NEC establishes Open RAN lab in India

NEC has established an Open RAN laboratory in India. The facility will accelerate development of NEC’s 5G open ecosystem by pre-integrating partner Open RAN components to form end-to-end commercial-ready solutions according to customer-specific needs. The solutions will undergo end-to-end practical validations on functional/operational performance and quality assurance throughout all layers of the RAN, from network and cloud to service layers. The lab will also be responsible for post deployment trouble-shooting, life cycle management as well as continuous integration (CI) and continuous delivery (CD) of solutions. Initial partners include Altiostar, GigaTera and MTI, 

NEC said this new facility complements its Center of Excellence (CoE) in the U.K.

"We are confident that our firm partnerships with the industry’s best talents will enable us to advance the development of cutting-edge carrier grade ecosystems at full throttle," said Kazuhiko Harasaki, Deputy General Manager, Service Provider Solutions Division, NEC Corporation. "NEC will take leadership in curating pre-validated models and facilitating commercial, multi-vendor Open RAN deployment as a viable alternative 5G network for operators."

NEC participates in the UK Government-led 5G Open RAN trial

Sunday, November 29, 2020  NEC, O-RAN  

NEC is showcasing its Open Radio Access Network (RAN) technology in the UK.The NeutrORAN project will be used to test and demonstrate a multiple operator, neutral host solution using an Open RAN ecosystem. NEC also confirmed that will establish a Global Open RAN Center of Excellence in the UK. The NeutrORAN will be one of the first solutions delivered by the Center of Excellence."The project is another step in NEC's gro

Read More

Intel to start assembly & test operations in Costa Rica

Intel will invest US$350 million over the next three years to start assembly & test operations in Costa Rica. Assembly and test operations will be carried out at the Intel Costa Rica campus in San Antonio de Belén and will start in the second half of 2021. 

"The existing infrastructure, the synergy with operations already in place at the site, our talent, the free-zone regime and the legal environment, have given Intel a favorable option to expand its assembly & test capacity to Costa Rica", said Ileana Rojas, General Manager at Intel Costa Rica.

With the start of operations, Intel Costa Rica joins the Kulim site in Malaysia, the Chengdu plant in China, and the site in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, which are the only Intel sites to perform global assembly & test operations, turning Intel Costa Rica into the first Latin American country site to perform such process.

"The fact that Costa Rica has become stronger as a trustworthy destination for investment amid the pandemic is a very powerful signal. Furthermore, it shows that the country builds long-term relationships with investors, since we have over two decades of history working together with Intel. An investment of this size deepens Intel's footprint and opens very significant job opportunities for people with different work profiles who will be able to join worldwide exports produced by the Costa Rican talent", said Carlos Alvarado, President of Costa Rica.

Read More

ADVA expands its multi-vendor NFV program

ADVA announced the addition of VMware and 19 other members to its Ensemble Harmony Ecosystem of virtualized applications and supported services. Other companies joining the Ensemble Harmony Ecosystem are CASwell, flexiWAN, IEI Integration Corp, NEXCOM and Lanner.

ADVA’s Ensemble Harmony Ecosystem is a coalition of hardware, software and service partners working together to drive virtualization and softwarization in telecommunication networks. 

“This ongoing growth means our Ensemble Harmony Ecosystem provides more options and delivers more value. By welcoming industry leaders like VMware into the program, we’re enabling our customers to transform their operations with some of the best available cloud solutions,” commented James Buchanan, GM, Edge Cloud, ADVA. “Today’s CSPs demand the freedom to choose the most advanced virtualization technology from a variety of leading innovators. They expect tech suppliers to cooperate with each other to ensure interoperability and reduce complexity. That’s what our Ensemble Harmony Ecosystem is all about. It creates an environment that fosters close cooperation, accelerates new initiatives and enables true multi-vendor solutions.”

Read More

3 Key Trends for SD-WAN

2020 has changed how we work, collaborate, and conduct our daily lives. Networking’s role as an essential utility has never been more underscored and tested. With SD-WAN sitting at the heart of businesses, it’s critical that it can function uninterrupted. 

