Colt and IBM form edge alliance

Colt Technology Services is collaborating with IBM (NYSE: IBM) to help customers adopt an edge computing strategy designed to enable them to move data and applications seamlessly across hybrid cloud environments, from private data centres to the edge. 

The companies have agreed to jointly explore  use cases using IBM Cloud Satellite and Edge Application Manager, designed to benefit enterprise customers globally across 29,000 enterprise buildings.

IBM Cloud Satellite is IBM’s hybrid cloud offering, built on Red Hat OpenShift, that allows customers to deploy secure and open IBM Cloud services anywhere they choose –on-premises, on any public cloud, or at the edge. Virtual machines for IBM Cloud Satellite can be instantiated and configured using a management and orchestration tool with zero-touch provisioning. Furthermore, Colt’s on-demand networking capabilities are designed to help critical connectivity be provisioned in near real- time to help enable distributed cloud deployments with IBM Edge Application Manager for its customers (in industries such as retail and healthcare) across 29,000 enterprise buildings.

“We look forward to collaborating with Colt to help customers deploy, operate and manage thousands of endpoints throughout their operations with IBM Cloud Satellite and IBM Edge Application Manager,” said Evaristus Mainsah, GM, IBM Hybrid Cloud and Edge Ecosystem. “Together, we can help enterprises accelerate their digital transformation by acting on insights closer to where their data is being created, at the edge.”

“Colt and IBM have been working together for many years across multiple markets and verticals with a focus on accelerating digital transformation. As we see an increasing demand for multi and distributed cloud environments, we will collaborate on how we can serve our joint customers,” said Mark Hollman, Colt’s VP Partner Development and Success. “We’re exploring now how to combine our Colt IQ Network with IBM’s hybrid cloud platform, to help deliver innovative solutions designed to help accelerate digital transformation for our enterprise customers.’’

IBM Cloud Satellite brings edge capabilities built on Red Hat OpenShift

Monday, March 01, 2021  Edge Computing, IBM  

IBM announced the general availability of its hybrid cloud services - IBM Cloud Satellite.

IBM Cloud Satellite promises a secured, unifying layer of cloud services for clients across environments, whether on-premise or in the public cloud.  IBM said its architecture addresses critical data privacy and data sovereignty requirements for industries including telecommunications, financial services, healthcare and government.

In addition, Lumen Technologies and IBM have integrated IBM Cloud Satellite with the Lumen edge platform to enable clients to harness hybrid cloud services in near real-time and build innovative solutions at the edge.  Applications can be hosted on Red Hat OpenShift via IBM Cloud Satellite from the close proximity of a Lumen edge location. 

Customers using the Lumen platform and IBM Cloud Satellite can deploy data-intensive applications like video analytics across highly distributed environments such as offices and retail spaces, and take advantage of infrastructure designed for single digit millisecond latency. 

"With the Lumen platform's broad reach, we are giving our enterprise customers access to IBM Cloud Satellite to help them drive innovation more rapidly at the edge," said Paul Savill, SVP Enterprise Product Management and Services at Lumen. "Our enterprise customers can now extend IBM Cloud services across Lumen's robust global network, enabling them to deploy data-heavy edge applications that demand high security and ultra-low latency. By bringing secure and open hybrid cloud capabilities to the edge, our customers can propel their businesses forward and take advantage of the emerging applications of the 4th Industrial Revolution."

IBM also noted that it is collaborating with more than 65 ecosystem partners, including Cisco, Dell Technologies and Intel to build secure cloud services helping clients run workloads in any environment via IBM Cloud Satellite. 

https://newsroom.ibm.com/2021-03-01-IBM-Cloud-Satellite-Enables-Clients-to-Deliver-Cloud-Securely-in-Any-Environment-Including-at-the-Edge

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Spain's Red Eléctrica picks Nokia for transport upgrade

Red Eléctrica de España (REE), the Spanish transmission system operator (TSO) responsible for the transmission of electricity nationwide, selected Nokia to upgrade its existing network with an IP/MPLS and DWDM optical transport. Its 800-site network is used to control and manage a nationwide transmission grid.

The new IP/MPLS and optical transport networks from Nokia will provide significantly more bandwidth to the utility sector and its subscribers and improve efficiencies. It will support a new generation of IP-based applications that will play a key role in everything from IoT-based asset management to managing distributed energy resources such as rooftop solar and residential power storage.

Services supported by the Nokia network include sub-station communications, low-latency communication of IoT sensor data for measurement, protection and control, and time synchronization of devices. The network will also support operational control systems such as SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) and line protection, as well as synchrophasors (PMUs - phasor measurement units), which are one of the key applications for enabling highly accurate and dynamic analysis of the state of an electrical system. This is an important capability in smart, distributed energy grids, especially with intermittent power sources such as renewables.

