Altair Partners with ZTE on AXGP TDD-LTE Silicon for Japan

Altair Semiconductor has teamed up with ZTE to conduct a joint AXGP trial in Japan. AXGP stands for "Advanced eXtended Global Platform," and is a Japanese 4G standard that is fully compliant with the TD-LTE specification. The trial combines Altair's commercial FourGee LTE chipset and ZTE's infrastructure and is being performed in conjunction with a large Japanese carrier.


Altair is rapidly extending its footprint in the Japanese market, having recently announced that its FourGee chipset, integrated in a commercial USB dongle, was used in Softbank Mobile's 4G press conference AXGP demonstration conducted in Japan on September 29.
http://www.altair-semi.com

• In April, Altair Semiconductor, a start-up based in Israel, completed a $26 million round of funding for its ultra-low power, small footprint and high performance LTE chipsets.



• In February, Altair Semiconductor announced that its TD-LTE chipset, alongside Alcatel-Lucent's LTE infrastructure, has successfully completed interoperability (IOT) testing and will take part in several upcoming TD-LTE field trials in India and China. TD-LTE operates in unpaired spectrum.

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Tennessee's Twin Lakes Picks ADTRAN

Twin Lakes Telephone Cooperative Corp., Tennessee's largest telephone cooperative, has selected ADTRAN's extensive broadband portfolio and Advanced Operational Environment (AOE) services management solution for use throughout its network.


Twin Lakes will use a Broadband Stimulus award to reach over 12,000 business and residential customers with IPTV and high-speed service via Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH). In addition, the service provider is also expanding the use of the ADTRAN solutions for high-bandwidth mobile backhaul applications.
http://www.adtran.com

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F5 Expands its BIG-IP Application Delivery Controllers

F5 Networks has expanded its range of Application Delivery Controller (ADC) solutions with a new BIG-IP 11000 platform specifically designed for high levels of throughput for application acceleration and data center-to-data center replication. The new platform boasts up to 20 Gbps of LAN-side throughput, 16 Gbps of hardware compression, and optional solid-state drives.


F5 is also introducing Federal Information Processing Standard-compliant Hardware Security Module editions of the BIG-IP 11000 and 11050 platforms to help government, healthcare, and financial services organizations meet SSL encryption mandates.


F5 says that managing FIPS security through the BIG-IP system instead of on individual servers yields 25 percent savings on compliance costs. In addition to the new 11000 series releases, F5 is expanding its 6900 series to include the BIG-IP 6900S hardware platform to support applications that require high levels of SSL processing.
http://www.f5.com

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NTT Com Activates Low-Latency POP with Chicago Mercantile Exchange

NTT Com will begin providing its ultra-low latency Arcstar services at the western Chicago suburb co-location data center of the CME Group, which operates large derivatives and futures exchanges in Chicago and New York City, as well as online trading platforms. The CME Group was formed through the merger of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT). NTT Com's service will allow CME Co-Location Services customers premier access to the Asian markets.
http://www.us.ntt.com

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Emerson Wins $100 Million Contract for Australia's NBN

Emerson Network Power has been selected by the National Broadband Network Company (NBNCo) to design, supply, install, and commission 10 network facilities centers across Australia as part of the rollout of Australia's National Broadband Network (NBN). The contact is valued in excess of $100 million.


Emerson will supply it full product suite, including high-efficiency power systems (Trinergy and ASCO); Liebert precision cooling systems and SmartAisle optimization; SiteScan infrastructure monitoring and management; and fully integrated, factory-tested modular housing systems. The products are complemented by Emerson's in-house integration expertise, combining solution engineering, end-to-end project management, global supply chain and logistics, and site civil works (via partnerships with Silcar and Greenbox Architecture).


“Our approach reflects a dimension of our business that differentiates us – our ability to create integrated solutions that bring core IT and telecommunications components together,�? said Scott Barbour, business leader for Emerson Network Power. “This capability will deliver tremendous value not only to NBNCo but also to the general public as beneficiaries of the technology, through efficiencies in network rollout and the highest levels of network performance.�?http://www.EmersonNetworkPower.com

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GSMA Sees a US$1.2 Trillion Opportunity for Service Providers with Connected Devices

The GSMA calculates that the number of total connected devices will increase from approximately 9 billion today to more than 24 billion in 2020, and within that, mobile connected devices will grow 100 percent from more than 6 billion today to 12 billion in 2020.


