Qualcomm debuts Compact Macro 5G RAN Platform

Qualcomm Technologies introduced a Compact Macro 5G RAN Platform to address macro cell infrastructure for mobility and Fixed Wireless Access (FWA). Sampling is expected to start in Q1 2023.

The new platform leverages the Qualcomm FSM 5G RAN Platform for Small Cells, while featuring macro-grade antenna module support with 256 antenna elements, delivering up to 60dBm of peak EIRP and up to 1 GHz of spectrum. 

The new Qualcomm Compact Macro 5G RAN Platform offers long-range performance enhancements for compact macro products that more than double the range capabilities compared to small cells designed with the Qualcomm FSM 5G RAN Platform, significantly reducing the number of cell sites needed for wide area coverage. 

Qualcomm said its new platform will accelerate deployment of mmWave infrastructure by facilitating up to 50% base station equipment cost reduction for a given coverage area, compared to similar high-power mmWave macro solutions.

“Building on our 5G infrastructure and mmWave leadership, we are pleased to announce a new long-range outdoor platform for compact macro cells that present our customers and operators with a cost-to-performance paradigm highly differentiated from traditional macro solutions,” said Durga Malladi, senior vice president and general manager, cellular modems and infrastructure, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “This innovative solution will streamline deployments and accelerate mmWave adoption by providing the range, performance, energy efficiency, and form factor our partners need at an attractive price point. We’re thrilled to extend our technology leadership and expertise to help the ecosystem fully realize the benefits of mmWave for outdoor 5G networks.”

https://www.qualcomm.com/news/releases/2022/12/qualcomm-announces-long-range-compact-macro-platform

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Lumen deploys Corning's SMF-28 ULL fiber and SMF-28 Ultra fiber

Lumen Technologies recently upgraded over 24,000 route miles across its U.S. intercity network with new ultra-low-loss fiber capable of supporting wavelength services up to 400G and faster. 

Lumen is continuing to deploy Corning's SMF-28 ULL fiber and SMF-28 Ultra fiber in its multi-conduit infrastructure.

Lumen also confirmed plans for another 6 million fiber miles, expected to be installed by 2026.

"We are creating a next-gen network, and fiber type matters," said Andrew Dugan, Lumen chief technology officer. "As demand for optical fiber increases and technology evolves, Lumen's multi-conduit infrastructure means we can install the latest fiber type quickly and economically. It's difficult to upgrade legacy intercity networks without multiple conduits. These networks end up being stuck with older fiber technology. Lumen is fixing that issue with our upgraded technology. We can extend signal reach to help reduce equipment costs and increase bandwidth capacity. Using ultra-low-loss fiber on the Lumen network is a major component of what differentiates us from other network providers."

https://news.lumen.com/2022-12-06-Lumen-Invests-to-Expand-U-S-Intercity-Network-by-6-Million-Fiber-Miles

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Digital Bridge completes acquisition of Switch for $11 billion

DigitalBridge and IFM Investors completed their previously-announced acquisition of Switch, which operates a series of high-performance, SuperNAP co-location data centers.

All outstanding common shares of Switch (NYSE: SWCH) were acquired for $34.25 per share in cash, or approximately $11 billion, including the repayment of outstanding debt.

“We are excited to embark on the next chapter of Switch’s evolution in partnership with DigitalBridge and IFM Investors, two leading digital infrastructure investment firms,” said Rob Roy, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Switch. “With their strategic expertise and financial resources, Switch is ideally positioned to meet growing customer demand for the world’s most advanced and environmentally sustainable data center infrastructure.”

Jon Mauck, Senior Managing Director at DigitalBridge Investment Management, said, “We are delighted to partner with Rob and the Switch team as DigitalBridge continues to grow our portfolio of high-quality digital infrastructure assets globally. With a shared vision for the future of communications infrastructure, Switch, IFM Investors and DigitalBridge are ideal partners, and together we will scale Switch’s business domestically and internationally to meet the robust enterprise demand for mission-critical digital infrastructure.”

