OTTAWA, CANADA: Espial, a leader in On-Demand TV solutions, announced that RomTelecom has now surpassed 35,000 IPTV subscribers with access to on-demand TV services powered by Espial MediaBase. These include timeshift-TV and video-on-demand services. RomTelecom is the incumbent telecom provider in Romania with more than 2.7 million landlines.
Since officially launching its IPTV service in 2010, Romtelecom has rapidly grown subscribers. With Espial MediaBase, Romtelecom achieves industry leading performance for its on-demand TV services using COTS hardware from HP. Espial MediaBase can deliver up to 32 Gbps from a single server.
Romtelecom will leverage the powerful multi-tier content distribution and delivery capabilities of Espial MediaBase as it scales up with subscribers and continuously extends the IPTV coverage to most of Romania cities. This will allow them to: stream long tail content from centralized servers and popular content from edge servers, use the highly efficient multicast content distribution capabilities to move new content from central to edge sites, and automatically move long tail to content to edge servers if an asset becomes popular.
The IPTV solution, including the Head End, Middleware, Espial MediaBase and the overall system integration for Romtelecom were provided by Ericsson.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Sequans in new collaboration to secure LTE ecosystem
LTE World Summit 2011, AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS: 4G chipmaker Sequans Communications S.A. and Ericsson, world-leading provider of technology and services to mobile operators, are now collaborating to develop and mature TD-LTE technology for the global marketplace.
“Our co-operation with Ericsson will yield valuable results for the LTE ecosystem,” said Georges Karam, Sequans CEO. “Ericsson is a leader in 4G LTE and an important company for Sequans to work with. Both our companies are focused on developing LTE technology, specifically for the major TD-LTE operator trials coming soon to India and elsewhere.”
“We are working with Sequans to optimize performance, test new features, and ensure interoperability between our LTE system and Sequans’ UE chip,” said Thomas Noren, director LTE, Ericsson. “We have made much progress in advancing LTE performance and interoperability and we look forward to continued development success as well as to driving the LTE ecosystem.”
In addition to Ericsson, Sequans is working with Nokia Siemens Networks, Huawei, Alcatel-Lucent, and ZTE on LTE interoperability.
“Our co-operation with Ericsson will yield valuable results for the LTE ecosystem,” said Georges Karam, Sequans CEO. “Ericsson is a leader in 4G LTE and an important company for Sequans to work with. Both our companies are focused on developing LTE technology, specifically for the major TD-LTE operator trials coming soon to India and elsewhere.”
“We are working with Sequans to optimize performance, test new features, and ensure interoperability between our LTE system and Sequans’ UE chip,” said Thomas Noren, director LTE, Ericsson. “We have made much progress in advancing LTE performance and interoperability and we look forward to continued development success as well as to driving the LTE ecosystem.”
In addition to Ericsson, Sequans is working with Nokia Siemens Networks, Huawei, Alcatel-Lucent, and ZTE on LTE interoperability.
Airtel launches world’s first USSD-based Facebook access service in India
NEW DELHI, INDIA: Do you miss keeping in touch with family and friends on Facebook, simply because you don’t access internet on your mobile phone? Your favourite social network is all set to be just the press of a button away.
Bharti Airtel announced that starting today, its 150 million plus customers in India can now simply dial *325# (and “*fbk#” for non-qwerty mobile handsets) to access Facebook - without subscribing to data plans. To deliver this, Airtel has launched the world’s first USSD-based service innovation that will allow its mobile customers to update their Facebook status messages, view / comment on / ‘Like’ news feed, post on friends’ walls, find / add friends, confirm friend requests, view notifications and much more without using the internet or activating GPRS capabilities.
Based on Fonetwish developed by U2opia Mobile, a social and mobile applications provider, this unique and affordable service is available first exclusively for Airtel customers in India and is set to empower more and more people across the country to stay connected with their loved ones through Facebook.
