Cisco's MOVE Builds Mobile Intelligence, Wi-Fi Offloading

Cisco outlined the next phase of its Service Provider Mobility strategy, emphasizing new tools for monetizing and optimizing personalized services, especially mobile video traffic.


Cisco's MOVE (Monetization, Optimization, Videoscape Experience) framework encompasses several product sets, including Cisco Mobile Videoscape, Cisco Service Provider Wi-Fi and Cisco Adaptive Intelligent Routing (AIR). A Cisco Mobile Video Gateway, running on the Cisco ASR 5000 Series, will be used to detect, pace, and optimize video based on user device, policy, and network conditions.

Some key elements of the framework will be traffic optimization, content optimization and a path be to offload traffic from the RAN to Wi-Fi wherever possible.

Cisco Mobile Videoscape -- new enhancements to the Cisco ASR 5000 and Cisco Unified Computing Systems will enables mobile operators to deliver a better mobile video experience. These platforms link the mobile network to the larger video distribution network enabled by the Cisco Content Delivery Network capabilities of Cisco Videoscape. The solution also utilizes the capabilities of the new Cisco Videoscape Media Suite to offer efficient and cost-effective content management across multiple screens.

Cisco Service Provider Wi-Fi Solution -- the Cisco Next Generation Hotspot technology provides a platform with standardized seamless highly-secure authentication enabling roaming and delivering a host of new services and new mobile experiences. The solution also features the new Cisco Aironet 1550 Series Outdoor Wireless Access Point with Cisco CleanAir technology, and enables service providers to provide low-cost capacity and highly-secure coverage in targeted areas such as outdoor sporting venues and transportation corridors while offloading heavy mobile traffic loads.

Cisco Adaptive Intelligent Routing (AIR) -- Extending across the Cisco ASR 1000, Cisco ASR 5000 and Cisco ASR 9000 platforms, Cisco AIR distributes and shares network and customer intelligence broadly to interact and communicate on individual traffic types, and to optimize traffic routing and handling for the best service experience at the lowest cost. Cisco AIR enables intelligent decisions by the network of when and where to direct traffic.

According to the recently released Cisco Visual Networking Index (VNI) Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast for 2010 to 2015, two-thirds of the world's mobile data traffic will be video by 2015. Mobile video traffic will more than double every year between 2010 and 2015.http://www.cisco.com

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Telstra Finalizes Terms of National Broadband Network Deal

As part of its quarterly financial report, Telstra provided an update on negotiations with NBN Co. concerning the National Broadband Network. Key commercial terms of the deal have been now been finalized. NBN Co. would gain access to Telstra facilities and there would be a progressive migration of Telstra traffic onto the National Broadband Network. The deal is expected to deliver approximately $9 billion in post-tax net present value to Telstra.


Telstra has provisionally agreed commercial terms relating to copper network decommissioning, dark fibre and duct usage, exchange usage, certain roll-out arrangements and other matters with NBN Co. The parties are working to complete the associated operational details and ensure all contingencies are addressed as part of the documentation process which is expected to be completed in the near future.


In addition, Telstra's CEO confirmed that the company had reached in-principle agreement with the Federal Government over the specific measures that are expected to deliver a further approximately $2 billion in post-tax net present value. The total post-tax net present value of the transaction is approximately $11 billion.


"This important milestone represents substantial progress. During the last eight months we have negotiated constructively over a range of extremely complex matters," Mr Thodey said.


Detailed information on the NBN Co. has not yet been made public, but the company hopes to do so shortly and to put the proposal to shareholders with a target date of 1 July 2011.
http://www.telstra.com

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Orange to Refarm 2G 1800MHz Spectrum for HSPA

Orange has tested HSPA services at 1800MHz using equipment supplied by Ericsson, ST-Ericsson, and Quanta Computer.


