Nokia's sales dropped 21% in Q4 as it looks to stabilizing trends

Citing ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty that puts pressure on operator spending, Nokia reported Q4 2023 sales of EUR 5.707 billion, a decline of 21% y-o-y in constant currency (-23% reported). Q4 comparable diluted EPS was EUR 0.10; reported diluted EPS was EUR -0.01. Full year net sales declined 8% y-o-y in constant currency (-11% reported).

The company said it sees signs of stabilization with improving order trends.

Some highlights:

• Enterprise segment achieved 16% net sales growth in constant currency, accounting for over 10% of group net sales.
• Network Infrastructure showed progress with webscale orders, US government initiatives, and a significant customer in Asia for Fixed Wireless Access products.
• Optical Networks achieved a record of 800Gbps transmission on a single wavelength over 6,600km.
• Mobile Networks faced challenges but improved gross margin, and AT&T's decision to single-source RAN network was disappointing.
• The Cloud and Network Services business had a slight decline in net sales but improved profitability and launched Network as Code platform.

Nokia Technologies signed significant deals with Apple, Samsung, Honor, and OPPO, focusing on growth in licensing in new areas like automotive, consumer electronics, IoT, and multimedia.

Nokia CEO Pekka Lundmark states: "In 2023 we saw a meaningful shift in customer behavior impacting our industry driven by the macro-economic environment and high interest rates along with customer inventory digestion. This led to our full year net sales declining by 8% in constant currency. Proactive action across our organization meant we were able to protect our profitability while continuing to invest in R&D and we delivered a comparable operating margin of 10.7% for the full year. This was a resilient performance considering the challenging environment and lower contribution from our high margin patent licensing business as some renewals remained outstanding...

Looking ahead, we expect the challenging environment of 2023 to continue during the first half of 2024, particularly in the first quarter. However, we are now starting to see some green shoots on the horizon, with improving order intake for Network Infrastructure and some of the specific deals we have won. This is expected to drive a strong improvement in Network Infrastructure net sales growth in the second half of 2024 which we believe, even with a challenging first half, will drive solid growth for the full year. In Mobile Networks, we expect top line challenges in 2024 related to a more normalized pace of investment in India and the AT&T decision. We do expect further improvement in gross margin and then in the second half we will start to see more benefits from our cost savings program. At the Nokia level, we currently estimate that we will deliver comparable operating profit of between EUR 2.3 and 2.9 billion in 2024. We also target to deliver an improved free cash flow performance with conversion of between 30% and 60%."

https://www.nokia.com/about-us/investors/results-reports/

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Kyndryl adds Security Edge Services with Cisco

Kyndryl introduced two enterprise security edge services, in collaboration with Cisco, for addressing and responding to cyber incidents.

The new security edge services introduced by Kyndryl are:

Kyndryl Consult Security Services Edge (SSE) with Cisco Secure Access -- designed to provide a modular and unified approach for consulting and implementing a SSE architecture with Cisco's technology.

 Kyndryl Managed SSE with Cisco Secure Access -- introduces a new category of network security services that integrates security into a cloud-delivered service model. It also offers an end-to-end solution for transition, implementation and managed services of SSE solution with Cisco's portfolio of products and services.

This announcement builds on Kyndryl's successful partnership with Cisco, through which the companies have co-invested and collaborated on a development process to build scalable security offerings. The new security edge services, combined with Kyndryl and Cisco's available SD-WAN services, enable enterprises to build a solid foundation to transition into a secure access service edge (SASE) architecture. Kyndryl then delivers these services and solutions to help customers meet their business needs in areas of application modernization, resilient networks and secure infrastructure with zero trust network and hybrid work.

"Our partnership with Kyndryl has demonstrated the added value Cisco and Kyndryl bring to our shared customers," said Brian Feeney, Vice President, Global Security Partner Sales, Cisco. "With Cisco's technology and Kyndryl's cybersecurity services, we are able to provide our customers with an exceptional user experience and protected access from any device to anywhere."

"As Kyndryl continues to evolve our approach to security and resiliency, we are creating more opportunities to explore innovative solutions with our partners," said Michelle Weston, Vice President of Global Offerings for Security and Resiliency, Kyndryl. "Our collaboration with Cisco enables Kyndryl to help customers better anticipate security incidents using the right tools and capabilities aligned with Kyndryl's cyber resilience framework."

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Nokia signs 5G patent cross-license agreement with OPPO

Nokia signed a multi-year patent cross-license agreement with OPPO. 

Under the agreement OPPO will make royalty payments, along with catch-up payments to cover the periods of non-payment. The agreement resolves all pending patent litigation between the parties, in all jurisdictions. The terms of the agreement remain confidential as agreed between the parties.

Jenni Lukander, President of Nokia Technologies, said: “We are delighted to have reached a cross-license agreement with OPPO that reflects the mutual respect for each other’s intellectual property and Nokia’s investments in R&D and contributions to open standards. OPPO is one of the leading companies in the global smartphone market and we look forward to working together to bring further innovation to their users around the world. The new agreement - along with the other major smartphone agreements we have concluded over the past year - will provide long-term financial stability to our licensing business.”