The core and aggregation networks will be based on Nokia’s IP/MPLS portfolio. The optical transport network, which replaces a legacy SDH (synchronous digital hierarchy) system, will use Nokia’s DWDM portfolio.

Patrick Langelaan, Head of Enterprise in Southern Europe at Nokia, said: “We have worked closely with REE for several years to prepare for this migration, culminating in a successful proof of concept in 2019. Our work with European transmission system operators enables us to ensure that REE’s network will interwork seamlessly with continental systems – a key capability in the shift to renewables and our ability to manage intermittency across the region. This win reflects Nokia’s ongoing commitment to the energy sector and our collective journey to a de-carbonized, electrified future.”

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Keysight and Qualcomm demo 10G using 5G NR-DC

Keysight Technologies and Qualcomm demonstrated a 10 Gbps data connection using 5G new radio dual connectivity (NR-DC), an industry-first.

NR-DC allows 5G NR devices to concurrently connect and aggregate multiple NR cells, leading to significantly increased data transfer speeds.

The demonstration included Keysight’s network emulation platform and Snapdragon X65 5G Modem-RF System with Qualcomm QTM545 mmWave Antenna Module to aggregate 5G mmWave and sub-6GHz spectrum. The demonstration used spectrum in both frequency range 1 (FR1) and FR2 (mmWave), which enables 5G user equipment (UE) to leverage wide bandwidths and high order modulation, leading to data transfer speeds of more than 10 Gbps. Flexible spectrum utilization combined with higher data speed connections allows mobile operators to dynamically deploy 5G services in wireless congested areas where bandwidth resources need to be managed efficiently to support advanced applications.

“We’re pleased to collaborate with Qualcomm Technologies to reach another industry-first milestone that lays the foundation for consumers and enterprises to achieve wired-broadband grade speeds in this next phase of 5G,” said Cao Peng, vice president and general manager for Keysight’s wireless test group. “This accomplishment clearly reflects that the industry has entered the second phase of 5G NR deployment, which will enable advanced wireless communications built on the latest 3GPP Release 16 specification.”

“Qualcomm Technologies is pleased to work with Keysight to develop pioneering solutions that allow device makers to accelerate innovations that support considerable performance improvements,” said Francesco Grilli, vice president, Product Management at Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “This achievement builds on the recent milestone Qualcomm Technologies and Keysight realized in March 2021, showcasing 5G low/mid and high band aggregation across key global combinations on a smartphone form-factor device equipped with the Snapdragon X65 using Keysight’s 5G network emulation solutions. Together, we move significantly closer to providing users access to seamless, rapid connections on 5G devices in traditionally congested areas worldwide.”

http://www.keysight.com

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NeoPhotonics adds to its Board

NeoPhotonics announced the appointment of Sheri L. Savage to its Board of Directors.

Ms. Savage has served as Chief Financial Officer of Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. (UCT), a supplier for critical subsystems for semiconductor capital equipment, since July 2016. Ms. Savage previously served as Senior Vice President of Finance, Chief Accounting Officer and other senior finance roles at UCT since 2009.

Prior to joining UCT, Ms. Savage served at Credence Systems Corporation, a manufacturer of test equipment for the global semiconductor industry, as its Corporate Controller and Vice President of Finance and as Director of Internal Audit. 

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Blueprint: Leveraging automation to accelerate assured service

By: Julius Francis, Head of Product Marketing & Strategy, Juniper Networks 

Despite the world’s transition to remote operations nearly overnight, customers have maintained high expectations that their experiences would remain seamless throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. To keep pace with these expectations, service providers have had to shift their priorities to focus on automation in order to deliver reliable, efficient and scalable network operations despite surging traffic patterns and challenges posed by new disparate workforce models.

In fact, a study by Ernst & Young found that the main driver of automation adoption in telecommunications is the optimization of customer experience. Nearly four-fifths of respondents cited that the importance of optimizing the customer experience was the key reason for their adoption of artificial intelligence (AI). This concept is known as ‘Experience-First Networking,’ which requires a high level of automation to ensure large-scale networks are run reliably and efficiently.

However, the benefits of network automation extend not only to customer experience, but also to other critical areas where the network plays a foundational role, including Smart Cities, 5G growth, the introduction of AI for new applications and more.

The Vital Role of Networks in Emerging Applications and Smart Cities

There’s no doubt automated networking will play a vital role in the emergence of smart cities. In a recent report by ESI ThoughtLab, North American cities, including 40 in the United States, have more advanced digital services and digital infrastructure than their international counterparts. According to the report, cities in North America are the most prepared to deliver government services built on AI, the Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud-based software.

Beyond the United States, we’re seeing the emergence of smart cities around the world. In Singapore, one of the highest ranked smart cities in the world, there are impressive advances to the city’s technology infrastructure and ongoing digital initiatives. The smart city’s efforts were especially helpful in returning their citizens to normalcy during the COVID-19 pandemic – the government used smart facility management, IoT and surveillance to create advanced, safe and livable urban environments.

