these technologies in the marketplace. This is a trial effort to serve companies impacted by restrictions with onsite exhibitions due to the covid-19 pandemic.”

The technical presentations include positioning equipment for automated optical device manufacturing, meeting the challenges in spectral testing of photonic integrated circuits, extended contact translation stage technology and more. Attendees can register at no cost for all or individual presentations and networking sessions.

The following nine companies are participating in showcase presentations with subject matter experts:

Tuesday, 18 August, 11:00 – 13:00 EDT

• Aerotech, Inc., USA
• Corning Optical Communications, USA
• DenseLight Semiconductors, Singapore

Wednesday, 19 August, 11:00 – 13:00 EDT

• EXFO, Canada
• Intivac Thin Film, USA
• LightPath Technologies, USA

Thursday, 20 August, 11:00 – 13:00 EDT

• MPB Communications, Canada
• Optiwave, Canada
• Optosigma, USA

https://www.osa.org/en-us/meetings/industry_events/oida_technology_showcase/

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Orange enters strategic partnership with Google Cloud

Orange has entered into a strategic partnership with Google Cloud.

The collaboration aims to accelerate the transformation of Orange’s IT infrastructure and the development of future cloud services, in particular edge computing.

Under the partnership, Google will provide its know-how in cutting-edge cloud technologies, world-class analytics and AI tools, as well as proven digital transformation methodology and dedicated resources. Orange will contribute its deep expertise in information and communication technology services and its multi-national network infrastructure. Orange and Google Cloud will jointly create an Innovation Lab and a Center of Excellence which will provide Google Cloud support for Orange France and other Orange affiliates as they engage in their cloud transformation.

The companies said their agreement signals a firm commitment to use AI and data to increase the pace of transformation across Orange’s European footprint, placing data at the heart of the Group’s innovation model. To do this, Orange plans to build a next-generation data analytics and machine-learning platform with Google technologies.

The partnership will also work on the development of future edge computing services as 5G networks are rolled out across Europe and cloud computing increasingly benefits from integration into the network. Edge computing is set to become key in the race to meet new consumer and enterprise requirements for low-latency and high-speed services. The cooperation will combine the strengths of Google Cloud and Orange to provide flexible, secure and cutting-edge solutions for the B2B, Wholesale and B2C markets. It will contribute to the enhanced connectivity offerings that Orange provides to its wholesale, B2B and retail customers.

Stéphane Richard, Chairman and CEO of Orange, said: “Orange is a pioneer of digital transformation and is pleased to partner with Google to accelerate its data and AI transformation and continue towards a better service for its customers. Google has been a long term partner of Orange and, as Google is eager to invest in Europe - and especially in France - to develop new datacenters, this is the perfect time to work on new services and opportunities in French and European markets.”

Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet, said: “The strength of Orange’s network, combined with Google Cloud’s platform, will help pave the way for new advanced cloud and edge computing services for the telecommunications industry in Europe. We look forward to working together with Orange to bring new services and applications to customers and businesses alike, while also continuing to grow our support for European enterprises in their digital transformation journeys.”

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Greece's OTEGLOBE upgrades IP backbone with Cisco 400G line cards

OTEGLOBE is upgrading its Cisco ASR 9900 routers with 400G Cisco ASR 9900 5th Generation Line Cards.

Headquartered in Athens, Greece, OTEGLOBE is a network backbone operator delivering transport, peering, and interconnect services throughout South-eastern Europe. It is also the wholesale carrier that reaches Western Europe through Greece over a fully mesh optical backbone network.

“At OTEGLOBE, we are determined to continue to lead the industry in innovation and invest in the high-caliber technologies that enable us to offer the best services to our customers,” said Panagiota Βosdogianni, CTO, OTEGLOBE. “By introducing Cisco’s 400 GbE technology to our IP core network, we can respond seamlessly to traffic bursts during peak hours and accommodate even our largest customers’ needs with simplification, economic scale, improved flexibility, and an optimal customer experience.”

“With these latest network enhancements, we are providing OTEGLOBE with a long-term growth platform that scales ahead of the demand they’re seeing today and what they can anticipate in the years ahead,” said Jim Scott, Vice President, Cisco EMEAR Service Provider. “Together, we share a passion for connecting the unconnected, and offering the highest level of services to pave the way for the internet for the future.”