Nokia’s patent portfolio is composed of around 20,000 patent families, including over 6,000 patent families declared essential to 5G. 

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Intel opens Fab 9 for advanced packaging of chiplets

Intel celebrated the opening of Fab 9 in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. 

Fab 9 is set to play a pivotal role in driving Intel's ongoing advancements in advanced packaging technologies. With the semiconductor industry transitioning into the heterogeneous era that embraces multiple "chiplets" within a single package, cutting-edge packaging technologies like Foveros and EMIB (embedded multi-die interconnect bridge) offer a swifter and more cost-effective path toward achieving the milestone of 1 trillion transistors on a single chip, extending Moore's Law beyond 2030.

Intel's Foveros 3D advanced packaging technology enables the stacking of compute tiles vertically rather than horizontally. This innovation empowers both Intel and its foundry customers to mix and match compute tiles, optimizing cost and power efficiency in the process.

This achievement also marks a significant step in Intel's planned $3.5 billion investment in its New Mexico facilities.

“Today, we celebrate the opening of Intel’s first high-volume semiconductor operations and the only U.S. factory producing the world’s most advanced packaging solutions at scale. This cutting-edge technology sets Intel apart and gives our customers real advantages in performance, form factor and flexibility in design applications, all within a resilient supply chain. Congratulations to the New Mexico team, the entire Intel family, our suppliers, and contractor partners who collaborate and relentlessly push the boundaries of packaging innovation, stated Keyvan Esfarjani, Intel executive vice president and chief global operations officer.

https://www.intc.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/1670/intel-opens-fab-9-in-new-mexico

https://youtu.be/_x-vfyMq_MQ?si=ZSR9zCVDjZHiggPH

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Keysight introduces Chiplet PHY Designer

 Keysight Technologies introduced Chiplet PHY Designer, a new tool for high-speed digital design and simulation. This tool focuses on die-to-die (D2D) interconnect simulation, which is crucial for verifying the performance of heterogeneous and 3D integrated circuit (IC) designs, commonly known as chiplets. It's the industry's first electronic design automation (EDA) tool that offers detailed modeling and simulation capabilities, enabling chiplet designers to verify that their designs meet the specifications of the Universal Chiplet Interconnect Express (UCIe) standard.

UCIe is becoming the leading chiplet interconnect specification in the semiconductor industry. It's an open standard that defines interconnects between chiplets within advanced 2.5D or 3D packages. UCIe is gaining support from top semiconductor equipment and EDA tool vendors, foundries, and chiplet designers. Designers adopting this interconnect standard and ensuring their chiplets meet its specifications contribute to building a broad ecosystem for chiplet interoperability and commerce.

Keysight EDA's R&D team has extensive experience in modeling and simulating high-speed digital interfaces aligned with industry standards. For example, ADS Memory Designer covers various memory interfaces like GDDR7, DDR5, LPDDR5, and HBM3 with its IBIS-AMI modeler. Additionally, its JEDEC compliance test solution handles over 100 test IDs using the same algorithm as the Keysight Infinium oscilloscope family.

Key features of the Chiplet PHY Designer physical-layer simulator include:

• Supports UCIe physical layer standard – automated parsing of signals following the standard naming conventions, automated connections between multiple dies through package interconnects, standard driven simulation setup such as speed grade, and intuitive measurement setup through specialized probe component.
• Measurement of voltage transfer function (VTF) – precisely computes a VTF to ensure UCIe specification compliance and analyzes system bit error rate (BER) down to 1e-27 or 1e-32 levels. Measures eye diagram height, eye width, skew, mask margin, and BER contour.
• Analysis of forwarded clocking to accurately capture the asynchronous clocking behavior.

https://www.keysight.com/us/en/product/W3650B/chiplet-phy-designer.html

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PowerHouse plans 800 MW campus in Spotsylvania, VA

PowerHouse Data Centers, a developer and owner of next-generation data centers backed by a joint venture between American Real Estate Partners (AREP) and Harrison Street, acquired 145 acres in Spotsylvania, Virginia to serve as the site of the PowerHouse 95 data center campus. 

Powerhouse 95, which will serve the data-intensive needs of hyperscale users in northern Virginia, is located along the I-95 corridor in proximity to existing electrical infrastructure. PowerHouse 95 will have three 300 MW substations, with the first currently under development and expected to provide 150 MWs by October 2025. Upon completion, the first substation will provide enough power to construct up to eight or more high-density data centers. Harrison Street and AREP will have the flexibility to develop between four to eight powered shells and two additional substations, maximizing optionality for hyperscale tenants.