The 1800MHz band, which is being used for 2G mobile services, will be refarmed for HSPA. The four companies tested data services running at speeds of up to 14.4 Mbps on dongles developed by Quanta using ST-Ericsson's low power M570 HSPA+ thin modem. For the trial, Ericsson supplied Orange with an HSPA 1800 network made up of several radio sites located in central France. Orange plans to start deploying HSPA 1800 devices in the second quarter of 2011.


Commercial launch of HSPA services in this spectrum band is expected in the second half of 2011.
http://www.ericsson.com

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NSN Launches Compact Unified Charging and Billing

Nokia Siemens Networks has launched a Compact Unified Charging and Billing (Compact UCB) platform that enables carrier differentiation through prepaid, postpaid and hybrid payment services. The compact UCB integrates the functionalities of charging, billing, customer relationship management (CRM) and order management systems into one end-to-end convergent solution. It is optimized for easy and rapid deployment and speeds up new service launches.


"There's a huge demand for convergent charging and billing solutions, as operators strive to capitalize on the rapid growth in smartphone and data services, and look forward to provide innovative bundles of triple play and quad play services," said Rick Centeno, head of charging, billing and care at Nokia Siemens Networks. "With our pre-configured compact solution, fast growing operators, greenfield operators, small players and Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) can all benefit from a pre-integrated convergent charging and billing solution."http://www.nsn.com

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NEC Intros iPASOLINK1000 Microwave Backhaul

NEC introduced its iPASOLINK 1000 converged wireless backhaul solution that supports both native TDM and native Ethernet transport on the same platform. The NEC iPASOLINK 1000 is designed for high-end aggregation sites in the network and it complements existing NEC iPASOLINK 200 and 400 products, as well as previous generations of NEC equipment. It includes multiple microwave nodal aggregation, high switching speeds and an increased number of interface options including 10Gbps Ethernet and Coarse Wavelength Division Multiplexing (CWDM). Single-chassis implementation eliminates backhaul aggregation and distribution bottlenecks by allowing optimum network design of both optical and microwave connections.
http://www.nec.co.jp

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NICE Shows 3D Mobile Location Tracking

NICE Systems is demonstrating a 3D Mobile Location Tracking solution with the ability to track altitude information for both rural and dense urban environments. NICE said its system enables compliance with the US's Enhanced-911 (E-911) and the European Union's E-112 regulations, which require wireless network operators to provide the latitude and longitude of callers, in order to know to which emergency services call center to route the call, and to where to send emergency services.



The NICE implementation is software-based and requires no calibration or on-going vehicle network measurements ("drive test") to ensure the solution's reliability, which significantly reduces the cost of the deployment and ongoing operation. The offering enables capturing, analysis and correlation of data from multiple sensors and systems, including audio, video, radio, geo-location and web, providing a framework for fusing data silos into a single, holistic operational view. http://www.nice.com

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Ericsson Shows its New IP Portfolio

At next week's Mobile World Congress, Ericsson is taking the wraps off its new generation IP networking portfolio, including key products transport, routing, fixed access, network management and packet core. The launch includes a 16 Tbps Smart Services Router (SSR) that will form the basis of Ericsson's mobile core network for 4G/LTE deployments.



The company is also introducing several additional products such as the Ericsson IP Transport network management system (NMS), which will enable efficient data service provisioning and control across multiple domains and layers of the network. Another is an integrated solution for combining microwave and optical technologies in IP transport.



"Ericsson's leadership in mobile networking and experience in fixed networks are the perfect combination for delivering advanced, converged networks, particularly where the majority of the growth is driven by increasing demand for mobile broadband," says Georges Antoun, Head of Product Area IP and broadband at Ericsson. "Our broad end-to-end portfolio places the company in a leading position to deliver a unique and integrated portfolio of IP-based services and technology."



The rollout includes:



Smart Services Router -- Ericsson's next generation router.

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Multi-application processing: video (caching), mobility (mobile gateway), business and residential services with powerful DPI and policy enforcement.

