Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Nortel Gets BSNL Contract Worth Over US$100m

NEW DELHI - Nortel* [NYSE/TSX: NT]has won an agreement with India's BSNL (Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd.), valued at over US$100 million, to put mobile connectivity in the hands of millions of new subscribers in the southern area of the country.

BSNL, India's largest telecoms service provider, with over 20 million cellular subscribers, is actively growing its network reach and capacity to meet increased demand for mobile telephony services across the country. The company chose Nortel to support this southern GSM network expansion with a very aggressive roll-out schedule, based on Nortel's previous track record in helping BSNL establish the widest reach of any wireless network provider in India. With this selection, BSNL can build on, and maximize its existing network investment and rapidly extend mobile services to new subscribers.

Source: Nortel Press Release

Monday, March 24, 2008

Thus PLC Chooses Ixia to Provide Remote Service verification of L3 VPN Network and Services

Ixia (Nasdaq: XXIA), a leading, global provider of IP performance testsystems, today announced that THUS plc, a UK-focused business telecommunications company, has deployed Ixia's IxRaveTM IP service verification platform to provide service verification of its enterprise layer 3 VPN (L3 VPN) networks and services. THUS, located throughout the United Kingdom, provides enterprise-quality converged services to business customers. The company uses IxRave to verify that end-customers are receiving services that perform as expected, both at initial provisioning and on a continuing basis. Ixia is demonstrating its new platform this week at the Spring VON tradeshow in San Jose, Calif., booth 934 and at Convergence India in New Delhi, stand C-202.          

Source: IXIA Press Release

IDC Predicts Mobile Phone Market in Asia/Pacific Excluding Japan Region to Surpass 400 Million Units in 2008

According to the latest IDC Asia/Pacific Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, mobile phone shipments in the Asia/Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) region in 2007 hit 366 million units, an 18% increase from 2006. Shipments are further projected to exceed 400 million units in 2008, representing a 10% year-on-year increase.

"The twin engines of this growth are India and the PRC, which together commanded more than 60% of shipments in the region," said Aloysius Choong, Research Manager of IDC's Asia/Pacific Personal Systems research. "We expect the India market to be particularly robust, swelling by another 19% in 2008."

Although both markets saw record subscriber growth in 2007, mobile penetration rates currently stand at about 20% in India and 40% in the PRC, so there is still much room for expansion.

Source:IDC Press Release

Telco Data Services Market in Emerging Asian Countries to Grow at 36% CAGR from 2007-2011, says IDC

Singapore and Hong Kong, March 14, 2008 – Based on IDC's "Asia/Pacific Emerging Countries Telecommunications Services Forecast and Analysis, 2007 – 2011" report, the telecommunications data services market in emerging Asian countries (defined as Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Vietnam) is projected to collectively grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 36% from 2007-2011.

The data segment, which includes mobile data services, fixed line corporate data and Internet access services, grew strongly at 258% year-on-year in 2006, reaching US$952 million. While these four country markets will remain generally voice-centric throughout the forecast period, revenue share of the data segment will improve significantly from 17% in 2006 to over 30% by 2011.

Source:IDC Press Release

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Saudi Arabia's Atheeb Awards Motorola $165 Million Contract for Nationwide WiMAX Rollout

RIYADH, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia – 20 March, 2008 – Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT) today announced a $165 million WiMAX 802.16e infrastructure contract with Etihad Atheeb Telecommunication Company (Atheeb) that will enable the new service provider to offer compelling and unique broadband services to subscribers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Atheeb selected Motorola based on Motorola's global leadership and ability to deliver a fully integrated end-to-end nationwide WiMAX solution. The contract includes the delivery of Motorola's new WAP 800 access point, featuring smart antenna technology, plus a comprehensive service package including end-to-end delivery of network planning, installation, optimization and support services. Broadband will be available to customers across the Kingdom, reaching into areas of demand that until now have been underserved.