In this video, Sunil Khandekar, General Manager/Founder of Nuage Networks from Nokia, shares three key trends for SD-WAN that they are actively participating in.

https://youtu.be/kmxsZV2pVjY

Read More

Deutsche Telekom accelerates rollout of fiber broadband and 5G

Deutsche Telekom vowed to accelerate its rollout of residential fiber broadband, saying it now aims to ensure that all households in Germany have direct access to the fiber-optic network by 2030.

In 2020, Deutsche Telekom doubled the number of households that can receive FTTH to 600,000, more than twice as many as in the previous year (270,000). In total, Telekom now offers two million households an FTTH connection. Around two million more are to be added annually on average from 2021. 

By 2023, 3,000 business parks are also to be connected to the fiber-optic network. Deutsche Telekom can already provide 17,000 schools with connections of up to 250 Mbps. In the next three years, at least one in four schools is to receive a fiber-optic connection from Deutsche Telekom alone. 

Inside the home, Telekom has rolled out a new Speedport Smart 4 Plus router that can be connected directly to a fiber optic cable and has an integrated fiber optic modem. The device is also the first router with an OLED display that conveniently displays information on functions. It also features Wi-Fi 6  and mesh WLAN technology.

Deutsche Telekom also promised to accelerate its efforts in 5G. Two-thirds of people in Germany can now use 5G on the Telekom network. 45,000 antennas are already transmitting on 5G. 

Deutsche Telekom is combining two 5G frequency bands.  The company said that on the high-reach 2.1 GHz frequency, high mobile bandwidths will be brought to rural areas in particular. For example, the offshore island of Helgoland is now also being supplied with 5G. The 3.6 GHz frequency provides high-speed 5G where many people move around in a small area, such as in large cities. It is now also used at Frankfurt Airport. The technology will also be installed at Berlin's BER airport. New are also the 5G Highspeed antennas in Bremen, Hanover and Nuremberg. This means that 13 major cities are already benefiting from 5G in gigabit speed.

Telekom is planning the initial implementation of an O-RAN-Town in Neubrandenburg in 2021. In further steps, up to 25 O-RAN-compatible sites in active network operation with 4G/5G technology come together Cooperations with leading manufacturers such as Dell, Fujitsu, NEC, Nokia, Mavenir and others are under discussion.

Telekom also announced the deployment of a new 5G campus network at the University Hospital in Bonn. It is the first campus network to operate on the 3.6 GHz frequency. Indoor antennas supply several hospital buildings. 5G will initially be used in radiology. X-rays and MRT images are transmitted via secure mobile radio to several locations of the University Hospital Bonn.

"Telekom keeps its promises. This applies in particular to network expansion. Right now, the Telekom network is proving its worth. It was the right decision to put fiber optic in every street and thus to enable fast networks from Telekom for over 80 percent of all households. Home offices are possible throughout the country. Now comes the next step: Fiber optic to the home and 5G. Here too, we have a plan that we are working through step by step. Despite Corona, our expansion is running at full speed," says Deutsche Telekom CEO Tim Höttges. "And to make sure that everyone in Germany is part of it in the future, we are now really getting going. To achieve this, we have been investing around five and a half billion euros a year in Germany for years. Most of it will go into our network”.

http://www.telekom.de/jetzt-glasfaser 

https://www.telekom.com/en/media/media-information/archive/fiber-optics-and-5g-telekom-dials-it-up-614422

Read More

Xsight Labs samples 25.6T data center switch chip with 100G SerDes

Xsight Labs, a fabless semiconductor start-up based in Israel, emerged from stealth to announce sampling of a 25.6T 32 x 800G data center switch and a 12.8T 32 x 400G data center switch based on 100G PAM4 SerDes.

The company's X1 switch chip, which is now sampling to alpha customers, is fabricated in 7nm silicon. 

Some highlights: 

• The X1 chip operates at less than 300W for 25.6T and under 200W for 12.8T (for typical data center use cases)
• Built with256 x 100G LR PAM4 SerDes, X1 enables retimer-less design, supporting in-rack DAC connectivity for the 100G ecosystem. 
• X1 supports the new 800G optics ecosystem, delivering a 2x improvement in port density vs. 400G optics.
• X1 leverages a fully shared buffer architecture with wire speed in-cast performance for worst-case microburst absorption.
• X1 supports an extensive suite of programmable Dataplane Telemetry that enables visibility into the network for monitoring, troubleshooting and real-time analysis and decision making.