Subscribers/Devices: Scalability in subscribers, signaling, and number of applications, combined with flexible subscriber management.

Capacity: 16 Tbps system with 400 Gbps full-duplex slots, smoothly upgradeable in a grow-as-you-need manner
Operators deploying the SSR will recognize new revenue opportunities through rapid deployment value-added services and user experience optimization. They can also reduce operational costs through functional consolidation, unified management, and low energy consumption.

MINI-LINK PT -- an all-outdoor radio and transport for high capacity hop configurations

• High capacity links to connect 2G, 3G and 4G (LTE) base stations


• All packet transport

MINI-LINK SP -- a media flexible backhaul using fiber & microwave

• All packet transport, switched or routed


• Up to 10Gb interfaces


• Possibility to combine with MINI-LINK PT for Microwave backhauling


• Common network management solution across all the MINI-LINK family

Smart Packet Optical 1400 Portfolio -- a Packet Optical Transport System

• Compact, low power nodes suitable for service delivery and traffic aggregation


• Integrated TDM, packet and DWDM for efficient cost, power and management


• Ethernet and MPLS-TP simplify packet networking using standard & familiar transport constructs


• Carrier grade protection & restoration for TDM, packet and DWDM ensure service.

IP Transport Network Management System (IPT-NMS) -- unifies all 4th Gene portfolio elements under a common, multi-layer (0-3, IP, Ethernet, SDH, CES, WDM, MPLS-TP), multi-domain (Broadband Access, Microwave, Optical, Edge) Network Management System. With a single network view and fully integrated operations, administration and maintenance (OAM), smoother network evolution is enabled for SDH-to-packet, mobile backhaul, and the building of IP and Ethernet packet networks. IPT-NMS enhances operations with:

• Streamlined packet service provisioning, across multiple layers and domains


• A single, multi-visual (Physical, logical, graphical, hybrid) view and a fully integrated O&M


• Comprehensive Packet feature set for both Transport and for VPN environments alike.

http://www.ericsson.com

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Alcatel-Lucent Posts 23% YoY Growth as HLN Strategy Gains Traction

Citing increased traction for its High Leverage Network (HLN) strategy and improved operational performance, Alcatel-Lucent reported Q4 2010 revenues of Euro 4.862 billion, up 22.6% year-over-year and up 19.3% sequentially. At constant currency exchange rates and perimeter, revenue increased 15.1% year-over-year and increased 21.9% sequentially.



"I am energized by the progress we have made over the past two years. We have overhauled our product portfolio, introduced our High Leverage Network and Application Enablement strategy, increased our customer relevance and improved our operational excellence, highlighted by the outstanding revenue growth and strong margin performance in the fourth quarter," commented Ben Verwaayen, Alcatel-Lucent's CEO.



From a geographic standpoint, all regions experienced revenue growth with strong traction in North America, double digit growth in Rest of World driven by Brazil and Mexico and high single digit rate growth in Europe and Asia Pacific with Eastern Europe and Western Europe progressing at the same pace and accelerating growth in China.

Some highlights for the quarter:

NETWORKS

• For Q4 2010, revenues for the Networks segment were Euro 2.952 billion, an increase of 31.7% compared to Euro 2.242 billion in the year-ago quarter and an increase of 20.0% compared to Euro 2.459 billion in the third quarter 2010.



• Revenues for the IP division were Euro 508 million, an increase of 58.8% from the year-ago quarter as IP/MPLS service router revenues nearly doubled their year-ago Full-year revenue for the IP division increased 24.4% in 2010, with a 40%+ increase in service routing.



• Revenues for the Optics division were Euro 815 million, an increase of 6.8% from the year-ago quarter as growth picked up significantly from its pace earlier in the year. The terrestrial business was particularly strong, driven by near 50% growth in the WDM segment, and good progression across the entire portfolio and all regions driving a second consecutive quarter of growth.