With more than two-thirds of the world’s population expected to live in cities by 2050, networks are poised to play a foundational role in supporting the future of smart cities. As planning takes shape, connectivity will need to incorporate a blend of emerging applications and technologies that will require a strong network infrastructure centered around a secure, scalable and automated multi-cloud environment. Leveraging automation and AI will be extremely important in gathering and analyzing the large amounts of data these cities produce, while allowing networks to make real-time decisions for an overall assured service experience.  

The Growth of 5G

While 5G rollouts slowed in the past year due to the pandemic, we’re now seeing rollouts quickly progressing around the world. This is crucial, as the right 5G infrastructure is required to deliver the next generation of services and experiences to consumers, enterprises and government. 

It’s important to note that AI and automation are required to reduce the operational costs and complexities of 5G networks by automating complex network functionalities and effectively using data to make decisions and solve problems. With massive speeds, huge connection densities and ultra-low-latency experiences, automation will be a critical aspect of 5G rollouts.

Further, with the expansion of 5G, we’re sure to see progress in new consumer applications (e.g., gaming and augmented/virtual/mixed reality), as well as 5G for industry verticals, consumer broadband, enterprise broadband, cloud-managed services and more. As such, service providers should expect to invest in AI and automation to manage 5G networks, ensuring they are optimized to provide assured service experiences to customers.

Tapping AI for Greater User Experience

While network operators have long relied on manual processes for managing connectivity and fixing issues that arise, this approach has consistently introduced human error into the process. The past year made it more evident that connectivity will always be in demand; therefore, it’s no surprise to see service providers continue to invest in open, agile network architectures that enable them to respond, innovate and scale smartly – driven by the expansion of 5G networks, smart cites and other emerging technologies. 

AI-powered automation has the power to transform the way of designing, building and running networks by taking the guesswork out of network operations, removing human error and improving the decision-making process. This will allow service provides to deliver a consistent and assured service experience for both operations and customers.

As the rise of emerging technologies make networks more complex and workforces become more dispersed, service providers must embrace the concept of ‘Experience-First Networking’ and formally place automation at the forefront of their customer experience investment priorities.

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Video: Three Pillars of Service Assurance

https://youtu.be/c8hiWgFfO2Q

Are you ready to reimagine your network operations? In this video, Walter Kenrich, Sr Director Product Management for Analytics and SaaS at Ribbon Communications, discusses the three key pillars that telecom customers need to endorse in their service assurance efforts: visibility, agility, and automation.

Advanced Root Cause Analysis - https://hubs.la/H0NHlyb0

ML-Based Forecasting and Planner - https://hubs.la/H0MV9_80

 Download the 2021 Service Assurance Report here: https://ngi.how/sa-2021

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Facebook announces Magma on AWS

Facebook announced a collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to integrate the open source Magma cellular core technology with AWS’s edge computing services. 

Facebook says Magma on AWS Marketplace will enable service providers to deploy 4G and 5G networks significantly faster by obtaining AWS infrastructure preinstalled with Magma, no matter how large or small the deployment. With no licensing fees for the packet core software, Magma on AWS Marketplace will make fixed wireless and private network deployments quick and at a significantly lower cost of ownership.

https://engineering.fb.com/2021/06/28/connectivity/digital-divide/

Linux Foundation targets cellular core network stack with Magma

Wednesday, February 03, 2021  Linux Foundation  

The Linux Foundation is launching an open source industry collaboration focused on enabling a converged cellular core network stack, starting with the Magma open source software platform. 

Magma, which was previously open sourced by Facebook in 2019,  will now be managed under a neutral governance framework at the Linux Foundation.

Arm, Deutsche Telekom, Facebook, FreedomFi, Qualcomm, the Institute of Wireless Internet of Things at Northeastern University, the OpenAirInterface Software Alliance, and the Open Infrastructure Foundation, will join the collaboration as founding members to accelerate the path to production use cases at scale. 

Magma features an access-agnostic mobile packet core, advanced network automation and management tools, and the ability to integrate with existing LTE networks with use cases across both virtual and container Network Functions (xNFs) including fixed wireless access, carrier Wi-Fi, private LTE and 5G, network expansion, and mobile broadband. 

A number of Magma community members are also collaborating in the Telecom Infra Project (TIP)’s Open Core Network project group to define, build, test, and deploy core network products that leverage Magma software alongside disaggregated hardware and software solutions by the TIP Open Core ecosystem.

“Arm is synonymous with a diverse technology ecosystem that underpins the compute, connectivity, and security required for solutions spanning cloud to edge to endpoint devices,” said Chris Bergey, senior vice president and general manager, Infrastructure Line of Business, Arm. “Together with the Linux Foundation and Facebook Connectivity, Magma is helping to solve the very real challenge of providing feature-rich, cost effective access for worldwide mobile networks.”