Supports a broad range of switch configurations: 

• 25.6T: 256 x 100G, 128 x 200G, 64 x 400G, 32 x 800G
• 12.8T: 256 x 50G, 128 x 100G, 64 x 200G, 32 x 400G, 16 x 800G

“Xsight Labs is the first in the world to sample a monolithic 7nm switch silicon that is on the frontier of the 100G SerDes ecosystem,” said Erez Shaizaf, Xsight Labs’ Co-Founder and Switch General Manager. “It is a true testament to the caliber of engineering talent that we have been able to assemble and we, as a team, are extremely proud of our execution.”

“The X1 family architecture has been built from the ground up to incorporate a unique set of value-added features like Application Optimized Switching, X-PND™, and X-IQ™, enabling customers’ switch deployments to achieve optimized latency and power,” said Gal Malach, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer at Xsight Labs.

https://xsightlabs.com/

 

• Xsight Labs was co-founded by Guy Koren (CEO), who previously was CTO of EZchip Technologies (acquired by Mellanox in 2016 for $811M); Erez Shaizaf (GM of Switch Product Line), who previously was Vice President of Silicon at Mellanox and Director of VLSI at EZchip Technologies and Freescale; and Gal Malach (CTO), who previously was previously was Lead Architect and Director of VLSI at Mellanox, through the EZchip Technologies acquisition, where he drove architecture definition and execution.

Read More

DOCOMO activates 5G sub-6 GHz carrier aggregation for 4.2 Gbps

NTT DOCOMO, in partnership with Qualcomm, activated the first commercial 5G sub-6 GHz carrier aggregation (sub6-CA) service in Japan. The service combines a 100 MHz carrier in band n78 and a 100 MHz carrier in band n79 to boost 5G performance and network capacity using DOCOMO's diverse spectrum assets.

Using DOCOMO's new 5G network and select devices powered by the Qualcomm® SnapdragonTM 865 Mobile Platform with the Snapdragon X55 5G Modem-RF System, customers can now enjoy mobile download speeds of up to 4.2 Gbps - the fastest speeds available in Japan. 

"It is a pleasure to continue our work with DOCOMO to advance and accelerate 5G technology throughout Japan," said Durga Malladi, senior vice president and general manager, 4G/5G, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. "By providing access to breakthrough technologies like 5G carrier aggregation, we are enabling consumers and companies throughout Japan to access faster connectivity, enhanced capacity and better reliability."

"In collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies, we are pleased to begin delivering this advanced and groundbreaking mobile technology to our customers nationwide," said Naoki Tani, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, NTT DOCOMO. "DOCOMO subscribers can now enjoy superior 5G service together with exciting mobile experiences. Moreover, by establishing a new standard of possibility for the industry, we are proud to help initiate a new era of connectivity in Japan."

Read More

Ericsson sues Samsung, issues warning on IPR revenues

Ericsson filed a lawsuit in the U.S District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, against Samsung..

Ericsson says Samsung has failed to negotiate in good faith and to license patents on Fair, Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory (FRAND) terms and conditions.

Ericsson warned that several license renewal negotiations may delay the payment of IP royalties if they extend beyond the expiry of existing licenses into an unlicensed period. The company also warned that current geopolitical conditions are impacting handset sales volumes as is the shift from 4G to 5G handsets. 

Read More

FireEye raises $400 million from Blackstone and ClearSky

FireEye closed on a $400 million strategic investment led by funds managed by Blackstone Tactical Opportunities and joined by ClearSky, a cyber security-focused investment firm, as a co-investor in the transaction.

FireEye also announced that Viral Patel, a Senior Managing Director of Blackstone, and Art Coviello, former chief executive officer of RSA Security, have been appointed to the FireEye Board of Directors, effective immediately.

Art Coviello, former chief executive officer of RSA Security said, “FireEye and Mandiant are widely recognized for their threat intelligence and security expertise, and I am delighted to join the board. I look forward to working with Kevin and the FireEye leadership team to help them realize their vision of intelligence-driven security solutions for organizations of all sizes.”

