Aricent and Frog Design Create Idea-to-Market Business Unit

frog design and its parent company Aricent have created a new business focused on innovation in communications, energy, retail, and healthcare.


The new Idea-to-Market unit will integrate frog's 550 designers, researchers, strategists, mechanical engineers, and technologists with Aricent's Mobile Devices and Solutions (MDS) and Experience Engineering (XE) groups, which are comprised of more than 1,000 software architects, developers, and quality assurance engineers. Aricent's Business Technology Consulting (BTC) group, which identifies market opportunities and assesses the business impact of emerging technologies for clients, will also be part of the new unit.


"Our experience has shown that a new kind of collaboration model is needed in order to create and commercialize products that deliver the world-class design and user experience that consumers today have come to expect," said Doreen Lorenzo, president of frog design, and who will take on additional responsibilities to lead this Idea-to-Market business unit as executive vice president and general manager of Aricent.
http://www.aricent.com

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Aculab Releases Application Development Platform

Aculab introduced its AMS Server application development platform for helping developers access the telephony and media server functionality of its Prosody S Host Media Processing (HMP) platform using high-level object-oriented programming languages.

The AMS Server enables the use of high-level languages, such as C# for the .Net environment and Python for open-source and Linux, in conjunction with application programming interfaces (APIs) into the media processing platform. The core functionality of Aculab's HMP platform is controlled through a highly effective C language API. By its nature, C requires relatively complex commands and syntax. The C# and Python APIs, now available with AMS Server, abstract the complex, low-level telephony processes inherent in the underlying C language structure and capabilities, and eliminate the need to deal with these issues when accessing or controlling the media server or telephony functions.
http://www.aculab.com

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Hong Kong's CSL Shows Dual Cell HSPA+/LTE

Hong Kong's CSL Limited announced plans to become the first carrier to simultaneously deploy DC HPSA+ (42 Mbps)/LTE technologies on an entire network.


CSL currently operates a GSM / WCDMA and UMTS 900 network in Hong Kong. In July 2010, CSL and ZTE announced the deployment of the world's first commercial 1800 MHz/2600 MHz dual-band LTE network and the upgrade of the 3G network to the Dual Cell technology with peak speeds of 42Mbps. The dual-band LTE network will take advantage of CSL's spectrum position to provide customers with better coverage and enhanced penetration.


CSL also demonstrated live LTE service with pre-commercial USB modems at this week's LTE Asia 2010 Conference.
http://www.hkcsl.com

• CSL is a subsidiary of Telstra.

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Aricent Offers Mobile Service Assurance for 4G

Aricent has added a Mobile Service Assurance focus to its OSS practice to help global service providers optimize network and service quality, especially as they transition to 4G networks. The company said its approach to Service Assurance is to provide a unified, integrated approach for managing service quality and user experience based on events, service and network performance.


Currently, 7 of the top 10 communication service providers leverage Aricent's expertise in Architecture, Design, and Integration Testing across networks, services, devices, applications and BSS/OSS systems. Aricent now sees network operators looking to modernize their mobile assurance operations with new tools and solutions to maximize the quality of experience, reduce expense, and improve profits through improved subscriber retention.


Aricent's Mobile Service Assurance Framework extends from basic element and network monitoring to Quality of Service (QoS) and Service Quality Management. The plan takes a five-phased approach that addresses key factors, including technology, objectives, competitive position, strategy and existing capabilities, essential for successful mobile operations.


"Service assurance is a top priority for mobile network operators today as they manage an unprecedented change in the communications landscape. As the surge in devices, applications, and traffic continues, assuring network and service quality is critical to enabling competitive success," said Ajay Gupta, sr. vice president at Aricent. "Our deep experience with carrier networks, devices, and service, from 2G to 3G and now 4G, has created a unique competency within Aricent's consultants and engineers to help network operators in this critical area which has a big impact on profitability and market share."http://www.aricent.com

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Procera Updates its PacketLogic Subscriber Manager

Procera Networks released an updated version its PacketLogic Subscriber Manager (PSM) suite, featuring a significant increase in performance that enables 50,000 subscribers to be provisioned per second. Version 5 of the software adds a new administration user interface (GUI) for intuitive configuration, integration setup, creation and modification of service packages, and adjustments to accommodate new network conditions.