“Bringing Magma to the Linux Foundation is a huge milestone as the Magma ecosystem of developers continues to grow,” said Dan Rabinovitsj, vice president for Facebook Connectivity. “We are excited to see the contributions and innovations from this collective group of industry players, and we look forward to celebrating Magma’s success as the project continues to scale.” 

“Qualcomm Technologies strongly supports the evolution of the Magma core network efforts into a broader coalition among the key founding and contributing projects,” said Douglas Knisely, engineer, principal, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and OSA Advisory Board member. “This effort builds on the collaboration activities and code contributions from OAI into the Magma project and promotes the harmonization of a common 5G Core Network reference architecture, internal structure, APIs, and interfaces for all of the emerging 5G open source projects in the industry.”

https://www.linuxfoundation.org/press-release/linux-foundation-launches-industry-collaboration-with-magma-to-accelerate-deployment-of-wireless-networks/

https://www.magmacore.org/

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Facebook backs terrestrial cable projects in DRC, Pakistan, Indonesia

Facebook announced plans to back terrestrial fiber projects in the Democratic Republic of Congo and in Pakistan

In the DRC, Facebook is working with Liquid Intelligent Technologies to build 2,200 kilometers of fiber to increase active long-haul fiber. The project will complete a missing fiber link between East and West Africa, and establish DRC as a connection hub for neighboring landlocked countries, including Rwanda, Uganda, and Zambia. The investment builds on Facebook's completion of DRC’s first privately held long-haul fiber route, from Muanda to Matadi. 

In Pakistan, Facebook recently announced its first terrestrial fiber investment to support the country’s digital transformation. Facebook is partnering with Nayatel to build 1,700 kilometers of open-access fiber to help address the growing demand for urban connectivity for 10 million people across eight cities. 

In Indonesia, Facebook is increasing its investment with Alita Praya Mitra to add fiber to the initial build areas and to additional cities to address the increasing demand for high-speed internet. 

Facebook also noted its backing of the 2Africa project and the Bifrost transpacific cable project.

2Africa subsea cable boasts design capacity up to 180 Tbps

Thursday, May 14, 2020  Africa, ASN, Egypt, Facebook, Submarine Cable, Subsea, Telecom Egypt  

2Africa, a new subsea cable to serve the African continent and Middle East region, promises to deliver  more than the total combined capacity of all subsea cables serving Africa today, with a design capacity of up to 180Tbps on key parts of the system.

Consortium partners include China Mobile International, Facebook, MTN GlobalConnect, Orange, stc, Telecom Egypt, Vodafone and WIOCC.

Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN) has been selected to build the fully-funded cable. The project will leverage SDM1 (space division multiplexing) technology from ASN, allowing deployment of up to 16 fiber pairs instead of the eight fiber pairs supported by older technologies. The cable will incorporate optical switching technology to enable flexible management of bandwidth. Cable burial depth has also been increased by 50% compared to older systems, and cable routing will avoid locations of known subsea disturbance, all helping to ensure the highest levels of availability.

The 2Africa subsea cable will span 37,000km long, interconnect Europe (eastward via Egypt), the Middle East (via Saudi Arabia), and 21 landings in 16 countries in Africa. The system is expected to go live in 2023/4. Each of the cable landing sites will offer carrier-neutral data centers or open-access cable landing stations on a fair and equitable basis.

In addition, the 2Africa parties and Airtel have signed an agreement with Telecom Egypt to provide a completely new crossing linking the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, the first in over a decade. This includes new cable landing stations and deployment of next-generation fiber on two new, diverse terrestrial routes parallel to the Suez Canal from Ras Ghareb to Port Said, and a new subsea link that will provide a third path between Ras Ghareb and Suez. 

 Facebook backs Bifrost cable from U.S. to Southeast Asia

Monday, March 29, 2021  ASN, Facebook, Indonesia, Subsea  

In addition to its participation in the Echo subsea cable from the U.S. to Singapore, Facebook confirmed its investment in the Bifrost Cable System from the U.S. to South East Asia.

The Bifrost Cable System will span over 15,000 km, connecting Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Guam and the west coast of North America. The cable is expected to be completed in 2024.

The project is also backed by Keppel Telecommunications & Transportation Limited (Keppel T&T) and Telekomunikasi Indonesia International (Telin), which is a subsidiary of PT Telkom Indonesia.

The partners say that when fully commissioned, the multiple fibre paired Bifrost Cable System will be the largest capacity cable across the Pacific Ocean.

Keppel T&T, Facebook and Telin have appointed Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN) for the supply and installation works of the cable system.