What can Airtel customers do using USSD-based Facebook® access service?
• Update Facebook status for free.
• View / comment on / ‘Like’ news feeds, post on friends’ walls, confirm friend requests, view notifications, find and add friends – at Re 1 / day per use.
Bharti Airtel announced that starting today, its 150 million plus customers in India can now simply dial *325# (and “*fbk#” for non-qwerty mobile handsets) to access Facebook - without subscribing to data plans. To deliver this, Airtel has launched the world’s first USSD-based service innovation that will allow its mobile customers to update their Facebook status messages, view / comment on / ‘Like’ news feed, post on friends’ walls, find / add friends, confirm friend requests, view notifications and much more without using the internet or activating GPRS capabilities.
Based on Fonetwish developed by U2opia Mobile, a social and mobile applications provider, this unique and affordable service is available first exclusively for Airtel customers in India and is set to empower more and more people across the country to stay connected with their loved ones through Facebook.
What can Airtel customers do using USSD-based Facebook® access service?
• Update Facebook status for free.
• View / comment on / ‘Like’ news feeds, post on friends’ walls, confirm friend requests, view notifications, find and add friends – at Re 1 / day per use.
EXFO showcases end-to-end assessment solution for wireless networks at LTE World Summit 2011
QUEBEC CITY, CANADA: EXFO Inc. announced its participation at the LTE World Summit 2011 (booth 18), May 17-18, 2011, in Amsterdam, where it will demonstrate its innovative and comprehensive test and monitoring solutions designed to help wireless operators with their 4G/LTE network infrastructure.
At this show, on Wednesday May 18, EXFO's Wireless Division (formerly NetHawk) will join in the panel discussion entitled "Vendor support for operators wanting to migrate to LTE: What should operators expect?" In addition, EXFO's Service Assurance Division will take part in a presentation at the Theater Seminar on "New challenges in service assurance for LTE networks," covering differences between 3G and 4G service assurance monitoring, LTE technology changes and monitoring techniques, and service assurance for mobile and wireless backhaul networks.
As mobile networks continue to embrace new services, applications and technologies, wireless operators need powerful, world-class solutions to address their multivendor network environments. With this in mind, EXFO will present its industry-leading 2G/3G/4G NetHawk M5 Analyzers, the ultimate data capture and performance analysis solutions.
EXFO will also showcase its BrixMobile service assurance solution, which features a newly integrated and highly scalable packet core monitoring engine, allowing deep packet inspection (DPI) of real-time traffic in order to accurately classify each user's traffic by application. Thanks to BrixMobile, operators can enable subscriber-based, application-level quality monitoring—a must for delivering a high quality of experience (QoE) to LTE subscribers and other packet-network environments.
LTE World Summit 2011 is also the ideal venue to present EXFO's QualityAssurer QA-604 Next-Generation Network Test Platform. Without compromising on performance or capability, this VoIP and IMS network testing platform delivers stress testing applications and enables the emulation of more than two million IMS subscribers and one million SIP endpoints.
Moreover, having introduced EtherSAM (ITU-T Y.1564) and the BV10 Performance Endpoint Unit, EXFO continues to innovate with the SyncWatch-110, the industry's most comprehensive unit to assess network synchronization, including SyncE and IEEE 1588v2. Thanks to the versatility of the SyncWatch-110, operators can validate, qualify and monitor network synchronization throughout their migration plan.
At this show, on Wednesday May 18, EXFO's Wireless Division (formerly NetHawk) will join in the panel discussion entitled "Vendor support for operators wanting to migrate to LTE: What should operators expect?" In addition, EXFO's Service Assurance Division will take part in a presentation at the Theater Seminar on "New challenges in service assurance for LTE networks," covering differences between 3G and 4G service assurance monitoring, LTE technology changes and monitoring techniques, and service assurance for mobile and wireless backhaul networks.