“I am excited to welcome Viral and Art to FireEye as members of our Board of Directors,” said Kevin Mandia, FireEye chief executive officer. “Each brings a unique perspective on the dynamics of successful strategy and execution, and we look forward to their contributions as we pursue our transformation strategy and growth opportunities.”

Under the revised terms of their investment, Blackstone and ClearSky purchased 400,000 shares of FireEye’s newly designated 4.5% Series A Convertible Preferred Stock (the “Series A Preferred”), with a purchase price of $1,000 per share, for $400 million in the aggregate. The Series A Preferred will be convertible into shares of FireEye's common stock at a conversion price of $17.25 per share, subject to certain customary adjustments. Additional information regarding the investment and the Series A Preferred were included in the Form 8-K previously filed by FireEye with the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 18th, 2020.

FireEye claims over 9,600 customers across 103 countries, including more than 50 percent of the Forbes Global 2000.

https://www.fireeye.com/company/press-releases/2020/fireeye-closes--400-million-strategic-investment-led-by-blackstone.html

• In 2014, FireEye acquired Mandiant in a deal valued at $1 billion.

Fireeye reports cyber attack by a nation state

Tuesday, December 08, 2020  FireEye, Security  

FireEye confirmed that it was recently attacked by a highly sophisticated cyber threat actor in what it believes was as a state-sponsored attack. Kevin Mandia, FireEye's Chief Executive Officer,said the attackers tailored their world-class capabilities specifically to target certain Red Team assessment tools that the company uses to test its customers’ security. These tools mimic the behavior of many cyber threat actors and enable FireEye to...

READ MORE

Read More

Australia's nbn activates Disaster Satellite Services

 NBN Co is rolling out a Disaster Satellite Service  to communities and emergency services personnel during and in the aftermath of emergency events, such as bushfires and floods. 

The service is provided with funding from the Australian Government’s Strengthening Telecommunications Against Natural Disasters (STAND) package. Specifically, NBN Co has been awarded a grant of $7 million to install nbn™ Disaster Satellite Service units at designated emergency management sites and evacuation centres across the country. Around 95 nbn Disaster Satellite Services will be installed by the end of the year, with the remaining locations to be completed in 2021 as agreed with Federal and state and territory governments.

https://www.nbnco.com.au/corporate-information/media-centre/media-statements

Read More

Weaveworks, creator of GitOps, raises $37 million

WeaveWorks, a start-up developing a GitOps-powered Kubernetes platform built on open source software, raised a total of $36.65m from a pool of telecom and enterprise investors including Orange Ventures, Deutsche Telekom, Ericsson, Amazon Web Services and Sonae IM. Existing investors including Accel, Google Ventures and Redline Capital also participated in the round.

The company says its Weave Kubernetes Platform enables telecommunications companies tp securely deliver containerised 5G across data centres, cloud, hybrid, and edge environments while significantly reducing operating costs.

Alexis Richardson, co-founder and CEO of Weaveworks, said: “Cloud Native and Kubernetes are revolutionising the way we build and operate applications. The challenge is how to manage these environments with the scalability, reliability and control enterprises need when managing thousands of developers and applications at the same time. This is what sets Weaveworks apart.

“Our new funding, backed by two of the world’s leading public cloud providers and industry-leading telecoms companies, is a powerful validation that Weaveworks provides the speed, flexibility, and control telecoms and large enterprises need to rapidly innovate and scale cloud native applications.”

“As global telcos ramp up to deliver high-speed 5G applications and services, and enterprises build and operate cloud-native applications, the need for a reliable, secure and standards-based operating model is more important than ever. GitOps is that operating model for large scale cloud native implementations across environments and serves as the backbone of the Weave Kubernetes Platform (WKP),” said Remi Prunier, Investment Principal, Orange Ventures.

https://www.weave.works/blog/announcing-weaveworks-36m-series-c/

Read More

Ericsson mounts a temporary cellular network on a drone

Ericsson demonstrated a temporary cellular network mounted on a drone.  The proof-of-concept could be deployed to provide mission-critical voice and video connectivity services in areas with poor or zero network coverage during an emergency. 