“Connectivity is at the heart of our mission to give people the power to build community,” said Kevin Salvadori, Vice President, Network at Facebook. “We are committed to bringing more people online to a faster internet, to support the growth of digital economies, and to do this in collaboration with local partners.”

https://engineering.fb.com/2021/03/28/connectivity/echo-bifrost/

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Facebook's Evenstar picks up Baicells, Marvell, MaxLinear, Sterlite

The Telecom Infra Project's Evenstar reference desing for O-RAN deployments has picked up new supply chain partners, including Baicells, Marvell, MaxLinear, and Sterlite Technologies Limited. Existing technology partners include ADI, Altiostar, Baicells, Flex, Mavenir, MTI, Parallel Wireless, and Xilinx.

Evenstar is focused on building general-purpose RAN reference architecture for 4G and 5G networks that decouples the RRU hardware, distributed unit (DU), and control unit (CU) software.

Facebook now expects commercial Evenstar deployments in the next half in APAC and Europe to scale OpenRAN adoption. The first Evenstar remote radio unit (RRU) product completed lab validation in December 2020.

https://www.facebook.com/connectivity/solutions/evenstar

https://engineering.fb.com/2021/06/28/connectivity/digital-divide/ 

Vodafone outlines its O-RAN architecture and vendors

Monday, June 14, 2021  O-RAN, Vodafone  

Vodafone named Dell, NEC, Samsung Electronics, Wind River, Capgemini Engineering and Keysight Technologies as strategic vendors for its commercial deployment of Open Radio Access Network (RAN) in Europe.Highlights:Samsung will be a reference RAN software provider. Samsung and NEC will supply Massive MIMO radio units based on the Telecom Infra Project's Evenstar whitebox designDell EMC PowerEdge servers will support the combined DU/CU function...

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Marvell to supply OpenRAN Distributed Unit design for Facebook's Evenstar

Monday, March 01, 2021  DPU, Facebook, Marvell, Silicon  

 Marvell  will join the Evenstar program and work with Facebook Connectivity to provide a 4G/5G OpenRAN Distributed Unit (DU) design for Evenstar based on its OCTEON Fusion baseband processors and Arm-based OCTEON multi-core digital processing units (DPUs). The Evenstar program is a collaborative effort focused on building a general-purpose RAN reference architecture for 4G and 5G networks in the OpenRAN ecosystem. Specifically,...

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MaxLinear collaborates on Facebook Connectivity's Evenstar

Tuesday, February 16, 2021  MaxLinear, O-RAN  

MaxLinear announced a collaboration with Facebook Connectivity to integrate silicon technologies and radio processing algorithms into Evenstar radio units (RUs). MaxLinear will integrate its MaxLin radio processing algorithms including Digital Pre-Distortion (DPD) and Crest Factor Reduction (CFR) technologies with Evenstar RUs to enhance performance and reduce cost.The Evenstar program is a collaborative effort focused on building a general-purpose...

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TPG Telecom launches 700MHz 5G in Australia with Nokia

TPG Telecom switched on a live 5G standalone (SA) network in Australia on the 700MHz spectrum band using equipment from Nokia. 

Nokia is supplying equipment from its latest ReefShark based AirScale product range including its unique triple band remote radio unit that supports 700, 850 and 900 MHz bands. The unit also supports 3G, 4G and 5G simultaneously across all TPG Telecom’s low-band frequencies. TPG Telecom’s 5G SA service is now successfully activated in parts of Sydney and this means that the operator’s customers will benefit from having 5G available in more places.

Barry Kezik, Executive General Manager Mobile and Fixed Networks at TPG Telecom, said: “We’re excited to be the first network in the world to realise the true potential of low band 5G SA at 700MHz. TPG Telecom’s low band 5G will expand our 5G coverage, supporting our goal of reaching 85% of the population in Australia’s top six cities by the end of the year and changing the way people and things connect to the TPG Telecom 5G network.”

Dr Robert Joyce, Chief Technology Officer at Nokia Oceania, said: “Nokia is proud to support another 5G world first. We have a long-standing partnership with TPG Telecom, and we have jointly developed our unique triple band radio solution specifically for them. Today we get to see the result of that joint effort and collaboration which will deliver premium wide area 5G SA coverage for TPG Telecom and its customers.”

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FTC charges Broadcom with monopolization

The Federal Trade Commission charged Broadcom with illegally monopolizing markets for semiconductor components and issued a proposed consent order under which Broadcom must stop requiring its customers to source components from Broadcom on an exclusive or near exclusive basis.

“Today’s complaint reflects the Commission’s commitment to enforcing the antitrust laws against monopolists, including in high-technology industries,” said FTC Bureau of Competition Acting Director Holly Vedova. “America has a monopoly problem. Today’s action is a step toward addressing that problem by pushing back against strong-arm tactics by a monopolist in important markets for key broadband components. There is much more work to be done and we need the tools and resources to do it. But I have full confidence in FTC staff’s commitment to this effort.”