As mobile networks continue to embrace new services, applications and technologies, wireless operators need powerful, world-class solutions to address their multivendor network environments. With this in mind, EXFO will present its industry-leading 2G/3G/4G NetHawk M5 Analyzers, the ultimate data capture and performance analysis solutions.
EXFO will also showcase its BrixMobile service assurance solution, which features a newly integrated and highly scalable packet core monitoring engine, allowing deep packet inspection (DPI) of real-time traffic in order to accurately classify each user's traffic by application. Thanks to BrixMobile, operators can enable subscriber-based, application-level quality monitoring—a must for delivering a high quality of experience (QoE) to LTE subscribers and other packet-network environments.
LTE World Summit 2011 is also the ideal venue to present EXFO's QualityAssurer QA-604 Next-Generation Network Test Platform. Without compromising on performance or capability, this VoIP and IMS network testing platform delivers stress testing applications and enables the emulation of more than two million IMS subscribers and one million SIP endpoints.
Moreover, having introduced EtherSAM (ITU-T Y.1564) and the BV10 Performance Endpoint Unit, EXFO continues to innovate with the SyncWatch-110, the industry's most comprehensive unit to assess network synchronization, including SyncE and IEEE 1588v2. Thanks to the versatility of the SyncWatch-110, operators can validate, qualify and monitor network synchronization throughout their migration plan.
Monday, May 16, 2011
AMOLED display shipments soar on strength in smart phone market
EL SEGUNDO, USA: Active matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) is rapidly becoming a popular display for smart phones, particularly high-end Android models, causing global AMOLED unit shipments to expand by nearly a factor of six from 2010 to 2015, according to new IHS iSuppli research.
“AMOLEDs are enjoying rising usage in smart phones because of their wider viewing angle, higher refresh rates and thinner formats, compared to conventional liquid crystal displays (LCDs) used in most cell phones,” said Vinita Jakhanwal, principal analyst for small and medium displays at IHS. “The adoption of AMOLEDs also is being propelled by increasing manufacturing capacity from leading supplier Samsung Mobile Display.”
As a result of these trends, global unit shipments of AMOLEDs will soar to 271.2 million units in 2015, rising at a 40.6 percent CAGR from 49.4 million units in 2010. AMOLED revenue is set to expand to $3.6 billion in 2015, expanding at a CAGR of 31.9 percent from $892.1 million in 2010.
The growth of AMOLED shipments and revenue is being fueled by the expansion of the smart phone market.
Shipments of low-end smart phones will rise at a CAGR of 81.1 percent from 2010 to 2015. Meanwhile, mid- to high-end smart phone shipments will expand at a CAGR of 15.1 percent during the same period.
Challenges remain for AMOLED
“While the benefits to AMOLEDs are clear, challenges still remain,” Jakhanwal said. “These challenges include high manufacturing cost, resolution challenges, limited product lifetime, reduced visibility in sunlight and a complex, time-consuming manufacturing process.”
AMOLED displays are currently 30 percent to 60 percent more costly to manufacture than equivalent low-temperature polysilicon (LTPS) LCD displays.
AMOLED manufacturing currently requires processes that make it expensive. In particular is the use of LTPS backplanes that require laser annealing. Thus, this part of the manufacturing process starts with the costs of standard LCD, and then adds an expensive, time-consuming process that cannot currently be used on large-area glass substrates.
However, Samsung’s and the industry’s first 5.5-generation (5.5G) AMOLED line, set to begin operation during the second quarter, likely will bring improved efficiency that will help produce AMOLEDs at an equivalent cost as LCDs. At the 5.5G level, the large scale of production of thin film transistor arrays will spur reductions in production cost for OLED panels.
Another challenge for AMOLED is that screens using the technology suffer from reduced visibility in direct sunlight. However, Samsung has addressed this issue by reducing the space between the layers within its AMOLED display.