The lightweight network comprises both radio and a packet core, enabling the system to act in isolated mode, without connectivity to a backhaul and the Internet. The end-to-end system weighed 150g.

https://www.ericsson.com/en/news/2020/12/ericsson-drone-mounted-network-could-support-emergency-response

Read More

COBO forms Co-Packaged Optics Working Group

The Consortium for On-Board Optics (COBO) has formed a Co-Packaged Optics (CPO) Working Group to encourage the adoption of co-packaged optics by developing technical guidance and standards for CPO implementations.  

This effort focuses on the optical connectivity and remote laser sources necessary to make co-packaged optics a reality and it is complementary to other co-packaging standardization efforts.  COBO's CPO Working Group is a collaboration of end users and technology suppliers uniquely positioned to address these topics for hyperscale data centers. 

"To support advancements in bandwidth requirements, COBO has advanced to co-packaged optics for enablement of robust fiber optic networks with higher, more reliable, and more efficient throughput," said Tiger Ninomiya, CPO Working Group Chair and COBO Board Member. "Stakeholders involved in co-packaging applications are lending their expertise to advance the industry in a standardized way that meets all anticipated future requirements and to increase adoption with ease in this rapidly expanding market."

"It is critical that the industry develops standards and guidance to enable a robust co-packaging eco-system," said Mark Filer, Principal Engineer, Azure Hardware Architecture at Microsoft.  "COBO is the perfect forum to leverage its membership's expertise to address the optical connectivity challenges for the co-packaging of optics with ASICs."

"COBO has a unique eco-system of member companies which is well suited to address these optical connectivity related challenges," said Jeff Hutchins, Director in the CTO Office at Ranovus and COBO Board Member.  "The working group's efforts will help make the co-packaging of optics a reality."

https://www.onboardoptics.org/

Read More

ONAP marks its 7th release - Guilin - with focus on mobile

The ONAP community announced the 7th ONAP release, codenamed Guilin after the Chinese city of the same name in China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

New features in ONAP Guilin focus on 5G wireless networks and open RAN, along with numerous improvements to the code quality, security, and maturity. 

New use cases include:

• 5G Network slicing – including the capability of orchestrating network slices in all three domains – RAN, Transport, and Core
• O-RAN Integration – the ONAP interfaces have been aligned to be compatible with O-RAN Alliance specifications and the O-RAN Software Community modules. Specifically, Guilin adds support for the A1 interface (O-RAN A1-AP v1.1), 
• Cloud Native Network Functions – Moving in parallel with the evolving architecture of the network functions ONAP orchestrates, the community significantly improved the way ONAP handles Cloud Network Functions (CNFs). It is now more aligned with the way ONAP handles VNFs and PNFs, leading the way to orchestrating hybrid network services using any combination of technologies.

Other enhancements to the ONAP Blueprints includes a new Standard Defined VNF Event Stream (VES) event for Fault Management (FM) / Performance Management (PM) Data Collection, the first use of Machine Learning in Self-Organizing Networks (SON), and greater support for 5G RAN Wireless Network Resource Model (NRM) with Service Modeling and Definition and Intent Based Network supporting intent-drive 5G slice creation. 

Multi-Domain Optical Network Services (MDONS) first introduced in Frankfurt, now supports Inter Domain Link (IDL)/Path Optimization for Optical Transport Network (OTN) links across multiple optical domains. This enables improved policy-driven automated service operations and LCM across cross-carrier optical domains.

https://www.onap.org/software

Read More

Keysight launches 800G test solutions

Keysight Technologies launched new 800G test solutions for validating electrical and optical interfaces to speed development of next generation data center technologies, including the first 100Gbps transmitter and receiver pre-conformance test solution.

Keysight’s new portfolio of electrical and optical analysis solutions enable an 800G ecosystem, consisting of optical components, chipset, switch and semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) vendors, as well as system integrators, to speed design, development, test and validation across the entire design cycle.

New Keysight 800G test solutions include:

100Gbps electrical conformance test

• The first pre-conformance test solution for validating both transmitter and receiver electrical signaling input interfaces according to the 100Gb/s standard currently under development by IEEE and OIF.
• Combines Keysight’s Infiniium UXR-Series real-time oscilloscope or digital communication analyzer (DCA), 64 Gbaud high performance bit error rate tester (BERT) and pre-conformance test cases for simplified 100Gbps, 200Gbps, 400Gbps and 800Gbps electrical input interface testing, resulting in accurate and repeatable test results.

