Telecom Ramblings

This Industry Viewpoint was authored by Scott Sumner – VP, Solutions Marketing, Accedian Networks

The industry is buzzing about the promise of the Internet of Things (IoT) and predictions about its growing influence. Gartner forecasts that 4.9 billion connected ‘things’ will be in use in 2015, up 30 percent from 2014, and will reach 25 billion by 2020. That’s potentially great for consumers and industry, assuming network operators are prepared [Read more →]

Several interesting news items came out yesterday that are worth a quick look and comment: [Read more →]

This article was authored by John C. Tanner, and was originally posted on telecomasia.net.

Mark Zuckerberg’s bid to connect the unconnected via Internet.org is already facing its first major roadblock – not from cellcos, but from internet companies and activist groups who claim Internet.org’s business model violates net neutrality principles and [Read more →]

Just a bit over a month after formally launching its transatlantic cable plans, AquaComms has its funding in hand.  Yesterday they closed the financing for AEConnect and brought into force the contract with TE SubCom to build the cable system.  With plans for a December 2015 ready-for-service date, they certainly aren’t wasting any time. [Read more →]

The managed cloud services marketplace got a big jolt yesterday as the storage technology giant EMC announced the purchase of Virtustream.  It’s an all-cash deal for $1.2B that will bring Virtustream’s team and as-a-service offerings under the EMC umbrella. [Read more →]

Software Defined Networking and Network Functions Virtualization have come a long way in a short amount of time, far enough to grab the attention of large technology giants like Hewlett Packard. In a move that accelerates its entry into the space, HP said yesterday that it has agreed to buy ConteXtream for an undisclosed sum.  [Read more →]

We have one last earnings report for the first quarter left to look at.  The pan-European fiber operator euNetworks may no longer be listed on the Singapore exchange, but are still reporting their numbers.  And it was a pretty strong quarter, with revenues and EBITDA both up sequentially for the third consecutive quarter.  Here are their numbers in some context: [Read more →]

Ireland has emerged as one of 2015’s bandwidth growth spots, and the city of Cork is readying itself for a new era where it is no longer a backwater you have to get to via both London and Dublin. While we were all at Memorial Day picnics, they were hosting an event for no less than three submarine cable projects that may soon connect the Irish city to three continents without passing through either of those hubs. And along for the ride came some updates on the progress of those cable systems. [Read more →]

Charter has kicked off the summer season by finally getting the answer it has been seeking for some time now. Time Warner Cable has agreed this morning to be purchased for $56.7B in cash and stock, a sum which values the larger company at $78.7B. They also reaffirmed their separate deal with Bright House Networks. [Read more →]

Texas is one of the country’s biggest and fastest-growing markets in general, and that goes for bandwidth and Internet infrastructure as well.  As one of the few remaining independent, regional fiber operators in the Southwest, Alpheus Communications has a unique perspective on that market.  Alpheus is owned by the Gores Group today, and has its origins in the El Paso Global Networks business from before the dot-com bubble.  With us today to tell us where Alpheus is going and how they do things down in Texas is CEO Scott Widham. [Read more →]

According to the Wall Street Journal, Charter is preparing to follow through again with a Time Warner Cable bid. There probably isn’t anyone in the industry that will be surprised by that, but the price tag is apparently going to be rather higher this time than last. [Read more →]

The summer season begins in the USA with a long holiday weekend tomorrow (or later today).  Before you head out for the barbecue or the beach, here’s a quick look at some other news from this week: [Read more →]

Wave Broadband has been one of the most active alternative network operators over the past few years, and now they have some additional firepower to work with. The company says it has raised a tidy sum of $130M through the sale of corporate bonds, and plans to use it to expand its network footprint. [Read more →]

euNetworks today formally launched a new ultra-low latency route this morning, bringing Frankfurt and Zurich rather closer together. The new route takes advantage of the assets purchased last year in the Fibrelac acquisition, demonstrating the progress they’ve made in integrating the Swiss footprint into the rest of their European footprint. [Read more →]

This article was was originally posted on telecomasia.net.

Australia’s Telstra has advised Pacnet customers of a security breach allowing unauthorized access to the Hong Kong based ICT provider’s corporate IT network. [Read more →]

There’s a billionaire buying US Cable MSO assets this month, and it isn’t John Malone this time. The French group Altice SA, controlled by Patrick Drahi, jumped into the fray this morning with a deal to buy Suddenlink for $9.1B. Supposedly they have also been simultaneously kicking the tires over at TW Cable. [Read more →]

Rich Tehrani over on his TMCnet blog has a source telling him that Verizon is looking to sell or spin off its Terremark cloud arm and focus on mobile. Also supposedly on the block is Verizon’s PBX reseller division, leaving them only their Broadsoft-powered hosted PBX platform.  [Read more →]

Several interesting news items for this Tuesday morning that are worth a quick-take: [Read more →]

There was an interesting quote making the rounds yesterday from AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson.  You’ll recall that in the heat of the network neutrality debate, the company suggested the regulations might stop its investment in FTTH buildouts and then backtracked quickly.  Yesterday he went and blew on that ember. [Read more →]

Energy usage within the data center has been a growing point of interest for the entire Internet infrastructure sector for many years now.  Keeping all that equipment cool while keeping costs in line is one of the biggest challenges the industry has to face and it’s only getting bigger.  With us today to talk about energy management is Dr. Cliff Federspiel, President and CTO of Vigilent.   [Read more →]

In Zayo’s earnings call this week, Chairman and CEO Dan Caruso was asked about the prospects of Zayo’s further consolidation in the US fiber sector. The gist of it was that with Crown Castle entering the game and EBITDA multiples rising ever higher, has Zayo’s roll-up finally run into a steep enough hill to slow it down? The stock was down afterwards despite solid earnings apparently on such worries, but it seems overblown to me. [Read more →]

The biggest news in the sector this week was perhaps Verizon’s plan to purchase AOL, acquiring some of the web’s best known tech journalism sites as well as mobile advertising technology they hope to leverage alongside their wireless business.  Now that the dust has had a few days to settle, what do you think?
[Read more →]

This article was authored by Dylan Bushell-Embling, and was originally posted on telecomasia.net.

The NCP Consortium has commenced construction on the New Cross Pacific (NCP) cable network linking the USA, China, South Korea, Taiwan and Japan. [Read more →]