The organic materials used in AMOLED displays are prone to a decline in performance over the life of the display. However, material life time has improved significantly. Continued efforts among material companies and display suppliers will help further improve the lifetime of AMOLEDs.
Finally, it is still a challenge for AMOLEDs to achieve high resolution comparable to LTPS LCDs. So far, SMD has used sub-pixel rendering to drive high-pixel formats. But this area still remains a challenge to be addressed.
Samsung is committed
Samsung has led the charge in AMOLED manufacturing and will continue its commitment to the technology with an investment of $4.8 billion into its next-generation 5.5G, or 1,300 millimeter by 1,500 millimeter, AMOLED fab. This first stage of production will turn out 24,000 substrates per month from Samsung’s Tangjeong facility.
Samsung has discussed up to three increments of 5.5G capacity and about 70,000 in monthly capacity, which would boost its AMOLED output capacity from its 2010 levels of about 3 million per month to more than 8 million panels per month total of 4-inch equivalent displays per month by the end of 2011. A second fab line with the same capacity is scheduled to commence mass production in early 2012—likely in the first quarter—which will significantly increase overall AMOLED supply.
Moreover, 5.5G lines have the potential to transition to the production of larger displays for applications like televisions. With the shortage of AMOLEDs for smart phones, it is anticipated that Samsung will concentrate on small-and-medium sized AMOLED displays with these two Gen 5.5 lines. Samsung has announced its intent to manufacture 7-inch Galaxy tablet panels using AMOLED. Given the current strong demand for smart phones, it is unlikely that volume production of tablet panels will start before 2013.
Other suppliers are looking at AMOLED capacity installation and expansion as well. However, none of these other suppliers are as aggressive in their investment as Samsung.
Source: IHS iSuppli, USA.
“AMOLEDs are enjoying rising usage in smart phones because of their wider viewing angle, higher refresh rates and thinner formats, compared to conventional liquid crystal displays (LCDs) used in most cell phones,” said Vinita Jakhanwal, principal analyst for small and medium displays at IHS. “The adoption of AMOLEDs also is being propelled by increasing manufacturing capacity from leading supplier Samsung Mobile Display.”
As a result of these trends, global unit shipments of AMOLEDs will soar to 271.2 million units in 2015, rising at a 40.6 percent CAGR from 49.4 million units in 2010. AMOLED revenue is set to expand to $3.6 billion in 2015, expanding at a CAGR of 31.9 percent from $892.1 million in 2010.
The growth of AMOLED shipments and revenue is being fueled by the expansion of the smart phone market.
Shipments of low-end smart phones will rise at a CAGR of 81.1 percent from 2010 to 2015. Meanwhile, mid- to high-end smart phone shipments will expand at a CAGR of 15.1 percent during the same period.
Challenges remain for AMOLED
“While the benefits to AMOLEDs are clear, challenges still remain,” Jakhanwal said. “These challenges include high manufacturing cost, resolution challenges, limited product lifetime, reduced visibility in sunlight and a complex, time-consuming manufacturing process.”
AMOLED displays are currently 30 percent to 60 percent more costly to manufacture than equivalent low-temperature polysilicon (LTPS) LCD displays.
AMOLED manufacturing currently requires processes that make it expensive. In particular is the use of LTPS backplanes that require laser annealing. Thus, this part of the manufacturing process starts with the costs of standard LCD, and then adds an expensive, time-consuming process that cannot currently be used on large-area glass substrates.
However, Samsung’s and the industry’s first 5.5-generation (5.5G) AMOLED line, set to begin operation during the second quarter, likely will bring improved efficiency that will help produce AMOLEDs at an equivalent cost as LCDs. At the 5.5G level, the large scale of production of thin film transistor arrays will spur reductions in production cost for OLED panels.
Another challenge for AMOLED is that screens using the technology suffer from reduced visibility in direct sunlight. However, Samsung has addressed this issue by reducing the space between the layers within its AMOLED display.