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SiTime debuts MEMS oscillator for 100G - 800G optical modules

SiTime has begun sampling a differential MEMS oscillator for use in 100G - 800G optical modules used in data center switches, telecom routers, edge servers, AI/graphics cards, and storage controllers.

The new SiT9501 differential MEMS oscillator which is based on SiTime’s newly launched third generation MEMS technology.

“Over the past 15 years, SiTime has developed and shipped two generations of MEMS resonators that are used in all our oscillator shipments to date. Our third generation MEMS is now ready and delivers up to 7 times better phase noise at half the power,” said Rajesh Vashist, CEO of SiTime. “The SiT9501 is the first of many products to use this technology and continues our tradition of delivering dramatic performance enhancements in every product generation. In space constrained applications such as optical modules, the SiT9501 delivers an unmatched combination of higher performance and smaller size.”

In optical modules, a third of the PCB area is consumed by the optical sub-assembly, leaving little room for data processing electronics, and making small size a critical factor in oscillator selection. SiTime said its new SiT9501 differential oscillator solves both key issues by offering the lowest jitter in the presence of environmental stressors, and the smallest size.

Features of the SiT9501 Differential MEMS Oscillator

• Popular networking frequencies from 25 MHz to 644.53125 MHz
• 70 femtoseconds of RMS phase jitter
• 2.0 x 1.6 mm package, the industry’s smallest. Also available in other industry standard packages.
• Wide temperature range, from -40 to +105°C
• On-chip voltage regulators to filter power-supply noise, enhancing power integrity for module designs
• Innovative FlexSwing driver reduces power consumption by 30% and integrates source-bias LVPECL resistors
• One-stop-shop for Differential Timing

The SiT9501 oscillator is sampling now. Production quantities are planned to be available in Q1 2021. Pricing is provided upon request.
https://www.sitime.com/datasheet/SiT9501

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SPIE and University of Glasgow announce quantum photonics program

SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, and the University of Glasgow announced the establishment of the SPIE Early Career Researcher Accelerator Fund in Quantum Photonics.

A $500,000 gift from the SPIE Endowment Matching Program will be matched 100% by the University. The program will support a diverse group of graduate students working in the field of quantum photonics and will be managed by Professor Daniele Faccio, Royal Academy of Engineering Chair in Emerging Technologies, and Kelvin Chair of Natural Philosophy Professor Miles Padgett.

The fund will create two new programs at the University: an annual SPIE Early Career Researcher in Quantum Photonics Scholarship will be awarded to an outstanding University of Glasgow graduate student who is in the process of completing their studies. In addition, the SPIE Global Early Career Research program will support outgoing and incoming placements at and from the University as part of its ongoing collaboration with leading quantum-photonics research groups across the globe. Each year, the program will pair several University early-career researchers with counterparts from outside laboratories for six-month-long shared projects.

“We are delighted to be participating in these exciting endeavors with the University of Glasgow,” said SPIE President John Greivenkamp. “The interactive placements will offer transformative opportunities the university’s academic and industry-based researchers, and, together with the annual scholarship, will develop well-prepared, knowledgeable early-career researchers who will drive the future of the quantum industry.”

“We’re pleased and proud to be establishing the Early Career Researcher Accelerator Fund in Quantum Photonics thanks to SPIE’s generous gift, which we’re very happy to match with our own funding,” said Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli, principal and vice-chancellor of the University of Glasgow:. “The University’s quantum photonics expertise is world-leading, and our researchers have found ways to see through walls, capture images at a trillion frames per second, and take the very first pictures of quantum entanglement in action. This additional funding will help the University train a new generation of graduate students to make valuable contributions to academia and industry and inspire them to make their own amazing research breakthroughs.”

https://www.spie.org/news/spie-and-university-of-glasgow-announce-one-million-dollar-quantum-photonics-program-

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CyrusOne says data center leasing market remains strong

CyrusOne reported revenue of $256.4 million for the second quarter, compared to $251.5 million for the same period in 2019, an increase of 2%. The increase in revenue was driven primarily by a 7% increase in occupied CSF, lease termination fees totaling $3.0 million, and additional interconnection services, partially offset by the impact of equipment sales and rent churn. Revenue in the second quarter of 2020 included $6.9 million of equipment sales, compared to $17.1 million of equipment sales for the same period in 2019. Net income was $45.0 million for the second quarter, compared to net loss of $(8.5) million in the same period in 2019.