• Revenues for the Wireless division were Euro 1.156 billion, an increase of 44.5% from the year ago quarter. Strong growth continued across the wireless portfolio, with 56% growth in our W-CDMA business, 32% growth in CDMA and 14% in GSM. The company recorded its first significant LTE revenues this quarter. Growth remained particularly strong in the Americas, where revenues nearly doubled from their year-ago level, and in the Asia-Pacific region growth was also very strong, contributing for most of the growth in W-CDMA and most of the double-digit growth in GSM.



• Revenues for the Wireline division were Euro 488 million, as year-over-year growth picked up from -13% in the first three quarters to a strong 22.6% in the fourth quarter. Legacy TDM switching continued its decline, but growth was widespread elsewhere in the portfolio. Overall broadband access -- including ADSL, VDSL, GPON and home networking -- increased for the second consecutive quarter, with very strong growth in GPON driven by Asia-Pacific region and renewed growth in IP-DSLAM business driven by EMEA region. IMS core networking revenues also increased very strongly.



• Sales of next-generation Networks products increased 72% from the year-ago quarter and reached Euro 1.361 billion in the fourth quarter. This accounts for 46% of Networks sales, vs. 32% in the first quarter of 2009.

APPLICATIONS

• For the fourth quarter 2010, revenues for the Applications segment were Euro 575million, an increase of 7.5% compared to Euro 535 million in the year-ago quarter and an increase of 15.2% compared to Euro 499 million in the third quarter 2010. At constant currency exchange rates, Applications revenues increased 1.7% year-over-year and increased 17.6% sequentially. The segment posted an adjusted2 operating1 profit of Euro 47 million or an operating margin of 8.2% compared to an adjusted2 operating1 profit of Euro 80 million or a margin of 15% in the year ago period.



• Network applications revenues of Euro 251 million increased 8.2% from the year-ago period in the fourth quarter, led by very strong growth in Digital Media & Advertising and our Motive solution (remote customer management).



• The Motive business has expanded its focus to include opportunities in the mobile market -- managing mobile devices and mobile home networks. Revenues in our Applications Maintenance business also increased, registering a fourth consecutive double-digit gain over the year-ago quarter. For the year, double-digit growth in Digital Media & Advertising, Applications Maintenance and Applications Professional Services (software customization) was largely offset by declines in spending for legacy payment and messaging applications, limiting the 2010 increase in Network applications revenue to 2.2%.



• Revenues in our Enterprise applications business increased 4.1% over the year-ago quarter, reaching Euro 330 million in the fourth quarter. The data networking business continued its good double digit growth and included initial revenues for new 10-Gigabit Ethernet switch launched one quarter ago.

SERVICES

• For the fourth quarter 2010, revenues for the Services segment were Euro 1.140 billion, an increase of 10.7% compared to Euro 1.030 billion in the year-ago quarter and an increase of 20.3% compared to Euro 948 million in the third quarter 2010.



• Double-digit growth continued in Managed and Outsourcing Solutions business in the fourth quarter and for the full year as a whole, driven by growth in EMEA.

http://www.alcatel-lucent.com

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Tektronix Iris Intelligence Deployed in Tier 1 LTE Network

Tektronix Communications' Iris suite of network intelligence solutions has been deployed by a major Tier 1 service provider in their live LTE production network. The company said it has a number of other LTE trials underway.



The Tektronix Iris suite helps ensure operational readiness and quality of experience across the LTE network. The Iris family a high-density 10GE probe, a protocol analyzer, a session analyzer, a L2-L7 traffic analyzer, and a software framework that feeds to customer experience management (CEM) systems and third party OSS, BSS applications. It also delivers end-to-end analysis and reporting capabilities coupled with an extremely flexible and powerful KPI/KQI modeling engine that allows operators to better link desired business outcomes to events that occur at the network level.http://www.tektronixcommunications.com

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SK Telecom Pick NSN for LTE Launch

SK Telecom has selected Nokia Siemens Networks to provide LTE infrastructure, including its Flexi Multiradio Base Stations and NetAct network management system, for its upcoming service launch. NSN will also provide implementation and care services. Financial terms were not disclosed.