Kyle Mangini, Global Head of Infrastructure at IFM Investors, said, “IFM Investors is excited to join DigitalBridge to support Switch in its next phase of growth. Switch’s excellence in data center design and operations, along with its industry leadership in sustainability, makes the company an ideal fit for IFM Investors as we seek to deliver returns to our investors and maximize the retirement savings of the millions of working people they represent.”

http://www.digitalbridge.com

DigitalBridge to acquire Switch for $11 billion for its data centers

Wednesday, May 11, 2022  Data Centers, Digital Bridge  

DigitalBridge Group agreed to acquire Switch, a leading colocation data center operator, for $34.25 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $11 billion, including the assumption of debt.Switch, which was founded in 2000, operates SuperNAP data center campuses in Las Vegas, Reno, and Grand Rapids, Michigan. The company touts its high-resiliecy and high-security designs for mission critical workloads in its "Class 5" data centers....

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Switch expands data center fleet to 16 with Data Foundry acquisition

Sunday, May 09, 2021  Data Centers, Mergers And Acquisitions, Switch  

Switch agreed to acquire Data Foundry, a carrier-neutral colocation provider with data centers in Austin and Houston, for $420 million in an all cash transaction. The acquisition is expected to close by mid-2021, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including regulatory approval. The purchase price of $420 million represents approximately 19x estimated 2021 Adjusted EBITDA, including $2 million of projected run-rate cost synergies. Data...

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Rackspace Hosted Exchange hit by ransomware attack

Rackspace Technology reported a ransomware incident affecting its Hosted Exchange environment. The company’s Hosted Exchange customers have been impacted by service outages.

Rackspace said it has taken proactive measures to isolate the Hosted Exchange environment to contain the incident and at this time believes the attack has spread to other aspects of its business. Rackspace Technology’s other products and services are fully operational, and the company has not experienced an impact to its Email product line and platform.

The company has engaged a leading cyber defense firm to investigate. 

Rackspace Technology is in ongoing communication with Hosted Exchange customers to help them migrate to a new environment as quickly as possible. Rackspace Technology has surged support staff and will be taking additional steps to help guide customers through this process in order to limit the impact to their own operations. Although Rackspace Technology is in the early stages of assessing this incident, the incident has caused and may continue to cause an interruption in its Hosted Exchange business and may result in a loss of revenue for the Hosted Exchange business, which generates approximately $30 million of annual revenue in the Apps & Cross Platform segment.  In addition, Rackspace Technology may have incremental costs associated with its response to the incident.

https://ir.rackspace.com/news-releases/news-release-details/rackspace-technology-hosted-exchange-environment-update

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Expeto raises $12 million for private/public network management

Expeto, a start-up based in Vancouver, announced a $12 million Series B funding round for its solutions for simplifying enterprise networking over private and public mobile networks.

Expeto’s cloud-based NeXtworking platform solves mobile complexity for enterprises by making any kind of mobile connectivity (CBRS, MNO-provided LTE, 5G, etc.) a seamless part of a privately managed network. The goal is to enable enterprises to seamlessly extend private networks via any type of cellular connectivity with single-SIM mobility between public and private instances of the network. 

Expeto can be deployed behind a corporate firewall, in a private or public cloud, at the edge or geographically remote sites depending on use case requirements. It supports creation of secure network segments, management of subscribers and network policies, and monitoring of network usage and performance. 

“Expeto hides the complexity of mobile network management behind an easy interface and powerful routing platform that has been proven to help achieve ambitious mobile connectivity management goals in large-scale commercial deployments,” said Expeto CEO Michael Anderson. “Our work with enterprises and MNOs is rooted in solving the challenges enterprises face expanding private networks with cellular connectivity and the role we can play in helping transform industries based on compelling new use cases.”