“PowerHouse 95 is located at the epicenter of one of the fastest growing data center markets in northern Virginia,” said Michael Hochanadel, Managing Director and Head of Digital at Harrison Street. “This is yet another impressive venture between Harrison Street and PowerHouse and demonstrates our collective ability to identify high-quality solutions for the hyperscale community. Our ongoing partnership with AREP continues to accelerate the development of highly sought after data centers that address increasing demand driven by high-powered computing, AI, and other advancements. We look forward to further expanding the Powerhouse platform in both northern Virginia and across key regions in the U.S to deliver the best and fastest solutions to customers.     ”                      

This purchase marks one of two recent transactions for the JV, following the announced closing on the PowerHouse Reno site.  In addition to closing on PH 95 and PH Reno, PowerHouse has four developments underway in northern Virginia totaling over 700 MW.      

https://www.powerhousedata.com/news/powerhouse-data-centers-closes-on-site-of-800-mw-data-center-campus-in-spotsylvania-virginia

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Oracle Cloud Infrastructure releases Generative AI service

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) introduced a Generative AI service for enterprise use that incorporates large language models from Cohere and Meta Llama 2, making it easier for businesses to leverage the latest generative AI advancements. The updated OCI Generative AI service offers support for over 100 languages, improved GPU cluster management, and flexible fine-tuning options. It can be used both in the Oracle Cloud and on-premises through OCI Dedicated Region.

The initial beta release supports OCI OpenSearch. Upcoming releases will support a wider range of data search and aggregation tools and provide access to Oracle Database 23c with AI Vector Search and MySQL HeatWave with Vector Store. Oracle will also deliver prebuilt agent-actions across its suite of SaaS applications, including Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications Suite, Oracle NetSuite, and industry applications such as Oracle Health.

“With today’s news, Oracle is bringing generative AI to customer workloads and their data—not asking customers to move their data to a separate vector database,” said Ritu Jyoti, group vice president, Worldwide Artificial Intelligence and Automation Research Practice and Global AI Research Lead, IDC. “With a common architecture for generative AI that is being integrated across the Oracle ecosystem from its Autonomous Database to Fusion SaaS applications, Oracle is bringing generative AI to where exabytes of customer data already reside, both in cloud data centers and on-premises environments. This greatly simplifies the process for organizations to deploy generative AI with their existing business operations.”

https://www.oracle.com/news/announcement/oracle-announces-availability-oci-generative-ai-service-2024-01-23/

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Lightstorm to acquire JGA-South and SEA-US cable assets

Lightstorm, a prominent pan-Asia cloud network infrastructure operator owned by Miami-based I Squared Capital announced plans to acquire three subsea cable systems: the JGA-North cable and substantial segments of the JGA-South and SEA-US cable systems.

The three acquired cables, spanning approximately 21,000 kilometers in total length and boasting an allocated capacity of around 64 Tbps, establish critical connections between key markets such as the United States, Guam, Japan, and Australia. This acquisition will further bolster Lightstorm's submarine capabilities, complementing its existing terrestrial Data Center Interconnect (DCI) business in the Asian region.

The cable systems are being acquired from bankruptcy court-appointed receivers in both Delaware and Singapore. Lightstorm expects the deal to close in the latter half of this year. Financial terms were not disclosed. While the sales proceesings are underway, David Zimmer, the head of Lightstorm's international subsea connectivity business, will assume the role of interim CEO to oversee day-to-day operations during this transition phase.

"We are thrilled to integrate these high-value subsea cables into our platform,” said Amajit Gupta, CEO and MD of Lightstorm Group. “This acquisition will fortify our position as a leading cloud network infrastructure provider and expand our geographic presence and service offerings by linking through expanded subsea assets such as this cable system. We are excited to build upon RTI Cable’s extraordinary achievements and wish Russ well in his future endeavors.”

“I Squared Capital portfolio companies already operate a formidable global network, and their acquisition of leading subsea cables positions the Lightstorm Group for unprecedented future growth” added RTI Cable’s founder and former CEO Russ Matulich. “It is a privilege to have worked alongside many of the industry’s best to achieve something more important than ourselves, and I look forward to celebrating their future achievements.”

https://www.lightstorm.net/lightstorm-to-acquire-submarine-cable-assets-connecting-the-us-asia-and-australia/

Japan-Guam-Australia North Cable ready-for-service

Wednesday, July 08, 2020  Japan, NEC, Subsea  

The Japan-Guam-Australia North Cable System (JGA North), which spans approximately 2,700 kilometers from Japan to Guam, is ready for service. The cable has an initial design capacity of 24 Tbps minimum, increasing to 30 Tbps in the coming year.

JGA North seamlessly interconnects with Japan-Guam-Australia South (JGA South) in Guam.

Construction on track for Japan-Guam-Australia South Cable System 

Sunday, April 14, 2019  Subsea  

RTI Connectivity Pte. Ltd. (RTI)  reported that construction of the Japan-Guam-Australia South Cable System (JGA South) is on schedule and will be commercially available by the end of the year.

JGA South has an initial design capacity of 36 terabits per second (Tbps), enabling carrier-neutral data centres in Sydney to connect to RTI’s combined cable landing station / neutral data centre in Piti, Guam. From Guam, JGA South connects seamlessly to key cities with neutral data centres including Los Angeles, California, USA, Tokyo, Japan, and Hong Kong, SAR, over the Southeast Asia-United States Cable System (SEA-US), JGA North and the Hong Kong Guam Cable System (HK-G), respectively.