This will create an addressable revenue opportunity for mobile operators of nearly US$1.2 trillion by 2020, a sevenfold increase from expected revenues in 2011, according to the GSMA study, which was backed by AT&T, Deutsche Bank, KT, Telenor Connexion and Vodafone, and developed by Machina Research.


"We are entering the next phase in the development of the mobile industry, one where we will see mobile connect everything in our lives," said Michael O'Hara, chief marketing officer, GSMA. "In this new Connected Life, mobile will transform society and will have a profound effect on the way we interact not only with each other, but also with our surroundings. However, capitalising on this enormous opportunity requires collaboration across the entire ecosystem to demonstrate how mobile technology in everything from tablet PCs to new healthcare devices can enhance people's personal and business lives."


Jim Morrish, director at Machina Research, commented: "We are moving into a new era in connectivity where we will see the proliferation of billions of connected devices in the world. Most of that growth is coming from machine-to-machine: a new market for communications service providers, and with new dynamics. The way that mobile operators, device vendors, service providers and others in the value chain react to this opportunity will have important implications for their future success. Right now, the mobile industry has a clear opportunity to play a central role in the Connected Life."


Matthew Bloxham, director of telecoms research at Deutsche Bank added: "The growth of connected devices has the potential to offer substantial social, ecological and financial benefits to the world economy. The figures announced today highlight the significant revenue opportunity this space could deliver. However the wider economic impact could be far greater, including indirect benefits to industry such as cost reduction, increased efficiency and the potential for new products and services. We are pleased that many mobile operators are already implementing strategies to tap into this market, although a broad industry-wide approach is essential to realising the full opportunity."http://www.gsmaconnectedlife.com

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BlackBerry Suffers Outage Across Europe, Middle East & Africa

Research In Motion's BlackBerry service suffered a widespread outage affecting millions of users on multiple networks across Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa. News reports cited a problem originating at a data center in England. The service was gradually restored after several hours. http://www.rim.com/

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Verizon Wireless to Activate LTE in 22 More Cities on Oct 20

Verizon Wireless will turn on its 4G LTE network in 22 new cities and expand the network in four cities on Oct. 20, and will turn on the 4G LTE network in 13 cities and expand in five cities on Nov. 17. This means the Verizon Wireless LTE network will be in 178 cities across the U.S. by mid-November. Verizon Wireless is now supporting 13 4G LTE-enabled devices.
http://www.verizonwireless.com

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Broadcom Develops 100 Mbps Ethernet PHY for Cars

Broadcom introduced a physical layer transceiver (PHY) for automotive networks. The Broadcom BroadR-Reach BCM89810 PHY is designed for 100 Mbps Ethernet connectivity over unshielded single twisted pair wiring in vehicles. It performs all of the physical layer functions for encoded Ethernet packets over unshielded copper wire and is fully compliant with RGMII and MII interface specifications, providing compatibility with other Ethernet devices within the vehicle.
http://www.broadcom.com

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Huawei Shows 40G PON Prototype with 1:512 Split Ratio

Huawei announced a prototype PON platform that delivers 40 Gbps downstream and 10 Gbps upstream. The system, which has been tested and certified by the China Telecom Beijing Research Institute, supports a 1:512 optical splitting ratio and a transmission reach of 20 kilometers.


“Huawei's 40G PON system is highly compatible with existing GPON and XGPON systems and its transmission convergence layer maximally leverages existing GPON and XGPON structures,�? said Dr. Frank J. Effenberger, Huawei's chief optical access technology expert. “We are pleased to note that Huawei's solution has gained wide-ranging support from international standardization organizations like FSAN and ITU-T.�?http://www.huawei.com

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AT&T Upgrades Manhattan Networks

AT&T added and/or upgraded 130 cell sites across Manhattan this summer, including sites in the Upper West Side, Upper East Side, Morningside Heights, East Harlem, Central Harlem, Washington Heights and Inwood.


AT&T noted that it also plans to install additional radio carriers at more than 30,000 cell sites nationally this year, enabling new layers of spectrum capacity to carry larger volumes of mobile broadband traffic. http://www.att.com

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MSF: Progress in Voice-over-LTE

Voice over LTE (VoLTE) is making progress with multiple vendors now demonstrating interoperable platforms and major carriers demonstrating successful interconnects.