“We had another very strong leasing quarter with broad demand across our markets in the U.S. and Europe, and the nearly $100 million revenue backlog positions us well for growth in 2021 and beyond,” said Bruce Duncan, president and chief executive officer of CyrusOne. “We also continue to strengthen our balance sheet, and our $1.5 billion in available liquidity, including more than $400 million in forward equity, gives us significant capacity to fund our development pipeline while managing our leverage.”

Some highlights:

• Leased 22 megawatts   and 150,000 colocation square feet (CSF) in the second quarter, totaling $37 million in annualized GAAP revenue
• Balanced geographical mix with 51% of annualized GAAP revenue totaling $19 million signed across European markets, includes exercise of previously disclosed (in 3Q'19) paid reservation for 4.5 MW totaling approximately $5.5 million in annualized GAAP revenue
• Backlog of $97 million in annualized GAAP revenue as of the end of the second quarter, the highest quarter-end backlog in the company’s history, representing approximately $710 million in total contract value
• During Q2, CyrusOne completed construction on 212,000 CSF and 27 MW of power capacity in San Antonio, Phoenix, Northern Virginia, and London. 
• Percentage CSF leased as of the end of the second quarter was 88% for stabilized properties8 and 83% overall. 
• CyrusOne has development projects underway in Frankfurt, Dublin, London, Northern Virginia, San Antonio, the New York Metro area, and Council Bluffs (IA) that are expected to add approximately 336,000 CSF and 82 MW of power capacity plus 337,000 square feet of powered shell.

CyrusOne  

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ServiceNow is now on a $4 billion subscription annual run rate

ServiceNow reported Q2 subscription revenues of $1,016 million, representing 30% year-over-year growth, 32% adjusted for constant currency. Net income was $41 million, or $0.21 per share.

During the quarter, ServiceNow closed 40 transactions with more than $1 million, including two transactions over $10 million, in net new annual contract value (ACV). The company now has 964 total customers with more than $1 million in ACV, representing 26% year-over-year growth in customers.

“ServiceNow is leading the workflow revolution, proven by our very strong Q2 results,” said ServiceNow CEO Bill McDermott. “Businesses need to rapidly digitize workflows to deliver great experiences for their customers, employees, and partners. We are the strategic workflow authority helping our customers solve once-in-a-generation challenges and capitalize on the immense opportunities of digital transformation. Every day we are manifesting our purpose — making the world of work, work better for people — on our journey to becoming the defining enterprise software company of the 21st century.”

“In Q2, we achieved our $4 billion revenues run rate milestone. We exceeded the high end of our subscription revenues and billings guidance, while continuing to drive margin expansion and strong free cash flow,” said ServiceNow CFO Gina Mastantuono. “Our best-in-class renewal rate remained at 97%, and customers continue to expand on the Now Platform, giving us conviction to raise our growth and profitability guidance for the year. I am confident in our ability to deliver our second half.”

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Ermetic raises $17 million for cloud policy management

Ermetic, a start-up with offices in Palo Alto and Tel Aviv, raised $17.25 million in Series A funding for its work in cloud access risk mitigation

Ermetic says its analytics-based solution prevents cloud data breaches by automating the detection and remediation of identity and access risks in Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS) offerings from Amazon, Google and Microsoft. It automatically discovers all human and machine identities in the cloud, and analyzes their entitlements, roles and policies using a continuous lifecycle approach. By combining analytics with granular, full stack insight, Ermetic makes it possible to enforce least privilege access at scale even in the most complex cloud environments.

The funding round was led by Accel, and supported by Glilot Capital Partners, Norwest Venture Partners and Target Global, the company’s $10M seed round investors.

“Until now, customers have been using retrofitted tools to try to manage cloud infrastructure accounts and entitlements. Ermetic has developed a cloud native alternative that uses analytics to consistently manage permissions and enforce least-privilege access,” said Shai Morag, CEO of Ermetic. “We are pleased to welcome Accel as an investor and Andrei Brasoveanu to our Board. This capital infusion will help us capture a large share of the emerging market known as Cloud Infrastructure Entitlements Management.”

https://ermetic.com/

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MACOM posts revenue of $137 million, up 27% yoy

MACOM reported revenue of $137.3 million, an increase of 26.7% compared to $108.3 million in the previous year fiscal third quarter and an increase of 8.6% compared to $126.4 million in the prior fiscal quarter. Gross margin was 51.6%, compared to 31.2% in the previous year fiscal third quarter and 50.1% in the prior fiscal quarter. Net loss was $25.0 million, or $0.37 loss per diluted share, compared to net loss of $324.7 million, or $4.95 loss per diluted share, in the previous year fiscal third quarter and net loss of $10.2 million, or $0.28 loss per diluted share, in the prior fiscal quarter.