The round was led by Sorenson Capital and included existing investors Evok Innovations, Lavrock Ventures and Mistral Venture Partners. Additional new investors included 5G Open Innovation Lab and Samsung Next. Expeto has raised over $20M total financing to date and will use funds from the Series B to accelerate innovation and expand go-to-market programs.

https://www.expeto.io

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euNetworks appoints Paula Cogan as CEO, Brady Rafuse as Chair

euNetworks announced the appointment of Paula Cogan as its Chief Executive Officer, effective 1 January 2023. Paula currently holds the position of President, euNetworks. Paula will succeed CEO Brady Rafuse, who will become Chairman of euNetworks’ Board of Directors, with the existing Chairman Neil Hobbs remaining on the Board of Directors as a Non Executive Director.

Cogan previously held various senior leadership positions in companies such as British Telecom, Verizon and Colt. Prior to joining euNetworks Paula was most recently Executive Vice President – Sales, Marketing and Customer Relationship Management at Colt, responsible for the commercial strategy of the business. 

“I am excited to lead this exceptional and high-performing team of people through the next chapter of euNetworks’ growth,” said Paula Cogan. “euNetworks continues to distinguish itself in the digital infrastructure ecosystem, delivering critical internet infrastructure to customers. It’s an asset rich business, focused on developing and deepening its fibre networks, innovating and investing in new technologies to deliver highly scalable, owned and operated fibre-based and sustainable infrastructure in Europe. The vision that Brady and the team have followed and delivered creates an exciting opportunity for us all as we continue to drive the business forward. I want to thank Brady for that and also for his continued support as Chairman as we move forward in 2023.”

Brady joined euNetworks in March 2009. He has led euNetworks through its delisting on the Singapore Stock Exchange, privatisation with Columbia Capital, and sale to Stonepeak, with increased investment from IMCO. 

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Webinar: New fiber connectivity options inside the switch chassis

As the next generation of data center switch designs advance, new possibilities for fiber management inside the chassis are emerging. In this one-hour webinar, we will hear from Paul Yip who will discuss an innovative fiber shuffle from Optec for transmitting optical signals from the switching silicon to the front panel. The idea is to facilitate the fiber management and system redundancy from the CPO optical engines. Then we will hear from Fujikura's Teruhiko Omori who will present the various types of fiber suitable for these applications. 

Paul Yip is Product Marketing Manager of Optec Technology Limited. He joined Optec in 2015 and has key roles in product line management, field application engineering, and strategic marketing. 

Teruhiko Omori is a manager at Fiber Optics Components Department, Optical Component Division, Fujikura Ltd. He joined Fujikura in 1990 and engaged in research & development, production engineering and business development of passive optical components and business development of fiber-optic cabling solutions.Manufacturability, reliability, and maintenance issues will be considered.

Date/Time: Dec 12, 2022 04:00 PM in Pacific Time

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_rnZ64Y1lQa-X_7HNYEfmBA

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Verizon's C-band rollout is ahead of schedule

Verizon now covers more than 175 million people with their ultra fast, ultra reliable 5G Ultra Wideband service, and will offer nationwide 5G Ultra Wideband in Q1 2023. 

Verizon confirmed that its ongoing C-Band rollout is a full 13 months ahead of the original schedule.

Less than 21 months after announcing the results of the FCC’s C-band auction and after securing early access to an additional 30 markets this year, Verizon accelerated its build plan and surpassed its goal of reaching 175 million people covered by the end of 2022, a month ahead of schedule.

“Our customers don’t stand still and neither does our network. Today, more than one out of every two Americans now have access to 5G Ultra Wideband. We know our customers rely on our service every day and we work for them – continuously enhancing, expanding and improving our wireless network,” said Hans Vestberg, Chairman and CEO of Verizon. “And as proud as I am to have crossed this milestone, I am equally proud of the way we are building our network – with the most advanced technologies, industry leading security, a robust fiber underpinning and a robust and varied spectrum portfolio. We are building this right. We are building this as a platform for innovation for years to come.”

Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband supports download speeds up to 1 Gbps.

In addition to providing greater coverage, especially in rural and suburban areas, Verizon will also enhance capacity by activating 100 MHz of C-Band spectrum in many markets, a significant step up from the 60 MHz of spectrum available when deployment first began. Once all of its licensed spectrum is made available, Verizon will have up to 200 MHz of C-Band spectrum deployed in many markets, which will provide exceptional speed and capacity.

Verizon is continuing to deploy 5G on mmWave spectrum in areas with significantly dense populations such as venues, stadiums, arenas, airports, major metro areas, office complexes, etc. mmWave will also continue to be used for private network deployments.

Verizon also highlighed progress in fully deploying the 5G core with its proprietary cloud platform built specifically for telco workloads, advancing the fiber network to handle exponential increases in data traffic, continuing massive virtualization of the network to add programmability and flexibility into the network, using artificial intelligence to drive reliability and performance, continuing to develop edge computing capabilities to drive down latency, and continuing to advance antenna configurations to drive speed and efficiency.

https://www.verizon.com/about/news/verizon-continues-deploy-5g-ultra-wideband-faster

Ericsson and Verizon sign multi-year $8.3 billion 5G deal

Thursday, July 15, 2021  Ericsson, Verizon  

Ericsson confirmed a multi-year 5G supply agreement with Verizon valued at $8.3 billion.Under the agreement, Verizon will deploy Ericsson's 5G MIMO C-band, low-band and millimeter wave (mmWave) solutions to enhance and expand Verizon's 5G Ultra Wideband coverage, network performance and user experience. Ericsson's technology solutions, including Massive MIMO, Ericsson Spectrum Sharing and Ericsson Cloud RAN, complement the high-performing Ericsson...

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Verizon begins C-band rollout with Ericsson and Samsung

Monday, April 19, 2021  Ericsson, Samsung, Verizon  

Verizon confirmed that the installation of C-band equipment from Ericsson and Samsung Electronics Co. is now underway. Ericsson is providing its Antenna-Integrated Radio (AIR) product, which features a massive Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) architecture with Ericsson Uplink Booster and advanced beamforming technology.  Samsung is also supplying Massive MIMO radios and fully virtualized RAN (vRAN) solutions.Verizon secured an...

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Verizon activates C-band spectrum

Wednesday, January 19, 2022  Verizon  

Verizon activated C-band spectrum to boost its 5G Ultra Wideband network, which is now available to more than 100 million people in 1,700-plus cities around the nation.“This massive launch will put incredible speeds, reliability and security in the hands of our customers and amplifies our offering of reliable home and business broadband options to more places around the country, well ahead of the commitment we made last year,” said Hans Vestberg,...

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Verizon serves nearly 48% of its cell sites with owned fiber

Monday, September 12, 2022  Verizon  

Verizon now connects nearly 48% of its cell sites with its own deployed fiber optic cables and is on track to reach about 50% by the end of this year.In June Verizon announced that data traffic on its 5G Ultra Wideband network had already increased 249%, and it expects continued increases as more customers adopt the new technology and begin to experience the robust capabilities and performance of 5G Ultra Wideband. Verizon has also announced...

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Lattice debuts low-power FPGA platform

Lattice Semiconductor introduced a low-power FPGA platform for communications, computing, industrial and automotive applications.

The new Lattice Avant series offers advanced connectivity with configurable SERDES up to 25 Gbps, PCIe Gen 4, high performance I/O, and memory interface support including LPDDR4 and DDR5.

The company claims up to 2.5X lower power and 2X faster throughput than similar class competitive devices.

