Today's Top Stories Overture Networks has taken another step forward with its growth strategy by announcing on Monday that it has appointed telecom veteran Mike Aquino as their new President and CEO. Aquino has been tapped to help guide the company through what Overture says is "its next phase of customer and revenue growth worldwide." Jeff Reedy, Overture's co-founder and current CEO, will continue to work at the company as its new Chief Strategy Officer. A 30-year telecom veteran, Aquino is probably best known for his tenure at Ciena (Nasdaq: CIEN), where he served in three key roles: Senior VP of Global Field Operations, General Manager of Global Government Solutions and VP of Americas. He came to Ciena when the company purchased the former ONI Systems. One of the key skills that Aquino was able to hone during his days at Ciena was his ability to help integrate various acquisitions, including World Wide Packets and Nortel's Metro Ethernet Networks business. Following a short bidding war with Nokia Siemens Networks in 2009, the acquisition of Nortel's MEF business gained the Canadian company's key coherent optical technology. For Overture, the appointment of Aquino comes at a time when the vendor is moving to expand out of its domestic roots and into key markets such as Asia Pacific, Europe and Latin America. Following the completion of its acquisition of the former Hatteras Networks, a deal that gave it increased Ethernet over Copper (EoC) capabilities, the vendor launched a new branding effort for the company, so Aquino will be likely building on the momentum that Reedy and the management team laid earlier this year. For more:
- see the release Special Report: Finding New Gold in Copper Related articles:
GTS CE selects Overture to deliver Ethernet services in Central Europe
Spirit Communications fans out EoC presence with Overture Networks
Overture enhances European and APAC sales teams with four new regional offices
Overture names Velez as VP of Latin America, Caribbean sales Read more about: Overture Networks
back to top
| This week's sponsor is Lavastorm. | 
| Case Study: Cable Operator Optimizes Revenue Assurance and Fraud Management
Learn how Kabel Deutschland achieved quantifiable ROI in less than one year, accelerated detection of fraudulent activity by more than 2000 percent, and improved customer satisfaction. Download this case study today. |
Frontier Communications (Nasdaq: FTR) on Monday selected ETI Software Solutions as its Triad OSS/BSS platform to manage its FiOS Fiber to the Home (FTTH) networks in Oregon, Washington, South Carolina and Fort Wayne, Ind. With the integration of the former Verizon lines complete, the service provider said it needed to convert the FiOS customers it gained in that acquisition onto its own Back Office Support/Operational Support Systems (BSS/OSS) systems. The Triad now provides management of Frontier's key FTTH and video platforms: Motorola (AXS Vision), Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) (GPON) and Motorola (DAC) and SeaChange (VOD) RF-based systems. An additional set of interfaces was created to support the Tellabs BPON FTTH platform and Juniper's (NYSE: JNPR) service router interface. Jesse J. Ross, manager of Information Technology for Frontier Communications, said that by using the Triad system the service provider would be able to "simplify employee procedures, streamline processes and improve customer satisfaction." To help ensure that it accurately bills its customers, ETI also implemented audit capabilities to both Alcatel and Motorola FTTH networks to identify mismatches between the billing data and the current provision state of the Optical Network Terminals (ONTs). "This streamlines our internal processes, makes us more efficient, closes revenue leaks and ensures our customer statements are accurate and services uninterrupted," said Ross. Managing FiOS has been a bit of a tough service call for the independent ILEC. While it has continued to drive higher bandwidth speeds over its existing copper networks, it has been losing FiOS video and data subscribers every quarter following plans to dramatically increase the FiOS installation costs and monthly rates. In Q2 2012, Frontier reported that despite adding 13,300 satellite-TV customers via its relationship with Dish Network (NYSE: DISH), it lost 7,000 FiOS video customers. For more:
- see the release Special Report: Q2 roundup: ILECs wade through legacy-to-IP migration Related articles:
Frontier to target cable subscribers impacted by outages and price hikes
Frontier to serve up higher broadband speeds in West Va.