Pre-silicon design verification

• Combines Keysight’s IxVerify software, which generates network traffic, with Synopsys ZeBu Server 4 emulation system to accelerate pre-silicon design verification of system-on-chip (SoC) solutions and 800G Ethernet designs.
• Delivers consistent test methodologies, configurations and scripts to accelerate testing from pre-silicon to post-silicon device validation.

200Gbps solution for 800G research and pathfinding

• Combines an arbitrary waveform generator (AWG) and an Infiniium UXR-Series real-time oscilloscope to characterize the digital interface including error detection up to 224Gb/s.
• Extends testing into the optical domain using Keysight’s 60GHz optical-to-electrical (O/E) converter.

Physical layer test system (PLTS)

• Establishes signal integrity measurements and performs data post processing of high-speed interconnects, such as cables, backplanes, PCBs and connectors.
• Supports de-embedding techniques on a common platform, enabling users to optimize performance margins in their 800G channel designs.

“Keysight’s close collaborations across the high-speed industry, as well as with standard organizations such as Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF), enable us to deliver first-to-market solutions that accelerate design cycles and technology waves, well before standards mature,” said Dr. Joachim Peerlings, vice president of network and data center solutions at Keysight Technologies. “Access to a portfolio of 800G test solutions across physical and protocol layers, from simulation to design, validation, conformance and manufacturing, enables our customers to verify interoperability and simplify testing across the workflow using common, uniform interfaces and software automation.”

Read More

Deutsche Telekom aligns with Microsoft Azure

Deutsche Telekom and Microsoft announced a seven-year strategic agreement to help customers of all sizes accelerate their cloud transformation initiatives. 

"We have agreed on the framework for joint strategic growth with our long-term partner Microsoft. We are delighted," said Adel Al-Saleh, member of the Deutsche Telekom Board of Management and CEO of T-Systems. "This partnership will enable us to enhance services for our customers. We will also be supporting each other with digitalization and network build-out." 

Highlights

• Telekom plans to migrate the majority of its internal IT workloads to the public cloud by 2025 and Azure is a central part of that strategy. Through a companywide training program, thousands of Telekom employees will learn how to maximize the benefits of Azure. 
• Telekom will also offer its customers direct access to the Microsoft cloud through Azure ExpressRoute. 
• Telekom will offer Microsoft 365, including Microsoft Teams. As part of this, the companies have started a project for German schools to reimagine traditional approaches to education, enabling remote learning through cloud-based IT infrastructure, modern devices and the cloud productivity and collaboration applications within Microsoft 365. 
• Telekom will help its customers with moving their SAP environments to Azure. SAP solutions on Azure offer enterprise-grade security, and business continuity and reduce hardware expenses, making it easier for start-ups and smaller organizations to get started. 

“The case for digital transformation has never been more urgent. We know that the next decade of economic performance for every business, whether large or small, will depend on the digital investments made today," said Jean-Philippe Courtois, executive vice president and president, Microsoft Global Sales, Marketing and Operations. “Through this strategic partnership, which combines the power of Deutsche Telekom’s network and Microsoft’s cloud, customers will have more opportunities to become resilient, accelerate innovation and ultimately drive success.”

https://www.telekom.com/en/media/media-information/archive/deutsche-telekom-and-microsoft-redefine-partnership-to-deliver-high-performance-cloud-computing-experiences-614592

Read More

AWS launches Transit Gateway Connect for SD-WANs

 AWS announced the launch of Transit Gateway Connect, a native way to connect SD-WAN infrastructure with AWS without having to set up IPsec VPNs between SD-WAN network virtual appliances and Transit Gateway. 

Transit Gateway Connect is a new attachment type that supports Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE) for higher bandwidth performance compared to a VPN connection. Transit Gateway Connect supports Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) for dynamic routing, and removes the need to configure static routes. This simplifies network design and reduces the associated operational costs. In addition, integration with Transit Gateway Network Manager provides advanced visibility through global network topology, attachment level performance metrics, and telemetry data.