"SK Telecom has aggressive plans to deploy LTE in Korea. We will draw on our expertise in LTE as well as the experience gained from several LTE trials and implementations to help the operator put these into action," said Ricky Corker, head, APAC region at Nokia Siemens Networks.http://www.nsn.com

• Earlier this month, South Korea's SK Telecom selected Samsung Electronics, LG-Ericsson and Nokia Siemens Networks as key equipment suppliers for its upcoming LTE network. SK Telecom anticipates launching commercial LTE services in Seoul by July this year and plans to expand the service to the Seoul metropolitan area and six other metropolitan cities by 2012. The service will become nationwide by 2013.
  
  
  
  Samsung Electronics and LG-Ericsson will supply switching equipment, while all three companies will provide base station equipment. SK Telecom said it made the selection based on price and compatibility with other suppliers.
  
  
  
  SK Telecom will adopt its own Smart Cloud Access Network (SCAN) architecture to optimize its rollout. A base station largely consists of Digital Unit (DU) and Radio Unit (RU). With the SCAN architecture, LTE network DUs will be stored together in one area, while Remote Radio Units (RRU) - along with the antenna - will be set up in various locations. The carrier said this cloud-based network design enables multiple RRUs to be installed according to varying network capacity needs of each area.
  
  
  
  SK Telecom is currently awaiting approval from the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) to utilize its 800 MHz spectrum for its LTE service. The 800 MHz band would provide SK Telecom will good penetration underground and inside of buildings.
  
  
  
  SK Telecom will start initially offer LTE data modems with the service launch in July. LTE smartphones and tablet PCs are expected by the end of this year. The LTE smartphones will use the existing 3G network for voice service and the LTE network for data service using the DBDM (Dual Band Dual Mode) format. Until the company secures nationwide coverage for LTE, all the LTE devices will be launched in DBDM formats. In the areas where LTE coverage is not secured, SK Telecom will offer seamless data service through its current WCDMA networks.
  
  
  
  SK Telecom also plans to boost network capacity in small areas by deploying 62,000 Wi-Fi zones and over 10,000 femtocells. This will require the installation of 45,000 Wi-Fi this year, as well as expanding the 1,000 femtocells deployed last year to 10,000 femtocells. Also, SK telecom plans to offer femtocells that can handle voice and data traffic at the same time in small areas. Furthermore, the 6-sector solutions, which can double the capacity of current base stations, will be expanded to 500 base stations this year from 20 base stations beta-tested at the end of last year.
  
  
  
  Bae Joon-Dong, President and Head of Network CIC of SK Telecom, said: "We're very excited with this major milestone. As we begin this journey in the evolution of our wireless network, we are delighted to partner with top LTE equipment suppliers to build our 4G network. Once we have full-pledged service, we expect huge market demand and a new wave of mobile innovation with higher quality multimedia contents and advanced smart devices."

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ZTE Claims LTE Evolved Packet Core Performance Records

ZTE announced new performance benchmarks for its LTE Evolved Packet Core platforms. Its ZXUN Mobility Management Entity (MME) achieved the maximum capacity test of 15 million users, and its ZXUN SAE-GW gateway attained 174 Gbps in throughput capacity.



The xGW record was recorded by IXIA during a recent LTE Core EPC heavy traffic performance demonstration performed with a top tier global operator.http://www.zte.com.cn

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Marvell Develops 2x2 MIMO Wi-Fi for Mobiles

Marvell introduced an 802.11n 2x2 dual-band Wi-Fi System-on-Chip (SoC) designed to support high data rates for next-generation mobile devices. It is industry's first high-performance multiple input multiple output (MIMO) combination radio with advanced power management designed specifically for handheld products such as smartphones and tablets.