Core functionality in PSM is mapping of subscriber ID (SID) to the then current IP address or IP addresses, which enables policies to be defined per subscriber, even when IP addresses are dynamically assigned. This is done by integrating PSM with operations (OSS) and authentication systems like RADIUS, policy control (PCRF) and DHCP through standard interfaces. Now individual and personalized service plans can be implemented, managed and monitored. Standard PSM interfaces are also used to export billing and charging information to BSS and OCS.


"PacketLogic Subscriber Manager has quickly become a central component in virtually all PacketLogic installations," said Jon Lindén, Procera's vice president of global marketing. "DPI has always offered application awareness. Adding subscriber, location and device awareness opens a Pandora's box of opportunities in network forensics, network optimization and service creation."http://www.proceranetworks.com

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Australia's Nextgen Networks Tests 100G with Alcatel-Lucent

Nextgen Networks, which owns and operates Australia's third largest fibre network, has tested 100 Gbps over its backbone network in partnership with Alcatel-Lucent.


The demonstration leveraged Alcatel-Lucent's High Leverage Network (HLN) architecture and its Converged Backbone Transformation (CBT) solution to enable interaction between optical transport systems and IP service routers using 100G links. Core elements of the 100G solution demonstrated are the Alcatel-Lucent 1830 Photonic Service Switch (PSS), featuring 100G next-generation coherent technology, and the Alcatel-Lucent 7750 Service Router (SR) with 100G Ethernet interfaces. Traffic aggregation was performed by the Alcatel-Lucent 1850 Transport Service Switch featuring T-MPLS/MPLS-TP capabilities and connected to the 1830 PSS.


"With this unique demonstration of Alcatel-Lucent's combined optical and IP 100G, we have better leveraged the network to seamlessly integrate different parts This is a key part of our ongoing program to create a converged optical/IP backbone that is more cost-effective to run and scale and is ten times faster than the links that are commonly used today," said Phil Sykes, managing director of Nextgen Networks.


The companies noted that demo follows a contract awarded earlier this year for the Australian Government's Regional Backbone Blackspots Programme (RBBP).http://http://www.alcatel-lucent.com

• In December 2009, the Australian government signed an agreement with Nextgen Networks to construct the new broadband backbone infrastructure under the $250 million Regional Backbone Blackspots Program. The investment represents the first building blocks of the National Broadband Network on mainland Australia.

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NTT Communications Selects Crossbeam Security Platform

Crossbeam Systems confirmed that NTT Communications has deployed its X-Series security platform in its data centers as part of a network consolidation initiative. This project involved migrating approximately 50 different systems from five different data centers into one data center in Tokyo.


Crossbeam said that since deploying the X-Series in January, NTT Com has been able to cut the number of network security devices by more than half. NTT Com is deploying Check Point's VSX virtualized firewalls on Crossbeam, and has the ability to add intrusion prevention/detection and anti-virus software from third party security vendors as their needs evolve.
http://www.crossbeam.com

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DT Targets Smart Grids, Smart Vehicles, Networked Healthcare

Deutsche Telekom's CEO René Obermann introduced the three top managers for new business focus on smart grids, smart vehicles and networked healthcare. The company believes these verticals can grow from zero to one billion Euros in revenue by 2015.


"With smart grids and innovative Internet solutions, we want to seize digitalization as an opportunity for sustained growth. Thanks to their personal experiences and technical expertise, the new heads of the Group business areas are the best drivers for these crucial future markets," said René Obermann when presenting the managers in Bonn. "Our intelligent network solutions are entering markets with significant growth potential at exactly the right time. Our three top managers will be able to capture this major potential," added Reinhard Clemens, CEO at T-Systems.