Last month, the MSF (MultiService Forum), backed by the GSMA, hosted a VoLTE Interoperability Event held simultaneously in Dusseldorf, Germany and Beijing, China. VoLTE calls were successfully completed within each host site (including MMTel services) as well as between the host sites to demonstrate network inter-connect. LTE Roaming between host sites was successfully demonstrated, utilizing dynamic policy control between home and visited networks employing DRA's (Diameter Routing Agents). Multi-vendor testing, a key component of all MSF IOT events, was conducted at each site, incorporating interworking between different vendors' UE, eNodeB, SeGW, EPC, IMS/MMTEL, DRA and PCC technology.


The MSF VoLTE interoperability event focused on validating the GSMA VoLTE recommendations for UE to Core Network interoperability, incorporating LTE, EPC, PCC, DRA and IMS core elements in a multi-vendor deployment. Test scenarios included VoLTE basic interoperability, global Roaming and Interconnection as specified by the GSMA.


Vodafone hosted the European event at its Test and Innovation Centre in Dusseldorf, Germany and China Mobile hosted the Asian event at its Research Institute Laboratory in Beijing, China. The Event was sponsored by GENBAND, Huawei, ZTE, Alepo, Bridgewater Systems, Cisco and WiChorus, a Tellabs Company, with participation from Acme Packet, Alcatel-Lucent, Codenomicon, D2 Technologies, EXFO, IPneo, JDSU, Metaswitch, Samsung, Stoke, Traffix Systems and VSS Monitoring. Observers included ETRI, ETSI, NCS, NTT, Verizon and Videotron.


"The MSF VoLTE event successfully validated the GSMA VoLTE initiative by demonstrating that an IMS-based solution for Voice over LTE can provide global roaming and interconnect solutions for Operators. We are very pleased to see so many global participants coming together for such an important multi-vendor event. The latest in the series of MSF LTE Testing has surpassed our expectations," said Kyu-Ouk Lee, MSF President, ETRI.


“The completion of successful interoperability testing should give the industry, and in particular GSMA member organisations, the confidence to progress their work on VoLTE deployments as they move forward with their LTE deployment plans. The GSMA thanks the MSF for organizing and administering such a comprehensive event, and we will continue to work together to implement improvements and extend the level of interoperability of VoLTE implementations in the future,�? said Dan Warren, Senior Director of Technology, GSMA.


For its part, GENBAND noted that its A2 Communications Application Server was tested in the role of VoLTE Telephony Application Server (TAS), where it provided Multimedia Telephony (MMTel) services with IMS to LTE mobile devices through 3GPP standard ISC and Ut interfaces. Through the A2, GENBAND tested TAS functions using the ISC interface and successfully executed MMTel services to LTE devices via a third party IMS core. GENBAND also tested the Ut interface directly with the LTE devices for MMTel service configuration.


STOKE, which supplied its high performance Security eXchange gateway, contributed in building and validating practical LTE network use cases such as secure association and encryption of VoLTE traffic from the radio access network to the evolved packet core. Stoke's Security eXchange encrypts user and control plane traffic between LTE base station (eNodeB) devices and the core network at line rate. This allows operators to mitigate the strategic risks inherent in deploying all-IP LTE networks and improves their ability to scale their networks to accommodate growth in traffic and eNodeBs. http://www.msforum.org/interoperability/VoLTE.shtml

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ZTE Wins TDD Contract with Japan's WCP

Wireless City Planning, a new wholesale mobile network operator in Japan led by SOFTBANK, has selected ZTE to supply radio access equipment based on AXGP (Advanced eXtended Global Platform) -- a technology similar to TD-LTE -- to build its next-generation mobile network in Japan. ZTE was chosen by WCP as its primary strategic partner for China Mobile, Hutchison Whampoa and KPN .


We have chosen ZTE, the world's leading telecommunications equipment provider, as our partner to build the world's largest TDD network. We hope that ZTE can maintain its leading innovation capability in mobile communications technologies to help us build the best next generation mobile data network in Japan and even the world.�? said WCP Director and Chief Operating Officer Junichi Miyakawa.


ZTE noted that it has TDD-LTE project underway with China Mobile, Hutchison Whampoa and KPNhttp://www.zte.com.cn

• Earlier this month, , Alcatel-Lucent announced that it was selected by WCP to supply its 7750 Service Router and 7210 Service Access Switch for the backbone of the AXGP network.

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Openreach Selects ADVA FSP 3000

Openreach, the infrastructure division of BT Group, has selected ADVA Optical Networking's FSP 3000 as the foundation for its new Optical Spectrum Access product (OSA) within its Optical Spectrum portfolio. Openreach will use the ADVA FSP 3000 to transport enormous amounts of data throughout the U.K. securely and with the lowest latency possible. Applications include data center connectivity for cloud and virtualized services, business continuity and disaster recovery, financial trading, video conferencing and data backhaul.


