Alcatel Lucent forecasts more opportunity after deals in U.S. and China

BERLIN — Alcatel Lucent, which has struggled in the wake of its 2006 merger, said last Thursday that it had reached a “turning point” after clinching $5.7 billion in deals to build high-speed wireless networks and supply other gear for the biggest mobile operators in the United States and China.

The company, based in Paris, announced the contracts at the same time it reported its first profitable quarter of the year, posting €25 million, or $35.3 million, in earnings compared to a €182 million loss in the third quarter a year earlier. Sales rose 10.5 percent to €4.1 billion. The results missed forecasts of analysts surveyed by Reuters and Bloomberg News and shares were down more than 3 percent in Paris at midday, however.



Ben Verwaayen, the Alcatel Lucent chief executive, described the agreements with Verizon Wireless, the largest U.S. mobile operator, and the three biggest mobile carriers in China as “massive” for the company, which had struggled to reorganize and streamline in a weak global market following the merger of the French company Alcatel with Lucent Technologies, which was formerly part of AT&T, the U.S. phone giant.

Although the quarterly profit was attributed primarily to tax benefits associated with ongoing adjustments from the merger, Mr. Verwaayen said he did not think it would be “a one-time event.” Mr. Verwaayen mentioned that he think this is a significant turning point in the transformation of the company. They are experiencing good demand for their products.

Without one-time items, the company reported an operating loss of €11 million for the quarter, compared with a €76 million loss a year earlier. But Jouni Forsman, an analyst at Gartner in Nice, France, said that Alcatel Lucent had repositioned itself to become more competitive in the fastest-growing segments of the wireless equipment industry, where demand for network software upgrades, services and applications is strong among mobile operators.

According to Mr. Forsman, the company is executing on the turnaround story. They are in a much better position than they were a couple of years ago. They are controlling costs and executing in a difficult market.

The agreement with Verizon Wireless will generate $4 billion in sales over four years, Alcatel Lucent said. Under the pact, Alcatel Lucent will upgrade the operator’s third-generation wireless network and build a faster network based on a technology called Long Term Evolution. LTE networks, which can download wireless data at speeds much more rapidly than existing systems, are helping operators meet the surge in data traffic from streaming video and social networking services.

Alcatel Lucent said it planned on Friday to sign agreements worth a total €1.18 billion with China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom during a visit to France by the Chinese president, Hu Jintao.
Mr. Verwaayen, the Alcatel Lucent chief executive, said “a large chunk” of the sales to the Chinese carriers was new business, with the rest being a reaffirmation of existing sales arrangements. The Verizon sales, Mr. Verwaayen said, was all new business for his company.

Verizon Wireless, a joint venture of Verizon and Vodafone, the British global mobile operator, is upgrading its 3G networks to LTE through 2013 as it sells more data-intensive smartphones and other devices. Some analysts expect Verizon later this year to announce that it will become the second U.S. operator to sell the iPhone, which has only been sold by AT&T.

Review on Aruba RAP-2WG Remote Access Poin

The Aruba RAP-2WG is a single radio 802.11b/g, enterprise-class indoor remote access point, capable of supporting multiple functions including wired and wireless access and air monitoring/wireless intrusion detection and prevention across the 2.4-2.5 GHz spectrum.

The RAP-2WG remote access point delivers secure user-centric network services and applications in remote branch offices as well as for home office workers and telecommuters. Centrally managed from an Aruba Controller, the RAP-2WG provides the network administrator with unparalleled control over services and security. The RAP-2WG supports authenticated wired and wireless access, as well as policy based forwarding mechanisms to allow access to centralized and local resources.

The latest product Aruba's Virtual Branch Network (VBN) solution dramatically simplifies the complexity and cost of deploying a remote solution at branches with one to many users. Complex configuration, management, software updates authentication, intrusion detection, and remote site connectivity tasks are handled by powerful data center-based Aruba controllers running new Aruba software. Centralizing these services in the controllers enables the branch office equipment to be greatly simplified and cost reduced. The virtualized functions are transport-independent, so any wide-area network - including 3G cellular and DSL - can be used to connect the branches offices.

I think this a great product for educational institution that always have a meeting a way from their campus escially when researcher need to conduct a research collabaration meeting with other research group and they also need to have their own local network for linking back to the local server at the university.

With this kind of features, remote office can be enable anywhere at anytime in the world.

WiMAX expected to supercharge wireless applications

By Colin Gibbs

WiMAX could be the technology that fuels the fusion of all sorts of mobile applications, integrating video, location-based services and a host of other offerings.

And analysts generally agree that speedy access to the wireless Web will be the key.

“When I talk WiMAX, I always quote my boss Sean Maloney,” said Ron Peck of Intel Corp., referring to the company’s general manager of sales and marketing. “If you’re pitching WiMAX, you must repeat: the mobile Internet is the next big thing.”

It’s no secret that WiMAX offers a combination of wide coverage, high capacity and low latency rarely seen—if not unprecedented—in wireless. The technology is claimed to top out at 70 megabits per second and delivers a footprint of as many as 37 miles under ideal conditions (although not simultaneously—like DSL, the network’s speed is influenced by its reach, and vice versa).

Actual network speeds are likely to average between 2 and 4 Mbps, according to operators. But even on the low end, WiMAX appears to be speedier and offer more capacity than 3G networks.

Fat pipe for hungry users

That combination means more than just connecting lots of users more efficiently, according to Daryl Schoolar, a senior analyst with In-Stat. It means more consumers can consume more data, more quickly.

“From everything I’ve been told by vendors who make both WiMAX and cellular equipment, WiMAX has significantly lower lag,” said Schoolar. “They also tell me it can support more connected users. That would certainly lend itself toward real-time apps such as streaming apps.”Which is why WiMAX is expected to give birth to a host of connected devices dedicated to a single use. Not only is the technology likely to serve as a catalyst for the production of mobile music and video players, it will provide connectivity to consumer electronics such as cameras, camcorders and gaming devices—devices that don’t traditionally offer network access.

Taking advantage of WiMAX

But even as it sparks an increase in the number of dedicated devices, WiMAX is predicted to provide a boost to converged devices. Just as 3G networks and GPS technology has provided a platform for developers to build compelling applications that deliver both relatively low latency and remarkably accurate location information, WiMAX’s speed and capacity could prove ideal for offerings that fuse a number of different applications.

“I think you’re going to see a lot of the video side of the Internet,” said Peck, including video-sharing and other mobile social networking features. “I also think you’re going to see a ton of visual apps” that integrate video with location-aware applications, games and other offerings.

Other possibilities include teleconferences that include both video and Web-based applications, and multiplayer games that feature GPS location information and nearly real-time play.

And while WiMAX may suffer in urban environments—where indoor usage may slow the network to the lower range of expected speeds even when a tower is relatively nearby—the technology will work hand-in-hand with Wi-Fi and other channels of connectivity, Peck said.

Questioning Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi is “stupid,” according to Peck, and simply offers a connection without taking other technologies into account. But WiMAX is “very smart” and can hand users off if a more efficient network is available. So consumers could surf the Web or sit in on a multiplayer gaming session on WiMAX on the commute home, then automatically switch to Wi-Fi when they get indoors.

So the new technology may provide a platform that not only serves as a high-speed highway, it will allow devices to take detours whenever backups occur. Developers will scramble to leverage WiMAX, Peck predicted, throwing all sorts of applications at the wall to see what sticks.

“I think it’s going to be the wild, wild West,” Peck predicted.