The new heads of the Group business areas are:


Smart Grids -- Gabriele Riedmann de Trinidad, who previously worked for Siemens AG and Nokia Siemens Networks in various countries - including Germany, Mexico and Indonesia. In the last two years, she headed the Advanced Metering Service (AMS) unit for Europa, the Middle East and Africa at Swiss company Landis + Gyr AG, a leading vendor of electricity metering systems.


Smart Vehicles -- Horst Leonberger, who has served at DT since 1994, most recently as Senior Account Manager. In 1999, Horst Leonberger took over as Global Account Executive for the DaimlerChrysler Group and, over the next few years, also took on global responsibility for automotive countries as well as steering projects such as the launch of T-Systems in China and Japan. From 2006, he headed the Automotive and Manufacturing industry lines and, in 2008 after implementing Corporate Customers, took charge of the Volkswagen Group Global Account, which he developed into one of T-Systems' top reference customers.


Networked Healthcare -- Dr. Axel Wehmeier, who joined Deutsche Telekom in 1998 and initially concentrated on pricing and competition policies. He became head of the Pricing unit in 2000 and head of Regulatory Strategy & Principles in 2002. In 2004, he took over management of the René Obermann's Operating Office at T-Mobile. In 2006, he followed René Obermann to Deutsche Telekom as Head of Corporate Office.
http://www.telekom.de

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Continuous Computing and NetLogic Partner on 40G ATCA Platforms

Continuous Computing and NetLogic Microsystems are collaborating on 40G AdvancedTCA (ATCA) packet processing platforms using NetLogic Microsystems' XLP multi-core, multi-threaded processors with 64 NXCPUs, the NL11k knowledge-based processors and 10GE PHYs solutions.


Continuous Computing's flagship FlexPacket ATCA-PP80 packet processing blade, which is based on NetLogic Microsystems' new XLP832 multi-core processor, is targeted at core and edge elements in 3G wireless, Evolved HSPA+ and LTE networks as well as Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) applications such as security, video content delivery, lawful intercept and intelligent traffic shaping.


The PP80 offers up to a 4X throughput improvement over previous generations and provides the highest I/O density, the highest packet processing performance and establishes a new floor for customers' cost-per-Gigabit when compared to competitive ATCA solutions, according to the companies. Procera Networks is listed as a customer.


NetLogic Microsystems' XLP multi-core, multi-threaded processors combine the power of 64 NXCPUs that operate at up to 2.0GHz and are based on a superscalar architecture with out-of-order execution capabilities. The XLP processor cores are quad-issue and quad-threaded to enable the highest control plane and data plane throughput. To complement the 64 NXCPUs, the XLP832 processors interface directly over a 50Gbps high-speed serial bus to NetLogic Microsystems' NL11k knowledge-based processor, giving the CPUs high-speed access to 128 knowledge-based processing engines to deliver up to one billion decisions per second of advanced Layers 2-4 flow classification, IPv4/IPv6 forwarding, ACL security and quality-of-service (QoS) policing.


Continuous Computing's FlexPacket ATCA-PP80 packet processing blade will be available in the fourth quarter of 2010.
http://www.ccpu.com
http://www.netlogic.com

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Hurricane Electric Notes Growth in IPv6 Backbones

Hurricane Electric, which operates colocation facilities in the U.S., noted rapid growth in its IPv6 network. Hurricane Electric now connects to more than 900 associated IPv6 backbones. The company first deployed IPv6 on its global backbone in 2001, and is one of the few global Internet backbones that is IPv6-native and does not rely on internal tunnels for its IPv6 connectivity. IPv6 is offered as a core service and every customer is provided IPv6 connectivity, as well as classic IPv4 connectivity.


