Telecom Ramblings

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

Two new names have been added to the Axis of Espionage. It was revealed that Telstra and PCCW have been collaborating with US intelligence agencies, secretly allowing them access to data going through their networks since 2001. [Read more →]

The interconnectivity specialist Telx has announced the establishment of a third data center in its main hub city. Yep, they’ve got another facility in Manhattan lined up to go with their presence at 60 Hudson and 111 8th Ave. [Read more →]

After many tests and demos over the past few years, NTT has finally taken the 100G plunge beneath the Pacific ocean. The Japanese telecommunications giant announced this morning that it has deployed 100G coherent technology on its PC-1 cable system. The upgrade more than doubles the design capacity of the system to 8.4Tbps, and is already in place. [Read more →]

China isn’t the only big market in which Pacnet is looking to add depth to its regional footprint. This week they announced a deeper presence in India as well. They have enhanced their PoPs in Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai, and New Delhi to offer high speed international connectivity. [Read more →]

Two and a half years after the initial flare-up, Level 3 and Comcast have apparently resolved their differences over peering, transit, net neutrality, and all that Netflix video traffic.  Comcast had demanded Level 3 pay for the extra ports needed to handle a surge in video traffic coming in from their then new CDN contract with Netflix, and while Level 3 had agreed under protest the dispute had simmered on the back burner ever since. [Read more →]

Zayo says it is putting yet more money to work down in San Diego with plans to add an additional 5,000 fiber miles to their metro network.  The project will add capacity to existing routes as well as extend metro connectivity into surrounding communities such as Oceanside, Encinitas, Del Mar and Escondido. Zayo will also be [Read more →]

We’re still in the early stages of 100G deployment, but the next wave of technology is hitting the testing and demo stage. Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE:ALU, news, filings) today claimed a new world record for highest subsea capacity over a single fiber, putting a whopping 31 Tbps over a 7200km link. [Read more →]

AT&T’s planned purchase of Leap Wireless and its Cricket prepaid brand came as a bit of a surprise, if only because they could have done it long before this if the drivers were compelling enough to pay a 90% premium to the current stock price.  The 3G network is incompatible, the spectrum is valuable but not a perfect fit, and it’s not so big as to shift any major needles for AT&T.  So it’s time for a poll: why is AT&T doing this? [Read more →]

Here’s a quick roundup of some news from competitive network operators this week, with an expansion by Hurricane Electric, customer contracts for Geo and EarthLink, and some new board members at Zayo. [Read more →]

Private equity has bought itself some more fiber, this time down in Brazil.  Oi today announced that it is selling the assets that make up its GlobeNet division to a subsidiary of the infrastructure fund  BTG Pactual Infraestrutura II Fundo de Investimento em Participacoes for R$1,745,590,000.00 (about $777M).   [Read more →]

Hoping to advance their combined mobile content capabilities, CDNetworks and Nokia Siemens Networks are teaming up. They have signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at coordinating their respective technologies. [Read more →]

The wholesale voice tandem business is apparently not quite dead yet.  Just two and a half months after its sale of the former Tinet network to GTT in April and its refocus on the core voice business, Inteliquent is out there materially raising 2013 guidance this morning: [Read more →]

In the wake of Softbank’s sprint into the US, AT&T has moved to consolidate a bit more of what’s left of the market. They’re acquiring Leap Wireless for $15 per share, which comes to $1.2B in cash plus the assumption of $2.8B in net debt. [Read more →]

Here’s a quick Friday update covering items from metro and regional fiber operators this week: [Read more →]

This Industry Viewpoint was authored by Jared Jacobs of Dell OEM.  

The Network Equipment Building System (NEBS) requirements were devised as a means to help make sure that certain important services are always available. There is such a reliance [Read more →]

Time for a quick roundup of contract and expansion news from the data center space: [Read more →]

According to reports, the European Commission has launched a series of ‘unannounced inspections’ on some of the continent’s largest providers. Orange, Deutsche Telekom, and Telefonica have had regulators show up to comb through their offices, while BT and KPN have apparently not – yet at least. [Read more →]

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

ITEM: The Washington Post has published an extensive piece on what Singapore Technologies Telemedia had to do to satisfy national security concerns by the US government over its planned buyout of Global Crossing ten years ago – namely, hire a secretive [Read more →]

As expected, both Sprint’s deal for Clearwire and its merger with Softbank are now complete. The soap opera is finally over and the #3 wireless carrier in the US and all that valuable spectrum are now 78% Japanese-owned and operated. And the first order of business: no more Nextel. [Read more →]

As promised earlier this year, the northwestern metro fiber builder Fatbeam is taking its case across the border from its home turf in northern Idaho and into western Montana.  Today they announced the start of construction on their metro fiber network in the mining town of Butte. [Read more →]

Hurricane Sandy did more than just tear up the shoreline and all the infrastructure on it, lately it has become clear that it also stripped the fig leaves off of a few illusions we have about that infrastructure. And nowhere has that been more painful than with Verizon’s plans out on Fire Island, one of the largest barriers island off the shore of New York’s Long Island. [Read more →]

Ok, at long last I have updated my metro fiber and on-net buildings statistics.  There is a bit more data out there that may roll in in the next few weeks, but that’s always the case.  In the meantime, you can check out the full list in the usual location or take a look at the abbreviated update below. [Read more →]

Four quick updates from regional providers, three from the US and one from Europe: [Read more →]