Wireless Connectivity

Space Data maps broadband signals from altitude

Written by Marty Taylor on 12:07 AM

Space Data Corp. has released a product to detect the location of wireless broadband signals are by using high-altitude balloons.

The Chandler company said it is using its ScanSite technology to identify wireless signals on the ground from balloons flying from 12 to 18 miles high.

The company sees it as a way to speed up identification of areas that need broadband services, particularly as the U.S. government is expected to roll out $7 billion effort to upgrade the nation’s broadband infrastructure in rural areas.

“Increasing broadband penetration and adoption in unserved and underserved areas is a top national priority, but, frankly, until now there has not been a way to accurately determine wireless spectrum usage,” said Jerry Knoblach, Space Data’s chairman and CEO.

Space Data said it can provide an alternative with more accurate information than the plan to use mobile vans with antennas to root out the signals.

From Biz Journals

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| Posted in » broadband networks

AT&T and Amtrak sign five-year wireless network deal

Written by Marty Taylor on 12:06 AM

AT&T today announced a new five-year outsourcing agreement with Amtrak, the nation’s passenger rail service. Under the contract, AT&T will provide a package of telecommunications networking services, including managed security services to help protect Amtrak’s telecommunications network infrastructure.

AT&T will implement and manage Amtrak’s Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) and Enhanced Virtual Private Network (EVPN) to help connect more than 400 locations and converge multiple networks to a single, global network platform. AT&T will also manage 25,000 ports across Amtrak’s Local Area Network (LAN) and Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN). These technology solutions will help Amtrak to simplify the management of its telecommunications and support its efforts to deliver value to its customers faster.

Amtrak will be utilizing a broad set of security services from AT&T to help protect its mission critical website, and the personal information of every passenger. AT&T will implement Network and Premises-Based Firewalls, which will provide secure inbound and outbound Internet access directly into the telecommunications network. Through AT&T Intrusion Detection Services (IDS) and Intrusion Protection Services (IPS), AT&T will monitor Amtrak’s networking infrastructure for potential misuse from internal and external sources. AT&T IDS & IPS work together to help detect, contain, and neutralize endpoints on the network that are spreading threats or violating security policies. AT&T Private Intranet Protect will also allow Amtrak to analyze network traffic and potential threats – like worms, scanning and phishing sites – from inside or outside its VPN.

Under the terms of the contract, Amtrak will also use AT&T voice services, including Long Distance, Audio and Web Conferencing.

Source: AT&T

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| Posted in » wireless

What's going on with Nortel?

Written by Marty Taylor on 12:11 AM

With Nokia Siemens bidding on Nortel's wireless business and Avaya rumored to be grabbing up its enterprise gear, it is all but inevitable that the rest of company will be broken up and sold off in pieces, which raises questions. Here are some of them and the answers.

What will happen to Nortel's enterprise customers?

Prediction: Google acquires Salesforce in 2009?

The purchaser of the company's enterprise unit will likely work hard to hold onto it. Radware bought Nortel's application switching business in February and has announced five-year technical support for the Nortel gear. It plans to upgrade the equipment, integrate it into the Radware management platform and has laid out a road map for merging Radware and Nortel product lines. Expect something similar from whoever buys the enterprise gear.

Who is likely to buy the enterprise business?

Reportedly, Avaya has put in a $500 million bid for the enterprise division, which sells switches, routers and telephony products. With its focus on enterprise VoIP and unified communications, the company could use Nortel enterprise infrastructure, which includes switches, security gear and phones. It would boost Avaya instantly into the No. 4 spot for Layer 2 and 3 Ethernet switching and give it entry into more corporate accounts.

What other divisions are up for sale?

Nortel has units for core carrier VoIP and time-division multiplexing gear and metro Ethernet equipment. The company shopped around the metro Ethernet segment last fall but took it off the market again this spring after it couldn't find a buyer.

What did Nokia Siemens bid on?

Nokia Siemens bid on the CMDA wireless business and the R&D unit working on LTE wireless.The company's technology overlaps with Nortel's, but that's OK because its customer base doesn't overlap as much. Both companies, for example, have CDMA and Long Term Evolution technology, but Nokia Siemens doesn't have anywhere near the penetration into North American carriers that Nortel has. If it closes the deal, Nokia Siemens will do everything it can to take advantage of Nortel's client list. Nokia Siemens says the deal would boost its share of the North American carrier market from less than 6% to more than 30%.

Beyond that, the business Nokia Siemens wants to buy netted $700 million last year, according to the Wall Street Journal. If it remains that profitable, that will pay off the $650 million purchase price in less than a year.

Who is likely to bid on the other carrier business?

That is a matter of speculation but the list includes businesses with narrow product lines that sell them into carrier networks. This includes companies such as Nokia Siemens and Sonus Networks.

Who gets the Nortel name?

Maybe nobody. If it fails to liquidate all its assets, Nortel could choose to hang on to what remains and continue operating as Nortel. Or it could sell off the brand as part of the sale of one of its divisions. Or it could sell off all the assets and retire the name.

What happens to Nortel stockholders?

The will likely lose whatever they still have invested in the company. Nortel says it will be delisted from the Toronto Stock Exchange and that means their investments will be lost. The last stock price listed for the company was 18 cents per share, down from its all-time high of about $900.

How bad are things for Nortel?

Things are pretty bad, or more accurately, pretty bad for Nortel creditors. When it filed for bankruptcy, Nortel assets and debts were pretty close -- assets of $11.6 billion vs. debt of $11.8 billion. Estimates this week put the assets closer to $2 billion. Nortel is seeking protection from its creditors under which the courts will decide the best way to reorganize the company and pay its creditors as much of what is owed as possible. The court is allowing the sell-off, and the proceeds could come up about $9 billion short.

How did this all come about?

Prediction: Google acquires Salesforce in 2009?

Nortel ran into problems around the time the high-tech bubble burst in 2000. The company stock was selling for an all-time high of $900 per share (adjusted for splits), but to make its bottom line more attractive, it was also exaggerating its profits -- a $3.2 billion fraud.

The CEO at the time, Frank Dunn, was fired and fined, as were the CFO and controller.

The company acknowledged its problem in 2004, refiled its financial statements for the previous four years, and hired a new CEO. But the scandal lingered until 2007 when Dunn and others were charged with fraud -- charges they are still fighting.Meanwhile, Nortel went on a campaign to reorganize and downsize, dropping from 95,000 employees in 2000 to 26,000 today. CEO Mike Zafirovski, a turnaround specialist was hired in 2005, but was unable to stop the company's slide despite repeated layoffs, sell-offs and new leadership.

International financial troubles compounded the situation, with plummeting stock performance reducing the company's value and making borrowing more difficult.