“With Lattice Avant, we extend our low power leadership position in the FPGA industry and are poised to continue our rapid pace of innovation, while also doubling the addressable market for our product portfolio,” said Jim Anderson, President and CEO, Lattice Semiconductor. “We created Avant to address our customers’ need for compelling mid-range FPGA solutions, and we’re excited to help them accelerate their designs with new levels of power efficiency and performance.”

https://www.latticesemi.com/about/newsroom/pressreleases/2022/202232-new-lattice-avant-fpga-platform 

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FCC issues 2.5 GHz licenses from Auction 108

The FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau  granted the first batch of new, flexible-use, county-based overlay wireless licenses made available in the 2.5 GHz auction, Auction 108.  With most of the available spectrum in the 2.5 GHz band located in rural areas, this auction provides vital spectrum resources to support wireless services in rural communities.  

In total, the FCC granted 51 of the 68 total long-form applications received from winning bidders in Auction 108, following a thorough review of the applications and a period of public comment.  Of the 51 applications granted, 15 applicants obtained small business bidding credits and 23 obtained rural service provider bidding credits.  Staff review of the remaining Auction 108 long-form applications remains ongoing.  

“This is important spectrum, especially for rural America.  I am grateful to our team for moving forward quickly but carefully in processing these applications,” said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel.  “We continue to focus on ensuring that mid-band spectrum is available for 5G and other next-generation wireless services.”

http://www.fcc.gov

FCC incentivizes to open underutilized spectrum for rural carriers

Monday, July 18, 2022  FCC  

The FCC voted to create an Enhanced Competition Incentive Program (ECIP) to establish incentives for wireless licensees to make underutilized spectrum available to small carriers, Tribal Nations, and entities serving rural areas. The new program encourages licensees to partition, disaggregate, or lease spectrum to better match available spectrum resources with entities that seek to provide needed services to under-connected communities.  Under...

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Samsung and NAVER target semiconductors for hyperscale AI

Samsung Electronics and NAVER Corporation are collaborating on semiconductor solutions tailored for hyperscale artificial intelligence (AI) models. 

The partnership leverages Samsung’s next-generation memory technologies like computational storage, processing-in-memory (PIM) and processing-near-memory (PNM), as well as Compute Express Link (CXL).

NAVER will continue to refine HyperCLOVA, a hyperscale language model with over 200 billion parameters, while improving its compression algorithms to create a more simplified model that significantly increases computation efficiency.

“Through our collaboration with NAVER, we will develop cutting-edge semiconductor solutions to solve the memory bottleneck in large-scale AI systems,” said Jinman Han, Executive Vice President of Memory Global Sales & Marketing at Samsung Electronics. “With tailored solutions that reflect the most pressing needs of AI service providers and users, we are committed to broadening our market-leading memory lineup including computational storage, PIM and more, to fully accommodate the ever-increasing scale of data.”

“Combining our acquired knowledge and know-how from HyperCLOVA with Samsung’s semiconductor manufacturing prowess, we believe we can create an entirely new class of solutions that can better tackle the challenges of today’s AI technologies,” said Suk Geun Chung, Head of NAVER CLOVA CIC. “We look forward to broadening our AI capabilities and bolstering our edge in AI competitiveness through this strategic partnership.”

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STACK and ESR to develop data center in Osaka

 STACK Infrastructure and ESR Group announced a joint venture to develop a 72MW data center campus in Osaka, Japan.

STACK and ESR will jointly develop and deliver 72MW of data center capacity in Osaka’s eastern suburb of Keihanna. Construction of the first of three buildings will commence in Q4 2023 and will be ready for service in Q2 2025.

The deal further expands STACK and ESR’s APAC partnership, which currently includes a 48MW data center development in Incheon, Korea.

“Osaka is STACK’s sixth APAC market in 12 months since our entrance into the region, including the expansion of our footprint in both Japan and Australia to over 100MW each,” said Pithambar (Preet) Gona, Chief Executive Officer of STACK APAC. "This campus further deepens our partnership with ESR, allowing us to combine our capabilities to meet our clients’ strategic requirements in existing and emerging Tier 1 data center markets.” 