JGA South will also connect to the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, making it the first new cable ever to land on the east coast of Australia, outside of Sydney.

http://www.rticable.com/others/JGA-S%20Ready%20for%20Subsea%20Installation%208%20Apr%202019.pdf

SEA-US Cable Secures FCC License

Monday, January 16, 2017  #PTC17, FCC, Submarine Cable, Undersea  

Hawaiian Telcom confirmed that the Federal Communication Commission has approved the landing license for the new Southeast Asia – U.S. (SEA-US) fiber cable system. The company noted that the SEA-US undersea fiber cable has been successfully connected at the shore-end in Hermosa Beach, California where construction of the cable landing station is expected to be completed later this month. The ship laying the submarine fiber is en route to Honolulu, scheduled to arrive in February.

The $250 million SEA-US cable system is designed to bypass congested, earthquake-prone regions (Luzon Straight) and optimize stable connectivity. It will deliver an initial 20 terabit per second (Tb/s) capacity.

SEA-US consortium members include Globe Telecom (Manila, Philippines), GTA (Tamuning, Guam), GTI (Los Angeles, California), RTI (San Francisco, California), Telin (Jakarta, Indonesia), and Telkom USA (Los Angeles, California).

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Orange Business and Tēnaka work to restore coral reef in Malaysia

Orange Business and Tēnaka, a social business that works to restore and protect marine ecosystems worldwide, have partnered to scale the coral reef restoration in a Marine Protected Area of the Coral Triangle in Malaysia.

Orange Business has orchestrated a groundbreaking marine research project leveraging a Yucca lab research station equipped with underwater monitoring devices and solar-powered floating buoys. This station, connected to the 4G network via an Orange Business SIM card, transfers images to Microsoft Azure with the assurance of security measures by Orange Cyberdefense. In the cloud, an advanced AI algorithm by Orange Business autonomously identifies and quantifies diverse marine species in the reefs.

This project benefits from partnerships, with Netskope's For Good program providing security support and design, and Microsoft contributing Azure credits through its Startups Founders Hub program, enhancing the project's potential and reach.

“Regenerating the ocean is the best solution we have to mitigate the climate and biodiversity crisis. By leveraging technology, Orange Business brings critical expertise for us to scale our operations and reach a global impact,” explained Anne-Sophie Roux, Founder of Tēnaka.

“We wanted to be part of the solution for an environmental challenge. Our employees worldwide support Tēnaka for its inspiring initiative in preserving and rehabilitating coral ecosystems – and one where our technology and digital services can really make a difference to create a positive impact,” commented Kristof Symons, CEO International, Orange Business.

https://letsrevive.orange.com/technology-partner/

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Telefónica offloads mobile data to the Helium in Mexico

Telefónica is partnering with Nova Labs, a pioneer in decentralized wireless communications, to launch Helium Mobile Hotspots in Mexico. The hotspots, initially in  Mexico City and Oaxaca, will extend Telefónica’s coverage and enable offloading of mobile data to the Helium Mobile Network and improve overall mobile coverage service for customers.

Telefónica and Nova Labs have built a solution based on the OpenWifi standard developed by the Telecom Infra Project (TIP). This solution enables select Movistar customers in Mexico to access the Helium Mobile Network using their Movistar SIM cards for authentication.

Helium Mobile Hotspots are connected to a proprietary management system developed by Telefónica, which controls its customers’ automatic access to the Helium Mobile Network for mobile data sessions. Telefónica maintains full control of the customer experience and monitors hotspot status before allowing access and downloading data over the Helium Mobile Network. This innovative solution combines the core cellular network with Helium Mobile Network coverage and is designed to be deployed globally and leveraged by any operator.

Telefónica says the use of Helium Mobile Hotspots reduces telecommunications infrastructure costs significantly, with lower capex and opex costs and minimal environmental impact. In addition, it enables a community of individuals and small business owners to deploy Helium Mobile Hotspots and enable Telefónica to accelerate coverage growth while continuing to provide a quality service to its customers.

Helium Mobile Hotspots are compact, discrete, easy to install and can be deployed in small spaces, increasing mobile coverage and allowing mobile data to be offloaded from the core network to the Helium Mobile Network. This people-powered solution increases mobile data coverage and is based on a transparent and immutable economic system managed by the Helium Network’s blockchain-based technology.

https://www.telefonica.com/en/communication-room/press-room/telefonica-and-nova-labs-launch-helium-mobile-hotspots-in-mexico/

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AT&T posts Q4 sales of $32 billion, up 2.2% yoy

AT&T reported F2023 fourth quarter revenues of $32.0 billion, up 2.2% year over year. This increase primarily reflects higher Mobility, and to a lesser extent, Mexico and Consumer Wireline revenues, partly offset by continued declines in Business Wireline revenues.

Capital expenditures were $4.6 billion in the quarter. Capital investment*, which includes $1.0 billion of cash payments for vendor financing, totaled $5.6 billion.