“We remain focused on engineering excellence, financial performance and execution,” said Stephen G. Daly, President and Chief Executive Officer.\

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PacketFabric appoints Dedicoat as chair, former Cisco EVP WW sales

PacketFabric appointed Chris Dedicoat, the former executive vice president of worldwide sales for Cisco, as chairman of the PacketFabric board.

Dedicoat has more than 25 years of sales and marketing experience in the networking, hardware, software and technology industries. His innovative and effective sales strategies contributed to Cisco’s leadership position in the market. Dedicoat currently sits on the board of directors for RStor, a leading provider of cloud services across any multicloud environment.

"Chris has had an incredible track record over his career and with his vast experience and global business presence, we are beyond excited to have him join our team and chair our board,” said Dave Ward, CEO PacketFabric.

PacketFabric’s highly scalable SDN platform is a private Layer 2 NaaS that delivers instant and secure connectivity at speeds from 50Mbps to multi-100Gbps.

NTT Ltd. expands cloud exchange in U.S. with Packet Fabric

Sunday, July 19, 2020  NTT, PacketFabrid  

NTT Ltd.’s Global Data Centers division, one of the world’s largest data center providers, is now offering data center customers in the U.S. access to cloud exchange services from PacketFabric. NTT’s Cloud Connect portfolio enables customers to integrate public clouds with their enterprise applications running in NTT’s data centers.

PacketFabric’s Network-as-a-Service platform leverages an automated SDN-based network architecture and a private, secure network to enable dynamic, real-time connectivity services between colocation facilities at terabit-scale. PacketFabric facilitates private network connectivity between more than 170 colocation facilities across 24 global markets and enables cost-effective, scalable network deployment via its Application Program Interface (API) and web-based portal.

NTT’s Cloud Connect portfolio provides a range of connectivity options and solution partners, including Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, IBM Cloud, Google Cloud Platform, and Oracle Cloud, as well as hundreds of other clouds and networks.

“We are truly a cloud exchange-neutral data center that offers our customers best-in-class cloud connectivity solutions,” said Doug Adams, President and CEO of NTT Ltd.’s Global Data Centers Americas division (formerly known as RagingWire Data Centers). “With options such as PacketFabric to choose from, hyperscale and enterprise companies will find a cloud exchange provider that provides the best experience for them.”

NTT operates the third-largest data center platform in the world, with over 160 data centers spanning more than 20 countries and regions. NTT Ltd.’s Global Data Centers Americas division operates data centers in Ashburn, Virginia; Dallas, Texas; and Sacramento, California, with new data center campuses under construction in Silicon Valley, California; Chicago, Illinois; and Hillsboro, Oregon.

PacketFabric appoints Dave Ward as CTO

Tuesday, April 21, 2020  People  

PacketFabric, which operates a Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) platform for providing data center interconnects, named Dave Ward as its new CEO.

Ward joins PacketFabric from Cisco, where he was the company’s Chief Technology Officer of Engineering, Chief Architect and a Senior Vice President at Cisco’s Networking and Security Business.

While at Cisco, Ward and his engineering teams built numerous hardware and software products, including networking orchestration and automation, virtualized and cloud-native services, cloud networking and security products, 5G Networking and system architectures, and IoT-based solutions for smart cities, healthcare, conservation, media and entertainment.  He joined Cisco in 1999 when the company acquired the Internet Engineering Group.

Ward is also one of two individuals to be both Cisco and Juniper Fellows working on the operating system and next-generation routing systems, including ASICS, Optics, and network APIs and SDN.

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NeoPhotonics and Inphi show 400ZR interoperability

Inphi and NeoPhotonics have completed the first interoperability demonstration of OIF 400ZR Implementation Agreement compliant coherent transceivers, operating successfully across the C-Band over 120km of optical fiber.