"As the promise of seamless connectivity fast becomes a reality, Wi-Fi provides a common link across many different mobile devices," said Weili Dai, Marvell's Co-Founder. "The Avastar 88W8797 represents a breakthrough for our industry: for the very first time the powerful performance of MIMO technology is now available and practical for mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones. By integrating multiple cutting-edge technologies and several low-power radios into a single system-on-a- chip, the Avastar solution ushers in an exciting new era in mobile computing and communications."



The Avastar 88W8797 comes equipped with Tx beamforming technology, enabling a far more expansive network range when compared with existing 11n 2x2 products. The Avastar 88W8797 also supports the Bluetooth low-energy ecosystem, allowing communication with a new breed of mobile devices, including body sensors for personal health monitoring and remote controls for home automation and other applications. http://www.marvell.com

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Atheros Offers 2-Stream Mobile Wi-Fi Chip

Atheros introduced a dual-band, 2-stream 802.11n solution designed for mobile devices. It supports both 2.4 GHz and the 5 GHz bands, and delivers up to 170 Mbps of actual wireless throughput. The AR6004 also offers Atheros' Signal-Sustain Technology (SST), a unique set of 802.11n features that boost Wi-Fi signals across the entire wireless link -- improving wireless rate-over-range by an average of 50 percent versus conventional 2-stream products.



Atheros also introduced a 1-stream, single-band 802.11n solution for mobile devices. The AR6005 is described as the smallest, most energy efficient and cost-effective mobile 802.11n chip on the market. It measures 12 mm2, enabling it to be used in the thinnest mobile devices.http://www.atheros.com

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Obama Outlines National Wireless Broadband Initiative

President Barack Obama outlined plans for a National Wireless Initiative to make high-speed wireless services available to at least 98 percent of Americans within five years, freeing up spectrum through incentive auctions, spurring innovation, and creating a nationwide, interoperable wireless network for public safety. The initiative envisions spending over $15 billion on achieving these goals, while also reducing the deficit by $9.6 billion. Money for the program would come from spectrum licensing, which is expected to raise over $27 billion over the next decade.



Key elements of the plan include the following.



* Nearly Double Wireless Spectrum Available for Mobile Broadband -- The President's initiative has set the goal of freeing up 500 MHz of spectrum. New financial-compensation tools will be put in place to enable government agencies to use spectrum more efficiently. The government will encourage "voluntary incentive auctions" that enable current spectrum holders to realize a portion of auction revenues if they choose to participate.



* The majority of the freed up spectrum would be auctioned for licensed mobile broadband, raising a projected $27.8 billion over the next decade, and a remainder would be for unlicensed use.



* Expand 4G to 98% of Americans -- the privately-owned 4G rollouts currently underway will bring access to much of the U.S.. President Obama believes that absent additional government investment, millions of Americans will not be able to participate in the 4G revolution. To that end, the President's Budget supports the 4G buildout in rural areas through a one-time $5 billion investment. This investment, to be managed by the FCC, will help catalyze universal service reform to provide access to higher-speed wireless and wired broadband, dovetail with the need for public safety to have a wireless network available in rural areas, and extend access from the almost 95% of Americans who have 3G wireless services today to at least 98% of all Americans gaining access to state-of-the-art 4G high-speed wireless services within five years.



* A Wireless Innovation (WIN) Fund to Help Drive Innovation. This $3 billion fund will support basic research, experimentation and testbeds, and applied development in a number of areas, including public safety, education, energy, health, transportation, and economic development.



* Develop and Deploy A Nationwide, Interoperable Wireless Network For Public Safety -- President Obama is calling for an investment of $10.7 billion for public safety networking: $3.2 billion to reallocate the "D Block" (which is a band of spectrum that would be reserved and prioritized for public safety and not auctioned as called for under existing law); $7 billion to support the deployment of this network; and $500 million from the WIN Fund for R&D and technological development to tailor the network to meet public safety requirements.