Fourth quarter operating income was $5.3 billion, with adjusted operating income* of $5.8 billion; Full-year operating income of $23.5 billion, with adjusted operating income of $24.7 billion, up 5.0% year over year.

“We accomplished exactly what we said we would in 2023, delivering sustainable growth and consistent business performance, resulting in full-year free cash flow of $16.8 billion, ahead of our raised guidance. As we advance our lead in converged connectivity, we will continue to scale our best-in-class 5G and fiber networks to meet customers’ growing demand for seamless, ubiquitous broadband, and drive durable growth for shareholders,” said John Stankey, AT&T CEO.

Some highlights

• Full-year Mobility service revenues up 4.4%, above guidance; company’s best-ever full-year Mobility operating income.
• Full-year consumer broadband revenues up 8.1%, above guidance; driven by full-year AT&T Fiber revenue growth of 26.6%.
• 526,000 postpaid phone net adds in the fourth quarter; more than 1.7 million for the full-year 2023 with historically low churn levels and continued strong ARPU growth.
• Postpaid churn was 1.01%, consistent with the year-ago quarter.
• Postpaid phone-only ARPU was $56.23, up 1.4% versus the year-ago quarter, due to a mix shift to higher-priced unlimited plans and pricing actions.
• 273,000 AT&T Fiber net adds in the fourth quarter; 1.1 million net adds for full-year 2023, 16 straight quarters with more than 200,000 net adds; sixth straight year with 1 million or more AT&T Fiber net adds.
• 
  
• Business Wireline revenues were $5.1 billion, down 10.3% year over year due to lower demand for legacy voice and data services and product simplification, partly offset by growth in connectivity services.
• AT&T's Total debt was $137.3 billion at the end of the fourth quarter, and net debt was $128.9 billion.

https://about.att.com/story/2024/q4-earnings-2023.html

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Southern Cross targets 800G wavelengths across the Pacific

Southern Cross is looking to leverage Ciena's WaveLogic 6 Extreme (WL6e) technology to enable 800 Gb/s wavelengths across the single 12,500+km span of its Southern Cross (SX) cable from Sydney to Los Angeles.

Ciena says its WL6e, which operates at 200GBaud, supports 1.6 Tb/s single-carrier wavelengths for metro networks, 800 Gb/s services across the longest links, a 50% reduction in watts per bit, and requires less space compared to the previous generation for similar capacities.

“We have a long-standing history with Ciena, and their strong history of innovation and deep understanding of our business needs have continued to be instrumental to our success. SX NEXT cable is a high-performance system and the first phase of the replacement of the original systems by 2030. Today, we’re once again announcing what is expected to be another networking world first, implementing Ciena WaveLogic 6 on SX NEXT to help us push the envelope in terms of high-speed bandwidth connectivity and energy efficiency,” said Laurie Miller, President and CEO, Southern Cross.

“The Southern Cross NEXT cable is key to the transpacific cable ecosystem, contributing to improved network performance across the Pacific region – all on top of Ciena GeoMesh Extreme technology. Southern Cross has always looked to Ciena for the latest innovations to gain a competitive advantage. With this upgrade to WL6, Southern Cross will be able to provide customers with unrivalled connectivity, allowing them to enjoy applications and services of up to 800GbE,” said Dino DiPerna, Senior Vice President, Global Research and Development, Ciena.

https://www.ciena.com/about/newsroom/press-releases/southern-cross-targets-pacific-record-with-cienas-wavelogic-6

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Te Waipounamu subsea cable to link NZ and Australia

Plans for a new 3,000 km submarine cable project linking New Zealand and Sydney and Melbourne in Australia have been announced by Intelia New Zealand.

TE WAIPOUNAMU, named in reference to the Maori name of the South Island of New Zealand, will include a total of 16 fiber pairs broken down as follow:

• 4 fiber pairs from Invercargill to Australia offering a total capacity of 120 Tbps
• 12 fiber pairs between Sydney and Melbourne allowing an alternative and very competitive backhauling option between the two largest cities of Australia with a total capacity of 35 Tbps per fiber pair.

“Te Waipounamu cable is going to be a game changer for the connectivity of NZ South Island. It will also unlock the huge potential of Southland in term of sustainable data storage. It’s a fantastic challenge for our team and we are proud to continue contributing to New Zealand digital development” declared Rémi Galasso, founder of Intelia NZ.

“Te Waipounamu cable represent a significant investment of NZD 160 million that will be funded by a mix of equity, debt and capacity contract commitments from major industry players both in Australia and New Zealand” added Perrine DHALLUIN, Director at Intelia NZ.

“Our plan is to finalize a supplier contract by April 2024 and start in parallel the permitting process in order to target a system commissioning by 2026” added Georges Krebs, Chief Technical Officer at Intelia NZ.

https://www.linkedin.com/search/results/content/?keywords=New%20Zealand%20Remi%20Galasso

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T-Mobile US picks Nokia’s Multi-Access Gateway for FWA

T-Mobile has selected Nokia’s Multi-Access Gateway, which supports LTE, 5G NSA, and 5G SA technologies, for the service provider’s nationwide, fixed-wireless High-Speed Internet (HSI) traffic. 