Transceiver pairs consisting of Inphi's COLORZ II QSFP-DD with its Canopus 7nm Coherent DSP and NeoPhotonics 400ZR ClearLight OSFP were successfully linked. Both 400ZR coherent optics transceivers carried error-free traffic over a typical data center interconnect (DCI) link configuration (amplified over 120km of fiber) at several wavelengths across the C-Band using Arista 7060 data center switches.

The successful interoperation of NeoPhotonics and Inphi 400ZR transceivers demonstrates the availability of interoperable coherent transceivers for the 400ZR ecosystem, a key step in enabling the next generation of DCI links. 400ZR pluggable transceiver modules significantly reduce the cost and power consumption of DCIs by eliminating the transport network equipment layer.

“We are very excited about the successful interoperable demonstration with NeoPhotonics to bring pluggable 400G coherent optics into the data center,” said Josef Berger, AVP of Marketing, Optical Interconnect at Inphi. “This demonstration proves the readiness to deliver the flexibility of high bandwidth DWDM connectivity between data centers with the ability to rapidly scale capacity and meet our customers’ demands for standards-based pluggable coherent solutions.”

“NeoPhotonics has worked closely with Inphi to combine their Canopus™ DSP with our high-performance laser and coherent optics into a standards-based ClearLight OSFP and QSFP-DD transceiver modules that can meet the needs of our hyper-scale customers,” said Marc Stiller, Vice President of Coherent Modules for NeoPhotonics. “Supporting the interoperable CFEC standard, as defined by OIF, has been a critical part of our design effort, and we’re very pleased to announce this milestone as we continue to work with customers to implement this game-changing technology.”

OIF publishes 400ZR implementation agreeement

Wednesday, April 29, 2020  400ZR, OIF  

OIF published the Implementation Agreement (IA) for a low-cost, 400ZR coherent optical interface.

OIF launched the 400ZR project in response to requests from large-scale data center operators and their suppliers for an interoperable coherent interface that transports 400 Gigabit Ethernet over longer distances. Traditional network operators also became interested in 400ZR for their metro needs. Based on their different requirements, OIF developed specs and tweaked the channel requirements so the IA would benefit both data center and network operators. While developing the IA, OIF collaborated closely with other standards bodies.

The 400ZR IA addresses two applications:

• Amplified, point-to-point DWDM links with reaches of 120 km or less
• Unamplified, single wavelength links with a loss budget of 11dB

The IA aims to enable interoperable, cost-effective, 400Gbps implementations based on single-carrier coherent DP-16QAM modulation, low-power DSPs supporting absolute (Non-Differential) phase encoding/decoding, and a Concatenated FEC (C-FEC) with a post-FEC error floor <1 .0e-15.="" 400gbase-r="" 400zr="" a="" as="" operates="" p="" phy.="">

No restriction on the physical form factor is implied by the IA (QSFP-DD, OSFP, COBO, CFP2, CFP8), but the specifications target a pluggable DCO architecture with port densities equivalent to grey client optics.

NeoPhotonics samples 400ZR OSFP coherent transceiver

Monday, January 13, 2020  400G, Neophotonics  

NeoPhotonics began sampling its new 400ZR ClearLight OSFP transceiver to a leading cloud -related customer.

The new transceiver utilizes NeoPhotonics Silicon Photonics Coherent Optical Subassembly (COSA) and low power consumption, ultra-narrow linewidth Nano-ITLA tunable laser, combined with the latest generation of 7 nm DSP, to provide full 400ZR transmission in a standard data center OSFP form factor.

NeoPhotonics said its new 400ZR ClearLight OSFP transceiver can be plugged directly into switches and router, simplifying data center interconnect (DCI) networks by eliminating a layer of network equipment and a set of short reach client-side transceivers. The new OSFP module is capable of tuning to 75 GHz or 100GHz spaced wavelength channels, as specified in the OIF agreement, and operates in 400ZR mode for Cloud DCI applications.  For longer metro reaches, the module  is designed to support 400ZR+ modes.

This ClearLight OSFP module can also be optionally provisioned to tune over the entire “Super C-Band”, or up to 6.4 Terahertz, increasing the capacity of an optical fiber by up to 50% over standard implementations.  NeoPhotonics provides arrayed waveguide gratings for multiplexing and de-multiplexing with 75GHz and 100GHz wavelength channel spacings, supporting 85 and 64 channels respectively, with filter responses optimized for high baud rate coherent signals.