The ADVA FSP 3000 is a scalable WDM system offering a modular architecture, rack-mountable shelves, hot-swappable modules, universal cards, transparent interfaces and qualifications with all leading Storage Area Network (SAN) vendors.


“Our relationship with ADVA Optical Networking stretches back many years and has evolved into a strategic partnership mutually benefiting both companies,�? said Jon Hurry, MD, Commercial Portfolio and Policy, Openreach. “We believe that our new OSS solution is critical for UK enterprises as they seek to respond to ever greater business demands both from a fiscal and a competitive standpoint. The ADVA FSP 3000 ensures our customers will be able to scale to meet these challenges, deliver a best in class solution and position themselves well within an increasingly competitive global playing field.�?http://www.advaoptical.com

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Ukraine's Eurotranstelecom Deploys 100G with Ciena

Ukrainian-based Eurotranstelecom has commercially deployed 100G technology in its nationwide backbone network covering the key regions in Ukraine and linking it to Russian, Polish, Hungarian and Slovakian networks. The deployment uses Ciena's 6500 Packet-Optical Platform equipped with WaveLogic Coherent Optical Processors.


The first 100G link is 560 km long and connects the capital Kiev to Kharkov in the northeast of the country. ETT plans to extend its 100G network to major Ukrainian regional centers such as Lvov, Donetsk, Odessa, and Dnepropetrovsk, providing high-speed support for in-transit traffic from European, Ukrainian and Russian operators. http://www.ciena.com

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Alvarion Expects $7 Million Charge Due to Open Range Bankruptcy Filing

As a result of the bankruptcy petition filed by Open Range Communication Inc.. Alvarion expects a one-time charge of approximately $7 million. It has not been determined whether this charge will affect the financial statement for the third quarter, which ended September 30, 2011, which will be reported on November 2, 2011, or if the impact will appear in the fourth quarter results. Alvarion was the turnkey network technology provider to ORC.
http://www.alvarion.com

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Eutelsat's W3c Satellite Successfully Launched from China

Eutelsat's new W3C satellite was successfully launched by a Long March 3B rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in China.


Built for Eutelsat by Thales Alenia Space, W3C will replace the EUROBIRD 16, W2M and SESAT 1 satellites at 16degree(s) East. The satellite has 56 transponders, (53 Ku and three Ka). It will deliver broadcasting and telecom/data services via four footprints:

• A high-power footprint optimised for Direct-to-Home broadcasting in Central Europe will anchor the 16degree(s) East neighbourhood as a point of reference for satellite TV in the region, serving over 11 million households.



• High-power coverage over Indian Ocean islands will support the expansion of pay-TV and accelerate digital switchover in Mauritius and Reunion Island.



• A wide footprint serving Europe, North Africa and the Middle East will serve markets for data networks and news gathering.



• A new footprint for 16degree(s) East, with Ku coverage stretching from Senegal to Madagascar and enabling connectivity with Europe in Ka-band, will respond to high-growth applications that include GSM backhaul and Internet access for enterprises and public agencies.

http://www.eutelsat.com

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Telesat Restores Service on Anik F2

Telesat confirmed that service has been restored on its Anik F2 satellite. The company blamed the outage on a software error encountered during a routine maneuver which triggered the satellite to place itself into a safe mode, shutting itself down and pointing itself at the sun to ensure
it remained powered. http://www.telesat.com

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Clearwire Stung by Sprint's Network Vision

Shares in Clearwire Corporation (NasdaqGS: CLWR ) fell 32% on Friday to close at $1.39, following Sprint's Network Vision webcast. Sprint revealed that it is pursuing FDD LTE using its own spectrum in the 1900 MHz band (and later its own 800 MHz spectrum) and shifting away from WiMAX and Clearwire's TDD LTE transition strategy. Sprint has network agreements in place with Clearwire through 2012 but not after that. Sprint executives also declined to state whether they would invest more in Clearwire to ensure that it remains a viable on-going network. Negotiations between the companies are expected to continue.


For its part, Clearwire issued the following statement:

“As the largest wholesaler of 4G capacity, with unmatched spectrum, Clearwire is uniquely positioned to offer capacity to Sprint, and other carriers, particularly in urban areas where demand is high and their 4G spectrum will be inadequate. Sprint remains dependent on Clearwire for 4G and nothing about today's announcement changes that. Even with their re-allocation of existing spectrum, it's obvious that their spectrum resources are insufficient to meet the long term demands of mobile data, but this is not unique to Sprint. Data capacity will clearly stress the capabilities of the low capacity 4G deployments of other carriers due to their spectrum constraints.