AWS Transit Gateway Connect integrates with a number of industry-leading partners, including:

• 128 Technology
• Alkira
• Arista Networks
• Aruba
• Aryaka
• Aviatrix
• Cisco Systems
• Citrix
• Fortinet
• Palo Alto Networks (CloudGenix, VM-Series Virtual Firewall)
• Silver Peak
• Sophos
• Versa Networks

https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/networking-and-content-delivery/simplify-sd-wan-connectivity-with-aws-transit-gateway-connect/?nc1=b_rp

Read More

Verizon and Corning launch commercial indoor 5G

Verizon Business and Corning have begun commercial installations of 5G in-building cell sites for enterprise customers.

Initial deployments are happening in Verizon retail store locations to provide the fastest 5G Ultra Wideband experience. WeWork has also chosen Verizon Business to provide Corning’s indoor 5G cells, with ten WeWork locations across the US set to receive installations. 

Corning’s indoor cell site is designed to provide Verizon’s 5G mmWave service inside facilities such as hospitals, manufacturing facilities, warehouses, schools, ports, commercial office space, retail stores and any indoor environment where large amounts of data traffic must be managed and optimized. The launch of these indoor cell sites will not only extend the footprint of Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband network, but will also bring the promise of private networks with Mobile Edge Compute (MEC) capabilities one step closer. 

Read More

Ciena posts Q4 revenus of $828.5 million

 Ciena posted revenue of $828.5 million for its fiscal fourth quarter ended October 31, 2020, down from $968.0 million for the fiscal fourth quarter 2019. For fiscal year 2020, Ciena reported revenue of $3.53 billion, as compared to $3.57 billion for fiscal year 2019. 

Q4 net income per share was $0.42 GAAP; $0.60 adjusted (non-GAAP), increasing 3.4% year over year.

"Our fiscal fourth quarter and full-year 2020 performance reported today demonstrates that we have the innovation, diversification and global scale to perform well in a challenging environment," said Gary Smith, President and CEO, Ciena. "While we expect current market conditions to persist in the near-term, we are confident in strong secular demand dynamics and our ability to continue to outperform the market."

Some notes:

• No customer represented more than 10% of revenue for the fiscal quarter 
• One 10%-plus customer represented a total of 10.6% of revenue for the fiscal year 
• Cash and investments totaled $1.3 billion 
• Headcount totaled 7,032

https://investor.ciena.com/news/press-release-details/2020/Ciena-Reports-Fiscal-Fourth-Quarter-2020-and-Year-End-Financial-Results/default.aspx

Read More

FCC adopts rules to secure communications

The FCC adopted rules to implement the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act of 2019, aimed at protecting the security of the United States and the safety of U.S. communications networks.  

Specifically, the Second Report and Order approved today requires the Commission to publish a list of communications equipment and services determined to be a risk to national security that has been identified either by (1) executive branch interagency bodies with appropriate national security experience; (2) the Department of Commerce pursuant to its authority under Executive Order 13873; (3) Congress in the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019, or (4) U.S. national security agencies.  Once Congress appropriates funding, eligible telecommunications carriers that receive universal service funding to provide service in remote areas of the country must remove such equipment or services from their networks and properly dispose of it.  

The Order also establishes and adopts rules for the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program, which will provide funds to smaller providers of advanced communications services for the removal and replacement of communications equipment and services on the list published by the Commission, conditioned on the appropriation of funds by Congress.  Commission staff have estimated the program will require at least $1.6 billion to reimburse eligible providers, based on an analysis conducted by the Commission’s Wireline Competition Bureau and Office of Economics and Analytics.  

The Order further requires all providers of advanced communications services to report whether their networks include any covered communications equipment or services acquired after August 14, 2018.  Finally, the Order mandates strict reporting requirements to ensure that the Commission is kept informed about the ongoing presence of insecure equipment in U.S. communications networks.

In addition, the FCC voted to deny Huawei Technologies Co.’s application for review of a June 30, 2020 order designating the company, as well as its parents, affiliates, and subsidiaries, as posing a national security threat to the safety of communications networks and the communications supply chain. In the June order, the Commission’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau formally designated Huawei as a covered company for purposes of the agency’s November 2019 ban on the use of support from the Commission’s Universal Service Fund to purchase equipment or services from companies posing a national security threat.

https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-adopts-rules-secure-communications-networks-and-supply-chain

Read More