Category Archives: Suppliers

AlcaLu pushes NFV to the IP router edge

  By kwieland | November 12, 2014 - 6:45 pm | Next-generation networks, Suppliers
Leave a comment

Alcatel-Lucent announced at its annual Technology Symposium that the firm’s entire suite of IP edge router software will be able to run on standard COTS (commercial-off-the-shelf) servers, although the timeline for full commercial availability is still a bit hazy (see roadmap below).

“We’re giving operators the freedom of either running our software code, with all the routing, on dedicated hardware, or porting that code – where it makes sense – on standard x86 servers,” says Phil Tilley, Alcatel-Lucent’s marketing director of cloud strategy and solutions.

Alcatel-Lucent’s operator pitch is that dedicated edge router hardware will still be needed to support high-capacity demand from large enterprises, while the more flexible VSR (virtualized service router) can meet the needs of smaller businesses. The supplier has no intention of cannibalizing dedicated edge router hardware that supports heavy data-plane processing. (more…)

Small cells, small thinking?

  By kwieland | February 17, 2014 - 1:51 pm | Next-generation networks, Small Cells, Suppliers
Leave a comment

Many mobile operators are just not “getting it” when it comes to small cells. At least that’s the view of Simon Brown (pictured, below), CEO of small cell evangelist ip.access. He reckons operators need to “wake up” to the business case opportunity.

Speaking last week to a small group of journalists in London, Brown argued that operators tend to be too hung up on coverage and capacity. They wrap a complex set of engineering processes around small cell provisioning in much the same way as if they were rolling out a regular macro network. That unnecessarily drives up cost and lengthens deployment times. (more…)

Nokia kits up

  By kwieland | July 25, 2013 - 9:37 am | Mobile broadband, Suppliers
Leave a comment

First published on Industry Briefing, Economist Intelligence Unit, 25 July

When Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) published its first annual report in March, it seemed the parent companies of the Finnish-German joint venture were stepping up their efforts for either a private equity sale or a listing. Siemens had made little secret of its desire to exit the loss-making manufacturer of mobile broadband equipment. That Nokia ended up buying out Siemens shows both firms ran out of patience. There’s also an air of desperation about the deal. (more…)