* Cut the deficit by $9.6 billion over the next decade -- Auctions of pectrum freed up from the government and voluntarily relinquished by current commercial users, is estimated to raise $27.8 billion. This total is above-and-beyond the auction proceeds that are used to provide an incentive for private and government users as well as the auction proceeds that are expected even absent the President's proposal. After the cost of the investments proposed by the President, the initiative would reduce the deficit by $9.6 billion over the next decade.http://www.whitehouse.gov

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Stoke Tunes its Mobile Data Offload for CDNs

Stoke has tuned its mobile data offload solution to enable core-bound applications to be deployed with greater effectiveness at the edge of the Radio Access Network (RAN).



Through a set of enhancements to its flagship mobile broadband gateway, Stoke is providing the capability to selectively steer traffic at the edge of a mobile to a collocated Content Delivery Network (CDN). In laboratory trials combining the Stoke MDO with a collocated Content Distribution Network (CDN) edge server, mobile user website load time latencies have been reduced by 60%.



Stoke said this new edge deployment location, together with control plane information not available in the network core, is affording application providers new opportunities for innovation and is already leading to service delivery improvements. Essentially, Stoke's selective traffic breakout solution enables application providers to improve performance and QoS by locating critical traffic control, optimization, and content acceleration functions closer to subscribers.



Specifically Stoke's 3GPP standard selective breakout gateway intelligently intercepts and re-directs select data traffic. New enhancements in support of the Edge Service Exchange ecosystem include the following:

• API accessible RAN routing area details for offloaded sessions (e.g. RAC/SAC)


• API accessible session details (e.g. IMSI, APN, Device IMEI, etc.)


• API accessible Radio Access Bearer (RAB) and QoS parameters for sessions


• Network controlled, real-time offload policy updates


• Programmatic session start and stop notification for Service Exchange applications


• Enhancements to breakout controls that mitigate potential failures in Service Exchange partner applications.

"Existing mobile data infrastructures are strained to the limit, and surviving the next wave of data growth may well exhaust current infrastructure upgrades and traffic mitigation solutions, said Daniel McBride, Senior Director, Product and Solutions Marketing at Stoke. "Stoke MDO, together with Edge Service Exchange ecosystem companies, effectively modernizes today's mobile network infrastructure while also managing unpredictable data growth."



Stoke is currently assembling an "Edge Service Exchange" ecosystem. It has begun testing with a number of globally recognized application providers, including Volubill, a leading provider of real-time policy management and charging solutions, and major players in mobile traffic optimization, cloud-based web application and content acceleration, and video CDN technologies.


http://www.stoke.com

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Telstra Plugs Into CENX with VPLS

Telstra International is extending the reach of its Global VPLS (Virtual Private LAN Service) and EVPL (Ethernet Virtual Private Line) services by connecting into the CENX (Carrier Ethernet Neutral Exchange) in Los Angeles. The connection into the CENX Exchange also demonstrates that Telstra International's VPLS and EVPL products within its Ethernet portfolio support the Metro Ethernet Forum's new MEF 26 standard for External Network to Network Interconnects.http://www.telstra.com

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Polycom Conferences In Cisco Telepresence Systems

Polycom is building interoperability between its unified communications (UC) systems and other vendors' solutions, including the closed Cisco telepresence systems based on the Telepresence Interoperability Protocol (TIP). The announcement heralds the opening of hitherto closed telepresence platforms. Polycom plans to support interoperability with Cisco TIP beginning in Q2 2011.


Polycom said its UC Intelligent Core platform will soon enable customers to deploy multi-vendor UC solutions and protect their investments in legacy third-party systems.