Hurricane Electric also announced the third build out of its 208,000 square-foot Fremont 2 data center. The 24,000 square-foot space will be identical to Hurricane Electric's phase-two expansion, which opened last November and is expected to be at full capacity by the end of the year.http://he.net

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Ericsson Acquires inCode Group for Professional Services Team

Ericsson has acquired certain assets
of inCode's Strategy and Technology Group, a professional services firm providing strategic business and consulting services to leading clients in telecommunications.

The acquisition brings approximately 45 highly skilled strategy, business, and technical consultants in the United States and Canada in addition to contracts, technology and intellectual property. Financial terms were not disclosed.
http://www.ericsson.com
http://www.incode.com

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Pareto Networks Names Daniel Ryan as CEO

Pareto Networks, a start-up based in Sunnyvale, California, named Dan Ryan as CEO. Previously, he was the executive vice president and general manager for the network security business unit of McAfee. He joined McAfee in 2008 when it acquired Secure Computing (SCUR) for $465M. Ryan was president and CEO of Secure Computing.


Pareto has developed a cloud-based service aimed at simplifying branch office network deployment and operations. Pareto's service uses a low-cost CPE device to securely tunnel all branch office traffic to its hosted platform in the cloud, where security and management policies are enforced. The solution eliminates the various firewall, IPS, routing and other appliances typically deployed at each branch office. The cloud-based application provides centralized control over an enterprises network and security policies, and provides visibility of critical network performance metrics across all branch offices that are enabled with the service. Enterprise data centers would also be tied into the Pareto cloud by means of a separate appliance.


Pareto's fully redundant cloud services platform is distributed globally with multiple data centers across the U.S., as well as in Europe and Singapore. Pareto also provides military-grade encryption and multiple layers of its own security to further guarantee the availability, dependability and integrity of the distributed network.
http://www.paretonetworks.com

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China Mobile Shaanxi Selects Juniper for New Data Center

China Mobile Shaanxi has deployed Juniper Networks MX960 Universal Edge Routers for its data center core routing, offering a high level of redundancy with total system capacity of up to 2.6 Tbps. Juniper Networks EX4200 Ethernet Switches, deployed in a Virtual Chassis fabric configuration, provide the data center with a scalable, high-density Gigabit Ethernet switching fabric, while Juniper Networks SRX3600 Services Gateways provide a highly-reliable security solution. Financial terms were not disclosed.
http://www.juniper.net

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Motorola and Ericsson Partner on Public Safety LTE Solutions

Motorola Solutions and Ericsson will collaborate to offer an LTE-based solution for public safety mobile broadband.


The alliance will combine Motorola's public safety optimized LTE core and interoperability platform with Ericsson's LTE access equipment as well as parts of its packet core and related services.


Motorola's advanced devices, video security and command and control solutions will leverage these platforms to offer public safety officials situational collaboration and situational awareness.


Motorola said it is focusing extensive investment in resources and development to drive the critical innovations in the core, applications and devices necessary to serve the unique requirements of a public safety LTE broadband solution. Additionally, Motorola will deliver the full spectrum of advanced services to design, implement, support, secure, and manage these broadband networks.


"Motorola is committed to innovating where it matters most for public safety to ensure that the end-to-end public safety solution is tailored and hardened to meet the strictest requirements of public safety missions," said Bob Schassler, senior vice president worldwide radio solutions. "As we implement our comprehensive next generation solutions, Ericsson will be a valuable partner for the delivery of LTE technology to our public safety customers."


"High speed mobile broadband and LTE based technology provide new opportunities for the public safety sector," says Ulf Ewaldsson, Vice President and Head of Radio networks at Ericsson. "4G enables a number of new applications and video communication from the site of accident to the communication central. Improved situation awareness empowers efficient decisions, secure assets and property and may in the end, save lives."http://www.motorola.com
http://www.ericsson.com

• In August, Motorola and the Public Safety Agencies within the greater San Francisco Bay Area received $50.6 million in grant funding today from the Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). The BayWeb project will provide advanced communications capabilities for first responders and public safety professionals across jurisdictions in the Bay Area. The network will use LTE operating on 700 MHz frequencies.