Inphi samples first 400ZR QSFP-DD transceiver

Thursday, December 19, 2019  400G, Inphi  

Inphi has begun sampling its COLORZ II 400ZR QSFP-DD pluggable coherent transceiver for cloud data center interconnects (DCIs) to major cloud operators and OEMs.

Inphi cites several industry firsts for its COLORZ II 400ZR QSFP-DD:

• 400G single-chip, coherent Silicon Photonics Integrated Circuit (PIC) that includes all transmit and receive functions 
• Innovative, low cost, passive alignment of fiber to the PIC that eliminates the complicated active alignment, using traditional optics
• Low power, high performance, 7nm CMOS-based coherent DSP enabling 400ZR as well as extended reach 100/200/300/400G ZR+ modes
• Integrated industry standard firmware management interface that enables full performance monitoring previously only available in DCI or transport systems directly from the optical module

 The 400ZR standard promises to lower the cost and power consumption of metro data center interconnect (DCI) by enabling switch and router companies to offer the same density for both coherent DWDM and client optics in the same chassis. This eliminates a layer of network connectivity that was previously required and supports high capacity DWDM connectivity directly from data center switches.

Inphi said its COLORZ II represents a massive increase in switch rack capacity, while reducing the power consumption by as much as 80%. COLORZ II delivers up to 14.4T of capacity per rack unit (RU), compared to 2.4T or 3.6T per RU on competing solutions, representing a 4-6 x increase in throughput per chassis.

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Google's Grace Hopper subsea cable to link US-UK-Spain

Google unveiled plans for a new subsea cable — Grace Hopper — which will run between the United States, the United Kingdom and Spain. The cable is named for computer science pioneer Grace Brewster Murray Hopper (1906–1992), an admiral in the U.S. Navy best known for her work in developing the COBOL programming language.

The Grace Hopper cable will be equipped with 16 fiber pairs (32 fibers). Subcom has been selected as the lead contractor. The project is expected to be completed in 2022.

Google said the Grace Hopper cable system will be the first to use a novel optical fiber switching that allows for increased reliability by moving traffic around outages.

Grace Hopper joins Google's other private subsea cables, Curie, Dunant and Equiano.

https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/infrastructure/announcing-googles-grace-hopper-subsea-cable-system

Google completes Curie - California-to-Chile subsea cable

Sunday, November 17, 2019  Chile, Google, Subsea  

Google's 10,500-km "Curie" subsea cable stretching from California to Chile is now ready for service. The new cable is equipped four 18 Tbps fiber optic pairs, a design capacity of 72 Tbps.

Google also announced the first Curie branch into Panama. Subcom has been selected for the project.

Curie represents Google's third wholly-owned subsea cable. The other projects are Dunant, which crosses the Atlantic from Virginia to France, and Equiano, which will link Portugal to South Africa.

https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/infrastructure/curie-subsea-cable-set-to-transmit-to-chile-with-a-pit-stop-to-panama

Google announces Equiano cable from Portugal to South Africa

Google unveiled plans for new private subsea cable connecting Lisbon, Portugal and Cape Town, South Africa with branching units along the west coast of Africa.

The Equiano subsea cable, which is named for Olaudah Equiano, a Nigerian-born writer and abolitionist who was enslaved as a boy, will include a branching unit to Nigeria.

Google plans to use state-of-the-art space-division multiplexing (SDM) technology to achieve approximately 20 times more network capacity than the last cable built to serve this region.

The cable will be the first to incorporate optical switching at the fiber-pair level, rather than the traditional approach of wavelength-level switching. Google says this design will greatly simplify the allocation of cable capacity.

Equiano is fully funded by Google. Alcatel Submarine Networks was awarded a contract in Q4 2018. The first phase of the project, connecting South Africa with Portugal, is expected to be completed in 2021.

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Ericsson begins shipping 5G base stations from Texas factory

Ericsson began the first commercial shipments of 5G base stations from its new factory in Texas. The first unit was delivered to Verizon.

“Ericsson’s smart factory is a cornerstone of our collaboration as we work together to bring 5G to our consumer, enterprise and public safety customers,” said Kyle Malady, Chief Technology Officer of Verizon. “Together these types of innovation will accelerate our 5G deployments, as we expand our 5G leadership in technology and continue to rapidly build the ecosystem with our partners.”