Source: Motorola Press Release

Motorola Teams Up with United Information Highway on Mobile WiMAX Trial in Thailand

BANGKOK, Thailand – 19 March 2008 – Motorola, Inc. (NYSE:MOT) today announced that the company has achieved the first successful mobile WiMAX trial in Thailand, teaming up with United Information Highway Company Limited (UIH). The trial, demonstrating new wireless broadband experiences for users, marks the first among a series of Motorola's mobile WiMAX engagements in Thailand and yet another milestone in the company's global WiMAX development.

UIH acquired a WiMAX trial licence last year from the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), and conducted trials in Bangkok and Phuket to assess WiMAX traffic channeling capabilities in the respective areas. Through these trials, UIH experienced the full mobility performance of Motorola's mobile WiMAX solutions.

Source: Motorola Press Release

ABI Research: By 2013 One in Every Three Phones Sold Will be a Smartphone

The market for smartphones will grow from around 10% of the total handset market in 2007 to 31% of the market in 2013. A new study from ABI Research projects this meteoric growth to be a product of a number of complex factors including carriers' drives to grow data revenues from advanced services and the general trend to pushing "smart" operating systems down into middle tier devices.

 

ABI Research vice president Stuart Carlaw comments, "Smart operating systems are continually being optimized to run on processors with lower performance. There is a strategic move to support smart OSes in single chip midrange devices in order to unlock more data revenues." Carlaw adds that, "The market is currently dominated by Nokia (52%) and Symbian (65%). However, the coalescence of the framework wars in the Linux environment and the growing stature of Windows Mobile will enable new competitors to put pressure on this established axis."

 

The report finds that the iPhone effect is truly filtering through the handset market as other OEMs strive to remain competitive. Features that look set to proliferate and become central to enhancing user interface experiences include touchscreens, touchpads, and accelerometers facilitating tilt and shock sensing, as well as haptics providing tactile feedback.


Source: ABI Research Press Release

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

WiMAX Telecom and Alcatel-Lucent to deploy Croatia’s first WiMAX 802.16e network

Paris, March 18, 2008 Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) today announced that it has been selected by WiMAX Telecom to supply the first WiMAX 802.16e-2005 (Rev-e) network in Croatia. The deployment will start in the area of Split and Osijek followed by other regions, and will operate in WiMAX Telecom's 3.5 gigahertz (GHz) spectrum.

Under the terms of the agreement, Alcatel-Lucent will supply its end-to-end WiMAX solution including almost 400 base stations, wireless access controllers, operation and maintenance center (OMC) as well as customer premise equipment (CPE).

Source: Alcate-Lucent Press Release

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Motorola Introduces 802.11n Wireless LAN Switch

SAN JOSE, Calif. – 12 March 2008 – The Enterprise Mobility business of Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT) today announced its Motorola RFS6000, the latest addition to a family of high-performance multi-core processor-based wireless LAN (WLAN) switches, targeted at mid-sized enterprises. The RFS6000 supports an all-wireless enterprise vision, enabling businesses to build an enterprise WLAN that serves the entire organization from workers in corporate headquarters to manufacturing and distribution plants to remote branch offices.

With the industry's leading installed base of more than 125,000 WLAN switches, Motorola has the market's most thoroughly tested WLAN offering. The addition of the RFS6000 and mesh-enabled adaptive 802.11a/b/g/n access points (APs) gives Motorola the industry's most complete indoor and outdoor WLAN portfolio to enable a truly wireless enterprise.

Source:Motorola Press Release

Juniper Networks Unveils High-Performance Network Security Management Solution

SUNNYVALE, Calif., March 10, 2008 — Juniper Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: JNPR), the leader in high-performance networking, today announced the availability of the Juniper Networks Security Threat Response Manager (STRM) solution. The comprehensive STRM solution provides IT administrators with a centralized, scalable and effective way to efficiently and effectively log and manage the evolving threat landscape and adhere to compliance mandates.

With the continuous pressure to increase network visibility, respond to threats and measure effectiveness and security posture in their network, innovative businesses need a cost effective, comprehensive solution to effectively manage today's rapidly evolving threat landscape and help sustain regulatory compliance. The Juniper Networks STRM solution advances the fundamentals and economics of networking by simplifying security operations, monitoring and securing enterprise networks intelligently from external and internal threats.

Source:Juniper Press Release