"Cisco customers have told us for years that they've been imprisoned by a closed telepresence platform that builds a wall around their UC environment and keeps out non-Cisco users. Today, all that changes," said Andrew Miller, CEO, Polycom. "With its unparalleled support of open standards, the Polycom UC Intelligent Core solution liberates these customers and gives them more options for collaborating and expanding their UC environments than ever before, without having to sacrifice their existing systems. Breakthroughs like this are fundamental to our vision of UCEverywhere."http://www.polycom.com

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ARRIS Sees Drop in Q4 Revenue and Income

ARRIS reported Q4 2010 revenue of $266.2 million as compared to Q4 2009 revenues of $300.0 million, and as compared to Q 2010 revenues of $274.3 million. Full year 2010 and 2009 revenues were $1,087.5 million and $1,107.8 million, respectively. GAAP net income in the fourth quarter 2010 was $0.09 per diluted share, as compared to fourth quarter 2009 GAAP net income of $0.26 per diluted share and third quarter 2010 GAAP net income of $0.11 per diluted share.


"Fourth quarter financial results closed in line with our expectations and we continued to strengthen our balance sheet during the quarter," said Bob Stanzione, ARRIS Chairman & CEO. "ARRIS continues to invest aggressively in new IP based video products as the industry moves towards a convergence of conventional TV and IP based TV. In the meantime, internet traffic continues to grow, which will create ongoing demand for both our existing and new products as well."


During the quarter the Company announced its highly-anticipated downstream module upgrade, significantly increasing the downstream density of the DOCSIS(R) 3.0 C4 CMTS. DOCSIS 3.0 was introduced initially in 2008 on the C4 CMTS with a 16 downstream channel single slot Cable Access Module (CAM). With this second generation DOCSIS 3.0 capability, the capacity of the 16D CAMs can be increased to 32 Annex B or 24 Annex A downstream channels.


"We are off to a good start in 2011. With respect to the first quarter 2011, we now project that revenues for the Company will be in the range of $260 to $280 million, with adjusted net income per diluted share in the range of $0.14 to $0.18 and GAAP net income per diluted share in the range of $0.05 to $0.09," said David Potts, ARRIS EVP & CFO. http://www.arrisi.com

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SingTel Posts 6% Growth Driven by Mobile

Singapore Telecommunications' (SingTel's) revenue rose strongly by 6 percent to S$4.70 billion in the third quarter, led by revenue growth in Singapore and Australia. The stronger Australian dollar helped to lift revenue.


The Singapore business reported a 7 percent increase in revenue to S$1.63 billion with growth across major revenue streams led by mobile. In Australia, revenue rose 4 percent to A$2.38 billion, driven by continued mobile growth despite an increasingly competitive market. Mobile across Singapore and Australia now comprises 43% of total revenue, up 1.5 percentage points from the same quarter a year ago.


Overall, EBITDA came in at S$1.80 billion -- down 1.2%. The underlying net profit was S$968 million -- down 2.2%. Excluding the effects of Bharti Africa, underlying net profit was stable.
http://www.singtel.com

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PAETEC to Acquire XETA Technologies

PAETEC agreed to acquire XETA Technologies, which sells enterprise communications gear, for $5.50 per share in cash valued at approximately $61 million. XETA is among the largest full-service, providers of advanced communications solutions with 32 locations and redundant 24/7 customer contact and data network operating centers. At the time of the Avaya and Nortel merger, XETA was the only national provider with the highest accreditations from both companies, and will expand on those relationships with PAETEC's existing platinum partnership with Avaya.


XETA will become part of PAETEC's robust Managed Services portfolio, consisting of products such as hosted services, service lifecycle management software and Allworx IP-PBXs.


"This transaction highlights our strategy to increase our capabilities to service enterprise CIOs beyond traditional telecom products with advanced managed services and cloud computing solutions," said Arunas A. Chesonis, chairman and CEO of PAETEC.
http://www.paetec.com

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