Nokia says its MAG solution will allow T-Mobile to deliver an affordable, reliable and seamless broadband experience to every customer. The Nokia platform can incrementally scale the bandwidth for HSI traffic to multiple Terabits-per-second, while providing significant power and space efficiency. As T-Mobile expands its HSI service to more homes, it will benefit from higher bandwidth with lower space and power.

The Nokia MAG leverages the 7750 Service Routers (SR) to efficiently deliver broadband services over fixed-wireless access technologies. The Nokia MAG solution combines the throughput and power savings of an NPU-assisted user-plane architecture on 7750 SR systems, while providing the flexibility of the 3GPP control-plane architecture.

John Saw, EVP Chief Technology Officer for T-Mobile, said: “T-Mobile is one of the fastest growing broadband providers in the country and we are committed to expanding our High-Speed Internet service nationwide. The Nokia MAG solution will allow us to simplify our architecture and reduce operational life cycle management and our energy footprint. We are excited to partner with Nokia and leverage their innovative technology.”

Federico Guillén, President of Network Infrastructure, Nokia, said: “We are pleased to work with T-Mobile to provide a highly scalable and energy-efficient user plane for their fixed-wireless High Speed Internet service. Our MAG solution, which uses our advanced FP5 IP routing silicon, will help T-Mobile to effectively enhance service capacity, scalability, and speed to market.”

https://www.nokia.com/about-us/news/releases/2024/01/23/t-mobile-selects-nokia-to-improve-scalability-and-efficiency-for-5g-high-speed-internet-service/

The Nokia Multi-Access Gateway (MAG) is a high-performance and versatile subscriber management solution that supports the full range of wireline and fixed-wireless broadband services. It can be deployed as a broadband network gateway (BNG), fixed-wireless access gateway, or converged multi- access gateway on a wide range of Nokia’s Service Routing platforms to efficiently address the scaling needs of any network. Standards-based Control and User Plane Separation (CUPS) enables to deploy MAG control plane functions on virtual servers and to seamlessly interwork with LTE/5G core systems.

• https://onestore.nokia.com/asset/210510?_ga=2.39623395.1354112000.1706053590-1759890601.1705378645

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Verizon seeks to balance growth and profitability

Verizon reported Q4 2023 total operating revenue of $35.1 billion, a decrease of 0.3 percent from fourth-quarter 2022. Earnings per share was $(0.64), compared with earnings per share of $1.56 in fourth-quarter 2022; adjusted EPS, excluding special items, of $1.08, compared with $1.19 in fourth-quarter 2022. The decrease can be attributed to wireless equipment revenue, which was 2.0 percent lower than 2022, as total postpaid upgrades declined by 17.9 percent. 

Full-year 2023 consolidated operating revenue was $134.0 billion, down 2.1 percent year over year.

"After delivering continuous improvement throughout 2023, we ended the year strong and continue to pursue the right balance of growth and profitability," said Verizon Chairman and CEO Hans Vestberg. "2023 was a year of change. We have the right assets and the best team in place and are well-positioned for growth in 2024." 

Total Broadband:

• Total broadband net additions of 413,000, represented the fifth consecutive quarter that Verizon reported more than 400,000 broadband net additions. 
• Total broadband net additions included 375,000 fixed wireless net additions, bringing the subscriber base to over 3 million.
•  In fourth-quarter 2023, more than 80 percent of Consumer fixed wireless gross additions were in Verizon's first 76 C-Band markets. Verizon is ahead of schedule to achieve its goal of 4 to 5 million subscribers by the end of 2025. 
• 55,000 Fios Internet net additions, down 4,000 from the fourth-quarter 2022. 
• 10.7 million total broadband subscribers as of the end of fourth-quarter 2023. 

Total Wireless: 

• Total wireless service revenue2 of $19.4 billion, a 3.2 percent increase year over year.
• Retail postpaid phone net additions of 449,000, and retail postpaid net additions of 1,460,000.
• Retail postpaid churn of 1.18 percent, and retail postpaid phone churn of 0.93 percent.
• Consumer wireless service revenue in fourth-quarter 2023 increased 3.2 percent year over year driven primarily by growth in Consumer wireless postpaid Average Revenue Per Account (ARPA) resulting from pricing actions implemented in recent quarters, the larger allocation of  administrative and telco recovery fees from other revenue into wireless service revenue, higher premium price plan adoption, and growth from fixed wireless access offerings. 
• For full-year 2023, total Consumer wireless service revenue was $63.4 billion, an increase of 3.0 percent from full-year 2022. 