The FTC is accussing Broadcom of being a monopolist in the sale of three types of semiconductor components that are used for delivering television and broadband services via set-top boxes. The chips include the core circuitry for streaming set top boxes and cable broadband devices, along with Wi-Fi chips and “front-end” chips for both set top boxes and broadband devices. Front-end chips convert incoming analog signals to digital signals.

The complaint alleges that Broadcom illegally maintained its power in the three monopolized markets by entering long-term agreements with both OEMs and service providers that prevented these customers from purchasing chips from Broadcom’s competitors. These agreements required customers to purchase, use or bid Broadcom’s chips on an exclusive or near-exclusive basis. 

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Lightspeed to offer XGS PON in East of England

Lightspeed Broadband plans to offer a 10G symmetric fiber broadband service based on XGS-PONg to 1 million homes and businesses in the East of England by the end of 2025. 

Nokia will provide Lightspeed with its XGS-PON kit for both customer homes and the operator’s points of presence, and aggregation switching and IP edge solutions. It also includes Nokia’s whole-home Wi-Fi 6 Beacons and Nokia’s Altiplano management platform.

Steve Haines, CEO, Lightspeed Broadband, said: “We are delighted to be a key account for Nokia, which we feel reflects our strategic relationship and growth potential. Nokia has demonstrated the flexibility and agility we need to support our ambitious deployment plans.”

Jeremy Steventon-Barnes, CTO, Lightspeed Broadband, said: “Following a rigorous selection process we chose Nokia for their industry-leading and future-proofed solution which means we can offer 10Gb/s services with best-in-class whole-home Wi-Fi 6 today, and upgrade to even faster speeds in the future.”

Lightspeed will connect the first 100,000 customers by the end of 2022, starting in 10 market towns in South Lincolnshire and West Norfolk, including Spalding, Stamford, Boston and King’s Lynn, and expanding through Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex.

Nokia aims Quillion chipset at next gen access

Tuesday, October 08, 2019  Nokia, Silicon  

Nokia outlined plans for a new family of chipsets to power next-generation massive scale access networks.

The forthcoming "Quillion" chipset will allow operators to introduce 10G PON in their fiber networks and to serve more users from G.fast access nodes. For next-generation fiber access networks, the Quillion chipset powers Nokia’s 16-port Multi-PON line card, which supports both GPON and NG-PON on each port. This allows operators with an existing GPON network to simply “switch on” NG-PON services on each port without recabling or disrupting the GPON service.

Nokia said Quillion is also optimized to allow for low-latency applications that are critical for 5G transport and has built-in programmability to support intents that pave the way toward automated workflows, such as network slicing for 5G transport.

In addition, the Quillion chipset supports copper infrastructure access, including the highest density G.fast and Vplus solutions on the market.

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Telecom Armenia picks Nokia's 25G PON

Nokia's confirmed a country-wide deal to supply PON solutions to Telecom Armenia.  The first  PON network was switched on this week at an event held by Telecom Armenia. 

Telecom Armenia will deploy Nokia’s GPON and XGS-PON fiber equipment, which is software upgradable to 25G PON technology in future, along with its Wi-Fi Beacons and Altiplano management platform. Covering both the network and customer homes, the comprehensive solution from Nokia will initially be used by Telecom Armenia to connect customers to broadband access in the capital city of Yerevan before rolling out services to the rest of the country. 

Hayk Yesayan, CEO of Telecom Armenia, said: “The Nokia brand is highly respected in Armenia and we’re delighted to be working with them on a comprehensive Multi-PON and WiFi solution which enables us to offer 10Gb/s broadband to our customers using integrated XGS-PON solution. The network equipment installed is ready to support 25Gb/s making us the first telco in the region ready for Nokia`s 25G PON technology.”

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Accedian: How to assure performance for 5G private networks

Assurance is a critical and and ongoing component in the deployment and performance of 5G networks. 

In this video, Greg Spear, Director, Solutions Enablement at Accedian, talks about the key components for a successful 5G private network deployment and the importance of assurance and automation to drive monetization.

https://youtu.be/8tvNnUP2nbc

Guide: 5G Performance Starts and Ends with the Access Network

https://bit.ly/3y1vWbL

Video: Mind the Gaps! Why Performance Visibility is Critical for Private 5G and Campus Networks

https://bit.ly/3dmGIkK

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Openreach offers long-term FTTP price certainty for wholesalers

Openreach announced long-term price certainty on its FTTP (Fibre-to-the-Premises) lines for its wholesale Communications Provider customers in the UK. 

Openreach said its offer is based on the following set of principles:

• Commitment: where CPs choose to purchase from Openreach they commit to using FTTP wherever it’s available (including new provides and technology regrades) - rather than older services such as those based on Fibre-to-the-Cabinet or purely copper technology - with no volume or migration targets.
• Pricing certainty: Openreach will give pricing certainty for up to 10 years in return for this ‘stop-sell’ commitment
• Simplicity: A single national rental price will apply to the entire Openreach FTTP footprint
• 
  Competitive prices: Prices will be competitive whilst offering a fair return for Openreach. CPs can tailor offers across a range of speed tiers and take-up of higher bandwidths will be encouraged with further rebates, whilst pricing is set by Ofcom on the lowest speed tier (40Mbps upstream, 10Mbps downstream).

