Telecom Ramblings

This article was authored by Don Sambandaraksa, and was originally posted on telecomasia.net.

Edward Snowden may be somewhere in Russia, but he might as well have been in Singapore waltzing along the halls of CommunicAsia 2014. He was on everyone’s lips, the NSA spying revelations having shaken the industry to the core over the past year. [Read more →]

Ah, it’s good to be back in the US after another long stint abroad. I’m almost past the jet lag, so here’s a quick Friday roundup before the weekend gets rolling: [Read more →]

Two announcements hit the wires for Zayo yesterday.  No, not another deal yet, though there’s always tomorrow.  Zayo is working on a longhaul upgrade in Europe and picked up a key research & education contract back in the USA. [Read more →]

Is it a symbolic move or the start of a pattern? With yesterdays’s news came the most direct response from a European government to the telecommunications industry in the wake of the NSA/Snowden revelations. Verizon’s German subsidiary has lost a contract for internet access and other services with the German government over the issue, with reports about German sources tying it directly to fears over further potential spying. [Read more →]

I am still striving to gain more detailed knowledge of the European fiber market, and it’s always interesting to run across another substantial builder and operator of dark fiber that is entirely new to me.  This week France’s SIPARTECH announced the completion of several milestones for their Paris metro area dark fiber network. [Read more →]

In another interesting development in the CDN world, Tata Communications is making a move deeper into the video business through a partnership with Kaltura. The arrangement will see Tata’s content delivery network paired with Kaltura’s open source online video platform, creating an end-to-end service that could be worth more than the sum of its parts. [Read more →]

We’ve seen various network operators build CDN infrastructure over the years, but how about a data center and cloud operator? NYI yesterday did just that, launching its Fault Tolerant Web service. [Read more →]

I’m at the Telecom Exchange today, if you’re there too then feel free to look me up.  In the meantime, here’s a few quick takes on news from the international front: [Read more →]

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

Random stat of the day: mobile users in China are now sending less than two SMSs per day. [Read more →]

The word seems to be out that Rackspace’s most likely suitor is none other than CenturyLink.  Rackspace and its cloud/hosting business have been rather publicly on the table for the past month or two.  Initial speculation seemed to focus on tech giants, yet I have always thought a telecommunications operator might make more sense.  For what it’s worth, I think CenturyLink could do well out of the deal. [Read more →]

Teliasonera International Carrier is upgrading its European backbone with a little help from Ciena’s optical gear. The international arm of the Nordic giant has been expanding its network around the world lately, but is turning some attention to turf closer to home to help meet demand driven by mobile data and the cloud. [Read more →]

I’m back in the USA again, though still bleary-eyed.  I’ll be at the Telecom Exchange tomorrow to host a CEO Roundtable.  In the meantime, however, here is a quick rundown of some recent news from the metro: [Read more →]

FirstLight Fiber was born out of the combination of three network operators operating in neighboring regions: Tech Valley communications in Upstate New York, SegTel in New Hampshire, and TelJet in Vermont.  The company has a unique footprint in a part of the country that really doesn’t get its share of attention when it comes to internet infrastructure.  With us today to tell us about FirstLight’s plans for the future is CEO Kurt Van Wagenen, who took over the job in October of 2013. [Read more →]

This week the Ramblings’ Jobs Board hit another new all time high, passing the twenty mark with three new jobs from WCI and another new one from Lightower. [Read more →]

This article was authored by Joseph Waring, and was originally posted on telecomasia.net.

China now has 155 million kilometers of laid fiber, a 13-times increase from 11 million in 2003. That represents 30% annual growth and accounts for 60% of the world total.  [Read more →]

Here’s a quick roundup of vendor news from this week that’s worth a look: [Read more →]

Global Cloud Xchange, which until a few months ago we called Reliance Globalcom, is planning another submarine cable buildout.  According to a press release this morning, they plan to build a new link between Singapore and Mumbai.   [Read more →]

In what could be a key partnership for both the CDN and Vyvx sides of its content business, Level 3 announced today that it is expanding its video cloud services into China. They are working with China Telecom to both gain and give access to the world’s largest market. [Read more →]

In the two days since Level 3 announced an agreement to buy tw telecom, we’ve had time to develop some first impressions of the deal.  Readers of this site know more about either or both companies than just about any audience out there, so what do you think?  Pick two adjectives: [Read more →]

Here’s a set of quick-takes from network operators around the US this week, just to make sure they don’t get completely swamped by the Level 3/tw telecom news. [Read more →]

Reports including this one from Bloomberg have Pacnet up for sale with a nominal $1B price tag.  It’s not the first time that the company’s private equity owners have sought an exit of course.  The last time there were public rumors was when PT Telkom’s rumored bid fell through just before former CEO Bill Barney got sacked.  But that’s in the past, and Carl Grivner has been running things for a couple years now.  So who might do the buying? [Read more →]

In a challenge to the established order, Cyan has introduced what it bills as the first orchestration application spanning WAN, cloud, and NFV. Building on their Blue Planet platform, they hope to enable carrier customers to streamline new product development and management. [Read more →]

As we continue to digest the LVLT/TWTC deal and its implications in the US market, here’s a quick roundup of other news items in recent days from around the world: [Read more →]