“ESR’s strong regional development capability in Tier 1 data center markets ensures we are well-positioned to continue to aggressively develop data center facilities across Asia Pacific,” said Diarmid Massey, CEO of ESR Data Centres. “Our partnership with STACK enables us to leverage our respective strengths to target hyperscale customer growth in key markets.”

https://www.stackinfra.com/about/news-events/press-releases/stack-infrastructure-and-esr-expand-their-apac-partnership-into-japan-with-a-72mw-data-center-development-in-osaka/

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Redis appoints Rowan Trollope as CEO

Rowan Trollope will become Chief Executive Officer of Regis, effective February 1, 2023, replacing Ofer Bengal, who will become Chairman of the Board. 

Trollope joins Redis from Five9, where he served as CEO for over four years. Before Five9, he was SVP and General Manager of Cisco's Applications Group and an executive leadership team member. Prior to Cisco, at Symantec, he was Group President of sales, marketing, and product development, responsible for cloud security and the SMB market.

Bengal co-founded Redis in 2011 with Yiftach Shoolman and has served as its CEO since its inception.

“People are fed up with slow and unresponsive apps and businesses realize they need to redesign their products or else lose their customers. At the same time AI is revolutionizing how software is built and is being embedded in virtually every app,” stated Trollope. “In response, entrepreneurs have been hard at work inventing the next generation tech stack, from AI tool-chains to front-end frameworks to the database layer, to make it easy for developers to build fast, scalable apps with AI at the core. I’m excited to join Redis because Ofer, Yiftach, and their team alongside the incredible open-source community, have been creating an insanely great platform that is loved by developers like me. Redis is well positioned to continue disrupting the database market and taking data layer performance to the next level.”

Offer Bengal added, “I started this journey with my partner Yiftach almost 12 years ago, with a vision of disrupting the database space and revolutionizing the data layer performance. Together with an exceptionally talented team, we have made our technology a significant building block in the architectures of some of the world's largest and most demanding applications. As a founder, my relationship with the company will always be similar to that of a parent and child. Redis is very dear to me, and I look forward to continuing to contribute to its success and growth through my role as chairman.”

https://redis.com/

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Evolutio deploys Ribbon's Virtual C20 for virtualized call control

Evolutio, which specializes in the integration of cloud services and solutions, is upgrading its network with Ribbon's Virtual C20, making it the first European provider to leverage this solution, and gaining a more robust call platform.  

Ribbon's Virtual C20 delivers call control that operates on the newest technology architectures while retaining the best features of its predecessors, dating back more than thirty years to the Nortel DMS family and the CS 2000.

"At Evolutio we are focused on innovation to provide a better service to our customers. This requires moving a lot of our network technology forward, which is resource-intensive both in terms of Opex and staff time. The Virtual C20 allows us to align ourselves with our customers' needs, providing them with the best offering and ensuring the best experience at every touch point, both for them and their users," said Juan Diego Barrado, CIO - CTO of Evolutio. 

"We're proud that Evolutio trusts us to modernize their network and reduce costs," said Steve McCaffery, Ribbon's EVP Sales, APAC & EMEA. "Our highly flexible Virtual C20 solution, along with our professional services teams, create an especially compelling business case to the many service providers around the world still operating legacy switch platforms that are end of life. We believe that the Virtual C20 is unequaled in its ability to cost-effectively transform service provider networks without inherently requiring a massive replacement of last mile / kilometer infrastructure."

Evolutio believes it offers its customers the best option to achieve their goals, accompanying them throughout their journey of improvement and implementation of new technologies. With the Virtual C20, the expert company in service integration continues to improve customer service by increasing the efficiency of its operations.

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KDDI connects mobile tower to Starlink for backhaul

KDDI has deployed the first mobile tower in Japan to use Starlink for backhaul. 

The tower is located in Hatsushima, a remote island in Sagami Bay. The service is now in commercial operation, following a series of tests beginning in 2021.

KDDI said that in order to ensure sufficient quality for cellular service with voice and data, Starlink  met its technical guidelines in latency, jitter and uplink/downlink bandwidth. KDDI has completed its evaluation of Starlink and confirmed the conformance in customer experience that could be comparable to that of optical fiber, which it uses for urban towers.