Verizon Business results

• Total Verizon Business revenue was $7.6 billion in fourth-quarter 2023, a decrease of 3.6 percent year over year as lower wireline revenue and lower wireless equipment revenue was partially offset by higher wireless service revenue. 
• For full-year 2023, total Business revenue was $30.1 billion, a 3.1 percent decrease year over year. 
• Business wireless service revenue in fourth-quarter 2023 was $3.4 billion, an increase of 3.0 percent year over year. This was driven by the larger allocation of  administration and telco recovery fees from other revenue into wireless service revenue, continued strong net additions and the benefit of pricing actions implemented earlier in the year. Full-year 2023 Business wireless service revenue was $13.4 billion, an increase of 4.1 percent compared to full-year 2022. 
• Business reported 292,000 wireless retail postpaid net additions in fourth-quarter 2023, including 131,000 postpaid phone net additions. This was the 10th consecutive quarter that Business reported more than 125,000 postpaid phone net additions. Business continues to grow volumes and expand its relationships with customers strengthening its position as a wireless market share leader.
• https://www.verizon.com/about/news/verizon-finishes-2023-strong-cash-flow-and-wireless-customer-growth

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Ericsson's Q4 sales dropped 17% YoY

Due to a -23% decline in its Networks business, Ericsson's Q4 reported sales were down by -16% to SEK 71.9 billion. Gross income excluding restructuring charges decreased to SEK 29.6 (35.7) billion. Gross margin excluding restructuring charges was 41.1% (41.5%). 

"Despite headwinds and a very weak mobile networks market, we were able to generate a full-year EBITA[2] of SEK 21.4 b. While the actions we have taken to improve performance are paying off, we are not satisfied with our profitability and there is more work to do. As we look to 2024, we expect the market outside China to further decline, with similar uncertainties as experienced in 2023. In this environment, we remain laser focused on managing elements within our control, including operational efficiency and tight cost management. We are confident in our strategy and are committed to driving long-term value for our shareholders," stated Börje Ekholm, President and CEO of Ericsson.

"The mobile network industry remains challenging. We expect the current market uncertainties to prevail into 2024 with a further decline of the RAN market outside China as our customers remain cautious and the investment pace is normalizing in India. The new US contract will start to ramp up in the second half of 2024."   

"Underlying demand from growing data traffic and 5G only being in the early stages of build-out will require additional network investments. In our view, the current investment levels are unsustainably low for many operators. We are therefore confident that a market recovery should materialize. However, the timing of market recovery is ultimately in the hands of our customers."

Highlights:

• Q4 Networks sales decreased organically by -23% YoY as customers continued to focus on cash flow. Sales in India declined QoQ as the market started its transition to normalized investment levels following an unprecedented roll-out pace. Q4 gross margin grew QoQ to 43.2%.  
• In Cloud Software and Services, Ericsson delivered on its EBITA target to reach at least breakeven in 2023 with an EBITA of SEK 2.0 billion in Q4 and SEK 1.7 billion for the full year. 
• Enterprise sales[ grew by 7% organically YoY mainly driven by Enterprise Wireless Solutions. EBITA (loss) was stable YoY, negatively impacted by an inventory write-off in Enterprise Wireless Solutions.  
• Full year 2023 sales declined organically by -10% to SEK 263.4 (271.5) billion, impacted by a -15% decrease in Networks, partly offset by an 11% growth in Enterprise. 

https://www.ericsson.com/en/press-releases/2024/1/ericsson-reports-fourth-quarter-and-full-year-results-2023

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Nokia Bell Labs joins DARPA’s LunA-10 Capability Study

The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA)selected Nokia Bell Labs to participate in the 10-Year Lunar Architecture (LunA-10) program, which will design an integrated multi-service architecture to support a thriving economy on the Moon in the next decade and beyond. LunA-10 will design the essential infrastructure framework capable of supporting industrial activities, as well as scientific discovery.

Nokia will collaborate with the 13 other companies specializing in areas critical to establishing an integrated commercial economy on the Moon, such as energy, transport and construction. For instance, Nokia Bell Labs will be responsible for recommending a reliable, high-performance communications infrastructure, and it will also work closely with other LunA-10 companies to ensure that infrastructure may be efficiently transported and built on the lunar surface and that it would have reliable power sources once installed.

Thierry E. Klein, President of Nokia Bell Labs Solutions Research, said: “DARPA has had a direct hand in some of the most significant technology advancements of the last fifty years – the foundation of the Internet, the creation of GPS, and the rapid development of the COVID-19 vaccine. Nokia Bell Labs is thrilled to play a key role in DARPA’s next game-changing endeavor and help shape the infrastructure architecture for the lunar economy. Pushing the frontiers of technology is in Bell Labs’ DNA, and by creating the communication solutions blueprint for the Moon, we will help establish the foundations of a permanent human presence on the lunar surface.” 

https://www.bell-labs.com/research-innovation/network-fundamentals/first-cellular-network-on-the-moon/#gref

• As part of NASA’s Tipping Point initiative, Nokia is deploying the first cellular network on the Moon in 2024 to prove that 3GPP-based technology can meet the critical communications needs of future lunar and Martian missions.

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HPE appoints Neil MacDonald to head HPC & AI

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) appointed Neil MacDonald to lead the company’s HPC & AI business segment in addition to leading its Compute business.