The organic materials used in AMOLED displays are prone to a decline in performance over the life of the display. However, material life time has improved significantly. Continued efforts among material companies and display suppliers will help further improve the lifetime of AMOLEDs.
Finally, it is still a challenge for AMOLEDs to achieve high resolution comparable to LTPS LCDs. So far, SMD has used sub-pixel rendering to drive high-pixel formats. But this area still remains a challenge to be addressed.
Samsung is committed
Samsung has led the charge in AMOLED manufacturing and will continue its commitment to the technology with an investment of $4.8 billion into its next-generation 5.5G, or 1,300 millimeter by 1,500 millimeter, AMOLED fab. This first stage of production will turn out 24,000 substrates per month from Samsung’s Tangjeong facility.
Samsung has discussed up to three increments of 5.5G capacity and about 70,000 in monthly capacity, which would boost its AMOLED output capacity from its 2010 levels of about 3 million per month to more than 8 million panels per month total of 4-inch equivalent displays per month by the end of 2011. A second fab line with the same capacity is scheduled to commence mass production in early 2012—likely in the first quarter—which will significantly increase overall AMOLED supply.
Moreover, 5.5G lines have the potential to transition to the production of larger displays for applications like televisions. With the shortage of AMOLEDs for smart phones, it is anticipated that Samsung will concentrate on small-and-medium sized AMOLED displays with these two Gen 5.5 lines. Samsung has announced its intent to manufacture 7-inch Galaxy tablet panels using AMOLED. Given the current strong demand for smart phones, it is unlikely that volume production of tablet panels will start before 2013.
Other suppliers are looking at AMOLED capacity installation and expansion as well. However, none of these other suppliers are as aggressive in their investment as Samsung.
Source: IHS iSuppli, USA.
Schiphol Airport chooses Comsys and Aculab based IVR solution
MILTON KEYNES, UK: Aculab, a leading provider of enabling technologies for the communications market, announced that Comsys Telecom & Media B.V. used Aculab’s state-of-the-art media processing technology to develop a sophisticated IVR solution for Schiphol Telematics.
Schiphol is regarded as one of the world’s great airports, which consistently earns high marks from both carriers and passengers for its varied services and customer centric facilities. With Gate-phone IVR, Schiphol gives gate agents the ability to update flight information throughout the entire airport by giving commands through a central telephone number. Agents call the Gate-phone system with updated flight information.
The system sends the update to the ‘Central Information System Schiphol,’ which translates the IVR actions and automatically displays the updated information on video monitors throughout the airport. The Gate-phone IVR is fully integrated with the back-end systems for Schiphol, which is important for the airport and its daily business.
Comsys has supplied this application based on its SpeechFrame platform using Aculab’s media processing technology. The Comsys SpeechFrame platform supports multiple products and solutions simultaneously in the same environment. The SpeechFrame platform is fully owned by Comsys and is based on Telecom grade hardware and uses Aculab Prosody X boards. The platform supports many different interfaces and various protocols.
“We are delighted that Comsys chose Aculab’s Prosody X media processing hardware to power its SpeechFrame IVR platform and that it is enjoying such sales success with it,” said David Samuel, Aculab’s Sales and Marketing director.
“We are pleased to use Aculab’s Prosody X media processing boards to develop our SpeechFrame IVR solutions. The SpeechFrame product is a highly qualified telecommunications platform that has already been implemented all over the world, with many different solutions,” said Walter Botman, MD at Comsys Telecom & Media.
"For many years there has been a good relationship between Comsys and Aculab. It continues to be at the head of the class in terms of providing advanced enabling technologies that allows us to deliver the breadth of products and services our customers expect. On top of this, Aculab is without a doubt one of the most imaginative and flexible partners to work with, and is always available to help us address any technology challenges that come before us."