Frontier enhances broadband speeds in Ohio's Appalachian area
Top 10 barriers to private investment in broadband infrastructure
Frontier increases broadband speeds in Ohio Read more about: Frontier
back to top
Eftel, a competitive Australian ISP, on Monday reached a deal to acquire VoIP provider Engin for AUD 9.1 million (USD 9.5 million). Under the terms of the agreement, Eftel will acquire all of Engin's assets, including its customer contracts and VoIP intellectual property. Engin, according to a press release announcing the deal, reported AUD 20 million (USD 20.8 million) in FY12 revenues via the sales of VoIP services to a mix of consumer, business and wholesale customers. In addition to VoIP, which it currently provides to 85,000 customers, Engin provides ADSL and traditional wireline voice service. Scott Stavretis, Eftel's CEO, said acquiring Engin provides a number of cost benefits and an entrée to deliver IP-based services over Australia's National Broadband Network (NBN). "As the National Broadband Network (NBN) rolls out across the county, VoIP will be the solution used to deliver traditional fixed line voice calls," he said. "The VoIP scale and experience acquired under this transaction will greatly assist the Eftel business as the industry undergoes this technology change." Eftel's acquisition of Engin is timely when competition for VoIP is heating up in Australia. A notable development was made last week by Australian incumbent provider Telstra, who announced they would extend its VoIP offering from businesses to consumers. For more:
- see the release (pdf) Related articles:
Australia's Telstra to expand VoIP beyond business customers
Telstra reaches halfway mark with ADSL2+ upgrade
Telstra unveils suite of wholesale data services Read more about: Australian NBN, Australia
back to top
Broadview Networks, a competitive service provider, on Friday said it requested the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan to grant approval of a new $25 million loan. The New York-based CLEC, reports Dow Jones, will use these funds to fulfill two purposes: Make cash payouts mandated in its reorganization plan and get more funds for the restructured company. Last week, the Manhattan bankruptcy court approved a separate $25 million loan, which the company will use as it moves through the Chapter 11 process. According to court documents, Broadview said the financing that's being provided by CIT Finance LLC is a "key component" of its reorganization plan. CIT said it will provide an additional $10 million if the service provider needs it during this process. In late August, Broadview filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection with a "pre-packaged" restructuring plan. This plan was previously approved by senior secured note holders on July 13. Under the previously announced plan, Broadview said senior note holders that were owed $317 million would be paid with $150 million in new notes and new stock, while $13.9 million owed to CIT Group Inc. will be paid in full and carries over unsecured debt in full to the reorganized company.
However, Broadview could not raise the money required to pay the notes off when they reached their maturity on Sept. 1.
"It became clear that a consensual balance-sheet restructuring with holders of the senior secured notes was the company's best option to maximize value for the company's stakeholders," Broadview said. The service provider said it plans to complete the restructuring process, a move that will lower its interest payments by $18 million per year by the fourth quarter this year. For more:
- Total Telecom via Dow Jones has this article Related articles:
Broadview Networks files for Chapter 11 protection
Brian Crotty, Chief Operating Officer, Broadview Networks
Report: Premises-based web-conferencing grew in 2009--driven by UC
Broadview Networks puts cloud services into the SMB's hands Read more about: Broadview Networks
back to top
Zayo on Thursday completed the integration of AboveNet's network, which it acquired this July, into its own fold. By acquiring AboveNet, Zayo in one move nearly doubled its domestic network reach with connectivity into buildings and other carriers over 65,000 route miles in 45 U.S. states and seven countries. On a domestic basis, customers will get access to Zayo's national and metro networks across points-of-presence in over 200 markets, spanning 18 of the 20 largest markets in the U.S. as well as smaller markets such as Spokane, Boise and Albuquerque. This complements other network build-outs it had made in recent months in Denver, Las Vegas and Washington D.C. Another feature of the combined networks is its international reach, something that's important for larger multi-site enterprise customers. Traditionally a U.S.-centric player, Zayo also became an immediate international player with access into three key international regions: Europe (London, Paris, Amsterdam and Frankfurt), Canada (Toronto) and Japan (Tokyo). In integrating their fiber networks, the two service providers combined their once separate DWDM (i.e., wavelengths), Ethernet and IP network systems. This newly combined wavelength network will serve two main purposes: To provide connectivity between their markets and to offer a foundation for its Ethernet and IP service sets. Likewise, the Ethernet and IP networks will enable customers to get access to Zayo's IP network that will reach both "across and into" metro markets where both Zayo and AboveNet had built out their network and services. One of the other elements of the Zayo/AboveNet acquisition is that Zayo will now offer a greater balance of wholesale and retail services. During the integration process, Zayo created fiber connections to link major network nodes in addition to deploying new network equipment that allows the previously independent networks to communicate. Besides consolidating the network assets, Zayo also consolidated back office functions, including network management and customer support, into one Network Control Center. Since all of the records on the related network elements are in one place, customers will be able to get service support via one point of contact. After Zayo completed its acquisition of AboveNet in July, Glenn Russo, EVP, Corporate Strategy & Development, said that because the networks complement one another, they will be selling "same sets of services across the broader footprint so we can offer our customers more comprehensive solutions." While AboveNet may be Zayo's largest acquisition to date, it certainly isn't its last. Earlier this month, Zayo also completed its FiberGate acquisition, enhancing its presence in the Washington, D.C., Northern Virginia, Baltimore, and suburban Maryland area. For more:
- see the Zayo release Download our eBook: Looking beyond 100G Related articles:
Zayo completes AboveNet acquisition, gains greater enterprise/wholesale balance
Zayo capitalizes on the emerging small cell backhaul opportunity
Zayo gains MEF 9, 14 certification for its Ethernet services
AboveNet gets stockholder approval for its impending merger with Zayo Read more about: Zayo
back to top
| 
Prepare for the worst--now
No comments:
Post a Comment
Keep a civil tongue.