Starting with this location, KDDI will expand its coverage to 1,200 remote towers in order to pursue its vision to bring an urban mobile experience to its rural customers.

https://news.kddi.com/kddi/corporate/english/newsrelease/2022/12/01/6415.html

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FCC clears Starlink for up to 7,500 satellites

The FCC granted SpaceX authority to construct, deploy, and operate up to 7,500 satellites operating at altitudes of 525, 530, and 535 km and inclinations of 53, 43, and 33 degrees, respectively, using frequencies in the Ku- and Ka-band. The FCC defered a decision on the full SpaceX Gen2 Starlink application, which envisions up to 29,988 LEO satellites in its constellation,

The FCC also granted SpaceX’s request for authority to conduct launch and early orbit phase (LEOP) operations and testing during orbit-raising, as well as tracking, telemetry and command (TT&C) during the process of removing its satellites from orbit, consistent with the parameters described in the application and related materials.

In addition, the FCC ruling deferred consideration of SpaceX’s proposed use of E-band frequencies and tracking beacons. 

https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-partially-grants-spacex-gen2-broadband-satellite-application

• In a January 2022 filing with the FCC, SpaceX proposed to operate 29,988 satellites at altitudes ranging from 340 km to 614 km.39 Approximately two thirds of the satellites (19,440) would be deployed in shells centered at altitudes from 340 km to 360 km (below the International Space Station (ISS)), approximately one third (10,080) would be deployed in shells centered at altitudes from 525 km to 535 km (above ISS and below SpaceX’s Gen1 Starlink constellation), and 468 satellites would be deployed into retrograde inclinations in shells centered at altitudes of 604 km and 614 km (above Gen1).

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Australia's nbn to deploy Nokia’s new OLT and access controller

Australia's NBN Co has selected Nokia’s next-generation fiber broadband technology to deploy on the nbn network beginning in 2023. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The deal will see nbn deploy Nokia’s latest MF series Optical Line Terminals (MF-14) and the Altiplano Access Controller for delivering higher capacity broadband technologies, such as XGS PON, 25GS PON, 50G PON and beyond. 

nbn will be one of the first in the world – and the first operator in the southern hemisphere – to deploy the Nokia MF-14. 

nbn said deployment of Nokia MF-14 OLTs will bring  multi-gigabit residential speeds across its Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) network.  Nokia's Altiplano Access Controller will bring web-scale software management and control to the nbn network. This will allow nbn to deploy enhanced customer experience tools, incorporate smarter systems and automation to reduce costs and improve operational efficiency.

In November, the nbn network reached a record peak rate of 22.35 terabits per second downstream traffic, and this number is expected to increase up to 100 terabits per second in the next ten years.

Stephen Rue, nbn Chief Executive Officer, said: “Rapid technological advances will play a critical role in driving the economic prosperity of our nation and in enabling our transition to a smarter, digitally enabled economy. By leading the deployment of this next-generation technology, we can help meet our nation’s data demands now and into the future. Together with our network investment that is pushing fibre deeper into communities and extending fixed wireless and satellite coverage and capabilities, we are helping unlock social and economic benefits for households, businesses and communities across Australia. More than 8.5 million households and businesses are connected to services over the nbn network – this equates to approximately 20 million people relying on our network every day."

Ricky Corker, Nokia’s Chief Customer Experience Officer said “Nokia and nbn have been partners for more than 10 years and we’re excited to continue to support nbn in this next technological evolution, deploying more advanced and energy-efficient networking technology. "

https://www.nbnco.com.au/corporate-information/media-centre/media-statements/nbn-selects-nokias-next-generation-fibre-solutions

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NTIA awards $73M in high-speed Internet grants for Tribal lands

The  Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration  (NTIA)  awarded nine grants as part of the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP). These new grants, totaling more than $73 million, bring the total of the program to $1.655 billion awarded to 121 Tribal entities. With funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, also known as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, these grants will expand high-speed Internet service network deployment and digital skills training to improve access to education, jobs, and healthcare on Tribal lands.  