The offer will be open for participation between 1st October 2021 and 30th March 2022. The long-term pricing certainty will last until 30th September 2031 and be available across the entire FTTP footprint. Discounts are available to CPs where they choose to place new orders with Openreach and commit to making a percentage of those on the FTTP network, where available.

Katie Milligan, Managing Director of Customer, Commercials and Propositions at Openreach said: “Nobody’s building Full Fibre broadband faster, further, or at a higher quality than Openreach, and we’re well on track to reach 25 million premises by December 2026. At the same time we’re determined to make Full Fibre the default option for customers throughout the UK, so we’ve been working closely with Communications Providers to offer simple and competitive pricing which gives them the long-term certainty and flexibility they need."

More than one million homes and businesses have now ordered ultrafast, ultra-reliable full fibre broadband over the Openreach network. BT is investing £15 billion to build the gigabit-capable technology to 25 million UK premises by December 2026 and it’s making the technology available to 43k premises every week, with more than five million homes and businesses already able to place an order.

https://www.openreach.com/news/openreach-announces-special-offer-for-communications-providers-to-drive-adoption-of-full-fibre-broadband/

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IDC: Cloud compute and storage infrastructure spending up 12.5% YoY

Spending on compute and storage infrastructure products for cloud infrastructure, including dedicated and shared environments, increased 12.5% year over year in the first quarter of 2021 (1Q21) to $15.1 billion, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Enterprise Infrastructure Tracker: Buyer and Cloud Deployment. 

Some highlights:

• Investments in non-cloud infrastructure increased 6.3% year over year in 1Q21 to $13.5 billion.
• Spending on shared cloud infrastructure increased 11.6% year over year in 1Q21, reaching $10.3 billion. 
• Shared cloud infrastructure spending is expected to surpass non-cloud infrastructure spending in the near future. 
• Spending on dedicated cloud infrastructure increased 14.7% year over year in 1Q21 to $4.8 billion with 45.5% of this amount deployed on customer premises. 
• IDC is forecasting cloud infrastructure spending to grow 12.9% to $74.6 billion for 2021, while non-cloud infrastructure is expected to grow 2.7% to $58.5 billion after two years of declines. 
• Shared cloud infrastructure is expected to grow by 12.2% year over year to $51.8 billion for the full year. Spending on dedicated cloud infrastructure is expected to grow 14.7% to $22.7 billion for the full year.
• Spending on cloud infrastructure increased across most regions in 1Q21, with the highest annual growth rates in Canada (40.3%), China (PRC) (35.0%), and Asia/Pacific excluding Japan and China (APeJC) (28.8%). 
• Western Europe grew 10.8%, the United States grew 4.5%, and Japan declined 1.1%. The smaller regions had mixed results and collectively grew 0.1%.

At the vendor level, all major vendors grew their cloud infrastructure revenue in 1Q21, with the highest growth rates belonging to Lenovo (38.2%) and Huawei (37.9%). Huawei, Lenovo, and HPE/H3C(a) each grew their market share compared to results from the prior year's first quarter.

https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS48050621

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Deutsche Telekom activates O-RAN Town in Neubrandenburg

Deutsche Telekom has activated its "O-RAN Town" in Neubrandenburg, Germany. 

O-RAN Town is a multi-vendor open RAN network that will deliver open RAN based 4G and 5G services across up to 25 sites. The deployment includes Europe’s first integration of massive MIMO (mMIMO) radio units using O-RAN open fronthaul interfaces to connect to the virtualized RAN software.  

The first live sites at O-RAN Town are built on a truly multi-vendor open RAN architecture with equipment from vendor partners Dell, Fujitsu, Intel, Mavenir, NEC and Supermicro. The remote radio units (O-RU) are provided by Fujitsu and NEC, including Fujitsu’s LTE and 5G NR O-RUs  and NEC’s 32T32R 5G massive MIMO (mMIMO) radio units (RU) conforming to O-RAN Alliance fronthaul specifications, embedded with advanced beamforming technologies. Mavenir provides the Cloud-Native baseband software for the 4G and 5G distributed units (O-DU) and central units (O-CU), including for the mMIMO radio units. The virtualized baseband software is running on standard server hardware provided by Dell and Supermicro. The entire O-RAN Cloud architecture is built on top of the Intel FlexRAN software architecture.

Deutsche Telekom plans to expand O-RAN Town in phases across 2021 and 2022, working with different sets of vendors.