“Service providers, enterprises and application developers worldwide have come to rely on Prosody X for its unparalleled flexibility and ability to support the widest possible range of codecs and protocols. Aculab’s enabling technologies are particularly well-suited to address the needs of companies like Comsys,” noted Andrew Nicholson, Aculab Product Manager.
“We work very closely with our partners to understand their current and long-term needs, and develop adaptable solutions to satisfy these issues. It is this continued high-level of engagement that really allows us to serve the strategic needs of our clients, and help them satisfy the requirements of their customers.”
Schiphol is regarded as one of the world’s great airports, which consistently earns high marks from both carriers and passengers for its varied services and customer centric facilities. With Gate-phone IVR, Schiphol gives gate agents the ability to update flight information throughout the entire airport by giving commands through a central telephone number. Agents call the Gate-phone system with updated flight information.
The system sends the update to the ‘Central Information System Schiphol,’ which translates the IVR actions and automatically displays the updated information on video monitors throughout the airport. The Gate-phone IVR is fully integrated with the back-end systems for Schiphol, which is important for the airport and its daily business.
Comsys has supplied this application based on its SpeechFrame platform using Aculab’s media processing technology. The Comsys SpeechFrame platform supports multiple products and solutions simultaneously in the same environment. The SpeechFrame platform is fully owned by Comsys and is based on Telecom grade hardware and uses Aculab Prosody X boards. The platform supports many different interfaces and various protocols.
“We are delighted that Comsys chose Aculab’s Prosody X media processing hardware to power its SpeechFrame IVR platform and that it is enjoying such sales success with it,” said David Samuel, Aculab’s Sales and Marketing director.
“We are pleased to use Aculab’s Prosody X media processing boards to develop our SpeechFrame IVR solutions. The SpeechFrame product is a highly qualified telecommunications platform that has already been implemented all over the world, with many different solutions,” said Walter Botman, MD at Comsys Telecom & Media.
"For many years there has been a good relationship between Comsys and Aculab. It continues to be at the head of the class in terms of providing advanced enabling technologies that allows us to deliver the breadth of products and services our customers expect. On top of this, Aculab is without a doubt one of the most imaginative and flexible partners to work with, and is always available to help us address any technology challenges that come before us."
“Service providers, enterprises and application developers worldwide have come to rely on Prosody X for its unparalleled flexibility and ability to support the widest possible range of codecs and protocols. Aculab’s enabling technologies are particularly well-suited to address the needs of companies like Comsys,” noted Andrew Nicholson, Aculab Product Manager.
“We work very closely with our partners to understand their current and long-term needs, and develop adaptable solutions to satisfy these issues. It is this continued high-level of engagement that really allows us to serve the strategic needs of our clients, and help them satisfy the requirements of their customers.”
IP VPN market forecast in Singapore to 2016
DUBLIN, IRELAND: Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "IP VPN Market Forecast in Singapore to 2016" report to its offering.
This databook analyzes and provides forecasts for the Internet Protocol-enabled virtual private network (IP VPN) market in Singapore. It details total IP VPN revenues split by industry sector (retail, manufacturing, financial services, government, healthcare, education, and other) and enterprise size.
The IP VPN market in Singapore grew at a CAGR of 8.3 percent between 2008 and 2010. This is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.1 percent over the 2011-16 period.
In Singapore, MPLS VPN services accounted for largest share (78.7 percent) within the IP VPN market in 2010. IPsec VPN services accounted for the remaining share of 21.3 percent.
This databook analyzes and provides forecasts for the Internet Protocol-enabled virtual private network (IP VPN) market in Singapore. It details total IP VPN revenues split by industry sector (retail, manufacturing, financial services, government, healthcare, education, and other) and enterprise size.
The IP VPN market in Singapore grew at a CAGR of 8.3 percent between 2008 and 2010. This is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.1 percent over the 2011-16 period.
In Singapore, MPLS VPN services accounted for largest share (78.7 percent) within the IP VPN market in 2010. IPsec VPN services accounted for the remaining share of 21.3 percent.
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