Tribes in six states received grants – California, Colorado, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Nevada, and Washington. 

The projects funded by these awards will directly connect 3,107 unserved Native American households that previously had no connectivity to high-speed Internet as well as businesses and anchor institutions. Additionally, the nine grants will create 49 new jobs.  Additional grant awards will be announced on a rolling basis. 

“The Biden administration is committed to fostering meaningful partnerships with Tribal Nations, which have been vital to our goal of connecting everyone in America, including American Indians and Natives, with affordable, reliable, high-speed Internet service,” said Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. “These grants – made possible by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law – highlight the Biden administration’s unprecedented commitment to closing the digital divide in Native communities.” 

https://www.ntia.doc.gov/press-release/2022/biden-harris-administration-announces-more-73-million-high-speed-internet-grants

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Swiss data center operator secures US$512M refinancing

Green, the leading Swiss data center operator, completed a refinancing package valued at CHF 480 million (approximately US$512.3 million) from leading international and Swiss banks. 

Green, which is owned by InfraVia Capital Partners, said the deal will fund the expansion of its current capacity from 33MW to 81MW through the construction of additional capacity in Dielsdorf campus, the expansion of the existing high-performance campus in Lupfig and through opportunities of new campuses in Switzerland.

In the last three years, Green has intensified its cooperation with leading enterprises and public cloud providers (hyperscale companies), invested in sustainable technologies and pioneering innovations and completed new, energy-efficient and high-performance data centers in Zurich and vicinity.

Roger Süess, CEO Green: “With the acceleration of the growth program, Green is responding to the high demand from hyperscale companies who put their trust in Green when it comes to geo-redundant solutions. Green provides space, networks and sustainable growth to the benefit of hyperscale companies, enterprises and Switzerland as a whole.”

https://www.green.ch/en/blog/detail/green-completes-a-chf-480-million-refinancing-and-accelerates-its-investment-programs-in-switzerland

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Freedom Photonics delivers >10 watts amplification at 1550nm

Freedom Photonics announced its "aura" single mode diode laser amplifier achieved >10 watts optical power amplification at 1550nm with nearly perfect beam quality.

Dr. Jenna Campbell, Director of High Power Laser Engineering at Freedom Photonics, gave an invited paper at the 2022 International Semiconductor Laser Conference (ISLC) stating, “Freedom Photonics’ 1550 nm aura diode laser amplifier has achieved an output power of over 10 Watts (pulsed) with nearly diffraction-limited beam quality.” This result doubles the previous milestone announced in January. Compared to the current industry standard, it represents a roughly two order-of-magnitude increase in the saturation power that can be extracted from a semiconductor optical amplifier and is comparable to the output of many fiber amplifier systems.

Dr. Paul Leisher, VP of Research at Freedom Photonics and ISLC 2022 Program Chair said: "The International Semiconductor Laser Conference is likely the most prestigious conference related to the field of semiconductor lasers and amplifiers. All submitted work undergoes a highly rigorous peer review process, and less than half of the submissions are accepted for oral presentation. Elevation of a contributed presentation to invited status, such as in the case of Dr. Campbell's talk was decided by committee in only a handful of submissions. This is a strong indication of the perceived value and acceptance by the scientific community of the significance of the results achieved by Freedom Photonics."

Dr. Milan Mashanovitch, President of Freedom Photonics noted: “Our auraTM product line is capable of achieving nearly perfect diffraction-limited output at power and brightness levels comparable to fiber laser amplifiers. We strongly believe that the introduction of an all-semiconductor solution for optical power generation and amplification will enable for the first time pushing high power photonics products from the industrial, defense, and aerospace segments into the hands of consumers.”

http://www.freedomphotonics.com

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