Claudia Nemat, Board Member, Technology & Innovation, Deutsche Telekom: “Open RAN is about increasing flexibility, choice and reinvigorating our industry to bring in innovation for the benefit our customers. Switching on our O-RAN Town including massive MIMO is a pivotal moment on our journey to drive the development of open RAN as a competitive solution for macro deployment at scale. This is just the start. We will expand O-RAN Town over time with a diverse set of supplier partners to further develop our operational experience of high-performance multi-vendor open RAN.”

“Another key goal with open RAN is to benefit from automation. In the near future, we can more flexibly add new network features, resolve traffic issues or intelligently reduce power consumption,” says Claudia Nemat. “Through our independent management framework, we are getting operational experience of utilizing automation to address the integration challenge, complexity and improving outcomes in a truly multi-vendor open RAN system,” says Claudia Nemat.

https://www.telekom.com/en/media/media-information/archive/telekom-switches-on-o-ran-town-in-neubrandenburg-630566

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HPE to acquire Zerto for cloud data management

Hewlett Packard Enterprise agreed to acquire Zerto, an industry leader in cloud data management and protection, for $374 million in cash. 

Zerto’s journal-based continuous data protection (CDP) technology includes disaster recovery, backup, and data mobility in a single cloud data management and protection software solution that spans on-premises, hybrid, and multi-cloud environments. 

Zerto helps customers recover in minutes from ransomware, cyberattacks, and other unplanned downtime bringing data back to its original state just seconds before the attack or disruption. Zerto also easily replicates and migrates data between VMware vSphere and Microsoft Hyper-V environments and natively to Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure.

HPE expects the data protection as a service (aaS) market to grow from $7.7B in 2020 to $15.3B in 2024, representing a 19% CAGR.  Zerto will be available aaS through HPE GreenLake and Data Services Cloud Console.

HPE said the deal expands its GreenLake portfolio and HPE Storage’s shift to a cloud-native, software-defined data services business.

“Data is now the most critical asset,” said Antonio Neri, President and CEO, HPE. “With the explosive growth of data at the edge and across hybrid environments, organizations today face significant complexity in managing and protecting their data. Zerto’s market-leading cloud data management and protection software expands HPE GreenLake cloud data services, allowing customers to protect their data and rapidly act on insights, from edge to cloud.“

“With data underpinning digital transformation, customers must manage, protect, and mobilize their data,” said Tom Black, Senior Vice President and General Manager of HPE Storage. “Customers continue to face significant issues managing data complexity across hybrid and multi-cloud environments. Zerto further positions HPE to help solve these customer challenges and become the leader in data management and protection through HPE GreenLake cloud services.”

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Airtel deploys Ciena 600G and 800G

Bharti Airtel is rolling out 600G and 800G optical infrastructure in India’s largest metros – Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, and Kolkata – using Ciena's platforms. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Airtel has implemented a self-optimizing network design using an advanced C&L-band infrastructure with Layer 0 control plane with Ciena’s 6500 Reconfigurable Line System (RLS). 

Airtel is also using Ciena’s Liquid Spectrum PinPoint OTDR software analytics to proactively localize, troubleshoot, and rapidly repair fiber fault conditions. Additionally, to maximize efficiency of the network and allow for quick turn up of new high-bandwidth services, Airtel has deployed WaveLogic 5 Extreme coherent optics along with Manage, Control and Plan (MCP) domain controller.

Randeep Sekhon, CTO of Bharti Airtel said, “Airtel was the country’s first telco to demonstrate live 5G service over a commercial network. As we work to deploy 5G more widely, Ciena plays an integral role in providing an agile network foundation to satisfy our customers’ dynamic requirements.”

dRyan Perera, Vice President and General Manager, Ciena India said, “The future of data consumption across India is at the edge – in homes, trains, hospitals, automobiles, factories and many other mission-critical environments. By investing in its metro network with Ciena’s industry-leading technology, Airtel is ideally positioned to support the booming digital economy.”

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African Telecommunications Union signs MoU with Huawei

The African Telecommunications Union, an organization based in Nairobi that advocates for countries and mobile telecommunications providers across the continent, signed a memorandum of understanding with Huawei. Under the agreement, Huawei will provide training on skills development, including reskilling and upskilling for ATU members. 

The two organizations agreed to collaborate to support local innovation; share information on latest trends, challenges and solutions in Africa and globally; and expand the digital economy as well as rural connectivity, in the continent, through furthering research. 

Speaking during the signing ceremony held in Nairobi-Kenya at the ATU headquarters, Mr. John OMO, Secretary-General of the ATU, praised Huawei for their contribution to Africa: “Huawei has transformed connectivity and made a major contribution to the continent through its investments in digital infrastructure, ICT skills, environmentally-friendly connectivity solutions, and cutting-edge technologies for rural areas. Huawei is a trusted development partner of Africa. The document we are signing aims at strengthening this partnership.” He added: “Africa has a tremendous opportunity to fully grasp the potential from new technologies”.

https://www.atuuat.africa/

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