“We are also working globally with other members of the Global TDD-LTE Initiative (GTI), including China Mobile, to develop a low-cost, highly scalable device ecosystem that will work across various LTE networks and frequencies. As demand for mobile data increases, Clearwire remains the only viable 4G wholesaler with an operating 4G network, substantial spectrum resources, and a global technology road map to serve this growing market."http://www.clearwire.com

• Clearwire ended Q2 2011 with approximately 7.65 million total subscribers, up 365% from 1.64 million subscribers in the second quarter 2010. The subscriber base consists of 1.29 million retail subscribers and 6.36 million wholesale subscribers. During the second quarter 2011, Clearwire added 1.54 million total net new subscribers, comprised of 39,000 retail and 1.50 million wholesale net new subscribers. Clearwire's wholesale subscribers consist primarily of users of 3G/4G smartphone devices. The company reported Q2 revenue of $322.6 million and a net loss from continuing operations attributable to Clearwire was $160.5 million, or $0.65 per basic share.



• Clearwire is currently seeking funding to continue its expansion and network conversion.



• In August 2011, Clearwire confirmed its intention to deploy "LTE Advanced-ready" technology in its 4G network while restating its commitment to its existing 4G WiMAX network, which covers approximately 132 million people while serving 7.65 million retail and wholesale customers. The company expects to end 2011 with approximately 10 million 4G customers.
  
  
  Clearwire said the initial LTE deployment will target densely populated, urban areas of its existing 4G markets where current 4G usage demands are high.
  
  
  Clearwire said its LTE network will be "LTE Advanced-ready," meaning that it will use spectrum configurations capable of 100+ Mbps downlink speeds. The LTE implementation plan, which is subject to additional funding, contemplates deploying Time Division Duplex (TDD) LTE technology. The plan calls for upgrading the all-IP network architecture and base station radios, as well as some core network elements. The LTE overlay will include the use of multicarrier, or multichannel, wideband radios that will be carrier aggregation capable. Carrier aggregation is a key feature of LTE Advanced that will enable Clearwire to further leverage its spectrum depth to create larger "fat pipes" for deploying mobile broadband service.
  
  
  Clearwire also stated its decision not to use Sprint's "Network Vision" infrastructure for the LTE overlay because it substantially more expensive that overlaying its own network, but Clearwire said the companies are discussing the possibility of using Sprint's "Network Vision" in new markets. The WiMAX infrastructure will be preserved for a significant period. The believes its key competitive advantage is having "the deepest spectrum" on the only globally coordinated 4G band (2.5 GHz).
  Clearwire holds an average of 160 MHz of spectrum nationwide, more than AT&T and T-Mobile together, in one contiguous band, enabling wider channels for high-bandwidth applications. The company noted that even if LightSquared gets permission to go ahead with a 2x10 MHz LTE wholesale network, the Clearwire network eventually could offer 20x more capacity at each cell site using superior spectrum.
  
  
  With the overlay initially focused on the most heavily-used urban areas, Clearwire estimate the CAPEX costs for an LTE overlay are $600 million. A typical market overlay can be completed in 12 months of initiating the build.



• In August 2011, Clearwire named Erik Prusch as its new President and CEO. John Stanton, the company's Chairman and interim CEO, will become Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors.



• In August 2010, Clearwire began testing coexistence scenarios for WiMAX and LTE in Phoenix using both Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) of 40 MHz of spectrum paired in 2 x 20 MHz contiguous channels ("LTE 2X"), and Time Division Duplex (TDD) configurations using 20 MHz of spectrum. Initial tests have recently confirmed that the company's LTE 2X trial network achieved peak download speeds on commercially available equipment and devices in excess of 90 Mbps and upload speeds of more than 30 Mbps. Clearwire later updated the test reports noting consistent 120 Mbps downlinks using TDD-LTE.

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U.S. Carriers Note Brisk Sales of iPhone 4S

On Friday, AT&T reported record online pre-sales of the new iPhone 4s -- 200,000 online orders in the first 12 hours. On Sunday, Sprint's website stated that the iPhone 4S 16GB was already sold out, two days after the pre-sale began. Apple's own website now states "shipping in 1-2 weeks".
http://www.apple.com

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