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Vodafone Germany Publishes LTE Pricing Info

Vodafone Germany has posted pricing information for its upcoming LTE service.


Pricing is expected to start at EUR 39.99 per month for an LTE service delivering 7.2 Mbps and a data cap of 10 GB. The high-end package at EUR 69.99 advertises up to 50 Mbps and a 30GB cap.


Vodafone Germany has previously announced the selection of Ericsson and Huawei as its main LTE equipment suppliers. The network is expected to operate in 800 MHz, pending licensing of the spectrum. Vodafone will start work on the LTE upgrade at the end of September, and by next year 1,500 base stations will incorporate LTE technology.


In addition, the company has promised to extend its network and provide high speed internet in rural regions where it isn't currently available within the framework of the German government's broadband initiative.https://www.turbo-internet.dehttp://www.vodafone.com

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Reliance Drops Tower Sale Talks with GTL for other Suitor

Reliance Communications confirmed that it has ended discussions with GTL Infrastructure Ltd. about a possible sale of its tower infrastructure and that talks with another potential acquirer are under way.


Reliance Communications is exploring a possible sale of Reliance Infratel, its 95% subsidiary, as a means to significantly reduce its debt and unlock value for RCOM shareholders.


Reliance Infratel is operational in all 22 circle across India and had approximately 50,000 multi-tenancy towers as on March 31, 2010. Its primary client is its parent (Reliance Communications) although it currently has a tenancy or 1.75x across its active sites. Reliance Infratel has recently signed etisalat, S Tel, Aircell, MTS and Tata Indicom as tenants at its towers. http://www.rcom.co.in

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Arbitration Tribunal Rules Against Telekomunikacja Polska

An arbitration tribunal in Vienna (Austria) issued a ruling regarding the dispute between the Danish Polish Telecommunications Group (DPTG) and Telekomunikacja Polska S.A., a 49.79% subsidiary of France Telecom.


As a result of this arbitration decision, which covers an initial period from February 1994 to June 2004, the total amount due to DPTG is around EUR 396 million, including interest. partial arbitration decision regarding TP S.A.


The second phase of the proceedings will examine the period from July 2004 to January 2009, unless the parties come to a negotiated settlement.


France Telecom said it has already made the appropriate provisions and that the potential financial impact is excluded from the Group's organic cash flow guidance for 2010.
http://www.francetelecom.com

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BT's Openreach to Test Fibre Nomination Scheme

BT's Openreach is launching a trial whereby it will allow communications providers (CPs) to nominate exchanges for fibre enablement as part of its superfast fibre roll out. Under the trial, which will run from September to December 2010, participating CPs being permitted to nominate up to six exchanges each in return for certain commercial commitments, including to guarantee that ten percent of premises will be using its fibre broadband within a year. If this doesn't happen, the CP will be liable for any costs incurred by Openreach in amending its deployment plan. The trial is only open to CPs that are already buying Openreach's Generic Ethernet Access (GEA) product.

Openreach has previously announced plans to enable fibre broadband from exchanges serving two thirds of UK premises (approximately 16.5 million premises) by 2015, but so far has only revealed phases covering approximately 6 million premises.
http://www.btplc.com

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ZTE Passes MPLS-TP Tests at EANTC

ZTE announced that 11 of its bearer network products have successfully passed multi-vendor MPLS-TP interoperability tests conducted by the European Advanced Networking Test Center (EANTC). These products include high-end cluster routers, Ethernet switches and the entire ZXCTN range of PTN equipment. Various tests on interoperability scenarios were conducted and all ZTE products proved to be multi-vendor interoperable.
http://wwwen.zte.com.cn

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Qtel Deploys FTTH with Huawei

Qtel has launched a three year program to deploy FTTH in Qatar. Huawei confirmed that it has been selected as technology partner for the massive undertaking.
http://www.huawei.com
http://www.qtel.qa

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