The 5G base station delivered to Verizon is the millimeter-wave Street Macro solution, which is key to Ericsson’s 5G portfolio for its North American customers. All radio access components are housed in one lightweight enclosure, allowing for the rapid growth of 5G coverage in complex city environments.

Fredrik Jejdling, Executive Vice President and Head of Networks, Ericsson, says: “As the most advanced platform for innovation, 5G will enable a transformation across enterprises –as we’re now experiencing in our own smart factories. Automation and remote operations have become more important, and we’re working with our customers to make them available for the benefit of industries. From producing the first 5G base stations at our 5G USA Smart Factory earlier this year, we’ve made our first commercial delivery to Verizon. That’s just the beginning.”

Ericsson to open 5G factory in Texas

Thursday, September 19, 2019  Ericsson  

Ericsson will open a US$100 million state-of-the-art factory in Lewisville, Texas, a suburb close to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and Ericsson’s North America headquarters in Plano.

The 28,000sq m facility will produce 5G and Advanced Antenna System radios to boost network capacity and coverage to meet the demand for rapid 5G deployments in North America. Commercial operations are expected in early 2020 and will be powered by Ericsson 5G solutions tailored for the industrial environment. Fast and secure 5G connectivity will enable agile operations and flexible production. Ericsson’s 5G industrial solutions include automated warehouses, connected logistics, automated assembly, packing and product handling, and the use of autonomous carts.

Texas Governor, Greg Abbott, says: “From manufacturing to technology, the Texas economy is firing on all cylinders thanks to investments of world class companies like Ericsson. I am proud that Ericsson has chosen Texas to expand its operations, and can assure them that as Governor, I will continue to promote pro-growth policies that reduce the heavy hand of government regulation and encourage expansion in the private sector.”

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MEF publishes SASE Services Framework White Paper

MEF published its first SASE Services Framework whitepaper, in which it begins a standardization discussion around the concept of the Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) first proposed by Gartner last year. SASE aims to bring together networking, security and policy automation.

Companies contributing to the MEF whitepaper included VMware, Versa Networks, Juniper Networks, Nuage Networks from Nokia, Fortinet, Datavision, Inc., Cisco and Ciena.

https://wiki.mef.net/display/CESG/SASE+Services+Framework+-+White+Paper

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Juniper posts Q2 sales of $1.086 billion

Juniper Networks reported better than expected Q2 financial results with revenue and EPS of $1,086M and $0.35 both exceeding the mid-point of the guidance range. Revenue was down 1% YOY, primarily due to ongoing supply constraints related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and up 9% sequentially. GAAP net income was $61.2 million, an increase of 32% year-over-year, and an increase of 200% sequentially, resulting in diluted earnings per share of $0.18.

"We experienced solid demand during the June quarter, as our combination of technological differentiation and go- to-market execution drove a second consecutive quarter of positive order growth,” said Juniper’s CEO, Rami Rahim. “While the global macro environment remains uncertain, the strategic importance of the global network has never been clearer and we remain confident regarding the long-term outlook for our business. We delivered better than expected results during the June quarter, with both revenue and non-GAAP earnings per share exceeding the mid-point of our guidance,” said Juniper’s CFO, Ken Miller. “We are entering Q3 with healthy backlog and are optimistic regarding our ability to navigate COVID-19 related supply chain challenges and deliver improved profitability during the upcoming quarter."

Some highlights:

• Orders grew 6% year over year (YOY) and exceeding expectations. 
• Juniper secured 400G wins in every geography and vertical it serves,.
• In cloud, revenue increased 9% on a sequential basis, growing modestly for the fifth consecutive quarter, despite being flat YOY. Juniper’s largest cloud customer in Q2 was different as compared to Q1. Juniper expects modest growth for the cloud business in 2020, with some seasonality during Q3.
• The Enterprise business increased 1% in revenue on a sequential basis, exceeding initial expectations in Q2, but had a slight 2% decline YOY. Juniper continues to see strong momentum with Mist, driving confidence in its ability to gain enterprise share and return to growth once the pandemic subsides. Software revenue declined in Q2 and accounted for less than 10% of sales, though software orders grew 7% YOY due to a combination of strong Mist and Security subscriptions.
• The service provider business modestly declined YOY during Q2, as it was most impacted by COVID-19-related supply chain challenges. However, it experienced a second consecutive quarter of positive growth with a 16% increase in revenue. Much of the service provider order strength is attributable to diversification efforts across customers and products over the last few years. Based on current trends and conversations, the service provider business is likely to see a modest decline in 2020.
• Mist, which is the centerpiece of the company’s AI strategy, reported another record quarter with orders rising more than 170% on a YOY basis and new logos increasing by more than 100% YOY. Mist has now secured 4 Fortune 10 accounts and saw a material increase in demand generation from the channel, reflecting the true differentiation of the product. 