Notably, under MacDonald’s leadership, the Compute business recently expanded its strategic collaboration with NVIDIA to enhance HPE’s Compute portfolio and build a turnkey enterprise computing solution for GenAI to target a growing market.

In his new role as the executive vice president and general manager of both Compute and HPC & AI, MacDonald will lead the team in accelerating HPE’s AI strategy by scaling cloud and software solutions with strong integration of HPE GreenLake. Additionally, the company announced that Hewlett Packard Labs will now move to reporting to Fidelma Russo, HPE’s Chief Technology Officer.

“The HPC and AI business is critical to our ongoing strategy. Neil’s engineering background and expertise in silicon and AI, combined with his decades of proven leadership experience and passion for customer-driven innovation make him uniquely suited to lead this team,” said Neri. “Neil’s technical acumen, vision and passion for advancing HPE’s unique IP in supercomputing, AI infrastructure technologies, and our AI software platform will strengthen the role we can play in our customers’ most critical transformations.”

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Telstra and Trans Pacific Networks partner on Echo cable

Telstra International and Trans Pacific Networks (TPN) have partnered on the Echo cable, the first subsea cable to directly connect the US to Singapore.

 Echo’s subsea system is a unique express route connecting California, Jakarta, Singapore, and Guam. The system creates a new path and offers low latency, high-speed, resilient network infrastructure connecting South Asia to the US.

The first Echo segments (Guam-US) will launch in mid-2024, with the remaining segments in 2025. Telstra will become TPN’s operating partner to provide secure, long-term stability on an efficient route. In addition, Telstra will be delivering cable landing station services for Echo in Singapore and the Network Operations Centre services. XL Axiata is landing the cable in Indonesia and our partner for delivering services into Indonesia.

Telstra International CEO said the geographical area the new cable would be built in was one of the more challenging regions globally in terms of regulation as well as subsea cable cuts.

“Our subsea network scale makes Telstra International uniquely placed to successfully navigate the complexity of these environments to ensure the stability of the world’s digital connectivity,” said Roary Stasko, CEO Telstra International. "We’re accelerating growth in our international digital infrastructure with investments in subsea fibre capacity on unique, diverse routes - helping to move more traffic around the world and strengthening connections from Asia to the US. Echo’s cable system has the ability to allow other countries to take advantage of its redundancy. In addition, we’ve recently added 3Tbps of capacity through the SEA-US cable connecting US mainland to Hawaii, Guam and Philippines which complements our existing Trans-Pacific cables like AAG, UNITY, FASTER, NCP and JUPITER."

• The Echo system will have 12 fiber pairs with a capacity of 12 terabits per second (Tbps) each. Ownership and Services: Facebook and Google share ownership interests in the cable system, with Facebook owning 8 of the 12 fiber pairs landing at Piti and Google owning 8 of the 12 fiber pairs landing at Agat. 
• Telstra International and TPN are responsible for co-building and operating the cable, with Telstra also providing cable landing station services in Singapore and network operations center services.
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Facebook and Google collaborate on U.S.-Guam-Singapore cable

Monday, March 29, 2021  Facebook, Google, Singapore, Subsea  

Facebook and Google are lead investors in a new subsea cable from Eureka, California to Singapore, with a stop-over in Guam.

The Echo subsea cable will be the first to directly connect the U.S. to Singapore with direct fiber pairs over an express route. The cable is expected to have landings in Indonesia and possibly other locations. 

In a blog posting, Google said Echo's unique route to Southeast Asia will avoid the crowded, traditional paths to the north. The cable is expected to be ready for service in 2023.

https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/infrastructure/introducing-the-echo-subsea-cable

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

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Telstra extends network capabilities into Latin America

In a significant move to broaden its global reach, Telstra International has embarked on an expansion into Latin America beginning with the establishment of a new dedicated point-of-presence (PoP) located at Stemmons Towers in Dallas, Texas. The new Dallas PoP will serve as a critical hub for Telstra's operations in Latin America, providing a gateway for enhanced communication and technology services.

Telstra International also announced collaborations with leading Mexican telecommunications providers, Axtel and Vivaro. These partnerships are expected to enhance the company's service offerings and connectivity in Latin America, signifying a new era of telecommunications synergy between these regions. Throughout Mexico, Telstra International now offers global internet, IP transit, and virtual private networks. Telstra International also provides access to more than 10 carrier-neutral data centers in cities such as Mexico City, Monterrey, Queretaro, and Guadalajara, and delivers endpoint termination services for ethernet private lines and MPLS in all of Mexico’s major data centers, enterprise buildings and business parks. These network enhancements facilitate low-latency connectivity into the Mexican Stock Exchange as well, which is important for serving customers in the financial services industry, a key growth area for Telstra globally.

“We’re focused on Latin America as a key growth market as we expect to see increased demand for connectivity from enterprises, hyperscalers and wholesale customers between APAC and the region driven by a technology boom and growing economies. Our official expansion and continued investments in digital infrastructure position us well to offer customers simple and secure options to connect to this dynamic region and leverage our global network,” said Roary Stasko, CEO of Telstra International.

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