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AMD's Q2 revenue rises 26% YoY to $1.93 billion

AMD reported Q2 revenue of $1.93 billion, up 26% YoY,  operating income of $173 million, net income of $157 million and diluted earnings per share of $0.13. On a non-GAAP basis, operating income was $233 million, net income was $216 million and diluted earnings per share was $0.18.

"We delivered strong second quarter results, led by record notebook and server processor sales as Ryzen and EPYC revenue more than doubled from a year ago,” said Dr. Lisa Su, AMD president and CEO. "Despite some macroeconomic uncertainty, we are raising our full-year revenue outlook as we enter our next phase of growth driven by the acceleration of our business in multiple markets."

Computing and Graphics segment revenue was $1.37 billion, up 45 percent year-over-year and down 5 percent quarter-over-quarter. Revenue was higher year-over-year driven by strong Ryzen processor sales. The quarter-over-quarter decline was due to lower graphics processor sales.
Client processor average selling price (ASP) was up year-over-year driven by Ryzen processor sales.
Client processor ASP was down quarter-over-quarter due to a higher percentage of Ryzen mobile processor sales.
GPU ASP was lower year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter due to lower channel sales.
Enterprise, Embedded and Semi-Custom segment revenue was $565 million, down 4 percent year-over-year and up 62 percent quarter-over-quarter. Revenue was lower year-over-year due to lower semi-custom product sales largely offset by higher EPYC processor sales. The quarter-over-quarter increase was driven by higher EPYC processor and semi-custom product sales.

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Fujitsu supplies its 1FINITY Switch platform to New Lisbon Telephony Co.

The New Lisbon Telephone Company, which serves east-central Indiana, has successfully deployed the Fujitsu 1FINITY Switch platform and Virtuora Network Control Solution to deliver ultra-fast Internet connectivity.

New Lisbon Telephone Company, and its subsidiary New Lisbon Broadband and Communications, provide high-speed fiber, DSL and wireless internet, as well as digital video and telephone services to residential and commercial subscribers in more than a dozen Indiana communities.

“This significant investment in our hybrid fiber and fixed wireless network allows us to achieve our commitment to deliver ultra-fast connections to our subscribers,” said John Greene, CEO, New Lisbon Telephone Company. “The combination of high performance, simplified network operations, affordability and small footprint made the Fujitsu 1FINITY and Virtuora solution an extremely appealing choice for our network upgrade.”

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CES 2021 in January to be virtual only

The Consumer Electronics Show, which aimed to be the first big tech event of 2021, will not be held in-person.

The Consumer Technology Association (CTA) confirmed that CES 2021 – January 6-9, 2021 will be an all-digital experience.

"Amid the pandemic and growing global health concerns about the spread of COVID-19, it's just not possible to safely convene tens of thousands of people in Las Vegas in early January 2021 to meet and do business in person,” said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO, CTA. “Technology helps us all work, learn and connect during the pandemic – and that innovation will also help us reimagine CES 2021 and bring together the tech community in a meaningful way. By shifting to an all-digital platform for 2021, we can deliver a unique experience that helps our exhibitors connect with existing and new audiences."

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Thailand's True picks ZTE for 5G

True Corporation Public Company Limited (True) has selected to build a commercial 5G network in Thailand.

True, a fully licensed operator in Thailand, with a 30% market share in the mobile market of the country, will adopt ZTE's 5G RAN products and services to build a commercial 5G network in Thailand. Specifically, ZTE will provide True with a series of products, including 5G 64TR/32TR/8TR/4TR macro stations and single-band/multi-band indoor QCell, to build a full-scenario and high-performance tri-band 5G network on 700MHz, 2.6GHz and 26GHz.

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